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Taqueria Sinaloa

Sunday, October 13, 2013 5 Broakland, Oakland , , , , , , Permalink 0
Taqueria Sinaloa

Maybe it’s just me. I’m tired. The news used to energize me and spur me into action, not make me want a long winter nap. But things seem so bleak now, with our dysfunctional government (controlled by slack jawed fanatics hopped up on personal ambition and bigotry) handing over the crown jewels, the welfare of the american people, to the robber barons. It makes me extremely angry. I want to fire everyone. Being this angry all the time makes me tired. When cynicism threatens to take over, I look around this place. The restored wetlands on the bay waterfront, the ...

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Grand Lake Kitchen

Tuesday, September 3, 2013 0 Dinner, Lunch, Oakland , , , , Permalink 0
Grand Lake Kitchen

Getting knocked unconscious is (ironically) the most memorable experience I’ve had on Grand avenue. I woke up on the pavement after a car driving next to me honked so loudly that I swerved into a parked car and flew off my bike headlong and headfirst into the street. I was 12. No one stopped. Likely concussed, I rode home anyway. Later that day my mom yelled at me and my dog bit me. That’s the stuff of country songs right there. That was the summer I was taking sailing lessons on Lake Merritt. In those days, in the late summer and fall ...

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Oakland the Heartbreaker

Sunday, July 28, 2013 6 Oakland , , , Permalink 0
Oakland the Heartbreaker

Being an Oaklander sometimes feels like being in love with a jerk. We’ve all been there, right? You can see nothing but his charms through your lust addled eyes but your friends and family are saying: WTF? In law school in San Francisco in the nineties, I overheard a fellow student say, “I’d never live in a suburb like Oakland.” Ouch. It sucks to hear what people really think of your lover. But in reality, Oakland has never depended on the larger city across the bay for its identity. Only San Franciscans compare Oakland to SF. Oakland’s had an image problem my entire ...

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Bay Wolf

Wednesday, July 10, 2013 1 Dinner, Oakland , , , Permalink 0
Bay Wolf

From the window of my school bus, I saw people (grown-ups!) ripping up asphalt from the park with their bare hands. It was 1971 and we were stopped (impeded by protesters) at People’s Park on Dwight Way. In my mind, I stood solidly with the people, hoping they would prevail against The Man. I’d decided a few years before which side I was on, when the National Guard helicopters circled above our house and the Alameda County sheriffs opened fire on Berkeley protesters (killing one and blinding another). I checked to see if my hair had reached my shoulders yet. I ...

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Flora

Friday, May 24, 2013 0 Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Oakland , , , , , , , Permalink 0
Flora

On my 21st birthday, my passenger a 300 pound studded dog collar wearing fellow named "Clutch," I rode my motorcycle into the Kingfish Pub. By "into" I mean we rode through the bar and came to a stop next to the shuffleboard. The bartenders were angry...not about the stunt, but about the fact they had been serving me for two years already. Their irritation surprised me. I thought I was grown. I'd graduated from drinking Coors light to Guinness and had started having something called a "latte" with my morning croissant. It was 1982. I was working on shedding my juvenile ...

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Albany Taproom/Grazzy Burger

Friday, March 29, 2013 0 Albany, Lunch , , , , , Permalink 0
Albany Taproom/Grazzy Burger

The Albany Taproom is a nice casual addition to the great watering holes on the San Pablo Albany/El Cerrito corridor (others are Club Mallard, Hotsy Totsy, Elevation 66 and, if you care more about getting your swerve on than having high quality beer or mixologist cocktails, the Melodee.) They have a great selection of beer on tap for the beertologist. I know, look it up, there is no good word for the beer knowledgeable. Of which I am no longer one, but it is fun to belly up to a bar where they are excited about what they are selling ...

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