Geoffreys Inner Circle

Sunday night 6pm is a weekly jazz cabaret in an event space in downtown Oakland, super easy access via BART. Enter under the red canopy, go upstairs. Really great music, the bandleader is the terrific vibes player, which is not an instrument you see on every street corner. The $ 10 cover includes a simple home style, paper plate buffet. They have a liquor license and table service from an elegant waiter in polished shoes and stylish vest. The crowd is dignified, and the ambiance is warm and friendly. The impresario is on-​site and chats with his customers during breaks. The vocalist was really fantastic. I see in the paper that they also do Monday night jams there.

This was one of the most fun places for adults to go dancing and hear great music. I loved the informality and friendliness of the place. Great vibe!

Great music and fun! We went to see Yancie Taylor, and the music was wonderful! The musicians all were very talented, and the audience respected them, which made it easy to enjoy and appreciate.
Oh, and the food was a great surprise! Go on Sunday nights, but save us a seat!

We visited Geoffrey’s for the first time on Sunday evening. Wow! This place is a gem.
The friends we came with were particularly interested in hearing Robin Gregory sing. They were right. She’s a very talented jazz vocalist. We were also very impressed with Yancy, the vibes player and band leader. He and his band played mostly old standards, along with some clever, creative, and very entertaining improvisations. The quality of the music was excellent.
The room is simple, but the acoustics were good. Be warned, if climbing is a problem, there are a lot of stairs at the entrance.
For just a $ 5 cover and an additional $ 5 if you want a full buffet dinner, this place is a spectacular value. The drinks were also reasonably priced. Geoffrey’s will certainly become a regular part of our Sunday night plans.

The food is off the hook, the price is more than reasonable, if you love jazz and blues… Jefferies is the place to be Sunday evening 6:00 til 10:00pm. Its a jam session! The band will let you sit in if you sign their guest book.

This place was interesting; you walk in and there’s stairs, the greeter asked if we were there for the event, we said yes, and we’re told to walk in.
We weren’t told that there were two other events, and had to walk around lost for a bit until we decided to just sit and see what happens.
Long story short: it was very unorganized and confusing. We weren’t sure if we were in the right place, and the music and conversation from the different events were mixing, so I could never tell what was really going on.
The bathrooms were small and dirty, and neither of the locks worked. We left to go to a pub.

Although I went to hear my fav performer it was awful from the «get». I am disabled… need elevator. Stairs were tortuous; handrail loose (scary); and it got worse from there. Friend offered to get me my fav drink — «filthy» (very dirty) gin martini. When he came back with it, not only was it in the WRONG stemware which is to say, a 4.5 oz whiskey sour glass vs. a martini (6 oz), but 2 incredibly small olives, not even speared with toothpick, but the liquid, (pure gin) wasn’t even cloudy, suggesting no «dirt». She didn’t chill down the glass with ice water and shook the gin with ice which she strained, causing it to become diluted. Upon tasting it, I was correct… it hardly had a HINT of olive juice, but was straight gin… not even any vermouth. I know my description is lengthy, but to prove the point, when I went back to the FULL bar, a surly «barbie doll» looking woman said they didn’t have any olive juice, nor big olives, nor martini glasses. I (politely) pushed, NOT shoved the drink, towards her and said, «I can’t drink this.» to wit she said when I told her I needed something else, «I can’t help you. You will have to pay for the new drink as that will waste the original drink and I can’t afford to waste my alcohol.»
Okay…now I’m steamed. Whoever heard of such a thing? Unless… they are cheap skates and by looking out over the audience, no one seemed to be drinking. I want to say out of a crowd of possibly 50, maybe 10 had but 1 drink and did I mention, she was both bar tender as well as server and looked resentful she had to pull double duty.
I went back to get some ice water which was served in a tiny paper cup. Wow! and when I said I needed a bigger GLASS, she glared at me… so I just turned on my heel and left.
They had a sizable buffet (charged extra even though the tickets were $ 15 on line or $ 20 at the door). Only a handful of folks partook of that, also.
Last, but not least… the bathroom. I require a handicap/​disabled stall. Albeit, they had one, but only one rail (in BACK of the toilet! A lot of good that did me. I need one on the side to help me get up.) Additional to that, there were 2 toilet paper dispensers but only one had tissue. I went at the start of the evening, and it had but one roll which had possibly enough paper for 3 more people. You guessed it… it had none at the end of the evening. It was clean, so I’ll give them that… had no problem with the sanitation, but the supplies were lacking as well as the aforesaid handicap accommodations.
Doubtful I will ever return to that spot and it might be useful to know, that parking is non-​existent. You have to park either in a $ 10 lot (with a gun totin’ attendant who was surly and brusk, or park several blocks on the street.)
Again, the music was, as always wonderful but the accommodations and personnel, sorely lacking.

Went here for a birthday celebration and a room with cozy chairs and tables was set up with a buffet table. Food was comforting and tasty. Outside the private room is a dance floor with a dj so we had a good time dancing!

This is an historic landmark in Oakland. Mr. Pete and his staff are accomodating and strive to make each guest feel like a VIP! I encourage you to hold an event there and you will see what I am talking about.

Cool poppin red stairs surround by bright white painted walls that led up to a Geoffery’s Inner Circle on the second floor gave me a different impression upon entering then what I actually experienced.
Big cold echoey empty on an off night.
Funky little round tables with quaint rounded teacup wooden chairs with raggedy table clothes. Lounge area had some sitting places to lounge in but they were covered with old funky couch covers… yuck Couldn’t hang even though ‘babygirl’ was gonna be playin at 8:30 pm; so I went home.
I’m sure this is a happenin place but certainly not on a Sunday evening at 7:00 pm for a private party.
See ya!

