Oakland gets a new cocktail bar by way of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Oakland residents in the buzzy Temescal District will soon have a new place to enjoy cocktails. And then, if they’re hungry, they can step through a side door to grab some tasty Ethiopian/Eritrean food, as the lounge adjoins longtime restaurant Asmara.

51 & Tel, which will have its grand opening Sept. 11 and is located at 5020 Telegraph Ave., started its life as Asmara’s in-house bar. “My mom and dad own the restaurant and had the bar the whole time, but they’ve never really been into the bar experience,” says Benyam Yohannes. “A lot of times it was just Eritrean or Ethiopian customers who hang out drinking beers and whiskey. It was kind of an unknown thing around here.”

But that’s about to change, as 51 & Tel is ready to dive headfirst into Temescal’s booming cocktail scene, among hot joints like literary-themed North Light and the martini dive bar Tallboy.

“As my parents are getting older and ready to retire, we’ve remodeled the bar to be more reflective of the neighborhood,” says Yohannes. “We put a different name on it because we wanted to rebrand it.”

51 & Tel will be a full-service bar with an elevated cocktail menu and wine, beer and cider. It has a spot for a DJ up front, though Yohannes emphasizes that’s for “ambiance” and not a nightclub-party vibe. There are impressive new murals on the walls from Natty Rebel, and a sprawling back patio with plentiful seating, string lights and a huge TV for sports events.

An early cocktail menu has drinks like the White Lightning (mezcal, Pineau des Charentes, Salers Gentian Aperitif) and the Temescal Punch (rum, kiwi, bergamot, citrus, mint, seltzer). There’s a frozen Oakland Oasis with passionfruit and Singani63 — that’d be Steven Soderbergh’s branded spirit — and an espresso martini, because that’s the thing now.

One thing that won’t be served is food. For that, customers need to go next door to Asmara to order doro wat or eggplant tibs. (The lounge hopes to introduce a snack menu in the future.)

The goal of 51 & Tel is to be a “neighborhood-friendly spot” where everybody — and their dogs, of course — are welcome. “It’s a little scary in downtown Oakland right now. Everything is dead,” says Yohannes. “Temescal is doing well and is known for great food, but now hopefully we can make it known for great drinks, too.”