How I came about visiting Cunha's Cocktails is quite odd and requires a long story of filled with family drama but I will spare the details. Actually I had been meaning to hit up Cunha's on one of my trips to the Bay because my best friend DJ's here on Saturday nights, so as the cards fell into place I ended up spending a Saturday night here.
It should also be added that my review is more for the vibe of the place, not the service or cost of drinks. Having less than 10 bucks in my pocket and needing enough money for BART to the Oakland Airport in the morning, I really couldn't partake in the goods (although my friend did buy me a double shot of Jamison's on the rocks...nice to calm the nerves).
Cunha's definitely has that local crowd feeling, dare I say it, it's a place where everyone knows your name. It kind of reminded me of O'Connel's back in Long Beach, a vibe where there's a mix of various personalities and characters...all with a bay area twist of people in San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's paraphernalia.
I also find that it's not too often you see live DJ'd music being played at what many would consider a "dive bar" (although it's more of a mix of a dive and a sports bar). To actually see people spinning vinyl in a venue other than a "dance club", this makes me happy (believe me, I would be saying this regardless of my friend's involvement here...I have a deep love and appreciation for vinyl). And it seems the patrons love the live DJ'd music too.
I plan on coming back here when I have a some cash to spend and watch my boy spin vinyl. Most definitely.
I'm not even sure how we ended up here but after coming from Englander, this just doesn't compare. We only got beer since it was bought for us but there was a drunk or homeless guy outside, so that was interesting...maybe i'll come back for a drink one day, but the tvs arent that great and they place is pretty small....and dirty. Maybe I won't be back lol
Review Source:Well I used to come here and was a regular but the shady business with the bartender on Mon, Thurs and Sun morning shift is too much. He was verbally abusive, is drunk most days  is openly aggressive and bulling to Gays. I'm a straight person but my family & friends are Gay. No bartender should ask to be bought a drink and then make regular trips outside to check the tires but really getting high. The drinks are strong but the glasses are small. You would think as a patron who spends alot of money the bar would have done something about him.  Just don't go in on those times and days.
It's a dive, in all senses, it is tucked away in a shopping center, hasn't been updated in a century-ish, bathrooms reek and have nats flying around.
Cheap drinks, dim lights if you need more from a bar don't go here..
I used to really like dive bars, now not so much. However, once in awhile it just seems like a good idea. Being that I wanted to avoid the drunk masses in SF, I took bart down here to hang out with the bf and drink Guinness at his place on St Patty's this year. Maybe I'm just super lame, or getting super old. We decided to get one drink on our way to his place, and came upon this little joint. It was small, dingy and had an interesting crowd. But I can't say I was expecting more... We ended up ordering a Guinness and an Irish Car bomb, because it's kind of my thing on this holiday. Even though the bar was definitely not my scene, it wasn't horrible. The bartenders were nice and the local patrons sitting at the bar seemed decently nice too. But definitely not TOO friendly, oh well we had a simple mission and fulfilled it quickly. I could've hung around for more car bombs and probably would've had a fun time here....but it's probably better we didn't, seemed pretty sketch. Probably not the kind of place I'd return to with just girl friends.
Review Source:If other bars in old SL are crowded or if youre in a budget, this bar is probably will do good. If youre a wine drinker, you may probably disappointed with the wine they served here. Its those mini ( much smaller than a half bottle) of wine they served at airline cabin for $4.50-$5.00 each. Kinda pathetic. The staff are nice and bar patrons are friendly. The saving grace of this bar is the jukebox for music and that other bartender name victoria.
Review Source:CAVEAT: I haven't sat down for a drink here, yet.
But I think I've had the abridged Cunha's experience, all the same: my first night as a resident of nearby East Oakland, I got very, very lost looking for  Pelton Place pizza joint: all addresses are listed as Parrott or Washington, though neither street is anywhere near where I was supposed to be  There were people everywhere, mostly going to and from cars and ATMS. It was a loud, relatively convivial night, but no one was much for talking to strangers.  I wandered from my parking lot repose and saw Cunha's, door open, two guys holding up the wall just outside.  One had an apron. One had a drink.  That guy was entirely prepared for my weird locational query, and answered it in the only way that would work for a disoriented newcomer.  Near Safeway? Not helpful. Did I know where Radio Shack was?  He knew better. Put his drink inside, walked with me to the end of the cluster of shops, and pointed. OK. Hm. Walked me across the weirdly angled street, pointed again.  Walked to the intersection, explained the streets, names, and Pelton/village override of notions of a grid, et voila: I could confidently stroll kind of a  long way to my pizza.  And he concurred that I should really just get my car and drive there. Â
I owe this guy a shout. Â Now that I've got my compass set, I'm gonna follow thorugh
See you there.
