I just moved here and decided to explore restaurants nearby that I could walk to on foot from my apartment. I tried two different restaurants but they were closed until 4:30pm (it was 2:30pm), so by default, I went to The Broken Rack. First I ordered a hamburger and beer which I thoroughly enjoyed. I then played about 2.5 hours of pool and hit some sweet spot during the day where games are cheaper and happy hour just began. I was there for about 3 hours and I absolutely loved it. The music and vibe were great, and it wasn't overly crowded with people (but it's obvious people love the place). The bartender Patrick was awesome and seemed to be a jack of all trades. He also took my food orders and got me set up for playing pool. He was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Another thing I must note is how CLEAN the place is. Cleanliness is the first thing I see wherever I go. This was one of the cleanest and well-kept establishments I have ever seen. This is an awesome spot and is going to be my go-to spot to spend a few hours in the afternoons. Everyone was so friendly, and I had a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend this place for old school players, dates, or just having fun. You won't feel out of place no matter what. read more

Hmmm.. Something about this new location that makes me miss the older one. I do appreciate the cleanliness and new car feeling when walking in here.. But, maybe it doesn't have that same old charm the past location had. Maybe the pool tables are much closer together and it's harder to play on a packed night with cue sticks flying everywhere... Or is all the gray making me feel... gray? Who knows? Regardless, you won't find a better pool hall in the area. It's a lot larger than anything around now that Thalassa in Berkeley is closing and they are serious about their pool! I give it up to them for investing in another location that's improved and updated. Go Broken Rack! read more

Came here soley to watch the Warriors play in the NBA finals. Loved the $3.50 draft special for the games. Was able to drink Newcastle to my heart's content. Never been to the one before at the public market, but friends that I were with said it was a vast improvement. Also had a chedder cheeseburger that was really good along with the chip and salsa/guac special. Really good prices and place I'd check about again. Wonder how much the beer costs on a normal night. read more

I haven't been to the new location since it's opened a few years ago. How lame is that? My vegetarian neighbor swears by the burger that they do. We also loved the onion rings and the French fries. I'm Going to try the fish tacos next time. This place is really huge and the seating is unusual. There's a big space in the back left area that's totally under utilized with inappropriate tables. There should just be couches all around the edges of the room as well as rows of couches to fill the inner space. This seems like the Warriors watching room. My only issue with the place is that the wait staff is stretched real thin. It's a lot of space to cover, and there didn't seem to be enough people working. The bar was an absolute Zoo. read more

I had my retirement party here and they made me feel like a King! Service; outstanding food; delish employees; attentive and friendly read more

Fried food, beers, and pool...this place is exactly what you'd expect. Drinks and fun times. Good for big groups. It was a little warm, but they may have been the day. read more

Great sports bar, pool hall, and very good bar food. The staff is great. Very safe venue for women. 20 pool tables in great shape including a snooker and billiard table. Play darts or foosball. They play good music. Again, the food is quite yummy and inexpensive. Lots of good pool players here, especially in league play and tournaments. Lots of great friendships to be found in league here. Very nice and very responsive owners. Great place, great place, great place. read more

I came here with someone for dinner. The first thing you see is a sign that says you'll be charged $25 if you spill a drink on a table. What kind of restaurant charges people for spilling drinks? Upon further thought I realized they probably meant if you spill a drink on a *pool* table, which seems reasonable since they're much more easily damaged and you shouldn't really be eating on them, but it'd already started to negatively impact my impression of this place. We sat down and a waitress brought us some menus, and we started by ordering a drink. We said we want to share a drink and were brought two of them. The optimistic interpretation was that they split the drink into two cups for us. The pessimistic interpretation, which I felt was more likely to be correct, was that the waitress screwed up and brought us a second drink which we were going to be charged for (which of course is what ended up happening). I didn't really feel like arguing (which is somewhat unusual for me). We ordered a cheeseburger with onion rings and a veggie burger with garlic fries. The food was good but it took quite a while to come out. We observed that our food was sitting ready at the counter for quite some time before it was brought to us. When we were done eating, I had to go up the counter and ask how to pay because the check didn't appear to be in the process of being brought to us. We didn't end up playing pool (which I guess is the main focus of this place), so I can't evaluate that. read more

