Berkeley Inn

This place is alright to hang out and play pool– I only say this because I know one of the bartenders that’s still there and support my friends wherever they go– unfortunately last time we stopped in they had a live band and I couldn’t hear past the noise they call music, —
along with the drunk yuppies,.
I’m trying support the last of the local bars that are left in the Berkeley neighborhood–
Sadly
being only a few these days–
So thought I’d give this dive another try–
The boys are having a pool tournament today, and a couple of my friends are in it so thought I’d watch and support them– so today is Sunday and it has a different feel to it– (a good one) it’s kick back and feels like it use to–
Someone has really good taste in music because my ears like what I hear– The new face behind the counter (Alex)is really nice and made me feel special !!
Thank u Hun — ;)
I gotts my free beer!
So glad I came in and
good to see some old friends — I will come back on Sunday’s to polish up on my pool skills–

for those of you who are from western mainline area of philly and love the flying pig in Malvern. this is your kind of place. what a dive, what a cast of regulars. so I guess if you are looking for that up scale yuppy experience this place is NOT for you. if you want come hang with friends or co workers this is a great place. plus if you have altruistic side come here and support the local community and not some mega chain.
I ain’t from around these parts but I sure as shoot’n will be back!

Reminds me of home! In the Midwest, this is what a neighborhood bar is all about. You’ve got the guys that come in everyday and play pool, a friendly, conversational bar tender, and an awkward urinal placement in the men’s bathroom. Iced shot glasses and iced pint glasses?! Hits me in the feels! This is my jam!

Super nice owner and bartender. Small but have pool tables and Jenga. TVs. Will definitely be back soon.

Don’t bother with this place, you won’t get a chuckle, a smile, a free drink, a friendly pour or friendly service because the «bartenders hands are tied” — the night we went the bartender was super lame– I don’t mind paying my share, but if I am spending $ on a night out at the neighborhood dive bar I would hope for a friendly atmosphere and service. Most dives are known for friendly regulars and cheaper… ish drinks. This place was a rip. I might return… but only if I accidentally stumble in here.

I was’t a huge fan if this place. I’m not 100% sure why not — I usually love dive bars, but something about this place felt off to me. For one, I expect cheap prices when I go to a dive, and while it wasn’t expensive here, I felt slightly cheated when compared to some other local dive bars. And then it was really bright when my friends and I went — it was a brightness that enhanced all the wrong things about the bar, and you could see the dinginess that usually gets covered up by poor lighting. Maybe not the worse thing, but it led to an overall lackluster experience.
The bartender was quick, maybe a little lacking on the friendliness, but she got the job done. Pool was $ 1, which I thought was silly because I could go down the street to play free pool. My friends and I stayed for one drink, and then headed on our way.

I bar tended at a restaurant that sometimes closed early. I would stop by here for a drink to unwind on my way home. I’ve always had a good time. Excellent jukebox. Reasonable prices, Friendly staff. No complaints here.

My kind of bar. The kind of bar where all the regulars eyeball you when you walk in.
The kind of bar with cheap booze, good service and no one will judge when your drunk.
Everybody was really nice and I will be back to soon to make an a** out of myself soon.

I love this place! Great drinks, great bartenders, great prices! Love the live music they have

This used to be one of my favorite spots to stop in and have a drink once the Music bar closed down but not so much anymore. I used to frequent this spot because I am not much for the hipster bars that have popped up all over the Northside because of the yuppies but this bar has fallen too far down hill. The owners son thinks he can yell at people and curse them out of no known reason and think they will come back — I think not! Not only do you get poor service they charge you as if it is a five star bar.
Take my advice and go down the street to Chapultepec!

If you appreciate being bullied by old-​has– beens in what could be a promising watering hole… this place.

With the new owner it’s gone pretty flat. The charm has been rinsed out and all you’re left with is a dank, sad beer hall — with nothing to do but watch people fall off of their stools. The Berk used to be a staple of the neighborhood but little old Tennyson has grown up and has left this place behind.

One thing I will say for this place… pretty much the cleanest dive bar I’ve seen, even with a dog running around it. The place has the dive bar feel without the grossness, so that was nice. It was really dark with a long bar and some neon lighting. Three different TVs playing golf, baseball and football.
The only downside for me was the drinks aren’t really that cheap, which you normally expect when entering a dive bar. They had a happy hour from 7am-​noon… which seems basically useless to me unless you’re an early morning alcoholic, but I’m sure they have a few.
I had a Stella which was like $ 5 and the boyfriend had a Summer Ale, also $ 5. If I wanted to pay $ 10 for 2 beers I could have stayed at the De Steeg Brewery down the street where I don’t mind paying that much for craft beer. However, I do mind when I go to a dive bar looking for cheaper beers.
I will say our bartender/​waitress was really nice and quick so that was good. Watching a lady eat cold chicken from a bag and feed it to her dog at the bar was a little creepy though… So maybe if we come during another happy hour it will be okay.

