After beating the wrecking ball by being recognized by Oakland’s Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, this ramshackle former bait shop sits in a dicey area near the DMV, but that hasn’t stopped it from being a favorite among locals and A’s players. The ceiling’s so low you practically have to duck to get inside, and even then you risk getting wet from the leaky roof. That’ll help you cool down during an intense shuffleboard game, where you’ll get schooled by an old-timer who likely hasn’t left since the bar opened in the ’20s and has subsisted on free popcorn for decades.

https://www.thrillist.com/these-are-the-33-best-dive-bars-in-america

If dive bars were cats — probably stray cats covered in clotted fur and missing an eye, but cats nonetheless — the Kingfish would be proof of the old nine-lives theory. A while back, the ramshackle favorite of locals and A’s players temporarily beat the wrecking ball by petitioning Oakland’s Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board. Then, last year, it got threatened once again, this time by the wrecking ball known as gentrification. Well, the Kingfish flipped the finger up at incoming condos by hopping on a trailer and moving down the street, but kept everything intact, from the low ceilings that require a tall man to duck upon entry to the intense shuffleboard games. Hell, if we didn’t know better, we’d think that some of the patrons never even got up from their seats as the building was moved. And if they did, it was the first time that it happened in decades.

https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/the-best-dive-bars-in-america

Dive Bar Trail

The Best Dive Bars In The USA

Kingfish Pub & Cafe

Kingfish Pub & Cafe

Share Dive Bar:

Share Dive Bar:

Kingfish Pub & Cafe Check-in

Add Kingfish Pub & Cafe to Bucket

Login