{"id":394335,"date":"2026-07-11T03:42:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T03:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/394335\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T03:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T03:42:27","slug":"forget-the-world-cup-love-island-usa-is-the-television-event-packing-this-oakland-bar-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/394335\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget the World Cup, ‘Love Island USA’ is the television event packing this Oakland bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is unmistakably summer at 51 & Tel<\/a>. Strung up on the ceiling are watermelon-patterned pool floats, beach balls and blue balloons. Turquoise streamers glitter on the pillars in the bar. Strangers stand side-by-side looking toward the screens above the bar and a line forms all the way to the back wall, making a sharp corner toward the patio door. It\u2019s a Thursday night and everyone is here for the same reason. There\u2019s no big World Cup game, no birthday party or special DJ, just a reality show that plays nearly every day of the week \u2013 \u201cLove Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Everyone in 51 & Tel was turned toward the TVs above the bar to watch the drama unfold. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n

A Thursday night is typically slow for 51 & Tel (5018 Telegraph Ave., Oakland) which opened in September 2024<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough, especially at 5 o\u2019clock,\u201d said co-owner Yonathan Yohannes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bar doesn\u2019t sell food, so revenue mainly comes from drink sales. A normal Thursday will bring in as little as a couple hundred dollars a night. But during the \u201cLove Island\u201d season, Yohannes said revenues reach the thousands at each watch party. The nights were so busy that Yohannes hired extra bartenders, a bar back and security.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cLove Island\u201d fans line up outside 51 & Tel to get the best seats for a Thursday night watch party. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n

The watch parties themselves are a phenomenon in the sheer amount of people who show up, but in the grand scheme of the show, the popularity of the 51 & Tel watch parties is by no means anomalous. Within the first few days, the eighth season of \u201cLove Island USA\u201d had 3.7 million viewers<\/a> (plus one because this reporter\u2019s brother started watching this week) and was the most watched Peacock original series debut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last summer Yohannes had no idea what \u201cLove Island\u201d even was, but his brother insisted it would draw a crowd. He didn\u2019t want to hire the extra staff or waste money on an event that wasn\u2019t going to pan out. Their very first watch party was in the middle of the 2025 season and had a line outside of the door before the bar opened. It was clear it would be a hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of just got us a brand new audience and it kind of just was crazy,\u201c Yohannes said.<\/p>\n

Previously on \u201cLove Island\u201d<\/p>\n

For those who don\u2019t watch \u201cLove Island,\u201d let Nosh catch you up on the 25 episodes of canoodling, conniving and controversy you missed. The fan favorites, who many at 51 & Tel were rooting for, are Trinity and Bryce, an unlikely pairing of a goofy male model and a quick-witted ex-hardware store employee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she\u2019s hilarious,\u201d Yohannes said about Trinity.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s who viewers were mad at before last Thursday\u2019s episode: Sincere, whose name is not an aptronym<\/a> for his character, double timed his partner Melanie with another woman after he said he\u2019d call it off; KC, who explored a little too much during the Casa Amor relationship test; and Kenzie, who kissed Caleb while coupled with Corbin, kissed Corbin while coupled with Caleb, and then kissed yet another man after coupling with Dylan. Her reasoning? \u201cA kiss is like a handshake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on a UK reality dating show, \u201cLove Island USA\u201d is essentially \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d meets \u201cThe Bachelor\u201d meets \u201cBig Brother.\u201d A group of young men and women are documented on their journey to find love in \u201cThe Villa,\u201d a house in Fiji, and presented with a series of challenges and temptations to test their connections. The goal is to be voted best couple by the viewers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLove Island\u201d mostly draws young women to the bar. The regular crowd, which Yohannes describes as diverse and over the age of 28, leans younger on watch party nights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New faces appear every week as posts on Instagram and TikTok gain popularity, but there is a steady crowd of fans frequently there. Braden Dewitt, a bartender who usually works the watch parties, was surprised by how involved the crowd gets and how many people keep coming back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just seeing a lot of the familiar faces and it\u2019s growing every time,\u201d Dewitt said.<\/p>\n

One of those familiar faces is Jamila Smith, a teacher at a local private school. She has been watching \u201cLove Island\u201d for the past two seasons, came to 51 & Tel last year and is now a regular at the watch parties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the vibes. I like that there\u2019s a good amount of people, good reaction, good drinks,\u201d Smith said. She said she\u2019d definitely be coming back to watch the finale on Sunday, July 12.<\/p>\n

