Rob AriasIn this edition of our Semi-Monthly Emeryville newswire, we share six stories relevant to Emeryville that you may have missed, including:
- Former Warrior Spotlights Doyle Street Cafe in Food Vlog
- Hollis Sustainable Streetscapes Completion Delayed
- Three new Lyft Bike Docking Stations installed in Emeryville
- Harbor Porpoise Sightings in Emeryville Marina
- Former EUSD security guard pleads no contest to statutory rape of student
- IKEA Abandons Plans for Dublin Location
Former Warrior Spotlights Doyle Street Cafe
Former Warrior and current NBC Sports commentator Festus Ezeli spotlighted a local Emeryville favorite most of us are familiar with.
“People say I don’t show the East Bay love,” Ezeli notes before stepping into the breakfast and brunch spot on tree-lined Doyle street.
After inquiring about favorites, Ezeli’s waiter recommends the “Azteca style” Huevos Rancheros with pulled pork, Organic Blue corn pancakes and French Toast.
“Oh Lordy,” Ezeli declares while dipping into a tableful of favorites. “Doyle Street Cafe is the place to be ya’ll.”
Since retiring from the NBA in 2021, Ezeli has using his public profile for various philanthropic causes and recently this “Festus Feasts” food vlog to help “celebrate the soul of local communities through food.”
Opened in 1991 by George Masarweh, Doyle Street cafe frequently sees lines out the door on weekends.
Hollis Sustainable Streetscapes Completion Delayed
The “never-ending” Hollis Sustainable Streetscapes project will continue on for a bit longer. Flashing reds and detours have become a way of life for Emeryville residents since the project kicked off in March.
Originally forecast to be completed by the end of October, the city’s website has been updated to reflect a December 31, 2025 completion date.
Paving on Hollis, which has been contracted to Bay Cities Paving and Grading, is scheduled to begin the week of November 17th.
This project schedule is subject to change due to weather delays and ongoing coordination with utility and telecommunications providers.
Three New Lyft Bike Stations Installed Within Emeryville
Three Lyft Bay Wheels Bike stations were recently added to Emeryville’s expanding bike share network.
The additions to their fleet include:
- Emeryville Marina (Powell St & Admiral Dr – not yet enabled)
- 66th & Vallejo St (adjacent to Greenway)
- Huchiun Park
Ridership on the bike share platform has surged in the last year according to an SF Chronicle analysis with recreational riding being a heavy contributor.
Browse the full map of locations on lyft.com.
Harbor Porpoise Sightings in Emeryville Marina
Another marine mammal was sighted near the Emeryville Marina recently. Captured by a Watergate resident in a short video, the animal appeared healthy and was just apparently passing through.
“Based on the style of breaching the cetacean is showcasing in the video, our team here at The Marine Mammal Center is confident the individual is a harbor porpoise,” noted a Marine Mammal Center contact. “They are a very common sighting in San Francisco Bay.”
A close relative to the dolphin, harbor porpoises have small pointed flippers and no beak.
If members of the public see a cetacean (whale, dolphin, or porpoise) in the bay or surrounding area, you can report the sighting and enter observations into the free Whale Alert App on your smartphone or on the Center’s website.
IKEA Scraps Plan to Build Dublin Store
In what might be ultimately good for Emeryville’s sales tax revenue but bad for local traffic, IKEA has pulled out of their planned Dublin location.
Plans for a Dublin IKEA go all the way back to 2003 (just three years after the Emeryville location opened). The plan was immediately met with community backlash over traffic concerns forcing them to repeatedly alter their plans.
The project eventually received entitlements in 2018 but the land has laid fallow since. During this span, the Swedish furniture maker has shifted to smaller format stores like the one in Mid-Market in SF.
They plan to sell the planned Dublin location land but reportedly remain open to future opportunities in the Tri-Valley area.
Former EUSD Security Guard Pleads ‘No Contest’ to Statutory Rape of Student
A former Emery High School security guard who admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old student back in 2023 was sentenced to probation and community service after pleading no contest to a reduced charge, court records show.
Daniel Parham, 23, avoided jail time beyond the 12 days he already served and will not be required to register as a sex offender under the plea deal, which also mandates counseling on “respect and age issues with women.”
The sentence concludes the criminal case but not the fallout — the girl’s family is still suing the Emeryville Unified School District, alleging administrators failed to stop Parham’s misconduct despite warning signs.
