George & Walt's
Categories: Dive Bars, Sports Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: North Oakland5445 College Avenue
(between Hudson St & Kales Ave)
Oakland, CA 94618 (510) 653-7441
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Music: Juke Box
- Best Nights: Fri, Sat
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: Outdoor Area/Patio Only
- Coat Check: No
62 reviews
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
"One of my favorite places in the city for Taco Tuesday Trivia night. They have some pretty sick tacos: veggie, chicken, steak & some other…" read more »
38 Reviews for George & Walt's
I went here last night w/ my bf. It was a nice, friendly atmosphere. The bartenders were nice, the drinks were cheap, and they had a good selection of songs on their jukebox. Only 2 pooltables so expect to wait all night to get in. It's a nice place to go w/ a group of 4 or more friends.
Are you a Shark's fan?
Well, if you frequent this place you will become one. On game nights this place is packed with knowledgeable and dedicated Sharks fans.
A Sharks bar... in Oakland.
They have tall cans of PBR for cheap and their "cheap pitcher of the month" is usually a very good mircobrew or import.
Game six was a little tough to swallow, but it was fun to scream, yell and live with every single minute of the 7 periods of that game.
Word of warning though, cash only. But they do have an "ATM" with ripoff fees.
If you want to hang out with all dudes, this is the spot for you my good friend. On Friday and Saturday nights there are some ladies, some. Its the bar you go to when you want to run into everybody that was in your third grade class in oakland that guilt trips you for _______(fill in the blank)
Some good pool players though. Small shots of booze. Cheap tall cans of pibber. Coke heads, oh wait thats every bar, so yeah, scatch that.
It was a better bar ten years ago when they had the shuffleboard table and no sports. If I won the lottery, I would buy that bar and shut it down, maybe.
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I love this place. Something about it just makes you feel good. I've had fun every time and I've been drunk every time. Maybe there is a correlation. It's nothing fancy, but you can't expect that from a local bar like this.
ATTENTION COUGARS!
Picture this: You in your expensive designer jeans, a gaggle of semi-reformed frat boys in their ratty sweatshirts and baseball caps, a few cheap drinks, nary another female in sight and voila! A night (or a few minutes, depending on your boy) of heaven. All made possible by George & Walts. Thank me for this later, after you've experienced the magic.
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Saturday's $10.50 pitchers including Boont Amber Ale. Worked for watching the Patriots beat the Giants. Don't know too much more about the joint than that though. : )
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When you DON'T care enough to send your very best.....in a karaoke performance.
The crowd is a weird clumping of college students and the "under 30". Karaoke is obviously not the focal point of "Karaoke Wednesdays" at the bar. Instead it was sports and pool tables.
We played "Tell Me When To Stop!" and I ended up signing Mariah Carey...it was horrible. Even when the KJ brought it down an octave. I suck karaoke donkey balls.
Nice staff....a smattering of lame "duuuudes", but overall sufficient.
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I'm trying to see this place as anything but a douche-bag magnet, but I'm not trying very hard.
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Hey ladies, ever wonder where all the boys disappear to on Sundays during football season while we're out shopping or getting mani-pedis?
I think they are all here, at George & Walt's. I'm not kidding. This place was wall to wall male today. Granted, there are at least five television screens with different games, which is bound to draw a crowd of football loving dudes...all kinds...from college boys to hippie boys to preppy boys to really hot boys with blue eyes wearing baggy khakis, Adidas, and a black hoodie smoking yellow box American Spirits (heh - my own personal CL Missed Connection)...but I digress. Yes, there are pool tables and video games (though no one dared to use them while the games were on). They have PBR in cans, they make my favorite drink (the Greyhound), and they pour heavy.
Add to that 25-cent Erotic Photo Hunt, and it equals one pretty kick-ass Sunday afternoon.
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I like this place because even on a Saturday night, they still have super cheap drinks! This and the abundance of cute girls...
I can't help thinking that George and Walt would really be much more at home wedged in between a Chico's and a 7-11 somewhere in North Dakota.
I have quite a few beginning nights here. Its a very odd spot for a gal like me. I enjoy the hustle and bustle of asses grinding and gyrating. Only b/c I love a good laugh and enjoy laughing at others. but none of that will go down here.
Instead u walk in get a beer...a good beer... and put some money in the jukebox. And while ur bottom is making its decent to the floor u may notice your surroundings... an odd mix of ppl drinking...heavily... just the way i like it. There are pool tables and video games around.
