Surge of New Restaurants, Entertainment Venues Reviving Downtown Oakland

For Immediate Release

Media Contacts:
Samee Roberts, Marketing Manager
(510) 238-2136; sroberts@oaklandnet.com

Harry Hamilton, Public Info. Officer
(510) 238-2107; hhamilton@oaklandnet.com

July 15, 2005

City Launches Marketing Campaign to Capitalize on Momentum and Summer Season

OAKLAND, CA – An unprecedented influx of new residents clamoring for amenities and a wave of restaurant, cultural venue, and nightclub openings are breathing new life into downtown Oakland. Eager to capitalize on this momentum and entice summer revelers, the City of Oakland has developed MeetDowntownOak.com, a multi-faceted marketing campaign designed to bring more patrons into downtown on evenings and weekends. The keystone of the campaign is the first-ever published guide to downtown Oakland hot spots — a colorful 25-page brochure featuring 75 restaurants and cafes, 33 galleries and cultural venues, 40 clubs and bars and 32 major attractions and events. Available inside the current issue of Oakland Magazine and at several bookstores, coffee houses, cultural venues, hotels and other key distribution points throughout Oakland, the guide is also downloadable from the City’s new interactive, searchable website: MeetDowntownOak.com. Beginning in early August, the guide will also be available at two high-traffic San Francisco locations – Pier 39 and Ferry Plaza (in the Bay Crossings information center).

“Downtown Oakland is emerging as the Bay Area’s newest hot spot,” said Samee Roberts, the City of Oakland’s Marketing Manager. “The vibe from popular new hang-outs like Luka’s Tap Room & Lounge, Cafe Van Kleef, Mama Buzz Cafe, Oakland Metro, Ego Park, Oaklandish and others has reinvigorated downtown Oakland.”

Mayor Jerry Brown’s 10K Downtown Housing Initiative is nearing fruition with 100 percent of the 6,000-plus units needed to house 10,000 new residents either completed, under construction or in progress. The initiative has literally changed Oakland’s skyline and has been the catalyst to create a 24-hour downtown. Off-beat music houses and performance spaces, funky-chic cafes, eclectic galleries and new restaurants boasting cuisine from around the globe are popping up all over downtown. Recent and soon-to-open additions to the downtown cultural and entertainment scene include three new art galleries: 33 Grand, Stoneridge Gallery, and the Rock, Paper, Scissors Collective; four coffee houses: Brown’s Coffee, Chachie’s Freshly Roasted Coffee, It’s A Grind Coffee, and a new Starbucks location in Old Oakland; seven new restaurants: Alex’s Mediterranean Grill, B Restaurant, Breads of India, Kai’s Japanese, Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken, Tamarindo, and the wildly popular Luka’s Taproom & Lounge, which is packed every night of the week; and five new clubs/bars: AIR, @17th, Bench & Bar, Club Anton, and Uptown.

These newcomers join a collection of ever-popular dining, art, and entertainment options ranging from the sophisticated California-French cuisine of Soizic to unique works of art featured at the renowned Creative Growth Art Center to the hip RADIO Bar and funky-cool Cafe Van Kleef, which has become a favorite watering hole among locals and downtown workers. Accolades for downtown establishments are pouring in from trusted publications including SF Weekly, Southwest Airlines’ Spirit magazine, East Bay Express, San Francisco magazine, the Zagat Survey, AOL CityGuide and Oakland Magazine.

Coordinated by the City of Oakland’s Marketing Division, the MeetDowntownOak.com campaign also features a television spot, transit advertising, print and movie theater advertisements, and a marketing tool kit for downtown establishments with tips on how to market themselves as part of the MeetDowntownOak.com campaign. The tool kit also includes copies of the printed guide; t-shirts that can be worn by front-line employees; window decals and posters; refrigerator magnets; and a CD with campaign logos and graphics – all carrying the campaign tagline “Have You Met Downtown?”

Last evening (Thursday, July 14), the City of Oakland brought together more than 150 key stakeholders with an interest in marketing downtown to attract patrons, visitors, residents, businesses and development projects to help launch the MeetDowntownOak.com campaign and jump start a collaborative marketing and promotional effort.

For more information about the campaign – including details on how to participate in the weekly online “I Spy Downtown” contest – and the latest on downtown Oakland venues and happenings, visit www.MeetDowntownOak.com.

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