Shhhhh-speakeasy

Bourbon and Branch Library (from BB website)

I am so glad I did not live in the era of prohibition, but if you would like to get a glimpse of what it was like, Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco will give you a little flavor. If you want to get in it requires a password, just like the old days, so start with their website, http://www.bourbonandbranch.com/. The site will give you all the information you need to get in and have an enjoyable evening.

The spirit of the Speakeasy is capture in every detail from the mood lighting to the era music, The cloth napkins are a nice touch, but a bit over the top for me. This is a top self bar, Bourbon and Branch has some of the best whiskey, bourbon, scotch that will please every palate.

The staff starts the evening with a small complimentary drink, this evening it was a champagne drink with fruit juice and a splash of bourbon. The drink menu is overwhelming. It has pages and pages to select from enough to keep you reading for a while. I started with a scotch and then had a classic Manhattan. They are not shy with the pours, each drink was a very healthy portion.

The best feature about this bar (speakeasy) is that it is a very adult place that allows for conversation. If you have a date or need a place to meet with friends, this is a good place to take them for a couple of drinks. Keep it a secrete if you can, I did this with my friend and he was socked at this high end bar in this part of San Francisco.

Bourbon and Branch is located on Jones street in the Tenderloin in a non-descript building. The neighborhood is not the best, but it is worth the trip. This is a destination place, there a a few dining options with a couple of blocks but do not wander in the neighborhood. I would recommend Bourbon and Branch for after work or if you happen to be dining in the Union Square area. Make sure you make a reservation. I know that this is a strange concept for a bar, but this is how it works.

This is a high end bar, so drinks range from $10-$14 per drink. It is an experience that you tell your friends.

Wine-Ohh

During the Holiday Season, from Thanksgiving to New Years, I tend to drink more wine than the rest of the years, so when it comes to picking wine I am a complete novice. Over the last 20-years, I have given as much wine and alcohol as I have received, but like many people I have no idea what makes a good wine. The only thing I can tell you is what I like.

So this past year I started going to a local wine shop, Du Vin Fine Wines, around the corner from my home. Dan is always helpful and seems to find the right bottle for the occasion. I just tell him red or white and what I am having for dinner. He take the time, in simple terms, to explain what the bottle should taste like. After a short give and take he directs me to a product that would fit my needs.

For Christmas dinner the red was from La Mozza, a winery from Italy, a 2005 I PERAZZI, MORELLINO DI SCANSANO. Very nice and the bottle was gone halfway through dinner. A very good sign. The white was a Pinot Grigio also from Italy, a CANTINA SANTA MAGDALENA, PINOT GRIGIO, SÜDTIROL - ALTO ADIGE.

Brands and names do not mean a whole lot to me, I put them in for true wine drinkers, but the advice that I got from my local little store made the dinner complete. The Johnny Walker Gold that was under the Christmas tree was also a nice touch, but the wine was a nice finishing touch to the evening with family and friends.


I'm not sure that I will be much more of a wine drinker than I am now, but I am learning. My goal this New Year is to actually write down the wines I drink so I can start a reference for myself for future orders. I may actually become confident in ordering wine at a restaurant.


Check out your local wine shop to add a great touch to your dinner table.

Wine Shop Website
http://duvinfinewines.com/

Boots on the Ceiling

Clayton Club

During this Holiday Season, I want to wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas and New Years. Today's post will be the last until Thursday.

On Friday, I went out to Stockton to visit relatives and for the return trip we decided to drive the backroads back to the Bay. Our trip took us down scenic Charter Way (lot to see, but do not stop) in Stockton, to Highway 4 through Discovery Bay and over Marsh Creek Road. This route drops you right into Clayton and it reminded me to stop by one my favorite dive bars, the Clayton Club.

As I entered Clayton, I was blown away with all of the development. This former sleepy town that sits at the base of Mt. Diablo on the Eastern edge of Contra Costa County was farms and a few homes twenty years ago. Now it looks like LA without the charm. But the one saving grace is the Clayton Club still exists.

From the outside, the Clayton Club looks like an old west saloon. The interior is funky and has mix match of tables and chairs. The distinctive feature is the cowboy boots that are nailed to the ceiling. It is not very large bar, but it is a true left over a former generation. Now that the streets are littered with minivans instead of work trucks and the million dollar home from Oakhurst Country Club cast a shadow on the small downtown I wondered how long a community institution like the Clayton Club can last before a new Starbucks takes over it location.

