Downtown Berkeley has a new late-night place to eat and drink, chill and whack pool balls – The BreakRoom.
The upscale billiards hall with a restaurant and full bar opened this week at 2021 Shattuck Ave. with ambitious daily business hours of 2 p.m.-2 a.m. It’s located a couple blocks from BART in a sweet spot for nighttime fun-seekers, near watering holes like Triple Rock Brewing and East Bay Spice Company and entertainment venues like the Aurora Theatre Company and Freight & Salvage.
The BreakRoom replaces another pool hall, Draw Billiards, that went out of business during the pandemic, says new owner August Wagele.
Renting a table for an hour costs $15. There are plans for pool leagues and tournaments, live music, DJ nights and karaoke, as well as private events like birthday and company parties, says Wagele.
The bar serves beer and wine, as well as specialty cocktails ranging from $14 to $20. There’s the Beet Le Juice with El Tesoro Blanco, Milagro Reposado, beet and lime juices and cucumber syrup, and a BreakRoom Manhattan with two kinds of rye, Del Professore Rosso vermouth and Sicilian Amaro dell’Etna. There are also trendy classics like an Aviation with Botanist gin and Creme de Violette and an Espresso Martini with rum and Averna Amaro.
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The kitchen bakes a number of “Eleven Ball” pizzas (11 inches wide, for $18), including a traditional Margherita, a mushroom pizza with creme fraiche and arugula, a pesto with sumac onion and gruyere, and an eyebrow-raising Salmon with shallots, mozzarella, creme fraiche and lemon pepper. Starters include a hummus sampler with regular, garlic and beet varieties ($14), a charcuterie and cheese board ($28) and oven-baked wings in Buffalo, barbecue or dry-rub varieties ($9 for six).
The BreakRoom is a billiards club that opened in downtown Berkeley in early 2024. It has late-night hours, a restaurant and full bar and pool-table rentals for $15 an hour. (August Wagele)
Larger dishes include pulled-pork sliders with bread-and-butter pickles ($16), mushroom risotto with shallots and balsamic reduction ($18) and smoked salmon salad with greens and candied walnuts ($16). For dessert, there is tiramisu and lemon cheesecake ($5.75 each).
Photos that Wagele shared from inside the BreakRoom show swanky-looking decor with gold carpeting and ocean-blue mood lighting. The place so far has gathered three five-star reviews on Google Maps, with one reviewer describing it as a “really nice place, (with) lots of tables and room. Good prices on food and drinks and August the owner is a super-nice dude.”
Details: Open 2 p.m.-2 a.m. daily at 2021 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley; breakroomberkeley.com
