EAST BAY INSOMNIAC

LUKA’S TAPROOM & LOUNGE

2221 Broadway, Oakland • 451-4677

FEATURES:

• Limited bar food until 12AM, including dollar oysters (see dinner menu)
• Unique beer assortment. “Five of our sixteen taps are reserved for Belgian Brews and we offer over eight Belgian varieties in bottles.” (see list)
• DJs from “funk to punk, and from bhangra to be-bop and hip-hop and all shades in between.” (see events)
• Art exhibits
• Billiards table

OPEN UNTIL: 2AM (Wed-Sat) • 12AM (Mon-Tues/Sun)

PARKING: street

WEBSITE:  Luka’s Taproom & Lounge

REVIEWS: yelp

OAKS CARD CLUB

4097 San Pablo Abe, Emeryville • 653-4456

You may deduce that at the Oaks Card Club, you can play poker, Pai Gow, and blackjack, but did you know you can also eat hamburgers, Chinese, breakfast, and Hofbrau style sandwiches (but hopefully not at the same time)? Wash it all down with something from the bar. Then go back and blow some more money you don’t even have.

OPEN UNTIL: 24-hours!

PARKING: lot

WEBSITE: Oaks Card Club 

REVIEWS: yelp

STOGIE’S SMOKE SHOP & HOOKAH HUT

3288 Pierce St., Albany (inside the Pacific East Mall) • 558-1510

FEATURES:

• hookah rentals & bar
• billiards room
• big screen TV
• Middle-Eastern and hip-hop music
• complete headshop: bongs, pipes, papers, etc. available ’til 1AM! (see picture below)
• domestic & imported cigars and cigarettes (smoking allowed)

From their website: A hookah is a Middle Eastern water pipe fueled by a variety of fruit flavored molasses. There are no chemicals or drugs added, and what’s more, the water filters out all but 1% of the nicotine normally inhaled from an entire pack of cigarettes. Voted “Mellowest Smoke Shop of 2005” by The East Bay Express.

AVAILABLE FLAVORS: apple, apricot, banana, bubblegum, cherry, grape, jasmine, lemon, licorice, mango, melon, mint, orange, peach, rose, and strawberry, as well as our own “exotic house blends”

PRICES:

• $10/person Sunday - Thursday (includes hookah rental, DJ and pool)
• $15/person Friday - Saturday (includes hookah rental, DJ and pool)
• just hookah rental:  $10.00 minimum for 1-2 smokers, and $5.00 for each additional smoker after that; cover charge is waived
• just pool tables:  $10.00/hour; cover charge is waived

OPEN UNTIL: 1AM (Thurs-Sat) • 9PM (Sun-Wed)

PARKING: lot

THE EBI REVIEW:

Without sounding politically incorrect, Asians know how to get down after dark. Witness the Koryo strip-mall where one can partake of sushi, BBQ, computers and karaoke past 2AM. I thought that was pretty spectacular until one day I strayed beyond the Pearl Tea and Engrish stationery of the Pacific East Mall to the corridors that went from Hello Kitty to Hello Kind Bud. OK, minor exaggeration. There’s no cannabis co-op at the P.E.M. (yet), but if you’re a card-carrying member (or not), you can get all your smoking supplies at Stogie’s Smoke Shop.

I’ve been looking for something just like this place. Stogie’s is the epitomy of East Bay Insomniac, really. I’m holding it in that high a regard. Those Yelp reviewers can be a bit harsh, and I’ll address their allegations shortly. But honestly, not even on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley can you buy a bong (er, tobacco water pipe) at 1AM. Even non-smokers have got to appreciate that.

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McNally’s Irish Pub

The Oldest Irish Pub In Oakland

5352 College Ave, Oakland • 655-6469

FEATURING:

• beer and whiskey
• full bar
• Irish coffee
• billiards
• bar food
• fireplace and patio
• a portrait of JFK who once had a drink here during a campaign stop

OPEN UNTIL: 2AM

PARKING: street

REVIEWS:

THE WHITE HORSE INN

6551 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley • 652-3820

FEATURES:

• two pool tables
• smoking patio
• two table-top computer games (hot!)
•  two bars
• dance floor and high-tech sound system

OPEN UNTIL: 2AM

PARKING: street

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