I came here for a high school reunion and it's a nice club. It's big and spacious inside and it has two rooms. There's a stage in front and it reminds me of the type of gymnasium that my elementary school had where you had a place on the floor with people to sit at tables and eat and a stage where people could Act, scene, do presentations and so on. I was going to get a drink there and I'm glad I didn't! They had a full bar and you could get drinks there and I don't know what the prices were because as I was going, we were being called to dinner. The dinner was in another building and a roller door was lifted to let us in. We are allowed to sit at a table, and that was good. We saw salads that looked lame, but tasted much better than expected. Being that I hadn't eaten any veggies, I decided to go with the salad and eat some. yes I knew I couldn't eat the pasta. So, it was a nice spot. Unfortunately two of my friends had to go home because they had an appletini and got really sick. One almost went to the hostpital. The other, a nurse, was up all night and took care of herself at home. They said that the person put something, a cherry maybe in the drink and used their hands, no gloves. They thought that the alcohol would kill any germs. Apparently they did not. Lucky me, because I was going to order something when we were called to sit down for our meal. So, the food was clunky, the food was OK, and they had wine on the table. I didn't get sick which is why they have three stars. It's a building, it's standing, so it has the basics. read more

Fratellanza Club - Here for my reunion. - Social Clubs Near Me - Oakland, California

we had such a great time and a very good dinner there. What a fun group of people very welcoming and friendly. This club has been going on for decades as I found out and I only just went last month. read more

Membership only. Great events, good food. I've always met great people. We are guests of members.

One of the best private clubs around... The birthday dinners for members and there friends is always a lot of fun. They do some great work in the community and have some very simple but important traditions. They also have a famous local Crab feed that has about 400 attendees. If you have Italian Heritage check it out... read more

Horrible food. Tough roast beef that I saved for the dogs. Atmosphere that looks like a high school gym with tables.

I joined the Women's Club within the Fratellanza Club in 2019. There are over 450 men in their men's club and over 350 women in their women's club. We have monthly dinners and lots of other activities throughout the year. It's great Italian food, a wonderful friendly atmosphere, and a way to connect with my ethnic culture as an Italian American. They also have a bocce ball court and every Wednesday many members play bocce. The energy and camaraderie in this club is really something special to experience. Everyone greets you right away and the fun and the good vibe is something I look forward to enjoying every month. They are open to new members and I highly recommend it, especially for those of Italian American descent, and also for any younger ones who may be having a harder time connecting to your Italian heritage-- join this club! Great way to stay connected to your vibrant and unique Italian culture. read more

Fratellanza Club - Social Clubs Near Me - Oakland, California

See all

Great food, friendly Italian-Americans and genuine Fraternity! BRAVO! From Wayne Kurtz in Caserta, Italia. 81100.

Okay, I've been here all of twice. Once just recently to find it's very much as it was how I remember as a kid for some random wedding reception or another. But being neither Italian or local enough to try to fake it, both account for the infrequent visits. But despite the neighborhood changing around it, it's retained its charm that I recall: still has the old wooden bar, a small stage and dance floor, and an almost cavernous dining hall that easily seats a few hundred people. A great space, great character, and always a treat to visit. read more

Fratellanza Club - Dance area - Social Clubs Near Me - Oakland, California

See all

Great food, reasonably priced drinks, wonderful service and a great group of guys. Who could ask for more? Highly recommend the monthly men's birthday dinner. Only hitch is you have to be invited by a member, but just ask some of your Italian friends in the Bay Area and I'm sure you'll be able to find one who you know or someone you know knows. Great sense of camaraderie and a worthy institution to support when they sell raffle tickets at the dinner. The place is a real asset to the community of men in the Bay Area regardless of your ethnic background. read more

An Italian Family tradition in Emeryville- I've never left hungry and always have had a fantastic time at brunch, lunch, dinners, crab feed, pizza night etc. That's Amore! read more

