Larger Than Life – Oakland, CA Hot Spots
Merritt Bakery & Eastlake Lucky’s
Did you know there’s a Lucky’s just east of Lake Merritt? It’s a great supermarket with a local flavor that caters to the local clientele. And next door is the longtime Oakland institution the Merritt Bakery.
One of the only old-school diners left in Oakland, Merritt Bakery is a walk into the past.
Their food is decent, but their real specialty is the cakes.
This is a great place to get a birthday cake, and if you need balloons too, walk back over to Lucky’s where their balloon service is excellent.
Just hope that you’re not there at a time when it takes 20 minutes to get through the checkout line.
| This entry was posted by oaktownman on September 27, 2010 at 2:37 pm, and is filed under Hot Spots. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
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about 2 years ago
“…given the city’s dubious history of bailing out bakeries, including one that turned out to be part of a criminal enterprise, city officials should consider a policy to allow private businesses, even bakeries, to rise or fall on their own merits.” http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-06-08/bay-area/21781421_1_new-bakery-oakland-city-council-city-officials
about 2 years ago
Thanks for that link Kevin. That does seem unfair that Neldams would be treated so differently. I used to go There for cakes an pastries too. Unfortunately, Oaktown is not the fairest of places. Check out this article http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/an-oakland-icon-may-close/Content?oid=1623635 to read about how Lucky’s was give the green light on an expansion that is now squeezing the Merritt bakery out of parking spaces and losing them business, though their business practices are suspect as the article points out.
about 2 years ago
Oh, I just noticed something about your quote: “…to rise and fall on their own MERITS.” Pun intended? LOL
about 2 years ago
LOL! Not intended but definitely appreciated! The quote is from the article, for the record. I’m not above helping businesses and I definitely think Oakland should support minority and female owned businesses but Merrit’s business practices are shady. The city auditor came out strongly against the loan: “City Auditor Courtney Ruby has weighed in saying that the report the city received from the Irvna Accountancy Corporation about the Merritt Bakery suggests none of the money will ever be able to be paid back.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inoakland/detail?entry_id=63810
Sounds like a double failure on the city’s part but regardless it’s probably time to bid Merrit farewell.
One last thing, I used to live in this neighborhood and almost always walked to both Lucky’s and Merrit.
about 2 years ago
Well, Oakland (like many other cities) certainly has a “dubious history” on this score. The Your Black Muslim Bakery that reportedly turned out to be a criminal front is the most egregious example, but hardly the only one. Kev, I think your opening quote just about sums up the whole incident. Of course, we shall see. Common sense appears to be a lost virtue!