I just passed my driving test, thanks to Ricardo from the Local Driving School! YAY I had driving lessons before but had such a bad experience that I turned into a very scared and nervous driver. My first lesson with Ric took all that away, he's incredibly patient, friendly, laid back but most of all safe. I had 6 driving lessons and in that time I was more than ready for my test. They use a Toyota Prius, which is very safe and super easy to drive! Anyway, I thoroughly recommend them! read more

7/30/19: I had a my first practice with Kirt, and he was very patient with me and taught me a lot. He was very positive throughout the lesson and I got a lot of confidence! Thank you! Update 8/10/19: I passed my first-time behind the wheel test yesterday at El Cerrito DMV, and I am so thankful to Kirt for his help and advises. I'm still a beginner driver, but I was able to pass at my first try, as he helped me get an idea of what to expect on the test, and gave me personalized advises (such as always look into mirror when slowing down, or not going over the solid line when making turns) throughout our 6 hr course lesson. He will definitely help you to be a good driver! read more

I purchased the Silver Package for Adults and for three out of four of my lessons, I had Ricardo, or Ricky, as my instructor and he was wonderful! He knew exactly what and how to teach me, from basics to complicated road rules and such. He was patient and if I made a mistake, he would tell me exactly what I did wrong in a positive, teaching tone and let me know how to correct myself. He was familiar with the area I'm from and helped me prepare for my test at El Cerrito DMV. He was thorough and very positive and joked a lot during the lessons, it was great to have him instruct me. After my first lesson with him, I tried very hard to schedule my other lessons with him online. They recently updated their website and their scheduling system online works well from my experience. Thanks again for helping me pass the test my first time! read more

I took lessons with Kirt Ewing and he was great. Patient, calm and helpful, he really helped to boost my confidence on the road. I particularly liked how responsive he was - when I mentioned specific things that I was struggling with or wanted to practice, he made sure that we covered those things in our lessons. Local Driving School was easy to deal with - I could always get through to someone on the phone and booking lessons online was easy. Kirt was always punctual and Kirt and the people on the phones were understanding when I had to cancel a lesson last minute due to a covid exposure. read more

So, I got the Silver Package for adults because I'm a grown man who's never really needed/wanted to drive. Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco are all super great walkable/commutable cities. Anyway, I had four 2-hour lessons with three instructors. Vincent was my favorite who I had two lessons with. Then, one with Ricardo who was more talkative than I maybe wanted; but his guidance was helpful & his laugh makes you laugh. And on the day of the driving test, I had Steve who was fine too. More mellow than both Ricardo & Vincent, his insights helped on the day of the test. Despite never driving before, I did this over the course of two weeks & passed my exam on the first attempt, so thanks guys! read more

Their web site and front office are a bit of a mess. I got charged three times trying to sign up my daughter. (easily fixed with the credit card company) because the site was broken, they got her name spelled wrong, and bungled one appointment. My daughter had two instructors. Steve was awesome: helpful, friendly, and competent. The guy she got the day he was unavailable played Christian Rock (just as awful as it sounds) through the whole lesson and payed more attention to his phone than my daughter. Except when he was asking for local restaurant recommendations. So moderate your expectations, allow time, and ask for Steve. It should work out OK. read more

I had Kirt for my driving lessons and he was extremely patient, encouraging, and helpful! Driving with him was fun and gave me lots of confidence on the streets! read more

Kirt helped me pass my driving test the first try! Only a few sessions with him made me comfortable enough to drive confidently. His teaching was very helpful and straight forward. read more

This was an amazing experience for me I passed my drivers test with only 8 errors in Walnut Creek . Kirt was my instructor and he is the best he is patient and nice and wants you to passed . He goes through all the details of driving . I definitely recommend local driving school to new drivers . Kirt thank you so much :) ! read more

Thorough! It's just 1 way to describe Manny. I called another school and never got a call back after I left them a message. So I called, spoke to a very nice young lady who put me through to Manny. He not only answered my questions and concerns but made the process painless. They offer different prices depending on the individual and Manny helped me with getting the right 1 for my daughter. I have the dates for the lessons ready and the test date also. Thank you so much Manny read more

Passed my test on my first try at Walnut Creek DMV after taking two lessons with Steve. Steve was friendly and patient throughout the lessons. It was easy to ask him any questions and he was very nice about accommodating my needs. I particularly appreciated being able to practice additional driving skills that wouldn't be on the DMV test (such as freeway driving). It would have been nice if the lessons started right on time as scheduled (I usually had to wait about 5-10 minutes). I guess this is understandable as it's probably not uncommon for students to show up late so the instructor probably just factors that in. read more

