Wish it were better Could be an awesome place but the staff is rude the security doesn't know how to control fights, the sound man yells at the bands and its just a really uncomfortable atmosphere. read more

Scheduled show was cancelled, but was able to talk to the employees and they have gone out of their way to refund me. Always love coming to this venue. The security are awesome, the atmosphere is great, and the sound is sweet! 100% recommend this venue for a good time! read more

Went there Nov 4th to see TRAPT and let me say it was an awesome first time experience! I even liked the two opening acts as well. The atmosphere was good too. I give 5 stars to Rian the bartender, he is amazing and took care of us. I highly recommended going when Rian is working :) read more

HORRIBLE!!!! I really really want to know what are they thinking???? Boardwalk? Um....hello?!?! The nearest beach is ~120 miles away!! OMG where to start--from the horrible, rude service, to the interior, which reminds me of a cheesy bad post-apocalyptic sci-fi flick. I seriously spent the entire (first and last!) time inside wondering when the friggin' ceiling would cave in. Note to inbred owners: Um, if your basic business plan is to screw your patrons by giving crappy service at ridiculous prices, you're doing a helluva job!! read more

BOUNCER AT DOOR STEALS MONEY FROM DONATION Last night saw ronnie montrose! Awesome! Not cool was the bouncer with barely any teeth and a gross gothee, stole half the donation tip money, he thought the lot was empty as no in & out privileges~ The donation was for another bouncer , his 6 year old son had passed unexpectably. Not a sick kid! My husband reported it to the owner and the guy the donation was for. He must have passed the money to a gal or friend, as he was still working the door after being confronted. Service was lousy, expensive beers and the sound system made Montrose sound terrible. wont be back! If you go there tell the tall bouncer with the gothee that he sold out his integrity for a couple dollars, complete A++hole read more

I can't believe I've never rated this place, I've been here hella times. I've seen Cobra Starship, The Cab, Smoke, Lost Prophets, Metro Station, and more here. I've been here underage and I've came since I've been 21+, what totally sucks is that the bar view of the stage is not the greatest esp. when it's an all ages show. I never buy food here because it's overpriced and I'm sure uber greasy or fried. I like it as a venue but there's no close freeways so it takes almost a half hour to get to it no matter which one you come from, and then there's no designated parking available during shows so you have to park randomly across the street or wherever else. I wish they'd move their location into Sac somewhere and replace the other shitty venues so that way I could give it another star but for now just 3. read more

I enjoyed my time here. I saw Finch here a couple of years ago with the dude. Our first time ever seeing them live. I thought the place looked great as a venue for shows. The people were pretty cool. There was one annoying dude and his chick who felt that it was okay for them to push through everyone to get near the stage. He had to be on a pill or something because he was moving around all weird. I thought it was pretty funny. Oh yeah, and there were these two 12 year olds behind us with their father. It was very uncomfortable. People were moshing and pushed us into the two kids and the father made it seemed like we purposley pushed the damn kids! GRR!...Other than the minor irritations, everything was fine and dandy. read more

I used to come here a lot in high school...It was a fun atmosphere, but small as hell..I guess that's cool because you're up close with the band. Though I doubt many people would like spend their time rubbing next to someone else's sweaty body for 5 hours with no chance of sitting or fresh air. They're pretty strict on underage kids because they make you stay inside the club. Also, their food and water is way too overpriced, it's really unfair. If you pass by during the day, it looks like a shit hole, it pretty much is but good bands come through once in a while read more

Went for a show to support a friend. They serve food but I didn't eat. But it did look and smell good. Only had a beer so not too sure of about the drinks. Good Space. It's all about preference. The venue is for more of a bar crowd. read more

My girl and I attended a Reggae show 3/16.We were a little worried because of some of the bad reviews we read.We arrived early and got exellent seats.The security was great ,the bartenders were fast ,the beer selection was good and cold and my Girl liked her mixed drinks.The show started pretty much on time and all four acts were outstanding and because of the intimate setting we got to meet and take pictures with the headliner acts.Great time and we will be back again.Thanks Boardwalk!! read more

