The Alley ⭐ 4.6 (581)

Because it's not Penrose! The Iconic Piano Bar with pianists Bryan Seet and Jef Labes took over the music scene almost 10 years ago from Rod Dibble and have continued the tradition of accompaning singing around the piano. Each week people from near and far come to test out their voices along with the regular singers of the place. The Alley is know for its steaks, fried chicken and enormous burgers, great fries, in fact all the portions are very hearty. People come for the music, food and Alley Family!

If you like the eclectic, old school Bay Area hole in the wall, this is your place! If you like the corporate clean sterile boring, please don’t bother. They have (almost) daily music program. Not everything will delight your ears ( when the neighborhood Pavarotti thinks he has to Make up for lack of talent by singing louder during open mic karaoke). Food is solid old school. Wine…. Please skip. Even the more expensive $12 glass makes vinegar a superstar. No draft beer :( Service was great land customers are as unique as the place itself. To me this is a jewel. But, check out the images before you go- to make sure it is your style. We lost WAY TOO MANY of these unique places since the early 2000’s in tie Bay Area, and with it also left the characters operating and patronizing these kind of classic Bay Area places. Come visit and visit often to keep THE ALLEY going.

My friends and I greatly enjoyed coming and listening to the phenomenal lineup of regulars do karaoke. Our bartender was lovely and the drinks were up to expectations. Our only complaint is that the man running the food was incredibly rude to my one friend specifically on multiple occasions to the point where we almost left. She tried to order food and he sent her back to the table, then reprimanded us for clearing a table to sit when it was the only one that would accommodate our large group: “I just don’t know what restaurant you’ve ever been at where you think it’s okay to move to a table that hasn’t been cleared yet”???? This is a dive bar. Sorry we moved empty cups of ice and a receipt over so we could sit down. My one friend who he kept specifically picking on had to go outside at one point to collect herself and he followed her out there and once again was rude saying she was being immature and having a nervous breakdown. It was honestly just super bizarre and off putting to us and he had a strange vibe the whole night we were there. Everyone else was a doll to us though and music was phenomenal so still recommend, but our visit definitely impacted by the way we were treated.

It's a small cozy local (full) bar and restaurant. Live piano on Friday and Saturday nights. Food is delicious authentic American cuisine. Service is quick and responsive. Accept credit cards. Has a long bar seating with big screens (could be a good option for sport bar). Has indoor seating with tables and booths. Decoration is classic saloon type bar. Since more weight goes to bar side than restaurant and small seatings, not good for kids. Great for casual drinking, small gathering or meet up. Will go back for burgers, fried chicken and drinks for sure!

Well I wasn't going to do a review of this place on Google but since several of the staff were so rude and hostile to me I am now compelled to do so. If you like waiting an hour to sing only to have your song ruined by people hitting the piano and talking loud over your song I guess this is your kind of place. The older piano player refuses to control the disruptive conduct and even allowed one creep to call me a racist just because I asked him not to hit the top of the table. He also allowed his personal friends to play shakers over my song even when I said the song has no Latin percussion in it. I do Latin songs as well but I don't want Latin percussion in older 1930's fox trot music mainly because it ruins the authentic style and feel of the music. I asked two different band leaders what they would do if someone wanted to play a shaker over every song that wasn't a ballad and one guy said he would just walk over and take the shaker out of their hand. He added that playing a shaker on almost any song is about like playing a cow bell on every song. The other guy who leads a band called "The Best Intentions" said he would not allow a shaker to be used in almost every song either and he said it was quite rude for them to play shakers on my song if I asked them not to. Allowing people to freely hit the table with ring fingers, bottles, shakers, or their hand is clearly disruptive and the only reason these people have not figured this out is that they don't bother to listen objectively to a recording of what it sounded like. For example hitting the table top creates a low frequency tone due to the fact that the piano is a large instrument. When someone hits the table top it transfers into the piano and creates a tone like a low quality bass drum. The annoying tone created by the disruptive persons is about like someone taping on the top of one of the microphones. The knocking tone is predominant when making a recording and it can not be edited out. The irritating low knocking tone can easily be heard live as well. The other piano player Bryan did not have a problem asking people not to hit the table and yet the older piano player Jef claimed it was not practical to ask them to stop. This is quite a contradiction in my opinion. Duplicating my hi hat part with a shaker essentially made my $350.00 Zidjian dollar hi hat cymbals sound more like cheap plastic shakers particularly since the shakers were being played over the table instead of under it and covered over my hi hat part in the mix. I pointed out that if the shakers were played underneath the piano instead of over the top they would not be too forward in the mix however they refused to comply because they were more interested in being seen playing them than getting the mix of the music correct. In other words they refused to compromise in any way. An Asian waiter decided to illegally retaliate against me for allegedly making a "negative review about them on Google reviews". He then threatened to physically remove me from the bar unless I immediately purchased a drink and falsely claimed I had never purchased a drink their before. This was a crazy demand since I was normally given a drink of tonic water for free since I was playing the drums there for free. The Asian waiter even had the gall to say he would remove me from the bar if I even so much as continued to speak. To my surprise the waiter was not immediately fired for his illegal conduct and the management offered no apology. The manager instead said she would reprimand the waiter for giving me a free drink even though the other singers and people at the restaurant clearly appreciated me playing the drums there. I found this too be amazingly cheap and petty particularly since it was only tonic water. Perhaps these people want others to believe professional quality experienced drummers are not musicians? To sum it up If you want a good piano bar go to Martuni's in San Francisco.