Bistro

7/10/2008 2:44:26 PM, thursday, july 10, 2008
Pretty high expectations. Kind of a let down. Only a handful of beers on tap, and of those, only 3 were ones I would want. I didn’t stick around for the music because they didn’t have enough good beer to keep me there. I’m sure I’ll try it again, but more looking forward to their festivals.

11/18/2007 8:24:15 PM, sunday, november 18, 2007 [ Updated monday, november 19, 2007 ]
The coolest corner neighborhood bar in old town Hayward. They have live music every night of the week. They use proper glassware for the most part. It’s very casual - the menu on the wall is written in dry erase marker. The restroom is a small room that is shared by both guys and gals. Its mainly a bar with a few tables and an outdoor patio. Very cool place. The bartender is really cool and knows a lot about beer as well as extremely attentive to serving you. His girlfriend who sits at the bar and reads Wiccan literature probably knows more! The regulars all love good beer and the stuff they have on tap is all solid micros minus one or two. When I visited they had just had a barrel aged festival and there were a few leftovers I got to try. A must visit bar when in the area for the whole package - beer, environment, music, etc. Oh, you can also get a few appetizers.

10/16/2007 9:55:50 PM, tuesday, october 16, 2007
My first visit to this establishment was for the Wet Hop Festival where I had the pleasure of meeting beerguy101 and Davecooks. I had a roast beef sandwich that was chalked full of flavor. Yum. They doubled the number of taps from their dozen or so fixed taps with temporary ones for the event. There was just bar seating inside with maybe six stools and outside seating on tiny tables. People were smoking out there so that was a bummer. All in all a nice experience and some excellent wet hop brews sampled.

4/9/2007 6:07:42 PM, monday, april 09, 2007
Having been here for the Barrel-Aged and Double IPA Fests it is a great place. Food is very good and for the fests a great beer selection.

8/2/2006 5:49:42 PM, wednesday, august 02, 2006
Well worn look but clean and relaxed, the service has always been good the half dozen times I’ve been here. The beer selection is about 15 taps [always great beers] and a small but interesting bottle selection. overall a nice tap house with some interesting music in the evenings.

2/12/2006 11:05:37 AM, sunday, february 12, 2006
My review of this place is a little skewed because I have only visited it during the Double IPA fest. I didn’t even notice a listing of their standard brews as I was more interested in figuring out which Double IPA I would sample next. A relatively small place, made much smaller by several hundred patrons of the fest. During normal business hours, I’m guessing the size is just fine. Has an outdoor patio which gets sunlight starting at around noon, depending upon the season. Clearly owner Vic cares about beer, and the Bistro therefore has passed the first meaningful test of a worthy establishment. Together with Buffalo Bills brewpub just up the road, Hayward is a worthwhile destination for beer lovers when in the Bay Area.

9/14/2005 12:09:24 AM, wednesday, september 14, 2005
Great beer hangout.

12/10/2004 2:43:42 AM, friday, december 10, 2004
If you like hoppy micro brews, this is the place for you. They had Drake’s, Hoptown, Bear Republic, Sierra Nevada, Guinness, and a cider on tap. There were 3 harvest beers, 1 vanilla porter, and a fair hafe-weizen. The music was great, mixed, americana, the guitar player cold pick some bluegrass. Nice unpretentious neighborhood hangout.