The Rellik Tavern

Whoa!!! Wait! I’m a little confused here. I like the relic don’t get me wrong always a cool crowd good vibes drinks a little pricey but haven’t experienced a watered down one so definitely getting ur monies worth– but umm I was looking up adult sex CLUbs near me and the Relic popped up!!? But like how… Come I did NOT KNOW this yet?! Is there some secret door knock hand shake I don’t know about? Am I too nerdy? What gives yo?!! When does this happen here?!! I was just looking it up for a friend. Haha that’s all–

Such a cute place! Definitely a gem. Wonderful food and great atmosphere at a great price! One star off because service is a hit or a miss. Overall, this place rocks!

I have been here a few times (maybe 5) I enjoyed their mix drinks, beer selection as well as their food. Prices are fair, and super cute atmosphere.
Technically I should give them more stars — however their service (bartender in particular) has been extremely rude and unpleasant… on more than one occasion. If it was just once, maybe twice I would go back (which I did) but this last time I went… eh, wont be back. Just not worth dealing with his attitude.

Extremely rude bartender. My 30 year old friend had an ID that recently expired. I asked him if it was ok since he didnt get any younger since his ID expired. He got all confrontational and mad at me and was trying to kick me out of the bar. I told him we would find somewhere else even though my friend had his «required paperwork» back in the car. Thought I had found a cool locals place. Guess I won’t be going back.

Stopped in here on a Saturday afternoon around 3 pm as a group of 5. I don’t usually to go bars at 3 pm, but the Benicia locals we were rolling with suggested it’s best to «beat the crowds». I’m thinking it might be just be in vogue to get day-​hammered when you’re in Benicia; works for me! ;-)
The Rellik has a dark, sexy, lounge-​y feel, with a decent number of places to sit: bar stools, high tables with chairs, couch areas, and the reservable VIP room in the back. There were a couple of folks at the bar when we came in, and we easily grabbed one of the couch areas. We were immediately greeted and offered iPad menus to check out. They’ve got a great selection of beers, wines, and house cocktails, as well as lunch specials with sandwiches running around $ 6-​$ 8 — not bad! They also do Sunday brunch.
Since we were there right at the cusp of 3 pm, we were able to get the Hail Mary, an $ 18 beast of a Bloody Mary that had a fried pickle, some chicken, I think a slider, and got knows what else sticking out of it. The food went in a flash; it was hard to take inventory. The Mary unfortunately had so much horseradish in it, it more closely resembled shrimp cocktail sauce –reeeaally hard to get that down.
Their other cocktails are equally fun, but insanely delicious: Their take on a Root Beer Float — hard root beer + vanilla vodka + whipped cream — is my #1 reason for coming back to this bar. So, so good! They also have house-​steeped habanero vodka they use for killer spicy martinis. The Lemon Drop is another solid choice; the gold-​sugared rim was a nice touch.
While the food is so-​so and the Bloody Mary will put hair on your chest, the décor, cleanliness, coziness, friendly service, and awesome cocktails get two huge thumbs up from me. Next time we’re on this side of the bridge, we’ll be back! :-)

Love the selection of beers here. I like the atmosphere. On a rainy day, this is the perfect place to just chill and relax for an hour, out of the house. Think I found a chill spot. Definitely a place I will be bringing some friends to.

Very welcoming and cozy. Love the couches. Staff is super friendly… it’s like going over your friend’s house and they’re hosting a chill gathering. We had the lettuce wraps, Irish nachos, mushroom croquettes and Spanish meatballs. I’ve never had anything like the Irish nachos and they were delicious. Our top favorite was the Mushroom croquettes. Their whiskey selection. Is awesome.

This place is hands down one of my absolute FAVORITE places! The food is great! The drinks are great! Asian pear martini! OMG!
Then of course there is the owner Delando (sp) and the manager Tom just great people! The bartenders and wait staff, amazing! This place ALWAYS makes me happy!
It’s a great place for gatherings or just to hangout. On a weekday or weekend, it’s all good!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Rellik!!!

