Angela’s Bistro and Bar: Local, Fresh, Contemporary

From its humble beginning at Marina Village Shopping Center to its prominent placement in the Park Street Business District, Angela’s Bistro and Bar is committed to the local community in Alameda and to local, quality food.

Chef Saboor Zafari, Angela's Bistro & Bar

With 30 years of experience in the restaurant business, Chef Saboor Zafari uses his personal appreciation for fresh ingredients to create modern California-Mediterranean comfort food (and occasional Afghani dishes) that excite the palate. Chef Zafari is especially dedicated to local artisan growers and is often spotted at the local farmers’ markets gathering ingredients for the day’s restaurant offerings. Menus are modified frequently to showcase his creative and seasonal inspirations both at the restaurant and for Bistro Zafari, the café and catering arm of the company. 

With its comfortable and sophisticated atmosphere, the bar and lounge area inspires the same quality and service as the Bistro. Using fresh juices and organic ingredients, Angela’s has developed a modern beverage experience that brings contemporary mixology to Alameda while still keeping in mind the desire for value, comfort, and

Take Care of Your Feet with Alameda Podiatry Group

This week’s happenings in the Park Street Business District: View Calendar

Do your feet hurt? Are they tired? Do you have “ugly” toenails, bunions, hammertoe, corns, calluses, ingrown toenails, painful arches, etc? Proper foot care can help many foot problems.

There is a lot of information on the internet to help. But if you don’t want to wade through the overwhelming number of websites, you can call Dr. Dale Wright, DPM, for your foot care.

Dr. Wright is a Board-certified podiatrist who has been in practice for 35 years in the Alameda Podiatry Group, along with his twin brother Dr. Randy Wright, DPM. Their practice is located at 1504 Park St, Suite #39 in the Bank of America building on the corner of Park Street and Santa Clara Avenue (phone: 510-521-0441).

The doctors at Alameda Podiatry Group are foot and ankle specialists, including sports medicine, foot surgery, and complete foot care.

“Dr. Dale” offers these tips:

Congratulations! 2011 Park Street Business Awards

This Week’s Happenings in the Park Street District: View Calendar

The 13th Annual Park Street Business Association Awards were presented at last month’s PSBA holiday party. Congratulations to the following businesses!

New Business of the Year

Flowers Clothing Co., 2305 Santa Clara Avenue

Flowers Clothing Co. is a unique business in the Park Street district, providing the very best in work, uniform, and fashionable clothing for men and women. How did they end up with such a dainty name? “Flowers” embraced the existence of a historic sign above their doorway (the building was formerly the site of Towata Flowers) — and that’s just one of the many reasons we like them.

Retail Business of the Year

HAPPY FEET Children’s Shoes, 1354 Park Street

HAPPY FEET Children’s Shoes has the largest selection of competitively priced, high-quality footwear and accessories for children. In 2011, during a questionable economic time for most businesses, the owners took a leap of faith and moved from a small space on Santa Clara Avenue to a much larger space on Park Street. What a great addition this “happy” space has brought to the mix of businesses on the 1300 block of Park Street!

Culinary Business of the Year

Julie’s Coffee & Tea Garden, 1223 Park Street

Julie’s Coffee & Tea Garden is Alameda’s one-of-a-kind spot for organic coffee and tea, with a quaint garden patio in the back. The business continues to evolve and attract a great clientele with the addition of a wholesome selection of organic breakfasts, lunches, and other snacks. Favorites include morning eggs, quinoa bowls, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Some of the food stuffs are even supplied by other businesses in the district (Scolari’s and Feel Good Bakery to name a couple). Be sure to stop by Julie’s during one of the weekly live music or craft nights!

Professional Business of the Year (tie)

Kevin R. Kearney, CPA, 1516 Oak Street #207

Kevin Kennedy, LLC, 1516 Oak Street #101

The “two Kevins” are a couple of hard working guys. In addition to running their independent businesses in the Park Street Business District, they both serve the City of Alameda as auditor and treasurer, respectively. Their diligence benefits the city and the Park Street Business District!

PSBA Member of the Year

Bruce Reeves, Law Office of Reeves & Seidler, 2527 Santa Clara Ave

Bruce Reeves is a truly dedicated participant in the Park Street Business Association. He’s served as the secretary of the PSBA board for numerous years, is a member of PSBA’s Economic Revitalization committee, and is an original member of the Park Street Art & Wine Faire committee. Bruce also currently serves on the City’s Economic Development Commission as the commission’s chair.

Support your local businesses! Shop Park Street! (online directory)

Red Onion (Alameda) Grand Opening – pics

The Original Red Onion is now open! The Grand Opening Celebration will be this Saturday (January 14) at 3:00pm. Come out to 1222 Park Street and enjoy the festivities! Line drummers and more!

