sign: This Buds For You

Fresh Flowers

You were doubtless expecting a sign advertising bad beer. Instead, this flower shop across from Fruitvale Presbyterian was going for the bad pun approach.

signs: Vale 1 Hour Cleaners

Vale 1 Hour Cleaners

A defunct dry cleaners along Fruitvale in the Fruitvale district. I'd seen this before, but on my way home from Habitat today the light was perfect (and I was stopped at the traffic light at Foothill).

best of the East Bay

Unlike Diablo Magazine, the East Bay Express is based this side of the hills, so their best of list is chock full of Oakland and Berkeley stuff. So I won't try to list all the Oakland winners here, just call out a few.


First, V Smoothe over at A Better Oakland won 'best blogger' for the second year in a row, and it's well deserved. She does an amazing job of covering what's going on in Oakland and getting information out to people. Her blogging has made Oakland a better place, and so lived up to the blog name and then some.

I'd also like to call out Bakesale Betty. Bakesale Betty won both 'best desserts' and 'best sandwiches'. It's clear she has a loyal following based on the line of people down the sidewalk every day at lunchtime. But I'm calling her out also for her support of Oakland Firefighters Random Acts. A couple years ago she donated money to buy balls for Franklin Middle School as part of OFRA's "books and balls" program.

signs: Harrison Hotel

Harrison Hotel

A sign of days gone by, the Harrison Hotel sign at Harrison and 14th.

best of the East Bay

Illustration by
Bo Lundberg

Diablo Magazine touts itself as 'the Magazine of the East Bay', but it tends to focus east of the hills in Contra Costa county. That's no great surprise given the name and the fact they're based in Walnut Creek.

Regardless, quite a few Oakland businesses showed up in their 'Best of the East Bay' issue. Some are because they have locations in both Contra Costa county and in Oakland, but quite a few are unique to our city. I've listed the ones I saw below, and quite a few are new to me so I'm happy.

Chocolate
Sôcôla (from the Vietnamese word for chocolate)
(sold in various locations)
socolachocolates.com

European Breakfast
Pizzaiolo
5008 Telegraph Ave.
pizzaiolooakland.com

Bottomless Sake
Coach Sushi
532 Grand Ave.
coachsushi.com

Pizza Parlor
Zachary's
5801 College Ave.
www.zacharys.com

Way to Help Two Causes at the Same Time
East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse
4695 Telegraph
www.east-bay-depot.org

Vitamin C in a Cocktail
Cafe Van Kleef
1621 Telegraph
cafevankleef.com

Summer Festival
Fire Arts Festival @ The Crucible, July 15-18, 2009
1260 7th Street
thecrucible.org

East Bay Museum
Oakland Museum of California
1000 Oak Street @ 10th
museumca.org

Venue for Live Music
Yoshi’s
510 Embarcadero West @ Jack London Square
yoshis.com

Way to Water Your Yard
Hyphae Design Lab
hyphae.net
(see also greywaterguerrillas.com)

Magazine Heaven
Issues
20 Glen Avenue @ Piedmont
issuesshop.com

Chocolate Shop
Bittersweet Cafe
5427 College Avenue
bittersweetcafe.com

Service to Go Green
J. B. Turner and Sons
1866 Pleasant Valley
jbturnerkitchens.com

Shop that Sells Green Products
Whole Foods
230 Bay Pl., Oakland
wholefoodsmarket.com

Dress Designer
Bernadette Reiss - Biscotti
biscottiinc.com

And besides the numerous businesses, they also hightlighted a number of East Bay people including Rickey Henderson, who will be inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame later this month.

Hall of Fame Spotlight
Rickey Henderson
@ Wikipedia