Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse

Such a nice venue ! The staff & volunteers were all certainly welcoming. They even let me in a bit before the doors opened for the show — to use the bathroom ! I may as well mention, said bathroom was up to date and very clean ! The parking garage was only a few doors down & reasonably priced. ($ 5 flat for the evening)
We liked the comfortable padded chairs and moveable seating ! It let the venue create a dance floor for the headlining band, Rusted Root. Cuz you gotta shake your booty to «the Root «
The whole vibe was «community playhouse/​theatre «more than «concert venue». It made things seem a little more «upscale». As did the beer & wine selection. They had local microbrews, ciders&
A varied selection of wines — much more than the usual «red? Or white ?» Also nice snacks of nuts or pretzels.
The bartenders were all friendly & paying by card was easy with their modern touchscreen payment system — that let us save our cash to buy a T-​shirt from the band !

Thank you so much, F&S!
We’ve had the best times at your place. The bands you find are awesome! The deserts are some of the best around — lemon tart was good enough to kill for. Good cold beers. Great sound. Great acoustics. Such a great vibe. Love your staff — very chill and super nice.
Thanks again! See you soon.

This is a fantastic venue! Really easy to get to using BART/​so much good food nearby, comfortable seats that are tiered so you can see from every angle, pretty good acoustics, a pretty good number of bathrooms, good drinks and snacks available, friendly staff, and all sorts of great events — a really diverse lineup of great acts/​performers/​even classes. I wish I still lived in the Bay Area so I could go allllll the time! I will be back as often as I can.

Comfortable seating, brilliant yearly calendar, and a little wine and snack bar to visit during intermission. I’ve only been once, but already have tickets for another show there. The best place for world, folk, Americana, etc in east bay!

Went to see the fabulous Bob Schneider and had a fabulous time. Nice place. Friendly staff, good wine and beer selection, comfortable seats and a good sound system. Parking abounded on the night we were there and there is easy BART access. Found a street space although there are several garages and lots in the area. It was a great evening and I’ll be back on Friday as well! Be careful of the Unilocal reviews. This is a sweet, new facility. Most of the meh reviews are a few years old and are for the less sweet, old place.

Robin Flower and Libby McLaren were fabulous last night at the amazing Freight and Salvage. They are skillful musicians and wonderfully humorous and entertaining. Don’t miss their brand of Celtic folk and roll next time they are at the Freight!

Love the space!
Attended a Moth StorySlam here the other night and got premium seating tickets which didn’t seem necessary b/​c I think all the seats in the space probably have a decent view of the stage.
They have a coffee bar and a wine /​beer /​cider bar as well that has light snacks (pretzels, nuts). There was a taco truck outside and some patrons came in with burritos or tacos so that’s at least a food option.
There is a garage next door for accessible parking and lots of places to eat and explore in Berkeley.
Hope to be back for another show in the near future!

I’ve been tithe old Freight and here, the new Freight and it’s a wonderful venue. Not a bad seat in the house. The sound system is great.
There is convenient parking near by and the Downtown Berkeley BART station is around the corner.
The restaurants in the area are plentiful.

I recently attended a fundraising event here, and this venue is awesome! Good space for a classy and cool event, and their staff members are very professional. The foyer is a spacious, perfect for a pre-​program reception. There is a bar on one side of the foyer, which normally has coffee and snacks but this time served wine and sangria. The main theater space is beautiful. The stage is breathtaking, there is plenty of seating, and the seats are comfortable. The AV booth is smack-​dab in the middle of the whole room, which is a great comfort for event planners. AV and lighting were excellently executed, great job to the Freight & Salvage team. Seamless event. I would love to come back here for another event or just to hang out on a regular day!

What a cool venue! I caught a show last night (Grant Lee Phillips and Steve Poltz) and was impressed with the beautiful ambiance and the rich acoustics of Freight & Salvage. What is great about this spot is that it’s a venue that is dedicated to the performance/​performer. The crowd is a mix of students and older folk alike. There isn’t a loud bar to disrupt the artist. You go there for the music! Bravo!
There is a bar in the back ($ 6 beer/​$ 8 wine /​$ 3 assorted snacks + desserts), and their ipad payment system makes it easy to pay with a card.
I will be back!

Such a wonderful venue.
I’ve seen my favorite folk artist here a few times. Love the atmosphere and wood paneling. Great, spacious room. The seats all have good views. Love sipping a coffee or a beer during a show. Great location.

Wonderful warm acoustics; Meyers Sound, of course.
Great seats, wide and good legroom.
Excellent sightlines, well-​designed floor rake.
Friendly staff, appreciative and intelligent audiences.
Easy-​on-​the-​wallet ticket prices, and clean, efficient online ticket sales interface.
Best of all, superb diversity in the artist bookings.
Take BART or bus, or park in garage next door. Bask in analog, people!