So I began thinking of all the bars, the ones I can remember, ones that are very big part of the community. In San Francisco every neighborhood has a local hangout, the Dubliner in Noe Valley, the Elbo Room in the Mission or Specs in North Beach. If you are driving to Yosemite in Groveland, CA you will find the Iron Door with its big moose head and “Iron Door.”

In my hometown of Alameda we have 20 bars and I am not sure if any of them have a quality that will last for generations. I have my favorites and a couple places like Spots Pop Inn and Club House have been in there locations for years, but I do not think that they are community institutions. So I decided, I would like to begin a list of great local dive bars, so email me with your nominations and brief description of the place and at the end of January I will post them.

If you happen to be way out in this part of the Bay Area stop into The Clayton Club for a drink and experience this great little watering hole. So again, Happy Holidays.

Cheers

Cupcake City

Thanks to SI

Cal and Cupcakes

I am a huge College Basketball Fan and tonight my University of California Golden Bears will take on the Hornets of Delaware State and I am excited to see if the Bears can win their final two games before the Pac-10 Season tips-off on January 3 against OJ Mayo and USC. By the way USC thrashed Delaware State on Monday Night 83-54, so I expect the Bears to win tonight.

I will be cheering for the Bears, but I truly do not know how good they are this season. Coach Ben Braun has baked up more cupcakes for out of conference play, than Hostess. If a college had the word State in their name Braun booked them: Nicholls State (Had to look up where they were from -- Thibodaux, Louisiana), San Diego State, Jackson State, Kansas State and now Delaware State. The only team of substance was K-State, which handed the Bears their only loss this season. Cal does have wins over Nevada and Missouri, but I still not sure they have what it takes to win against elite teams.

I guess Braun looked at the Pac-10 this season and said to himself, I am going to need get as many wins as possible before conference play begins. UCLA, Washington State, USC, Arizona, Stanford and Oregon will all provide tough test for the Bears and it is conceivable that a possible 8-1 start could see the bears finishing with just 15 wins. This brings me to one of biggest criticisms of top tier college athletic programs, scheduling of cupcakes.

Cupcakes taste good, even provide a level of satisfaction, but in the long term they are bad for you if you have to many of them in one setting. The Bears have some legitimate big time players in Devon Hardin, Ryan Anderson and Patrick Christopher. These player need to be battle tested if they expect to do well in the Pac-10 and advance to the NCAA tournament. The win over Jackson State was pointless, a school record 117-points for a regulation game against a team no one will remember. Cal is 5-0 in Berkeley this season, where it has won 18 of its last 19 contests against non-conference competition, but has failed to advance in the NCAA tournament since 2002-2003. Since Braun's arrival the Bears have reached the Regional once, in 1997, ten years ago. The number of first round exits, four.

So, with great optimism that I head to Harmon Gym (I still do not call it Haas) to watch the Bears eat one more cupcake, I just hope they don't get an ill feeling from the game.

(Side note for my buddy Dils, March is the 15th anniversary of Jason Kidd and Cal beating Duke, 82-77)

For a drink before the game, and hopefully a celebratory drink after, it will be Raleigh's on Telegraph. Large beer selection and good food. Raleigh's is at 2438 Telegraph Avenue (between Channing Way & Haste St) Berkeley, CA 94704

Best Ride In Town

This mid-morning, I had to go over to San Francisco for my work department's holiday lunch at the Slanted Door. I have eaten at the Slanted Door several times and enjoy the food, no Cocktails on this visit -- work function, but it was the way we got to the restaurant that I enjoyed the most. We took the opportunity to ride the Oakland/Alameda Ferry over to our luncheon. It was the ride over that made me remembered why I like to commute on the Ferry.

First of all no driving and no Bay Bridge may be reason enough to take the ferry, but it is the view that the boat ride gives you is what makes this a special trip. See, I like to take photos and I remembered to bring my camera for the ride over and it gave me the opportunity to shoot a few photos. (To see some of my photos go to my Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/john-alameda/. Link also on the left.)

