Bec’s Bar and Bistro Entertainment

Bec’s Bar & Bistro in Berkeley, CA — 3 stars: Friday 2÷15÷13. On a crowded Friday night after seeing Lincoln at the movie house across the street, Bec’s was a nice late-​evening stop for a burger and a beer. Lots of seating, so there is usually something available right away. The main restaurant is on the first floor (bar in front and dining tables in back), and they often have live music up on the second floor. Our party had a Bec’s Road House (burger) and a pepperoni flatbread pizza — both nice and quick meals. Good beer and nice service in this noisy & casual pub. Will return.

CLOSED
Building is now for lease.
Probably for the best. This place was expensive, the service SUCKED and the food was mediocre. The only good thing was Tuesday night trivia.

OMG, EW to the max!
My friends and I were waiting for a table at Angeline’s (SO GOOD) next door to this place, so we decided to drop in and have a drink while we waited. BAD IDEA, I would have rather stood outside in the freezing cold. This place had potential, but there were some questionable people here — I was literally scared! The whole place reeked of cigarette smoke and weed.
Definitely won’t be going back here.

Do not go for the food.
I have been twice. First time I got the brussel sprouts and sausage and it was awful. Second time — and I told myself to go somewhere else to eat — I got the stuffed mushrooms, which were microwaved and chewy and wrong (I knew it… listen to your instincts). I ate them because I was hungry and the flavors were ok, but can they not make them fresh and with decent sausage?
The martinis reeked of vermouth… but you cannot go wrong with beer.
Why 3 stars? Trivia night where I won a $ 5 gift card (thus the second visit) and then, OMG, a GREAT 4 piece jazz ensable you can see for free on Sunday nights.
Check it out. Let us Unilocalers know what you think. ;)

Truthfully, I slightly remember the old «Beckett’s» But then again perhaps I had too much or too little to drink. I’ve been here at times to see a unique and always different crowd grad students, Philosophers, and poets.
This place is awesome because you can always stop over for a nightcap
on your way home, cause Bart is like a few blocks away.
And the occasional creepy guy… aka Me.
It’s a nice place to wonder about people can be as friendly as they can be,
and at times the service is hit or miss.
They have different events around this place, once I swore the floor was covered
in beach sand at one point, another time the place was all decked out with
a scarecrow for Halloween, So kudos to the management for upping the Ante!
On the website they have different events, I only noticed that now…
but here’s an easy link to check it out yourself.
Now look at the sidebar. and tell me what it says…
Okay now that’s what’s going on!
I’m impressed by the kitchen staff, but not so much on the bar.
I had my usual «Rum and coke» which seemed way better than
my badly made «old fashion» I dunno, how you can mess that up… but you did.
But The last drink I sipped on the «Cherry Blossom» Tasted like the sweet baby
of Jamison and Cherries, Something simple, yet savory but good enough for the teen-​aged girl trapped inside of me. Smh!
I was laughing with a friend about the «Gosling’s dark and stormy»
I was like that better not be «Ryan Gosling»
I did However fancy the cute little «Sliders» and my friend
ordered the flat bread pizza, which was pretty good!
This place at times has a DJ and a small upstairs dance floor?!
The old «Beckett» use to have a bunch of starving artist
who use to perform, I’m still not sure yet about this place…
But since I’m often around the Berkeley area, since it is my Hometown
and you might catch me here after I’ve Stop over from «Jupiter’s»
I definitely need to come back and try their «Premium Burgers»
I’ll let you know how that Goes ;)
PRO-​TIP: «Parking facility at the corner ½ block on Bancroft»
BUT STREET PARKING Is always a plus if you can find it,
don’t try parking around «Jupiter’s» you’ve parked too far.

Note: this review is based on service only!
My dilemma:
My friend and I were sitting at the small table had our drinks while looking at the menu it is roughly around 6:00pm on a Wednesday night, the place had plenty of tables available and bar space.
The gentleman that greeted us as we arrived came over and asked us if we were having dinner and we said yes, as we are looking at the menu he comes over again and asked us if we mind moving to the bar area. I was confused by this for one there was plenty of dinner tables available as well as bar space there was no reserved sign on the table. However at this point I felt uncomfortable given the scenario we went to the bar area.
Bartenders:
Seemed bothered when I try to wave her down; again the bar was not busy, however the two bartenders were busy in their own conversation.
Restaurant:
The newly updated Bec’s looks great inside and it looks like they also offer local artists so I am definitely happy that they are supporting the local scene.

