Once known for good beer selection and entertainment, it is still all that but also with solid pub…read morefood. The entertainment and community feel of the place is the #1 highlight. Open mic night gives young people a voice. Older musicians act as unofficial mentors - the best advice from one was to 'make me feel something!!' I love the art scene - and to me there is a special intersection of utility (maybe articulating an important message - or building a useful couch) --- and the beauty of that piece. How you put it together, how it looks and most importantly how it makes you feel when you sink into the couch or words. I have a lot of opinions and a lot to say. These days you really can't complain much - in the world you are a nag and in church you are labeled a legalist. The secret is if you say those things in a beautiful way or tip toe around a subject asking questions and letting the audience come up with their own conclusions. The young people today I have lots of sympathy for. The 50 year olds could get away with earning $50k/yr - the 40 year olds could get away with earning $100k/yr but the 20 and 30 year olds in the bay area with 2 kids need to earn $200k in their household to make ends meet. Gentrification is the enemy - those who are 'rich.' Lets blame the boomers. Maybe there are some other 'enemies' of the unaffordable nature of the bay area. A witch hunt aiming at tech workers or the unhoused or maybe today AI robots. My brother pays $4000/month for babysitting. I think his house tax is another $1000/month and we aren't even talking about the mortgage yet.... In San Francisco a family of 4 can qualify for free babysitting if they earn $178,300 or less per year. Maybe you can't call this the poverty level - but you qualify for everything including housing assistance. I'm sorry no beautiful poetry for you today. No lit slam. No soup for you!! I will continue building my couches - you take the stage!!

Starry Plough....Oh wow! This is really a cool scene…read more There's a different event seven nights a week. Today the day after July 4 celebration is sort of an Irish music session in the place is packed at 5:45 PM! Great musicians and a fun atmosphere, but it seems like the same continuous song plays between breaks with a slight adjustment of the melody. Sort of a hypnotic repetitive groove, not so unlike "ON THE CORNER" by Miles Davis but not really, ha ha! OK kids, please plug that into your little machine and have a listen. Feel that groove in "BLACK SATIN" The Starry Plough is a full service restaurant, pub and nightclub that has been a staple of the East Bay scene since 1973. With deep roots as an Irish Revolutionary watering hole, the history of protest runs as deep today as it did when they opened five decades ago. And they have really good food and a great tap beer list. Also, the very best bartenders and staff throughout! I just had a half order of the handcut french fries and they really are top-notch man, they're served with different condiments that you can help yourself to. I chose the Sriracha sauce and ketchup. I couldn't find the horseradish tonight. I've been coming in here for several years and I really dig it. Very special people hang out here, kind of a hippie Berkeley vibe. I've had great long conversations and met very groovy folks. It's a great watering hole.

Stopped by here for a quick drink on a Saturday night. Was a little disappointed by the amount of…read morealcohol in the pour. The outdoor music was great. Drink prices range an average $10-12. There is a heated patio area.

Came here on my last weekend in Berkeley! Loved it, would recommend coming by 7 pm we came at 6:55…read morepm and we were able to get the last table available. The drinks were good and similarly priced to cocktails at Berkeley bars. You can get food from local restaurants on the street and bring it in for dinner. Would recommend for a good night of live music and chill drinks!

It was disappointing that their college and cabaret performance space closed, but they still have…read moreperformances across the street in a pleasant hall.

I've been taking classes (playing in bands) here for four years. Gotten me back on track in terms…read moreof my playing. It's also becoming a good place to hear concerts, hard to find any creative music venues these days.

There is no bad seat at The Freight but this time I got front row , it's always general admission…read moreseating. This show was for Dave Alvin and Jimmy Dale Gilmore... two legends playing without their band for this show. Last time I saw them with their full band much closer to home at Felton Music Hall... also a great venue. Opening artist was guitarist Lenny Kaye from The Smiths and he was great too. Awesome audience as usual for The Freight. Get out and see live music, it's always a great time.

We saw Keola Beamer and Henry Kapono recently. It was our first visit to the Freight since they…read moremoved ever so long ago. This is truly a nice venue to see music. The staff is friendly; parking is convenient next door in the garage; plenty of restaurants nearby. There were also a few snack items and drinks available for sale. I was bummed that perhaps customer service and management aren't completely in synch with their own policies. I had written and asked if photography would be allowed since this was a Hawaiian show. I wanted to bring in one camera with an attached lens, no flash to take photos for personal use only. I was told that the policy was no photography was allowed. On the night of the show, the last announcement before the show started, was that non-flash photography was welcome. Oh well.

THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE KHALID SHOW ON 6/26…read more This place is hands-down the best venue in the Bay Area. This was my first time here and I'll be going to see two more shows this summer. If you are attending a GA show here, I recommend arriving when the doors open. We were able to get parking with ease right across the street and get in line. Bring a stadium cushion or seat with back support as long as there's no metal in it. They didn't seem to be super strict on bag sizes, I used a stadium approved clear tote. But I saw a lot of bigger totes and Trader Joe's shopping bags. Refer to the site for information on what you can bring in as far as water bottles, snacks and other items. Literally every seat is a good seat here!

