Kip’s Bar and Grill

I’m leaving this review as a recent performer at Kips. I DJed a private event here and had a pretty bad experience. Upon arrival, there was nobody around to assist me with any kind of sound check. The one person who seemed to be in charge up and left when there were some difficulties saying "I don’t know" and storming away, leaving me to scramble through their audio equipment and cables (all of which was extremely dirty and sticky) to figure out how to make THEIR sound system work. It was very chaotic. The inside was hot, sweaty with 0 ventilation and 1 fan. The cherry on top was the staff member who came backstage to flirt with a couple of guests I brought with me, making sexual jokes, physical advances, and being completely inappropriate towards all of us. He made us very uncomfortable and we had to ask him multiple times to leave us alone. It shocks me that college aged students attend a place where staff behave like this, I can only pray this was a one time incident. The same unhelpful staff from earlier proceeded to shut the event down early, harshly cutting all power and corrupting my USB drive by doing so. This was by far one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had as a DJ and I hope to never set foot in a place like this again.

Went to Kip's to watch G.S. WARRIORS game. Ordered Pineapple Fish bowl to share, Western burger and 5 tacos on Tuesday night. The burger came out first, 45 minutes after we ordered it. Having inquired about our drink, she admitted to forgetting to place drink order. 5 minutes later, we finally get our libation. She charges $35 for the drink, when they were on special for $25. Apparently the "special " had ended at 8pm. It was now 830. I explained that we ordered the drink well before 8 and were forced to suffer from dry mouth for way too long. Too bad, so sad. Shortly thereafter, my tacos arrived. Lots of screens, upbeat vibe, good food, and billiards are enough to return. Service and reconciliation difficult to attain.

If you're going to be here when music is playing, wear earplugs. I went here about two years ago and it was so absurdly loud that it gave me tinnitus I'm still dealing with to this day.

This place is not for the girls. The men’s restroom is your run of the mill multi-stall, but the women’s restroom is just a single-use bathroom that feels like and after thought, was basically hidden, and had a significant queue (of the few women that were there). Why would you have a single-use restroom for women when our queues are already typically longer? Vibes = so off.

Theo and Bruna are the best bartenders ever. On that note this bar is fun. Has a photo booth. And on weekends the downstairs dance floor opens. Which is always fun. They have a great food menu which I've tried most of but my ultimate favorite is the angus hamburger and the chicken strips and the BLT with chips and salsa on the side I'll always come visit cause the bartenders make me feel at home but in a better enviroment. Is a must if u visit Berkeley. The photo represent Bruna after serving the greatest bloody Mary's I've ever had.

Bartenders are always amazing and very attentive they do get busy but if you give them a holler because the music is very loud they will turn around and spin around do a 360 and still give you a shot when they get chance lol 🤣 been in here twice now both times played some pool had a few laughs and danced pretty good atmosphere if you're going for 1990s_ 2000s vibes for the 🌃 night;)

Best (and technically only) club near berkeley campus. Cali's doesn't count.