Culture

McDonald’s on Telegraph Avenue

“Can I help you?” asks one of the McDonald’s cashiers. “421!” another employee shouts, calling out an order number. The McDonalds on 46th and Telegraph is a relatively quiet fast-food stop. People come in and out, but very few sit inside to eat. Underneath the McDonald’s large sign it reads, “over 70 billion served,” but the restaurant seems so empty inside. Between 9 and 10 a.m., only ten people walk inside, although the drive-through window has steady traffic. The majority…

Bus stop at 40th Street and Telegraph Avenue

The tall man in black sweatpants fidgets as he waits for the bus and talks into his cell phone. His voice is gravelly. “One, two. What it do?” he says, leaning against the pole on which a sign explains what buses come to the intersection of 40th Street and Telegraph Avenue, and at what time. “I just wanted to holler at you for a minute about your boy.” He walks in a circle and leans against the wall of the…

Mama’s Royal Cafe

Pull up a wooden chair at the front counter of Mama’s Café Royal, close your eyes, and this is what you’ll hear: The bubbling rise and fall of dozens of conversations. The slam of the register. Staff calling hellos to familiar customers. The sizzle of fat in the kitchen. The swoosh and creak of swinging doors. And Etta James, occasionally eclipsed by crashing plates, singing “At Last.” It’s Wednesday morning, 9 a.m. The hump of the rush is nearly over,…

Oakland moves forward in bid to host World Cup games

Oakland is one step closer to being chosen as the site for a future World Cup Series soccer match, that is, if the Federation Internationale de Football Association picks the US as a host country for either the 2018 or 2022 tournament. City officials have been vying for the title of US host city since June, and earlier this month they passed a resolution to continue bidding. Although Oakland has already survived a few stages of the bidding process, it…