Henry’s

I’ve been to Henry’s a couple of times now for lunch and dinner. The food is not consistent and disappointing most of the time. First visit was a disaster, mainly because I believe our bartender/​waiter was incompetent, high, or just didn’t care. Who brings out enters a side of sour cream for a sandwich? The second time, I figured how can you screw up pasta and ordered the shrimp Alfredo with broccoli. Surprisingly good. Came back a monthly later and ordered the same thing and got a soupy mess (see photo).
The place has potential but the front and back of house staff need training in order for anything to improve. My advice, stick to the drinks and the fries… how can you screw up fries? On second thought, just double the drinks.

Henry’s has some pretty good food, and it’s always a good place to watch a game. Unfortunately, my family and I had one of the worst waitresses I’ve ever had in any place, ever. She was a darker skinned lady, braids, and a tattoo on her elbow/​arm. We had to hunt her down so she could acknowledge us, multiple times, practically begging for menus. She had a terrible attitude, and then we had to reel her in to take our order. Once she took our order, she never came back around. Half of our food never arrived, and she kind of gave us an «oh well» look and shrug when we asked another waitress to help us out with the bill and a to-​go box. All the other ladies working were incredibly nice and very on top of this jobs… No tip for our original waitress, and hopefully she has a talking to, because it’s not acceptable.

All the reviews talking about their awful service are totally accurate. To add, the thin, dark haired bartender with tattoos who was tending bar last night is missing chromosomes. Honestly a moron. I’m 27, turning 28 in a few weeks, and I was told that my license (which is a Rhode Island license, from where I recently moved) was ‘fake.’ Uh… what? It’s quite real. I handed him my debit card to confirm the name, and he told me ‘no need to be disrespectful.’ ??? I’m just trying to get a drink. The names match (obviously), but he still wouldn’t serve me without another photo ID. I thought about bringing up my Facebook account to show him I was who I was claiming to be, almost just to laugh at him, but quickly realized I was dealing with somebody who had no capacity for any conversation that involved any shred of critical thought… so I left. Could have made a real scene, but one of us is an adult.
Goes without saying, don’t go here. I wasn’t intoxicated, wasn’t rude, and had valid ID. You don’t want my money? Plenty of other bars to go to with employees that aren’t brain dead.

Since Freehouse was closed my friend and I stopped by Henry’s last night.
We ordered the nachos and garlic fries. The garlic fries were solid but the nachos… quite a few of the chips tasted stale! Just because you smother these chips in cheese and other goodness doesn’t mean your patrons can’t tell that these chips have been out for a bit too long. Tsk tsk.
I also had the a glass of the joel gott cab (delicious) and the malbec (pass).
Overall the atmosphere was pleasant and I had an attentive waitress. But for the price I would expect better food or at least non-​stale chips.

I’ve been here a number of times after class since it is nearby and decently priced. However, I’ve stopped coming here because of the service. I never feel welcomed there, especially if I’m in a large group. They will often tell us we have to sit in the side room. I just don’t like going back to places that don’t seem welcoming, especially bars. It does not create a fun environment in which to enjoy drinks with friends.

Wine is not good and waiters are rude. Don’t want to go next time. Maybe it is because there are none better pubs at downtown Berkeley.

Had a great time at Henry’s while traveling on business. The vibe is part sports bar, part UC @ Berkeley retro, part historical Brew pub and all fun! Great beer selections including regional craft brews like Eight Bridges. We had the Sweet Potato Waffle Fries and a burger, both awesome and great value for the money.
The service staff have the right balance of college town friendly while being efficient with their service delivery. Some of the service team are students or recent grads of Cal so they also are a great resource of local info and fun «insiders/​locals» knowledge of hidden gems in the Berkeley, Emeryville, and Greater San Francisco Bay Area «things-​to-​do».
Love the «Cheers-​like» mood and spirit of this place and the location in front of the Hotel Durant is great if traveling on business in the East Bay/​Oakland/​Berkeley area.

We were going to an 8pm basketball game. Our reservation was at 6:15pm. We were seated at 6:10 and couldn’t get a hold of our waitress until 6:30 to order. We waited an hour for the food. The menu was extremely limited for «faster service». We had to wave down our waitress for water… Food was okay, but the buns were cold on the burgers. We won’t be back.

WAY overpriced and with the mandatory 18% gratuity! Forget it. I will say, the waitress was very nice.

The food was good but the service was terrible. The staff needs a lesson in customer service. I will not be coming back.