Very cool venue for a work conference. I did not try the food or drinks.
The good: Nice warm wood paneling and tiered seating. The ceiling was high and created an open atmosphere. It was a little dark, but just added to the ambience.
The meh: As a presenter, I couldn’t read my slides on the screen from the podium. Not sure if this is a venue specific problem due to the stage size, or if it can be easily remedied by moving the podium.
Pro tip: For all day parking on a weekday, the nearly adjacent parking lot offers an early bird special ($ 10 all day).

A venerable institution in Berkeley, that has gone thorough several (3) changes and locations over the years, and each one improving on the last, all without losing their trademark «café of the people» vibe, and calendar.
I worked at the first one as a child (they gave me a kid’s job sweeping and cleaning on the old location San Pablo avenue) and watched them build up what now amounts to an american institution, that books the kind of acts that you will only see usually on the east coast or southern states. Real Americana, and they also have a strong support of, and often book local artists .
A lot of places lose their friendly Vibe over the years, but just an example of their still having a great vibe, was when last year I was playing with my band Alta California, at the downtown Berkeley festival and we needed some extra staging, and they simply lent it to us! Still helpful after all these years.
And a beautiful interior. Nice place all around.
P

Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse is a fantastic music venue. The acoustics are perfect. The lighting sets a comfortable mood. One doesn’t sit in the dark during the concert.
Every seat does indeed have a great view of the stage, but front row seats, be they in front, to the left or right of the stage, can’t be beat.
It’s a bit like sitting with the artist in their living room as they perform just for you.
Less than a block from BART, Freight & Salvage is so easy to get to.
The folks here are so nice and you can tell that music is their passion.
I always watch the calendar and try to get here as often as I can.

I went to Freight and Salvage to see the Cheap Suit Serenaders (and Casey MacGill) not too long ago.
I guess the best way to describe this place is «fun.» It doesn’t feel like some sort of stuffy venue — rather, you can chat with the crew during intermission or grab some beer/​wine/​a cookie. I’m sure being a non-​profit helps with that tremendously.
However, the seats could definitely use some work — after sitting down for a few hours, I ached something fierce.

Another classy find in downtown Berkeley! I came here for a Valentine’s Day event which featured AYCE/​AYCD oysters, chocolate, and champagne with a performance by the local Bay Area bluegrass group, Supermule. If you ever want an out-​of-​the-​box night out, I suggest coming here!
I love the way the auditorium is set up – the seats are slightly elevated so you will get a great view no matter where you end up sitting. The acoustics were amazing and you can still hear the music out in the lobby. And there are tables in between the seats so you can bring food and drinks in. What’s even better than enjoying a live performance? Watching it with a plate of oysters and a flute of champagne in hand (or on table). They also have a small wine bar outside in the lobby area.
If you want to check out local Bay Area performances in a more intimate setting, I would definitely make my way out to the Freight & Salvage Coffehouse in Berkeley.

What a great auditorium! Every seat has a clear view of the stage. The room feels surprisingly intimate for a 200 seat space.
Good room acoustics augmented by a hi-​fi quality sound system, stage and auditorium lighting is easy on the eyes, the seats are comfortable, and there’s a snack bar with beer & wine.
I saw the Milk Carton Kids last night. It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever heard. And I’ve been to 1,000’s of concerts since 1959 from dives that sat 20 patrons to the greatest symphony halls on 5 continents.
Freight and Salvage, Yeah!

Next door parking structure for $ 5 a night during an event night.
50% discounted price if 30 yrs old or younger, so take advantage of your youth!
Spacious seating, hardly a bad seat in the house. If you’re open minded about the music you listen to and not a top 40 or under ground music snob or seek getting high off of edm wearing neon pleather, then this is a neat venue to stop by and get a bit cultured.

Beautiful concert venue! Not sure why they kept the coffee house part in the name; it’s really just a small-​medium concert hall. I guess they do serve coffee, tea, beer, and wine.
They bands they host are excellent, and the staff/​volunteers are very friendly and passionate about music. We had the privilege of seeing Ruth Moody and then stayed around for 15 – 20 min talking with the people from the box office and buying tickets for other events. They were kind enough to recommend 3 – 5 shows from their list of 60+ bands, they also even took the time to play some samples of music for us and told us what would sell out. That’s dedication!
I should also comment on the seats. Really, really comfortable with side tables every 3 – 4 spots to hold drinks. There is plenty of legroom and space between seats so you don’t feel to close to your neighbours, but can choose to lean against your significant other should you choose too.
The only thing that holds this back from being a 5 star venue is lack of beer selection, and the lack of anything on draft. I would love to see draft beer here from a local micro brew.
Oh and another tip: buy tickets in person. They are cheaper (no $ 1.50-$ 2.00 surcharge and ANYONE UNDER 25 GETS 50% OFF ALL EVENTS!!!)
Can’t wait to come back in a couple weeks to see The Milk Carton Boys!