Goodbye to Berkeley’s Historic Albatross Pub

Sadly, after nearly 60 years in Berkeley, Albatross Pub is closing its doors on November 30, 2020.

After shutting its doors in March, without a kitchen or an outdoor patio, the eclectic, cavernous pub on San Pablo Ave has remained closed ever since.

From its beginnings as a small beer & wine bar frequented by leaders of the Free Speech Movement, poets, and musicians alike, to its turn-of-the-century revamp where students, workers, and philosophers of all sizes could order a whiskey to accompany their beer, not much has changed about this place and we take pride in keeping it that way.

Whether it’s the dart lanes, the board games, trips to the popcorn machine, the trivia and music nights, the conversations big & small that take place at our bowling alley bar, or the secret plans concocted in tiny nooks closer to the fireplace, the Albatross has always been a place for friends old & new, no matter who you are, to order a drink, find a table, and do what people are designed to do best—connect with one another.

A successful Gofundme campaign in April, raised over $20k, provided support immediate staff relief and went towards helping pay the rent. However, the landlord recently withdraw the 50% rent discount in place since March and wanted immediate back rent for the entire year.

The owners plan to throw a goodbye party offsite somewhere at some point, and they’re putting their signature items from the bar into storage in hopes of finding a new home to reopen the pub in the future.

On November 9, they gave an update on their impending closure:

Friends, we are very sad to have to say that The Albatross Pub will need to close it’s doors for good by November 30th. Everyone’s amazing response to our Go Fund Me campaign has enabled us to keep us alive thus far, and we cannot thank you enough!
A convergence of money running thin, no foreseeable re-opening date due to the ongoing pandemic, and new rent demands from our landlord, have simply given us no way to move forward.
We have made plans to move everything possible from within the Pub to storage in the hopes of finding a new home somewhere. We’re also anticipating having send off party somewhere socially responsible in the near future, so keep a look out for that, and we’ll be sure to notify everyone as soon as we know.
From the bottom of our sad hearts we want to thank everyone so, so much for your generosity during these trying times to allow us to get as far as we have. We hope we can have a new beginning somewhere sometime in the future. Until then, cheers for now…

Read more about Albatross Pub’s history and its future plans at Berkeleyside.