Free House

So I’m giving this place 3 stars for the food and 1 star for the service. I ordered the free house burger. It was okay, but could have used more seasonings. My friend ordered the steak fillet with sweet potato fries. He said it was just okay too.
Our 1 star service, on the other hand, was sub par. I’ve been to this beer garden before (with a group of predominately white doctoral students). Yesterday I went with my other black male friend, and our waitress was so RUDE. She brought the check before I was finished eating, and hovered over us for the next 20 minutes. She was clearly annoyed with our presence, and didn’t want us there. Maybe our money wasn’t good enough for that establishment. However, I won’t be supporting that business anymore.

I enjoy the beer selection here, and some of the food is pretty great. Unfortunately they took a couple of my favorite items off the menu (Mac and cheese bites!). But I’m a big fan of the po boy and baconnaise. The atmosphere in the outdoor area is nice, though it would definitely be better if it weren’t a walkthrough area for the dorms above.

Great food and the manager follows up when you have a problem. I needed a receipt from 3 months ago and he went out of his way to find it and e-​mail it to me.

Award for worst customer service
I can’t even comment on the food or drinks, because we were never served. We live in San Francisco, but were visiting Berkeley for the first time to attend the Cal football game. While walking towards the stadium, we found this spot and thought it would be a great spot to grab a drink before entering the stadium. We walked up to the corner of the bar and while we were waiting for someone to serve us our friend started a (very casual, nothing to it) conversation with a woman sitting at the end of the bar. Finally, a bartender comes over and we attempt to place an order with him. He doesn’t say anything, then supposedly, the «manager» steps over and informs us that we can’t order a drink and we need to leave. We questioned him on why and we never received an answer besides «we do not need your business.» If he was in fact the manager, he has to be the worst manager of all time! Out of all my years in business or just common customer service, you never tell your customer you do not need their business. In fact, you need their business very much as that is how you pay your bills. I will be sure this place never receives my business again and I will be sure to everyone I know to avoid this place as they do not need your business.

I was beyond excited to see that the menu offers crispy brussels sprouts and fried pickles! The brussels sprouts were great with the sauce. The pickles were good, but they were too thin so you could not really taste the pickle. I wish they fried pickle spears or at least made the slices thicker.
I ordered the black bean burger and my mom ordered the adaja chicken salad. She liked it okay. The black bean patty was pretty good, but the stuff that they put on it is weird. It’s some sort of pear/​squash and a sweet sauce. I would like it better if it had pickles, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, etc. like a normal burger. Even though the food wasn’t perfect, Free House is a cool place to go have a drink and the location is great, right next to campus.

We stopped here for a quick bite and a beer before seeing a show at the Greek. You can’t beat the proximity to the amphitheater. Burger was decent, we stayed away from the fries; and the bartender wasn’t the sweetest at first, but warmed up slightly by the end.

I can honestly say that the worst customer experience in my life took place at Free House. The waitress taking my order was beyond drunk and threw my ID at me after failing to read it.
Her «manager» was equally drunk and even more rude while trying to remedy the situation. Furthermore, I was overcharged for a simple order and chastised for asking why. I will not be going back anytime soon, if ever again.

The service here is awful if you’re not seated at the bar. The wait staff are all rude. You will wait an eternity just to get your order taken. If you don’t just walk out in anger first, after 45 minutes your order will be taken. After 45 minutes, the food will get there. Followed by your drinks 20 minutes later, and then finally the waters you begged for at the beginning just as you leave in disgust. I hope this place closes down and everyone who ever waited tables here becomes homeless. But the people at the bar and other employees I don’t think its their fault.

