Back in January the only In-N-Out location in Oakland announced it was closing permanently. That particular restaurant had been in place for 18 years but a recent spike in robberies and concerns over the safety of workers led to a decision to close.
Days later a Denny’s in Oakland also cited safety concerns when it announced it would be closing.
“Denny’s has been honored to serve the Oakland community over the last 54 years. Closing a restaurant location is never an easy decision or one taken lightly. However, the safety and well-being of Denny’s team members and valued guests is our top priority. Weighing those factors, the decision has been made to close this location.”
And now Taco Bell seems to be taking a slightly different approach. Instead of closing stores, it is closing dining rooms. The restaurants are still serving food but only to people who order in the drive-thru line.
Taco Bell customers can no longer dine inside multiple Oakland locations. KRON4 visited two Taco Bell restaurants on Sunday and confirmed the dining rooms at two locations, 3535 35th Ave. and 630 Hegenberger Road, have been shut down.
KRON4 asked one Taco Bell employee in Oakland why the dining room is now closed. “It’s closed because some people sometimes make trouble,” he said.
According to KRON4, people who try to walk through the drive-thru line are being refused service. So if you don’t have a car, you can’t get food. The report says there are two more Taco Bell locations in Oakland they weren’t able to verify if those stores had also closed their dining rooms. However, SFist checked the websites for the other two restaurants and they also appear to be operating as drive-thru only at the moment. The company released a statement about the closures.
“Providing a safe environment for team members and customers is the priority at Taco Bell restaurants. The franchise owner and operator has informed us that they are consistently evaluating and working to ensure a safe environment by implementing procedures, such as closing dining rooms, and hiring security guards, and they have taken extra measures to meet with local law enforcement.”
It should go without saying that this doesn’t reflect badly on Taco Bell so much as it does on the city of Oakland. Last month Gov. Newsom sent 120 CHP officers to Oakland in an attempt to crack down on crime. Here’s how CNN summarized the crime situation in the city at the time.
Robberies grew 38% last year in Oakland, according to police data. Burglaries increased 23%. Motor vehicle theft jumped 44%. Roughly one of every 30 Oakland residents had a car stolen last year, according to a San Francisco Chronicle analysis.
Last May a community safety meeting in North Oakland had residents and business owners sounding off about the conditions:
Within the first five minutes of a raucous community safety meeting Tuesday night in North Oakland, residents vented frustrations and fear over a recent crime spike — and their perception that city leaders are doing little to address it.
Over the two hours that followed, a crowd of roughly 200 gathered at Oakland Technical High School confronted a panel of city officials, the interaction ranging from volcanic heckling to stunned silence. A woman stood and delivered a wrenching personal story about being beaten in front of her house. The owner of a pizzeria said his employees had been held up at gunpoint four times in six years. One person called the city a “failed progressive utopia.”
Others described deteriorating street conditions and predicted that businesses would leave — a San Francisco “doom loop” that had migrated across the bridge.
In case you were wondering, Oakland is one of the cities that actually defunded the police in 2021. The city currently has more than 90 vacancies on the police force. Unfortunately, city residents are getting exactly what their elected officials voted for.