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Oaks Corner
Categories: Restaurants Chinese Restaurants American (Traditional) Nightlife Bars Sports Bars Chinese, American (Traditional), Sports Bars [Edit]
4099 San Pablo Ave(between 41st St & Park Ave)
Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 652-4914
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
20 reviews for Oaks Corner
20 reviews in English
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Review from Smith G.
Emeryville, CA
11/26/2011
Nice bar, good people and great location
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Review from Victor G.
Oakland, CA
5/9/2011
Oaks Corner was dead post 1 o clock. the hof brau workers just standing around. the dining room empty. people at the bar was eating popcorn. bartender gone doing some chores. shortly, orders rolled in from the gambling room.
pours: miller draft (3.75)
-excellent, was very cold. coldest i've drank in a long time.
-bowl of hot free popcorn given.
on draught:
-4 beers on draft. bud, miller, sierra, and haywire
-drinks pricey, shot pours healthy, to the rim, past the white line
-only gamblers drink or eat here
-labeled a sports bar, flatscreen tuned to sports.
-doubtful return, dislike drinking with (financial) losers. -
Review from Andrew C.
Hofbrau meets Breakfast/Burger joint meets . . . Chinese? I guess you gotta cater to your clientele and looking at the packed card room (at noon Wed) it all makes sense.
At the Hofbrau station you can get regular ($6.99) or open faced ($7.50) sandwiches as well as plates ($?). I think the tri-tip was a little more, but the other meats (pastrami, roast beef, corned beef, turkey, ham, etc) are all the same prices.
I got a pastrami on rye with "everything" (mustard, mayo, tomato, onion, lettuce) and it looked pretty good with 2 quarter spears of pickle (see pic).
I'm going to guess that pastrami is not their biggest mover because, while the rest of the sandwich was pretty decent, the pastrami was so so. The edges were crusty and hard. Luckily it was freshly sliced so the center of the pieces was still juicy and tender.
A very multiple personality sando, even in the same bite. I may come back, but will definitely peer more closely over the counter to see what looks freshest.Listed in: Reubens! (and other hot…
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Review from Trixie J.
San Francisco, CA
3/29/2010
We heard rumors of decent food here. Rumors are false. Food is greasy and processed. The chicken wings are stunted fried wings and drumetttes that came with plastic pre-packed pots of ranch dressing. The beef stew was swimming in grease and was more fat than tendon/meat. The kung pao chicken had no kung nor pao.
Like another reviewer said, there is usually no table service till 8 pm. We flagged down a slack-jawed employee and asked her for the menu. After she finally understood what a menu is, she came back and threw a stapled stack of paper at our table. Real classy. You order and pay at the cashier and wait for your food.
The food is not awful but it's just not worth the risk getting harassed by the patrons there. Many are depressed, broke, desperate, addicted, angry and possibly dangerous. The atmosphere is disturbing.
The entire block with the card club and liquor store is a hazard to the neighborhood. Pixar employees have been mugged early in the morning by broke losers who are angry enough to mug for money. At night, people have been shot by patrons who lost money and want more. The minute we fled the place, some fine quality gentleman outside asked if we can help him get a bite to eat. My dining buddy had major anxiety after dining here. -
Review from Shannon F.
San Francisco, CA
10/30/2007
What in the holy hofbrau?!
While randomly on the hunt for some good ol' American meat and potatoes, I step into Oak Corner, and for a moment, I thought, into my FUTURE!?! Here are all these older locals from the neighborhood, picking up trays, sliding down a line for some meat and potatoes and assorted sides of lunch line happiness. In the background, there is a distant echo of numbers and games being called, as if major bets were taking place behind a wall. A bar sits across the way from the lunch line, and assorted cultures and ages are staring back at my confused face from every corner.
The atmosphere alone beckons me to stay, so I do. The food was really bad. I mean, I felt like I was in the bar of my future old age retirement home. The pastrami was actually rather tasty, the gravy piping hot (but obviously from a packet), the instant potatoes were creamy, and the stuffing was good, but again, from a Betty Crocker box. As I made my way toward a table, I saw the location of the headless voice's followers, a group of older folks sitting around in a large room, betting on various events. I sat at a table next to folks who's plates were so full of great smelling Chinese food, that I wondered if I made a mistake taking their sign "hofbrau" in the outside window at face value.