I stopped by here after a stressful day of grad school with a large group of classmates. The indoor décor and outdoor ambiance are really nice in a classy-I’m-not-in-a-college-town kind of way. HOWEVER… the HORRID service I received today has completely turned me off from coming here again.
A classmate of mine forgot her ID at home so a friend of ours got her a beer at the bar. The rest of us didn’t think it was a big deal — we’re all WELL over 21 and we thought it was more out of convenience rather than us «sneaking around the law». It’s laughable to think about any of us having to steal an ID for alcohol anymore.
We had chosen to all sit down at a table when a waiter came and asked us all for our IDs. When she admitted that she didn’t have her ID, he IMMEDIATELY grabbed her beer, THREW down the rest of the IDs and walked away in a huff. I kid you not, the IDs bounced back up when they hit the table.
Are you serious bro?
Our table of 10+ was completely turned off by this interaction and we stayed only to finish our beers. We felt all of the waiters eyeing our table the rest of the night, as if we committed some heinous crime and needed to be scrutinized.
I understand that this place is right across from the Berkeley campus. I get that there are laws and you need to cover your asses as an establishment.
What I DON’T understand is needing to be COMPLETE JERKS about these laws to your patrons. It just makes no sense whatsoever.
I’m seeing a lot of similar reviews on the service and a fellow Unilocaler had almost the exact same story as mine. Save yourself the aggravation and go somewhere else… I definitely will NOT be back.

Quick drink after class? Here is the place! The décor, food, and beverage menu is above average so you’ll have a great time here when you’re with your friends. Everything is a bit on the pricey side but what can you expect from a bar? If you’re looking to casually hang out with your buddies after work then you’ve come to the right place.

Fun, lively. Love the patio … The front patio is awesome too. Nice variety of food … Black bean burger, delicious pastrami they cook all day. Great drinks. Employees who work their butts off. Nice variety of students and non-​students. Good place for parents to hang. Gorgeous old building. Well worth dropping by.

Free House is a really nice spot with a great drink selection. They rotate taps frequently, so it’s a good place to try new things. If you like bars where you can sit with a group of people and chat, get a drink, and maybe eat some food, you’ll really like Free House.
The only downside to this place is that the staff is slow moving, but the place itself is so great that the slightly subpar service has never deterred me from returning.

I had a great time at Free House, it is veeeery pretty, both outside and inside, and the patio is a hidden gem I swear. If the weather is nice and warm like it is sometimes in Berkeley during summer, do not hesitate and try Free House!
Drinks: they have a great choice of beers and the waiters will know how to guide you if you don’t have a clue. I had two beers, that were both locally brewed, super good and only $ 5 – 6 each.
Will go back.

Free House is a great little pub. The ambiance and décor were fantastic. There’s a quaint fireplace, high ceilings, and a very classic vibe. I went there in the late afternoon on a weekday, during summer, so there wasn’t too high a student volume. It wasn’t too noisy on my visit, but I could see it getting a bit more boisterous during the school year. The service was good, my bartender was lovely and accommodating. For my meal, I had a po’ boy fried chicken sandwich. It was really good!
Overall, I want to give it a higher rating to balance out some of the negatives here. I saw a one star review that slammed the place for not serving alcohol to someone without an ID… seriously?! Ridiculous. However, it really is a solid three star. I’ll be back, for sure, but it’s not somewhere I’d travel for. If you’re in the area, check it out. But I wouldn’t make a special trip.

Yummy artisan drinks! The pretzel wasn’t soft enough and was a bit dry. However, the Cobb salad with iceberg lettuce was yummy and cool plating.

I might have received the worst service tonight.
Sat down in the patio to have a few drinks. Order was taken by a waiter, who murmured something rude under his breath, but I chose to disregard. Was, however, served promptly. But then, never got attended again for the next hour and a half. No napkins/​utensils, nor were we asked if we’d like another drink.
I spent about another 20 minutes trying to flag our waiter down, then I finally did and asked him for the check, I got an eyeroll (!) and was subsequently tossed the checkbook.
Absolutely awful and disrespectful. Not what I was expecting on a Friday evening.

I think this place is one of the nicer, more decent bars of Berkeley. It has an older crowd unlike Pappys and Kips, which is definitely much nicer. There’s plenty of seating and even has a couch by the fire place.
The mixed drinks are fairly priced at ~$ 8. I really enjoyed a grapefruit drink I had with tequila in it. It was refreshing and pretty strong too. The nachos here are a great combo with drinks! And it’s only $ 10.
Come here if you’re looking for an upscale college hang out spot!