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\n\u201cLove Island\u201d elicits the whole range of human emotions. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n

Nearby at Cholita Linda, cashier Ciena Brooks said she can always tell when it\u2019s a \u201cLove Island\u201d watch party night because she watches as people line up across the street and come in to order food before or after the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a ton of people come in on a slow day is very surprising,\u201d said Brooks, who\u2019s rooting for Trinity.<\/p>\n

At last Thursday\u2019s watch party, the islanders were having a screening of their own. It was the second half of movie night, an event where the lovers watch on a big screen all of the private moments their partners didn\u2019t know about and we watched at home. The anticipation of the islanders finally getting to see one another gossiping and sneaking around created an excited energy when the door of the bar first opened at 5 p.m., an hour before the show aired. A half-hour later, every table was filled with groups of friends who came after work to watch the show.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/The cocktail \u201cVilla 51\u201d is one of 51 & Tel\u2019s watch party sips. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n

Before the show began, fans gossiped about the islanders as if they were old high school friends while the previous episode ran on the TVs with the sound off and SZA played in the background. They ordered drinks named \u201cBombshell Margarita\u201d and \u201cSoul Ties is Crazy\u201d, spins on 51 & Tel\u2019s regular cocktail menu. The most popular drink, according to Dewitt, is \u201cCasa Amor\u201d, a spicy and tropical tequila cocktail.<\/p>\n

The episode started with the sound of thunder and dramatic war-like music. Outside on the patio, attention shifted toward the TV showing a stormy Fiji, a visual foreshadowing of the islanders\u2019s arguments to come. \u201cTomatoes,\u201d (a reference to the island girls booing Corbin<\/a>) people yelled, as the previous episode\u2019s recap showed KC saying he had nothing in common with Aniya.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was screaming and laughing when Corbin said Kenzie was going to, \u201cbust the splits,\u201d (a reference to Kenzie\u2019s memed \u201cclam slam<\/a>\u201d), a collective \u201caw\u201d at Caleb when he said Kenzie hurt his feelings (and \u201cWhat Was I Made For\u201d by Billie Eilish played for dramatic effect), and yelling at Zac when he started to defend the other boys\u2019 behavior (a \u201cshut up,\u201d was hurled toward the screen). Everyone held their breaths during the tense moments and a rare silence filled the air.<\/p>\n

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\n\u201cLove Island\u201d fans gathered on the back patio to watch the Peacock show. 51 & Tel put together a special cocktail menu for the watch parties. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n

Inside the bar, a pink hue was cast from the TVs next to the orange fluorescent lights of the liquor shelf and the red glowing, \u201cWe met at 51 & Tel\u201d neon sign. Applause and cheers broke out during Melanie\u2019s big speech to Sincere, whose apology the crowd found disingenuous. Chants broke out and a rhythmic \u201cf\u2014 Sincere!\u201d spread through the crowd.<\/p>\n

The energy at 51 & Tel was infectious. As someone who usually watches the show at home, I felt impassioned to join in with \u201care you kidding me?\u201d and \u201cwhy would you say that?\u201d when the moment struck (and it struck often). Being among the crowd at 51 & Tel was how I imagine one feels watching their football team at a hometown bar with equal amounts of cultural significance as the Apollo 11 moon landing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cLove Island\u201d fans were packed in, leaving little room to move around. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n

This week is the last in the season. Since last Thursday\u2019s episode, seven islanders have been dumped from \u201cThe Villa\u201d and there are more to come as the end approaches. Yohannes is expecting a large crowd for the finale this Sunday, and is figuring out how to fit more people in the bar. The show will start at 6 p.m., but viewers should arrive early if they want to snag a spot.<\/p>\n

51 & Tel was open to showing World Cup matches on some of the TVs during \u201cLove Island\u201d watch party nights, but the crowd wanted to watch the reality series instead. No distractions. Yohannes plans to keep screening Love Island each summer, marking the bar\u2019s June and July calendars off like a yearly holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a Christmas for us,\u201d Yohannes said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Villa terms, 51 & Tel is closed off with Love Island watch parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m rocking with \u2018Love Island\u2019 to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

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