DeLuxe

We lived in a little apartment in North Oakland on the Berkeley border for 10 years while saving up money for our first house. Our apartment was 1/2 of the upstairs flat in an old craftsman house. Our landlord lived in Southern California but once lived in our house. At the time she live there she used the local plumber from down the street in the Temescal neighborhood. 20 years later that plumber was still in business but, frankly, didn’t do a good job. What goes around comes around because the hardware store the plumber used to operate out of became a fine restaurant called Pizzaiolo. The owner, Charlie, worked a Chez Pannisse for a few years before striking out on his own. I love this restaurant because it’s casual but has really fine food. You get to see a cross section from all walks of life in North Oakland. Not to mention, they make a great pizza, and also have great pasta dishes, appetizers, and affordable prices.

And, they were thoughtful enough to leave the old G&G hardware sign up. And don’t believe what anyone says — they do take reservations now.

Pizzaiolo
5008 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609
512.652.4888

I first went to Fenton’s Creamery more than 15 years ago when I was in college. At that time, it seemed like a kind of run-down ice cream parlor. At some point in the intervening years, there was a fire there and a few years ago the place was totally rebuilt and restored. The new Fenton’s is awesome, even more so because I live a few short blocks away. It reminds me of the places I went to as a kind like Friendly’s and Swenson’s. But Fenton’s is even better. It’s been around our ‘hood since 1894. Our house wasn’t even built until 1908 so we now know of at least one thing that attracted the people who built our place.

Fenton’s Creamery
4226 Piedmont Ave, Oakland CA 94611
510.658.7000

I was kind of disappointed when News Hunter turned into Smoke Hunter. It was a good newsstand but, as it exists today, it’s a smoke shop only. Along came Issues which turns out to be an ideal newsstand. Not only do they carry every magazine I want (except Straight No Chaser which they’re still trying to locate a distributor for), they also carry a fine selection of vinyl and t-shirts. The owner
has good taste in musuc with lots of jazz and other not so easy to find titles. I also got myself a new Cramps t-shirt — the one I had from when I was 16 doesn’t really fit me anymore.

Issues
20 Glen Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611
510.652.5700