But i didn't have an interesting time once. I was taught how to play that silly game that they played on the Pirates of Caribbean. Something about a cup and some dice and shake and drop and yeah i was drunk i kinda forgot but it definitely wasn't a memorable moment.
So do urself a favor go here FIRST for a good beer... then go somewhere else
OR go here and STAY... but play Never Have I Ever AKA Dirty whore BKA Ultimate Whore. loudly.... free drink will soon ensue
cheers.
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Per my boss's suggestion, I decided to meet up on a first date here. He was from SF, and I'm from the valley, so I figured Rockridge would be a good halfway point for both of us to meet up at and explore.
We met up around 5pm to discover a semi bustling, but still laid back sports bar. We had no problems getting our drinks and the bartender was very nice to both of us. I asked her to make me something super strong and fruity and she definately came through for me!
There was plenty of seating and the mystery fruity drink she made me was super good. They also had a juke box in there and I recall a mix of Kanye West, Michael Jackson and Tupac playing in the background.
Two or three drinks later, my date and I decided to check out the other locations, and I think that's where the trouble started...
24oz PBR cans for $3.50.
Not quite a 40 and a bit pricey (cheaper on draft at Doc's Clock but hey, it's the East Bay), but my kinda place.
In any event, the buxom cutie serving up the sweet nectar in the 24oz aluminum can made the deal even sweeter.
That's all imagonna say.
Stop #1 on the Trial Run Bart Crawl: Rockridge Station / George & Walt's.
We had a mix of East Bay-ers and City Dwellers, so Rockridge was an ideal middle ground for the story to begin. About 8 of us straggled in over a period of an hour... It was a good place to get organized.
The good: very laid back atmosphere, with bit a divey-ness, a super nice bartender and some friendly clientele. When they heard we were on a BART Crawl, some folks sitting at the bar (and let's be honest, the people here were ALL at the bar getting sauced up on a Thursday) gave a few suggestions and looked like they could've been convinced to join the rest of us with a simple non-verbal cocked eyebrow invitation.
The bad: (well maybe not that bad) the soundtrack to this place was 1970's prog rock... Not the kind you recognize and sing to. The deep cuts. The "this was Frampton's side project during a weekend-long cocaine and peyote haze" kinda deep. I ought to be more appreciative, but honestly not sure it gave the kinda vibe you want in a boozing establishment.
The ugly: (actually more funny than ugly) the "ATM" at this place is actually a standard retail credit card reader that allows you to print out your own receipt for cash and take it directly to the bartender to barter for alcohol. It was like a fugue-state reminder of my days working at Old Navy, sans headmicrophone.
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Wanna have a reunion with the kids from High School who's social progress was measured by shere amount of glue that they huffed?? Well they're probably crowded around the trivia machine at the end of the bar here with the difficulty set to "retard".
Hands down winner of two very important dive bar categories:
Most likely to challenge your drunken "cougar" defense technique
Most likely place to be dry humped by a pool cue
One extra star for being across the street from my best friends' apartment. Another star for not giving me hep C.
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So a couple Fridays ago, me and a good friend were eating some Pho near my house. During dinner her phone rings, it's Vicky, her cousin who just recently came out of the closet.
She isn't sure where all the lesbians hang out.
Like, we tried to take her to the White Ho, but that's so bleh. So she calls and is asking us to help her find some lesbians for some Friday night action. Not as if either one of us know where to meet anyone ever. Gay or straight. She called and said she was at the Ruby Room, come pick her up to find some poon.
As we're walking up, my friend Fernando hollers for me.
"Heeeeyyyyyaaaahh Jess! What up!!"
"Ehhh. Nuthin. Say, where do lesbians hang out?"
"Ehhhhmm. Hmmm.The White Ho?"
"Naaahhhhhoooooo. Anywhere else?"
"I dunno. I'm riding my bike to George & Walt's though. Maybe there's one there? Meet me there!"
"Uhhhhhhh. Mmmkay! Great!"
So we scoop Vick up and head down.
We waltzed in and Fernando is plopped over by the fireplace. Kind of a sportsy divey watering hole.
Vick has to pee, but when she goes over to the bafroom, she notes there is no lock, so she has me on guard. As I'm standing there, this tall skinny drink of water shuffles over to chat it up.