No parking outfront. Don't bother showing up early to get in line because it won't matter. Can't bring in water. Also, there's not too many places to sit(which is sort of expected, but sucks when you go to a concert which lasts more than 4 hours, plus the few hours waiting for it to start). Really tight fit for a lot of people and the bathrooms especially are. Try not to have to go to the bathroom there. Good concert, though. It just got very tiring having to stand for so long full of hot sweaty people. read more

The Boardwalk - Twiztid's Spooktacular Horror Show October 2016 - Bars Near Me - Orangevale, California

I will never go back! I drove 3 hours and paid $18 to see Five Characters In Search of an Exit, a great regional band that was playing second bill. Only to find out as I arrived that the owner of the venue decided the band should play first because they werent local. On top of that... I never got to see them play because they made them start playing before the doors even opened. Bad Bad Business. read more

Very intimate experience with many quirks. It's good to keep checking their calendar because you might miss a great show. Too many openers, small bar and oddball rules here and there. I keep going back because I've met every band I've seen there. read more

I have seen many great bands here in the last 15+ years. I'm not giving 5 stars because the 21 area is small, and the parking lot is super small! The bouncers and bartenders are nice and the place is decorated pretty cool with a lot of autographed guitars and memorabilia. read more

Awesome place! Especially for Orangevale. Just watch out for cops when you leave! As for you haters, it's Orangevale, idiots, not San Fran. You can't come here expecting an ampitheatre. It's a hole in the wall which has really done well for itself. It would be better if the staff was nicer, though. read more

We had the best time at last night's show!! Every staff member we interacted with was outstanding! Such great people here!!

I'm sad to write this review, because I used to love a frequent this place for most of my life. For years this place has been nothing but the best for local music and larger shows with a close and intimate setting, but it has changed and not for the better. Not only has it become a dangerous place where fights, guns, underage drinking frequently occur, but be prepared to have the WORST service you have ever experienced. Since I've been coming here for years I've been acquainted with the "owner" Sandy. God knows why she's be hind the bar, but if you have the ill fortune to have her serve you be prepared for the wrong drink, wrong price, or wrong change back. She's fall down drunk most of the shows I attend and has no idea what customer service is. Please boardwalk, get her out of the bar so I can enjoy some shows again. read more

This is by far the worst music venue in town. If you are a local or touring musician steer clear of this place. As a performer they have refused to pay me an agreed amount of money which was 60% of ticket sales, because the number of ticket sales was low. The owner said "you made me no money so you get no money" after my family and friends collectively spent thousands of dollars at the bar that night. So disappointed. Also the tall blonde bartender is completely scatter brained she had to literally make my simple drink three times every time I ordered it to get it right, she even gave up on a Jack and Diet Coke and had another bartender make it. The other bartenders are fine. The OG bouncer is cool AF, too bad he wasn't there that night. read more

Saw The Green here awesome show but the place sucks! Bar area way too small can't get a drink. The bouncers are real assholes way too strict the.president didn't attend this show so you don't have to take yourself so serious. I will never go back to this place. read more

So many amazing nights here that I will probably never remember haha, I do know that this music venue is GREAT!! They have awesome music and a large area to dance. The bar is right next to the stage which is perfect. The last band I saw here was Turbo Negro and they were so good! Can't wait to go back! read more

UPDATE 6/11/18....Decided to give this place a second chance and bought tickets for another show in July. Guess what? The Boardwalk cancelled this show, as well. Again, received an email stating my credit card would be refunded. Again, no information of any kind. The true lack of professionalism this place exudes is mind blowing. I will not be giving The Boardwalk a third chance and I caution others to think twice about giving this venue any business of any kind. read more

