Are you looking for a web site that has comprehensive restaurant listings and reviews of restaurants, say, for Hayward? Hey, so am I! The fact of the matter is - is that they don't exist. Do depend on your friends, neighbors, family and co-workers "word of mouth" for restaurant recommendations, but also check out these foodie sites:
Number one on my foodie web sites is chowhound.com. This is a very active webboard with many folks posting questions, comments, restaurant reviews, "downhill alerts" and all else related to food and dining. Check out the San Francisco board.
Professional and trustworthy restaurant reviews can be found at the East Bay Express, a weekly free newspaper found throughout the East Bay. Follow the home page to select about 16 restaurants in Hayward.
One of the best private sites is maintained by Margarita Lacabe. She includes some fairly detailed critiques of many local restaurants, focusing on East Bay communities: http://www.marga.org/food/rest/
Jeff and Terry's Bay Area Reviews (JATBAR) has one entry for Hayward (Val's Burgers) but is a good resource for restaurants for Fremont and the South Bay: http://www.jatbar.com/.
JATBAR is a very cool site. Another site similar to jatbar (much simpler) is adampaul.com's site, which needs some updating (e.g., Zorn's Restaurant at Mission / A Street is now closed.)
And there are several wannabe sites that have sporadic, paltry and brief restaurant reviewers by site visitors, but none have really taken off. Typically you may find one to three reviews by site visitors, though these sites do tend to have a good coverage of the restaurants. Think of these as web yellow page directories:
Perhaps one of these days I'll launch my own "Hayward Restaurant Reviews" site, but I'm probably not the best food critic. I do intend to patronize the local restaurants within walking distance of my new home. I will favor some over others, but that's fair.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Thursday, January 05, 2006
You Can Get Anything You Want, at Alice's Restaurant
This past Monday's Daily Review includes a nice human interest story on Alice Nguyen's new restaurant, Le Paradis, at the corner of D Street & Mission. Here's the link, but it'll expire in 14 days: http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_3364556
Alice and her family left Vietnam about 35 years ago and emigrated to France. She moved to Hayward in the 1980s and opened her Main Street bakery in 1986.
Here's some snippets from the article:
Alice and her family left Vietnam about 35 years ago and emigrated to France. She moved to Hayward in the 1980s and opened her Main Street bakery in 1986.
Here's some snippets from the article:
After making many friends downtown and cultivating a growing number of loyal customers, said she was also growing restless with her Main Street bakery, which was narrowly wedged in a building between A and B streets.
She had been eyeing the old thrift stop for years. She eventually bought it, gutted the building and obtained loans from City Hall and has spent more than $200,000 to renovate the structure and build a kitchen and restroom.She has also been working to ward off some customers from the neighboring Palace card club that occupy her parking lot.
"My mom is so nice. She won't speak up and say something, so mostly I'm doing the yelling," Nathalie Nguyen said.
The only thing the family didn't get to do was place an Eiffel Tower replica that would tower over the building — the city wouldn't allow it.
Alice Nguyen said her favorite addition is the elaborate courtyard she has built along D Street across from the public library. In the summer, it will be used for bistro-style seating.
She hired a Vietnamese chef, Tony Tran, who cooks most of the lunch and dinner dishes. For about a month, after she opened the restaurant quietly, people have been coming in, she said.
"We can keep customers and build customers at the same time," she said. "They know we have a restaurant, now. They come back for lunchtime. And if they need a cake, they come back, too."
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Tough Times in Fruitvale's Transit Village
This week's cover story in the East Bay Express is about the commercial hiccups at the Fruitvale Village adjacent to Fruitvale BART (Oakland). Long article. Some cattiness from the current director of the Unity Council about some of the "irresponsible business owners" but mostly it's an interesting article about the challenges of having successful retail in a transit-oriented development.
Link: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2006-01-04/news/feature.html
Link: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2006-01-04/news/feature.html
Monday, January 02, 2006
Can the Multiplex Save Downtown Hayward?
Cinema Place. This 12-screen multiplex theatre complex has been on the drawing boards for years, and we're now starting to see progress. The site, facing B Street at Foothill Boulevard, is the former Albertsons grocery store, and owned by the Hayward Redevelopment Agency. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held last month, and the old Albertsons store has been razed (or "deconstructed" in redevelopment agency parlance.)
The developer is Blake Hunt Ventures, a mixed use real estate firm based in Danville [http://www.blakehuntventures.com/cinemaplace.htm] More back stories on the Cinema Place project are available on the Blake Hunt web site, at: [http://www.blakehuntventures.com/news.htm].
The original plans for Cinema Place included the 12-screen multiplex theater with a major anchor tenant (Cost Plus). Things (The Economy) have changed, and Blake Hunt down-scoped the project to exclude Cost Plus, but retain the 12-screen theater and about 19,000 square feet in retail space. The retail space would range in size from 1,100 to 5,800 square feet. The largest retail space (5,800 sq.ft.) would be the upstairs tenant, most likely a (chain?) restaurant. Construction would likely start in mid-2006, with completion by Fall 2007.
