Eli's Mile High Club Heads Into Its Final Weeks as Oakland's Historic Blues Bar Prepares to Close

Eli's Mile High Club, the North Oakland bar that became a home for West Coast blues and later for the East Bay's punk and indie scene, is in its last weeks of operation before a planned closure at the end of October. East Bay Nosh listed the venue in its weekly roundup of closings on Friday, noting that the remaining calendar is packed with events, including a Halloween party at the end of the month.

A closure the owners hope is temporary

The club first announced the closing on social media on Sept. 16, saying it would work hard to reopen and asking supporters to contact the City Council and the mayor's office, The Oaklandside reported. A few days later, according to 48 Hills, the club said it would shut temporarily rather than for good. Whether and when it reopens remains uncertain.

The trouble centers on the club's back patio. The Oaklandside, citing public records, reported that a neighbor began filing complaints in 2022 and that the city forced the patio to close in 2024 because it lacked proper permits. Owner Matt Patane has been trying to reopen it since then and started a GoFundMe with a $150,000 goal to pay for zoning, permitting and rebuilding the patio to city requirements. 48 Hills reported the campaign had passed $90,000.

Fifty years on Martin Luther King Jr. Way

Eli Thornton opened the club in 1974 at 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. It became a hub for blues and Black music after many West Oakland venues were displaced by BART, the 7th Street post office and the I-980 freeway. 48 Hills notes that performers such as Big Mama Thornton, Etta James and James Brown played there. Thornton was killed at the bar in 1979, and the club changed hands several times and was shut from 2008 to 2011 before a group including Patane bought it in 2016.

Part of a wider wave of venue losses

Musicians interviewed by 48 Hills described Eli's as one of the most welcoming rooms in the East Bay and tied its trouble to rising costs, lower drink sales and a string of Bay Area closings that includes Bottom of the Hill, Thee Parkside and Edinburgh Castle in San Francisco. They said each lost stage leaves fewer slots for newer bands and pushes more shows into house venues and other informal spaces.

Patane did not respond to The Oaklandside's request for comment when the closure was announced, and the city also had not commented at that time. Fans who want to visit before the doors close can find the schedule on the club's own channels; the bar also serves food and a Sunday brunch.