This is a place for playing pool. This review is based on a one off experience. Food is so-so bar fare, beer selection is minimal mainstream, and our wait person appeared amnesiac. read more

Don't go there! I was there tonight with a friend, we played pool for 30 minutes and left. $16.00 dollars an hour WTF!! The place is horrible, the service sucks and the guy at the front was hell of rude. The smell of food (fried food) is everywhere. The only reason I went there is because Thalassa in Berkeley is closed. read more

I give this place a meh. Lots of tables, space and a full bar. Lots of chairs and tables to sit, eat, drink, whatever. Food was food, nothing special. But also kinda loud. Kinda trashy. Beer selection was lacking. read more

Awesome place, great atmosphere, and Steve the bartender took great care of us. Will be going back!

There's a few decent bars in the not so secret "up and coming" Emeryville area, mainly Honor Bar, Prizefighter, and The Bureau 510 (burger bar that has $3 Happy Hour drafts). Add the Broken Rack to the list of solid establishments to have a beer (and food and games) at after work. This place, which apparently moved from a prior location, has it all: a ton of things to do other than eat/drink (over 20 pool tables, foosball, and darts), decent food (I'm partial to just the regular cheeseburger, but I've had the Santa Fe Burger, which is good too), cheap drinks ($2.50 PBR pints all night? Sign me up), and a lot of space. It's less than a five minute drive (ample parking) from my job, so I find myself here on Wednesday and Thursdays (Thursdays are particularly popular). They have multiple bathroom locations to minimize the wait time, and a bunch of TV's at the bar for all major sports. The only downside is when you order food, you tend to have to wait awhile, since it's pretty cavernous inside and they only have one waitress, it seems. Small price to pay, I guess. It's not the swankiest place, but if you want a dependable establishment with affordable prices, look no further than the Rack. read more

Lots of pool tables and pretty good bar. Nice stop for after work to blow off some steam over an intense game of pool with coworkers.

Cool place! Pool tables everywhere. Standard bar food that did not disappoint. Went in early and had a pool table for about 2 hours. The only reason I'm taking away a star is as the place got busier the service got slower. Not sure if it's bc more regulars came in so the server was tending to people she knew or if it was due to lack of other servers. Anyways - still had a good time and will definitely be back. The waffle fries tasted great! read more

Great place if you wanna just play pool... As far as food not worth the money...came here with a group of friends and at the end of the night paid looked at my account to find out i was charged twice so call the manager 1st call she seem helpful got a call back from her telling me to chill with an additude very rude unprofessional and shes suppose to be an supervisor/owner i won't be coming back here... To run a good business you need to know how to talk to people stay cool and calm at all times have great food and good service this place was none of that read more

Their customer service is awesome! I came in and ordered a Buffalo Chicken Salad, which was delightful . Will be back

Um its a pool hall, what do you really expect besides drinks, loud music amd pool tables

Went there last weekend. Everything went fine at first, got a table and ordered drinks. Our waitress was very nice and frequently checked to make sure we had our needs met. However, as we were having fun and I was chatting with a buddy, all of a sudden there was this "manager", big bald guy with glasses, jumped right into our conversation interrupting us, only to point out that I had a water bottle on the table. He walked away after his remarks and did not even make any eye contact, as if we were middle school kids. I admit he has the right to not allow any outside drinks, but REALLY? Is there really a need to interrupt and embarrass a customer (we did order drinks!!) over a bottle of water, on a Sunday afternoon while your place is, barely with any customer? As "the manager" or just any human being with common sense, I would expect him to politely ask that I put away the bottle, and at the same time offer to bring us glasses of water. We came here to spend money to have fun, not to get scold by "the manager" over, a bottle of H2O. I did what he said, and quietly walked up to him, and told him that he should've been more mature and personable, and NOT talk to his customers as if they are middle school kids. And the response I got from him was like "oh, is that what you want?". I am so upset and disappointed at this place. We have been customers of this place long before it is at this new location, and I must say, this bad apple has ruined it for me. Not that he would care -- but I probably wont be back. read more

