Room 389

Great local watering Hole. Super amazing service wonderful drinks and they have pop-up food out front that changes daily.

Room 389 in downtown Oakland had potential — cool location, decent crowd, music was alright. But all of that went out the window thanks to one incredibly rude bartender. I was out celebrating my birthday and asked, politely, if they offered any kind of birthday discount for a drink. Not only was I met with a flat-out “no,” but the way it was said was condescending and dismissive, like I was out of line just for asking. No smile, no courtesy — just straight attitude. The energy shifted immediately. It made me — and the people I was with — feel unwelcome, like we were bothering them by being there. It’s one thing to not offer a discount, but it’s another to treat a customer with zero respect. Especially when they’re out trying to enjoy their birthday. That bartender’s attitude single-handedly ruined the vibe of the night. Won’t be coming back Wouldn’t recommend to celebrate birthdays here. 60 bucks just on three drinks

Loved the vibe of this bar, went in to meet some friends. I love the location, decent street parking for 5pm. The drinks were well made and the bartender was nice to chat with. Next time I’m in the town might have to swing by again!

Love this bar. A chill, cozy bar with excellent cocktails and a coffee counter with snacks till 3. You can easily meet friends or do work here. Dogs are welcome! They have a small outdoor patio, and plenty of indoor seating. With skylights the place is well lite. I'm never disappointed when visiting here.

Nice bar, good prices. Friendly staff. Good vibes. Parking can be a little bit hard

Love the cocktails, atmosphere, and friendly service. Coffee is good too. Large group tables, and pet friendly. DJ booth in back near the restrooms. There was a food truck parked outside (on a Sunday) which was great too! Accepts cards.

April 5, 2025 good selection of cocktails around $12. Awesome DJ set up.

A great place that starts out as a cafe and turns into a bar. Have stopped by for chill drinks on a Sunday afternoon and also to bring the house down for a Warriors game. They don't do cash (as of June 2022). Occasionally have food pop-ups as well.

I used to often go here after work. I will never forget the relaxing noise, if there is such a thing. It's cocktails nirvana in there!

Solid drink was had. Love the interior and the lighting. Place was solidly busy for a weeknight. Bartenders were helpful. Would visit again.

The views are great and the service is perfect and on time. Chill vibes and nice drinks.

great cocktails, friendly service, small selection of games available to play. whenever im in the neighborhood i like to stop by.

I need help understanding some of the bad reviews I'm reading about Room 389. Room 389 is a local bar where you can meet up with friends, cut a rug on Friday/Sat nights, watch a Warriors game, read, bring your dog, or vibe out with a Paloma after work. I visited 389 a lot 2014+ to watch sports, during COVID to grab to-go cocktails and coffee, and today, love coming here to catch up with friends and visit the resident DJs. The staff is always friendly. The owners and managers are wonderful. Room 389 is also dog-friendly, a big plus, and the bartenders are very receptive if you kindly ask them to change the channel to the Dub's game. :) +1 to the art they have here, love seeing them support great artists. What Room 389 is not is an upscale, pretentious cocktail bar where you're ignored or treated poorly. It's a neighborhood favorite that welcomes the community. I hope everyone continues to visit and support this great bar.

Fun bar with a lot of Halloween decor in October! We came on a Friday around 8:30pm and there were a few open tables with some standing room. We weren't sure if there was a set cocktail menu (it seems like there isn't), so we ended up getting some Long Island Iced Teas. The drinks were strong and smooth, and I got served pretty quickly at the bar. However, it wasn't ideal that the bartender didn't even ask if we wanted to keep a tab open. We had to pay and tip right away, so we actually left after one drink. Overall, this seems like a fun, neighborhood bar, but because there aren't any signature drinks, I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to come back.

Lovely ambience and service was great! Came here on a Friday evening around d 9pm, to meet up with a friend for a catch up. Was able to talk without yelling over the really great music.

This place had a great artistic vibe to it, the drinks are made very well. I loved my Bloody Mary, and the price was very reasonable.

