The East Bay's favorite beer garden does it all with a death motif

Beneath Ghost Town’s morbid exterior, behind the ubiquitous skeleton and demon imagery and beers named “Speed of Death,” “Detestable,” “Sour Violence,” and “Torture Garden,” is a crowd-pleasing brewery that has crafted a beer garden the East Bay flocks to for award-winning brews, a creative, options-for-everyone menu, and “impeccable vibes,” as one Nosh Awards voter put it.

Nosh readers cast their votes prior to Thanksgiving, and the results of the 2025 Nosh Awards are in. Visit Nosh every day from now until Dec. 12 to see a new award announced each day. Congratulations to all the winners!

Ghost Town Brewing has established a sizable trophy case since its founding in 2012. Most significantly, it took home Brewery and Brewer of the Year (5,001-15,000 barrel production category) at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival. At the World Beer Cup in May, Ghost Town was one of just two breweries to win five medals, four of which were gold.

Now, Nosh Awards voters have tapped Ghost Town’s Laurel location for yet another trophy, the East Bay’s Best Beer Garden/Taproom in 2025.

For Nosh Awards voters, Ghost Town’s “amazing food,” “great rotating beer list,” and family- and dog-friendly atmosphere were cited again and again as reasons for its favored status.

“Ghost Town Laurel not only has great beer (and lots of varieties to choose from) but they have delicious food with so many healthy options made with love, and a super-friendly staff. Honestly, the great food gets me there and the beer makes me stay. Nice outdoor dining area to bring the pups and hang out with friends,” one voter commented.

Ghost Town’s Laurel menu includes big salads and veggie bowls in addition to beer garden staples like soft pretzels. Credit: Risa Nye for East Bay Nosh

Ghost Town’s Laurel beer garden boasts a menu offering a good range of dishes that will please most palates and dietary restrictions, from giant salads and a veggie bowl built on a bed of couscous, to fish tacos, jalapeño poppers, bratwurst, soft pretzels, and a cheeseburger that pairs perfectly with a hoppy brew. The beer menu is similarly varied, with porters, sours, IPAs, ciders, pilsners and cream stouts.

“The fish n chips are just absolutely bonkers,” commented a voter. “Coolest people, chillest vibes, best beers, and that burger!!!” wrote another.

Ghost Town Brewing started as a way for four band mates to pay for rehearsal space. The four co-founders, Ryan Nosek, Sam Carr-Prindle, Jason Gehman and Adam Hill, were a metal band that got together to home brew on weekends. Then, the beer took off. They opened a West Oakland brewery and taproom in 2018 and expanded with the Laurel location in 2021.

Since the beginning, the Ghost Town founders have expressed affordability as a priority, and Nosh voters noticed.

“Great choice of beers on tap and always a great and inexpensive menu of choices for everyone,” commented one awards voter.

3506 MacArthur Blvd. (at 35th Avenue), Oakland; www.ghosttownbrewing.com

Hours: Monday 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday 12 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The Laurel location, unlike West Oakland, has no indoor seating with a spacious outdoor area with picnic tables shaded with umbrellas. During the winter months, the beer garden adds extra tenting to better handle inclement weather.

“Friendly staff who loves dogs, great open air seating, my favorite and well priced food in Oakland,” summed up a Nosh voter.

The other finalists in the Best Beer Garden/Taproom were Two Pitchers, Fieldwork, Brix Factory Brewing, Headlands Brewing in Westbrae, and Temescal Brewing.

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