Safety meetings for everyone please!
If you are wondering what a
safety meeting is I must tell you that it is definitely not what you are
thinking. I am a substitute teacher by day and have been teaching K-12 students
for quite some time. As a substitute, I travel from school to school and as an
outsider, I am always so fascinated when I am able to stay at a school long enough
to get acclimated with the cultural and social norms of a school. My favorite learned social norm by far has to be what the staff at one school I worked at called a safety meeting. It was
basically a code red for “Yo, today’s been one of those days… Y’all want to
meet up for a drink later?” For which I along with the other staff would be
much obliged to say. "Yes." Bringing me to today’s topic… Happy Hour. A bit of a stretch huh? Not really. It’s the middle
of summer and right now I could use some adult conversation and if that
conversation happened to take place over frosty adult beverages and some hot
wings.... Well you prolly know the rest of that story.
According to the always informative website, dictionary.com, Happy Hour is cocktail hour and a longer period at a bar, during which drinks are served at reduced prices or with free snacks.-- I’m guessing it’s safe to add that there's discounted food too—Now Happy Hour usually happens in the
late afternoon to early evening and caters to an after work crowd. But there are some restaurants who offer a happy hour menu an hour or two before closing. The late night hours caters more to people who have just left a concert, a live staged show, or a sporting event and want to get something to eat before heading home. No matter the time of said Happy Hour, I must say that it is always my favorite time of the day. So let me just give you a quick rundown of my favorite places to enjoy Happy Hour or a "safety meeting" right here in the Town.
#5.Kincaids 1 Franklin St, Oakland 94607
When I think of Kincaid’s, I think of my first taste of Happy Hour
elegance. I mean before Kincaid’s I had no idea that happy hour could be exquisite.
I must admit that my first time at Kincaid’s Happy Hour, I was filled with happy hour
naiveté-- which usually involved me showing up to a place to hanging out with a
few friends throwing back shots of tequila and shoving hot wings and nachos in
my belly so I wouldn’t pass out--that all ended with my first visit to Kincaid’s.
The entrance to the restaurant alone says “No you will not holler WOOHoo!!! in
this place.”
The bar which is just a small portion of this restaurant sits
right on the water with windows from ceiling to floor. There really is not a
bad seat in the place unless you are sitting at the bar and that’s only because
your back is facing the window. And the waterfront views accompanied with
smooth musical sounds and laughter… How could you ever go wrong?
Kincaid’s serves up an Classic American Grill menu which includes Fresh
Seasonal Oysters, Smoked Beef Carpaccio
and of course Buffalo Wings with a house made hot sauce and delicious Maytag
blue cheese dressing and is no doubt one of my favorites on their menu. My
other favorites include the Oven Roasted Crab and Artichoke Dip, Country Fried
Calamari, and the Roasted Oysters Rockefeller. If you want to play it safe you
can order my most favorite thing to order when I am with my friends which is the
Kincaid's Tasting Sampler. It’s a leaping tower of goodness and includes the
Oven Roasted Crab & Artichoke Dip, Grilled Teriyaki Tenderloins, and
Coconut Prawns. It’s usually $31.95 but is $10 off during happy hour. They have
a huge drink menu too! During happy hour draft beers are a $1 off, their house
red and white wines are around $5 bucks and they have a host of special
cocktails for approximately $6 bucks. My favorite is the GREEN APPLE DROP which
is garnished with a thinly sliced of apple giving in refreshing crispy bite.
There is an extra bonus with dining at Kincaid’s. You can earn a
point for every dollar spent through their rewards program. You check out the
details of that by visiting their webpage at http://www.kincaids.com/rewards.php
Let me preface this entry by explaining to you that Twelve Bar is in the Marriott Hotel. The hotel sits in the heart of downtown Oakland at 10th and Broadway and can be quite busy no matter the time of day. The people that frequent Twelve Bar are both visitors to Oakland but there are quite a few regulars (pointing both thumbs at myself) It is both spacious and intimate with wide tables and electrical outlets everywhere. This is good if you want to have casual business meeting or write a blog. I like it because of the very reliable internet service. I also like that there are plenty of TV’s. If its basketball or football season I’m probably there with my laptop open doing work while simultaneously yelling at one of the many widescreens in the place.
The menu includes both drinks and food but is rather pricey. Before we go any further in this article you should know that I enjoy nice cocktail especially a delicious bourbon with ginger beer. I honestly never ever pay beer and wine no mind. So if you wanna know what kinds of beers they have on tap or blah blah blah about a restaurants wine selections I’m gonna give you a Kanye shrug so don’t bother to ask me.
I do know that Twelve Bar has a discounted wine and beer menu at a good price during Happy Hour. They even pour your wine in a cute little personal-sized carafe. The well drinks are around $6 bucks. They do have a food menu but remember it’s the Marriott and so come with a lofty budget. The menu has a delicious variety of food and you will definitely get full off the portion sizes. The staff is phenomenally personal and will honor any request within reason usually without the hassle of up charges and such.