Will I be back? Probably not, but man, what a trip. And if you want a cheap giant meal, and a look into your potential future...yeah, come here. -
Review from Robert G.
Oakland, CA
11/17/2008
So, this review is for the food. Not the cards. I do like to play at the Oaks, but I end up going for food a lot more often than I do for poker.
So, the food kicks ass. The hofbrau buffet is pretty solid, especially the sandwiches. The real treat, though, is the chinese menu. They serve the best chow fun around. The soups are very good, the chow mien is great, etc... I am sure this is due to the relatively high stakes chinese players at the Pai Gow, Double Hand Poker, and various other games.
I have never tried any traditional american menu items like burgers, so I can't vouch for them, but if you don't like the dry fried shrimp chow fun, you are a crazy person. -
Review from Momoko S.
Oakland, CA
3/21/2010
I was a bit surprised that meals are "self service." I had to beg for looking at menu and the menu was print-out copy paper sheets stapled together. And there was only one at the register.
You order food at the register, and you stay around the food register and wait for your food to arrive. They don't bring food to your seat. It's a fast food style.
If you sit at the bar counter, a bartender serves you drinks but he has nothing to do with food. It is okay if you go there to drink something, but there is not dining experience there.
The burger I ordered came with only burger and bun. No lettuce, no tomato, no pickles and no onions. Strange! There was a piece of orange next to the burger, and that was it.
There is absolutely no service. This is sort of like a to-go place. I left some tips to the bartender but there was no way I could give a tip to the "food register." The food register just takes orders and you are supposed to check if the food arrived. Then you take the food to your seat yourself. This is a very odd type of bar/restaurant.
This reminds me of those Taco place run by Mexicans. But such a place usually sell $1 Taco or even 50 Cents Tacos.
Oaks Corner is sort of like a combination of a traditional American bar and cheap Taco place. The food is not the best kind, but they are good and rather "cheap" compared to places I know of. -
Review from To The Point K.
Oakland, CA
5/5/2010
POSITIVE
great eats
NEGATIVE
blah decor
WILL I RETURN?
sure -
Review from Aaron B.
Emeryville, CA
10/22/2008
I love this place! Another example of the old, blue collar vibe that used to be what Oakland was all about! This place was there when Pixar Studios was a ballpark, and most of what is now Emeryville was empty fields.
Great on tap beer and drinks, excellent Hof brau food, and although I can't tell ya a thing about the gambling that goes on there, it does go on there, and it's a big draw (they show the tournaments on local tv).
The Roast Beef is the best I've ever had in any restaurant, and they have Turkey Wings! -
Review from John L.
Oakland, CA
4/1/2011
The food use to be good. That made up for one of the rude meat slicers at the haufbra and some of the cashiers. But the lack of other people while the gambling side was shut down has exposed some weaknesses. All of the bartenders are good except for that turd Lester. If I see him in there i won't have a drink.
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Review from Robyn R.
Los Angeles, CA
3/30/2011
The Oaks Pastrami sandwich at one time was good. I was there the other night and for some reasont the man did not cut the center of the pastrami. He gave me the edges, so it was like eating a beef jerky sandwich. I assume since I was sitting at the bar he just was giving me any old thing to eat. They are not the nicest people either. The bartender Lester tries to get you to pay for your drinks two times as if you are dumb. He takes forever to give your change. The Oaks has gone downhill since the raid. Whoever was in charge of quality must have been arrested because that was the most disturbing, unenjoyable experience I have had there. What happened to the Oaks food and service???
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Review from Shib W.
Alameda, CA
5/16/2007
Order a shot of Jack Daniels, and you get a 10oz draft Sierra Nevada back for free. Yep, $3.75 and you're set. Why no five stars? The bar serves as an unofficial employee lounge and sometimes it's hard to get a seat.
** edit: randomness, the shot was $4.25 last night ?? ** -
Review from ali c.
San Jose, CA
6/28/2008
I ordered a hot pastrami sandwich from this place and also their fruit salad while playing cards.. It was actually pretty good! The rye bread was soft and fresh. The pastrami meat was thinly sliced but not too thin! I got mustard on the side and the sandwich really made my day even though I didn't win at my table. I liked the fruit salad because there were big chunks and a good amount of fruit that I liked in it. I don't really discriminate against fruit or anything but there are some kinds that I like better than others.. I also got a Bud Light to drink which went well with my meal. Decently priced food here! I want to try their open faced turkey sandwich next time!
