Bar Reviews > Fremont
Elephant Bar

  by Romit Dey

Boys of the Bay Area will be familiar with the Elephant Bar. I had promised our Tullee-friends that I'd generate reviews on watering holes in Sili-Valley...and so here's one... So if u're looking for a decent place to booze with decent food and decent ambience with off-beat decor (jungle motif, has an elephant head with complete trunk sprouting from one wall, and sundry tigers etc sprinkled around) and decently-clad decent eye candy then the E-Bar is the place. Centrally located in Fremont, off Mowry Ave/ Fremont Blvd. The really good thing here is the choice of seating:

1. At the bar, elbow-to-elbow with that sultry blonde sipping margaritas at 12 in the afternoon
2. In the circular glassed-in area around the bar - overlooks the traffic, u can watch the working classes do their thing, while u do your's
3. At a regular table with the regular crowd (stuffing their faces)
4. Outside. This is important as it allows the smokers to drink, smoke, chat and eat all at the same time - rather than hopping out every 15 minutes for a dozen quick drags. CA is tough on smoking.
5. And if you get really regular and pally with one particularly kind waitress...but that's another story!

So a beer goes for around $5-8 (u get standard American fare, also Heini and Guinness, no European beers) as well as decentish cocktails for about $7-10 a pop (most taxes incl., but excl. tips). Stick to the mainstream stuff, this is not a place where they'll experiment cheaply. Also it's crowded with paying (and eating) clientele so there's little patience with advanced tipplers with special demands.

I recommend the E-tea which is basically an oversized Long Island Iced Tea, or the Ivory Coast Margarita...bit weak, but if u're going to be driving afterwards, u can pack a couple and one for the road, no harm done. All in all, a nice place to land up with the boys (5 or more and have a joyous evening). Please remember for large parties, the bill helpfully includes a gratuity element - so when u and ur buddies are done drinking, u don't need to rack ur brains about what 10% of $149.23 is...

Pax