Loooooved it here! Danced the night awayyy! Tried the midori sour, kamikazi, and the jolly rancher draaanks
Nice place!

Big place, but you wouldn’t think it from looking at it from the street.
Great live music, fun crowd.
I enjoyed the drinks I had here, and the they were reasonably priced. Haven’t tried the food, so I can’t speak to that.
Agree with another reviewer that the bathrooms are gross.

We started off with some cocktails. Why? Because they have a fabulous menu that sounded very intriguing! I must dive in and try! So here’s what I tried, and no I didn’t have this all by myself: P
RASPBERRY MOJITO — $ 12
Bacardi Rum, Chambord, Lime Juice, 7up, Mint
I thought it was a bit pricey but you know what, it came in a tall glass. There was a lot of mint leaves in it and I enjoyed it. Nuff said.
ACAI BLUEBERRY LEMON DROP — $ 9
Absolut Acai Berry, Lemon Juice & Simple Syrup
I chose this becuase it sounded enticing with the acai to it an dI just love lemon drops. However, I was surprised when it was brought out to me… did I just order an AMF? Nope, my order was correct. My drink was bright blue with a sugar rim and a lemon wedge on it. Didn’t look like the fancy sounding drink to me but it was quite tasty… not too sweet and not too strong in taste.
BEC’S ABSOLUTE ROYALTY — $ 10
Absolut, Chambord, Peach Schnapps, Sweet & Sour, Cranberry
So this drink came out as a mistake (we didn’t order this) but we were told it was our server’s first day. But it was nice that they just let us keep it and brought out the correct order, which was the raspberry mojito. :) This ruby drink with a sugar rim was too sweet even for me, but that’s probably because of my lemon drop haha. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more if it was the only drink I ordered haha.
Now lets get to the grubbin’!
Here’s what we had:
GRILLED SAUSAGE & BRUSSEL SPROUTS — $ 9
This house brussel sprouts mixed with Cajun sausage was, although served in what looked like a cereal bowl, quite yummy. It was hardly bitter and the sausages complimented the this dish quite well. I liked this! This was our appetizer to share.
MUSSELS — $ 14.95
Mussels, lemon, butter, fresh garlic, sweet onion, fennel, and tomato served with fries. I’m impressed with this dish! Presentation was lovely and the juice it came in was so tasty! Although it looked dry, these mussels were amazing! I’m so glad I ordered these! The french fries were lightly seasoned and I thought they were perfect! I couldn’t help but snack on them in between eating other entrees.
SAMPLER COMBO (2 items) — $ 16.00
BEC’s PAELLA (Signature Dish)
Mussels, Shrimp, Calamari mixed with spices and herbs, served over rice.
I chose this because it was their signature dish, and I don’t normally order paella… so that sold me. However, they didn’t warn me that it was such a spicy dish! It was delicious though… but I had to take breaks from it and eat other food to be able to finish it. and I wanted to cuz it was good!
GRILLED SALMON
Served over a salad of gorgonzola and pinto bean with cilantro, radish and lemon dressing.
I’m glad this wasn’t dry. It was moist and the salad it was on was yummy.
HALF ROASTED ORGANIC CHICKEN — $ 12.90
Served with roast kale and polenta, glazed with natural juice.
I was excited to see this dish! I looked amazing!!! Unfortunately, I tasted bland. The polenta was bland too :(All I could taste was some lemon in the chicken, which wasn’t bad, and the chicken was so tender and juicy. Perhaps it was bland because I had so many flavors going on in my mouth, from mussel juice or the paella… oh well…
To be honest I give my overall experience a 3 and a half star rating but rounding it up to 4. Although food and drinks wasn’t a high score, I just had a great time. It was such a lively night. Oh I came on a Thursday, which is Latin night, which live music and free salsa dancing/​lessons upstairs. I got to meet the manager and owner who were such friendly and hospital people.
If I’m looking for something to do, perhaps drinking and eating with friends on a Thursday night and trying to keep it local… I think I know where to go :)

