After 14 years, Top Dog’s Oakland location is expected to close in the next few weeks, co-owner Renie Riemann told SFGATE. This would leave the popular hot dog spot beloved by UC Berkeley students with just one remaining location — the original on Durant Avenue.
Riemann, who opened the first Top Dog with her husband Richard Riemann in 1966, said that they decided not to renew their lease at the Oakland shop at 3272 Lakeshore Ave. following a string of recent robberies; they have been renting month-to-month ever since. Financially, they weren’t sure if they could keep the business going. However, she said that business has turned around since then and that they had resolved to stay. So when the Lakeshore Avenue building was sold, they thought the new owner would offer them a new lease — but that didn’t happen, she said.
“In a nutshell, they’re putting in who they want to put in and evicting us,” Riemann said. “It’s really painful. It’s my favorite place.”…