Heston and I had our first apartment in downtown Berkeley and really enjoyed the wonderful nightlife that Berkeley had to offer. It’s casual and we both liked that. Come in your Cal sweatshirt if you like! Here are just a few of our favs:

Jupiter: See my earlier post on my favorite place in downtown Berkeley.

Beckett’s: I’ve been here more times than I can count, but we recently did St. Patricks here. It was crazy nuts crowded but pretty festive. The food here sucks…it’s bland and boring, but the drinks are great. I love a good Stella on tap. The Irish Car Bombs will leave you hurting the next day, but are oh so yummy in the moment. Live music almost every night too, which is awesome.

Raleigh’s: The food here is better than Becketts, but not as good as Jupiter. If it’s your birthday they put you on top of the bar with a glass of Guiness and make you be the pace car in a boat race with the entire staff. I would know. They’re generally pretty nice except for one random night when they were trying to close and they made us leave before we were done.

Triple Rock: Food is just okay here. On Thursday nights they have $9 one liters of Monkey Head Ale. It’s festive to come with a group…but beware that it gets really packed really quickly and the Monkey Head can sell out pretty fast.

Check ‘em all out. Beers are generally about $4 a piece at all these places. Berkeley does beer well.

Jupiter is a beerhouse in Berkeley that I’ve enjoyed for years. My boyfriend and I used to live four blocks away so we were there all the time. Now instead of going at least once a week we go a few times a month.

The building is an old stable from the 1890’s that really gives it a unique feel. They have live music Tuesday-Sunday in the summer and on the weekends in the winter. They have an outdoor fire pit and plenty of heaters for the colder Berkeley nights.

They brew all their own beer so it’s not the same old stuff you can get anywhere. They recently got rid of my favorite beer, Sunspot Gold! I was really bummed, but then I found the house lager is good too. Apparently Sunspot is returning this summer. You can find the beer menu here, but I’m not sure how up-to-date it is as Sunspot is still on the menu.

Besides the yummy beer, Jupiter has fantastic salads and an array of wood fired pizzas to choose from. They’ve been updating their menu lately to include some new additions. The Eutropia (everything is Greek god themed) is a new favorite of mine. It has bacon, fresh spinach, tomato, and white cheddar cheese with an olive oil crust. It’s served with ranch dressing on the side. An old standby is the Cassiopeia, which is a BBQ chicken pizza with fresh cilantro. Yum! You can find the entire dinner menu here.

It’s important to note that Jupiter also owns Bear’s Lair and Triple Rock which are also in Berkeley…and also a lot of fun.

Ratings (out of 10):

Food: 7.5
Atmosphere: 9

Heston and I used to live across the street from Tuk Tuk Thai in downtown Berkeley. We loved being able to get Thai food really quickly since we’re both such fans. It’s quick and easy.

To start the meal off try the Tom Yum Gai soup, which is really spicy. It’s got shrimp and mushrooms in it. You can also start with a chicken satay because the peanut sauce is quite yummy.

For dinner, I recommend the green or red curry with just veggies. Their chicken tends to be a bit dry sometimes. If you must, get the pad thai. I think everyone always gets that and it’s really over done if you ask me. Try something new!

You can find the full menu here.

Why is Tuk Tuk Thai so festive?
(All ratings are out of 10.)
Food: 5

Drinks: 6 (Singha!)

Atmosphere: 2

Price: $15

Okay so Cabo Cantina is plenty festive, but they’re definitely very confused about how much HALF PRICE happy hour should be. Why was my margarita still $10? We’re not even talking about a larger than life margarita either….If you say something is half price I want a giant margarita for like $7. They totally didn’t deliver.

The only thing that was redeeming for Cabo Cantina was the people that I was with. Heston, his sister, some old friends and myself had a great time just hanging out. I think we went more to just be in a festive place to hang out. Just becareful and don’t be as shocked as I was when we got the bill!

I have never been able to find a website for them either.

Why is Cabo Cantina so festive?

(All ratings are out of 10.)

Food: 5

Drinks: 4

Atmosphere: 6

Price: $10/person for drinks