Bars

Regarding the Boozy Stretch of Oakland Once Known as the Golden Gate District

Tiki maestro Victor Bergeron of Trader Vic's fame.
Tiki maestro Victor Bergeron of Trader Vic’s fame. Photo: Courtesy of Trader Vic’s

The fine folks over at Oakland North are doing a history series, and today’s topic is a neighborhood that doesn’t exist anymore called the Golden Gate District. The area was centered around a particularly boozy few blocks of San Pablo Avenue that was home to “50 bars from the Emeryville line to the Berkeley line,” including the famed original location of Trader Vic’s, opened in 1937 at 6500 San Pablo — now a vacant lot. They’ve got a cool interactive map of all the former taverns and saloons, which have pretty much all converted to other uses, or been demolished. We only wish we could have seen the Adam and Eve Tavern at 5515 San Pablo, which was operated by a bartender known as “Big Edna.” [Oakland North]

Regarding the Boozy Stretch of Oakland Once Known as the Golden Gate District