Oakland

So much happened in 2020 that cities like Oakland had to fight to survive, but 2021 is full of hope. The community needs to come together to support small and Black-owned businesses, and get back out there as soon as they're vaccinated.

Oakland’s dreamscape of bright colors and childhood nostalgia, Fairyland is set to reopen to the public on March 19 after being shuttered for over four months.

Last Wednesday, a three-block stretch of West Oakland's Ninth Street was renamed to pay homage to the co-founder of the Black Panther Party, Dr. Huey P. Newton — another example of recent acts honoring the legacy of the Black Panther movement.

Sand Bar, a new Caribbean-themed "beach club" and cocktail lounge, is readying for an opening on Oakland's Auto Row, in a former auto dealership space at 2418 Broadway. Hoodline has the exclusive news of this new project from the team behind Uptown cocktail spots Drexl and The Miranda, and the sports bar Fort Green in Old Oakland.

Low Bar (2300 Webster Street, Oakland), a new bar and restaurant from a pair of industry vets that was announced early last year and subsequently delayed by the pandemic, is getting ready for an imminent grand opening.

As she promised to last year, Ayesha Curry has just opened her first retail store in Oakland, in conjunction with her lifestyle magazine called Sweet July. The Sweet July store and cafe debuted Tuesday at 455 23rd Street in the Uptown neighborhood. 

A new LGBTQ bar appears to be headed for downtown Oakland — technically in the Uptown vicinity — in a ground-floor space of the iconic I. Magnin Building at 2001 Broadway.

West Oakland’s Ghost Town Brewing plans to expand to the city’s Laurel District next month, taking over the recently-vacated 4505 Burgers and BBQ location.

The Grand Lake Theater — Oakland’s historic cinema famous for its attention-grabbing marquee messages — has been closed since March. And now most of its crew members have “run out of their unemployment benefits,” leading the theater to create a fundraiser that will offer some financial support for its staff.

The bonded, black and white duck couple have become rock stars on Twitter and Reddit, but they’ve been enduring some serious pain and suffering behind the feathers.

As of Friday, the East Bay city of Concord is rolling out a ban on smoking and vaping in multi-unit residences. The ordinance obviously seeks to reduce secondhand smoke exposure, but it carries overreaching consequences for legal cannabis users. 

Albany Bowl is the latest legacy business to be guttered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the owner says its lanes will not reopen.

A beloved institution on Grand Avenue in Oakland, The Alley, a divey piano bar/restaurant which has been in operation some 90 years, is one of many bars and music venues around the Bay that have suffered with little or no revenue the past nine months. But now, things are coming to a head because the longtime owner of the bar also has upstairs tenants who are having trouble paying rent.

Rectangular slices with premium ingredients and punny monikers have made a name for Square Pie Guys, who will expand with a new Oakland location on top of their cult-hit SoMa spot.

Shopping local supports struggling small businesses, plus it delivers major pandemic benefits: Many neighborhood stores are offering private shopping by appointment, custom gift packs and almost-totally-isolated conditions that the big-box retailers just can’t match.

At least a dozen feral cats have been shot and killed by park authorities at Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline, and animal lovers are up in arms over the aggressive tactics.

The Old Oakland sister restaurant to San Francisco's Tropisueno, El Gusano (1015 Clay Street), has closed for good after seven years in business.

Oakland is closing the digital divide with a $7.7 million CARES Act grant that will provide free public WiFi to as much as 85% of the city.