We were strolling around the city and came by this bar, so we popped in to get a margarita which the wife was craving. The heavy metal bartender was super cool and she was busy running back and forth preparing all the patrons drink orders. The special drink was the Mango Slushy margarita which was delicious.

Very modern ambiance. A little quiet at times but can be a lovely atmosphere when it gets going. A good Friday night choice for sure.

The vibes here are 10/10. Love that they're both a cafe and bar. Great place to chill both day and night.

The question is WHY has it taken me so long to write a simple review for my favorite Oakland neighborhood bar? I absolutely love Bar 389. For YEARS I have come here to study/write during the day (everyone needs their work space with a full bar) and kick it during the night. When I say years, I mean over 10 years. This is THE neighborhood bar, like Cheers "where everybody knows your name" Service is always great. No matter time of day or amount of crowd, I feel that the bar crew do their best to be attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable. Courtney, Lalo, and Tyler stand out , but all have been super nice and make cute quality drinks. Feel free to ask them to make you something special, even a snazzy water. Although there is not an extensive food menu, the empanadas, chips, and salsa are delicious (the salsa is fire). They do not mind if you bring in outside food. May I suggest that good good Round Table across the street. Very cute atmosphere, a little hipster vibe. DJ some nights, good playlist the other nights. Plenty of board/card games to keep yourselves occupied in case conversations get slow. TVs for spots watching. Clean. Clean! bar and bathrooms, plenty of seating in and outdoors. Plenty of on-street parking. Overall just a chill vibe, chill clientele. Remember; cashless bar and, my favorite, drinks to gooooooo!

I'm not a big warriors fan.. actually let's be honest, I'm not a big sports person. However, yesterday I popped on over to meet friends at this cute bar in Oakland to watch the semi finals. The drinks were delicious but a tad overpriced. Even the chips were a little over priced ($6 for a small basket) but the habanero sauce they are served with was oooofff SO GOOD The crowd was so friendly too! We all cheered the warriors despite their loss and I really got into it despite not carrying about basketball. I took a star off mostly because the bouncer kept asking my group of friends to move even though there was no where to stand without clouding the view of the TVs for other patrons. We were standing in the corner near where I took this picture and 100% not interrupting the flow of traffic nor the entrance... so I don't know what the deal was there. Look forward to coming back!

So I have had this spot bookmarked for years. And I am so glad I finally made it! I love it here. The music was groovy, the drinks were great , service was excellent, crowd was cool. I had gin and grapefruit with real pink grapefruit. Such a fan of real grapefruit! Next time I want to try the warm apple cider. This is gonna be one of my go to spots now. The lighting inside makes it so cozy. Would love to come here with a group of friends and chill on the couch seating in the back. Plenty of parking when I was there. Bathroom was clean. Enjoy.

My go to bar in my neighborhood. Amazing staff, they're all like my family. Lighting and ambience is super clutch. If I need a drink not on the menu, they serve it right up. Really love they have people serving snacks and food on certain days. Love them, and always will:)

My friends and I came here on a Sunday around lunch time. We were looking forward to getting some drinks in to kick off our day in town, and were really excited but we walked into an empty bar with one bartender who didn't even bat an eye at us. The menus were void of any food or snacks that would be worth buying and when we finally got our drinks, we weren't very happy with them. My sangria, which I expected to be rather sweet, was the strongest sangria I've ever had. I couldn't finish it and had my friends help. One of my friends got a grapefruit drink that sounded delicious but when we tried it, we just tasted salt (and not just from the rim). Service is definitely lacking here and the bartender didn't seem to put much care into our drinks. The only thing she didn't mess up on is the rosé because it just comes from the bottle. If you plan on coming here, don't do it on a Sunday afternoon. I'm assuming it's better at night.

Pretty good This is such a cute bar I stumbled upon on the way home. I definitely will be coming back to grab a drink with the girls. ** What I got: - matcha latte with oat milk: fairly regular matcha latte. Doesn't really have the real matcha kick. 3.5/5 stars $6.50 I would come back just to grab drinks with the girls and maybe skip on the coffee and lattes, lol.