When you shoot photos you try to find view that very few people see or capture light that gives a shape or object a new feel. So the ferry ride provides this opportunity for a different view, a pleasant trip and if you are so inclined a drink. Coming back from San Francisco, I shot a container ship, with tugs almost the entire way down the estuary. Something I rarely can get close enough to capture a good photo, and today I was able to get a a couple good shots.

So grab you camera, get a drink and find that special spot on the ferry to get your photos.

To stay true to this blog, the Ferry also has a full bar and it the only public transportation in the Bay Area that I know that allows you to drink. So get a drink at the bar and head to the stern of the boat and enjoy the ride. For those of you on a budget, I have brought my own drinks on board for the trip over to AT&T Park for Giants games. I do not think any would notice if you found a spot and had a drink.

What is the Perfect Movie

Will This Have to Do?

Well the rain is here, but compared to back East with all that snow I feel lucky. Tonight feels like a movie night and I have been thinking what would be the perfect movie for this evening. So tonight, I will fire up the fireplace with a Duraflame and poor myself a tall Scotch and settle in for what the film industry has to offer. Something about Scotch on a cold, winter day that makes the evening perfect, but back to the task at hand, what will go into the DVD player tonight?

Tough call! You could go with a classic or something new. Then there is genre comedy, drama or thriller. What will it be? So I logged into Netflixs to get a few ideas even though I would have to stop by the video store to pick it up for tonight. The first criteria is: I must not have seen the movie. So in the Top 100 it was a bust I had either seen it or just wasn’t interesting enough for this evening. Going with the general population is never a good call, especially if you want something of substance. Let’s just say the general public forked over a $100 Million for “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.”

So click, over to the critics choice. “The Namesake” looks interesting. Not sure how Kal Penn from “Harold and Kumar: Go to White Castle” will do in a dramatic role, but will put it on the short list. Also “Brothers” caught my attention. Still not sure if I found the right movie.

I decided to look at Best Picture Academy Award winning films to see if they lend any inspiration. I started in the 50’s with a greater hope that I could actually find the film tonight. I was surprised that I had seen most of the movies and with great pride I can say that the few I did not see (The English Patient, Titanic and The Lord of the Rings) I was glad not too. I will not break my vow to never, ever see Titanic.

Out of desperation it is now to Google. The search “Best Movies Ever” produced a list of 1,000 movies from the NY Times. This will take some time . . . okay my ADD kicked in, the list is too long and my attention too short. IMDb has a shorter 250 list. Man! I have seen a lot of movies, almost all 250, probably 200 of them. Still at a lost.

Well at this point the fireplace, the Scotch (an even taller glass than planned) and maybe my Animal House or Fast Times DVD will have to do. I will take any recommendations from you on the best movie for a rainy evening to save this evening.

Stay Dry.

Viva Havana Restaurant

Viva Havana Restaurant

For the past six months, as I walked by the corner of Webb and Park Street, a giant menu pasted in the window had been announcing the coming of a new restaurant in this space that housed former Vietnamese noodle diner. After extensive renovations to this corner space, Alameda has a newest restaurant offer Cuban dining. Havana launched with a soft opening last Monday and promises a variety of Cuban cuisine and an expansive Mojito menu.

So when I saw the door open and people dining on Tuesday Night, I called to set a reservation for six for Saturday night. I quickly learned that Havana only takes reservations for parties of eight or more, but my group and I were not deterred and venture out to see what Havana had to offer.

The entry, waiting area and bar tables are a bit sterile, but the Cuban music gave the place warmth, besides we were hungry and excited for this new place. I put our name in for a table and I was told that it would be a 15-20 minute wait. It was now a perfect time to begin sampling the mojito menu. You can order mojitos by the glass ($6-$7) or by the pitcher ($30-$35). The group decided on a pitcher of the Traditional Mojito: Bacardi Light Rum, Mint, Sugar, Lime Juice, Splash of Soda. Very good and the pitcher was large enough to serve all six with a little left over.

After a 10 minute wait, our table was ready. Entering the dining room you could sense the change in mood from bright and sterile to a warm and inviting. The dining area had the lights lowered, music filled the space, spices lingered in the air, and the tables were well spaced so you could enjoy talking to the people you were dining with. I was now fully anticipating what Havana had to offer for food. Our party wanted to try a variety dishes so we ordered tapas for the table to get a sampling.