Wow, what a surprise was I in for!
I came here last Friday night for a dinner with my fiancé and I was delightfully surprised by this little gem.
Most people who have ever stepped foot in Berkeley remember Becket’s, well they closed and these guys moved in. Some Beckett fans were pissed off (as you can see in a lot of Unilocal reviews) and others saying this new bistro in town is a hit.
I have to say they did a really good job transforming the place. They kept the awesome full bar and tons of beer on tap, they ramped up the wine list (from what I hear the owner is french) and stepped up the game in the kitchen.
I started out with a blue moon and my fiancé had there Pinot Noir. The wine and beer did not disappoint.
Next we started with some brussel sprouts, gotta have your greens! They still had a little bite to them which was nice, not too seasoned and fresh.
We then shared the salmon, paella, and roasted chicken dishes.
Salmon — Perfectly cooked, with sauteed spinach and creamy mashed potatoes — super score — magnification dish! There was some chutney or something on top of the salmon, it was so good I forgot to look back at the menu.
Paella — Totally solid — huge portion size, fresh seafood, nice spice and seasoning.
Chicken — They cooked it just right, not dried out — served with kale– excellent as well, but if you have to choose go for the seafood.
The server recommended a stout beer with dessert. Alright, we said. The stout was creamy and complex, GREAT with the dessert (cannot recall the name)
For dessert we split a flour less chocolate cake? (it was amazing) and crème brûlée with fresh strawberries! You would never expect good dessert from this place, but trust me GET THE DESSERT!
The server knew the right stuff to recommend and I never had an empty glass.
Overall, we had a great experience — they really turned this place around, I will definitely be coming here again.

Can people please stop trying to write a review for why they miss Beckett’s here… not relevant at all –_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​–
Came here on a Thursday night for dinner with a friend! The first floor (restaurant) was crowded and full of people — but the crowd was on the older side and I definitely didn’t see many (if any) college students).
Food: I ordered the seafood paella. It was the first time I’d had paella but the waiter recommended it as one of their specialties. For $ 14.50, I thought that I would have gotten a bigger portion. I wasn’t expecting the place to be on the pricey side, because I’d always thought of it as a bar. The paella was good, though. My only complaint is that it was a tad dry and I wish that there was more calamari, like they said they would have. I think my dish was just unlucky because I ended up only getting 1 piece.
My friend got the flat-​iron steak. He said it was pretty good but very oily.
Drinks: The only drinks I’ve had here are the jäger bomb (for my birthday) and an upside-​down pineapple martini. Both are amazing! I love pineapple and fruity drinks so the martini was to die for — the alcohol taste was not very strong and I liked the foamyness on top.
Something to note is that BECs has an upstairs with another bar and even a space for a DJ — this is probably the ideal place for college kids to hang out, but because of the placement (hidden away upstairs), I could see newcomers being turned off by maybe the older crowd downstairs. It seems like a place that would require a lot of word-​of-​mouth to come. There’s also a private room upstairs that can be used for a dinner party of probably around 20 people.
Would have given the place 3.5 stars but pushed it up to 4 because I had amazing service :) The only reason I gave it 3.5 stars is because of the quality of the food /​higher prices for the food. The drinks are pretty good!