The staff are okay. Somehow EVERYtime (4x) I've come here my friends card is used for some transactions (e.g. an Uber to the city) and she has to dispute the transactions. Needless to say, use cash only at this place!!! One of my friends forgot her card there, went back the next day and they added an extra $30 fee for storage and retrieval? Count your change, I was shortchanged $9 once and had to call the bartender over! Ugh!!! The drinks are cheap and the atmosphere is great with art all over the walls! Went on trivia night, was fun!! Good place for 1 drink in cash!

Listen....there are very few establishments that I will throw my whole weight behind, but room 389 is the one. She is that girl. I've been living in Oakland for 10 years now and drinking in this bar for just as long. The bartenders are incredible, the ambiance is immaculate, and the drinks never ever ever miss! I can't rave about this bar more. It's a neighborhood bar with a whole vibe. Kindest humans ever...oh did I mention they do to-go drinks?!? Literal perfection for grabbing a Bev and chilling at the lake

I have been here a few times this winter, in the afternoon on weekdays or early evenings on the weekends, I've never really been there for the late evening crowd which I understand leans more into being a cocktail bar experience. In the world of cafés plus bar combinations it can be hard to find anywhere that strikes that balance, let alone one that executes it as well as Room 389. *Drinks* My experience there has been consistently positive because of the bartenders who can make or break a bar in my opinion - one bartender in particular who was running things alone seemed knowledgeable and professional on a couple visits. They have made great alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks as well as offered rewarding suggestions when asked. One of the best lattes I've ever had, which I was a pleasantly surprised by since I wasn't really expecting coffee there at all there on my first visit just walking by. *Atmosphere* It seemed like quite a few people go there to work and I can see how it could be a productive environment in that it's generally pretty peaceful with reasonable distractions - it's the kind of place people might bring their dog inside but it's a pretty mindful atmosphere and doesn't get too loud. It's a really versatile space because not only could you come alone, meet with friends, go on a date, read or do some work but they also have TVs for you to watch sports for example I recently watched the 2022 World Cup there.

Great cozy neighborhood bar with a relaxed style and vibe. Solid cocktails and beer on draft.

One star for the type of beers on draft, lack of rest of the other stars because of the service. Our party of 4 came in on a Saturday night and ordered two rounds of drinks. Out of nowhere in the middle of our second round the bartender came to rush us off of our table because she had forgotten to reserve it earlier. No one had come up to us before to let us know they needed the table. Instead they decided it was the best course of action to immediately begin picking up drinks and cards from our table because she needed us to move right now and it was a "non-negotiable." In her favor she offered to comp our next round but when we told her we were already on our last round (we weren't staying after how we had just need treated) she said "oh well, we'll keep it in mind to get you next time". That was our first time there and most definitely going to be out last.

Lately I've been feeling really depressed until I had the decadent chai latte at this establishment. It changed my marriage, my relationship with my father, and more importantly my relationship with Indian beverages.

This bar is so cute but they don't have non-binary bathrooms, what year is it? Supposedly either you are a man or a woman which is a very complicated and awkward situation for most of my friends. Fuck that. But the bartender Kat came outside personally to give us some love and clarification. They will change it up soon in my dreams. It was amazing that Kat acknowledged my gay ass. In a world where trans rights and non-binary people are being hated on left and right I appreciate it. 100% @teamkat

Cute bar to say the least - it is most unique because they are open day and night and cater to an eclectic, diverse crowd. If you're hanging out at the lake or have just come from a walk or workout- it's great and super convenient to get refreshments here. I'm pretty much a regular here since there are so many venues/activities around the lake (and for some reason men love to meet here for drinks). I live in Millsmont and work in Emeryville, so I pass through this part of town between home and work - it makes such a good midway meeting place for happy hour/ after work drinking spot.

