Head & Tails: Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon

Posted on June 4, 2009 
Filed Under Food & Drink, Head & Tails, Oakland

Up or over, shaken or stirred, we’re looking for the best bets to quench your thirst. This is where we spill it all about the area’s nearest and dearest brewpubs, bars, wine cellars, tasting rooms, package stores, liquor aisles, and well, we ARE thorough.

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If there’s one thing urbanites seek out when the weather turns radiant, it’s making the most of their time al fresco. Summer has held its official kick-off party and given us the all-clear to shed our winter wardrobe, as long as the fog cooperates. Even deprived of the typical heat waves that engulf the rest of the nation, I have no doubt we’ll still manage to find plenty occasion to employ our sandals and shorts.

Oakland’s Jack London Square is one neighborhood that makes ample use of its outdoor space. Situated on a picturesque stretch of inner harbor, Jack London’s waterfront is teeming with new developments planned to revitalize and reinvigorate the historic square. In the works are new restaurant concepts, a bakery and a schedule of nightly live entertainment set to have you kicking up your heels. The crown jewel of in-progress improvements— a seven-day-a-week farmer’s market and artisan food emporium set to rival that of San Francisco’s Ferry Building.

Jack London’s newest outdoor haven however is none other than its oldest surviving hideaway— Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon. Originally opened in 1883 as the only watering hole for a then dry Alameda County, today it stands a living testament to Oakland’s formally-vibrant shipping industry and ever-popular drinking culture. The redevelopment effort has graciously added an expansive outdoor deck to its dramatically off-kilter footprint. (Heinold’s famous titling bar floor is a consequence of the catastrophic 1906 earthquake.) Among Heinold’s many-storied customers, Jack London himself is said to have penned The Sea Wolf and Call of the Wild right at their very tables. This summer, I’m heeding the call; Heinold’s is beckoning.

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Heinold’s is located at 48 Webster Street in Jack London Square, Oakland. Open daily. 510.839.6761.

—Michael

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