I agree with Tylor M. I've seen hundreds of shows at the Boardwalk. I love the place! Everyone that works there is cool, the drinks aren't overpriced at all and neither are the shows. This is a GREAT place to watch live music and I highly encourage everyone to try it! read more

I would give it no stars... except for the fact that unfortunately this is the only place that I know of to see some good bands. I have been here several times because some bands I wanted to see were here. I wish I had better options. Staff - EVERY time I have been here, staff were rude, condescending, and seemed not to care at all about the patrons. Everyone from the security and door staff to the cook, who took 45 min. to make us some chicken strips... even though there was no one else in line ordering food. Speaking of food, I didn't expect anything grand of course, but when we got a tiny basket of fries with TWO skinny strips of chicken, I was upset. The show itself... First of all, the show finally began about an hour late. This is not something that really gets to me though - I know problems arise at any club and there are delays. However, what was NOT appreciated was the guy doing the sound checks, who kept yelling at the bands over the P.A. system. Yelling at them to move their equipment, yelling at them to hurry up, yelling at them throughout every step of the long drawn out sound check. This must have been totally embarrassing to the bands, who were being treated like kids in front of their fans. The bands rocked, as usual.... but all the opening bands had their sets cut extremely short. One band played only two songs before the guy got on the PA again and told them "Last song." Found out later this band had sold more tickets than the others for that show, so you'd think they'd get to play more than 3 songs. This is just one of the typical evenings at the Boardwalk. I keep going back because I don't know where else to go, but every time I swear it's my last. Too bad they have a monopoly on Mid-Sized music venues in the sac area, they are sitting comfy with no competition, and they know it. read more

The entrance to the place is WAY OVER PRICED. I mean it's cool but the cover is 20$ up too see amateur hour after I spend 20$ forget trying to buy drink agin way over. Price read more

Updating my original review - had a bad experience back in 2016, but someone from the club reached out after reading the review and said the place was under different management then. Problem was bouncers being unprofessional and bartender overcharging my card. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt - I appreciate Boardwalk reaching out, sounds like they had some trouble in the past with this stuff but are trying to turn over a new leaf. read more

Terrible Sound! Poor Parking! Filthy Bathrooms! Greasy Food! No Seating! Fire Hazard! What a disorganized mess! I can't believe this dump is still in business. The sound was so bad for the headliner we left. Trapt was crap! There was no excuse that both the band and the Boardwalk didn't take the time to do their sound check earlier in the day. Isn't that why the headliner sets up their equipment and everyone else moves their stuff in and out? The county should shut this place down! read more

Seen a lot of cool bands at Boardwalk that have unique names like "Horny Mormons" and "Mary Tyler Morphine". My band wasn't that unique, we called ourselves "The Saber Toothed Crotch Critters" - Later on we changed our name to "Acapella" when we were walking out of the pawn shop. read more

Places like this is why I wish yelp had a ZERO star option. Drinks and weak and expensive, the promoter is a JOKE and the sound sucks half the time. Overall the worst music venue in nor cal, don't waste your time here. read more

The first time I visited this place I left within ten minutes. There's two weirdo security guys at the door and normally that's where you would pay to get in (personally paying $10 to get in when there is no band for this shithole is a joke) after I walked past the security guards who seemed rather odd and checked my ID after going to go grab a drink I was approached by an old sweaty man who said I needed to pay $10 just to enter. Nobody was even in there. You've got the supposed owner in there being rude and condescending and talking about how she's got medical conditions and then has like 3 of her bottles of pills all sitting on the bar. The regulars seemed to roll their eyes at her. I got the feeling they thought she was a little off. I finished my drink and left and asked for my money back she rudely snapped NO and then the old man waved it back to me as I walked out. Never again I don't know how this place stays open but it won't be for long with the horrid customer service and the strange characters that own and work at this bar. read more

