The Alley is a restaurant and piano bar located in the Lake Merritt neighborhood of Oakland, California, in the United States. It is known for nightly singing by patrons who take the microphone accompanied by a live pianist, who also sometimes sings.
- Venue
- The Alley (Oakland, California)
- Town
- Oakland, US
The Alley is a restaurant and piano bar located in the Lake Merritt neighborhood of Oakland, California, in the United States. It is known for nightly singing by patrons who take the microphone accompanied by a live pianist, who also sometimes sings. The Alley is one of the last remaining Oakland piano bars. It was founded in 1933. Most of the previous piano bars closed more than thirty years ago. The bar looks like a saloon or 1920s alleyway with wood shingles and windows in the interior. Writer Kimberly Chun described the interior as being designed by "a drunken Walt Disney". It has booths throughout similar to those found at a diner. Approximately 40,000 to 50,000 business cards from visitors are stapled all over the walls. Business cards from Jerry Brown and Gregg Allman can be found. Dinner, which is served nightly, focuses on American cuisine such as steaks and burgers. A piano is located past the main bar, surrounded by a lacquered wood bar. Twelve seats sit around the piano and a pianist sits at the keyboard. Songbooks and microphones also rest on the bar. The pianist primarily plays songs from the Great American Songbook. Jody Kerr owned the bar from the 1940s until her death in 1995. Kerr's relative Jackie Simpkins owns the bar today. When she became the owner she wanted to remove the business cards, but the regular bar guests protested. In order to keep in compliance with the fire code, the bar sprays the business cards with fire retardant. In 2010, an apartment next to The Alley caught on fire. The fire destroyed the apartment but did not spread to the bar. Pianist and singer Rod Dibble performed nightly at the bar until his death in December 2017. Visitors to the bar could sing solos accompanied by Dibble. He started playing piano in 1938 when he was six years of age. He performed at The Alley for over fifty years starting in 1960. Dibble walked to practice ten miles every day. He often practiced at the Claremont Resort or the Berkeley Marina. When he p