ON LOCATION with Adam Lamoreaux

ON LOCATION with Adam Lamoreaux

Nestled down by the railroad tracks in Oakland just off Third Street lurks the Linden Street Brewery, home of Urban People’s Common Lager and Burning Oak Black Lager, two tasty treats whipped up by owner Adam Lamoreaux. When not busy making what some consider the best beer in Oaktown, Lamoreaux, whose roots hail back to New Orleans, likes to hang out around town and enjoy the fruit of his labor.

State of Oakland’s beer scene
It is totally on the rise. The Trappist, Luka’s Taproom, and Linden Street started it. Now you’ve got the new beer bar, Beer Revolution at 3rd and Broadway, run by John Martin—the guy who runs Triple Rock, Jupiter, and Drake’s Brewing Company. There is tons of stuff happening in Oakland. We can’t make beer fast enough!

No. 1 bar
My favorite local bar is the Grand Tavern on Grand Avenue and my favorite beer joint would have to be The Trappist. There is no better beer bar around. The decor, the atmosphere, the beer is world-class. There is nothing to match it. The Grand Tavern is in an old house on Grand Avenue. There are great cocktails, great drinks, and the guy who runs it, Temoor Noor, has given it a wonderful, real neighborhood feeling. It is a full-on family operation; his sister is the waiter, his mom is the chef.

Best local brew
That would be a toss-up between Drake’s 1500 Pale Ale and anything from Lagunitas Brewery.

Favorite restaurant
Brown Sugar Kitchen on Mandela Parkway. It is simply very high quality and the thing I love the most about it is what it does for West Oakland. Brown Sugar Kitchen is new-style soul food, chicken and waffles, but unlike any you have ever had before. They always have a line out the door. Tanya Holland has definitely got the Creole Southern style going, it’s my kind of food for sure. She is taking New Orleans–style soul food and giving it a classic French twist, so it is not quite as unhealthy as soul food can be.

For a good read
Mrs. Dalloway’s in Berkeley. It is my neighborhood place. I can walk there and it has just exactly the kind of selection a guy like me looks for: not a super store with millions of titles, it just has thousand of good ones. They have hard-to-find books like Tom Robbins’s B is for Beer, sort of a children’s book for adults or adult book for children.

Affordable hangout
The Chop Bar on 4th Street between Alice and Jackson streets. They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They have affordable prices for Jack London Square and the food is always worth what it costs. It is a great place to meet friends and hang out.

Big splurge
Wood Tavern is amazing, it’s so good. It is a meat-eaters’ paradise. Wow, they always have a pork chop exactly like I like ’em! If I have a hankering for a big piece of meat it is the perfect place to go. It is also my wife’s favorite restaurant, so it is always nice to go to a place she likes as well.

Hidden gem
The Morcom Rose Garden is pretty amazing. I love that little spot.

Impressing out-of-towners
The Lake Chalet for no other reason than that there is no better view of the lake, and being in the center of this beautiful city.

Obscure fact
When you are in the U.S. Navy and coming back from Australia, there is a place where the equator and International Date Line cross. I have done it a few times.

Recent purchase
got an old beer poster from my neighbor at Linden Street; he had an old litho from 1933, a beer poster from Paris.

Pleasant walk
That would be Mandela Parkway. That walkway straight down the middle is one of my favorites. I get dreamy about West Oakland.

What folks don’t know about Oakland
There are a ton of people doing amazing things in Oakland, it is not nearly as dire as people outside of the Bay Area imagine it, that is for sure. One other thing is that San Franciscans might not know that Oakland’s brewing and malting history is every bit as rich as San Francisco’s.

Resources
Linden Street Brewery, 95 Linden St., Oakland, (510) 251-8898; lindenbeer.com.
The Trappist, 460 8th St., Oakland, (510) 238-8900; thetrappist.com.
Luka’s Taproom, 2221 Broadway, Oakland, (510) 451-4677; lukasoakland.com.
Beer Revolution, 464 3rd St., Oakland, (510) 452-2337; beer-revolution.com.
Triple Rock Brewery, 1920 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, (510) 843-2739; triplerock.com.
Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, (510) 843-8277; jupiterbeer.com.
Drakes Brewing Company, 1933 Davis St., San Leandro, (510) 568-2739; drinkdrakes.com.
Lagunitas Brewery, 1280 North McDowell Blvd., Petaluma, (707) 769-4495; lagunitas.com.
Grand Tavern, 3601 Grand Ave., Oakland, (510) 444-4644; grandtavern.net.
Brown Sugar Kitchen, 2534 Mandela Parkway, Oakland, (510) 839-7685; brownsugarkitchen.com.
Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary & Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave., Berkeley, (510) 704-8222; mrsdalloways.com.
Chop Bar, 247 4th St., #111, Oakland, (510) 834-2467; chopbar510.com.
Wood Tavern, 6317 College Ave., Oakland, (510) 654-6007; woodtavern.net.
Morcom Rose Garden, 700 Jean St., Oakland; friendsofoaklandrose.org or oakland.net.
Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill, 1520 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, (510) 208-5253; thelakechalet.com.
Mandela Parkway, between 8th and 32nd streets, Oakland.

Faces of the East Bay