We will be closing early on Saturday, July 4th and Sunday, July 5th.

Hours: 8 am to 1 pm

Check out the Oakland Indie Awards at the Crucible this Friday! We're a finalist in the Greenie category and will be serving up free coffee at the event! See the ad on page 15 of the East Bay Express.

Labels: city of oakland, community, events, green, independent, local, spread the word, sustainability

Vote for Oakland Indie Awards!

Labels: city of oakland, community, events, green, independent, local, small business, spread the word, sustainability

Diablo Dish - March '09
Oakland restaurant scene still not slowing down; and more.

BY JULIE MILLER DOWLING

What? The economy is bad? Seems the Oakland food scene hasn't heard that yet.

New restaurants are popping up faster than mushrooms and doing it in style. Sumo wrestlers and taiko drummers dazzled at Ozumo's opening, and the procession of royal restaurateurs planning openings in the new Jack London Square project continues undeterred. "A lot of the talent in San Francisco actually live in the Oakland area, and they want to be a part of the expanding dining scene here,” says Will Miller, vice president of leasing for developer Ellis Partners. "Despite the economy, the fundamental demographics are strong, and they’re looking at Oakland's long-term sustainable dining scene."

Rockridge's A'Cote is opening a new small plates restaurant in, you guessed it, Oakland. Although the Park Boulevard opening is months away, the concept is Pan-Latin, highlighting Mexican and Central and South American cuisine.

Meanwhile, Lake Chalet Seafood Bar and Grill plans a June opening on the top floor of the renovated, century-old Lake Merritt Boat House, where it will serve modern American cuisine. Also coming to Lake Merritt is Sidebar, a new gastropub serving upscale pub food, microbrews, and classic cocktails, which opened in early February. Also in February, Piedmont Avenue was slated to get Adesso, which will serve grilled panini and house-made salumi just two blocks from owner Jon Smulewitz's other eatery, Dopo. The downtown Oakland lunch crowd recently got Banyan 14, Thai and Vietnamese "street food" with a healthy California twist. The owners aim for a 100-percent green eatery, with a progressive recycling program, compostable packaging, natural meats, sustainable seafood, and organic veggies. Also emphasizing green business is Awaken Cafe on 14th, which will soon expand into a 3,500-square-foot lounge, with an organic wine and beer bar, coffee and teahouse, performance space, and expansive art gallery. Whew!

More here.

Labels: build-out, city of oakland, media, phase two, spread the word

Amy MacClain Designs - Fine Hand-Crafted Original Designs Jewelry.

Also, we're now open until 5 pm on the weekends!

Labels: arts, community, events, independent, local, merchandise, small business, trunk shows

We're now open until 5 pm on Saturday & Sunday!

We also added an additional large table inside the cafe (that makes a total of 14 indoor places to sit and 8 outdoor in our new sidewalk cafe area)!

Labels: build-out, customers, hours, location

Living in the O

and

Oaklander Online

Labels: arts, community, events, first friday, media, music, www

Check out their website for lineup, including Social Distortion, Michael Franti, CAKE, & Modest Mouse!

(Photo is a digital image of a painting by Cleo Vilett which will be featured in our February Art Show!)

Labels: arts, city of oakland, community, events, local, spread the word, www

Along with our new sidewalk seating, we now have a restroom available for customer use!

Labels: build-out, community, customers, location

With organic jams and butter.

Labels: build-out, community, customers, photos

Go here.

Labels: coffee, media, www

From our good friends at the East Bay Express:

Hi friends,

I hope you will enjoy this video, and feel free to post it to your own website or e-newsletter:



Also, there are just TWO days left to "Make the Pledge" to divert at least $100 of your holiday spending from out-of-town chains to local, indie businesses and artists. If all of our Express readers did so, it would have a $58.8 million dollar impact on our community, an estimated $8.75 million more than if that money went to chain stores. So, this holiday season, avoid the malls, avoid the crowds, and avoid being a part of Generica! Email "I Pledge" to eLerts@EastBayExpress.com, and you'll be automatically entered to win $1000 in local/indie gift certificates by the East Bay Express.

Since you're already online, here are some helpful links:

East Bay Express Holiday Guide
Buy Curious: Shop Indie, Local, this Holiday Season
Oakland Unwrapped
Shop Oakland
Buy Local Berkeley

Happy Holidays!

Labels: city of oakland, independent, local, media, small business, spread the word

Thanks Joe!

Labels: customers, latte art, photos

These are awesome new websites designed to promote Oakland Businesses.

Our listing on Oakland Unwrapped!

Our listing on Shop Oakland!

It turns out that our regulars aren't the only people who want a Barista's opinion...

http://cbs5.com/video/?id=41356@kpix.dayport.com

Oakland businesses face tough times with despair, ambivalence, hope

By Sean Maher
Oakland Tribune
10/29/2008

full article here

In other quarters, however, some entrepreneurs report an upswing in how Oakland customers are responding to efforts to make their businesses special.

"It's going awesome, actually," said Cortt Dunlap, who owns the Awaken Cafe, at 414 14th St. "Since we opened in April, we've found that especially downtown there's a vacuum for independent, community-minded, sustainable business."

Dunlap said he and the business's co-owners discussed the project for years, hitting up friends and family to invest and working hard to get a sense of what neighborhood regulars would want in a new cafe.

"Before we opened, we had a town-hall style meeting; we did conference calls; put out fliers," Dunlap said. "We asked, 'What do you want in a shop like this?'"

The answer, according to Dunlap, was a call to show off Oakland's thriving artistic community, and a desire for "green collar jobs." Dunlap responded with an artist's gallery that cycles monthly and a strict green-product regimen.

"Green materials are between 5 and 15 percent more expensive, but it's what people want these days," he said.
Dunlap also said he took a page from San Francisco's Gratitude Cafe, offering friends and early customers a deal that makes them feel like surrogate partners in the enterprise.

"We said that if they buy a $1,000 gift certificate, we would give them a 25 percent value bonus on top of that," Dunlap said. "If they say, 'Hey, I can see spending a thousand bucks in this place over a long time,' it works for everybody. We keep track for them of what they spend and we know their face and their name. ... Everybody wants that 'Cheers' experience, you know?"

Labels: city of oakland, media, small business, www