New restaurants in the ‘hood
November 13, 2008It’s bizarre, I know, but our neighborhood is positively crawling with new and about-to-open restaurants, in spite of the dire economic times. I’m making it a mission this winter to try all of the ones that are currently open, so we’ll see how that goes.
On Auto Row, we’ve now got (or are about to get):
They join Shashamane, Drunken Fish, and Z Cafe & Bar, which have been holding down the fort thus far. (Side note: with all the Uptown buzz and Kaiser Hospital under a state deadline to open the doors of its new location at Piedmont & Broadway by 2013, it’s probably a pretty opportune time to sign a long-term lease on one of those long-empty Auto Row storefronts….)
…and in Uptown proper, mostly still in development, we’ve got:
- Franklin Square Wine Bar (they also own Luka’s)
- Flora (the only one we’ve been to–yum! They also own Tacubaya and Doña Tomás)
- Picán
- Ozumo East
- Bakesale Betty (woohoo!)
- A new Pizzaiolo spot, name TBD
- A new Doña Tomás spot, name TBD (they also own Flora and Berkeley’s Tacubaya)
They join Luka’s and the old stand-bys Vo’s and Louisiana Fried Chicken, plus a few lunch spots. And a bazillion new apartments and condos in the Broadway Grand and Uptown developments.
Both of these neighborhoods are also part of the newly-approved Uptown/Lake Merritt Business District, which runs up Broadway all the way to 27th (and extends east to Harrison). The BID should hopefully help improve streetscape, safety, and other key aspects of the neighborhoods. It’s a tough economy out there, but so far the ‘hood seems to be holding its own. We’re going to make an effort to treat ourselves to dinner out in the neighborhood when we can to help these fledglings weather the storm.
