Best of the East Bay - Nightlife

Best new bar, venue for live music, beer menu, new nightlife, happy hour, pickup spot...

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Q&A

Party Host

Editor Pick

→ We’re longtime fans of Brendan Eliason, the talented wine director at Va de Vi in Walnut Creek. At his urban winery, Periscope Cellars in Emeryville, Eliason makes awesome wines—and throws killer parties—in a former submarine-repair warehouse.

What kind of events have you been hosting at Periscope Cellars?
Everything from stand-up comedy to live jazz to movie nights—we’ve shown submarine movies and Barbra Streisand movies. One cool event was a fundraiser for Project Farasha, an arts program between American kids and Iraqi refugee kids who are living in Jordan. We had a signed Picasso on the wall that sold for $25,000.

You have a full kitchen right here.
That’s because the first season of Bravo’s Top Chef was filmed here. They called it San Francisco in the show, but it was really here.

How do you split your time between making wine and working
at Va de Vi?
It’s about 20 hours a week at Va de Vi and 80 hours a week here.

Any other Periscope events we should know about?
Our wine and yoga class, which we typically have once a month. This great yogi/wine geek comes in and gives a four-part lesson, in which you use the yoga to better appreciate the wine by helping your breathing, smelling, and taste.

Free happy hour every Wednesday 5–7 p.m., 1410 62nd St., Ste. B, Emeryville, (510) 655-7827, www.periscopecellars.com. —P.C.

Prohibition-Era Bar In The Tri-Valley

Editor Pick

→ Speakeasy-style bars are all the rage these days. The trend hit New York a few years back and then came to the Bay Area in the form of such stylish hangs as Bourbon & Branch and the Alembic in San Francisco, and Flora in Oakland. Now, the Tri-Valley has its own watering hole for Prohibition-era cocktails: Eddie Papa’s American Hangout. Owner Eddie Westmoreland is reviving drinks with backbone, from the absinthe-rinsed Sazerac and Corpse Reviver No. 3, to a house-made bitters–spiked Manhattan. Top-shelf spirits are the basis for all the cocktails, which will have you speaking easy in no time.

4889 Hopyard Rd., Pleasanton, (925) 469-6266, www.eddiepapas.com. —Kathryn Jessup

Happy Hour

Reader Pick

→ Two things have changed since July, when Diablo readers last chose Stanford’s Restaurant and Bar as the best happy hour in the East Bay. One, the Broadway Plaza restaurant changed ownership and added new items to its happy hour menu (hello, Sloppy Joe sliders). And two, prices went up on everything from gas to groceries—making the cheap eats at Stanford’s all the more appealing. Every item on the generous happy hour menu—from the $2 Southwest chopped salad to the $3 cheddar cheeseburger to the $4 crispy calamari—now costs less than a gallon of gas. No wonder Stanford’s was a slam dunk in this category again in 2008. Happy hour items are available from 3 to 6 p.m. and from 9 p.m. to closing every day.

1300 S. Main St., Walnut Creek, (925) 944-0895, www.stanfords.com. —Peter Crooks