Well shit to the Balls,
I recently decided to check this place out again and I must say I had a great time this time around. Spoke with an awesome bartender who even gave me a couple of free drink cards. Shot a few games of pool with some regulars and all in all a pretty damn good time. Cheers to you Berkeley Inn.

If you’re a northsider. Not a «Highlander» or «Berkeley» resident or one of the many other names people new to this side of town have given themselves you know or knew about the Berk (or the Bezerkeley as we liked to call it). Yeah the biker bar or the local coke dispensary or the place where the joke was, «What do you get when you have a group of women from the Berkeley? A full set of teeth!». Well prior to the major influx of new blood to the ‘hood, I ran an open stage with my band there for. man was it almost 10 years? Ass crazy! The stories I could tell. Well that was a while ago and I only went back once after the change in ownership to play a birthday party there. I figured cool, smoking ban, this will be alright! I was wrong. «Grandfather clause“‘d in as a «cigar bar». So, when I opened the door, a wall of smoke rolled out! Suckage! Well what prompted me to write this review is a friend of mine recently played there and invited me out to jam. A little bit of trepidation about swimming in cigar and cig smoke ensued. Swung that door open and NO SMOKE and guess what, the majority of the barflies (many of which were my buds btw) were gone so, it is now a gentrification acceptable establishment! Bittersweet. Coolness factor went down, livability (including the men’s head, phew) factor went up. That’ll work.

Looking for a real honest dive bar, not some trendy «dive» bar that hipsters have overrun? Look no further than the Berkeley Inn!
Blink as you walk by and you’ll miss the entrance — a single door on a flat white wall with a sign way too high to see just walking down the sidewalk… My kind of place, you almost have to know it’s there to find it! Open the door and be greeted by a dimly lit narrow room with a bar stretching most of the way down the left side. A few bar flies might look up at you from their drinks as you walk in, definitely sizing you up wondering if you’re just some trendy ass walking in or good company — again, my kind of place! To the right a handful of tables and chairs, a few arcade cabinets, pool tables and juke box in the back ending with a hallway to the bathrooms and smoking area in the alley out back.
Berk used to be one of the last bars grandfathered in and allowed you to smoke inside. Unfortunately for us smokers, they have had that privilege removed…
Walk up to the bar and be greeted by any one of the awesome bartenders that work there and order a couple cheap PBRs or whatever tickles your fancy and enjoya true neighborhood dive bar with dim lighting, plenty of dive bar atmosphere, and don’t forget to feed the juke box that has more choices than you can imagine!

Q– Marc, what kind of nerd are you?
A– The kind of nerd that looked up bars in my neighborhood that had a pinball machine.
Guess which bar fit that bill?
YOU ARE AMAZING!
OK, so, I went here because some geek on the internet has this list of local places with pinball machines and how nice they are. I went specifically for that.
Let me say the obvious, since everyone has already said it– HOLY SMOKES!!! I about died of lung cancer in there! Being a former smoker, I think I started twitching after about 5 minutes. That sweet nicotine succubus was singing my name. I had two beers, two games of pinball, and that was all I could take.
It’s pretty dark, smokey, and well your standard dive bar. Decent prices, lots of cancer stick exhaust and a great pinball machine.

Dark. Really dark. It was a good thing that I brought my seeing-​eye dog.
And, the smell of stale cigarette smoke was gag inducing.
Not really my kind of place.

Smoker’s Delight! If you don’t love smoke, I hope you like second hand! We walk in at 10am for a bloody mary advertised as $ 3 outside while we wait for a table next door. Each seat at the bar had its own personal ashtray. (they sell the required min. of tobacco products to skirt around the man)
A giant sassy red head bartendress set us up with three of the spiciest, well garnished bloodies in my experience. I liked her attitude, especially in the dark dingy hole exactly opposite of the café next to it. I guess they share owners, because she offered us the chance to order & eat there instead but alas, we declined.
I want to go back to see the action Holly and Melissa described, that sounds right up my alley!

This place fits the definition of «Dive bar» to a D. Seriously.
They recently had to abide by the no smoking law that has been in place for so long here. Not really sure how they got away with it before, but you can definitely tell a lot of smoking has happened here.
We came in on a Friday night and ALL THE TAPS were $ 2. Not sure if this is a nightly special but still awesome nonetheless. Sure the patrons are interesting looking and the place is really run down but that is what you expect from a dive bar, yes?