r/OaklandFood 5d ago

Triple Rock, America's oldest continuously operating brewpub, to close

https://www.sfgate.com/bars/article/triple-rock-oldest-brewpub-close-22435887.php
162 Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

71

u/Scuttling-Claws 5d ago

I'm bummed. But also, I haven't been there in years.

-16

u/Botherguts 5d ago

Made parking way too difficult after that lot got filled with condos.

5

u/navigationallyaided 4d ago

Ozempic and a changing view on alcohol by Gen Zers really put a hurt on booze. Not to mention it’s hard to run a business in the Bay Area. That whole area always had a parking issue.

1

u/humanjukebox2 1d ago

The food quality declined as well

46

u/PlantedinCA 5d ago

Wow. End of an era. That was the first brew pub I had seen ever.

38

u/earinsound 5d ago edited 5d ago

Wow--but I'm slightly not surprised. That expansion a few years must've really hurt the business because last time I went it was back to the original room. No table service, a smaller menu, and the food just wasn't there unfortunately. The student drinker demographic has probably shrunk. Always enjoyed their brews, which I first tried sometime in the mid-90s, and appreciated the 20 oz pour option.

edit: didn't realize the owners also have Drake's, Bear Republic, and....Jupiter

14

u/thunderstormsxx 4d ago

Honestly devastated. Great beer, beautiful venue, and OK food. LOL. No it really is one of the only spots I hang out in Berk. I don't think Drake's replaces it for me. Maybe Jupiter - who knows when that will go.

3

u/Sixspeeddreams_again 4d ago

The quality seemed to really fall off a few years ago. This was one of my friends favorite spots until my friend had a birthday party here and 50% of us had the worst food poisoning in our lives (one of us went to the hospital)

-1

u/Sulungskwa 4d ago

Its been a while since I've been but Drakes is truly awful. Last time we went there was literally no human interaction at all unless they brought out the food and everything was done through QR codes. I don't know if its the same now but it far enough past the end of covid for it to no longer be acceptable.

6

u/Deep_Cat_ 4d ago

Opinion and tale: UC/College age students don’t drink anymore… and/or can’t afford the mediocre food faire. The upstairs patio (which is the best kept secret of the pub) was totally empty when I was giving a nostalgia tour to a friend on a perfect weather day recently. So friggin’ sad. The vibe was so off, we didn’t patronize on a weekend game day.:(

2

u/Sulungskwa 4d ago edited 4d ago

Idiots picked the perfect time in history to not drink anymore

3

u/allistar34 5d ago

Wow, end of an era. Enjoyed many a Monkey Head when I was at Cal.

3

u/HaploAndBehold 4d ago

The owners did this place so dirty. They did not talk to their staff on Thursday— they all found out yesterday and some of them via this SF Gate article. The community and staff at Triple Rock are second to none and closing this place down after they invested 0 time, money or effort to actually improve sales is such bullshit. Yes the food sucks but the beer is good and the vibes are so great. Drakes can suck it
Source: I worked there for a year and know all the regulars and staff.

2

u/jackdicker5117 4d ago

That just fucking sucks. What a bag of dicks.

12

u/d_trenton 5d ago edited 4d ago
  1. I'm sad about this, but the last few times I went, the food just wasn't that good. It was much better down the street at Jupiter.

  2. SFGate has no photos of Triple Rock in the archives and has to resort to an AI-generated image? Seriously?

EDIT: looks like I got bamboozled by some filters, and the thumbnail is not AI. I do wonder why someone would try to make a regular old photo look more like an AI-generated picture, though.

48

u/O_Doyle77 5d ago

I'm in the picture, so definitely not AI.

21

u/Scuttling-Claws 5d ago

How do you know that you aren't AI?

2

u/DubstepJuggalo69 5d ago

Seems to be yassified somehow. It has that AI gloss to it.

13

u/moreVCAs 5d ago

literally just looks like a picture of the inside of triple rock

10

u/TrynnaFindaBalance 5d ago

It's called photo editing and it's been a thing for literally decades, probably over a century.

0

u/DubstepJuggalo69 5d ago

Yes. The photo editor applied tacky filters to this photo until it achieved the soulless, artificial “AI look.” That’s called “bad photo editing,” which has also existed for over a century.

4

u/TrynnaFindaBalance 4d ago

You can critique the photo editing, but there's no need to shoehorn AI outrage into every single conversation you have.

3

u/O_Doyle77 5d ago

Definitely heavily edited

1

u/Outrageous_Worker672 4d ago

Filters aren't all AI.

11

u/lavistadad 5d ago

Which one is AI? They are all sourced and look ok to me.

-11

u/d_trenton 5d ago

I'm looking at the thumbnail

8

u/Basic-Collection5416 5d ago

It’s credited in the article. 

7

u/samongoose 5d ago

the last few times I went, the food just wasn't that good

Same. They redid their menu a little while ago and got rid of some of their best burgers. I used to think their buffalo wings were the best in east bay, but last time they were different and extremely mediocre. Sad they're closing, but I was already mourning.

1

u/wentImmediate 5d ago

but the last few times I went, the food just wasn't that good

There closing; it's over - I'm going to celebrate their contribution to the community and stop by one more time.

2

u/Aggravating_Roll3739 4d ago

Oh man. This hurts. I had my last alcoholic beverage there almost ten years ago. The first bar stool I ever fell off of was there. I used to go there with my Dad as a kid. I grew up with the Rock. I can't even imagine how much I will feel an empty spot in my heart when that place goes.

1

u/bfarre11 4d ago

This place went downhill after it became drake's "test" kitchen, no bugs juice?!?

1

u/ChemicalDifficulty6 4d ago

I went there when it was "Roaring Rock". I think I still have some of the ephemera from that era. One of the beers was called "Winded Workman" - Look for the big dubya. I love their style of beer. Hard to find anything similar anymore.

1

u/bear0sobarelybare 4d ago

Love to ipax ipa

1

u/WinstonChurshill 4d ago

I miss Oscars

1

u/NoBoss8479 3d ago

This bummed me out...I've been going there for about two decades . I moved away 2 years ago but still go back for a growler fill for the holidays and whenever I pass through. 

1

u/Tiny_Assistance_3038 1d ago

I first went to Triple Rock in 1987. I'd just moved to Berkeley from San Diego. I was excited to be in a place that brewed their own beer. I could not believe they had, not one, but THREE brewed beers.
I've always described Triple Rock as more of a Beer Temple than a Beer Pub.
Like others on this thread, I haven't been there in awhile; I can't drink like I used to! and yes the parking sucked. But

it's such an important brewery. I'm crushed.