Really had a good time at this place!!! He drinks were on the one!!! The bartender was really nice and I would definitely recommend anyone who wants to play a good game of pool!! read more

So happy Joe the bar mgr was on duty the day my beloved Seahawks were playing! He made great drinks, and was really nice and engaging. The people hanging out that day were Raider fans, but tolerated my hootin' n hollerin' for my Hawks! Good place to hang and play pool and watch sports. read more

Food was great, drinks were nice. Not too shabby. But the bartender was extremely rude. If you're going to work with people everyday then you should leave the attitude at home. Nobody wants to watch a grown woman have a tantrum read more

Came here and I didn't think there were many people around but it took forever for someone to help us. Great for happy hour and a few rounds of pool and darts. Seems like people go mainly for pool though. Food is ok. Reminds of drunk food, greasy. And it was a hassle to try and pay, because you can only pay with the person who was waiting on you. read more

I love to hangout at this place. I have gone several times with a few buddies and have always ended up having a good time. With a great selection of beer, food, tons of space and pool tables it is easy for me to recommend checking this place out. read more

Omg they did it again. NORMA is amazing. She checked on us as soon as are drinks and food were done. She is amazing. We love her and would not be able to live with out her. read more

I have no desire to go back to this place. While the waitresses are nice, the service is slow. It took my friends and I about 25 mins every time we wanted to get our drinks refilled. But the real reason why I'm giving this place such a low rating is because who I assume to be the manager is a dick. My friends and I were playing darts for about 30 minutes and were having a good time. There's a table and chairs directly in front of the dart area. We started throwing darts from there, about 3 feet from the starting line. Completely unannounced, the guy goes up to the dart board and takes the darts away, then comes back to return the ID used to rent the darts. It's perfectly fine if we were throwing from two far away, he could have came over and told us. But instead he came and took them away like we were a bunch of five year olds and never said a word to us about it which we all thought was pretty rude. A warning or clarity on policy would have sufficed. When asked about it he brushed us off. So yeah, I won't be coming back here. Customer service isn't a priority. read more

Several of us are in town for a company conference, so we decided to stop by here for appetizers and drinks before dinner. Place is nice, but as many reviews before this point out, customer service sucks. Nonexistent. We were ready to get out of here after one drink. Can't comment on the food, because we didn't stick around to try any. read more

This was a really great upgrade. Love the openness and airiness of the new space. I didn't get to try the food, but would love to next time. Looks like a great place to watch some sports, get a beer, and play some pool. Good for Emeryville! Also, make sure you check out the Honor Bar next door! read more

Oh this bar! I have mixed feelings because it is so close to where I work that makes it convenient for happy hour. But after a couple of events, I rather just keep walking down the street and go to a better bar. The service is slow. Below average sport bar-ambiance. The bartenders are not attentive and the cocktails... Not crafty cocktails. The beer selection is OK but could be better considering this is the Bay Area. The food is subpar. This is below bar food. If you come for happy hour or to watch a game - they have nice screens - just come for a beer or two and grab food elsewhere. read more

My second time here and the mozzarella sticks were just as great as the first time ! My favorite! The customer service was great ! My mom loved her drank lol I will for sure be back ! read more

