Oakland bars tap into demand - Business First of Columbus:

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The city’s growing culinary chops have been now city denizens haveequally destination-worthg spots to sip or swill. New spots to open in the Uptown district in recent monthsinclude Somar, Den at the Fox and 2022 Restaurant and Lounge. Era, The Town Hall of Oakland, and othersz are on the way. The 10,000 new Oaklanc residents that former Mayor Jerry Brown hoped to attractg with new condos all need somethingto do, said Michae l Orange, who works in real estate in Oakland and also does nightlife marketing and promotions as Top Ten Sociaol Club.
“San Francisco already has a lot of restaurantsand Here, we need them to Entrepreneurs are rushing to satisfy that Alfonso Dominguez, Kevin Best and Gairyh Jacques will open Era, a 4,500-square-foot art bar and at Broadway and Grand Avenue in two They hope to appeal to the art crowd that attendw First Fridays, when art galleries stay open “To have an opportunity to keep these people here and have a bit of nightlifew after, that’s where the art bar idea came said Dominguez. The trio also knows Oakland.
Best owns two San Franciscol restaurants and B in Jacqueshas Air, another Oakland nightclub, and Dominguez owns a host of design and hospitality offerings, includinyg FIVEten Studio and Tamarindo Restaurant. Despite thesre newcomers, many see Oakland as a land of relativwe opportunity with lower barriers to entry than San Franciscpo and lower rents andlabofr costs. “There’s so much potential here,” said Nichelle Blackwell, who will open a 2,200-square-foot champagne, raw and desser t bar, at 24th Street and Broadway. In some the bad economy is making thesse newbars possible. Last year, Armando Ramos and his dad losttheitr jobs.
Now they and Ramos’ mom and cousih own the 2,000-square-foot Somar at 1727 Telegrap Ave. “From my point of view, I can go chaswe after the next job, or I can take a chancse with these people I know and trust and just do Ramos said. Raising money has been difficult, thesw owners all say, but throughj friends, family, investors, rent reductions or generous tenantimprovementt allowances, all have made it happen. Developers have long viewedc Uptown as ripefor revitalization, and bars and restaurants were alway s seen as part of the mix.
That all this activityt should take place in the midst of a deep andin Oakland, is noteworthy and speaks to the perceiveed opportunity, particularly now that the Fox Theate r is open and shows are selling out. Others believer that density is more important tothe area’s ultimate success than the large theaters. Michael who owns the Independent in San will open The Town Hallof Oakland, a live musicd venue, by mid-July one block from the Fox “The only way to successfully revitalize an area is through a criticalk mass of small businesses,” he