Whiskey River Saloon

Saw this place on the roadside coming into Oakdale on our way up to Groveland to deliver a car for our friends. HOT! HOT! HOT! (No surprise there, right) all the way up and back, so, on the way back the wife says «let’s get a beer». I remembered the Whiskey River Saloon we had passed going in so I pulled in as we passed back thru Oakdale. Very non-​descript from outside. Big beautiful glossy black Harley out front, couple nice cars and a few pickups. Way cool inside in more ways than one. Temperature was really comfortable without freezing one to death. Opened door, patrons turned, took a look and go back to their conversation after throwing a nod or smile our way. We bellied up to the bar, bartender lady comes over and we order our beer. None on tap, all bottled, good variety. Beer was perfect temp. The inside is really spacious, not obvious from building view outside. Bar is long and L shaped, opens up into a large back area with pool tables. Wife and I have not done the «bars» for years, we are now 70 and 71, but this place felt like home right away. Told the wife I had forgotten how nice a real bar felt. No TV’s showing «sports», just regular folks winding down at end of day in a relaxed friendly bar. It is a place we would come back to if I was in the area again (We live in Half Moon Bay). Bartender lady was personable and knew HMB. We got a nice round of goodbyes, and «drive safe» as we left.

Very cool dive bar. Clean and not what you expect from the outside. Bartender was an awesome gal. Just a cool mello bar.

Whiskey used to be jam packed most of the weekends. The parking lot filled with bikes and cars. Weekdays were like any other, slow but there is always a few that have rubber bands attached to their ass and the bar stool.
But those were the days of «Bars and Saloons». Now days if it’s not some «Sports Bar» atmosphere it probably is suffering from Metro-​Shock” where multiculturalism and foofy drinks rule the day (or night).
So if your hot and want a cold beer without Joe Jockstrap yelling at a television in your ear or Miss «I deserve a new drink because I drink Catawaller ONLY»; stop in and get a cold one.
If that is below your expectations. Keep on Truckin’!

What do you expect for a bar who only ever at the most has three cars out front. I only truly ever go because my cousin owns a bar stool there, and generally it is super quiet. It is the perfect bar if you want beer or whiskey, don’t try to start asking for something fancy because I am pretty sure they won’t know how to make it.

Yanno it’s a dive bar so I keep my expectations to a minimum. But with that said… the hours are weird and change often. Also, they’re not posted anywhere!
A lot of locals go here and it’s friendly on most days. The bartenders (I think there are only 2) are friendly as well but not very professional. If you ask for something that isn’t «typical» then you might be met with a blank stare. A friend of mine ordered a drink and it was made completely wrong. When she asked to have it remade, provided the ingredients and then she was shocked that she was charged again!
There appears to be a television that works but getting someone to turn that on for you so that you can watch a sports event is near impossible. If it doesn’t work why is it there? It’s a television… it’s not that complicated!
The junk box is old and seriously out of date! When music is played it was very, very loud and made any conversation impossible. The selections are minimal and there is not many current music choices.
It looks as if it could be a cool bar or that it was at one time. There’s lots of room, a couple of pool tables and a nice area outside for smoking. From all of the chatter it seems that the owner would rather sell it and be done though.