The theme "Can the Multiplex Save Downtown Hayward?" is something I will be looking at in the months to come. The Multiplex as a centerpiece, anchor attraction to bring customers to downtown areas is something that appears to be working in other areas, like downtown San Mateo and the Jack London Square area in Oakland, so why not Hayward?
What kind of retail businesses will migrate to downtown Hayward to complement Cinema Place?
Can other retail businesses ride the coattails of Cinema Place?
Can the existing retail businesses hang on until Cinema Place opens?
Can retail rents stay in check over the next 18 months?
Saturday, December 31, 2005
BART Fare Increases for Hayward BART - January 1, 2006
BART [http://www.bart.gov/] is increasing fares on New Years 1/1/2006. Here are some sample fares from Hayward BART, before and after the fare increase:
Fares from Hayward BART, 2005 vs 1/1/2006:
Fares from Hayward BART, 2005 vs 1/1/2006:
- to San Leandro through Fremont: $1.25 increasing to $1.40 (+12%, +15¢)
- to Coliseum: $1.90 increasing to $2.05 (+8%, +15¢)
- to Fruitvale: $2.15 increasing to $2.30 (+7%, +15¢)
- to Downtown Oakland: $2.45 increasing to $2.65 (+8%, +20¢)
- to Berkeley: $2.70 increasing to $2.90 (+7%, +20¢)
- to Downtown San Francisco: $3.80 increasing to $4.05 (+7%, +25¢)
- to San Francisco International Airport: $6.25 increasing to $6.45 (+3%, +20¢)
Friday, December 30, 2005
Local Elections 2006
The 2006 elections may prove interesting to Hayward voters due to term limits in both our Assembly District (AD #18, Johan Klehs, D-San Leandro) and Senate District (SD #10, Liz Figueroa, D-San Leandro). Both Assembly and Senate districts are "Safe Democratic" with a 49.6% Democratic registration in the State Senate District and 54.8% Democratic registration in the State Assembly District.
Pete Stark, 0ur Congressman from the 13th District, will likely run again in 2006.
The State Senate (District #10) race will be a three-person race with plenty of talent:
Pete Stark, 0ur Congressman from the 13th District, will likely run again in 2006.
The State Senate (District #10) race will be a three-person race with plenty of talent:
- Ellen Corbett was in the State Assembly from 1998-2004, Assembly District #18. She is a former council member and mayor of San Leandro. http://www.corbettforsenate.com/
- Johan Klehs is the current State Assemblyman for District #18, and was formerly on the State Board of Equalization (1994-2002), and the State Assembly (1994-1998). Klehs started his political career as a San Leandro council member in 1978.
- John Dutra was in the State Assembly from 1998-2004, Assembly District #20 (Fremont). http://www.johndutra.com/ Dutra's campaign headquarters is in downtown Hayward at 22540 Main Street, between A and B Streets.
- Mary Hayashi, from Castro Valley, has been involved with non-profit public health organizations. http://www.hayashi2006.com/
- Bill McCammon, from Pleasanton, is the Alameda County Fire Chief, and the former Fire Chief for the City of San Leandro. http://www.billmccammon4assembly.org/
Aerial Photography: 1999-2003
I was first introduced to aerial photography interpretation as an undergraduate geography major in about 1977 BC (before computers). Things are a lot different, with free web access to an immense collection of aerial photography. Everyone should know about the aerial photos at maps.google.com, but an equally impressive site is acmemapper.com. With AcmeMapper the user can examine older (circa 1999?) black and white aerials, "current" (circa 2003) aerials, and underlying topographical maps. My beef with these websites: the lack of date-stamping on these aerial photos. By my best guess, the vintage for the black-and-white aerials for downtown Hayward is about 1999 or 2000; the color aerial is about 2003.
Both of these pictures are great resources to understand what our downtown was like before (and during) the current downtown redevelopment phase, including the massive BART parking lot which is now City Hall and City Walk townhomes. Hopefully either google or AcmeMapper will include new 2005/06 aerials to show how things have changed since 2003....
Downtown Hayward, circa 1999 (from Acme Mapper)
Downtown Hayward, circa 2003 (from Acme Mapper)
Both of these pictures are great resources to understand what our downtown was like before (and during) the current downtown redevelopment phase, including the massive BART parking lot which is now City Hall and City Walk townhomes. Hopefully either google or AcmeMapper will include new 2005/06 aerials to show how things have changed since 2003....
Downtown Hayward, circa 1999 (from Acme Mapper)
Downtown Hayward, circa 2003 (from Acme Mapper)
Downtown Hayward Restaurants: Comings & Goings
In the six months since I've moved here there's been two restaurant closings and two restaurant openings.
The two closings are the Irth Cafe, on B Street between Watkins & Mission; and the Silver Spoon Hofbrau, on the corner of B Street & Mission.
I don't know what the issues were with the Irth Cafe - they opened in late 2004, and closed by the following summer. It might've been the competition with the Starbucks around the corner, or perhaps the rent was too high. (This B Street Marketplace has seen a lot of comings and goings. New owner => higher rents => businesses forced out.) I miss Irth Cafe's organically-grown coffee for 50 cents a cup. Their space is still vacant.