So the hub and I were in the mood for some drinks, bar food and music.
Time: Tuesday night at 7:30PM.
Location: Right off Shattuck and only a couple of blocks from Bart. We decided to drive. Like usual it was a little difficult finding a spot that is not in the red, tow away zone or a bus stop. But we found one and screamed for joy like the 49ers were going to the Super Bowl.
Place: It was a little hard to see from the street so drive a little slower and having that blue dot on the iPhone helps a lot. It practically says «hey idiot you made it to your destination». The inside has an old worn in rustic charm. There are three fire places (very cozy I wish I could have curled up and taken a nap) an outside area, the second story is pretty cool where they have events and a separate room. There are two bars one upstairs with table top and bar seating and the other full bar down stairs. You will never be thirsty, I hate waiting forever for a drink. I was surprised for a week night they had a big size crowd.
Dining/​Food: We were greeted and seated in the back dining area since we came for dinner. On the menu they have the typical bar food, nachos, burgers and good fried stuff that taste so good when eaten with a beer. I tried the tomato flat bread pizza, beet salad and the paella. The salad was very good and pretty large with fresh ingredients. The pizza was good with the thin cracker like crust and it was the same size as a large dinner plate. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious the paella was. It had large amounts of shrimp and mussels ontop of a mound of rice.
I would return for that darn paella!
Waitstaff: We had a very nice and attentive waitress. She was always checking on us and made sure our water glasses were filled.
Price: Good prices for the food portions. I noticed on the menu they have some dinner specials.
Misc. info: They have theme nights so «like» them on Facebook to keep yourself in the loop on the fun stuff. I hear that this place is off the hook on Thursdays. I will have to make it back to find out what I have been missing.

Nooo Beckett’s! Say it ain’t so. They closed the placed down and reopened it with another bar and «bistro» under a shortened version of the name: Bec’s.
The inside hasn’t changed much other than the décor. Their appears to be a wall near the fireplace that has artwork related to the holidays. That horrific picture of Bono is finally gone, and all those old books that lined the bar have also left.
The staff seems to have turned around with the place as well. There’s newer bartenders, but they’re just as welcoming, friendly, and fun as the last bunch.
The menu with my favorite cottage pie has been revamped to a more Americanized menu.
Mondays has an all night happy hour, and for a Monday the place was pretty packed. There are some obvious regulars that go but they don’t take much away from the experience.

Beckett’s was a mine and my gf’s regular date night place. They had a couple of savory dishes, the bartenders were nice, and the prices decent.
On a recent visit back to the area I decided to stop by to reminisce, and was a bit shocked to find that Beckett’s turned into BEC’s.
Really? You’re going to take over a now defunct business and just shorten the name?
The night I came in (Monday) it was happy hour all night, so a beer was $ 4. The bartenders may not have been the familiar faces, but they were friendly. The usual locals that went to Beckett’s everyday (and sat at the corner of the bar) were replaced by a different set of regulars.
And that horrendous picture of Bono is gone.
I didn’t try the food, but took a look at the menu. It’s quite the different menu, but looks like there’s some great stuff on there. I hope to come back soon and get dinner.

Full disclaimer: My sister Van was invited by one of the managers here to eat, critique and help make Bec’s better. She let me tag along.
I’d lived in Berkeley for over 10+ years and had never stepped foot into this building before … regretfully because it’s quite lovely inside.
The good:
— The management is reaching out to people to learn how to improve. I think that’s pretty awesome.
— The space has a lot of personality — rich dark wood, cozy fireplace, full bar. Ample space upstairs with another bar and several private rooms. (One room had a performer and the other was a weekly meeting of a whiskey club!)
— Did I mention full bar? With beers on tap and wine.
— The brussel sprouts are really good! The skirt steak, chicken and paella were also very tasty.
I’m not even going to bother mentioning the other stuff … b/​c truth is, I told Matt the manager and I know he’s going to improve it.
I look forward to returning for:
— trivia night (that was one thing we suggested);
— to join the whiskey club
— to host one of my monthly drink clubs with the dragon boat team (I am way overdue for organizing one)
They’ve got bar food, they’ve got real food, they’ve got a full bar (not many of those in Berkeley especially since Raleigh’s just burned down) and most importantly, they want to establish themselves as being part of the Berkeley community and are making the effort to learn and improve. That’s ace in my book.

All I had here was a drink here, so I can’t speak for the food. I can speak for the good beer and selection of it they have, the sweet bartenders who served it (and gave me water) the soccer game they had going on TV and the fire they had. They were still decorated for Halloween and had a really cool ambiance to the place. I loved the fire as its starting to get crisp outside and I enjoyed the lack of too many people. There were a good amount of people, but no one was hovering over me to grab their drink.
I’ll definitely go back for another drink sometime and maybe brave the food so I can give them a fair review.

