Before lively crowds sipped natural wine at Albany bar and bottle shop Best Friends, this San Pablo Avenue storefront was a defunct furniture shop. But owners Sean Danzeiser, Katie Plack and Dan Polsby, who had been looking to open a business elsewhere in the East Bay, saw potential in the space.
“I’m not saying there can’t be more wine bars in Oakland, but Oakland’s pretty well served,” Polsby said.
So in 2024, the group opened Best Friends — helping anchor what’s becoming a surge of food and restaurant business activity in the small East Bay city. The move appears driven by owners looking beyond the perhaps saturated food scenes of Oakland and Berkeley. And it’s also driven by incentives from Albany, which has awarded newcomers like Best Friends grants of up to $20,000 for choosing their city.
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Albany, a suburb of just 20,000 tucked between Berkeley, El Cerrito and Richmond, is known for timeless spots like Al’s Big Burger or Schmidt’s Pub. But a new wave has appeared at the corner of San Pablo Avenue, the often-gritty road running from Richmond to Oakland, and Solano Avenue, the thoroughfare into the suburbs and shops in North Berkeley.
Brennen Brown, assistant to the city manager, cited Albany’s Business Attraction Grant program as a success in filling empty storefronts. Albany now has around 50 restaurants and cafes, recovering to pre-pandemic levels, he said. On San Pablo, newcomers include bagel hotspot Hella Bagels and temaki sushi shop Yonsei Handrolls, both of which received business grants from Albany. Around the corner on Solano, Cal-Mexican joint Brezo relocated from Richmond to start 2024, followed by the openings of Palestinian-influenced brunch destination Lulu and a health-conscious bowl spot Kitava, another business grant recipient…