The Silver Spoon Hofbrau was an eclectic blend of Chinese food with traditional Hofbrau fare. It was a good place for a simple hot breakfast, or a traditional hofbrau-style hot sandwich. It closed for business on 12/1/2005. The Silver Spoon, in the old Palmtag Building, might relocate elsewhere over the next several months. Matt O'Brien of the Daily Review had a nice piece on this 25-year old restaurant and their clientele. To me, it was a great hangout for Hayward oldtimers. Hopefully they'll return....
The two new restaurants are across the street from each other at the corner of Mission and D Street: La Victoria Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, and Le Paradis / La Patisserie Vietnamese Restaurant.
La Victoria is a more upscale Mexican restaurant from the owners of La Pinata (Mission & Rose). 124 tequilas on the menu. The owners remodeled the old Pablito's Restaurant (I understand the building is of historic or cultural interest. Worth digging into.) Chicken mole is very good, and next time I'll try the turkey mole. La Victoria opened mid-October (?) 2005, and appears to be doing very good business. They've advertised heavily in the East Bay Express and other local papers, and I assume they're getting good word-of-mouth.
Le Paradis is a combination bakery / Vietnamese restaurant. The owner relocated her bakery from Main Street (between A and B Streets) to this new location, and expanded the menu to include traditional Vietnamese food including Pho soups and Vietnamese sandwiches (Banh mi). Le Paradis / La Patisserie still has great croissants, scones & bakery items. I've read very little on the restaurant, or seen much advertising in the local papers or the East Bay Express. I believe the owner is trying for word-of-mouth, which may or may not work. Suffice it to say that they are the best (only?) place for banh mi and pho in downtown Hayward, and I would give it a strong, positive recommendation.
The two closings are the Irth Cafe, on B Street between Watkins & Mission; and the Silver Spoon Hofbrau, on the corner of B Street & Mission.
I don't know what the issues were with the Irth Cafe - they opened in late 2004, and closed by the following summer. It might've been the competition with the Starbucks around the corner, or perhaps the rent was too high. (This B Street Marketplace has seen a lot of comings and goings. New owner => higher rents => businesses forced out.) I miss Irth Cafe's organically-grown coffee for 50 cents a cup. Their space is still vacant.
The Silver Spoon Hofbrau was an eclectic blend of Chinese food with traditional Hofbrau fare. It was a good place for a simple hot breakfast, or a traditional hofbrau-style hot sandwich. It closed for business on 12/1/2005. The Silver Spoon, in the old Palmtag Building, might relocate elsewhere over the next several months. Matt O'Brien of the Daily Review had a nice piece on this 25-year old restaurant and their clientele. To me, it was a great hangout for Hayward oldtimers. Hopefully they'll return....
The two new restaurants are across the street from each other at the corner of Mission and D Street: La Victoria Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, and Le Paradis / La Patisserie Vietnamese Restaurant.
La Victoria is a more upscale Mexican restaurant from the owners of La Pinata (Mission & Rose). 124 tequilas on the menu. The owners remodeled the old Pablito's Restaurant (I understand the building is of historic or cultural interest. Worth digging into.) Chicken mole is very good, and next time I'll try the turkey mole. La Victoria opened mid-October (?) 2005, and appears to be doing very good business. They've advertised heavily in the East Bay Express and other local papers, and I assume they're getting good word-of-mouth.
Le Paradis is a combination bakery / Vietnamese restaurant. The owner relocated her bakery from Main Street (between A and B Streets) to this new location, and expanded the menu to include traditional Vietnamese food including Pho soups and Vietnamese sandwiches (Banh mi). Le Paradis / La Patisserie still has great croissants, scones & bakery items. I've read very little on the restaurant, or seen much advertising in the local papers or the East Bay Express. I believe the owner is trying for word-of-mouth, which may or may not work. Suffice it to say that they are the best (only?) place for banh mi and pho in downtown Hayward, and I would give it a strong, positive recommendation.
Introduction to Hayward's Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND)
The TNDWEST.com site includes a fairly accurate & thorough portrait of the recent residential and commercial developments in downtown Hayward. I would recommend this site for persons interested in "Traditional Neighborhood Developments" throughout the West Coast.
TND = Traditional Neighborhood Development
TOD = Transit-Oriented Development
TND = Traditional Neighborhood Development
TOD = Transit-Oriented Development
Welcome to Home is Downtown Hayward
I thought I would start a blog related to my new home town of Hayward, California. I moved here just over six months ago after over 24 years in Oakland, California. I moved to get closer to things: shopping, recreation, transit, entertainment, and all else that comes from living in a downtown location. So, I'm both a "newbie" when it comes to blogging, as well as a "newbie" with respect to all things Hayward.
Subject areas that I'm likely to comment on include:
That's about all for now. Thanks for taking the time to read.
Subject areas that I'm likely to comment on include:
- Restaurants & Nightlife
- Business / Shopping / Commercial
- Politics
- Transit-Oriented Development
- New Urbanism
- Urban Life
- Downtown Development
- Urban Design
- Geography & GIS
- City & Regional Planning
That's about all for now. Thanks for taking the time to read.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)