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Review from Andy M.
CA
3/4/2007
This place gets a 4-star rating based on ambiance alone. Who knew we had a little piece of Reno transplanted in the Bay Area? This place exudes authentic tacky charm (and probably exudes some less pleasant things too). One of the few real Hofbrau's left serving your typical prime rib, turkey, open-faced sandwiches with gravy, plus some Chinese options. Partly depressing, partly perfect. Attached to the equally bizarre Oak's Card Club which is a casino but isn't, or something. I just come for the Hofbrau. Bring Tums.
Listed in: Bay Area Time Warps
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Review from Andi R.
Oakland, CA
3/11/2010
I had a dream about a turkey and cranberry sandwich. I used to eat a lot of turkey and cranberry sandwiches at Ted's in SF. All morning I was having obsessive thoughts about these sandwiches. My mind raced around, wondering where could I get one? I even considered making a whole turkey for the sole purpose of making a sandwich. But that seemed a little extreme. Finally I remembered that this place has a Hof Brau. So I put my 14 month old in the old ergo and went in to get my sandwich. It was delicious. Hit the spot. Yay for Oaks and satisfying this pregnant lady's dream inspired food cravings!
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Review from Marck n.
2/15/2010
I have to admit, it isn't what I expected it to be. I envisioned a scummy run down cafeteria setting. But inside, it is clean, spacious with a Hof Brau section, bar, and seated dining area. There are so many options on the menu and everything is affordable. You can eat something different for almost 3 months. Portions are large, though I did eat a sandwich and hot cakes together. I was stuffed when I left. This definitely will be a lunch place to come back again and again.
Listed in: My Lunch Spots
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Review from Kenson K.
2/15/2010
The sandwiches were pretty good here. I ordered the pastrami sandwich and it was very well seasoned. Only issue I had was that they slathered on the mustard which made the sandwich a bit sour. Order a drink and its only $0.65 more with your meal. We also tried the hotcakes with sausage. Tasted like IHOP. Should've just stuck with just the sandwich.
After lunch, we headed to the card floor. It actually wasn't as scummy as I thought it was going to be. It was clean, orderly. Only issue is that the rules are so skewed to the houses favor. I'm not into poker, or paigow, or texas hold 'em, but they did have one blackjack table open, which I do play. I asked about the house rules for blackjack and its pretty standard Vegas rules except blackjack pays 6 to 5, as opposed to Vegas' 3 to 2. Minimum bet $10 per hand. So that means that if you get a blackjack on a minimum bet, you only win $12 back. As opposed to $15 you would in Vegas. And here's the kicker, you have to pay $1 to the house for every hand you play. So the house wins on every hand, regardless. So not worth it. Its just a little bit better than the San Pablo Casino, which has crazy rules for blackjack that skew the house advantage even more. I would save your money and go to Cache Creek, or River Rock Casino, or drive over to Reno instead. So much better odds there.
I would give the restaurant a 3 stars, casino floor 1.5. I would never gamble there because I know I'd lose money. -
Review from Timothy O.
Fresno, CA
8/30/2005
This is a bar and hof brau attached to the Oaks Club Casino. During football season, locals and poker players watch the Raider games, eat hot dogs and hot sandwiches and drink beer. Prices are low, and the place is probably a loss leader for the Casino, but it's worth a look if you're looking for a small, divey place to root for the Raiders. You can also get decent Chinese food from the kitchen, though that's served at the coffee shop in the card club itself.
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Review from bryan y.
Alameda, CA
8/19/2009
I'm glad theres other people who enjoy the Oaks Corner. I used to work in the area and this had to be one of my favorite lunch spots. I would highly recommend the corned beef sandwich on a french roll . Theres something about a hot sandwich at non-chained hof brau. I've never drank at the bar or played cards at the oaks. As far as the food goes........You gotta get some. Thumbs up!.
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Review from Chris M.
Oakland, CA
5/8/2009
Okay, you have to remember that this restaurant is attached to a card room, so it is about as glamorous as a truck stop in Arkansas. That being said, the food is terrific. The breakfast is great, the wait staff are very friendly, and the hofbrau and chinese menus are very consistently terrific. You will talk over the calling of numbers and announcements of open seating at tables the entire time, and the crowd varies in a way that is difficult to describe, but its fun and never boring. Check it out.
