For decades, The Broken Rack has been Emeryville’s go-to spot for catching a game, enjoying happy hour with one’s coworkers and of course shooting a game of pool. For those that wanted a more tranquil experience after a hard day, the Broken Rack recently opened a new outdoor patio space on our city’s newest strip of Greenway.
The patio has been years in the making. In fact, the greenway was originally anticipated to be complete when The Broken Rack moved from its original Public Market location back in 2014. Delays by the city caused the strip to not open until earlier this spring.
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Co-owner Marilyn Boucher is ecstatic with the results though and looks forward to the space being activated. “It’s a great, sunny place to grab a drink or a meal together. It’s also great for larger groups.” The Rack even lends Ping-Pong paddles to patrons so they can enjoy the available outdoor table.
Boucher sees the patio as not just a benefit to her business, but the community. “The space is bikeable, pet-friendly and were considering opening it up to families as well.” The Broken Rack is a 21 and older establishment, but they’re looking into allowing minors at this space for dining.
The space is designed by SZFM Design Studio who are based in San Francisco. SZFM was familiar with working with the city having renovated the Pixar Level(3) warehouse at 5000 Hollis among others. The backdrop of the patio space is Emeryville’s first city-commissioned outdoor mural by Oakland artist Joey Rose. Although years away, this “Peladeau Park” greenway strip will be part of a planned contiguous path across the city.
Boucher, a member of Emeryville’s Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC), is also optimistic about the business networking opportunities that are emerging with the opening of East Bay Therapeutics across the street. Boucher and EBT owner Nasser Azimi, whom we profiled back in September, are exploring ways to cross-promote their businesses, team up on events, and have joined forces to combat our city’s pesky auto burglary problem.
we would love it if we could take our kid here. in fact, we would love it if our kid could play pool here. maybe open two tables up to families one day a week? just a thought.
jd – that’s most likely a limitation by the ABC license which is out of their hands.
[…] is being unveiled today at 2:30 p.m. (the first being the Greenway piece on Peladeau by artist Joey Rose). Artist Nigel Sussman’s vision for his “Emeryville Treasure Map” installation has slowly […]