I really like this place. Good beer, wine, music. Nice easy vibe. They are a cash only place just FYI. I wish they had more food offerings, but still a fun place to go and kick back in Hayward. Also has some fun events, like their IPA festival. My husband loves micro-brews and their events bring in quite a few local brews. Sitting outdoors they allow dogs on the patio. read more

Great live music, laid back atmosphere, and and ample outdoor seating. The Bistro is the best spot to hang out in downtown Hayward and have a cool casual drink. read more

This is a good place to go to hear some live music, grab a beer or wine, and relax outside on a nice day and sit in their sectioned seating area on the corner of B St. and Main St. They also have appetizers you can order (the cheese platter is good). If you sit inside the Bistro your tablecover is a piece of butcher paper with some crayons on the table. Just something to do while your enjoying the music I guess. When I've been there the bands have played Bluegrass, Jazz and Blues. read more

Great beer selection but it's a little pricey, they don't take cards, and it's always extremely loud inside. Sitting outside definitely enhances the experience. I do love their beer selection and the quality of musicians they attract but good God it's uncomfortably loud in there. read more

Great beers. The selection isn't huge (~12 beers on tap) but what is there is interesting and tasty. Most of the beers I have never seen any where else. We tried a couple and were really impressed. Bring your smartphone to do some research on the beers though. The bartender, while friendly and provided good service, wasn't that knowledgeable about what was on tap, The Bistro has a very relaxed atmosphere and seems to have mainly locals for clientele. You're provided crayons to draw on the paper covering the tables if you that's your thing. The also have a dog friendly outside area. Didn't stick around for the live music, so I can't comment on that. read more

Great micro beers on tap, excellent service from bartenders. Really knowledgeable about different kinds of beers.

I used to live in Hayward, and as the Bistro has been a fixture- even an Institution- in the downtown Hayward scene for years, it was easy to find. As I play music, I was very pleasantly surprised to discover a great brew-pub that has music seven days a week, as well as an ever-changing selection of great beers; mostly IPA's, but other varieties as well. I will leave the evaluation of the brews to experts on that subject; I can say for my part they are uniformly tasty brews, and I have never been disappointed with their selections. The staff is friendly; the locals colorful and an easy-going crowd. The overall feel is relaxed, and unpretentious. I wish they took plastic, but that's a minor point. The food is very basic, but good. The variety of bands and acts is excellent.. groups that tour the country often book in here. You never know what you will find! Unless you check their calendar, that is. I believe they post the upcoming events on their website. Altogether a fun place to hang, play or listen to music, and relax. The outdoor patio is a nice touch. read more

This place has LEGIT beers, and lots of character(s)! Downtown Hayward isn't Walnut Creek... but that isn't a bad thing. They have decent live music and the beers are excellent, a nice change of pace from Buffalo Bill's. I approve. read more

I've been here for the Double IPA Festival and the Barrel Aged Beer Festival--neither disappointed. Both festivals featured great local and non-local handcrafted beers. The Bistro and its owner, staff, and patrons know good beer. Take a look at their website to keep up on the various happenings at the bar. read more

What a great place to enjoy Great Beer and Great Music... Four Craft Beer Festivals Every Year... Dogs are welcome, that is a major plus.+++++ thank you,, Pliny the Elder Fan.... read more

OMFG... Nice bar, nice band playing... Horrible Bartender. I sat at the bar for 20 minutes with only 10 people in 'da house. Made eye contact with him twice - yet still thirsty. Other patrons not only ordered brews but came back and asked for water - and were helped. I ended up leaving before the band came on and went to Monkey a block away. Ended up staying there for the evening. Other than that I like the place. Note to Bartender working that night... Please help your customers, you lost at least $40 for your bar not to mention about $10 in tips. :-P I will go back but doubt you'll ever get a tip from me it you're working. read more

BEST DOWNTOWN NIGHT SPOT WITH LIVE MUSIC Parking is easy if you hang a quick left after the theater and park in the elevated lot. It's just a one minute walk down 'B' to the corner of Main. The beer is COLD and waiting! read more