I took a 9-hour course (including a trip to the DMV for the final test) and passed on my first try! I had two instructors: Kirt & Iris. Both were extremely patient, punctual, easygoing, encouraging, friendly, and gave highly professional & detailed instruction. I never felt unsafe or uncomfortable and the whole experience was fun and easy. They made sure I knew what the DMV was testing for and familiarized me with the roads I was going to drive on. We even went to the testing site early to practice and get my nerves in order! I'm very pleased with their instruction. A+! read more

Let me start off by saying Mani (who I believe is the owner) is a LYING ASS DOUCHE BAG! Although for being a Douche bag, he has some amazing people working for him. Most of the time whenever I called with questions or to set up my next driving lesson I got the pleasure of speaking with Larissa (I hope I spelled her name right) she was so sweet, understanding, and so willing to help! It was a joy every time I got to speak with her! Moving on to my driving instructor, John Alves is AMAZING! He is such a sweetheart, I swear to god I'm so thankful that he was the one who taught me how to drive! He is a substitute teacher so he has a lot of patience (which is very important). He taught me how to drive 8's forwards and backwards, parallel parking, 3 point turns, reversing in a straight line, he even took me on the freeway. But the most important thing he taught me was to be CONFIDANT not only in myself but also as a new driver. I couldn't have asked for a better instructor. John and Larissa are the only reason why I'm giving this place 4 stars. Mani the Lying ass Douche bag is a reason why they lost a star. read more

As a parent of a 16 1/2 yr old son, it is challenging to decide who teaches your child. A friend referred me to Local Driving School in Berkeley. The owner, Manny does an excellent job in managing the business. He assigned an instructor who is not only very talented, but also made my son relax and truly learn. He has been on time for our appointments and has taught Michael very valuable driving skills. Mike feels ready for the DMV road test. The office staff has been wonderful. There is true communication. They call you. Thank you Local Driving School. You have made a difficult time for a parent easy. Customer service has to be the number one priority. This business gets it. I highly recommend Local Driving School, Berkeley CA. Al read more

Had a fantastic experience with Kirt as my instructor! Kirt is very professional and patient, the numerous tips he gave me along the way are going to be incredibly helpful. I now feel more confident on the road - Thank you Kirt! read more

It was a great experience at local driving school ,the instructors helped me a lot with there advices ,guidance and they build the confidence in me . I recommended for everyone who need some practice and willing to pass the test . So don't hesitate and sign up with local school driving you will notice the difference from the first lesson. Thanks Mani, Edwardo and Steve. read more

Local Driving School - Berkeley - Driving Schools Near Me - Albany, California

Manny who is very patient and friendly, was also really helpful is in setting up appointments with the DMV and walked me through the process of setting up a appointment for my lessons. I would recommend them to friends and family since they are a local business and have very friendly staff. Cant wait for my first lesson...... will update after the lesson read more

Let me first say that I just noticed the Yelp reviews for this page is extremely outdated. The last review written for this school is 5/3/2017, 1/13/2017, and before that 6/23/2016 - red flag #1. Anyway, not having read through this Yelp page, I went ahead and purchased the Silver Package for adults because I'm a soon-to-be 22 recent college graduate around mid-March. The Silver Package includes three 2-hour in-car lessons and a ~1-hour prep before your driving test with the instructor accompanying you there. When I tried to schedule my first in-car lesson, the earliest available appointment was 2 weeks from that day. Seeing that this school seemed like it had a packed schedule, I went ahead and scheduled all 3 lessons. On the day of my first lesson, my instructor was 25 minutes late - I had received no notification about this and sat outside my apartment waiting for him. I called the driving school and the representative told me this was "normal" because instructors need time to commute between lessons. During the entirety of my first lesson, I was extremely uncomfortable being in the car. My instructor went on rants about 1) his marketing ideas for Elon Musk & Teslas, 2) how he is afraid of his greatness and how smart he is, 3) his ultimate dream in life is to create an Asian dating-app. Having not driven in 3 years, I asked him for tips and guidance, e.g. how do I check my blindspot? Where should I look etc. He did not explain anything. After having this uncomfortable experience, I went back to my online account to make sure I would not be scheduled with the same instructor again. Low and behold, my next two were the same instructor. I called the driving school to request for different driving instructors - when asked why, I gave a summary of my lesson and the representative (I later found out it was one of the co-owning brothers) of the company even told me that this was "absolutely unacceptable behavior" and that I would "never be scheduled with him again". After receiving confirmation of instructor changes, my next two lessons were 1) rescheduled multiple times without my knowing on the morning of the lesson, and 2) rescheduled every single time with the same instructor I had requested not to be scheduled with. Calling again, I asked why my lessons were changed without my knowledge, to which they responded, "oh well it had to be you because our system wouldn't just do that". I asked if instructors had access to their online system, and they said they didn't. Every single lesson I have been rescheduled without my knowledge for the same instructor I requested not to have, despite already having received confirmation two weeks prior for different instructors. In my experience, I felt extremely disregarded as a customer despite having paid $474 for my package. This was the worse experience I have had and I would never recommend my friends to this school. Pro tip 1: note that the photos are all outdated (2015 or before). If I were you, I would read through the ~recent~ reviews to look for instructors that are recommended by other Yelpers. Pro tip 2: Carissa was an absolute sweetheart and she's the best instructor I was able to get rescheduled with. Look for her if you were to try this school. read more

