Uptown Night Club

I have visited the Uptown for about two years, maybe three, Uptown deserves a stellar review!
I met one of the owners, Larry, several years ago at the pool of my building while tanning. He was such a charming person and invited me to check the place out when I had time. How could I refuse such a sweet offer?
I invited a few friends I know who are always interested in property in Oakland – a bar owner, a restaurant owner, and an investor – and we decided to see Larry’s place. It was phenomenal. So big, so spacious, so inviting.
I pulled up and Larry had the spot right in front of the door marked off for me to park. SO SWEET!!! We were welcomed in and felt like celebrities with all the amazing touches Larry provided us. I met his star bartender Desiree – LOVE HER! All the girls were cute and really hospitable. Each time I have visited since, Desiree always welcomes me and makes me feel special – people like her are hard to find.
Larry took us on the tour of the massive club. He had a cool patio outside where the yucky smokers hang out, but also told me it doubled at times as a tamale and taco stand – Tuesday Tamale night, I believe. YUMMY!!!
It happened to be «Hella Gay Night» when my friends and I went the last time. Lots of great music, live DJ, great atmosphere. This is a wonderful venue. I have visited when there were cabaret shows, live music, theater, etc. Larry always has something great planned. I have even stopped in on a New Year’s eve as we crawled through Oakland.
I heard Uptown is closing soon… SMH…how sad. Oakland’s bar scene will miss you Larry with all your great ideas, your cool people, and your fun club.
Love you Larry!

Live music and cheap drinks.
I had a blast rocking out at Uptown. I got a chance to see several fun bands play live for only 8 bucks. The place never got too crowded so getting drink refills was never a problem. The drinks are not only pretty cheap, but strong, so a little can go a long way. I also like that the stage and bar are in separate sections, so you can compartmentalize your fun.
Another cool Oakland destination!

surprised to see Uptown open in the afternoon. Happy Hours now 4 – 7, M-​F.
selected draft beers available @5, not all
Uptown looks just like a long bar but isn’t.
there’s an upstairs, back room, and a stage somewheres
–live musical acts, burlesque shows featured .
draft microbrews about 6 taps, bottles also available, large inventory of artisan spirits
brew: downtown brown (5)
–stift stout, loved it
’montana” brown ale (5) unsure of brand
–mellow, less potent than downtown brown.
drips:
–attentive, talkative bartender
–nice background music
–fab place to hang out and chill and (for now)
avoiding the crowds.
3.5 stars
–not sure of wine offerings…
note: closing as of Nov. 5^th.

I’ve been to the Uptown twice and have been really underwhelmed both times. The first time was for a Mortified comedy show (hilarity of the highest caliber), but there just isn’t that much seating available here, so the vast majority of people were crammed in the back, and the staff at times were weirdly rude about it (crowd was great). Bar staff was nice if not particularly attentive with so many people.
The most recent time I was here, I went to hear a friend’s band play some random night. It was pretty empty, which is a bummer, and then manager (?) came at some time-​o-​clock to alert them it was time to wrap up, so they began their last song, which apparently wasn’t wrapping fast enough, because the manager (?) huffed back in twice to make a scene about tearing down, etc, as the band is clearly ending their song. It was awkward and unnecessary.
The drinks here are not particularly well made (I agree with another reviewer who notes the inconsistency of drinks: a gin/​tonic that is all gin, a cranberry/​vodka that is mostly cranberry… blerg), they’re not super expensive, but they aren’t great drinks, either. Also, the bar seems turn on the burners pretty early to get people out of the bar area WAY before closing time. ooookaaaay.
I’m in no way compelled to come here again simply for a drink, and I’d probably avoid this place unless there was a show I *really* had to see.

I come here Monday nights to see the Hubba Hubba Revue burlesque show and I’m never disappointed! The sound is always great. The place is clean. And the drinks are a good price and always strong and delicious! All this for $ 5 at the door? Tough to beat!

I know this is a nightclub and venue, but if someone is under 21 can they still enter to see the shows? I find it unfortunate that a lot of good acts in San Francisco have age restrictions. But there’s been some venues that have been lenient about letting underage kids enter as long as they pay for the show and have a large X on the back of their hands to notify the bar tender to not sell alcoholic beverages to them. So does anyone know about how Uptown works? Can I still get in to see one of favorite bands although I’m 19?

Great gathering place. Super location. Lots of good food and fun in nearby areas all within walking distance. Drinks are a bit pricey, but that’s expected in that area.

