Oakland's happy hours are cheaper than San Francisco's and easier to reach on BART, which is most of the pitch. over 90 bars keep windows across the city, most opening at 4 PM with a sizable 3 PM contingent, and a full third of them run on weekends or every day — rare for a Bay Area city. The prices hold up: $3 pints all day at Two Pitchers Brewing, $5 craft cocktails at Bar Cesar on Piedmont, $5 margaritas and $4 Fernet at the Legionnaire Saloon, half-price wine and $3 tap beers at Khana Peena in Rockridge.
This guide covers over 90 bars in Oakland, California, with over 90 listed happy hour deals. All data is from Happy Hour Map, updated regularly.
Uptown carries the density — Telegraph Avenue and Broadway between 14th and 25th put Cafe Van Kleef, the Legionnaire Saloon, North Light, and Hello Stranger within a walk of the 19th Street BART station, with Two Pitchers, Cellarmaker, Low Bar, and Mua a block over on Webster. Temescal continues north up Telegraph past 51 & Tel and Co Nam's 20% off beer and wine. Old Oakland's Washington Street adds District and The Fat Lady, and Jack London Square runs down Broadway to 2nd and 4th with the Elbo Room, Merchant's Saloon, Oakland United Beerworks, and Heinold's. Rockridge is the College Avenue strip running north from its BART station — Acre's $5 wells, Ben 'N Nick's, McNally's, Holy Basil Pho, Khana Peena — and Piedmont Avenue runs parallel a mile west with Bar Cesar, Kona Club, and The Wolf. Grand Avenue and Lake Merritt catch The Star on Grand, Room 389, Lakeside Lounge, and Baggy's by the Lake, while Fruitvale, Montclair on Mountain Boulevard, and Glenview on Park Boulevard hold the neighborhood end.
The classic happy hour move. Here are some of the best well drink specials in Oakland:
Draft deals are everywhere. Here are standout spots:
Margarita specials are an Oakland staple.
Ride BART and stay near it. Nearly every dense cluster here — Uptown, downtown, Old Oakland, Jack London Square, Rockridge — sits within a few blocks of a station, which makes Oakland one of the few metros where a three-bar evening needs no car and no parking. About one in three of the over 90 listed deals include a weekend or every-day window, so Saturday and Sunday afternoons are genuinely live here, unlike most cities on this map. Watch for the percentage-off listings rather than the flat prices — Co Nam runs 20% off beer and wine, Khana Peena halves its wine, Rockridge Improvement Club halves its arcade games — because those often beat a $5 flat rate once you order something decent.
BART-walkable crawls, weekend and daily windows, $3-5 pints and craft cocktails, Uptown and Rockridge, and percentage-off wine lists.
This article covers the highlights, but there are over 90 happy hour spots in Oakland total. Download Happy Hour Map to browse them all on a map with live hours, "happening now" filters, and one-tap directions.
Browse the full list on our Oakland happy hours page.
Happy Hour