I was very nervous about driving, but my instructor was patient, supportive, and offered great advice. Going into my driving exam, I was confident and passed after my first try! I highly recommend Local Driving School! read more

I had little to no driving experience prior to taking lessons with Kirt. He is an amazing instructor who is super calm and patient. His methods and tips helped me become a much more confident driver. I was able to get my California driver's license all thanks to him. I would highly recommend Kirt and Local Driving School to anyone who wants to get a driver's license and become an adept driver. Thanks, Kirt! read more

Kirt is an enthusiastic and patient coach. He let me practice again and again if I'm not 100% smooth or confident. Very nice experience!

Good and very professional instructor. After an hour of driving, we discussed the areas we needed to work on. For me it was mostly maintaining the vehicle speed, making less abrupt lane changes and turns, and proper scanning of traffic (which I'm terrible at!!) I'm a very new driver, so I realize all this is not going to come to overnight. The instructor was extremely patient (5 starts for that), and I'll gladly spend as much time as I need to learn to drive properly. Their car is easy to drive (there is a digital speedometer just at my line of sight -- so it's easy to see how fast or slow I'm going). read more

My son bought the silver package, quite expensive. Every time, after driving, the instructor sent a report, was all satisfactory. But my son didn't pass the DMV test. We were frustrated about this situation, so we called the driving school for advises. I fully understood it was not the school fault, just for seeking continue training options. I contact the school, first time, they told me they would call me back, after two weeks, nobody called back. I called again and talked to the manager, they were very defensive, constant stated not their responsibility, sounds like they are not willing to do anything for helping, all they care is the money payment. I Will not recommend this school to our neighbors and friends. Continue to the previous review: After owner Manish commented my review, we had a conversation. I realized that there were some misunderstanding in our communications. Manish was willing to help my son, but he couldn't break the rules, as they have to follow the regulations and take care all the parties involving in this business. Overall I believe the school tried their best and will try the best to help my son, please communicate with them well before post your reviews. Will send my second boy to this driving school again! read more

I had Kirt for most of my driving lessons and it went great! Kirt was very kind and forgiving when making a mistake, and always aimed to help me become a better driver. Highly recommend! read more

I've been waiting for 50 minutes for my appointment, and nobody from their office has even bothered calling me. This was after they rescheduled twice before already! Extremely unprofessional and unreliable. I would never recommend this place to anyone. read more

Friendly, safe and professional. Goes above and beyond for their customers. Really appreciate your personalized service and would highly recommend to my friends and family. See you next time when my youngest starts driving :). Thank you! read more

My wife is fairly new to driving and signed up for driving lessons with local driving school. She was able to pass the DMV driving test. BUT none of her classes included freeway driving. When I asked the owner about it, he simply treated it as a trivial question and said the instructor probably did not take her on a freeway because of safety reasons and he might have felt she isn't quite ready yet to drive on a freeway! The instructor NEVER mentioned this to her during any of the classes and she also passed the driving test. So now, she is forced to go somewhere else and take lessons for freeway driving! Please ask and confirm what the lessons would cover before you sign up! If that's the case why wouldn't you mention that to the student during the lessons? Nothing of this sort was brought up during the classes and you brought this up only after the completion. Is this fair? read more

I chose this driving school out of the options in the Bay Area as this one offered the best packages (they take you for a lesson before your test and provide the car for the test!), affordability, proximity, and a professional, easy website to use. Kirt was my driving instructor, and he was such a pleasure to be taught by since he's extremely patient, kind, clear, and encouraging. Happy to say I passed my test on first time. All good things to say! read more

