The Oakland Ballers field at Raimondi Park is in an easy spot to eat like, well, a baller, thanks to both new and longtime restaurants that have made this West Oakland neighborhood something of a dining destination.
We’re talking world-class pizza from a Connecticut guy, beers from a brewing-industry legend and a long-awaited market hall with international bites popping from every corner. And if you’re in the mood for a good hot dog? There’s that, too.
From a celebrity hot dog vendor to one of the oldest taco trucks in town, here are five excellent places to grab a bite around Raimondi Park, plus a few more for good measure.
June’s Pizza
Craig Murli has experienced the tippy-top of Bay Area dining, having worked at the three Michelin-starred Atelier Crenn. But that’s not what he’s about anymore.
“Working in fine dining, I became a little disillusioned with that world,” says the Connecticut-born chef. “I wanted to cook food for the masses, not just the 1 percent.”
Thinking he had “something good to contribute to the pizza conversation on the national scale,” Murli started June’s Pizza in West Oakland a few years ago and recently expanded it into a bustling restaurant a few blocks from the ballpark. The menu is extremely simple, basically pizza and a mysterious house wine. But when you take some of the most intuitive chefs in the Bay and align them toward making one thing, the result is phenomenal.
On any given evening, you’ll find June’s pizzaiolos maneuvering like a well-oiled boy band, cranking out whole-wheat sourdough pies with flavor combos like cauliflower-bottarga and guanciale-mustard greens with — June’s signature – a whirlwind of fresh-grated cheese on top.
The peak-season ingredients are invariably fresh and straight from local farmers markets, and the dough is blistered in all the right places with a nice pull and fermented tang.
“I’m definitely inspired by Connecticut-style style pizza but also Italian and New York style,” says Murli. “Really what informs it are those places plus California cooking and the local bread culture. June’s Pizza is unique in itself.”
Late-night people take note: While June’s specializes in whole pizzas early in the day, after 9 p.m. the restaurant starts serving margherita slices with entertainment that has ranged from DJ nights to makers markets to a “Caturday Night catnip party” with rescue cats.
Details: Open 4 p.m.-midnight Wednesday-Sunday at 2408 Mandela Parkway, Oakland;
junespizza.com
Prescott Market
The newest, biggest thing to land in West Oakland is literally a long fly ball away from the Ballers field. Prescott Market, scheduled to open this spring, gathers more than half-a-dozen local eateries (and drinkeries) under one roof, with outdoor seating to soak in the sun and, you know, try to catch those errant balls.
Last year, Prescott existed as a food-truck night market that attracted big crowds of baseball fans on game nights – plus people driven there by the Instagram algorithm for viral grub. Now it’s taken over 12,000 square feet in a restored 1920s industrial building, with a total of eight planned tenants. Prescott is the latest project from srmERNST Development Partners, which is also behind such large-scale East Bay operations a Semifreddi’s production facility and Peet’s Coffee’s roasting factory.
Anchoring the space and lubricating it well is a new taproom from Alameda’s Almanac Beer Co. Non-drinkers can get a buzz at Highwire Coffee Roasters, and grocery shoppers can hit up Prescott Meats and Delicatessen.
The restaurants include Fast Times Burgers, which makes grass-fed beef smashburgers and duck-fat fries, and Pizzeria Violetta, baking everything from vegan pies to a brown sugar candied bacon pizza. There’s also Woo Can Cook, run by a self-described “unemployed COVID era musician” who shot to YouTube fame making Chinese dishes from his childhood. That place will be dishing up Taiwanese street food. Try the bacon-fried rice — people swear by it.
Details: Opening this spring at 1620 18th St., Oakland; westoaklandfarmersmarket.org/markethall.
Brix Factory Brewing
John Gillooly is perhaps best known as the former brewmaster at Drake’s – the San Leandro craft brewery who describes him as an “industry treasure” – but in truth he’s worked at many such places, nine since 1995.
Hopefully, Gillooly won’t leave his current job, because it’s one he helped create. Brix Factory Brewing, which he co-founded in 2024 with family and other beer veterans, is a place where he can experiment with whatever esoteric formulas happen to enter his head that day.