A nice little divey type bar. I've only been here a few times and it was usually after the Englander across the street closed for the night.
The prices are right, they play music and there's a little area for people to dance if they feel so inclined.
The bartenders I've had were really sweet and last time I even gave one of them a hefty tip because it was her birthday and I was good and liquored.
I'm normally not a huge fan of dives, but I could see myself going here more often if it was closer to home.
One of the very few awesome n friendly bars I have ever been to.
If you ever come here make sure that Rick the bartender is working:) usually here like mondays or Sundays
he makes the best drinks
and for a great price too!
the atmosphere is a little "dive" but its more like a place where people take their worries and lift up their spirits instead.
Sometimes they even have free food:)
definitely one of my fave places to enjoy a few drinks with great people and great staff!!
the bathroom takes away one star though
they only have one stall and its hard to get to the bathroom sometimes when it gets a little busy
I consider this to be the dive that all dives strive to be. That's a lot of "ives!"
I went there with a buddy after all the Thanksgiving Day festivities were completed. It was the only place we could find that wasn't closed near my home. If anything else was open, we would have ended up there and you'd be reading a completely different review.
When we walked in,the familiar faces of every dive greeted us. The drunk guy who thinks he owns the place, the old ladies who hit on anything that has a working member. There was the quiet guy who was sipping his pain away, and of course; the young woman who only SEEMS attractive. If it weren't for the Christmas lights,(a month early by the way) she'd be maybe a 3.
Either way, she was the bar keep and tried her hardest to make small talk. We wanted nothing to do with it, but I have to commend her on her persistence. She served us over-priced Sierra Nevadas in the bottle because this place has no draught beer. Seriously, wtf? After we consumed our surprisingly cold pale ales we went for a Mandrin Bomb because I was feeling sleepy. Twas made strong just how I like them. High fives all around!
We stayed for a few more drinks and continued to watch the NFL game while we witnessed some of the most absurd things ever. Russian men hitting on bar wenches, a 45 minute sound check for karaoke, and even a baby! Who would bring a child into a bar!? Sure, its not like they were getting it drunk; they just wanted to visit their friend and show off the kid, but come on! Awful parents.
Will I return? Possibly. They do have karaoke every Thursday, and I mean every Thursday. Even on Thanksgiving.
I love Cunha's.
I wish that was all I could write and then 100's would flock there just to experience it for themselves, however I think it would be more pertinent to review on.
It's a dive, in all senses, it is tucked away in a shopping center, hasn't been updated in a century-ish, bathrooms reek of petty crime. Sold yet?
Cheap drinks, dim lights, bar buffets and karaoke on Thursdays. If you need more from a bar, try taverns, lounges, ultra lounges, bistros or otherwise.
After meeting up with some girl friends fro junior high at the Englander, we decided to venture across the street to keep the party going... imagine my delight when it happened to be karaoke night!
the bar has a low key, laid back vibe, and the people, while a mixed crowd for sure, were friendly and talkative.
All in all, this was a fun little dive bar, and while i probably won't make a point to drive out to san leandro to return, if i was out in the area, i wouldn't mind coming back :)
This place is o.k, I prefer the parker house any day of the week, but i decided to venture out and try check out other 'Dro dive bars.
I ordered my usual, double shot of greygoose, chilled with a tomato back. It's my version of a deconstructed bloody mary. The bartender precisely measured the double shot, which I did not like. I figure if I'm paying 18.00-20.00 for a drink you should be a little generous with the alcohol. It means a better tip as well.
On top of the small portion, the tomato juice I got was rotten! Â Eww! I asked for a coke back instead and the coke was super flat and super sweet. Â
I won't be coming back here.
this drinkery is in the pelton commercial complex, across from the new englander. this drinkery has no pool table, an internet jukebox, Â the crowd is mixed ethnically. the patrons are friendly provided your musical taste on the jukebox doesn't clash with theirs.
the jukebox here has a feature whereby a consumer can have their songs played ahead of the list if they pay a premium. pretty irritating to the one with a queue of rap tunes lined up.
some patrons here are very friendly. good place to chat. this place is kind of small.
entree: gin & tonic(3.50)-pretty strong guiness(3.75) Â no draft beers
Not really as bad as you think it is.
Well...maybe a little.
But that's what makes it ok. Â
Cheap-o drinks, and you know I love me some cheap-o.
Great local flavor to view.  Nothing says people watching like Matthew Mullet  writing in his journal, tapping his toes to the sounds of Seger, pulling Newport Lights from his leather bomber. Â
A place to finish up after the Englander's done closed.
Don't bring a date here.
Unless she's already agreed to marry yo' ass.
