Low-key bar mitzvah celebration venue
Our 12-year-old has his bar mitzvah coming up this fall (eek!) and we are hoping to find a low-key venue to host a celebration with friends and family on a Saturday afternoon or evening. He does not want a big party (and we don't have the budget for one) but would like to do "something fun" where he gets to hang out with friends while doing an activity. We will also have out-of-town family visiting and would like to host them for dinner and drinks. Is there a place in Oakland or Berkeley that might allow us to combine these things? He's open to a movie, video games, or other "hanging out" activities but I haven't found a place that seems to have these and also a place for adults. Our Plan B is to split the event and do a family dinner that night while letting him celebrate with his friends another time, but I would love to figure out if there's a place we could do both. A restaurant with a reservable outdoor patio where they could show a movie would be ideal if that exists...? Thank you!
Parent Replies
Check out the Kensington Community Center. It’s a beautiful site, recently remodeled, with both indoor and outdoor spaces. Located just above the Kensington Library on Arlington Ave.
If you want a low key venue that doesn’t charge a lot you could use Northbrae community Church? You could rent the smaller downstairs room and get affordable deli platters and have a nice family meal there.
We’re invited to a bar mitzvah at Plank in Oakland this fall. Maybe that would work for you too?
The faculty club on the UCB campus is a wonderful site where you can do the bar mitzvah and then have a meal and party. The surroundings are green and lovely. You can rent space at Berkeley Hillel as well. You might consider a late afternoon bar mitzvah with a family dinner afterwards and then a party with his friends another time. OR a morning bar mitzvah with a family lunch afterwards although it's awkward not to have lunch offered at kiddush afterwards, and then a party with his friends in the evening. Babette's has an outdoor patio space but isn't cheap. There are community centers to rent where you'd have to figure out the set-up but that's probably the cheapest for the party. I totally support your approach to keep it modest---it's just a challenge to put it together. Good luck!
We used Sequoia Lodge in the Oakland Hills. Old, wood lodge. Beautiful, private setting with large outdoor deck and kitchen. Nice but not fancy. Low key. Rent from the city of Oakland (very reasonable). https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/sequoia-lodge
I immediately thought "Albany Bowl" and went to see if they have "party" rates and it seems they have closed? I clearly was not keeping them in business.
I recently went to a mini-golf spot in Novato that looked like it would lend itself well to a low key party.
The pinball museum in Alameda seems super cool and might be able to accomodate?
There was an all ages birthday party happening last time I was at the East Brother Tap Room in Richmond -- I wonder if other beer garden type spots might have a mix of space for games and hanging.
I've definitely watched movies at Armistice Brewing, but I don't know if they are all ages.