Weekend Eats & Drinks 12/9

UPDATED: Jamaican dinner at Guerilla Cafe and $4 mai-tais at Trader Vics.

Help others out and get free booze this weekend. Til the end of December, bring two cans of nonperishable food and get a free well drink or draft beer at Easy Lounge in Oakland. Or, bring an ornament to Ironwood BBQ in Berkeley to help decorate the tree and get a free beer. Farley’s East also holds its monthly nonprofit happy hour today from 5 to 9 p.m., with 20% of sales going to Oakland Grown, a program of the Oakland Merchants’ Leadership forum.

After Farley’s, walk the few blocks to Whole Foods in Oakland for its holiday soiree from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Sample Whole Foods’ holiday menu, catch live food demonstrations and performances by the Oakland Symphony Chorus and the Oakland Ballet, and shop local vendors. RSVP ahead of time to get a free goodie bag with a bottle of apple cider and a box of mulling spices, or get a goodie bag with any holiday order.

For those with a higher budget, catch the $70 Molnar family wine dinner at Solano Cellars. The Berkeley-based winemaking family will bring new releases to pair with cuisine from Hannah Hoffman. Highlights from the menu include crab cakes, rabbit pate, braised duck legs and hangar steak. Reservations are required as the limit is 22 people.

Also tonight, Lalime’s is doing a special 3-course seafood and wine pairing for $38/person. Start with a tuna tartare, move to a shellfish stew and finish with butterscotch bread pudding. Reservations strongly recommended.

For those looking for holiday gifts, shop men’s and women’s fashions while imbibing and munching at Convert on Fourth St. in Berkeley from 6 to 9 p.m. today. Get 20% off at all participating vendors.

On Friday, try Jimmy Bean’s 3-course $20 NY steak dinner and a glass of malbec. First course is a marinated beet salad and crème brulee for dessert.

Or, for a taste of the Caribbean, head to Guerilla Café in downtown Berkeley for a Kingston 11 dinner from 6 to 10 p.m. Order a la carte Jamaican specialties made with spices and herbs from the Caribbean and seasonal veggies and fruits from local farmers market like jerk chicken ($12.50) and salmon steak with ginger butter ($13).

Also, on Friday, celebrate Trader Vic’s anniversary at the Emeryville marina with $4 mai-tais all night. Just mention the secret code “1902” to your server.

On Saturday, you have to pick between wine or beer. Rock Wall Wines holds its winter wonderland open house from noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are $35 and include new and future releases from 10 wineries: Blacksmith, Carica Wines, Ehrenberg Cellars, Eno, Joseph Garry Cellars, JRE, Manic Monday, Mercy Vineyards, R&B Cellars and Rock Wall. Also enjoy catering by Freshta, live music, winery tours, barrel samples and more.

Also on Saturday, Solano Cellars will host a Christmas market from noon to 5 p.m. Sip on $5 glasses of beer, wine or mulled wine, while perusing Solano Cellar’s favorite food and wine vendors.

Lastly, for the beer folks, Pacific Coast Brewing in downtown Oakland is holding a sit-down holiday tasting of seasonal beers from noon to 4 p.m. $60 tickets include hors d’ oeuvres paired with holiday brews from Anchor, Sierra Nevada, Bear Republic, North Coast, Black Diamond, Stone, Dogfish Head & more. Advance tickets required.


ONGOING

Easy Lounge
3255 Lakeshore Avenue
Oakland, CA 94610
(510) 338-4911

Ironwood BBQ
2130 Oxford Street
Berkeley, CA 94720
(510) 981-8028

TODAY

Farley’s East
33 Grand Ave
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 835-7898

Whole Foods
30 Bay Place, Oakland
(510) 834-9800

Solano Cellars
1580 Solano Avenue
Albany, CA 94707-2117
(510) 525-9463

Lalime's
1329 Gilman Street
Albany, CA 94706-2450
510) 527-9838

Convert
1809B 4th St
Berkeley, CA 94710
510) 649-9759

FRIDAY
Jimmy Bean's
1290 6th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710-1402
(510) 528-3435

Guerilla Cafe
1620 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709-1612
(510) 845-2233

Trader Vic's
9 Anchor Drive
Emeryville, CA 94608-1510
(510) 653-3400

SATURDAY

Rock Wall Wines
2301 Monarch Street, Suite 300
Alameda, CA 94501
510-522-5700

PCB Holiday Brew
906 Washington St., Oakland
510-836-2739