And don't bring your sober driving friends cause they will get shafted on soda. Â Small glasses. Â Boo.
But video bowling! Redeeming.
After a night of cruising through all of San Leandro's weirdo bars with a high school friend -- from the abandoned Club Temptation, to the Southeast-Asian-codeword-only Club Chanel, to the single-cowboy-at-the-pool-table Washington Club, to the scary leftover-San-Leandro-High-School-student Parker House -- Cunha's Lounge is our last stop.
The Mariachi karaoke is blasting into the street, and Jen and I enter to an old popcorn popper, a 4'9" Asian bartend-ress, a whole bunch of Mexican men in ten-gallon hats and their wives, a few elderly couples, and an assortment of race-and-age-indiscernable working schmucks.
The karaoke MC slams his red fruity looking drink on our table and proclaims, "Welcome to Cunja's! You see her (pointing to the Asian woman, who has on gold-framed octagonal glasses) if you a drink. Welcome to Cunja's!" Jen gets up to get a white russian, and a woman in dark circles of eyeliner, hair like ramen, a frame like a linebacker, and a bag of a gray sweatshirt and jeans, leans over to me and says, "You new hon? I swear, I come here every Saturday night. It's all I can do after a long work week, you know? I swear, Saturday nights are the most fun in town."
All these men are staring at Jen, and I'm staring at the 400 lb. 70-year-old man at the bar in an XXXL purple vacation shirt with palm trees, a white beanie, and tinted glasses on. I bet his name is Ron. Jen comes back to get my ID for the bartender to see, and after she sits and I get the stiffest amaretto sour I've ever had (well maybe the stiffest was that day Jessica and I were sitting in her kitchen and before we went to Safeway to get detergent and to see if the cute boy was working we made amaretto sours in really big tumblers, and I think I put way too much amaretto), the woman leans in to talk to us again. Across from her is a guy built like a barcolounger in a Raiders jersey, and next to her is ... imagine Martha Dumptruck from Heathers, except make her have really long, crimped blond hair, a face frozen into a scowl, a big white sweatshirt, and a deep, deep Mexican accent. One that I first heard when she handed over the karaoke book.
The woman in the gray takes us under her wing. "Hold on a second - you know that song? That one that goes ___ ____ ____ ____? Hold on!" She gets up and slaps the MC on the back and tells him something then comes back. "He's my friend. I'm gonna sing it. He's my buddy. I swear, I live my life by this place. How old do you think I am?"
Me: "You can be anywhere between 29 and 39."
Her: "Oh, you're a doll! I'm 44! I'm an artist - I make sculptures and objects! I'm a live in nanny! How old are you?"
This is after Jen has given her name as Samantha, and following suit, I introduce myself as Brian. She responds, "Brian? No way. No, I won't ask. Okay, I'll ask. Are you Chinese or Japanese?" And when I answer, she goes on, "No way, Brian for a Chinese guy? No way!"
We respond with our ages and she says, "Cuz I'm a live in nanny - I take care of two kids. Brian, is she your girlfriend?" Smile and shake of the head. "Well get together! Hook up! Stop wasting time!" At this moment I notice Jen is totally showing her cleavage. Then I ponder the word "cleavage".
"Lizzie! By special request!" the burly MC calls out.
"Lizzie! That's me, hold on!" And oh dear. Lizzie took the stage, and sang this crazy ass song about how "Mary Jane's mamma broke it down to the Harper Valley PTA" - except I have all the names wrong because I can't remember. But that song be crazy. I want it.
Lizzie's got the voice of that lady on the commercial about how she thought that smoking would make her sexy, and then she takes a puff by putting a ciggie up to a hole in her trachea. Except obviously Lizzie can enunciate more. Or think, as a former Magic Mountain employee who was later a supervisor over at Arts & Lectures where I used to take ticket orders put it, of going into the vast underground network of paths under Disneyland, and running into a haggard old witch who has one armed cross and the other elbow-into-side holding up a ciggie, with one bright lamp above her head and darkness all around, rasping, "Yeah, I used to be Snow White!"
After Lizzie sits down from singing her song about the Harper Valley PTA, she goes on about how she lives her life here, it's the best of anywhere Saturday night, why aren't we two hooked up, nice to meet you Brian, you know, in between dancing to some more Mexican numbers with large still pixelated graphics on the screen. Somehow the men just know the songs by heart.
Jen and I don't necessarily want to leave, but it's roundin' midnight and we still have high school schlepps to run into. Lizzie was already distracted anyway, because she is saying an extended goodbye (like 30 minutes worth) because her barcolounger and Martha Dumptruck friends say they wanna leave. So we slip out. We're totally going back though.
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