{"id":62612,"date":"2025-11-20T21:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/62612\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T21:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:10:09","slug":"bringing-back-the-heart-of-bakersfield-the-grand-reopening-of-woolworth-luncheonette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/62612\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing Back the Heart of Bakersfield: The Grand Reopening of Woolworth Luncheonette"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ribbon<\/a> <\/p>\n

Ribbon cutting ceremony at the Woolworth\u2019s grand opening. Photo by Fatima Salais \/ The Runner<\/p>\n

Missed the grand reopening of Woolworth Luncheonette?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Experience what made it unforgettable through this story. \u00a0<\/p>\n

All of 19th Street was shut down and transformed into a community invitation for the Woolworth\u2019s Luncheonette grand opening. Vendors lined the sidewalks, musicians performed from a tall stage near the entrance and families, couples and longtime residents filled the streets in bundles. For one evening, downtown Bakersfield felt revived, radiating a mix of nostalgia and introductions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When customers enter the crystal clean glass doors they are greeted with the good \u2018ole smell of a classic American cheeseburger. Directly in front of the entrance is the register where guests can order their meals, and slightly to the right is the seating area, made up of classic red chairs and Luncheonette metal tables. Looking further to the right is the famous Woolworth Luncheonette bar filled with old couples reliving their memories.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just beyond the main dining area, the new Reverb Caf\u00e9 offered espresso, matcha and hojicha drinks, bringing a modern touch to the Luncheonette\u2019s vintage charm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something people have been waiting for,\u201d said Baeza, 23, who attended the grand reopening as a volunteer, but used to visit often with his mother as a form of bonding. \u201cI used to come here with her before it shut down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe counter, the old-fashioned feel of it,\u201d it what Natalie Martinez said when asked what makes Woolworth\u2019s special. As a lifelong Woolworth\u2019s customer Martinez feels that it was important for er to re-experience Woolworth\u2019s as a whole at this grand opening.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been coming here all my life, so I wanted to see it open again. We would\u2019ve waited even if we were at the back of the line,\u201d said Martinez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For many in Bakersfield, Woolworth\u2019s reopening wasn\u2019t just about food; it was about reconnecting with memories.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe history behind Woolworth\u2019s \u2014 people have been waiting for this,\u201d\u00a0 said Baeza .\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s one of the top five burgers in Bakersfield. And being able to say, \u2018Yeah, I was there for the grand opening,\u2019 that\u2019s something I\u2019ll always remember,\u201d said Baeza.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Woolworth\u2019s, which originally closed in 2022, is among the last remaining Woolworth\u2019s Luncheonettes in the country. Its return represents a revival not just of a business, but of a shared piece of Bakersfield history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the neon lights glowed over 19th Street that evening and live music echoed down the block, it was clear this was more than a reopening it was a reunion.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ribbon cutting ceremony at the Woolworth\u2019s grand opening. Photo by Fatima Salais \/ The Runner Missed the grand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[37790,151,153,152,18496],"class_list":{"0":"post-62612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-grandopening","9":"tag-bakersfield","10":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","11":"tag-bakersfield-news","12":"tag-woolworth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}