They’ve made a few changes since the last time I was there, but I like it.

I didn’t know this was an event space until I went to an event here, I always assumed it was a club. I guess that was back in the hey day.
We came to a movie screening of a film that I played an extra in. It was a great film and event, fun watching it all come together on screen. The vibe was fun and I was just happy to be there.
There are floors of large spaces, so this would be a good place for a film festival or an event with different rooms. This place has staircases galore, which are carpeted — so watch your step.
Bathrooms are small and were tied up, so I didn’t much care to order any beverages and miss the movie. They did have a bar set up though and the drinks were somewhat affordable.
This place may have been a great club back in the day, but now it’s just ok.

I love this place! I had a Bday bash here. The staff was amazing, the aesthetics were beautiful (wood floors, columns, comfy lounge area) and the drinks were on point! We had two bands and they were able to provide enough space for each performance (back to back)!
My favorite spot is the all wood bar and flooring. It has a real vintage, old Oakland, vibe to hit. A beautiful place with great music. I will definitely be going back!

Okay so a few friends and I came here to shake it. We love to dance so as long as the music is right, we will have a fun time no matter where we go. First the good: music was cool, I don’t think we ever stopped dancing except to go to the bathroom; we danced from about 11:00pm until 1:30am when they shut the music off and turned the lights on. Now the bad: No ATM machine and cash only at the bar! and they let people take drinks on the dance floor and my poor friend had drinks spilled on her at least 3 or 4 times! The bouncers are kind of rude, too. (Not feeling this whole no in’s and out’s thing)! $ 20 cover, but whatever, everywhere is a dam $ 20 cover! The crowd is on the older side, 25 and up definitely, which is fine for us, because we just wanna dance! We were pretty tipsy when we got here so liquor was not an issue, but I did want some water and we only had our ATM’s cards which sucked!!! It was actually kind of empty so as soon as we walked in we started dancing and pretty soon it was packed! So I guess I must say overall, they need to make some upgrades in this place, ATM machine please!!! and don’t allow people to take drinks on the dance floor… Fix those things and upgrade the décor and it would definitely be an improvement.

The first time I went here was for a friend’s b-​day, and I had a BLAST. So, I have gone back a few other times, thinking I would be able to re-​create that experience. Ummmm, no. I have since realized the only thing that made that 1^st night good was all the people who had come out to celebrate the special occasion. If you get dragged here, do yourself a favor and leave before they turn up the house lights at the end of the night.

Okay, Geoffrey P. is quite the man in the community and perhaps he is charging his patrons extra so he can help feed the homeless every holiday, but Geoffreys Inner Circle is not a place I would recommend.
Things do get a little pretentious and the community efforts do not expand outside the inner circle.
Well, hopefully, it’ll care to expand that circle to really give what Oakland needs.

Ok… I only went because it was for a fundrasier for our next president, hopefully. But for a club I would never go back.
The club is huge, lots of space but it is dirty. They need to wash the walls and carpet. A couple of fresh coats of paint would help. Also, it could use some betters lights.
The bar, great potential, but a lot of work needs to be put into it. The prices… I have never had problem with paying for what I want but when you charge $ 15 a shot for patron you are just dumb and are basically stealing from your customers.
A bottle of patron for a bar cost no more then $ 30 a bottle. If the bar is paying more for that then they suck at running a bar. Now you can get 12 to 16 shoots out of a bottle of patron. So if you charge $ 10 dollars a shot then you pay for you bottle with three shots. On average most bars in the bay area charge $ 10 a shot for patron. So if you are selling it at the same price or lower you would make more money.
Sorry let me stop… it’s just i hate to see someone take advantage of people.

I can’t say much for the club scene at this location, but I can say that from what I saw… not impressed.
Even though there were two floors, the rooms just look badly laid out and kind of old… the bar was MEH and he drinks are super expensive. Honestly…$ 15 for a shot of patron because patron is in «high demand»? $ 8 for a tiny vodka and cranberry?!
PUH-​LEAZE!
I would think if the patron is in «high demand» and its selling in volume you’d want to lower prices and sell more? That, or you make a big profit off the few who are willing to pay those prices. I don’t know, I guess I’m just a cheapo who isn’t willing to pay $ 15 for a shot of ANYTHING unless its something fancy like Louis IX and even then… especially for a casual, regular night out…
Not really my thing I guess, I do have to say, the space could look nice with dimmed lights and some clubby décor?

4 – 5 years ago this was my favorite club… it was always packed, lots of fine girls who were cool, good music and majority Black folks. The cover is about $ 20 and its was worth it… THEN!
Its gone down hill (unless you go for a special event).
1. The place is still majority Black people.
2. The space is big, but most people stay downstairs while the upstairs is deserted.
3. The crowd is getting older and older (late 20’s to late 40’s). This place looks like that club that your Mom and Dad go to when they want to go out once in a while.
4. There are some cute girls but not enough to balance out the emptiness, number of guys and not-​so-​cute girls.
5. The cover is still around $ 20 and the dress code is strict.
The older crowd also goes there early evening for dinner, birthday parties and club (Elks, Kappa, Mason, type clubs) meetings.
My friend claims this place is good on «First Saturdays» I don’t believe him. If you are gonna go, then go on a «First Saturday».