ELI’S MILE HIGH CLUB
A cornerstone of North Oakland’s music culture, Eli’s Mile High Club has evolved from a historic blues institution into a high-energy live music venue and neighborhood bar. Located in the Longfellow district, the revitalized space now draws a new generation with its mix of live bands, Cajun-inspired bar bites, and an unapologetically countercultural edge—while still honoring its deep musical roots. Weekends feature an eclectic lineup of performances, while the long-standing Monday Blues Night continues to anchor the venue’s legacy. Design Draw Build led the project from full gut renovation through entitlement, transforming the aging structure into a dynamic, performance-driven environment. A key move was raising the ceiling from 8 feet to 14 feet, dramatically enhancing the volume of the main room and enabling a true concert venue experience. The interior was reoriented around a newly defined stage, optimizing sightlines, circulation, and acoustics to support live performances.
The renovation balanced modernization with preservation. The historic entry window was carefully restored, maintaining a visual connection to the building’s past, while new signage establishes a bold street presence. Updated restrooms and infrastructure improvements brought the space up to current standards, ensuring functionality without compromising character. Beyond the main venue, Eli’s continues to offer layered experiences, including a back patio beer garden, an informal art gallery, and a pool table—elements that reinforce its identity as a multifaceted social hub. The site itself carries a rich and varied history, dating back to a 1931 soda fountain known as Cow Bell Dairy, followed by a series of commercial uses before becoming Eli’s in 1974 under Elijah and Alberta Thornton. Over decades, the venue has weathered ownership changes, cultural shifts, and closure, only to reemerge as a resilient and ever-evolving fixture of Oakland’s music scene. Today, Eli’s Mile High Club stands as both a preservation effort and a reinvention—where layers of history, sound, and subculture converge into a space built for the next era of live performance.
