As we enter 2020, we are looking back and closing 2019 with a very busy, fun and celebratory December. As Lakeshore businesses prepare for an equally, if not more fantastic 2020, it is closing 2019 with a bang!
Lakeshore Stroll
On Thursday, December 12, we had Lakeshore’s Shop, Stroll and Dine! Participants enjoyed great specials, delicious food, fun carolers, fabulous raffle prizes and lots of good cheer. It was a great way to kick off the Holiday Season while finding great gifts and having a treat yourself! Lakeshore had over 15 merchants participate, there was food or a nice gift for everyone. Gymboree started the fun with a Holiday Party and stroll specials included complimentary donut holes from Colonial Donuts, 20% off at Silver Moon Kids and Lakeshore Beauty Supply, Organic Strawberry Soy Panna Cotta with a Cranberry Compote at Lin Jia, A Little Taste of Spain at Shakewell, Sip & Shop with complimentary cocktails at Good Vibrations and more. We were delighted that Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas and her team joined the stroll, it was wonderful seeing many local neighborhood faces!
Lakeshore Shop, Stroll & Dine Raises $1000 for Alameda County Community Food Bank
Raffle Volunteers 
Holy Land’s Gift Basket 
Lakeshore Stroll Admin, Volunteers and Abebe!
Lakeshore’s Shop, Stroll and Dine included a Giving Back fundraiser for the Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB). A huge shout out to everyone that entered the raffle because it raised $1000 for ACCFB!
A special thanks to Urban Indigo, Hipline, Bardo, Holy Land, Buckingham’s, Lakeshore Beauty Supply, Shakewell, European Wax Center and Trader Joe’s for donating prizes to the raffle.
A huge shout out to The Cat House, Arizmendi, Shakewell and Dress Best for Less for donating a portion of their stroll proceeds to the Giving Back Fundraiser. Chi, Wind and Water, Gymboree and Good Vibrations collected food all of December as part of the Giving Back fundraiser. And a BIG Thank You to the Lakeshore BID for coordinating the stroll, making sure we had security and donating to the fundraiser to tip us over the top and have an even $1000 to donate to ACCFB!
Closing Out 2019 with a Bang
Bardo Lounge & Supper Club had a Vintage Pop-up Sale with beautiful gems and Hipline’s Holiday Bazaar showcased local artists and their amazing talents and crafts.
Looking to party into 2020? Dust off your dancing shoes and get ready because The Cat House Bar ended 2019 and entered 2020 with a rockin’ party!
Accolades
Article on the Diversity of Lakeshore Business Owners
The San Francisco Chronicle’s article Around Lake Merritt, Oakland is quietly finding its culinary sole celebrating the diversity on Lake Park and Lakeshore Avenue. The Vegan Mob, Cana and Wing Stop are all black-owned businesses. “To have three black owners on the same block is a beautiful thing. You don’t see that here or in San Francisco very often anymore”, Vegan Mob chef-owner Toriano Gordon said. Many see this area of Lake Park Avenue as the “cultural touchstone” for the Grand Lake neighborhood for both new and old culinary businesses.
The article also gives a shout out to Lin Jia, a Chinese Asian fusion restaurant on Lakeshore, Pizzaoki, a Japanese owned delivery-only pizza parlor on Lake Park and Bardo Lounge and Supper Club for having women of color in prominent kitchen positions.
It should be noted that Lakeshore also has minority-owned Rico Rico and Colonial Donuts and that The Cat House is owned and run by women, all adding delicious diversity to Lakeshore and Lake Park Aves.
Vegan Mob
The Vegan Mob was featured in the East Bay Express in Vegan Mob Mashes Up Plant-Based Barbecue and Hip-Hop Culture . This is a wonderful article showing how chef-owner Toriano Gordon recalled his uncle lamenting that there was no good barbecue in the Bay Area. After his uncle passed away, Gordon wanted to honor his legacy by serving a healthier version of barbecue made using organic meat but then went one step further for their own health and ethical reasons making way for vegan BBQ. A former rapper, Gordon is an Instagram personality and the Vegan Mob has amassed nearly 20,000 followers in two months. The very first day it opened, the line stretched down the block, and it sold out of food on its very first day. The Vegan Mob is delicious and fun and open for lunch and dinner! Stop by at 500 Park Ave for enticing meat-free BBQ.
Bardo Lounge and Supper Club’s Mocktails
Bardo Lounge and Supper Club was featured in Diablo Magazine’s Mocktail Mania in the East Bay for its incredible Mocktails. We already knew about Bardo’s incredible cocktails and delectable food; now we know we can enjoy their alcohol-free mocktails too!
Closing on Lakeshore: George’s Cleaners
George’s Full-Service Dry Cleaning is closing. Lisa Flores, the owner of George’s Dry Cleaners, enjoyed learning the business and serving third generation customers. After 27 years in this business, she says she can now “council people on the pros and cons of the business which you truly don’t know until you have been in it”. We will miss Lisa and wish her well in her next chapter.
Thank You Abebe
A big thank you to Abebe who has gone above and beyond to not only help keep Lakeshore and Lake Park Aves safe but also beautiful. He is working on the gardening, helping to keep other areas of Lakeshore looking beautiful all year long and helping with events. Thank you also to the Lakeshore BID for supporting Abebe’s tireless efforts.