The decor and space itself deserves the one star. As far as the rest of the stars missing, that would be attributed to service. We walked in around 8pm roughly. Went straight to the back by the bathrooms and saw all tables pretty much empty. No indication of reserved tables. Our group of four settle in and go up to the bar and grab drinks. As the night goes on, the bar starts to fill up. We grab some cards and start to play. About 45 mins after we are playing cards the bartender (woman with braids) comes up to our table and begins to talk to one of our party members. I am sitting within vicinity so I can hear the conversation. Bartender says she's made a mistake and forgot to reserve the table we've been at for 2 hours at this point. That the party is waiting for the table so she has to clear it for them. My fiancée mentioned to the bartender is she could find us another table and if we could wait at that table until she does. Mind you three out of the four part my members still had half beers left. The bartender rudely switches up her attitude and snaps back I have to move you it's non-negotiable. As she says this she quickly starts snagging everything off the table except the half full beers. We grab our things and proceed to cash out our tab. She rings us up and took a beer off the tab. The issue was that a mistake was made. I understand we are all human. I felt as though it was mishandled very unprofessionally. Although, I initially apologetic at first, when question about alternatives we were met with an aggressive non-negotiable like we were being unruly. Will not be returning.

Great space, cool wall art, good draft beer selection, great cocktails and chill eclectic vibe.

It's the perfect bar. It's my local pub. It's an extension of home at this point. Some mornings I grab coffee there and stay long enough into the afternoon to get their sangria (arguably the best in Oakland). On weekend nights it's packed with friendly people, dogs, more dogs, and tasty food popups (think tacos, noodles, etc). Jamie and the crew are good people. The drinks are inexpensive and plentiful. The vibe is relaxed, friendly, and there's always good music. I can't ask for more.

What a cool spot near Lake Merritt! Great music vibes, dark and social interior, lots of couch seating , dog friendly and super bartenders! We stopped here for an after dinner at Grand Lake Kitchen. We enjoyed the Irish Coffees. Such a nice night in Oaktown!

I have always enjoyed this local bar but the change has been the dogs! The dogs come with their owners and it's overwhelming. Yesterday the dog was on the bar paws and all while the bartender is mixing drinks. Unsanitary!!! Did I mention I love dogs but not near our drinks!

It's one of my favorite bars in Oakland. I was so relieved they managed to stay open and survive the pandemy. I stopped by recently for a drink with my bf, I ordered their Spiked Chai Latte which blew my mind. The spice, the flavor, the viscosity, the balance of the rum *chefs kiss*. The ambiance has also improved a lot more. It used to be a lot more divey, but I really like what they've done to the place. Ambiance is super chill, this would be the perfect place for date #2, if work has you stressed & you want a nice, affordable, tasty drink, if you're in the neighborhood, if you want a quick shot, the world is your oyster, and this place delivers!

Sadly I was not able to experience Room 389 pre-covid but I dig the vibe of the spot: Coffee in the morning, optionally spiked, and a beer or a cocktail starting at 3p. I've only been a handful of times and haven't been disappointed with anything I've had. If you can find parking in the area and it's a nice day to be out, they're in an perfect spot to grab something to drink and hang out by the lake. The first 2 things that come to mind for recommendations are their Vietnamese coffee and their slushies. You might pay a little more than you'd expect for the slushies but they'll definitely hit ya...at least it did for me.

Great location that really adds character to the neighborhood. Whether to want a quick drink or a chance to listen to good music, this spot fits the bill

Nice place with a great vibe. Tried this during dry January. They were able to accommodate my requests for low and/or no ABV drinks.

We went here for a quick coffee trip after a Korean lunch date. And I will never forget how good my mocha latte. The place is cute and the staff service is great. From then on when we are in the area I make sure to stop by and buy a cup of coffee. Note: I don't drink alcohol but surely am addicted to coffee!

A great space to catch up with friends or get a little work done. Great service. Art. Smiles. Keeping a sense of humor is helpful too

Great bar on a vibrant street right next to Lake Merritt! It's cozy and has a moody atmosphere. I like the outdoor seating area in front and the couches in back.

We live in the neighborhood and thought we would stop by tonight for some beverages. Unfortunately the female bartender could not have been less welcoming... she was borderline rude from the minute i approached the bar. She had several other customers, so it took her a minute to get to me. She didn't even say as much as "hello... I'll be right with you." She ignored me (and the other guests) waiting to get drinks completely until she came over and said "What can i get you?". No hello or any niceties, even though i went out of my way to say "Hello, how are you?"... She was looking and acting totally bothered that i was ordering drinks. If you don't like people or being a bartender then find another job. We drank one drink then decided to go to Heart and Dagger where the bartenders are kind and who want to be there. If we ever stop by again and she is there we won't stay. We go out several times a week and spend lots of $$ but won't be spending any of it here anytime soon.