My all-time favorite item on the menu is the Blackened Mahi Mahi burger. For $17 bucks you get fresh blackened Mahi Mahi seasoned just right on a toasted ciabatta bun. This meal also includes all the fixings like avocado, red onion, and lemon aioli. Be warned, you might scream when they lay that platter in front of you,. It is Giant! But after one bite you will not want to contain your nomnomnoms from all the yummy goodness. Their Juicy Cheeseburger is all that too and comes with your choice of 3 different types of cheese. Both sandwiches come with your choice of fries—regular, garlic, or sweet potato-- or a salad.
#3. Plum Bar 2216 Broadway, Oakland 94612
Plum
Bar has some wines, quite a few cocktails made with whimsical elixirs and a
full bar filled with bourbons and whiskeys. They also have something
called the HAPPY MEAL-- 1/2 lb Cheeseburger
or Falafel Burger with Smoked Fries and you can wash that all down with Draft
Beer of your choosing and
4 Roses Bourbon.
Now I've already told you that I am not big on beer but I hella love a yummy taste of bourbon. I usually have ginger beer with my 4 Roses bourbon. I've been told that they call that the Buck. I call it my Grown Ass Woman beverage and I sometimes do a little dance when I'm sitting at the bar with this lovely adult meal.
Listen up people!! This is not your Happy Meal from childhood. By the way Plum Bar's Happy Hour is Monday thru Friday 2:30pm until 5:30pm so you are gonna have to be quick about it.
Restaurant Chu on College Avenue is where Oakland restaurant-faire got its humble beginnings way back in the day. When I was growing up, College Avenue was the first place you thought about when you wanted to go somewhere elegant and eat. Well if you didn’t want to venture off to Jack London Square that is.
Interesting enough I came across Restaurant Chu while scouring the Town for food one hungry night. I along with my friend was ready to spend a hefty penny for some chic Asian food. We sat down at their strikingly unique chairs and table and was handed the most beautiful Happy Hour menu I’ve ever seen. *I was really hungry*
There’s a vast variety of small plate food and drinks on the menu which are designed for sharing—the food is at least. The menu is delectable with selections priced at $6, $7, and $8. There are pork buns and pot stickers, and dumplings. There’s also Ginger Lemon Ceviche, Garlic Noodles, and Ahi Tuna. Most of the meat is served on cute little skewers and include Cherry Pork and Xian Jiang Lamb. They have beers for $5 and house red and white wines for $7… And they have COCKTAILS!!!! Sophisticated and Dazzling Cocktails! It’s been a while since I’ve made the trek back over there. I might just run up from this keyboard right now if I don’t stop typing about them. Restaurant Chu’s Happy Hour is daily 4pm - 7pm and late night 9pm - 10 pm Friday and Saturday.
Room 389 is the spot where everything in Oakland is alright. Great people, great atmosphere, with an interesting staff of characters. Yes they have TV’s and good music but it’s just present enough to allow folks to chat and laugh and play trivia. When you come to this place you really have to be like “What evs dude, I’m just chillin’.” The folks in this place are easy going, low key, and dog friendly.
It was designed that way too. Room 389 is the old Golden Bear which was known for its party atmosphere. When the new owners took over they took the time to make it a attractively welcoming place. There are vintage books on the wall that are used to absorb some of the noise. There’s also a vintage sound system and tons of old records for the DJ's to play. With dark hardwood adorned with tropical plants everywhere, the soft ambient lighting comes from the elongated skylight above the bar. I am told the design was inspired by Havana, Cuba and although I’ve never been I believe it.
Room 389 is a place where you can meet up with friends or stop in while walking around the lake. Yes folks. Room 389 is drama free. A place where people from all sorts of backgrounds come together to drink, laugh, or root for their favorite Oakland team. The staff are mostly baseball fans but the place is jumping during a Warriors game.
My good ole’ reliable watering hole is open in the morning as well serving breakfast pastries and beverages including +bicyclecoffee and a spiked variety of espresso-faire. My favorite hot beverage is the Mexican coffee topped off with their housemade whip cream.
Happy Hour is every day from 4pm – 7pm, all night on Thursdays, and all dang ‘ol day on Sundays. There are plenty of specialty cocktails but being that well drinks are only $5, I much prefer the wide away of bourbons with of course ginger beer. (I'm really not that complicated) I do like to mix it up every once and while with a little Vodka. The grapefruit juice used in the Greyhounds like all of the other juices used in most drinks are freshly squeezed--right there at the bar no less.
Every once in a while they have a guest chef come to sell special plates. But if you want to bring your own meal from another restaurant feel free, they don't mind. There are plenty of places to grab delicious food to bring in from restaurants nearby. There's Ethiopian, Thai, pizza, and there's even an Indian restaurant right next door.
So yeah those are my favorite Happy Hour spots around the Town. I'm pretty sure there are 1 or 2 that you feel should be on this list or not on this list. But trust me, I've had a lot of frosty adult beverages at plenty of safety meetings.... There are a few honorable mentions I can put out there but how bout you help me with that. Leave a comment below or email me at hollaatus @towntrippin.net with a few of your favorite spots.
Did you know that growing up this Cy Young Award, 6-time All-Star, and former Oakland Athletic, was a star quarterback? In his senior year as a high schooler in Mansfield, LA, he threw for 3,400 yards and completed 35 touchdown passes while rushing for 1,600 yards in football. --Wikipedia told me-- But instead of going to college he headed for the big leagues to play the first 8 of his 17 years in MLB for the A's. Way to blaze your own trail Vida Blue. 
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