The Lush

~LOLÓ~ has a new cocktail menu, inspired by the Lotería card game. The drinks are all named after the graphics in the game, including Las Jaras (the arrows) with gin, rosemary-infused whiskey, St. Germain, and lemon, and El Diablito (little devil) with Wahaka mezcal, Ancho Reyes, Aperol, lime, and grapefruit…

Fans of sour and bitter beers will be excited to check out Sour/Bitter Fest at THE TRAPPIST in Oakland. On Saturday September 6th, they’ll be taking over the parking lot with 16 beers from eight different breweries (everyone is bringing one sour and one bitter brew) and bites…

Get serious about mezcal on Sunday September 14th at the Mezcal: Mexico in a Bottle at Public Works from 3pm-7pm. The event includes tastings of the spirit, from both small and large producers, along with cocktails and bites from local restaurants like La Urbana, Loló, and Sabrosa. Oh yeah, and…

A duo of soon-to-be-married wine professionals, Chris Wanner and Lindsey Repose, are going to be opening a wine and small plates bistro on Union Street in Cow Hollow, WEST COAST WINE-CHEESE. The vibe will be upscale but unpretentious, and since they both live in the neighborhood, they have a sense…

Back in the beginning of the year, we announced the news about BAY GRAPE, the Oakland wine shop from Josiah Baldivino (previously head sommelier of Michael Mina restaurant) and Stevie Stacionis (a wine writer who has also worked seven years in the front of the house at restaurants in Minneapolis,…

There is a new place to get a little cray-cray in Union Square: ROMPER ROOM, from scavenger hunt entertainment entrepreneur Joe Garvey. The space (by Craige C. Walters) is very, well, pink, with neon bar seating, an upstairs leopard print room, and bright stained glass windows. There’s a definite…

Martin Cate, owner of Smuggler’s Cove, has teamed up with bartender Alex Smith and managing partner John Park of Novela, and taken over the former Noble on Polk Street. Their new project is called WHITECHAPEL, after the rough and infamous neighborhood in East London. Cate says that with this…

We have an update on the upcoming beer-centric arcade bar in the Castro from Shawn Vergara (Blackbird) and his sister, Tiffny Vergara Chung. It’s going to be called BREWCADE, and the plan is to open this November. They have brought on Kai Villegas (most recently at Monk’s Kettle)…

~SCALA’S BISTRO~ is throwing their third annual Bloody Mary Battle on Sunday August 24th from 12pm-2pm. Don’t miss delicious brunch beverages from bartenders at Rickhouse, Novela, La Urbana, and Bergerac, to name just a few. The competitors will be tasked with this year’s theme, “Anything but Red,…

A report by Dana Eastland. We broke the news back in March that downtown Oakland is getting a new spot for tropical-inspired cocktails and spiritous adventure. It’s called LONGITUDE and comes from Suzanne Long, a tropical drink expert and rum educator who was previously the bar manager at Forbidden…