Bars

Heinold’s In Oakland Is Really Old; Rickhouse’s Basement Is Haunted

Heinold's
Heinold’s Photo: Oakland North

Today Oakland North rounds up the various legends surrounding Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon in Jack London Square, which has been a continuously operating saloon (Prohibition be damned!) since 1883. First off, yes, that clock on the wall did supposedly stop during the 1906 quake, and the bar does appear seventeen times in Jack London’s novel John Barleycorn. And for its first 40 or so years, before Alameda became a dry town and Prohibition hit (making it sailors’ first and last chance for a drink before leaving the harbor) it was just called J.M. Heinold’s Saloon. [Oakland North]

And apparently more than one employee has had “paranormal experiences” at Rickhouse, “especially in the basement,” according to bartender Russell Davis. He mentions this while giving a tour to a Mercury News scribe, who nonetheless raves that the place “captures the pure essence of the modern cocktail revival.” [Mercury News]

Heinold’s In Oakland Is Really Old; Rickhouse’s Basement Is Haunted