The Red Onion has been in operation since 1963 with locations in Pinole and Vallejo. This is the first Red Onion in Alameda. The Alameda diner is co-owned by brother and sister team, Johnny and Buffy. This is Johnny’s fourth restaurant and Buffy’s first. Buffy has been a longtime resident in our city; her children attend Alameda schools.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served from 10:00am to 10:00pm at this classic diner. The menu is big and the portions are huge.

Specialties include

New Year’s Resolutions: Ask Isadora

This Week’s Happenings in the Park Street District: Calendar, December 19-31 (last weekend for free parking!)

As we enter into the New Year, there is no better time to reflect on the changes we want to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. Setting a new year’s resolution is easy but it can be difficult to stick with it on your own. On average, 75% of the many new year’s resolutions are kept past the first week, 64% are kept after one month, and only 46% are kept after 6 months.

To help keep your new year’s resolutions, you may want to consider coaching, counseling, or short-term therapy. Professional counseling may help you bounce back from unfortunate events like divorce or unemployment. Or maybe there are some areas of your life which are just not as rewarding as you would like them to be. Professional counseling can also help to improve communication skills, relationships, sexuality, and social skills.

Meet Isadora.

Monkey Bars Offers Eco-Friendly Gift Ideas

This Week’s Happenings in the Park Street District: Calendar, November 21-27

When looking for Eco-Friendly and hip alternatives to conventional baby/toddler/big-kid gear, be sure to check out Monkey Bars, located at 1339 Park Street. The Earth-Friendly boutique specializes in Feeding, Clothing, Diapering, and Fun solutions for the busy but Earth-Conscious parent. The store even has goodies for grown-ups, making Monkey Bars your one-stop spot for Going Green this Holiday Season.

Here are a few gift ideas from Heather Rider Reed, owner of Monkey Bars:

Alameda’s Full-Service Shoe Store

This Week’s Happenings in the Park Street District: Calendar, October 10-16

Have you been looking for a full-service shoe store? Alameda Orthopedic Footcare Center (AOFC) located at 2322 Santa Clara Avenue is a shoe store, pedorthic center, and shoe repair facility. So whether you need custom-designed therapy shoes or a simple sandal repair, you’ve found the place.

AOFC specializes in premium-grade comfort footwear, custom and over-the-counter inserts, pedorthic services, professional shoe fitting and foot care, and shoe repair services. The footcare center has been providing the Bay Area community with quality products and personal service since 1993.

Alameda Orthopedic Footcare Center has been accredited by the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics (ABC) and is recognized for its high standards of patient care, practitioner competence, facility safety, and patient rights.  In addition, the owner Peter Losef  is himself an ABC-Certified Pedorthist (or C. Ped.) —

Grand Opening: Doggy-Style Hotdogs

This Week’s Happenings in the Park Street District: Calendar, September 12-18

There’s a new dog in town! Doggy-Style Hotdogs is celebrating their grand opening this Saturday, September 17, and will be offering a variety of specials.

Doggy-Style Hotdogs presents a creative play on the All-American hot dog with a culinary twist that is sure to appeal to a diverse audience. Menu items include the Kimchi Pyro, the Bahn-Mi, the Fiesta, and the “Dogzilla.” If you’re on the conservative side, they also have classic specialties such as the “Chicago” and the “Dirty South.” All of their hot dogs and sausages are made from a local company that has over 70 years of experience and is known for their premium quality meats.

I tried the Bahn-Mi the other day and have to say it was very tasty. The dog (pictured left) is spiced with cilantro, jalapenos, pickled carrots, and daikon.

Doggy-Style Hotdogs is located at 1234 Park Street. Check it out!

Website: www.doggy-stylehotdogs.com

Comcast Ads Spotlight the Park Street Business District

This Week’s Happenings in the Park Street District: Calendar, Aug 29 – Sept 5

If you are a Comcast subscriber, you may soon notice a series of television commercials that promote Alameda and the Park Street Business District. This exciting marketing campaign encourages viewers to “Discover Alameda’s Historic Park Street District.” More than 600 commercials will be shown each month to thousands of households in Alameda, Oakland, Hayward, San Leandro, and San Lorenzo.

Each thirty-second ad begins with

Anniversary Celebrations, Car Show, and more

This Week’s Happenings in the Park Street District: Calendar, August 22-28

Tot Tank is celebrating their 2nd anniversary, August 26-28. They’re ringing in the new year with giveways, raffles, and vendor representatives. Tot Tank is an infant gear and juvenile products specialty store. They carry “Baby Bargins,” A-rated goods, in addition to all a parents “must-have’s.” You can go to their Facebook page to see some of the items that will be raffled off this weekend:
www.facebook.com/tottank

PSBA congratulates The Law Offices of James T. Kennedy on 30 years in the Park Street Business District! Jim Kennedy established