I signed my teenage son up for the 3-lesson package to prepare him for his driving test. We are just weeks away from the test date and I am confident, as is my son, that he'll easily pass the test and be rewarded with his drivers license! Manny who handled the scheduling is super-friendly and always provided as close to the times we asked for as possible ~ and sometimes I only gave them a couple of days' notice before scheduling. Ricardo and Steve have each worked with my son during the 2-hour driving sessions and he's come back glowing about having learned a ton in each session ~ and said the 2 hours flew by. Which is interesting for someone who doesn't usually take to "strangers" that quickly. He felt completely comfortable with each teacher... both with their teaching styles and the amount of information and guidance they shared with him, as well as how easily and well they related to him. I can't say enough positive things about Local Driving School. Almost all of my son's friends have signed up with them as well! There will be a lot of excellent, safe drivers on the road because of Manny, Ricardo, Steve and the rest of the Local Driving School team! read more

Definitely ask for Steve!! I just had a class with Steve, and he is an outstanding instructor!! Steven is very patient yet very clear about safety, professional but also very friendly and he makes the whole two hours a truly enjoyable experience. He is also very knowledgeable about the different DMVs as well as their respective examiners. Steven gave me a run-down of what examiners (at the Oakland Claremont DMV) would look for and the specific roads where the test might take place - I'm definitely less nervous about taking the test now. I would have to say that your experience will depend greatly on the instructor that you get - and that might be obvious from the polar opposite reviews on this school. The first instructor I had (not Steve) spent more than half of the lesson on his phone, hardly answered any of my questions and just had me drive up and down very long roads - not useful at all! So please make sure you ask for the best: i.e. Steve - I also hear that Vincent is a good instructor. The owner, Mani, is also incredibly helpful and knowledgeable, and you may have a chance to talk to him over the phone when you book an appointment. Anyways, keep up the good work Local Driving School and thanks! read more

Making the appointment in the beginning was a bit odd, few miss undersandings but since my lesson with steven every thing got better. He was professional and calm, followed my speed, didn`t rush me or held me back. read more

Thank you so much, Iris for being so supportive and calming while doing a refresher course on driving. I enjoyed the genuine reassurance and no-judgement approach to the driving class. By the end of the class, I was able to confidently drive on San Pablo Ave. and had nearly mastered the basics of swing-in parking (this has always been a fear of mine!). I will definitely be coming back for a lesson with Iris for guidance on driving on the freeway/highway a little down the line. Thanks again - you're a superstar! read more

I bought a silver package, quite expensive. Their last 3 hours payment is only for one hour practice before driving test, and 2 hours payment for using their car for driving test. Before you buy this package, make sure you will know this. The first instructor for the first lesson (2 hours) was late around 1 hour, and then he kept texting message and answering the phone call, and he was so busy with his own things when I paid him to teach me driving. He was a nice person and patient though. The 2nd instructors and 3rd one were good. They did send me the report after each lesson but I didn't see the information which part I should work on and improve. Generally speaking, I don't think this driving school is fit for me. Will look for other driving schools to try again. read more

I had an awesome instructor!!!!!!My instructor was Steven, who was very patient, friendly and more. I took three lessons and all of them were successful. Never had an instructor who was as calm and laid back as him EVER! He's just awesome!!!! Most importantly I learned alot!!!!!!! Thankksssssssss read more

My daughter just passed her test! Thank you Iris, Matt, and Kirt! She improved after every lesson, and kind instructors improved her confidence. read more

I just passed my road test yesterday! All the instructors were amazing, and Kirt especially pays great attention to detail. He knows the El Cerrito route very well. Every instructor I had was so friendly and truly cared about me passing. Highly recommend buying a package because an instructor will go with you for the test and you'll get to drive the car you've been practicing with. 5/5 stars, and when my sister starts driving I'll make sure she goes to the Local Driving School! read more

Thanks to Local Driving School, I was able to learn driving from basically 0 experience and pass the DMV test in a week. I had two lessons with Angelina Mascorro, one with Ricardo Mascorro, and one with Steve Voigt. All three of them are wonderful instructors and have different teaching styles. Angelina is more hands-off style, Ricardo is more of a narrative style, and Steve is a mixture of both. read more

I had Kirt as my driving instructor and he was really great and helpful. It was very convenient because they pick you up in front of your house at the beginning of the lesson and they come to you instead of you going to them. He gave me tips and tricks about driving while also just giving basic behind the wheel practice. read more

I just passed my behind the wheel test today, take one! And I'm so happy:) I wouldn't passed it without the help of my great instructors JOHN, STEVE & BILL. Thank you so much, I appreciate all your patience. The customer kinda mess that's why only give 4 stars. read more

My twins just started taking lessons. We like the school. Our instructor John is great. Looking forward to the next lesson.