My girlfriend and I were enjoying the band Convictions at the Boardwalk in Orangevale in the front row. There was moshing and slam dancing going on behind us, which is totally awesome at a hardcore show. The there were the crowd-killers who were purposely running around the outside of the pit pushing and hitting people who were not partaking in the pit. When that happened, I started pushing them back into the pit to avoid myself, my girlfriend, and colleagues around me from getting hit and possibly injured. One of the gentlemen who was partaking came up to me and told me I needed to chill, which I kindly obliged to. After that, the same gentleman decided to continue his tirade of "crowd-killing", so I pushed him once again, this time, the gentleman lost his footing and fell after I pushed him. Next thing I know, 2-3 of his "friends" decided to violently approach me and start hitting me in the back of the head. I covered my head and tried to evacuate myself from the situation, as they kept hitting me. My girlfriend attempted to help by pushing me out of the way and assisting me over the railing. As she was helping me over, a male violently struck my girlfriend in the face. It was nothing less than intentional for helping me. After this, her and I went outside to catch a breath and recollect ourselves after being "jumped" by these individuals for defending ourselves and trying to watch a show. The individuals were spoken to by security and "thrown out", but Mark, the owner, said that they were "Former Employees" of the boardwalk, which were grounds for overriding security's measures and eventually letting the individuals back into the establishment. The next morning, My girlfriend and I had found out that there was a brawl that had ensued about an hour after we had left, which our friends nor us had partaken in. This is the truth of what had happened that night. If anybody has any more information regarding what had happened, please don't be afraid to speak up and let us know through messages. We want our words to be heard and not suppressed by people getting offended by us calling them out.Thank you for taking the time to read this. read more

Probably, the only metal club out there.....for the most part. Drinks and prices of them made no sense.... 3.50 for a coors light or 4.00 for a jack and sour......hmmmmm, I'll take the jack and sour. The food they had there was cool with a variety of choices like hot dogs, burgers, pizza, nachos, corn dogs. I went here to go see Over Kill, the venue was kinda roomy and the sound was great ! I will have to say the bathroom was a little on the cramped side, and if you had to take a #2, you had whoever that actually washed their hands after they peeed could look down at you, basically what I'm saying is that the walls that protect you are only like 4 feet high. Parking is across the street , and the place is in the middle of nowhere. Security seemed ok but I will figure their attitude will change once sh*t goes down with a idiot drunk guy or some punk kid. Big names play here if you are familiar with all types of music. I would go back if necessary, since its like 110 miles from my house, it kinda makes for a inconvenience. read more

I'm absolutely disgusted with this venue after the show I attended last night. I came out to support a near and dear friends band only to be physically assaulted by a man who apparently was a former employee of The Boardwalk. Then my boyfriend, to be jumped for shoving a man off of me (who ended up being the so-called promoter of the show/venue). As we rushed outside to cool off, collect ourselves and make the security team aware of the three hostile men who jumped my boyfriend and sucker punched me in my face, the so-called promoter came to clear up the situation only to try and pump up his chest and cause more of an issue. The two guys who jumped my boyfriend should have been 86'd as soon as the situation happened but when security approached the owner of the situation the owner said that the guy who was a former employee could stay and since the other guy was the so-called promoter he also wouldn't be kicked out. Needless to say we were wildly upset. They continued issues with our group until my boyfriend and I got so uncomfortable that we left. Once we did we then got texts and phone calls about how those same three guys started another issue that cops were called, a gentlemen's nose was broken and that they were being arrested due to a fight that broke out that THEY caused. Seems to me if the owner would have had ANY sense of decency he would have eliminated the issue when it was brought to his attention earlier in the night instead of condoning such heinous behavior and allowed other patrons of his establishment get physically assaulted by the two out of three guys he chose to allow back in the establishment. The fact that the owner had the audacity and NO tact to contain/resolve and remove the issue when brought to him is deplorable. I will no longer support this venue, nor will any of my group who had to deal with the unprofessionalism and disrespect of the owner and their supposed precious current/prior staff. I really hope that your loyalty to a former problem child employee and a physically abusive promoter was worth tainting your reputation not only to myself (who has supported this venue consistently since 1998) but to a mass majority of the patrons who were there last night. Your business ethics are absolutely disgusting. read more

