Cato’s Ale House

Spent a pleasant hour here on a Saturday afternoon. Funky but pleasant ambiance with a nice selection of drafts. I would frequent this place if I lived in the neighborhood.

Very nice place close to Hogs Apothecary. So after visiting Temescal brewing and Hogs Apothecary I ended my visit at this area of Oakland by coming to Cato’s Ale House. Very nice ambiance, low reddish lighting, wood. It was crowded on Tuesday later afternoon. Very interesting tap list, lots of new local beers for me but I chose to end my beer trip in California with a glass of Abyss (not east for me to find it on tap) and a last glass of Pliny. It seems that they tap Pliny every Tuesday. I dont know if they do flights.. there was a lot of people at the bar so I didnt ask. I ddint try the food either. About prices, Pliny was $8 while Abyss was $12 / 10oz. I would go there again for sure the next time I will be at the area.

The low light atmosphere has helped me drown out the obnoxious Piedmont crowd in the past, and enabled me to enjoy some of their fine taps. The service is solid, the food some basic but essential bar grub, and price what you’d expect from their selection.

I finally had a chance to visit this place after an appointment with my spine surgeon at the hospital around the corner. It’s located in a cool part of Oakland. Lots of nice looking restaurants and shops in the area. This place, as mentioned, looks sort of like an old house that was converted to a taproom. There’s ample room inside though with a medium sized bar and lots of comfortable seating. I could see spending a long evening here with friends. No seating at the bar was the only weird thing. The tap list was pretty good. A few locals and some relatively obscure stuff for this part of Cali. I got the Figueroa Davy Brown, but they also had Pliny which is always a good thing. I didn’t try the food, but the service seemed attentive and friendly. Another weird thing was that there were people openly smoking weed inside. Probably only one or two, but of course the smell filled the whole place. I was kind of surprised by that, but whatever. Overall, this is a really cool place that I would visit regularly if I lived in the area. I wouldn’t go to far out of my way though.

Cool place. Really looks like an old house, in fact. Shutters on the windows, old wooden interior, glasses lining the beams in the ceiling. Lots of photos and signage on the wall. Service was okay, but you go to the bar to order, it seems. There is plenty of space to sit and have a meal or just have some beers. The beer list is good and made up mostly of Bay Area stuff. Some Russian River, a few random North Bay and Oakland breweries, Moonlight, etc. Definitely worth a stop.

Food is good. Decent tap selection. Service leaves something to be desired. You have to order your food at the kitchen window, then go and order your beer at the bar. They bring your food to the table, but they don’t even give you napkins. They need a better system.

Cato's used to be the the best place in Oakland to get a pint of up and coming micro brews. Now it seems they've gotten fat and lazy with the taps. You can find the same beers there week after week with not much new and exciting. It's a great place to take the family, grab a pint, and hear some live music. I wish they would bring in more beers that are cutting edge.

Nice little spot. Always has good micros on tap. Good pizza too.

Great selection of beers. Good food. Great place to meet up with a group of people. Great covered deck seating.

They have some 25+ taps with lots of local and NoCal offerings. The place is small and very warn in with dark bead board paneling everywhere, big square dark stained wood pillars and beams. The tables are all warn smooth and carved up with initials and brief phrases. Pub grub such as salads, sandwiches, burgers, pizza and other assorted items like Krabby Cakes (must be Sponge Bob inspired). They have friendly, helpful and hardworking staff. You do need to go to the bar to get beer (no seats at the bar either) and you order food through a porthole labeled “Order Here.” The cold water to help cleanse the palate is self serve. This is a cool place with a couple of tubes to take in a game. I think I’ll spend another hour here. I had the Drake’s Amber, Bear Republic APEX and Lagunitas Gnarly Barleywine all in 10oz servings, excellent volume for rating. This place reminds me of a NoCal version of The Liar’s Club with the same type of beer geek friendly tap line up only the place here is much bigger. Wow, over the standing bar area they have sort of a trellis with a 100+ tap handles fixed to it. Nice touch.