The Bear’s Lair Brew Pub

Berkeley, United States

3

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 510-843-5247
Address:
2475 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA, 94702
UC Area
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
380 ftBancroft Way & Telegraph Av
430 ftTelegraph Av & Durant Av
510 ftDurant Av & Telegraph Av
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Late Night
Parking
Garage, Street
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Very Loud
Music
Juke Box
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Happy Hour
Yes
Best Nights
Thu, Fri, Sat
Coat Check
No
Smoking
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No

Today

Today –
Local time (Berkeley) 9:55 AM Saturday, June 14, 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday –
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Now CLOSED. The building is going to be demo’d and rebuilt. Whether there is a pub or not in the new building has not been determined.

History

Established in 1962.

Conveniently located on the UC Berkeley campus at the corner of Bancroft Way and historic Telegraph Avenue, the Bear’s Lair is the perfect spot to catch any televised Cal games. With 20 beers on draught, a variety of fresh-​made food items, 9 high-​definition flat screen televisions, and a Bose powered internet jukebox sound system, «The Lair» has been a part of the Berkeley tradition for scholars, students, athletes, and drunks since 1962. The Bear’s Lair has won numerous acclaims and awards, rated by Sports Illustrated as one of the Top 25 Sports Bars in America, and voted as Berkeley’s best bar by students at UC Berkeley.

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20 reviews of The Bear’s Lair Brew Pub

