Bootleggers

I wish I could give this place zero stars.The bouncer and acclaimed owner known as "Junior" is extremely confrontational and ignorant. Egocentric would be an understatement.My friend and I who are both of age attempted entering Bootleggers on St Paddys night. The bouncer spent a few seconds looking at our IDs, and instantly denied us entry. We asked the bouncer to scan or recheck the IDs, given we were both of age, at which point he began bending my friends ID so much; to the point that the plastic card almost physically snapped. While trying to do so, the plastic film on top of the real license began to peel in the middle. He claimed that "a real license wouldn't do that" but I threatened to call that the cops if he wanted me to prove it and went ahead and did. After waiting for 25+ minutes, the cops never showed up so my friend and I just decided to leave. I did not want to waste the cops time on such a small matter, and decided to just leave the establishment with a broken real ID. If you want denied entry and a real ID snapped in half, this is the place for you.

As dive bars go, I have a special place in my heart for Bootleggers. I've spent roughly 1/3 of my life drinking cheap drinks here with friends, eating some hot wings, and playing pool/darts. We still make trips here every now and again even though we don't fit in with the college crowd anymore, and I still love it here.

Boots has the cleanest ashtrays in all of south oakland. I swear to god their amazing bouncer Chris Ragle goes table by table and caresses those sweet bad boys with his tongue and licks them clean.

Cheap beer, $6 for a pitcher, and fun pool tables in the back. Even for being in Oakland it isn't too much of a college centered bar like GDoor or Hems. Overall had a really great time!

We decided to try this place, because it seemed low-key and we didn't want to go far from Oakland. It's a pretty simple bar with televisions, two pool tables, and darts. The bartender was awesome. They even had free Bud Light for the night. They don't serve any food, but they allow you bring in food from other places. It's conveniently located across the street from Larry & Carol's and Campus Deli. If you ask the bartender, they'll provide the menus for those places. Cool atmosphere at first; it did get packed and loud around 11:00pm or so. It was a live place to watch some college football, munch on good food, and drink cheap (but good) beer. Guinness, Blue Moon (including Pumpkin Ale), Angry Orchard, and more all on tap.

If you give a bad review for a place like this it's more about you than the bar.Good pours, mellow vibe. Just a good neighborhood dive bar.

I had a great experience besides the bouncer, the bouncer started pestering us as we had a drink in our hands 20 minutes before close. He then decided 10 minutes before close that we couldn't be there as we were drinking our beers. We where just sitting at the bar drinking and he came specifically up to us to ask us to leave while 20 plus people sat at the bar. We realized it was late and decided to leave but as we talked while leaving he decided to think we were saying stuff about him so he then got in our face and yelled at us to leave. Seriously awful customer service. I understand asking to leave around close but its a Saturday night and I don't see my friend often plus the bar has not closed yet. He seemed either really drunk or high on marijuana as he couldn't make eye contact and just used his tall frame to push us out. He was chatting with regulars/friends while extremely hostile/ rude towards anyone else. I really don't understand why people would deal with the abuse. Great bar besides this one awful bouncer.

A-hole bouncer and presumably the owner known as "Jr." was relatively chill the whole night with guests until he became too drunk to actually function. He was taking shots with guests and carrying on rather than doing his job. I was just standing near the bar carrying on with several patrons that "Jr." was also having a good time with and then out of the blue, he grabbed a guest by the neck and pinned him up against the wall. And then when that situation deescalated, he came back my way and grabbed me by the neck and threw me out the door for no good reason as I had no involvement in prior situations. He was aggressive towards several other guests as I waited outside for my friends. I would not recommend this establishment to anyone who wants to be treated with dignity and respect because none will be given to any paying customer.

This is a good bar but the bar tender was mean to me and didn't get me my drink and also did not get me water when I asked for it and I feel like that is just uncalled for. It was obvious she was overwhelmed because she was busy but she was being straight up rude and not friendly.

Love this place and their scrumptious drinks. My friend shaye enjoyed them so much she went behind the bar and curled under the counter. And rumor has she's still there to this day, so go say hi.