Winghart’s Burger & Whiskey Bar

Closed. This is no longer a Winghart’s. Winghart’s webpage also no longer lists this as a location.

Wingharts’ Oakland location has a lot to live up to and definitely has a tough gig of balancing their good food and great bourbon with college culture while attempting to rectify the perversions of P-​Caf.
Let’s start with what they do well:
+ Burger and drink specials that are unique to the location, seeing as they’re in Oakland and need to pull in the college crowd somehow.
+ Outdoor seating that makes solid use of the patio.
+ A mostly remodeled inside that will both remind you of the loud, disgusting, hardly conscious nights you had at P-​Caf as well as impress you that they were able to cover up «that spot» or fill in «that hole» or even turn this building into something that didn’t smell like vomit and old drugs.
But, as most places in Oakland, there are some downsides:
— Don’t come expecting the flavor of the other locations. Each Wingharts seems to have built its own culture, and the Oakland location is good for specials and letting loose a bit. I’ve never had a negative experience with any of the servers and the guys at the bar have always been rad, but I can see how someone might get upset if they come expecting Downtown service in an Oakland location.
— If you’re not in college, maybe save your visit for the summer. Not that there’s anything wrong with being in college, but it can be a bit much for someone not deep in it as well.
As much as I’ll miss the P-​Caf staple of underage drinking, dancing, and blacking out at Trivia Night, I think Wingharts picked up a good location and am looking forward to what that they continue to do with it.

Went on a Sunday to watch football. The bartender was attentive and took great care of my friend and me. They have a great assortment of craft beers, and great whiskey. The food was great too, their burgers are amazing.
The place is clean, and they have a huge screen upstairs that they were playing the game on.

Went in here on a Saturday at 12:45 with some friends for some pierogies. Checked the website before we arrived, it said bar opens at 11, kitchen at 12. Go inside to find one man screaming at the TV. Once he stopped, he told us that we could not sit down because he was the only person in the place, and just a cook. There was no manager, and no bartender, and no server. They had been open for nearly 2 hours! Curious as to why he bothered to even open the doors. He had no clue when someone would be showing up. Needless to say, I will not be trying my luck at this place ever again.

The burger was cooked exactly as I asked for it — medium rare. Great fresh meat. Ordered the pineapple burger (can’t remember the official name). Was a very cool sauce on it so highly recommend if you want a different take on the Hawaiian burger
Downside was that it didn’t come with fries or a side and the bartender didn’t ask or say anything about it — guess I am just used to it.
As far as the beers — great selection and good knowledge base. Claim to be whiskey bar but have about 20 – 30; not awesome selection but solid.
Strange neighborhood but well worth a visit if you are in town.

This place just doesn’t get it. I want to like this place because, as a Pitt student, it would be awesome to have another fun bar with a different atmosphere to go to.
This place has the potential to be a good bar for me and my friends. It has a dance floor upstairs, late night food (which I haven’t tried yet), a ton of beers, and a patio which no other Oakland bar has.
Unfortunaly, all of these thing and more are done poorly. This place is «out of the way» for most Pitt students so they need some sort of late night draw which they don’t have so the dance floor is empty. One night they even said they had a «private event» upstairs and there was a $ 7 cover… yeah right. When the bar gets somewhat busy the bartends don’t know how to handle it. Service is slow, getting checks are impossible, I would really hate to see it if the place were packed. Also, drinks are pricey compared to G-​door and hems.
I just don’t think this chain wants to adapt to the college scene. They run the place like a bar for a little older (25 – 40) crowd but put a dance floor upstairs and blast party music. Its too bad

I’ve been here twice and neither time was good. The service is slow, and disorganized. I once ordered takeout, showed up twenty minutes later as instructed, then stood and waited fifteen minutes for my order
The food is okay but overpriced. Do not recommend.