I was very disappointed tonight in the treatment I was given at the broken rack. I have sat in this place on several occasions, played pool multiple times and have never been treated with such disrespect and poor regard. I was being helped by Lisa who I thought was genuinely a nice person, but with a short staff problem (being playoffs, staff should have been scheduled) I ordered a cheeseburger as she was walking off with order in her head , not taking it on a pad or piece of paper to remember it. I understood she was busy , so I walked to the front and asked Lisa politely if I could add crisp well done bacon on my burger? , she said sure and asked the cook to adjust my order. My order came out , and the bacon was not cooked to my liking at all not crisp nor well. I walked my plate back up front to ask Lisa about please taking the bacon back so it can be cooked longer, she took my plate and asked the cook if he could cook the bacon a little more for me. Cooks reply screaming out the kitchen window ," I ain't got no time for that shit". I then looked in the window not only feeling disrespected myself , but disgusted about how he talked to the young lady. I asked him why he said that , and he looked at me and said ," I got to many tickets to be worrying about crispy bacon"............. I was in shock , couldn't finish watching the game there , a place I love to go to! Never would've thought they would allow such horrible service to honest paying customers, other staff were looking on , but no one would do anything! And to not respond to my review was also a slap in the face , when I see several responded to reviews even after the one that I entered. Only good reviews are answered? I never had any intention on going to my favorite game spot and learning the staff is rude and everyone needs a little customer service training! read more

Great improvement from their old spot. Amazing tables, tons of space and plenty of tvs to watch what you need. Bartenders are a fun bunch and happy to get you relaxing. Beer selection solid, but honestly i would look into the very reasonable whiskey or tequila to sip on. Lose a star for the food, general diner style grub and with honor bar next door I'd rather finish my night there. But damn how picky can u be, its All good in the new Emeryville hood. read more

Been a fan of this place even before they relocated. The tables are silky smooth, and some of the best in the area. The place always seems spacious even when every table is in use. The drinks are reasonably priced and the kitchen has all kinds of snacks. Enjoyed a recent Monday Night Football game with old friends and the manager on duty, Patrick, was very accommodating to my dietary restrictions. He even got us plates for our outside food (which is generally frowned upon, but he made an excretion for my girlfriend and I). Parking is pretty versatile, it's right off the freeway and it's a comfortable place to watch football or play some billiards. I highly recommend this joint especially because it's in the middle of the Bay Area. So it's equidistant and a fair distance if you all want to meet up and have some fun! read more

I consider myself as a regular as I go there several times a week and I bring a lot of people every time. I really like this place but yesterday I have had a bad experience with the bartenders, one more time.. First time about 2 month ago, the beer was flat, the bartender just told us that it was the end of the keg... and that's it! He didn't offer another beer so we drank the flat beer and at the end we told what happened to another bartender and she was like oh yeah but you should have asked. ok... Yesterday my girlfriend ordered a vodka cranberry and it tasted really bad, like if the cranberry juice turned bad. I told the bartender about that and all she had to say was, no no everything is fine with the cranberry juice. I said ok so what can you do for me? She said I had to pay 5$ for another vodka orange.... She ended up giving me a free drink but clearly she was upset. I am a restaurant manager and I go there with lots of professionals, and we all agree that they really have to do something with the bar staff.. read more

Excellent for Football games environment... Best for Pool... Billiards. Love it.

Came here for lunch on a Friday. Still here waiting for my food 45 minutes later. If I didn't actually have a job to go back to I wouldn't care but.....avoid this place unless all you want is to play pool. Or have 2 hours for lunch, read more

Food is great!!!!! Wings are delicious!! Prices are reasonable!!! Especially if you don't want to pay Frisco prices!!! Norma gave the best service ever!!! Will definitely come back!!! read more

First time here and all I have to say is Steve you the MAN!!! Played some pool and had a few drinks but steves personality made our night! We will for sure be back on Tuesday wen he is back! read more

Horrible service! Management had no respect and acted like he was better than you. Doesn't pay attention to his customers and asked for my id 3 times and rudely. Waited 40 minutes for a salad and fried pickles! The manager says the kitchen is backed up because she is by herself. Well get back there and help her!! He does not care about customer service. read more

I started going to this spot many, many years ago loved it then and love it now :-) I was back in town recently to visit my mom and stopped by there with a couple of friends, they have changed the area and the broken had moved from it's old location (nice) Did not play any pool but had my famous turkey burger and it was good. Also the owner remember me after talking to her for a few and she then even remember the drink I use to drink wow how cool....Great courtesy staff AWESOME owners! read more