Bakesale Betty's in N downtown Oakland?

[Marc Wallace]

For almost a week now, there has been a sign on the corner of Broadway and Grand (which I consider the northern border of "downtown" Oakland) notifying people that a new retail food store will be opening. The owner listed is (Mike something?), but in parentheses it says Bakesale Betty's.

Looks like they might be expanding...

[Carrieblackshaw]

They are OPEN. They was a soft-opening today (Earth Day) 7a.m. I woke up at 6:30 to go be the first person in line. I bought one of every scone they had at the time. Chicken sandwiches didn't come out until 10a.m. I had already left for work in the city by then. Hopefully they will move that time up so I can take a sandwich to work for lunch.
Plum (Coi) is also moving in at Franklin sq. later this summer.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/bakesale-bett...

[Martin Strell]

I went for lunch yesterday. At noon, they had a line stretching well down the street, about 40 people deep. Pretty impressive, considering I think they only announced their opening on their Facebook page. The line moved quickly - it only took about 15 minutes to get through. They gave away chocolate chip cookies to everyone on line, and they gave me a free strawberry shortcake when I got my chicken sandwich. They were out of egg salad by the time I got up front, but they promised they'd have more going forward. By the time I left around 12:30, the line had died down considerably. Considering it was their first day, I'd say it was very well run and efficient. A very welcome addition to my lunch options!

[Cindy]

Looks like they're doing a soft opening today...

http://sf.eater.com/archives/2010/04/...

[Carrieblackshaw]

So I live on the corner above OZumo's in Uptown and can look right down into the windows from my balcony and have been watching the progress. Right now all the paper is out of the windows and all the counters and displays are set up inside. I walked by there with my dogs this past Saturday and they were slicing & dicing in the kitchen and I asked the guy as I walked past the open doors when they would be opening and he responded within two weeks. So I'm guessing right around 1st Friday which will be the 7th of May or even just before that. Looking forward to it.

[chemchef]

Does anyone know if they intend to return to the Temescal farmer's market?

[susancinsf]

great news for those of us who work in the area, and thanks!

[teresalynne]

Are they planning on keeping the old location as well?

[Robert Lauriston]

Surely. The Temescal location does great business. The new location may do well during weekday office hours but it's unlikely to have lines down the block on Saturdays any time soon.

[Marc Wallace]

It's really fun to walk by, because every now and then someone passes the application of ownership paper, glances at it, walks past, does a double-take, and returns to read it. I know I did...

So you're still in the area? We should plan some lunches. I ended up trying out Lady's Place with people from work, who I had to drag kicking and screaming, and they really loved the cornbread, greens, and seafood dishes. Maybe some Thursday when they have creole shrimp and seafood gumbo specials...

[Debbie M]

Even better for those of us who live in the area!

[JasmineG]

Hmm, maybe this is why they haven't been at the Temescal farmer's market in a little while, they're preparing for a new location?

[happenstance]

I actually heard about this a couple of week's ago and asked last week when I was buying banana bread. They said it was a go. Good for them, bad for my waist line.

[Agent 510]

That would be pretty close to the new super-fancy European-market-style Whole Foods, right? Looks like "North Downtown Oakland" could become the next chowhound hotspot...

[Robert Lauriston]

Whole Foods is about a mile away, but the area around Broadway & Grand seems to be a hot spot to open restaurants. Luka's, Franklin Square, and Flora are within a few blocks and all are busy.

Plus there's a club / bar-hopping scene with Cafe Van Kleef, Uptown, the Stork Club, on some nights the Paramount, and one of these days the Fox.

[leoj]

The new Whole Foods is much closer to Broadway and Grand than 1 mile. Probably a quarter mile--and a nice walk.

[Robert Lauriston]

You're right, it's 0.4 mile. Google Maps was glitchy the first time I checked. That seemed wrong to me.

The stretch of Grand just east of Broadway isn't so pleasant with all those big office buildings and eight lanes of traffic, often kind of a wind tunnel. From Lakeside Park on it's lovely. There's a somewhat funky restaurant row a few blocks down: Zza's, Golden Bear / Old Place, etc.

[oakjoan]

Ah, Robert, you fail to mention the gaudy, glass-encrusted mega-cathedral that's in process at Grand and Harrison. Also, the main building going on (and it's going on full tilt) is housing...it's condomania from 18th to 21st between San Pablo and Harrison.

I remember reading about this part of Oakland (where I worked for about 10 years - 20th and B'way) as having a nickname I can't remember in a recent article about the new resto at Tele. and 19th - the Dona Tomas one. Probably the Chron review. Will check it out.

[oakjoan]

Just remembered the name: It's The Uptown District. (ala M. Bauer).

Of course, just as I partially retire, the place wakes up and turns into a destination! When I was there it was Billy's and Aroma's and Speedster. Now there's Cafe Madrid, Whole Foods takeout, etc., etc. Of course Luka's has been there for several years and that was always wonderful.

[Robert Lauriston]

Flora's owned by the Dona Tomas people. And Franklin Square is owned by the Luka's people.

The Chron called it "Uptown," which is the name of a club down the block. Not a very logical name given that it's just north of downtown and there are two or three other neighborhoods between there and Berkeley.

[shortexact]

Now that the neighborhood is becoming a destination, the Chron has picked up on it, but that neighborhood has long been called Uptown, for many years before that article.

[hohokam]

In Dallas, "Uptown" also refers to the area just north of Downtown. The boundary between "town" and "the sticks" is not in the same place now as it was even 60-70 years ago.

[Marc Wallace]

Yes, anything above about 16th street seems to be called Uptown. Whatever, it's still downtown to me until you hit Grand (and I might even toss in the small strip of restaurants on 23rd between Webster and that Caltrans street.. the Mexican place there has great salsa).

[shortexact]

There are also plans for Ozumo ventures in the ground floor of the Broadway Grand condominiums and the Cathedral Building. Not sure if those fell through or not?

[Marc Wallace]

I hadn't know that the Eye Of Sauron was going to have one (if you'd seen the initial stages of the Cathedral Of Light, you'd know what I mean), but the Broadway Grand one is still in the works as far as I know.

[shortexact]

Haha, Eye of Sauron! Nice :-)

Actually though, by Cathedral Building, I didn't mean the new cathedral going up at Grand/Harrison, but rather the beautifully ornate flatiron at the corner of Broadway and Telegraph (Latham Sq). There was a rumor the Ozumo folks would open something there, but the space is pretty small, so I guess it would have to be a different sort of concept. I'll see if I can find the link that talked about this...

[marty S.]

There's a sign in the corner window of Broadway Grand Condos for liquor license for Ozumo so I guess that one is still happening. Don't know about the Cathedral Building though.