I’ve been to this location a few times now and I really want to like it. The staff is friendly, they have a good beer menu, and the drinks are reasonably priced. The caveat is that I haven’t been there during the school year yet, so I’m not entirely sure about the Oakland undergrad factor, so this review is based on the late spring/​summer season.
I can’t give the Oakland Winghart’s any more than 3 stars based on a few things:
First, I don’t have much evidence that they can cook a burger to order. My Partner In Cuisine and I each ordered our burgers medium and rare (respectively), unfortunately both our sandwiches came out more like hockey pucks. Normally, we would just suck it up and eat them, but they were so overcooked and my burger (the Harper’s Fairly Good Burger) was just a lump of meat with a dollop of Boursin cheese, a couple of fried onion straws and just drenched in chunky gravy (aka bordelaise sauce with pancetta). It was sad, but we had no choice but to send them back. The very apologetic and friendly server told us they had gotten some meat that was a bit fattier than usual and was cooking very quickly and they’d be happy to try again. Ok… so we try again, this time hoping they don’t overcook. To our dismay, our second burgers were also very overcooked, but at this point were were so hungry we ate them. In the end, they took care of us and despite the disappointing food, the service was impeccable. We have returned several more times, but have avoided ordering burgers out of fear they just won’t be done to order.
The second reason why I have to dock a star is the lack of seating. Yes, they have a really, really nice outdoor area that I would love to sit on on a warm summer night. However, since the management apparently allows smoking on the deck (including by their staff), we will not sit outside. Really, who even smokes anymore? So if it’s a pretty busy night, and they don’t open the upstairs (like my mos recent visit), you may have a difficult time enjoying yourself with your friends. I’d recommend bringing no more than 3 – 4 people if you want to sit, relax and enjoy yourself.
The third reason I can’t give it a higher rating is the dinginess of the location in general despite the fact that it’s fairly new. The women’s restroom has a leaky ceiling with a bucket right in the doorway of the accessible stall, and in general the whole place feels dilapidated. Perhaps they were in a big hurry to open the location, but they really need to fix that ceiling.
Fourth, is the price. You don’t get any sides (no fries, no chips, nothing). Just the burger… and those aren’t cheap. None of the other options comes with sides either, so a trip to Winghart’s can get pretty expensive if you don’t watch what you get to eat.
Now, don’t take this review as my refusal to return. As I said, the staff is pretty nice, the drinks are decently priced (great happy hour) and in general it’s the least offensive of all of the Oakland bars. That said, I’m not sure what that says about Oakland bars in general…

Horrible service, ok burgers, good fries. Overpriced and a la carte ordering (burgers and fries separate). Waitress didn’t place our order with the kitchen then offered 15% off after waiting 1.5 hours for burgers and fries. Nice patio seating in Oakland.

While I’ve been to the Downtown and South Side locations, this was my first visit to the Oakland location (some of you may know it as «where P-​Caf used to be»).
The office ladies and I ventured out for our Friday lunch and were pleased to find outdoor seating!
I ordered: I Don’t Care Whatever burger, sans bun.
They ordered: Jefferson’s Repeal burger, Tikka Masala sandwich, and BLT roll it up.
After ordering my burger medium, my coworker was told they tend to undercook, so she ordered medium well. Both burgers came out closer to well done, which was a little disappointing.
While Winghart’s earned a star for having a bunless, lettuce wrap option, they lost one for not having falafel, which my colleague originally ordered. Regardless, the food was delicious, and we all licked our plates and baskets clean. Our waitress was friendly and accommodating, rocking her grungy Flashdance inspired t-​shirt and sharing her favorites with us.
A little pricey for a burger without sides, but the quality made it well worth it! I can’t wait to to return to Winghart’s, order a craft brew, and participate in Monday night trivia!

Ang is the grill master. The only thing that could rival her burgers were the killer dance moves. She really tied the Straub event together like the Dude’s carpet tied the room together. Partying on the patio was precisely what we all needed. I will be back soon.

P-​CAF???
New owners, new management. AWESOME FOOD. I had the tikka masala chicken sandwich and it was incredible. Also for the table we got fries covered in truffle aioli and gravy (not on the menu, but it should be soon) and they were fantastic. Definitely ask for both of them together. We got a few pitchers of Blue Moon for the table and they were about what you would expect for college town prices.
This place is really underrated and should be a staple in Oakland for years to come.

