East Bay Express: Food & Drink John Birdsall - Wednesday, June 22, 2011
"Somebody wanted to open a McDonald's here, then Fatburger made a play, then a developer offered to tear it all down and build condos. But Kwik Way found an unlikely savior, someone who'd forged a connection to Oakland amid the leafy comforts of College Avenue, up where the jogging strollers of Rockridge give way to the double-wides of Elmwood - Somerset's Gary Rizzo.
It was exactly two years ago that Rizzo pulled the trigger on the Kwik Way, which had been dark for a half-decade by then. "It's amazing that it survived, but it's an architectural icon," Rizzo said. "People had so many good memories here; it puzzled me that it sat empty for so long. I saw it as potential - every time I drove by it I thought, 'This should be reopened.'"
Little did he know he'd clock many more drive-bys as he found his way through the permitting obstacles. Councilwoman Pat Kernighan helped - she showed up for the victory-lap grand opening last month, after Kwik Way's unofficial launch in April, and a renovation Rizzo describes as "phased."
The city said he couldn't do drive-through, and had to put in outdoor tables (there are five). The ghost of Kwik Way's old menu still hovers around the place, in the shadow of letters up on the metal arch: Pies Shakes Bar-B-Q. ... They give mute expression to Rizzo's challenge: How to rehab a menu that bears such heavy finger stains of Oakland nostalgia, overwritten with expectations of urban renewal."
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LISTENING
Self-Titled
KWIK WAY
1986 Golden Star
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