Came here for 2026 Lewis Capaldi concert!…read more Rookie mistake, I had to dump water that was in my water mug during a bag check. Seats were first come first serve but its such an intimate setting that all seats are great in comparison to football stadium concerts. Bring some form of cushion for your butts! Saw Joy Crookes as the opener and she was great. There are a lot of food and drink options as well as portable restrooms beyond the lawn. Would recommend and come back for other events.

I have never seen live Improv and it was incredibly impressive…read more I hosted a small client event at Stone Soup Improv and I reached out to folks who attended after the fact and everyone loved it. So this review is only a single review, but there is research from about 20 other people behind it. Everyone I asked would give Stone Soup Improv 4 or 5 stars. My cheeks hurt until Tuesday following the show. Even the skits that bombed were funny. An absolutely great time. I would certainly recommend Stone Soup to anyone who is wavering.

Improv is hard, man. I know that from attempting it at a couple of workshops within the last year,…read moreduring which I bounced from the high of getting something really right to the low of feeling the trickle of yolk on my face. Which is why I applaud the six brave souls of Stone Soup Improv, who hit way more highs than lows in the show I attended last night. Stone Soup consists of three guys and three gals, though gender was highly irrelevant during their entertaining romp of a show in which roles were often reversed to strong comedic effect. Female performers played mustachioed bartenders in a Western and a stalking boyfriend in a Paris nightclub. Blokes were suddenly aged mothers and passionate daughters in scenes from a Spanish soap opera. Mind you, this show had much more than gender reversal going on: there were talking wristwatches, two-faced customer service representatives, kung fu masters, bullfighting dentists, world knitting championship competitors - all conjured up out of the imagination of the performers, with seeds planted by the audience. There were memorable moments sprinkled throughout the show, my favorites being the poetry slams performed by Jonathan Stern and Dan Rosenthal (about dish soap lingerie and eagle scouts, respectively) and the song composed on the spot by the magnetic Jennifer Simmons built around random words lobbed in by the audience (you try coming up with lyrics on the theme of Nantucket, including the words pterodactyl, eukelele and fink). And even occasionally less successful skits became classic - when Ryan Fuller turned to Stern in the middle of one scene and said " I'm lost", the audience roared, sharing Fuller's confusion. A couple of skits fell a little flat, but that's the beauty of improv - you shut the scene down, wipe the slate, and start over. In the interests of full disclosure, I should make it known that I work with three members of this cast. Regardless though, I'd recommend this show to anyone looking for a night of unpredictable comedy where just about anything can happen.

We went to a show at The Sound Room last night (Angela LaFlamme -- an extraordinary performance!)…read moreand it was a wonderful experience. The doors opened at 6:30 and we ordered our food and found a table. The menu was small, but everything we had was delicious and reasonably priced. My husband and I both ordered the pork carnitas, which were incredibly tender and very tasty, my brother-in-law had the Chile rellenos and we shared some top-notch French fries. My Sangria was great, too! It's a warm and intimate venue, with a friendly vibe, and our friend who was performing that night said that musicians love the venue! A+

What a great venue to experience jazz! Nice smaller place…read morewith perfect sight and sound. Perhaps one might use the old term a Super Club, since they have exceptionally taste food both entrees and deserts. Plus a full bar. Staff are welcoming. This place exists because the owners are pationate about jazz and want a good space to listen and experience. We're very lucky to have this place. Convenient location. Take advantage and go experience The Sound Room for yourself!

Decided to visit this sake brewery on July 4th with my friend and her parents. I've heard of the…read morecompany before. We had reservations for 4pm. Before going to the tasting sake tables, we watched a video on the process of making sake in English. After the video was done, we headed to the tasting table where there were matching placards of what ticket you bought, an information card, and 3 sake cups. There was a couple sitting at the same table as us. There was an employee named Reiko who explained some of the information on the info cards that were on the table. She also showed us the rice being polished at different percentages. She also answered any questions the other people had. She did do a couple combinations of different sakes for some of the other guests to taste amd see how sake can be combined. Maybe just wish the sake tasting also came with like a little snack that could go with the different types of sake. For those non drinkers they get a bottle of water and a package of crackers.

What a fun place to find! We weren't even looking for a sale tasting and museum place. My hubby and…read moreI were just driving around and found this gem! The people here are super friendly. They greet you and they accept walk-ins. If you want to go on a weekend then it's probably best to make a reservation. I was told it gets crowded. Lucky us, we came in on a weekday. No crowd. We watched a video on the process of making sake and we also did a self tour of the museum. We spent most of our time doing the tasting because we have never done a sake tasting before. It was very enjoyable. Karen was our lovely host and she knew enough about the sakes to help us out, The place is absolutely beautiful with paper looking birds hanging from the ceiling. Also the woodwork and displays were very elegant. I will probably visit again if I'm ever up here. I'm so glad we found it.