While the other reviews might throw you off as saying this place ‘isn’t the same as old Beckett’s’, you have to realize Bec’s isn’t trying to be Beckett’s. Bec’s is pushing new and innovative ideas to churn their new business, and I can say I am impressed by the effort to transform it from an old pub into a more modern place for bar bites and drinks with a little something for everyone. They offer full bar service with a great selection of beers, nice drink and happy hour specials, themed nights on weeknights (live music, latin, DJ etc), and a full menu.
I came here on Tuesday night after work to grab a quick bite and a few drinks with a friend. Man, this place is easy to miss! Its hidden behind some obscure doors and ivy trees. The main bar is located at the head of the restaurant; hard to miss the regulars drinking there right when you walk in. The ‘restaurant area’ is located in the rear of the restaurant, and we were only one of four parties. I was impressed by their extensive menu. The not only served bar food (sliders, flatbread etc), but they also had real dishes at competitive prices. I had the salmon while my friend had the chicken, and we had a few sliders to share.
Salmon: B
The salmon was cooked well and served over a bed of sauteed spinach. It was a little dry, but I wasn’t expecting anything more. For the price (14) the portions were generous. I was pretty impressed that a bar actually had salmon to serve. They definitely need to advertise more about their full service kitchen; i thought Bec’s was just a bar, but now that I know that they have a full menu I will be coming back.
Sliders: A
These are delicious. A nice medium rare patty served on a lightly toasted bun with all the works of a regular burger. I can imagine getting a few drinks in and eating four or five of these, and it would cost about the same as an full entrée.
Chicken: no score. My friend had no complaints but I wasn’t able to try it.
While I think this place definitely deserves more than the two star rating it has, i must say that this place needs some time to develop its character. Right now, I feel that the downfall is that it has no identity. Is it a bar? Is it a restaurant? Is it a pub? Is it a dive bar? Regardless, this place is going the right direction. With a little time and character, I know that this place can easily become a spot for Berkeley regulars. I’ll definitely have to check out happy hour one of these days.
PROTIP: Matt (owner) runs a whiskey tasting club on Tuesday nights in the upstairs rooms. Contact him for more info if you are a whiskey drinker. If whiskey isn’t for you, they have themed nights almost every day of the week. I know Latin night is Thursday.

My friend’s friends wanted to come here for some food and drinks, so we came here when it was pretty empty.
We ordered a few appetizers and some bottles of wine. The calamari and the wings were pretty average — nothing too special but not terrible. The portions were a little small though. I also tried a chicken slider, (4 for $ 13), which was decent.
The wine was good, but I’m no wine connoisseur, so won’t comment on that.
What I didn’t like was the super loud music that made it impossible to hear the people next to me. Everyone had to yell into each other’s ears when it was like only 7 – 8 pm. Also, the food was pretty slow in coming out, and it was hard to get a server’s attention!
This place isn’t the worst, but I think there are a lot of better places to try in the area!

Why even try to keep some part of the old name if you’re not going to keep anything else about the place? Prices went up, the good beer taps went away, and open mic was horrible (though I guess that’s not their fault, but maybe they should consider having auditions.)
Nuke this place from orbit and let’s have Beckett’s of Berkeley back again!

[aww first time i’ve ever been flagged by Unilocal!~ insert sad face.
reposting an amended review. removed comments regarding heavyset blond bartender’s poor service. identified purely as service provider/​business representative.]
I’m with the rest of the reviews: WHAT HAPPENED?!
Old Cal Alum returning to stomping grounds and we decided to pull into here for a drink after dinner nearby.
A: «Wasn’t this place called Beckett’s back in the day?»
M: «Yeah. looks the same.»
/​/​. at the end of the night.
A+M: «Oh god this place sucks.:
I requested a «three wise men» as an old bday tradition with friends. and they didn’t know what the drink was. Even when I listed the ingredients of the jack, john, jim combo. the bartender did not seem to register the particular combination of elements.
I received a poorly educated response back. Not only that~ the attempt at the drink was beyond failure and an extremely expensive one at that.
the drinks were expensive. lame. incorrect. and service was so poor.
sad to see the good things of my old college past go.
music was decent. crowd was sparse. but gahh. never. again.