Places to Drink in Oakland

Whether you love sipping fine wines, up-and-coming craft beers or a damn good cup of coffee, you won't go thirsty in trendy Oakland.

This Californian gem is packed with breweries, bars and cafes. From the glitzy to the grungy, there's always somewhere for you to raise your glass.

Walk the Oakland Urban Wine Trail to discover the best wines in the state. It'll take you to hidden wineries, where they're working away to produce amazing wines using grapes from California's sun-drenched vineyards.

More of a craft beer drinker? You'll love the Oakland Ale Trail, taking in breweries, taprooms, pubs and beer gardens. Not a bad way to spend the day.

If a chilled-out coffee is your thing, join Oakland's hipsters in one of the city's excellent coffee houses. The Bay Area takes its coffee seriously, so you'll have no problem getting a great caffeine hit.

Here are a few of the city's drinking hotspots. Cheers!

Urban Wine Trail

  • Dashe Cellars is the biggest winery on the trail. See their production in action, then sample their delicious products in the outdoor wine garden in the summer or indoor cellar year-round.
  • For a fun, informal tasting, head along to Rosenblum Cellars down by the water. The wine maker is known as the "King of Zin" so if you like Zinfandel's, you are in for a treat.
  • Small-scale, sustainable wines are the order of the day at Campovida. They use organic processes to create hand-crafted Italian-style wines.

Ale Trail

  • For a taste of a traditional American beer hall, head along to Hog's Apothecary to sample over 30 local beers and some seriously tasty pork snacks.
  • Join the party at Lost & Found Beer Garden. Their suntrap of a beer garden is a lovely place to hang out with a pint.
  • In the mood for something different? Mix up all that beer drinking with a stop at the Crooked City Cider Taphouse.

Coffee Shops

  • Blue Bottle Coffee is one of the Bay Area's most popular coffee institutions. They pride themselves on serving coffee brewed from beans roasted within the last two days for the freshest taste possible.
  • For a varied coffee menu and gorgeous contemporary surroundings, Modern Coffee is hard to beat.
  • The quirky Bicycle Coffee Company started small but now sell their locally-roasted blends all over the world. They have even fabricated their own bike trailers for coffee deliveries via bicycle.