A Bit of El Cerrito History — Via Food

Food history is an interesting beat. Not just the big boys, like salt, coffee or chocolate, or the evolution of cooking technology, but even something as humble as what’s been and gone in our little city of El Cerrito — which I sink my teeth into regularly.

Departed grocery stores, perished restaurants, expired social clubs — they’re all on my radar, and I’ve attached images of artifacts related to them here. Most are courtesy of the , whose board members graciously allowed me to be underfoot in the as they worked.

The text below provides a bit of explanation for attachments, which are provided both in jpeg and pdf format so you’re able to get a good look at them.

I hope you’ll share your memories of these places and events in the comments section.

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Della's Coffee Shop menu (Images 1 & 2)

 “The gateway to all Valley points . . . Redwood Highway Resorts and the beautiful Bay Bridges,” Della’s Coffee Shop, which had curb service, was located at 2035 San Pablo Avenue — where is today.

Given offerings, pricing, and an address that predates mid-1950s renumbering of San Pablo Avenue, I would date this menu to about 1950, but I’m hoping a reader sets me straight.

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Della's Betsy's Kitchen business card (Image 3)

Della’s Betsy’s Kitchen was located at 1828 San Pablo Avenue — “San Pablo Ave. at entrance of Eastshore Hwy,” according to its business card, which should place it at or near the intersection of San Pablo and Hill. An ad in the Fiesta del Cerrito program dates this establishment to 1948, but most of the information I came across was for Betsy’s Kitchen, an earlier restaurant in the same location that seemed to have been popular.

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Backyard chickens in El Cerrito Journal, December 31, 1942 (Image 4)

 “Chickens May Be Kept in El Cerrito: City Laws Do Not Prohibit Raising of Domestic Fowls” According to this story, El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce president Jules Accardi asked the city of El Cerrito to set aside regulations concerning “the keeping of domestic fowls and rabbits in the residential sections” during the war to help ease the problem of food shortages. The city council, advising that “city regulations were very lax,” provided one ordinance that dealt with health and sanitation and prohibited “the running of the fowls on city streets or private property of neighbors” but “in no way bans the keeping of chickens,” and another that prohibited their commercial use.

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Ticket and program from the Cerrito City Club’s "L’affaire Gastronomique" dinner on May 3, 1966 (Images 5 & 6)

I can’t tell you if the Société Escoffier behind this themed affaire existed outside the event, which was open to Cerrito City Club “Members, Their Ladies and Guests,” but I can tell you the entrée that night was Beef Wellington with Madeira sauce.

According to Images of America: El Cerrito, hereinafter IOAEC (p. 117), the Cerrito City Club was founded during World War II to benefit returning servicemen. After the war, the organization “became more of a service and social club.” Their facilities were located at Potrero Avenue and Kearney Street. An editorial note in Mervin Belfils’ Stege Area Winery narrative on the El Cerrito Historical Society’s website indicates that the club closed in 1998.

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Program from Fiesta del Cerrito, which took place September 13-19, 1948 (Images 7, 8 & 9)

IOAEC (p. 86) describes this week-long event — complete with parade and the crowning of a Fiesta del Cerrito Queen — as a celebration of the return home of World War II GIs and “the (roughly) 30th anniversary of the incorporation of El Cerrito.”

There were numerous events and attractions. Burke’s Circus, a homing pigeon race, craft and talent shows, a barn dance and pet parade helped fill the packed program. Late time slots listed shows in El Cerrito nightspots, including the Kona Club, “It” Club and Wagon Wheel.

Restaurants, like Della’s Betsy’s Kitchen and Violet’s Dining Room, took out ads in the program, as did nightclubs, like Hambone Kelly’s, which advertised entertainment and dinners.

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El Cerrito Motor Movies advertising clipping (Image 10)

This drive-in theater was built in 1948 and closed in the mid-1950s to make way for El Cerrito Plaza, which opened in 1958. According to IOAEC (p. 101), it was located on the former site of the dog racing track. Mervin Belfils’ El Cerrito Kennel Club narrative provides interesting information about both the dog track and the drive-in theater.

El Cerrito Motor Movies was still open on September 26, 1956; the Oakland Tribune for that date had it running Safari and Crime in the Streets — the latter an excellent film noir to eat popcorn and Sno-Caps by, which patrons would have been doing while stretched out in large, comfy cars.

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Selected entries from R. L. Polk & Co.'s Richmond and Contra Costa County Directory for 1914-1915 (Images 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15)

This city directory predates the incorporation of Rust and Stege Junction that formed the city of El Cerrito in 1917.

A look at US census data from 1910 and 1920 indicates that there were roughly 43,000 people living in all of Contra Costa County in 1915 — compared to 1,049,025 in 2010.

I provided images of five pages of the business section that include dairies, delicatessens, grocers, restaurants and saloons. To find listings in El Cerrito, just look for entries with (Rust) or (Stege).

Note the many saloons in these parts!

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Program and menu from the Cerrito City Club's Polynesian Night on October 25, possibly 1958 (Images 16, 17, 18 & 19). (Menu is undated and might be from another year during the same period.)

The Cerrito City Club’s Polynesian Night, billed as an annual event, would not be out of place in an episode of Mad Men. Supporting paperwork indicates a boozy, elaborate evening — putting the then-popular tiki theme to exhaustive use.

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Here are a few resources to start with if you’re interested in El Cerrito history:

El Cerrito Historical Society  Begin with the narratives on the website. The society’s permanent collection is in the Dorothy and Sundar Shadi Historical Room, , 10890 San Pablo Avenue.

El Cerrito Historical Society. Images of America: El Cerrito. Charleston SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005. This book is chock-full of photographs and information.

Contra Costa County Historical Society  The website has an excellent photo database, and the History Center is located at 610 Main Street, Martinez.

Online Archive of California

For other installments of our "El Cerrito Eats" column, please click .