This place is a must-​go if you are a Berkeley student!
The exterior looks like a house and the atmosphere is really unique, almost old-​fashioned. If the weather is nice, I recommend sitting outside on the patio but if not, inside in one of the wooden tables or even on the small couches.
The drinks are a tad bit on the pricer side but worth it for atmosphere. It’s located right across campus so sometimes if you’re tired from classes/​work it’s nice to come and chill with your friends here for a couple hours.
The only downside is that they don’t open till very late.

This place has an outdoor area that fits about 76 people and about 80 people. I would say this place fits about 160 people.
On a Wednesday, there was about 30 people with at least 3 servers. My first impression of the service was great, our host promptly seated my family and I and offered menu and water. (⁵⁄₅) for that.
The server, «Manny A», promptly came to the table and asked whether he could offer us drinks and food.
Without hesitation, I ordered a steak and a Merlot to go with the steak. My family ordered two steaks and one chicken pot pie.
The food came to our table about 10 minutes. It’s relatively fast and I was satisfied with the speed of the service. (⁵⁄₅)
However, everything well wrong after the steaks were brought out to us. Firstly, my merlot was nowhere in sight. I was DONE with my steak, sweet potato fries, and my mixed green. Unfortunately, my wine was still not there, so i cancelled the wine. When i mentioned this to the server, he was unapologetic and simply walked away without saying anything. (⁰⁄₅)
Why was the wine not there? Glad you asked, he was too busy checking in with the table right next to us, which consisted of two girls.
I thought he would check in with us regarding of our experience, but he walked away instead.
As was shown in the picture that I posted, the water was never filled at any given point of time. (⁰⁄₅)
I could not blame the food because I truly enjoyed my steak (⁵⁄₅), but the service that was received on this night was (⁰⁄₅)
I gave three stars because the service wasn’t like this all the time. There were time when I received great service from this place and tipped 25% due to the great service and the food.
I’ll give this place another chance and adjust my rating accordingly.
My recommendation to you is to give this place a try, but if a server treated you like this one did to my family and me, then you should have the right to voice your experience on here and let others know about it.
PS: you can get your server’s name on the bill.
Hope this helps a bit to you.
Happy November.

I probably wouldn’t have considered coming to Free House had I not gotten recommendations to come here to try their drinks from a grad student. Turns out it’s a great place for groups since there’s the massive dining room and courtyard areas, without the dive-​y feel of some other bars closer to campus. The courtyard is super nice in theory, surrounded by cute windows from the Berkeleyan and filled with old beer barrels, but unless you’re next to one of the heat lamps and fire pits when they’re TURNED ON you might be asking for a chill-​filled evening. Pfft fickle Berkeley weather.
Typical pub food, but lacking in charm. We were surprised by how quickly the food came out! However, my Pulled Pork Sandwich was a scoop of overly-​sauced pork between two buns and a cup of coleslaw on the side. I don’t come to a bar expecting a balanced meal, but this might have been the first time I was disappointed by a pulled pork sandwich. Their thick-​cut paprika-​sprinkled fries helped make up the difference but I could easily have satisfied my carb cravings elsewhere for half the price.
Buuuut there IS a reason why there are more drink items on the menu than solids, and the same reason I’ve been multiple times. The Belgian Pranqster was pleasantly invigorating (thanks Adrian!), and my friend’s Ginger Beer a refreshing contrast to the earthy bias of the menu. To the disappointment of my naïve expectations though, the Oatmeal Stout tasted nothing like its namesake.
If you come with a large group in the evening they’ll ID and stamp your hand at the door before seating you. The waiters are friendly in general, and at least one of them has a really good eye for camera angles, as shown when he obliged to take a group picture for us. There’s one bathroom in the courtyard area that always seems to be in use, and one in the same hallway as the entrance. I’m not sure who had the idea of letting bathroom-​goers stare at an old German newspaper while they do their business, but it seems to fit in with the bold vintage feel in the rest of the establishment. So go ahead, discover your inner beer guzzler!