About Us
We’re six Oakland residents who couldn’t watch this block stay dark. When the Athletic Club Oakland closed on Super Bowl Sunday earlier this year, we mourned the loss alongside all of you. Then we made some calls. Then we made a decision to bet on Oakland.
Oakland’s iconic sports bar is back at 59 Grand as Oakland Athletic Club. The sports bar soul, the screens, the sound, the energy, the supporter groups that made this room theirs — all of that is still here.
Here's what's new. Here's what'll keep you coming back: We rebuilt the kitchen. We assembled an all-star culinary team and created a tavern-style menu that works at noon on a Wednesday and at 8pm on a Friday — all-day, lunch, dinner, done right. This isn't stadium food. This is food you'd come back for even if the game wasn't on. And at neighborhood prices.
Most importantly, Oakland Athletic Club is a gathering place for all of Oakland — for the die-hards and the casuals, the regulars and the first-timers, the fans of every team that calls this city home. From Roots and Ballers fans to Dub Nation to the Valkyries, Storm, and Soul. A place where you can grab lunch on a Tuesday or pack in shoulder to shoulder on a playoff night. That’s what 59 Grand was at its best. That’s what we’re building, with you.
Press
May 15, 2026 — One of Oakland’s only sports bars closed. Now, it’s coming back to life.
A six-person group incorporated as OIAST, LLC — an acronym that stands for “Oakland is a Sports Town” — hopes to reopen the Uptown bar ahead of the first match of the FIFA World Cup on June 11, said Angela Tsay, one of the new owners and majority owner of local apparel company Oaklandish. The bar’s new operators, all Oakland residents, are Tsay; Chris Pastena, who owned shuttered restaurants Calavera and Chop Bar; Adi Taylor, co-owner of local bars Drexl and Sandbar; Oaklandish COO Aaron Higgins; and two other principals who opted to remain unnamed. [read more]May 19, 2026 — “These are the plans to give Oakland back its sports bar”
"I felt like we could do some new things there and elevate the food program and really make it available to a dynamic experience while you're watching the game or when you're not watching the game — the ability to (have a) more robust lunch service, a little bit of happy hour, reimagine the back room as kind of a mixed-use event space, focus a little bit more on women's sports," Pastena said. "Kind of make the space a place for all Oaklanders to exist and enjoy. Oakland is rebounding. Oakland's coming back, and we feel like, this is a much needed space for Oakland and we're all looking at it from that perspective — this is what Oakland needs and we want to give it to them." [read more]"Months after the Athletic Club Oakland shuttered comes word that it will be reopening under new ownership as the Oakland Athletic Club. While much of the city’s downtown restaurant and bar scene has struggled coming out of the pandemic, the sudden closure of the popular sports hub was a particularly tough blow for Oaklanders who have seen all three professional sports teams leave the city over the last eight years. And so, it seems fitting that the prominent Uptown venue at 59 Grand Avenue will be reborn under an amalgam of partners with strong ties to The Town." [read more]May 27, 2026 — “The Athletic Club is back with a new team betting on Oakland”
“We definitely want to foreground Oakland,” Tsay said, “Oakland is a sports town, and we, the six founding partners, are all Oakland residents and taxpayers, and we are firmly committed to the revitalization of downtown Oakland, and think that having 59 Grand as Oakland Athletic Club is an important part of that Oakland downtown renaissance.” Tsay said that the group recognized they needed an elevated food menu, so the bar would be a daily destination and gathering place, not just when a big game is on. The group is planning to serve lunch and dinner and have a happy hour. While their sample menu may be altered, they’re exploring items such as disco fries with oxtail gravy and cheddar cheese, cornbread with honey butter, Baja fish tacos, and a classic burger all day. For lunch, a brisket sandwich with chimichurri mayo and pickled red onions is a potential menu item, while for dinner, Pastena is considering a coffee-crusted pork loin with Jameson cream sauce and braised baby kale or roasted sweet potato with roasted poblano peppers and sikil pak. [read more]
May 19, 2026 — “Diablo Dish: Athletic Club Stages Comeback in Oakland”