So I find out they often have Pliny and decided to stop by because beer revolution often times is sold out and there is a limit . I ask the girl who is bar tending if they have any Pliny and she says no . I look up and clear as day on the tap list it says Russian River Pliny . I instead get a pils , and tip a very decent tip wage . After I have paid for my pils , the same lady who says no Pliny right in front of my face brings out a case of Pliny and stocks it . Never did she say " I'm restocking the Pliny FYI " or anything . The guy with the long hair , metal fan was really nice and sold me two Pliny's to go . So FYI I'm a bar tender at a local brewery , I know when a black guy comes in wearing a hat and Jordan's you probably don't expect him to know anything about craft beer but I Do ! As a bar tender I was offended at her lack of customer service and rudeness . This was Monday around 430 ish so who ever it is on that shift , you are at sub par bar tender ! read more

i've been to the bistro twice. both times i got b.o. that's blacked out. some legit bands also play there once in a while. what else are you going to do in hayward? really? read more

Affectionately called "The B" - the Bistro is a focal point for the little burg of Hayward. I'm a person who's not always comfortable in bars and this is more of a neighborhood hangout than a true bar - partly because they only serve beer and wine, partly due to the big open windows and partly because snacks/coffee menu are also provided. They don't have a big selection of beer but what they have is well chosen, unusual and always changing. The big plusses include the wide variety of music styles available and the front patio. On hot days in Summer, the patio is cooled by water misters. The one bathroom is inconvenient but its not that icky. There's rarely a cover for the music which is almost every night. The musicians I know really enjoy playing the home town gig there. Not as noisy as Buffalo Bills down the street and if the band's too loud you can always hang out in the patio out front. If everyone's outside, the band may notice and turn themselves down. A wide variety of people come to the Bistro, a lot of regulars, and a diversity of cultures. Just like real life. read more

this place is pretty cool. pretty chill. a few weirdos, a few alcoholics, and beer afficionados( spell check is down and i fucked that up). i have consumed some awesome beer here!! i heard the food is pretty good, which i believe is only served at lunch. they always have specials and great recommendations. the live music has always been really enjoyable.. i have never seen any trouble here, granted they only serve beer and wine. my favorite beer girl was Minette but she moved to Aveda. She always hooked up killer beer!!! She got me into Elder Pliney. sooo good!!!!! read more

as a beer snob, i can tell you with certainty that the beer selection here is EXCELLENT (not decent, not good - EXCELLENT). for the number of taps, i would say they have the best beer selection in the east bay. there is FREE live music almost EVERY night of the week. there is an outdoor patio where you can bring your beer and have a smoke. the patrons are rowdy and having a great time. whatelse could you ever want from a bar? yet, yelpers are commenting on the paper tablecloths? give me a freaking break. read more

I came here yesterday afternoon for the first time and i really enjoyed it there. I sat on the patio in front and had a couple beers with friends. It was a nice time. The beer was great and the place was fun. There was live music playing also which is a plus. I would go back. read more

I have been to this place a couple times on weeknights. It gets crowded at times but its the place to go to get a good beer. They have a lot of great beers on tap that you cant just get anywhere. I met a guy that worked at buffalo bills and whenever he wanted a good beer he walked over to bistro. read more

When I moved to Hayward I was pretty excited to be able to finally go to the Bistro. I had gone there when I was younger and my boyfriend's older brother used to hang out there frequently. I was pretty disappointed by the attitude of most of the bartenders and patrons. It reminded me a lot of high school. Eck?... There's one guy who's kind of on the bigger side, who's quite nice, but the girls that work there gave me the worst looks. My girl friends get the same attitude from some of them. I'm confused by it, but whatever. They have a great beer selection and I love ipa/pale ales, so this is the place to go for an enjoyable beer. The patrons though, to be polite, can be snooty. read more

eh...i'm not a fan of beer or wine so i probably shouldn't be reviewing this place considering there is not even a drop of hard liquor in this place. I had a snake bite which made me sick (i don't like beer, nothing against the fine folks at The Bistro). However, their menu looked good so that was a plus. They had sandwiches and clubs which sounded appetizing and freshly made. I'm sure guys would appreciate this no fuss, no muss place, so beer drinkers rejoice. read more