No registration required
Place rating: 4
West Lafayette, IN
College bar on campus. They don’t serve any of the hard stuff but they have a good selection of beers (on tap and in bottles). Surprisingly sometimes it’s a bit empty. We were there on a Friday night and at 10pm we were the only patrons in the bar. Now that’s weird.
The waiter told us that most of the college guys play beer pong and try to beat the clock and get hammered before 8pm (that’s why it gets empty afterwards).
Place rating: 3
Washington, DC
Pretty standard pub, except for…
Beat the clock on Fridays! Drink before the beer gets more expensive!
Place rating: 1
Corona, CA
Never coming back here again, the service is horrible, and it is so packed! The bar attendant who took my order (I believe her name was Constance or something) didn’t tell me what was on their beat the clock menu and then later kept the change when I paid… no one should assume you get tip… don’t know what the hype is all about when you can get better deals elsewhere. The crowd and the bad service isn’t worth it.
Place rating: 1
Oakland, CA
Bear’s Lair used to be a pretty good place, but now? Not so much.
It was never very clean on my previous visits, but they had good beer, friendly servers and decent food. Then I went one Thursday in November (2011).
The place was pretty empty, and I grabbed a seat at the bar. While I waited and waited for the bartender, I checked out the menu. Apparently, Bear’s Lair no longer offers food, only wings. WINGS. Big wings, little wings, wings, wings, wings. Apparently some chain has moved into the kitchen area. They should really get that looked at, or it will spread.
After a few minutes sitting at the virtually empty bar, the bartender remembered to notice me and came over. I wasn’t familiar with everything they offered on tap, so I asked for his recommendation.
Me: «Do you have something brown and malty?»
Him: «How about this IPA?»
Me: «???»
Him: «Or, uh, Bud?»
Me: «???»
I left and went to Raleigh’s, enjoyed a Newcastle on tap and a delicious barbeque chicken sandwich, and tried to put this traumatic experience behind me. The very next day, Raleigh’s BURNED TO THE GROUND. Coincidence? You be the judge.
Place rating: 3
Milpitas, CA
Not to shabby for a College bar in campus. My buddy and I came decided to spontaneously journey last minute to UC Berkeley last Friday because Daedelus was playing a free show on campus. We decided to go to this pub to grab a drink and that we could still see and hear Daedelus play from this pub.
This pub had plenty of space to sit and dance. They have pinic table outside. Stools and tables inside and the dance floor is in the back which they had a dj playing electro music that night but no one was dancing. LOL! They have tv’s to watch anything that has to do with sports. The bar area was was decently big enough to try to accommodate everyone.
One con was that line for the bathroom for long and they have 2 unisex bathrooms which looked raunchy.
We didn’t stay here that long but all I can say is this is a cool campus bar but the I would probably go else where because of the weak drinks they serve.
Place rating: 4
New York, NY
TIP #1: Take advantage of Beat the Clock! It’s one of the quintessential things to do as a Cal student, once you’ve turned 21. A pretty good selection of pitchers of beer are $ 7 from 4pm-​5pm, $ 8 from 5pm-​6pm, $ 9 from 6pm-​7pm, and $ 10 from 7pm to close. See this photo:
TIP #2: There is no system to ordering pitchers and you will get frustrated trying to get the bartender’s attention. Be chill, wave a $ 20 bill, and demand attention!
TIP #3: Pretty difficult to snag a table – inside or outside – on Fridays. Either send someone to «reserve» a table early on, or make do with squeezing in with other groups. Some of the tables are large enough for beer pong.
This past Friday was my first Beat the Clock! There was a scare over the summer that BtC wouldn’t be happening anymore because Bear’s Lair changed management, but alas, it is here. And thank goodness, because all that cheap beer was awesome! You’ll see so many familiar faces here, too.
I haven’t tried the food, but during Welcome Week, there was a promotion for $ 1 beers and free wings and fries. The menu has switched from pizzas and burgers to Wings Fiesta! There are at least 10 different flavors of wings to choose from. From what I sampled during Welcome Week, the wings were pretty standard, but I’d probably drink at the Lair before heading elsewhere for food.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Come beat the clock. You’ll see what its about, and I’m gonna leave it at that. Friday, 4PM.
Place rating: 4
Boston, MA
BEAT THE CLOCK!!! Fridays, come around 4pm and have the time of your life… plus run into everyone and their mom! LOVE IT.
Their cheesy fries are great!
Place rating: 4
Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Such a fun place to gather before a game. Bartender was extremely friendly and fast, which impressed me since there were about a thousand other people there. The bouncer/​bus boy was awesome at keeping smokers and poachers away from our table. I take off one star because our nachos were just eh. But we scarfed them in a buzzy haze. Seats inside with a tv view are prime territory, generations of Bears with their kids and grandkids will gather here, so mind your manners.
Place rating: 2
San Francisco, CA
Came here for beat the clock, the place was already packed by 4. $ 7 pitcher of Hefe, no lemon or orange. Cheap. It’s not the best beer I have had, but I was there just to try BTC.
It’s a college bar, so don’t wear your flipflops or open-​toed shoes. There was some guy who yacked next to the bar and ran, beer cups falling, pitchers stacked on the side. Yeah, it’s a college bar.