"That's a gorgeous looking necklace you're wearing."
"Uhhhh. Wha? Thanks. Thrift Town."
"Awesome. Ummmhmm."
And he just stands there leering at me. I yell something to my friend, and then I run into the toilet. When I come out, dude is sitting with my friends.
Great.
I sit down and he's drinking up a storm. Then he busts out with some freestyle flow, he says he's majoring in Japanese, so then I force him to flow in Japanese, then I begin to flow with some Ludacris, then we all start talking about doing it, then Fernando suggests we all do it together, then it's uncomfortable silent.
Poor Vick. At this point anyway.
Then some pimpalicious dude rolls through the bar with two fine ass chicks. They ALL stroll over to the ladies room. So I tell Japanese flow
master to go open the door, because it has no lock, remember? Peep the action for us!
So of course, wrapped up in my web of drunkeness, he promptly speeds over there and opens the door wide open. It gets slammed shut in his face. REALLY hard. Then he runs over and is all, "Eh! I didn't see anything! Sorry!"
Then some chick who genuinely has to use the bathroom opens the door, and the pimp man slams the door open in her face and she falls backwards. Ahh! Fuck face! THEN! He comes over to where we are sitting, grabs skinny Japan boy by the shirt and lifts him out of the chair and goes,
"YOU EVER DO THAT SHIT AGAIN, I'M GONNA FUCKING BEAT YOUR ASS, THEN I'M GONNA RAPE YOU!!!!!"
what the fuck???
Fernando was like, "Dude, who is insulting who here? Now we know he likes to rape people."
Our little man was all traumatized and left. We asked if he wanted a ride home, but I don't think he could vocalize words. He just ran away.
So yes. George & Walt's. No lesbians, young awkward skinny boys from Cal, and fucked up pimps and sluts.
And haaaaay karaoke Wednesdays!
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How can you not love this place???
People are friendly, place is somewhat cool.
This bar is sketchy. Firstly it's way too bright in there which means you can see "bar people" much too well. The staff and the regulars seem very close which is nice but other customers get left behind when you're trying to order a drink. This bar will trick you with how sketchy it is so be careful. You'll think it's a nice little Rockridge tavern, but stick around for awhile and you'll begin to see the sketch in full force from the employees on down to the regulars.This is where the hopes and dreams of a fun night go to die.
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I was never into divey places but I like this spot --- very lax. It's a good mix of people --- staff is friendly. Plus, I can roll in with whatever I want --- love me my sneakers! =)
I especially like that the drinks are so cheap. I pay half-price for my Goose at G&W's! Just overall chill atmosphere --- with chairs & tables in the rear and pool tables.
Con: Cash only!
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"Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came..." Okay, I admit it, I am highly biased on this one, as George & Walt's is my bar. THE bar. In the sense that when I say I'm going to the bar, most of my friends know we're talking about G Dubs, as we regulars affectionately call it, or G Dizzle, or just Dubs. On myspace it is referred to as simply GW, and it is referred to a lot as most of the funny, relevant, stupid, dramatic, or sports-related things in my life and many many of my friends' lives unfold here.
GW is the oldest family-owned bar on College Ave., been there since the 30's and good old George & Walt themselves are lovingly remembered by a large black & white photo at the back of the bar, with their names in neon lights above it. Speaking of neon, if you've been on College in Rockridge even once, you've probably noticed the large landmark neon sign out front. This place has history man!
There are a lot of pool players and sports fanatics in here. They have two pool tables and there's usually someone else's name on the board before yours, but that just means you should be able to find a challenging opponent. There are 5 TVs, one of them a big-screen (back by the fireplace in the lounge that's often full by 10 am on Sunday) and a flat-screen conveniently located right above the bar. The video bowling game is always popular as are the video poker machines. I dare you to try to beat my high score on photo match! A classic pin-ball machine, a golf video game, and a classic arcade machine (Pac Man, Dig-Dug etc.) round out the entertainment options.
That is of course excepting the colorful personalities of the regulars, bartenders, bar backs, door guys & owners. When you're at a loss for what to drink on a Sunday evening, Frank will mix you up a delicious creation of his own. Come in Wednesday nights for Karaoke, and watch Barb's face light up when the girls sing her favorite songs.
