Remember the fanfare in 2011 around the reopened Kwik Way restaurant at 500 Lake Park Avenue, located just next to the Bank of America on the left, and Heart and Dagger Saloon on the right? Back then, I wrote this:
Kwik Way, the place known for its big, greasy burgers of the 70s and 80s reopened two days ago. Its at 500 Lake Park Avenue, just down the street from the Grand Lake Theater.
During the 70s, and when this blogger was in junior high and high school, Kwik Way was known as the “hang,” the favored burger joint, where one could stand outside and watch the food being prepared. It was an excellent stop after a movie at The Grand Lake Theater, so it’s a given the movie palace’s owner Alan Michaan is grateful for it’s reopening. But it was a long time coming.
For most of its history, Kwik Way was known for good food, but, and from memory starting in the late 80s, it became known for bad food, created in unhealthy conditions. You could just stand there, outside the side window on the Lakeshore-facing end, and just watch the dark grease cook where your fries were made.
Well, it’s reportedly closed now, and it happened abruptly.
According to an email posted on a message board for the neighborhood, Cleveland Heights, today, a person walked by the establishment and said it was “cleaned out.”
I’m out of town, otherwise, I’d have placed the action on video early on since I walk by or near that location almost every other day when I’m in Oakland. But the venue that was the Kwik Way was closed for a very long time until Gary Rizzo took over 500 Lake Park, and set about restoring it to its old Oakland glory. I was there on opening day, May 22nd 2011, and here’s the video:
The fact that the Kwik Way Oakland closed is brand new news to many. I called the Heart and Dagger next door, and they didn’t know it. When I was back in Oakland two weeks ago, the Kwik Way was open and churning out food; now, it’s not.
Whatever happened, two things are certain: The new Kwik Way struggled to find an audience, and Gary Rizzo has a history of just closing up shop on a whim. If you think about it from the perspective of the people who work for him, it doesn’t seem like Mr. Rizzo gave them a 30-day notice, at all.
Whatever’s going on, it’s also clear that they were in the middle of a name-change: from Kwik Way to Park Way, as this website shows.
As for what may have happened, that could be anything, but as for the food, the one item Kwik Way has been historically known for, hamburgers, didn’t catch on with me. The new Kwik Way just plain lacked that food that caused lines to form, daily. It wasn’t like Bake Sale Betty’s sandwiches, you know?
It’s also clear from Twitter that there was confusion in everything from the closing to who the owner was. This tweet refers to a Korean owner, whereas Gary Rizzo’s white:
Whoa. The @kwikwayoakland closed today. It's a very sad day in neighborhood. pic.twitter.com/Cw0vBlOZrj
— Grand Lake Theater (@grandlake) August 1, 2014
The KwikWay’s own Twitter account hasn’t been updated since January 7th of 2013, so there may have been some kind of ownership change that took place, albeit quietly.
@justiceputnam @grandlake @kwikwayoakland I know. Seems pretty sudden. I never even went there but it seems like it's been there forever.
— RedwoodWitch (@RedwoodGirl) August 1, 2014
Oakland Restaurants Starting To Close; Do We Have Too Many?
Kwik Way and Barlata on Telegraph are two once popular eateries that have closed. That brings up this question: do we now have too many new restaurants in Oakland, and to the point where supply has outstripped demand?
The idea that Oakland has rebounded has rested strictly on two actions: the opening of new food places and a lot of attention from white media types who would avoid and pay no attention to Oakland in the past, when the population was blacker. (Truth hurts, but there it is.) But the fact remains that Oakland has few job opportunities for those who need them the most, a chronically high unemployment rate, no downtown retail beyond a Wallgreens, sports teams looking for new homes, and a too-high robbery rate.
We have to stop kidding ourselves. Oakland is still weak economically, and a top chef restaurant here, or new housing there, isn’t going to solve the problem. A good economic development program will, and we just don’t have that right now.
Stay tuned.