Bay Area natives sometimes seem like an endangered species. You go out to the Mission or Haight and it may be weeks before you meet someone who was actually born and raised in the Yay. The East Bay seems to be a better habitat but even there, hipsters from all over the States and the world congregate around Berkeley, Piedmont, and Lake Merritt. But, like Underdog says, never fear. Some hipster chic does the Town some good, at least in the case of Easy Lounge.

Once upon a decade, the Fifth Amendment was a live blues dive. A nasty floor, old wood tables, and singers with whiskey and menthol raspy pipes and you had the perfect hangout for public school teachers needing an early weekend starter. I spent many a Thursday night downing a cerveza or two and swaying to songs about the man or woman who done us wrong. But the bar that once was has been transformed. Easy Lounge has a distinct San Francisco feel with its French and English literary carvings on the far wall, towers of high-end alcohol, and DJs spinning an ecletic mix of 80s, 1950s salsa, and old school.

But don’t let the hipster look fool you. The crowd was a lovely melange of hyphy boys, glam black girls, neo-hippies in Birkenstocks, and a crew of Cal alum Latinos(hey that’s us!)The Shirley Temple I had was tasty(2 months of sobriety, hurray me) and my bro’s junior bros recommended the Adios Motherf***er(now I’m definitely drinking one of those when my fast ends). No cover charge and a great location near the Lake. Definitely going to hit that place up with my girls–and my Manolos.