Place rating: 3
Berkeley, CA
BTC/​beat the clock:
I dont see what the big deal is. Maybe it’s because I dont really like beer or maybe I’m not used to drinking when there is still light outside. But the things I do for my friends on their 21st birthdays.
Speaking of birthdays, she got a free pitcher AND pint. Holla. Maybe that is what she did [holla-​ed] at the bartender because apparently its normally only the pint that is free for your birthday.
$ 7 a pitcher… I guess. I heard it used to be $ 4 back then. Boo for inflation.
My friend came early to get a table for us outside which was a good idea because it got really packed inside. People are nice, at least the people that ended up sitting next to us. Its a nice place to see familiar faces and get your 4pm buzz on then head over somewhere to get your drunk munchies on.
We got 3 pitchers of Budlight and 2 pitchers of Heff. Some of my friends thought Heff was better but I thought it had a weirder aftertaste. Again, I am not much of a beer drinker so I dont know what is considered «better» beer.
Bathrooms are pretty dirty and the lines are long so I suggest running over to Nia Lounge to use their clean bathrooms.
Place rating: 3
Durham, NC
Beat the Clock:
— Cheap beer
— Super packed
— Lines may be long after 4pm
— Loud and impossible to have conversations
— Food takes forever to arrive (like 30mins later AT LEAST)
— I don’t even want to know what the bathroom looks like
but as bad as some of these may sound, it’s actually pretty darn popular and great for a laid-​back Friday with a group of friends.
Place rating: 4
Long Beach, CA
I am a huge supporter of college campuses with amazing Pubs. I have a soft spot for College Pubs that are on campus and good. Because sometimes a smart girl’s just wants a beer after lecture. Sat at the bar and was there for the pop quiz Night which was fun even though my friend and I didn’t participate, we felt the energy of the space and the power of the brain no matter how many adult beverages one consumes.
Almost gave the bear lair 5 stars but I held back because of the bathroom. What’s up with that? Is it just one stall because they are going green or something? Or just in case some of those people from people’s park stop by and need a place to kick it?
Other than the bathroom (I shiver just reviewing about that bathroom) this pub is bomb dot com.
Place rating: 4
Reno, NV
I went here once a long time ago.
I guess the only bad thing is that it can get really crowded at busy times.
I remember the prices being fair and service wasn’t too bad to get.
You probably already know about Beat The Clock.
Anyway, good times have occurred here.
Place rating: 2
Oakland, CA
Likes: seeing friends and having a place to hang out on campus
Dislikes: bartender was a jerk when I was trying to order beer, place gets too crowded, hate it when beer gets sloshed on me, bathroom lines, etc…
Place rating: 3
Pleasant Hill, CA
I had an hour to spare before a class meeting yesterday and decided that a «wee pint» would help pass the time. So the Bear invited me into his Lair — No Trojans or Bruins Allowed!
I really enjoyed the space, the bar, the Triple IPA, the Iowa-​Michigan State BB game on the Telly, and the overall vibe. And it’s cleaner and friendlier than Northside LaVal’s. However, it took multiple attempts to get the bartenders attention on both sides of the order and the slice of cheese pizzza was a bit less than so-​so. And that means a 1 – 2 star deduction on any campus.
Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA
This is THE place to be on gameday.
Outside patio, large TV’s and plenty o’ beer. The crowd is pretty rowdy, primarily because most people drink here hours before gametimes so they are pretty sauced up come kickoff time. You can by slices of pizza here and are very close to telegraph in case you need a quick bite elsewhere.
Place rating: 4
Petaluma, CA
I love the Bear’s Lair, I believe a lot of that has to do with spending many college days there. The food is actually pretty bad, but I love the beer, staff and how it feels like a dive bar that doesn’t exist on a college campus.
I usually get a Guinness or Denogginizer. Careful with the Denogginizer, it’ll get you drunk good and quick.
Place rating: 2
Los Angeles, CA
Five words: Beat the Clock on Fridays!
For some reason it was superrr packed when I came here couple of Fridays ago, so I had to stand around the whole time and kept bumping into people. But I’m not complaining. What I AM complaining about are the screeching girls (the ones who can’t stop screaming), who were EVERYWHERE. I wanted to strangle myself!
I had the Hef and the Amber, and both were delish!
Place rating: 1
Walnut Creek, CA
Ok I understand this is really cool for the college kids but I would expect more from anything on the Berkeley campus. The floor was ridiculously dirty and sticky. The bathroom was horrendous that two of my girl friends wouldn’t even pee in there. I had to wait 5 minutes to get a beer even though no one else around the bar needed anything and the girl bartender was free — but she was too busy flirting with the only guy bartender and she didn’t not care how long she stood there flirting with him while he poured beer into a pitcher, despite the paying customer waiting. When I finally got my beer and joined my friends, I took a sip of my hefeweizen and almost gagged. It was the worst beer I had ever tasted. Thankfully I was so annoyed by this point that my friend took the drink back to the bar and got me a better tasting one (even the guy bartender admitted it was horrible)
Thanks but I doubt I’ll be coming back. There are just too many good places in Berkeley to even bother with this place.