North Light

Oakland, California

North Light is a small, friendly cocktail bar in Oakland's Temescal district with an airy back patio and a bookstore built from titles curated by writers and artists the owners admire, among them Samin Nosrat, Patti Smith, George Saunders and Michael Chabon. Records play through the room, dinner comes out of the kitchen, and the bar list keeps changing as the team experiments with flavors. Doors open in the early evening most days and earlier on Friday and Saturday, with happy hour running weekday afternoons and industry nights early in the week. The patio seats thirty two and can be booked for events or a full buyout.