I had the worst experience here with their service staff… so disorganized! If it is possible to give this place negative star for their service, I would. For a place that just opened, it is quite grungy. The stools are old and the seats peeling off.
I lost my ID here and after three phone calls, four visits and countless promises… it took them exactly 2 weeks to get me my ID back. That just shows how disorganized they are and how terrible the staff members are at communicating with each other. Never again will I step into this Oakland Winghart location. They need to get their act together.

For my first Winghart’s experience, this was a good choice. Asides from the parking snafu (hence the star deduction), it was a good experience. Having wanted to try Winghart’s for a very long time, and not having the time to stop in one of the other locations I was super excited to see they opened a location in Oakland. Right down the street from where I work! (I’m being spoiled with all the good places to eat around my place of work)
I called my order ahead before showing up. Good call there. I showed up and still had a little bit of a wait, but not too long. While waiting I took in the surroundings of the place. they did a great job with the small interior they have. I also like the patio/​porch area they have. Although I’m sure that could be annoying later in the warmer months, by that I mean you will have to put up with the college kids on their patio/​porch firing up their grills. However, I’m sure their food would not be as good as what you get here.
Speaking of food, let’s discuss. Of course my coworkers and I ended up ordering a ton of different things with one thing in common, hand cut fries. The fries were perfect, I really can’t say more than that, perfect. I ordered the Dockworker, which my friends is nothing more than homage to a beloved Pittsburgh classic that could surely have it’s own following soon. Awesome fries, sweet Cole slaw, and the burger patty itself was cooked exactly how I asked for it to be cooked. For once, I have seen a burger patty that surpassing the bun! My friend ordered the Matolla and I believe we were in the same boat by being impressed by how big the sandwich was alone.
I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but it was a huge mistake to order a side of fries. With as big as the burger was, a side really isn’t needed. AND the price is justified for once. I had heavenly happy burger dreams that night.
The staff were great as well. Very attentive, courteous beyond belief and made me want to fight traffic, search for a parking spot and come back the next day. You’ve won me over Winghart, yes you have.

Four stars if you’re a student. They have a great selection of craft beers on tap, durable plastic pitchers, and decent prices.
However, they have a terrible whiskey selection. It might be better than your uncle’s basement bar with the vinyl seats, but not by much.
The bartending staff on the weekend earns its money, tip them well, they have to herd and serve a lot of drunk ass students.

My roommates and I went here for dinner and had an overall «meh» experience.
We’re cheap, so we went for the $ 5 PBR pitchers only to realize that their pitchers are small and only contain 3 beers (opposed to a normal 4 beer pitcher). Boo!
I got the burger with bacon on it (I don’t remember exactly what it was called); I ordered it medium rare and it came out grey and hockey-​puck like. Flavorless and a huge disappointment. The burger was $ 10 and didn’t come with any fries/​chips on the side, which puts it solidly in the «overpriced» category. We ended up ordering a size of fries to split and it was a good decision because they were crispy and well-​seasoned.
The service was good but we were one of only a few occupied tables in there, so I’m not sure how it would be when it gets busy. Overall, overpriced and unimpressive. I would have loved to have a good burger and beer place in Oakland but this is not worth the convenience.

Fantastic food and attentive service. Burger was phenomenal. I would absolutely recommend this restaurant!!!

