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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Drunk In A Glass

Editor Pick

→ The tasty $9 margarita at Concord’s Las Montañas doesn’t seem particularly boozy, but it’s been known to put lightweights under the table before they can even get to the bottom of the glass. (An extra $2 will get you the same drink but with higher-grade tequila, such as Cazadores.) Those with ironclad livers can go a step further and order a $16 party margarita—though we here at Diablo assume absolutely no responsibility for any chaos that might follow.

If all that’s not enough, the restaurant serves heaping plates of authentic Mexican food, and a live mariachi band strolls the joint on the weekends.
1841 Willow Pass Rd., Concord, (925) 688-1396, www.lasmontanasrestaurant.com. —Justin Goldman

More Reader Picks

Bartender

Manny Hinojosa, Walnut Creek Yacht Club, 1555 Bonanza St., Walnut Creek, (925) 944-3474, www.walnutcreekyachtclub.com.

Margarita

Maria Maria, 1470 N. Broadway, Walnut Creek, (925) 946-1010, www.mariamariarestaurants.com.

Martini

Bing Crosby’s Restaurant and Piano Lounge, 1342 Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek, (925) 939-2464, www.bingcrosbysrestaurant.com.

Nightclub

Aura, 4825 Hopyard Rd., Ste. 10, Pleasanton, (925) 416-0777, www.nightclubaura.com.

Pickup Spot

Bing Crosby’s Restaurant and Piano Lounge, 1342 Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek, (925) 939-2464, www.bingcrosbysrestaurant.com.

Place for a Girls Night Out

Dinners Galore, 51 Wright Brothers Ave., Ste. E, Livermore, (925) 456-3257, www.dinnersgalore.com.

Place to Get a Cocktail

Bing Crosby’s Restaurant and Piano Lounge, 1342 Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek, (925) 939-2464, www.bingcrosbysrestaurant.com.

Venue for Live Music

Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland, (510) 238-9200, www.yoshis.com.

New Nightlife

Editor Pick: New and Notable

→ Two years ago, Livermore’s downtown scene virtually ended at the flagpole on the corner of North Livermore Avenue and First. Now, the new First Street scene east of that intersection is packed with recently opened restaurants, bars, and arts venues.

Entertainment includes the all-digital, 13-screen Livermore Cinemas and the jewel of the new downtown scene, the Bankhead Theater. The 500-seat complex brings in a range of performing arts and entertainment events. Across the street from the Bankhead, the SoCal-chic decor of Movida has staked out a claim as downtown’s poshest hot spot. Next door, Firehouse Bistro and Books attracts intellectuals with its espresso bar and wine list.

Perhaps the strongest sign of Livermore’s transformation to suburban chic is the Saturday night line waiting to get into Henry Beam’s Blue Bar, in a space formerly occupied by a cowboy saloon, where tallboys and a jukebox have been replaced by vodka Red Bulls and hip-hop DJs.

Livermore Cinemas, 2490 First St., (925) 443-7469,www.cinemawest.com/liv.html; Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., (925) 373-6800, www.livermoreperformingarts.org; Movida, 2417 First St., (925) 373-1002; Firehouse Bistro and Books, 2369 First St., (925) 449-3474, www.bistrobooks.com; Henry Beam’s Blue Bar, 2293 First St., (925) 373-3820, www.henrybeamsbluebar.com. —Peter Crooks