White Horse Inn — Restaurant in Oakland

OWNER IS NOT HOSPITABLE, HAS ATTITUDE AND WENT ON A POWER TRIP.

Yesterday was my first time coming to the White horse bar. I was going to meet with a group of 10ish people to celebrate the birthday of one of our friends.

When a few of our friends had arrived, we looked for tables we could all sit together in. We spotted 3 tables that were a couple feet apart near the karaoke area. Since these tables were light, we started to pull them a bit closer together so our group could sit together. That's when the someone from the bar loudly said "Woah what is going on here" and walked over to us. Again, they asked what we were doing and I replied with "Oh, we're just moving the tables closer since we're expecting a pretty large group." You would think they would just let us know we can't do that, but instead. They said "I'M THE OWNER, You don't just walk into someone's bar and start moving tables."... I replied with "Okay, we'll just put them back then." The owner continued with attitude "I need you to understand, you can't just move the tables without letting me know." Again, I understand, we can put them back. The owner seemed upset that I was replying so calmly. They were kind of on a power trip.

Since this was our first time here, I didn't know to call in before hand, or to look for the owner. This first interaction was upsetting and if I wasn't there to celebrate a friend, I would've left. It sucks that as a customer, I was the one that had to deescalate the situation since the owner was all riled up.

Our group eventually arrived and we all stood around one table since we weren't allowed to move the other tables together. Eventually, the owner came to the table we were all gathered by and told us to move since they needed to clear the space for Karaoke. Again, you would think they would move us and sit us somewhere else, but no, they just asked us to move. Rude.

One of my friends, asked if they could move one of the tables closer to where the rest of the group was and the owner replied with " If you would've let me know beforehand, we would've been able to accommodate you. " My friend understood and asked if we could please be accommodated now, to which the owner walked away. Again, on a power trip, didn't offer any kind of resolution.

Our group ordered a lot of drinks and despite the weird looks from the owner and some staff, we tried to have fun. It sucks that the owner soiled the experience for us and ruined the vibe of what otherwise would've been a really great night.

I know it's hard for some people to be nice to others, but as the owner, the bare minimum is to be nice to customers.

Since this was my 1st experience here, I will not be coming back. I know they don't need my money, but hopefully this review will encourage the owner to work on their attitude when dealing...

The place is usually lovely and we always have a great time. However, yesterday one of the bartenders (a tall, bearded white guy) was rude beyond belief, even mocking us on the microphone for not getting things because we were “Mexican… or European, or Canadian.” Here’s what happened: I had gone to the bar past the last call and asked him if we still had time for one last round. He said yes and served us 4 drinks. Literally one minute later the dance floor was closing, so I approached him and said “hey you literally just told me we had time for a drink, can we at least stay around the bar?”. The guy started mocking me saying that the bar was closing too and that I could finish my drink at home or in my bed, that nothing was preventing me from doing that. When I asked him if he was for real he started saying it was our problem, not his, and mocking me in a very loud voice “You are such a drama queen. What will you do? Will you want to speak to my manager? Do we have a Karen here?” I stopped engaging with that guy, but my friends approached him to say that he had just sold us drinks knowing the bar was closing, to which the guy responded with something equally rude (along the lines of “I don’t care, I’ll soon leave and open a ranch in Indiana”) and by grabbing the mic and saying to the whole bar in a mocking tone: “in case you are Mexican, or European, or Canadian [he must have noticed our Spanish accents] last call means L.A.S.T.C.A.L.L.” At this point we were really frustrated and just wanted to give the guy a hard time for his quasi-racist comment, so we asked him for covers for our drinks if they were indeed “to go”. The bar obviously doesn’t have them and is in fact unable to legally sell drinks to go. In the end, we just left with our drinks in our hands and very frustrated. Again, the bar is usually lovey, but this guy completely ruined it for us with his unbelievably...

For those reading the reviews here, it is important to know that the White Horse was put under new management at the end of 2022. Some changes have been made and this review is specifically about the bar in the last few months.

The White Horse has always been my favorite bar in the east bay. My friends and I have lots of fun memories of spending nights here. Frankly, before the bar's ownership changed hands it could have used some renovations. However, any issues with the building itself were offset by the friendly staff that made it feel like home.

The management switch happened at the end of 2022 and even though I was open to seeing some changes, I have to say that it was a rough start. They got rid of my favorite bartenders (bring Isaiah back!) and you could tell that the newer guys didn't have the experience to be working busy nights. Besides having problems getting a drink, the atmosphere also feels off nowadays. All of those people that made the White Horse special to me are gone and it's a lot of newer people that don't have the same connection with the guests.

Things do seem to be getting better (slowly) and I hope that the new management just needs more time to find their footing. It would be tragic to lose the only good gay bar in the east bay. However, with the way it has changed for the worse (in particular the staff problem I mentioned) I have to take some stars off. Hopefully I can come back and update this later when things get better. It certainly wouldn't hurt to see some of the old faces I knew back behind...