Here is what we ordered off the tapas menu: Boniato Garlic Fries with Guava Chipotle Sauce & Chimichurri $6; Twice Fried Plantains with Pineapple Salsa $7; Plantain Maduros with Manzana Glaze $7; Halibut Ceviche Cured Halibut, Mango, Black Beans, Onions, Peppers and Cilantro with Plantain Chips $9. The Ceviche and Plantain Mauros were my favorites; others at the table enjoyed the twice fried plantains.

More Mojitos, this time the 10 Cane Mojito: 10 Cane Rum, Mint, Sugar, Lime Juice, Splash of Soda. A well balanced drink but bit on the sweet side for me.

Our group focused on entrees we ordered: Cane Glazed Pork Chops, Chicken Adobo (way different than Pilipino version), Plantain crusted Halibut and the Ropa Vieja. The Ropa Vieja is Spanish for "Old Clothes," and is a popular Caribbean dish consisting of shredded beef (often skirt or flank steak), vegetables, and a sauce. The Ropa Vieja was the winner at the table. Very tender steak served with black beans and rice. A well balanced meal, which had a comfort element. This will be a staple for me when I go back.

I need to mention the photographs in that are place throughout the restaurant.

They are very large print from a young local photographer that went to Cuba on a Cultural exchange visit. The detail and color of his photos are fantastic. I forgot his URL this morning but will update later.

I have to give Havana a Muy Bueno rating. It is a good dining experience, good food, full bar and a helpful staff.

Salud.

Best quote ever on Food and Cuba:

[Spicoli has had a pizza delivered to class]
Mr. Hand: Am I hallucinating here? Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?
Jeff Spicoli: Learning aboutCuba, and having some food.

Havana Restaurant
510.521.0130
518 Park Street
Alameda CA 94501

http://www.havanarestaurant.net/home.html

Cocktails and Movie

Forget the popcorn, give me a Patrone Margarita before the show. This exactly what you can get at the new Sundance Cinemas Kabuki. Yes, same Sundance of the Film Festival and Robert Redford fame. When I read the San Francisco Chronicle article announcing the opening I new that this was a must for this weekend, so I venture out for their Grand Public Opening Friday Night.

For San Francisco’s Fillmore District this is a perfect new addition to the neighborhood. The former AMC Theater is in the heart of a neighborhood that is one of San Francisco’s greatest neighborhoods and has entertaiment venues such as Bill Graham’s Rock Palace “The Fillmore,” John Lee Hooker’s “Boom, Boom Room” and the new Yoshi’s at the Fillmore Heritage Center, but over the years this theater had become aged and an afterthought for film goers with the opening of AMC 1000 Van Ness and Metreon. Sundance did a excellentjob renovating and creating an upscale Cinema that no longer has to take a back seat.

My experience started with online ticket purchasing for this adult oriented theater, Adult as in age not content, and I am so glad that I bought ahead of time. In my opinion, this is the best feature of the Kabuki, the ability to reserve seating in the over-21 balcony section. I strongly suggest using this feature we walked straight through the full lobby of people waiting to purchase tickets and straight to our theater. With San Francisco traffic, which I experienced in full force Friday, you can breath easier knowing that your seat is saved and waiting for you. My wife and I saw Juno, very funny and a great measure of the type of films that the Kabuki will book.

The Kabuki has three dining areas with full bars. A downside is you cannot move from one dining section to another with alcohol, so in the adult only balcony the bar is slammed before the movie starts. The service was a bit slow, staff getting to know the bar and one cash register, but being a veteran of sporting events and concerts I just bought two drinks so I would not have to get up during the movie.

I dined after the movie. Take my advice please; plan to eat after the show. The Kabuki shows no ads and only two to three previews, the show start almost at the publish time. The menu and wine selection has a wide variety to select from for almost any taste. My food was good, the attempt is a fine dining experience, but what it is well presented pub fare.

I would definitely go back, Theater 1 w/balcony is very comfortable, and a great place to watch a movie. The design is really to make you feel a different movie experience.

For another place to get a drink, food and a movie try a trip across the bridge in Oakland. I am a big fan of Oakland’s Parkway Speakeasy. The owners treat like hanging out in you best friend’s basement. This is a totally different experience than the Kabuki, but this is the first time I was able to have a top shelf cocktail at a movie theater. Alameda plans on having an adult only section in it’s newly renovated theater that is to open this Spring.