We came here for dinner and I thought this place was really comfortable for a bar and the food was very good. My favorite was the Rellik wings and it was 7 dollars tonight for eight pieces. It looked and tasted like really good fried chicken. You don’t even need any sauce. It was so fresh and the chicken is high quality and marinated just right. Not too salty but just tasty and so crunchy yet still moist! I’ve had fancy fried chicken in Yountville at Addendum but this stuff is tastier! It was so good that I ordered a box to go.
We also had the chicken Cesar salad and it was good but a little on the salty side. The fish and chips were perfect although you only get three pieces. The last thing we tried was their pizza and that is something I should warn you about. The pizza looked and tasted like pizza you get at a school cafeteria. Avoid the pizza here if you can. The cheese tasted really cheap and looked translucent when cooled. The pizza dough was too soft.
Five dishes including one beer was 54 dollars. Overall, a nice comfy place to hang out with friends. Recommended!

Really good Irish Moscow Mule!!! Shout out to my man Chris. Legit bartender period! Must go to bar in Benicia.

I went back with the girlfriend after not being here in a while. I was happy to find out that they were not playing music loud and had available areas where my lady and I could talk without yelling. Not only was the bartenders and waitstaff prompt and professional but the offerings drink wise were really great and we were both able to get what we wanted. After being there a while we had the cheese platter and it had nice options, I was really happy all the way around.
I really like the Rellik, our experience there was very uplifting, and I don’t often say that about bars. Thanks Rellik!

I’m impressed with Rellik Tavern! It’s clean (iPads for ordering!), drinks and food are cheap, they occasionally have live bands, and their seating/​standing set-​up has a lot of variety. They have couches for lounging, taller tables in the back to stand around, a bar to sit at, and a dance floor. The night I went, the Self-​Proclaimed Superheroes were playing and I thought they were great! Really entertaining and up-​beat.
Our group ordered french fries ($ 4) and the Rellik pizza (large size) and it tasted amazing! It’s rare that I go to a bar, and think about the food after the night ends. Everything was so flavorful and the pizza was so cheesy and delicious! Service was great! Despite the crowds, it wasn’t difficult to flag someone down to ask for a drink.
I’m excited to see that they serve coffee and tea during the day. Definitely will be back to check out the daytime scene and try some more of their food!

This is just specifically about the Sunday brunch. I love that they offer this. And done quite well. I really quite like relik overall. Great bar, great service, bar tenders are pros, etc.
I appreciated the brunch, but it was quite basic for the price point. I was lookin for some secret sauce that woukd have justified the price, but not really. I was there for a post xmas meet up with a girlfriend visiting home, so it was worth the overall visit, but I thought $ 19 was out of range for the amount I can eat. (Not the menu’s issue) The $ 10 bottomless mimosa was ok, though I’ve never really had stellar anywhere I’ve had mimosas. I would have much preferred to order from the menu perhaps. I don’t like giving mediocre reviews to places I like but I wonder if the price point was $ 16 or $ 15, if it would be more amenable to the mind so as to make more sales.

My first time to Benicia and the bay area. We came here for afternoon drinks and some light bites. The place has a unique set up. As you walk in, you’ll find the bar to your right and comfy chairs/​booths to your left. However as you walk towards the back you’ll find some high top tables and seating available. When we arrived they were just finished with brunch service and we’re setting the tables back up, everything looked nice and clean.
Their menu is on iPads which is neat but you get one and need to share it with the whole table which is a slight inconvenience when there’s more than two peoplein. It looked like they had a good beer list and full bar service was available. I had a mimosa which was alright but the star was the Hail Mary bloody mary that my fiancé ordered. A giant bloody mary with a chicken slider, a deep fried shrimp wrapped in a wonton wrapper, a deep fried pickle, two pieces of bacon and a selection of pickled veggies all sticking out of the top. According to the fiancé, the drink was alright but not the best he’s had. As for the food, I thought it was pretty good for bar food. And hey, it’s a drink with a meal for $ 18. Not too bad.