Just played a show there (Catatonic Society) & the entire staff did an outstanding & proffesional job at making us feel welcomed there!
Sound guy did a great job too! I don’t drink but was told the cocktails were great & respectively priced.
I truly hope to play there again & hopefully with a known act for a chance at REAL exposure for my band.
K

Went To Uptown For The First Time This Sat With A Friend… HUGE Place. There Was A Band Playing They Sounded Great. I Like The PhotoBooth Up Stairs And ALLL THE AWESOME ART. Gret Drinks The One Drink I Had (A+ Special) Was A Good Price For Top Shelf Vodka.($ 6) And It Carried ME DEEEEP Into The Night. So It Did A GREAT JOB.
Love Findng New Or Old Oakland Nigt Life This Palce Was Cool.

Good sound, reasonably-​priced drinks, somewhat of a small space, but cool, none the less.
I’d say more, but I was way too drunk to remember most of the experience. What I do remember is good!

Recently went here for a fundraiser and boy was this place a mess. First off the front cashier was extremely rude and pissed off for no apparent reason. (I simply asked if they accepted credit cards/​have an atm since we don’t have cash, and she BLEW UP on me)… well there goes my night.
Second, the drinks. I order a cranberry vodka and an old fashioned. The cranberry vodka was ridiculously stiff while the old fashioned had an excessive amount of bitters and water…
Do yourself a favor and just walk on over to Make Westing, at least those guys will make you feel welcome.

The owner/​booker of this club is extremely unprofessional, blaming, childish, dishonest & has anger management issues. I went there to see one of my favorite artists play that traveled from a foreign country. The owner threatened to cancel the show because there were not enough people there. (There were about 40 people there.) He also did not pay the guarantee that he agreed to pay her at all and denied any mention of it.

I had never been to the Uptown Club before, but I was about to spend my New Year’s in this crazy place. It is located in a somewhat dark and seedy area of Oakland. Believe it or not there was lots of parking options. 2 parking garages and some lots, we only had to pay $ 10 bucks for the evening.
The show for the night was Burlesque which I guess I was not prepared for. Standing in line I noticed quite a few people both men and women dressed in all sorts of get up. Some 40s & 50s pin up extravagant dresses. I noticed a few SteamPunks as well. There was a strange little man playing the accordion outside as well. It was a lot to take in.
The Club is cash only for admission; however, there is an ATM inside the Club that you can get your funds to pay for admission. The doorman will take your I.D. and hold it while you get your funds. Once you pay your admission you get your I.D. back. The doorman was much more cordial than expected as well as the woman who you paid your admission to. But it all stopped at the door, the Bartender looked like she was about to fall over from exhaustion. She acted like taking my order was something that she would rather not do, not the friendliest gal. I ordered a Mai Tai and it took her about 10 minutes (or so it seemed) to get the drink together. I had never seen a Mai Tai made with so many ingredients. From my past experience with the drink I thought it a rather simple concoction. And, when I received the drink it tasted terrible. I was too afraid to return it for a different drink because the bartender looked rather angry to begin with. I ended up giving it to a friend in exchange for her Cranberry and Vodka. I did not see any food options available and I did not ask since my drink order was already a bother to the staff.
The club is rather large and split up into strange divided areas. There is a large long bar area. You go through a little odd doorway and into the main show area. This area is quite wide and long, and there are no seats. There is also a balcony with couches and low slung tables. One thing I can say, the bathroom was clean.
The crowd was so rude I could not believe it. I was run over many times, had some drinks spilled on me. Several people pushed me over so they could pass me in line to my place in line to get to the bar. I don’t know that I would blame that on the bar. Since it was New Years the club was serving free Champagne to celebrate the countdown. However, it was not properly put together. People stood in line pushing and shoving to get to the bar to get their Champagne all to find out that it was located on a table at the opening to the club. The bar has a wood floor and it was covered in sticky, wet Champagne spillage. Let’s just say there could have been a more organized way to handle this instead of the pandemonium.
The show was great; I will be reviewing the Burlesque show with a separate Unilocal critique. At the end of the night I could not wait to get out of that place.

Great set up. I love that the bar area is separate from the dance/​band room.
Drinks are average price, but typically a heavy pour.
Very diverse crowd, cover charge is usually around $ 15.00 which isn’t bad considering you see 2 to 3 bands.

My friend’s band was playing here last Saturday and it was my first time going to the Uptown. I’ve been wanting to come to the Uptown, and see my friend’s band, so it was kind of like a 2-​for-​1. The cover charge was $ 15. I wasn’t expecting to pay that much, but oh well. There are 2 rooms in the Uptown and I think a back area too, but I didn’t go over there. The first room is the bar area and the second room is where the stage is. If you just want to hang out in the bar area, they project the band on a big screen, which is pretty cool.
And the Uptown is a pretty nice place and I would come back.
Actually, I probably will be back because I have another friend whose band plays here often.