Parking: Try Japan Town Garage ($2.75 for three hours with theater validation)

Sundance Kabuki
Address
1881 Post Street at Fillmore
San Francisco, CA 94115

Phone
415.929.4650
http://www.sundancecinemas.com/kabuki.html

SFGate Article (Thanks for the Photo)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/12/DDIETS6M3.DTL&hw=kabuki+cinema&sn=001&sc=1000

Parkway Speakeasy
http://www.picturepubpizza.com/

1968 Revisted -- Not So Great Flashback

1968

I was three years old in 1968, and very unaware of what was happening 65 miles west of my Central Valley Home in the San Francisco Bay Area, but since moving to the Bay Area I have found that those events have shaped the region over for the past four decades. The late 60’s and early 70’s left good and bad imprints for those who love living here in California and in San Francisco.

So last night, it was with great interest that I settled in to watch Tom Brokaw’s retelling of the year. It originally aired on Sunday on the History Channel, but thanks the DVR it saved me the commercials for this two hour special.

After it was over I felt like what I got was very superficial. Brokaw moved well through all of the major events of the year and the editing and music made it quite easy to watch, but what he failed to address was the cultural impact of the year. Seeing the impact of what was left in the Haight after the Hippies vacated and this former working class neighborhood and how it was transformed was left unsaid.

Brokaw did a cursory look at the impact of drugs and interviewed Haight Ashbury Free Clinic Founder Dr. David E. Smith and tried to speak of the dark side of the days but it way to little.

For the alternate view Brokaw interviews Conservative Pat Buchanan who called 1968 "the most divisive year in American history." This might have been the biggest overstatement in the show. My wife shouts out immediately “How about the Civil War.”

As a Bruce Springsteen fan the almost two hours was worth the his screen time. He was introspective and spoke of how it shape him and his music. Interviews with The Daily Show's John Stewart and the Smothers Brothers were funny and insightful.

I guess the real nugget was how much has not changed. The war quotes and political unrest very very similar and Spooky. 500,000 men figthing in Vietnam and we need to send another 100,000 or Winning the Fight over there or Orangeburg Massacre (Jena). How little has changed and that is what Brokaw missed.

The show tried to touch on the Vietnam War, the Presidential Election, Political unrest, Civil Rights, Women’s movement, Cultural Icons. This was prepared for the MTV generation with small bits and pieces and no real depth. This could have been a great project, and probably need to be done in Ken Burns style in 12 parts, but this documentary just made you wish for more. It came into focus that this was more about hawking Brokaw’s new book “Boom” then giving you any substance. The story was there, but Brokaw just stop short I guess it was a nice neat news package.

The show re-airs Saturday, December 15 05:00 PM.

