College Ave in the Rockridge Area of Oakland is Hopping
Looking for a fun way to spend your weekend and ready to explore the east bay? Come on over to the Rockridge district of Oakland! Besides amazing homes, there are shops and restaurants galore all within easy walking distance of each other, offering more than enough to keep you entertained and well-fed for at least a day.
College Ave. is the main street for shopping and dining in Rockridge. The district actually covers quite a few blocks, straddling both sides of the BART station (which is a great option for getting there if you're coming from San Francisco or East of the hills), but there are so many great shops to explore you'll hardly notice how far you've walked.
Shopping Rockridge offers every type of shop you could want: women's, men's, and children's clothing, furniture, housewares, collectibles, you name it.
Crossroads Trading Company recently expanded to their new loaction at 5901 Colldge Ave. Along with their other Bay Area locations, Crossroads is a Buy-Sell-Trade store offering used and new apparel and accessories at affordable pricing. Trying to get a bit of cash to shop? Bring your gently used clothes and they will give you money or trade credit for them.
Crush and Tootsies are owned by the same owners, and boy do they have a taste for style! Crush sells super cute clothing, including local 510 Oakland gear. Tootsies offers a fantastic selection of shoes at a range of prices, and for every occasion. One stop here and you'll never have a need to shop for shoes any where else. If that wasn't enough, they also have an in-house salon offering mani's and pedi's!
Dining With all the options for shopping, be sure to save time for some good eats! Rockridge is home to some amazing restaurants, a number of them personal favorites.
Oliveto's has always been a favorite of mine (see my review here). Featuring seasonal, local Italian-inspired dishes, the Cafe is open all day, every day and is a neighborhood hub. For a special treat, visit the restaurant for a fine dining experience.
Just up the street, Zachary's serves up some mighty fine pizza. While they're known for their indulgent Chicago-style deep dish pies, their crispy cornmeal dusted thin crust pizza's are also quite delicious.
Powell's Sweet Shoppe just opened near Royal Ground and La Farinne which are both closer to Alcatraz. If you've never been to Powell's, you're in for a real treat! Finding nostalgic candies you haven't seen since you were a kid make it worth a stop, even if you don't buy anything. But I'd be surprised if the walk down memory lane doesn't end with a little sweetness :).
For a free map of Oakland neighborhoods including Rockridge, contact me!
