Little Chinatown - Oakland's Best Kept Secret

Comprised of a few blocks within the vicinity of International Boulevard along 5th Avenue to 11th Avenue, this little proportion of the famous city holds one of it's best kept attraction secrets - Little Chinatown.

Little Chinatown wasn't raised on careful planning or deliberate business schemes; this colorful neighborhood was built by the people who moved here, families of immigrant Asians who nestled down in a crime-filled neighborhood together, banded together to create a little slice of the city that they could call home, and with that came the businesses and attractions that too little people know about. It's also an alternative venue for those who cannot keep up with the more fast-paced and ridiculously busy pace of larger officially established Chinatowns, such as the Oakland Chinatown on Webster or the San Francisco Chinatown; both are wonderful places in their own devices, but sometimes small-town simplicity wins out.

Within the limited area of a few blocks, Little Chinatown has established itself as a thriving neighborhood, both in revenue and populace. Lines of respective restaurants crowd this community, offering Asian cuisine of all different types for phenomenally low prices.

Restaurants:

1) Cam Huong

Try the banh mi for $2.50 at Cam Huong, one of the most respected Vietnamese sandwich shops in all of Oakland. Each sandwich is made up of fresh-baked French rolls, stuffed to the brim with the meat of your choice, slathered with butter and specialty sauces, adorned with zesty veggies, and then presented to you in it's most fresh form. Nowhere else in the city can you find another restaurant that offers that much "bang for your buck" when it comes to flavor, quality, and freshness. An extremely popular meal towards all general times of the day, be prepared to wait in line if you came around lunch hour, but even then the wait won't be that long thanks to Cam Huong's sandwich gurus, all of them who can prepare a sandwich within under a minute. Easily one of my favorite places to grab a quick bite in this neighborhood.

2) Pho King

Inappropriate jokes about the name of this fine establishment comes as often as the customers who makes those jokes. Right across the street from Cam Huong is Pho King, a tiny, cozy little restaurant that's always packed with familiar regulars. Another true meal for the money-conscious, a mere six dollars can buy you an extremely large meal of your choice, followed with free unlimited tea. Variety comes a plenty over here, but make no mistake on it, choose the size of your meal carefully. When they say large, they mean LARGE - even the most heaviest of foes can be vanquished by an extra large noodle bowl! Even if you're not a steadfast fan of noodle soups, then you're in luck here; Pho King also offers a wide variety of rice plates as well as vegetarian alternatives, easily proving that although small, it is capable of catering to different demographics. While not over-the-top fancy as other restaurants, the loud, rambunctious vibe of this fine establishment will make you feel right at home, easily providing the ambiance for you and your friends to entertain each other over a nice hot meal.

3) Rainbow Cafe

Chinese food at its simplest here. While it doesn't offer the highest class of ingredients nor flavor, it does boast the most alluring price range, and for some of us, that's what really counts. With it's famous promotion of a measly five dollars per family dish, twenty dollars is well within the range of feeding you and your whole group of ravenous friends. Happy Hour here is a nice little attraction as well, with dishes ranging from $1-2 dollars, and all drinks for $1. TIP - If you come here for the Happy Hour Special from 12 PM - 5 PM, order dishes slowly and take your time to eat. More often than not, you will under up ordering dishes too quick and finding out that the size of the dish really doesn't match up to the price it suggests, which leaves you in the end with a bloated stomach and gassy feeling which leaves you cursing the ironic name of "Happy Hour".

Attractions

1) Festivals

Located within smack dab in Little Chinatown is Clinton Park, a little grassy area that people walk their dogs at or other miscellaneous outside activities. While isolated and deserted at times due to occasional numbers of homeless people that set up residence there, Clinton Park hosts monthly festivals that brings the entire neighborhood out for a good celebration. At least once every month, a festival seems to pop out of the blue, with loud music blaring and the combined voices of hundreds of people merging together that you could hear the buzzing commotion blocks away. Each festival allows free entry, offering entertainment that includes the entourage of local singers/concerts, group activities, games/fun areas for children, and numerous other alternatives all geared towards neighborhood unity. A perfect example of this illustration would be the last festival I remember being held here, a Lunar Moon Celebration hosted by a Vietnamese community outreach group. Although the theme and entertainment was obviously directed towards the Vietnamese segment of Little Chinatown, I witnessed the crowds being a extremely diverse mix of all ethnicities, once even seeing a group of bewildered white tourists with enough courage to jump on the makeshift stage to do karaoke with a Vietnamese band. If that isn't diversity, I don't know what is.

Miscellaneous

1) Outlying Supermarkets

Think you save a lot of money and get the freshest groceries at places like Safeway and Trader Joe? You probably could, but not on the level of neighborhood supermarkets such as Sun Sang and Sun Hop Fat at Little Chinatown. These stores sell the freshest supplies from meats, vegetables, fish, and even cooking equipment for the lowest fraction of prices. Originally dedicated to accommodate the unique Asian demographic that lived there, the prices and convenience of these supermarkets attracted fellow members of the outer perimeters, now catering to the needs of every ethnicity within the Lakeside District.

Final Word

With what I have summarized, doesn't this place sound like a wonderful weekend getaway spot? If you're somewhat enchanted already by the thought of this place, wait until you actually come here. I barely skimmed the top of this wonderful place, because as all great places to relax at go, you can't really explain nor experience the magic until you try it yourself. So why don't you? There is absolutely nothing here that won't guarantee you a percentage of fun that you know you so desperately need. Come hang out and spread the word to your friends about Little Chinatown, Oakland's best kept secret.