1968 timeline - courtesy of the History Channel

• January 22 - Rowan & Martin's variety show Laugh-In debuts.
• January 23 - North Korea captures the USS Pueblo.
• January 30-31 - The Tet offensive in Vietnam shatters the American public's image of the war.
• February - The 1968 Winter Olympics open in Grenoble. Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy wins three gold medals in alpine skiing; Peggy Fleming takes the only U.S. gold, in figure skating.
• February 1 - Eddie Adams snaps the Pulitzer-winning photo of South Vietnamese Police Chief Nyguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong officer.
• February 1 - Priscilla Presley gives birth to Elvis's only child, Lisa Marie, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis.
• February 8 - Highway patrolmen in South Carolina shoot into a crowd of black college students protesting a segregated bowling alley; three die and 27 are injured in what becomes known as the Orangeburg Massacre.
• February 8 - George Wallace enters the presidential race as an independent.
• February 16 - The Beatles travel to India to visit the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In the Grammy Awards on February 29, album of the year goes to the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
• February 19 - The PBS children's show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood debuts.
• March 12 - President Johnson wins the New Hampshire presidential primary by a surprisingly narrow margin over anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy.
• March 16 - Sen. Robert Kennedy announces he will run for the Democratic nomination.
• March 16 - U.S. soldiers, under the command of Lt. William Calley, kill more than 300 Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai Massacre.
• March 25 - The TV show The Monkees airs its last original episode.
• March 31 - President Johnson announces he will not seek reelection to the presidency.
• April 4 - The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated. Riots break out in cities across the U.S.
• April 10 - In the Heat of the Night, a thriller exploring black/white social issues, wins five Academy Awards including best picture. Mike Nichols is named best director for The Graduate. The ceremony is postponed for two days due to the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.
• April 11 - President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
• April 23-30 - Anti-war protestors, led by Mark Rudd and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), shut down Columbia University. The protest will continue, in various forms, into June.
• April 29 - The Broadway musical Hair opens, creating a sensation with its profanity, irreverence for the American flag and its nude scene.
• May 13 - The United States and North Vietnam begin peace talks in Paris.
• May 13 - After massive student protests erupt in Paris, French workers join them for a one-day general strike in which nearly 800,000 people march through the streets protesting police violence and calling for the fall of Charles de Gaulle's government.
• May 30 - The Beatles begin recording the White Album. It will top the charts.
• June 5 - Senator Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan after winning the Democratic primary in California.
• July 25 - Pope John Paul VI publishes Humanae Vitae, condemning birth control and abortion.
• July 28-29 - The American Indian Movement is founded in Minneapolis.
• August 8 - Richard Nixon wins the Republican nomination for president.
• August 22-30 - In Chicago, police and anti-war protestors clash outside the Democratic National Convention, leading to the arrest of the Chicago Eight (later the Chicago Seven) - some of whom were Bobby Seale, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and Tom Hayden. Hubert H. Humphrey is nominated as the Democratic candidate for president.
• September 7 - Members of a new Women's Liberation Movement protest the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City.
• October 17 -Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their arms in Black Power salutes while receiving their summer Olympic medals.
• November 5 - Richard Nixon wins the presidential election.
• November 5 - Democrat Shirley Chisholm of New York is first black woman elected to Congress.
• November 22 - William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols share the first interracial kiss on U.S. television in the Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren."
• December 3 - Elvis Presley's "68 Comeback Special" airs on NBC.
• December 24 - Apollo 8 orbits the moon, sending back the "Earthrise" picture credited by many with fueling the environmental movement.

For further information on '1968', go to http://www.history.com/1968

Flora

Flora, originally uploaded by John Oldham.

Tried this new restaurant in Oakland last week and was very impressed. Flora is in the former Oakland Floral Depot (1900 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA) at the corner of 19th and Telegraph across from the Old Fox Theater. This addition to the neighborhood is an island business right now, not much around this transitioning neighborhood. With Lukas Tap Room two blocks away the neighborhood is getting geared up for the thousands of new Condos and apartments that are being built in Downtown.

The dining room is very clean, the light jazz music is at the right level to carry a conversation and the staff was attentive. The menu has prosciutto wrapped swordfish and NY Steak that jump right out, but they have a pork dish, chicken and vegetarian dishes. The wife and I stuck to the Starters with a couple of cocktails. The red braised short ribs, pan gravy, crispy potatoes, cheddar cheese béchamel was fantastic. By the way I had to look up béchamel (Béchamel sauce also known as white sauce) thank to Wikipedia once again with the soup and a salad was just right for the late evening fare. The wine by the glass and beer list is very good. But take a gander at the cocktail list.

If you are looking for an inexpensive evening this is not it, the prices were a bit on the high side, $16-$25 for an entrée. If you are going to show at the Paramount Theater or looking for a casual but chic place to have a drink and some food, it is well worth the stop.

The San Francisco Chronicle did a small write up of the restaurant.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/11/14/FD9NT9P3K.DTL

Fireside

Fireside, originally uploaded by John Oldham.

If you have not been to the new Fireside (1453 Webster St # A
Alameda, CA) it is a great place to settle in to have a Cocktail. The old Fireside had a lot to be desired but new owner Patrick has cleaned (that's a first for this place), painted, remodeled and made it a great place to stop after work or any night of the week.

My first encounter with the Fireside was 1980, long ago when sailors still roamed Webster Street and Ladies of the evening were hailing distance from the Fireside. I was 15 and it was a place that would serve me a beer. I was so nervous that the only thing that I could order was a Bud. Patrick now serves probably 30 types of beer now and that choice no longer has to be an option.

The Bar has two big screen tvs that are placed above the bar, so if you have a group or you are out on a date it does not have to be the focus. Pool Table is by the old fireplace. The liquor is top self and the offer a menu of Cocktails.

Downside -- Cash Only! I understand that they are trying to resolve this, but it is a bit inconvenient. Good atmoshphere, check it out.