The Bistro is definitely one of my favorite hole in the wall haunts when I'm in the downtown area now and again. The beer selection is great and they mix it up all the time so There's usuall somethin new for me to try on tap there. I believe its just beer and wine. They have no FULL bar which is fine with me. I think they also do light lunch there but no dinner menu. There is entertainment every night all week long and it's usually so-so or open mic during the week but I can't actually complain at all cuz it's always FREE!. you can catch some good blues on friday nights though out on the patio with some friends. again, never a cover charge.It is true that at times you might rub elbows with a few funky people strollin in and out here and there but as someone else said, I think its just part of the funky kinda downtown charm. I've actually met alot of nice people there. All in all the crowd is always friendly and diverse. the vibe runs from college age kids to older folks to hippies and beer geeks.never encountered any problems there at all. check em out. read more

I came here on a Saturday night with a group of friends after dinner. The bar has a good selection of beer on tap, which I judge by if I have or haven't heard of most of them. I'd say that the only beers I had heard of was Pliny & Racer 5, so we were good. I got to try a couple new STRONG IPAs and I was happy. It was fun to chat with my friends at a table and draw pictures on the white paper that they put down on the table. (They give you crayons as well.) My only complaint is that we were not particularly there for the music, although music is always appreciate in my book, so the fact that they pumped the music up so loud in volume was a bit of a distraction for us and we ended up texting and writing notes to each other to communicate, which is not what we wanted. I'd say that I'll be back when the weather warms up and I can drink outside at the tables they have outside of the restaurant. read more

Beers are a bit on the pricey side. $5.50 for a 16 oz. draft. A little dingy and dark but it adds to it's personality. I also don't like my beer with a side of dog hair, which I noticed all over the edges of the bar on the bottom. read more

The Bistro in Hayward is a little hole in the wall a couple of blocks down B Street from the BART. If you are a micro brew afficianado then The Bistro is pure heaven. They reutinely have 8-10 fine crafted ales on tap at any time at working man prices. In the evenings they always have live music by local, and on occation, national touring bands. Oh yeah. there is NO COVER. So let me recap. $3.50 pints of the best beer that you'llever have accompanied by some fine free live music. So what's wrong with that you might ask? Well it's in Hayward for starters. And with no cover and cheep potent beer, you can get a wierd folk or three, maybe the guy sitting next to you at the bar. They also have an outside patio in front of the place so you can sit and chill while listening to music and enjoying a cold one. I really dig this place. It's one of a kind, however, several people that I've brought here failed to see the charm. If you're a beer snob you'll know what I'm talking about. read more

This place is really loud! The atmosphere is great. They always have a live band playing. Its best to go on weekends. Its conveniently located on the corner. The house red wine is excellent! The house white wine...is average. The cheese and crackers are great...but you don't get enough crackers...The stuffed mushrooms are a bit too cheesy. Overall...this is a nice place to unwind. If you want to chill at a place where the atmosphere is upbeat and you can barely hear the next person, this is the place! Its two doors away from the movie theatre as well! read more

I stopped for my first time this week. It is a nice mellow place with lots of good beers, which would be the number one reason to come here. Like others have said, the "cash only" thing is kind of annoying, and with the price they charge for the "craft" beers they could easily afford the cost of credit card business. They do have an ATM though. Food menu is limited and not very good, I really wouldn't recommend anything, eat elsewhere before or after. Ponytailed barkeep seems like a good guy. read more

Since we had no other plans for New Years Eve, we decided to go to the movies just up the street and find dinner somewhere in the area before hand. We wandered down the street and stopped in at The Bistro cause the menu on the window looked pretty good and cheap. Unfortunately the kitchen closes at 5, but we decided to go back after our movie because there were going to be some bands playing. I am glad we did. It is really small so it took a while of waiting around for someone to move to get a table(hey move your meat, lose your seat buster). It was alot of fun though and the bands were pretty cool. All in all I was glad we went there instead of just going home and watching the ball drop on t.v! I picked up a calendar of events, and swore I was going to see the rockabilly band that was going to be playing there last week, but I forgot about it! I will be going back again to enjoy some more music though. Oh - and if you don't like beer or wine you are SOL, that's all they serve. So only 4 stars, hardly any seating and only beer or wine served. Otherwise, it was great! read more

