{"id":467757,"date":"2026-09-18T09:14:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467757\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T09:14:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:14:29","slug":"oakland-restaurant-and-bar-oeste-set-to-close-in-october-downtown-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467757\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland restaurant and bar Oeste set to close in October downtown"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sizable restaurant<\/a> in downtown Oakland<\/a> is poised to shutter right before hitting its first decade in business.<\/p>\n

The team behind Oeste, located at 722 Clay St., said \u201cwe are likely to close in October\u201d in a post this week on Instagram<\/a>. They thanked the community and their staff before getting into the reasons for the bad news.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never would\u2019ve survived as long as we did without the Oakland community, and we hope that we\u2019ve given as much love as we\u2019ve received over the years,\u201d the post reads. \u201cUnfortunately, because of the high cost of operating the business, combined with the slow economic recovery of Oakland, we\u2019re not able to sustain ourselves and continue to nurture the business as we hoped.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA bartender at Oeste in Oakland makes a Mockingbird Cocktail on Aug. 27, 2020. (Doug Duran\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The announcement drew mournful replies, such as \u201cThe first place I went to when I moved to the Bay. Many a great night there,\u201d and \u201cBrought in my last 5 birthdays at Oeste. I\u2019m sick. Great memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oeste began in 2017<\/a> when three women of color \u2014 Anna Villalobos, Sandra Davis and Lea Redmond \u2014 transformed an abandoned storefront into a 90-seat restaurant with brunch, DJs and one of the best rooftop bars in the neighborhood. The kitchen serves a range of Latin-Southern-Californian food, like seared-snapper street tacos and fried catfish with red beans and rice, and the bar features colorful cocktails like a \u201cBlack Manhattan\u201d and a \u201cPurple Rain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CustomersCustomers enjoy a sunny day in Old Oakland on the rooftop dining area at Oeste on Aug. 27, 2020. (Doug Duran\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oeste is one of several longtime establishments to falter lately in Oakland\u2019s<\/a> downtown and Jack London Square areas. The huge bowling complex Plank<\/a> closed after 12 years this summer, for instance, and last month Home of Chicken & Waffles<\/a> announced its departure after more than two decades in operation.<\/p>\n

The exodus of businesses has not gone unnoticed in the Oakland Food subreddit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sucks,\u201d one person wrote on a Reddit post about the impending closure. \u201cOeste was a vibe when I used to go from when it opened up to the start of the pandemic. I moved away for a while and just wasn\u2019t in the same stage of life when I came back so haven\u2019t been there post-pandemic, but I hate that Uptown, Old Oakland, downtown and Jack London are all dragging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Complained another: \u201cWe can never have nice things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet it\u2019s not closing time just yet for Oeste. The staff has promised to keep things running up until the last minute possible and invited its customers in to share memories \u2013 perhaps on that awesome rooftop deck.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask that you come to celebrate with us as much as you can during these next few weeks,\u201d they wrote. \u201cIf we\u2019re going out, we\u2019re going with a bang!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Details: Open 5-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays, 5-11 p.m. Thursdays, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays (happy hour is 5-7 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays) at 722 Clay St., Oakland; oesteoakland.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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