There used to be chairs outside, in fact there I am on the left sitting in one of them, but they were banned by the neighborhood, so now everyone mills around out front to smoke, and everyone always seems to go at once. Unfortunately, you can smoke & you can drink, but not at the same time. And don't be surprised if you accidentally take your drink outside to find many regulars on your case right off the bat. Don't take offense, they're just enforcing the rules to protect their bar.
There are occasionally really fun special events too---luaus, BBQs, jazz bands, local bands (like The Real Tom Thunder), food drives, raffle's etc. There is definitely a George & Walt's extended family that is very intrinsic to the College Ave. culture, but don't let that scare you. All you have to do is come in once to see why that is the way it is. No snobs around here! How 'bout a Jaeger shot & a Bud back? Cheers!
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This is the kind of place where great conversations are born.
In the short time we sat here, drinking our $4 sparkling wine splits on a Tuesday night, we heard gangster R&B on the jukebox, watched some college basketball, watched a couple people lazily shoot pool and watched a random car sail down College Ave. on an otherwise vacant street.
The floors echo and the space looks like a giant '50s kitchen, the kind they used to call veterans' halls. The drinks are pretty cheap and shitty, but you don't have to clamor for a stool. At least on a weeknight.
The great conversations start when you realize the few people in there are already deeply ensconced in their pool/TV/jukebox/sports talk and won't hear a word you say, even when you're shouting, "Yeah, but that's what I mean. Why aren't tampons covered by a pre-tax benefit, but condoms are?"
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So fun! Fun fun fun fun fun! Fuuuhuhuhuhhuhun.
It's divey but it's so chill and the crowd is amazing. SO many different folks. I went there for my first time last week and everyone was just friendly, having fun and that is automatically a good time. Karaoke is fun, their beer is great, and the pretzels are dee-lish especially after too many drinks!
I can't wait until I can get another chance to go back there. Places like this make me wish I still lived in Oakland...
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More like the place you end up going to, rather than where want to be at (like in bed or watching crappy TV for instance). I guess that about sums up G & W's.
I did Karaoke here on a Wednesday night once and a group of women having a night out jumped up and were my back-up booty dancers. Then one kissed me.
Hot.
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Very divey bar and mixed with young professionals, college students, bikers and even trendy folks. If you are too lazy to drive into the city and just want to grab drinks with a couple friends, you should definitely check this place out. The drinks are crazy cheap compared to the drinks i get in the city. Id definitely go here if i just want to drink and chat with friends.
This is a great dive bar which I would have given five stars too if it still had the arcade game big buck hunter. The beer is cheap, snacks are free and there are its not tough to get on a pool table.
This is just not my bar and I don't know why. It's hands down one of the best bars to go to when it's empty and you can have a good conversation with the regulars, but those opportunities are few and far between. I almost always walk right past this bar to go down to McNally's, even if it's to catch some baseball.
Nice assortment of folks in this divey, but friendly bar. 2 good pool tables. Saturday night special of a giant pitcher of Bud for $7.50 that was more than enough for 3 people for 2+ glasses each. Great 70's vinyl swivel chairs. Some TVs make it probably a good sports viewing establishment. Most importantly, a very good arcade game, still only a quarter, that contained about 12 classics including galaga and had a great joystick and fire button.
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I havn't been here is years. I used to go here after work, at Oliveto, back in 1987,88,89? They used to have shuffle board. It was good fun.
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As far as neighborhood bars go, this is a pretty nice place. It's clear that they've been there for years, but that generally only shows in good ways. For example, the neat neon sign out front, the comfortable and friendly even though you don't know them crowd, the cheap beer prices - especially for pitchers of bad beer (that would be spelled B U D), the nice lounge area in back by the fire place, the old ass urinals in the john (ok, that may not be a positive thing for some people), and of course my favorite: the old black & white photo of George and Walt in their bar aprons taken in the back alley probably some 40 or 50 years ago. In addition to drinking and lounging, they've got two pool tables, a handful of video games and a pinball machine or two. Nice place, don't know why I didn't write about it sooner.