Eh so I'm indecisive here. The place itself is really cool, awesome setting for a nice indie concert. Definitely agree with previous reviews about the bartenders, great drink prices and more importantly generous hands pouring. My issues are the fact that it's a mixed ages venue, so the drinks stay in one small assed spot, SUCKY!!! Your packed like sardines, and really when you go to a bar to see a concert your obviously going to drink. Why not make this a 21 and over venue, I guarantee it would be a thousand times better. My other issue, the fact that you have to be 6 foot 5 to see the god damn stage. I swear everyone in there on this particular night was over 6 foot, not good considering I'm 5 foot!...I couldn't see shit! The sound was decent and the ticket/drink prices were as well. I doubt I'd ever go back, the location is horrid, why the f is this place all the way out in Orangevale?!?!!? ...That's it I'm taking back half a star...2.5 stars it is! read more

Definitely a dive, but I knew that going in. What made my experience here truly awful was the shitty, disrespectful security. Won't be back. read more

UPDATED: they no longer allow re-entry (aka ins and outs). U have to stay on the boardwalk if u want to smoke.

I used to LOVE this place. My brother who passed away was the first person to take me here. I came back to reminisce..he would be disappointed in how it is now. Ever since they took the guitars off the ceiling it's been going downhill. I've never been more disrespected at a Venue as a patron or musician in my whole life. Everyone working was rude and condescending. They hired me as a singer and refused to give me water, insulted me and my friends, butchered the show by having no host or music in between and inviting me out just to waste my time and not pay me like they promised, however little it may have been. People wanted more music and drinks and I was supposed to headline the show but the sound guy cut off my mic after two songs for no reason other than he thought he deserved more people in their bar and KICKED EVERYONE OUT before midnight after I was told multiple times I could play as long as I wanted. There WERE people there, some of which traveled far to see me and others, and they ALL left sad and confused. This place had great memories for me. Not anymore. I am extremely disappointed. I would leave half a star if I could. They're snobby thieves with no respect/love for art and zero compassion. read more

Quick rundown for bands: Pay to play, they will wait you out until you leave so they do not have to pay you, the sound man is by-polar and yells if your drums are to big, full price drinks for band members, 20 minute set. Now you know :) read more

I've been to the Boardwalk twice. The first time it was on a whim because I was dying to hear some live music and had been told it was a good place to go for some. It was a band I didn't know and it turned out to be satanic! That wasn't very cool. The second time I went for the In This Moment / Nonpoint show. The venue is really cozy, which I usually like because it's very cool to see bands you love up close and personal. But, the shows get so damn rowdy, with huge mosh pits in the center of the floor. You can't stand or move or enjoy yourself without fear of injury. The moshers act like it's some huge stadium or something, pushing up against the stage, someone's going to get crushed in there! The bar area is really too small for the amount of people over 21 in there, but I guess they're really trying to appeal to the younger crowd more. It's a shame, because the over 21 crowd would probably be a lot more lucrative if they could actually get a drink and enjoy it. One last thing...there are LITTLE KIDS in there!! WTF?! I think it's the manager's kids or something, I really don't know, but there were several little kids in there and I just really don't appreciate that at all. Definitely not an appropriate place for 7 year-olds! 3 stars only because I liked the two bands I saw last, and I'll see more I'm sure. read more

This place is exactly what is supposed to be - a great place to see a small rock band. Sound is good, drinks are good, the crowd is good, and it is safe. The review below about getting shot at, come on - you are more likely to get shot in midtown than is Orangevale - we are chill here! Get over yourself girl! read more

Worst place to see a show I've ever been. Only concert hall where they force the touring and headlining act to go on at 1:00 in the morning. If they stopped inflating the bill with shitty local bands and let the crowd see who they paid to see, I may change my mind. For now, ill avoid this place as much as possible. read more