A night at the Uptown is always entertaining. I’m into the overall darkness, strong but cheap drinks, and amusing people that show up. It’s a perfectly designed nightlife spot based on the variety of rooms and vibes (bar, performance room, smoking deck, balcony). The performance space being distinct from the bar is actually a huge selling point for me. They even have little tables set up to drink in peace away from the noise. Good luck snagging one when it’s poppin’ off though.
The bartenders take the time to be friendly even when it’s packed. The drinks I had, as simple as they were, packed a punch, which was nice because it took so long to get another round. Even though I am partial to whiskey, I was lured into trying a raspberry lemon drop. Can’t lie, it was pretty wonderful. I’d recommend it for girly drink lovers.
Now…the BUT.
All of the times I’ve come to Uptown, it was completely unplanned. I had no knowledge of the musical acts that would be performing and I was simply taken along for the ride. I’m just curious as to what brings people here to see these bands… Think lagging drummers, self-​indulgent songwriting, painfully dissonant harmonies, a duel of egos between the guitarists each turning themselves up until they were all you could hear. What I really want is to see how a metal show is done here but much to my dismay, I’ve been stuck with annoying Americana, whiny indie rockers, and something that was trying to be but should NEVER be mistaken for soul. Even so, the place is always packed. What gives?
The last time I was there, the mix was horrible. Imbalanced and piercing. You could hear the dynamics of the music better when you were outside on the smoking patio. When I walked inside, the sound guy had his back turned to the board, just texting away. The band that was on must have offended him prior to going onstage as he was exhibiting zero fucks given nonchalance. You’d think that the sound being that terrible would upset him personally. Guess not.
If you go for a show at the Fox first, I believe you’re guaranteed free entry. Not sure if that goes for nights when they charge a cover though. It’s also conveniently located near BART if you feel like really letting your hair down.
I’ll be sure to peek the calendar before returning!

Der Club ist geteilt, der vordere Bereich beinhaltet die Bar
mit einer Leinwand auf der man den Liveact verfolgen kann. Der in einem Nebenraum stattfindet. Die
Akustik ist sehr gut. Geboten werden Punk bis Rock vielleicht auch mehr.. .

cheapish booze + no cover + live music = 4 stars
Math!

Cheap beer, good sound, chill smoking patio, and Blue Moon on tap.
I’ve seen a burlesque show here and a free local show (thanks, KALX). Some of the bands weren’t to my liking (Steel Panther-​type dudes playing generic radio rock… what?!), but the price was right.

I have a bad habit of beginning reviews with reviews of the restroom of the establishment, and letting that stand as synecdoche for the entire experience. I continue that habit here:
The men’s room at the Uptown has two urinals, en face, and no toilet. This is a bold and somewhat eccentric move. Who hasn’t, at some point, fantasized about removing a toilet in order to double urinal space? Waiting in lines, watching the guy in front of you take entirely too long for your bladder not to angrily do its best to scream at him to hurry up and stop shaking his junk, trying to figure out whether it’s poor form to close the stall door if you’re just peeing anyway. It’s a rocky road to relief – I know. But most of us wait until cooler heads prevail and think through the dire consequences if this decision goes wrong. For is it not a sign of barbarism to leave those in the greatest need to fend for themselves while optimizing for the masses? The bar shits are a calamity we all hope to avoid – but let’s face it; they happen. Let’s not turn a blind eye in favor of decorum or speed.
That having been said, I think this is a great bar. I love that the concert space is separated from the primary bar, so those wanting a drink don’t have to fight through throngs of listeners. I like that there’s an outdoor area in the back (often sporting a smaller bar with just essentials). I like that there’s plenty of space, and I like that every bartender I’ve interacted with has gone out of their way to be friendly.
For some reason, when I head out with my friends, we always end up at a cramped, overpriced, over-​loud watering hole, but I’m always glad when our travels turn us back around and we end up here. Thumbs up.

URBAN DOWNTOWN OAKLAND DANCE MADNESS!
THE SIT-​REP (Situation Report)
*DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!* [NO. That is not a command with the KLAXON HORN alert indicating that a SUB is SUBMERGING, but rather the heads-​up that we have entered the «DIVE BAR» ZONE!]
Absolutely had the best time at HOUSE OF USHER weekend! (August 13 &14, 2010).
The venue lends itself extremely well to special events of the Gothic-​Industrial-​EBM genre. With DJ X, DJ Nako, DJ RICK, and DJ PONTIUS, it was an AMAZING TIME.
But it doesn’t stop there! I also ended up here on Halloween eve 2010 for Hubba Hubba’s Special Halloween Extravaganza, and THAT was Spectacular Spectacular if I don’t say so myself.
THE LOWDOWN
If there is an a special event here, I am likely to go attend because I know I will have a GREAT TIME!