I’ve stopped here several times over the past few years and I consider this one of the best places to get a drink on Cal’s South Side. Now, it’s not the cheapest, but I’m a little snooty about where I get my drinks (e.g., not Pappy’s and definitely not Kips), so this suits me.
The drinks are good, not 5-​star worthy though. I’ve had flavored and unflavored martinis, all of which I would rate «above-​average,» though I’m disappointed they have removed the Cucumber Gimlet from the menu.
The food is on the more expensive side, but reasonable. I typically don’t eat here, but I am a fan of the Calamari. It’s not at all soggy, but I wish it came with cocktail AND tartar sauce. The Waffle Cut Sweet Potato Fries are the star, though, fried to perfection and with a spicy kick. Highly recommended.
I’ve never had any complaints about the service I’ve received. To be fair, though, I’ve never been here during a game or peak hours, so I can’t comment on the quality of services during those time.

The angry cheese is amazing, our server was amazing to. Just lack of teamwork amongst the co-​workers. We sat at our table with my girlfriend. The table had a problem of being unbalanced and it was an issue when we’re planning on getting food. We had to ask several times to resolve the issue to the other severs because our sever was busy at the moment. After the second and third request and still it was not helped. I felt disappointed as the co-​workers didn’t communicate that there was this common issue at our table. Then when our server came back to us she had no idea about the problem. It’s not her fault it’s the fault on the other employees that didn’t communicate or help resolve the issue. Great food, love the environment, great bar. Just sucks to see an amazing place with lack of professionalism.

This place could have a way more fun and busy Happy Hour if they made some changes. Really think that adding specials on PITCHERS during Happy Hour is necessary for this spot.
Sweet Potato Waffle Fries are good and come in a big portion, but I wasn’t a big fan of the smoky BBQ sauce that they are served with.
Wings were ok, but nothing special.
The prices here are not high, but they are high for what you get. They fill the sauces in little plastic cups, which aren’t eco-​friendly, and the presentation just isn’t good.
The bar is nice on the inside, but what you get is similar to what you would expect in an airport bar.

I came here with a friend on Sunday and we didn’t realize how packed it was because of all the football games, but we were able to grab a seat at the bar. We both had mimosas. I had ordered the Omelet Americano, which was good. I wouldn’t say it was anything to rave about and felt it needed more goat cheese :(My friend got the Breakfast Sandwich that looked like a decent size. This is probably a good place to go to for sports or to get away from all the UC Berkeley kids.

A while back, I had made a large party reservation a month ago and then called few days before to confirm. They call me the day before to tell me that their restaurant is going under renovation and they would not be able to accommodate us. Uh… I’m pretty sure you don’t just find out you are renovating within a few days.

Food: 2 out of 5
Price: 3 out of 5
Drinks/​Beer: 4 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5
* * *
Henry’s can be a nice pit stop for some drinks, although I wouldn’t come here for the food unless I was desperate.
I stopped by Henry’s because it was convenient and inside of Hotel Durant, where I was staying for a conference. I’ve been to Berkeley dozens of times, and this was my first time eating and drinking at Henry’s. I will say that their beers are decent. Sometimes service is a little bit lacking, but overall acceptable. The prices are not spectacular, but aren’t terribly outrageous.
The food though isn’t anything I would rave about, especially not at the pricing that they have it at. Mac and cheese for $ 15? It better be great! Unfortunately it was not.
I’d go again for the drinks, but not for the food. Parking can also be very tough here if you aren’t staying at the hotel.

This place is horrible. The server gave my daughter a scalding hot plate and never apologized. The salad was all vinegar. The server never came over once we ordered and looked like it was a pain to serve us.
If you want to go to a noisey and bad food restaurant Henry’s is for you.

My wife and I in Berkeley for the weekend. Very crowded as it was arrival weekend for over 37,000 students at UC Berkeley. Six of us stopped in to Henry’s for lunch.
The location is perfect. Located inside of the Durant Hotel.
The menu was very limited, maybe because it was the breakfast /​lunch menu. Never eaten dinner here, just breakfast and lunch. They had enough selection that we all found something we wanted.
The food was good as was the service. The biggest attraction I think is the décor, the atmosphere and the location. Seems very welcoming and I would bet at night a very fun place.

Looking for a bar to meet friends near the UC Berkeley campus to hang out before watching a concert and this was closest to where we all parked so Henry’s it was.
Should have walked a little further to experience better food and service…
Our waitress took our drink order and came back 5 seconds later because she forgot what we ordered… and then misheard our food order so when the food came out, it was wrong…
I know it’s a bar but bars should at least have somewhat decent food. The «angry» mac and cheese is NOT good. It tastes like pizza. Or macaroni noodles in tomato sauce. Don’t waste your money. The fish and chips were nothing special either. The only thing halfway decent were the french fries which are pretty hard to mess up.
Nothing like 4 shots of whiskey can’t fix though…

Beets are filled to rim, which is how a beer should be poured! Love that there is a Stanford urinal in the men’s room, they just need to install a Stanford toilet in the women’s. Go Bears!