Dropped by for Happy Hour to relax. This place has a great vibe. Something weird happened that I want to alert you about. I ordered a Brown Derby. The bartender asked me if I wanted the house bourbon, Evan Williams or another. I chose Buffalo Trace. I noticed while he made me drink with EW. So did another patron. I mentioned it to him. He said Eagle eyes. Then he bought my drink. Not sure if this was a management directive, a mistake or trying to trick me. Just want to say watch your drink being made.

I came in the afternoon, around 6-7. Looking for a place to do some work. I was a bit wary of the description mentioning a bar and glad I took the dive. They offer a very pleasant outdoor seating with a high bar and chairs that offer both street viewing and more confided space in the corner. This inside was packed with people so it had that scene of the bar to offer as well. Free WiFi as stated and they serve a mean old fashion.

Stopped in on a late Sunday evening and really enjoyed my experience. The vibes were immaculate and the drinks were great. It was a nice crowd for a Sunday and we were able to sit at the bar. Our bartender was super friendly and attentive. Enjoyed my experience and I'll definitely be back when I visit Oakland again.

Good place to have one drink with a cute date! I had Modelo with the house tequila as a side. She had the hibiscus marg! The total for both drink orders came out to be about $20 ... Cool ambiance and I really enjoyed the music that was playing.

All-around good. The cocktails are great, and I really like their special blend coffee, which is infused with cinnamon and is delicious!

One star, bad service. Own your mistakes. If you forget to reserve a table for a large group, don't take it out on other customers. Treat people with respect. Definitely won't be coming back.

It's the ex's territory, so unfortunately I don't drop by 389 as often as I used to. But when I do, I go in head first and look both ways to make sure the scene is clear! I'm not trying to run into any mess! But once the scene is clear, I step my foot in that door and "IT'S A PARTY, IT'S A PARTY, IT'S A PARTAAAAY!" I genuinely enjoy Room 389! This is your typical neighborhood divey lounge with dim lights and bumpin' music! It's located off of Grand Ave and is super close to Lake Merritt. I've only come here during the night time, but during the day they function as a café serving brunch and coffee. I've never actually eaten here during the day, but I've heard that the food is pretty good. I will definitely need to check that out sometime in the near future. They serve up some very yummy cocktails and the atmosphere is very mellow and chill. The bartenders are generally friendly and they have a pretty good happy hour. The drinks here are decently priced compared to other bars in the area, and you can grab a nice cocktail for about $7-$8. The bar is long and beautiful! There are a few tables in the back to accommodate larger groups and this place is super dog friendly! I love coming here and seeing all of the cute pups roaming around! The crowd is very diverse and the people here are really friendly as well. It gets packed in here on Friday and Saturdays nights, and since it's small, it can get really warm. The bartenders here are pretty quick when preparing drinks though, so you won't have to wait a lifetime to start drankin'. This is a great place to come out and chill with friends and your doggies. Come to Room 389 if you are looking for a mellow bar in the Lake Merritt and Grand Ave area!

Best cocktails! My friend said, "that's the smoothest margarita I've ever had". Great place to chill, more lounge than bar = great!

Great little bar in the east bay. Fun atmosphere with a great selection of local beer, including sours, which is sometimes hard to find. Friendly staff.

I stopped by yesterday evening to grab a few drinks and would summarize Room 389 as a great place to hang out with friends. The place wasn't too crowded on a Friday night, there was plenty of outdoor seating, the bartenders were very attentive, and there's a very solid selection of beers, cocktails, and even alcoholic slushies! For the cocktails, you can opt for a double as well to save yourself a few bucks. If you like a spicy bloody mary, definitely try out the one from Room 389.

My favorite bar in the Bay. Great music, friendly energy from the staff and customers alike, and of course, delicious cocktails!