Have been drinking here for 6 years. Good selection of micro brews and great to sit in patio in summer. They need more selection of lager type beers. bit of a hassle now that they don;t accept credit cards anymore. Going to other hayward bars more often now as I still feel like a stranger in there. Good that there is free music. Great that they have beer festivals but didn't like the set up when i went to one. glasses too small and line too long to make it worthwhile. read more

This place has a cool, comfortable vibe, and makes me think that maybe Hayward has a life. I was excited by the online menu and affordability, but was disappointed to learn that that's the lunchtime menu. In the evenings, they have prepared foods that they microwave (chips and layered bean dip, stuffed mushrooms), which are actually surprisingly good. The bartender was friendly and helpful to a vegetarian. The music, listed as 'acoustic,' was good but overly amplified, making it difficult to chat if you sit inside. The highlight really is the solid beer list at quite affordable prices. read more

Have my Pliny Younger today at The Bistro. Love this place. It has great beer selection and nice people working there.

The location is great. Its close to food and a cpl other bars if you want to go bar hopping. I come here for the live music and more often for the plineys. Best rich beer and has a punch to it. No more than 4 for me ;) read more

its chill coffee house atmosphere for beer drinkers. i think they have a grill too? i always c ppl eating out side and there's tables in the place but i've never seen a menu....not sure but Exellect beer selection, draft no mexican beers though. read more

I love this place. They always have at least a few beers on tap that are new and hard to find. Friendly crowd as well. I always try to make a special trip there when I am on the East Bay. read more

You will be hard pressed to find a better beer selection anywhere in Hayward or near by towns. I'm talking about well crafted micro brews. Don't expect to find a Bud on tap but you will usually find at least one decent lager or pilsener on tap such as Trumer or even an import. The taps are meticulously maintained. A few more beer surprises are in the coolers below the bar, generally Belgians but other varieties also. A few specials occasionally sell for a bit more than you would want to spend but are generally way above an average beer/ale. Racer 15 is new on tap. Good coffee shots go great with their biscotti's which are the real thing, not a Costco sponge. Great cheese selections and other snacks make for great side dishes but don't expect full meals as there is no kitchen. Theres is never a charge for all week live music and the variety is so wide that there is something for everyone at one time or another. Be prepared for extremely loud if there is a metal band playing. Beer festivals are often and have themes such as IPA, DUIPA, Rhizome and more and often have live bands and grilled food. A wide range of bar help is usually friendly even though they often get caught up with the locals and may not pay attention to any order of the waiting customers. I have seen people give up and walk out due to this. The outside metal chairs are hard on the back with that horizontal metal bar on the top instead of the round tubing. Wood benches are now an option but comfort is still limited. Local traffic noise is extreme especially when the fire trucks leave a block away. Interesting characters from all walks of life pass through and some are regulars. There are other small flaws in this imperfect place but they mostly add to the character of this small interesting corner watering hole. read more

The Bistro was a regular destination for me for over 10 years. I have not been in regularly for approximately 3 -4 years sine I relocated to Alameda. I always enjoyed good music and a well poured Guinness. I was disappointed tonight when the incredibly hip looking server immediately poured my poor Guinness as if she were filling a soda glass. In over 10 years, I never had a bad pour. Tonight was a complete disappointment. Bistro, please educate your staff. " It's always like that"= she needs to leave the Guiness pouring to professionals and leave the curt attitude at home. read more

Cool Place for Beer and music. Interesting Monday night open mic sessions. Sometimes pretty lame other times briefly amazing. Some times the drummer and bass player from the Other Guys show up on for Open mic. That's cool. And if The Other Guys are playing on a weekend just go. Best band in the East Bay in my opinion. Amazing Bass and Drums like The Grateful Dead. Good lead guitar too. Everyone jams out. So cool. Lots of other good bands too. Good blues and rock. Hey down town Hayward, no cover, great music and tons of beers. What else ya want? read more

they always have my favorite beers, delirium and chimay for half the price then any other place i know that sells them. they have good bands playing too read more