With its corrugated steel and unpainted wood, diverse crowds and plenty of dogs, Brix blends in well with the industrial neighborhood Gillooly calls home. In the back is a manual 10-barrel brewing system responsible for beer like Pop Art – a low-ABV ale with Oregon fruits – and Lost in the Stratus, a hazy IPA with late-harvest Nelson Sauvin hops. Whether a double IPA or black lager or pilsner, the ethos underlying all the beers is “approachability,” Gillooly says.
“If people come in and are like ‘I like to get my face blown off with hoppiness,” we got those. Or if it’s more ‘I want regular beer,’ we got an American lager on tap,” he says. “We will make anything, do riffs on classic styles or make (stuff) up. It’s one of the joys of being in the industry for so long.”
Brix is a new team sponsor, so you may find those beers at the ballpark this season — and occasionally a Baller or two on the premises downing brewskis.
Details: Open daily at 2400 Mandela Parkway, Oakland; brixfactorybrewing.com.
The Taco Panzon
For the last two decades, Martha Barajas has served her popular carnitas and carne asada tacos out of The Taco Panzon truck on the corner of West Grand Avenue and Campbell Street.
“She’s very particular about how she likes things,” says her daughter, Paulina. “She always uses the most fresh ingredients — she goes to the market at 5 every morning. She won’t put it out unless she’s happy with the quality.”
The Taco Panzon truck has been a big hit with Ballers employees and players who often stop by before games or on their days off.
The family business began in the 1990s as a restaurant, El Tio Tono. After it closed, family members started a taco truck — and not just one, either. “My mom took over and named it The Taco Panzon in the early 2000s,” Paulina says. “My dad’s truck, Chile Bravo Grill, is on the corner of West Grand and Market. My aunt and uncle each have one, too.”
At The Taco Panzon, you’ll find tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos and tortas served with carnitas, carne asada, pollo, al pastor or chicharron, spiked with housemade hot sauce.
Details: Open from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays at the corner of West Grand Avenue and Campbell Street.
Mike “The Hot Dog Mayor” Davie
When Mike “The Hot Dog Mayor” Davie discovered that a child he didn’t even know had dressed up as the Hot Dog Mayor for Halloween, he realized his new job wasn’t just about selling hot dogs.
Davie was chosen by longtime Oakland A’s vendor Hal “The Hot Dog Guy” Gordon to carry on the charismatic dog-hawking legacy at Ballers games last year, selling as many as 100 franks a night. Lugging around the same steamer once carried by legendary Bay Area vendor Jim Graff, Davie spent the season establishing himself as a character in the stands. But even so, he was surprised when he became a local celebrity.
“It was really flattering to have everybody get to know me,” he says. “I learned how to lean into my personality a lot. I learned the art of the hot dog. I got obsessed with that. I make an effort to engage the people. I’m not a droid dispensing hot dogs.”
Selling Miller’s hot dogs, the same dogs once sold at the Coliseum, Davie also totes an array of condiments, from classic ketchup, mustard, relish and sauerkraut to Kewpie, a tangy Japanese mayo that has proven unexpectedly popular. This year, he’ll add a hot Russian mustard to the mix.
Bringing the hot dog experience to the bleachers isn’t just about toppings. Interacting with kids last season has been perhaps his favorite part of the job.
“I gave out a lot of my old-timey ’80s baseball cards,” Davie says. “I had a little doggie toy hot dog I’d throw at people. Little leaguers and girls softball players have all these chants — I can’t even keep up, (but) I like to have them lead the chants.”
Details: Raimondi Park on Ballers game nights from just after the National Anthem until the seventh inning or so.
ALSO CHECK OUT:
Ghost Town Brewing: 1960 Adeline St., Oakland; ghosttownbrewing.com.
Proyecto Diaz Coffee: 1430 34th St., Oakland; proyectodiazcoffee.com
Soba Ichi: 2311A Magnolia St., Oakland; sobaichioakland.com
Tacos la Perla food truck: 1297 West Grand Ave., Oakland; 510-384-8964
Kilovolt Coffee: 1829 Mandela Parkway, Oakland; kilovolt.coffee