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I just got home from my first outing there (wednesday night), and I had a blast! Drink prices are average ($4 heinekins). I sang "Santeria" by Sublime (yes, wed is karaoke night) and the folks went nuts with applause! Here's where star gets removed....I honestly think the Karaoke Jockey was hating on me!!!! This friggin' dude was like singing his own songs like every 4 singers! It got annoying...Now I'm no complainer when I don't get to sing another song, or at all for that matter...but if he's taking time outta CUSTOMERS WHO ARE BUYING DRINK'S chances to get up and sing, i find that rude...I'm NO karaoke DIVA...just a man who, Like Billie Jean Davie, thinks that FAIR IS FAIR! Now I sang my first song at 10:30 pm...I put up another 2 songs (figuring there weren't too many people singing) and he continued to let a bunch of other singers (I'm assuming regulars there) sing 3+ times before he finally put me up again! I met some regulars there and they were asking me "aren't you gonna go up and sing again?" Well I didn't get to sing my other song until 12:55 (Karaoke shuts down at 1am). So, whatever...he's a hater, i guess...if he reads this he should know that when a bar pays for KARAOKE entertainment, it's for the CUSTOMERS to sing...they're not paying YOU to sing! You're suposed to be generating business (which they don't do too bad)..But still, it's the PRINCIPALITY of it all, dude!
But other than that, the atmophere here is quite friendly, and bartenders were cool, and I chickened out in talking to this naturally beautiful & tall woman sporting the thick framed eyeglasses! Maybe she'll come around again, as I DO plan on coming back here...I now know my expectations with the Karaoke there.
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First lets be honest. Everyone enjoys a fun dive bar from time to time. However, this bar should relocate to Modesto, where white trash runs rampant and everyone is tolerant to meth addicts. I entered this bar with my friend. We are not top models but smart and nice looking. The bar was filled with dirty men. They all started drooling, I believe they confused us with the Budweiser models. Then a coked out mini skirt wearing blond playing pool started to mean-mug. I thought I was watching Jodie Foster in the "Accused." We ordered drinks and surveyed the joint. It is a sports bar, and if you like that then I am sure every night before eleven it is a decant place. The people annoyed me. I am very tolerant of true urban roots, but this place was either filled with wealthy white twenty-somethings who want to be gangsters, or truly inbred individuals. I was scarred. Besides anywhere that I have to wait 20 Min's to use the bathroom because people are to drunk and high, to be efficient, I am out of there. It is an adventure, but the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland is a lot more clean and lot more fun.
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George and Walt's is my staple---like cigarettes, it is always there for me when I am down and never runs out, argues or steals my car (except when I am out of money or it is after 2 a.m. or when I was there and my car was stolen).
Without GW, I probably would not have finished grad school and made enough money to buy GW ... not that I bought it, but still. Obviously, the latter statement belies the previous statement regarding running out of money. Cash-in-hand is more like it ... thank god for their sketchy little "ATM." Seriously, when I was little I probably would have imagined that there was a small person inside each ATM handing out the appropriate denominations and vigorously scribbling out your receipt ... unfortunately I did not have much of an imagination, and even if I did, we were so poor that I had no cause to use an ATM in the first place. But I digress---my point is that at GW the ATM is actually a little person (O.K. average to medium sized person) who tells you to punch in your secret code and then hands you money. I am not sure why they hand you money, but I try not to question it.
Seriously, if you have read this far, then you are most likely sincerely interested in GW and, for some reason, you have to rely on Yelp to help you make a decisions as to whether or not you should go there. Just go. Alcohol is relatively cheap, they have pool and drunk people to play with, big TVs and video games.
HOWEVER (and this is a big one and the reason for only 4 stars), do not go there if you are looking to meet a hot girl. They are very very rare there and are almost always accompanied by some beefed up redneck who washes down steroids with Milwaukee's Best(TM) ... hmm, I guess you call them "frat boys" around here.
On the other hand, the owner's daughter is pretty hot (along with a few of her female friends)...I know she checks me out when I am there, but she has a boyfriend and I am now married ... so it was not meant to be.
Enough said, worth price charged.
Decent neighborhood bar on College Avenue. Seems to have a good collection of regulars in there yet newcomer is made to feel welcome enough.
Owned by the same family for generations, G&W's is the kind of place where people who work in bars hang out. Although the crowd can get a bit yuppy and lame on the weekends, the drinks are cheap and good, and the barstaff friendly.
A spacious neighorhood bar that feels unchanged in yuppiedom of Rockridge. There are three pool tables but the wait can be leagthy, be sure sign in on the white board, utherwise you may never play. It's a good place to have a night of pool. Enjoy a few drinks and watch the game on a huge televison.
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Go early and avoid the yuppy trendy crowds on weekends. A great place to relax and have a drink and chill with the jukebox and people playing pool. Man, they have got some large margaritas!
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