Updating my review due to poor customer service. Yes as a bartender you should talk to customers but you also still need to do your job and not get so wrapped up in meaningless conversation that you can’t do your job. Had to ask for my check twice and didn’t get it for about 10 – 15 minutes (place wasn’t very busy), had to wait and then ask for my card back at least 8 – 10 minutes after it was ran, the blt panini had too much tomato and the bacon was not crispy (the fries were good), but overall the bad customer service stood out most. Customer service is key so I would suggest going in when Chris is bartending.
So in conclusion if you go in while Chris is bartending this place can be a ⁴⁄₅ star location but the two bartenders today Zeth and a female provide terrible customer service.
I support small business so I won’t say don’t come here I just won’t be coming here anymore. :-/

The Good:
+ Live music.
+ Healthy pours.
+ Ample seatings and flat screens spread throughout.
+ Late night bar bites.
+ Dedicated smoking area.
The Not So Good:
— Live music.
— Outside bouncer /​rent-​a-​cop was flexing his muscle really hard. I couldn’t get inside with headwear. No, I wasn’t wearing a pretentious flat bill baseball cap with baggie jeans, I was wearing a beanie with a blazer and slacks.
— One-​sided clientele.
A step up from your ‘divey’ watering hole, but still a watering hole none-​the-​less.

This lounge may look out of place in Benicia, but downtown has been transforming from a row of just antique shops and real estate offices to a pretty decent bar/​wine scene. Well, decent enough to not have to make the unnecessary drive anywhere further.
Rellik is a nice cozy lounge where mini reunions take place, seeing familiar faces at the bar or on the small performance stage. An intimate setting allowing just enough room to dance to either the house DJ or a locally well known musician/​group. Even a familiar former Chemistry teacher makes his singer-​songwriter gig a weekly norm.
If you’re a smoker, there’s a hot box in the back, which could get suffocating depending how many are back there, so choose your smoke breaks wisely. Or quit smoking… to be honest.
The bartenders are friendly and make really good drinks. I don’t go crazy with the cocktails, but if there’s an unusual favorite of yours, they probably know how to make it, and a lot of times, better. The cocktail servers are awesome and friendly.
Overall, there’s not a thing that comes to mind that I can complain about. They’ve treated this local well.

Snagged a couch on a Thursday Happy Hour. Waitress greeted us promptly and was attentive during whole stay.
I am digging the vibe here with the comfy couches, dark walls and long bar… Would love to come back to check out the live music which appears to happen a lot.
We ordered:
Wings, fries, bruschetta and fried pickles. I really liked the wings. Crispy and hot with two dip choices. Typical bar food, and I would order again…
Beer/​cocktails choices was not a huge list, but my Mai Tai was strong ($ 6) and tasted like the islands.
Will definitely be back.

The Rellik Tavern is totally different from the rundown bar i knew decades ago. saw the difference the instant i stepped
house is on their mantle.
no hassle at all. noticed lunch specials (cod fish & chip!) on my to do list.
brew: coffee (m. 2)
–soft, med or light roast, smooth, no harshness, quality coffee
drips:
–draughts available, artisanal liquors, lunch and dinner served.
–bands here in evenings (next door?)
–quick, friendly service.

It was nice to find a local bar/​lounge close to where I was staying.
The Rellik Tavern is a great place to hangout and chill. Couches on the left hand side when you enter and bar stools available. The back of the bar has circular tables and chairs along with a private room that seems to fit at least 25 + people. Great place to people watch.
My girlfriend and I were able to score a table and we ordered our drinks. My crown royal was actually very watery and not as strong. It probably it too much ice and coke. Next, crown royal on the rocks with a splash of coke please. :)
There was a DJ playing music and at first I was like OMG what kind of mixing was that. It wasn’t smooth transition at all however I will not hate on that. Seemed like a friend was just learning. The music started to get better throughout the night and my friend and I danced the night away on the SMALL dance floor in front of the DJ.
Interesting crowd but very fun. When we were leaving and walked out, we noticed that there was a very long line for patrons to enter. Thank God we came earlier before the large crowd arrived. It must have been a HOT place to hangout on a Wednesday Night.
I will definitely return when I’m in Benicia.