My experience with Italian social clubs started at an early age, when I was about 5 years old. I was given the almighty task of passing out bingo cards in the Oakland Vet's Hall during a Sons of Italy club dinner. My dad was a member here, therefore my parents would trek out to Oakland at least once a month to eat pasta, play bingo and bocce, and hang with the mostly senior crowd. I remembered the long dining tables and delicious pesto served by the bucket full. After a few years, my mom decided that they were, (as she puts it) "too damn young" for the club, since she was constantly getting carded at the bar and didn't have any interest playing bridge with the women on Sunday afternoons. Several years later, my dad joined the Fratellanza Club with a few friends. Currently, he's on the Bocce Ball team, helps serve lunches and dinners, and occasionally bartends during the day. And loves every minute of it. According to the website, the Fratellanza club was formed in 1932 by 13 Italian bachelors with two rules: 1) you had to have an Italian surname, and 2) you had to be a bachelor. Since then the rules have changed a bit, allowing married men, men with Italian mothers, and recently ten percent of its membership to be non-Italian. The original club location hasn't changed in about 70 years; only expanded to house a large dining hall, kitchen, dance floor, two bars, an Italian garden and outdoor bocce courts. Two times a month the club hosts birthday dinners for its members, the first is for men only, and the second open to men and women. (Separately, there is a women's club that has their own events and often joins the men's club events.) Last night I came here with my dad for a special Father's Day dinner for members and their guests. I'd been before, but I'd forgotten how insanely dago and fun this place was. Members (including my dad) love to sport matching Fratellanza polo shirts while they sip pre-dinner cocktails and visit before the dining hall opens. While some of the older members complain the drinks are too expensive ($3 for a beer, $3.50 for cocktails with top shelf liquor) the rest of us order two drinks at a time and wildly tip the bartenders. After the dinner bell rings, everyone is corralled into the dining call, and before you can sit down, your wine glass is filled to the brim, accompanied by an antipasti plate of cheese, salami, and a slice of mortadella. Every birthday dinner is four courses. Last night's meal included simple but delicious oil-and-vinegar Fratellanza salad, rigatoni with meat sauce, grilled steak and baked potato, and an ice cream sandwich. Dinner is the opposite of a relaxing, calm environment. It's about 85 degrees in the dining hall (last night 440 of its 500 members were in attendance), and everyone is packed together in long dining tables. Plates come out one after another, served family style. Bottles of house wine are bottomless. During the meal, several announcements are made on the stage: honoring the birthday boys of the month, last night the youngest fathers and the oldest fathers, the most people from the same member's guest group, and upcoming club events. But the most exciting set of announcements that occur during dinner is the raffle. Rolls of seven tickets are $5 each, and prizes range from a bottle of Captain's Morgan, to a ladies' club polo shirt (which I won) to the special last prize--the Fratellanza salami. By now you should realize that I'm not making this up...I don't think I could. The night ended, as all dinners do, with my dad ordering us a round of creme de mint cocktails. Nothing like a purely alcoholic mouthwash-tasting drink to "settle the stomach" for the ride home. Nonetheless, I took a few sips to humor my dad, and even posed for a picture with him in my newly won Fratellanza women's polo which was already adorned with chocolate stains from my ice cream sandwich. Ah, notte pazzesca. If you want a true glimpse of local, old-school Italian culture and camaraderie (think several generations before The Sopranos) you won't be let down here. read more

I guess as the Duke, I must leave a review? I've been coming here with my Dad and Brother for many many years now. Quite recently for over a half a year every month for the Stag Dinner. It is usually with a group of about 12 other friends/members that take up about 2/3 of one table. These dinners are huge, filling the dining hall with about 200 something cool old dudes. Doors usually open about 6 for cocktails, then we move on into the dining hall for an all you can eat/drink/bullshit/laugh/burp and then eat some more until you can barely breath marathon. It is a good time, dinner consists of bread rolls, red wine, creamy crab salad, some sort of pasta dish, the main course usually a red meat with gravy and potatoes, and then top it off with either a Eskimo pie or ice cream sandwich. Conversations start with a range from fishing, local real estate, vacations, war stories (typically about women), work, then onto complaining about not enough salad or butter, then bitching about wives, a toast or two for a lost friend. After a few bottles of red wine conversations are muddled by raffles for bottles of booze. About that time 9:30ish people are starting to leave. Its tradition for me, and something that I'll always have to remember my Dad and his friends. They're an eclectic group that found each other from having similar jobs and restoring old cars. I hope this tradition never dies. It gets us out of the house, in front of each other, bullshitting, drinking booze, eating more than we can swallow, and laughing our asses off. read more

Fratellanza Club - Social Clubs Near Me - Oakland, California

Two really indoor bocce ball pits/courts. Full facility with fan seating, a ball washer, lighting, tape measure and more. We had a great time. Wednesday night league play. read more

Came here as a kid in the early sixties. My father and grandfather were members. I remember seeing Santa at the annual Chrsitmas party. Girls lined up, by age, on one side of the stage, boys on the other. One by one, we'd walk across the stage to see Santa, and would be given a wrapped gift and one of those red mesh Christmas stockings filled with candy. Now, years after Papa and Dad have passed away, I've been coming for the Ladie's dinners...3rd Tuesday of he month. You have to be invited by a member. Can't beat the meal for $15. The atmosphere is crazy-funny! Tonight was Polenta and Sausage with gravy. SO GOOD! read more

I've been going to the Fratellanza for 7 plus years now, and lets just say every experience here that I go to for the first Thursday night dinner is never a disappointment. Everyone here is for camaraderie, and a great dinner which never fails to please anyone. They have a full bar where everyone knows the bartenders, and you can have a great conversation with them to when they are not busy. The food servers are always great (old, and new since it always changes each month) since they tend to you faster than any restaurant I have gone to. The President of the Fratellanza is also a great guy to talk with. Well lets just say everyone that comes here is great to talk with because when your here your family, and everyone is family old, and new faces alike. No one is ever left out. But lets look at it this way. They have a open bar when you come in, to get soda's, calestoga's, or beer/wine/whisky/brandy/vodka (any drink you even ask for they can make it) before the dinner starts. When the doors open for everyone to be seated you are greeted with salad on platters, a roll with two slices of salami, ham, and chess, and bottles of red wine to share with everyone. The salad/pasta/and main course of the night are served continuously like a buffet where its all you can eat as well as the rolls (unless they run out of rolls), and to top it all off you get a nice desert to complement the dinner. When the dinner is about to finish the servers bring you a coffee jug to fill your shot glasses with coffee if you desire, and after a while they have the bartenders come in with brandy bottles asking anyone if they care to have some with their coffee, or to just have it plain (No cost at all). When the dinner is finally over the bar is open for everyone for who ever loves to get a last night drink before they go home. If you love to try this place out go, and get your friends, and look for a member to come out to the Fratellanza Club. This is the only time I will say you will really love everything about a place because I honestly do, and I know you will to. read more