They have good pierogi, and their fries are pretty decent, too. But I’ve been here twice, and both times the waiting staff has put me off. The first time my friends and I came here, it was for their soft opening weekend. We come in, sit down at a table since the bar was full, and are greeted by a waitress who was very intent on giving us a menu. My friend takes one and we go up to the bar to order our drinks. They have a great craft menu (I’d recommend the Cocoa loco craft beer. It’s so buttery.) and the bartender tasted beers with me, which I think is a good quality – if you don’t know the beer, taste it so you do. We sit down and the waitress comes back over and asks us if we are ready to order. We tell her we’re not going to eat anything and she proceeds to stare me straight in the eyes for a good 10 seconds before leaving and never once even coming near our table again.
The second time we went was the kicker, though. We come in, order some drinks at the bar, and then proceed to order food. The bartender (same one as before) gives us our drinks along with our napkins and utensils. We spot an open table and since there were no seats at the bar (we were standing), we pick up our stuff and go to sit down. Suddenly, a very angry-​looking waiter approaches our table and asks us if we are ready to order. We tell him we already ordered from the bar and he goes on a mini-​rant, telling us «This is a table. I make my living from this table. If you order from the bar, you sit at the bar. You don’t sit at a table.» Newsflash, asshole: you can’t sit at a bar if there are no goddamn seats. It’s not like they even had a greeter at the door who could sit you, to imply the divide between bar and restaurant. The pissed off waiter proceeded to yell at the bartender, not once, not twice, but three times about us, as well as glare in our direction any time he could. The poor bartender closed our tabs almost immediately (as in, as soon as he gave us our food). But he still came over a couple of times to ask us how everything was. We ordered one more round of drinks before we left. I apologized to the bartender and all three of us gave him a great tip. Really, if it weren’t for the bartender being so great, I’d give this place one star.
TL;DR The waiter was an asshole, the waitress was weird, and the bartender is awesome. Sit at bar, never tables.

Obnoxious bouncer. Irrelevant music. Good for a quick beer on a dead night. Staff just walks around to entertain themselves. There are better choices.

I came in for lunch to find the spot completely empty which is understandable considering there are cheaper burgers available closer to the center of Pitt’s campus. Unfazed by the inconvenience, I came here expecting a higher quality burger.
I opted for the Jefferson’s Repeal burger. As I waited, I counted that they have 17 craft beers on tap. I didn’t try one because of the time of day, so I can’t vouch for the freshness of the beer. Anyway, it wasn’t long before my burger was ready. It was cooked closer to medium than medium rare, but to be fair I don’t know any other place in Oakland which cooks burgers to customers’ requests. I liked the tangy and tangy barbecue sauce. Also, I thought the fried onions added a nice textural contrast to the burger.
Lastly, I found the service to be fast and friendly. I was in and out in under 25 minutes which I really appreciated considering I was in a hurry. The only other note I can make is that there is a dance floor upstairs. I didn’t scope it out, so the dance area might be a subject of inquiry for a review update or another Unilocaler!

Food is bomb
I really like he vibe and the feel. It’s definitely a college bat, but that’s to be expected in the center of Oakland.
The bar has some of the best whiskey you’ll find on a college campus and the second floor loft space is a party atmosphere with great sound that feels like a small night club.

This is just not good. My friends and I were so excited to have a wingharts in Oakland. I can’t stand the south side, and downtown is just too inconvenient if it’s not directly after work. This wingharts location, however, is simply NOT wingharts.
First of all, this wingharts replaced Pcaf. Honestly, it might as well be Pcaf. The service is the same, the clientele is the same, and they have about the same stuff as Pcaf. My friends and I got there last night after work, and it was crowded with college kids. Ok fine, I get it. But then we were treated like we weren’t in a whiskey bar! My friend asked for the whiskey list and he told her to use her eyes. Why would anyone gamble at prices in a whiskey bar? You could be ordering an $ 8 shot or a $ 15 shot. Also there was no whiskey cocktail list either like at the other joints. If there was, the rude bartender did not offer it.
I waited about 15 minutes for service. There were THREE bartenders behind the tiny bar and not one greeted me for 15 minutes. By the time I arrived, not many people were even still ordering drinks because it was late. This is careless service.
At 2am on the dot, after they called last call at 1:45, I had two gulps left in my beer. I was finishing it up when a man stood right over our table and essentially pulled the beer out of my hand and said it a low voice, «it’s time to go.» I work at a bar, too, and this is not how you treat someone who only ordered one beer and was about to leave anyway. Plus it was just 2am. If you called last call only 15 minutes prior, people will still be finishing their drinks.
When I left last night, I vowed I will never go back. Not after the rude treatment. To the owners of wingharts, if you want to use the wingharts name, your establishment should stand up to the reputation the name has earned. Otherwise, you are doing your company a huge disservice by selling to whoever bought this location and is conducting business in this manner.