New site coming soon. solfood is taking root at the California Hotel in West Oakland.
Pull Up A Chair.
solfood is bringing a community space and garden back to life at the California Hotel. 3461 is a place for Oakland to gather, learn, eat together, and build something that lasts.
Rooted in West Oakland, at the California Hotel. In partnership with EBALDC. In service of Oakland. In service of community, culture, and opportunity.
Food is the medium. Community is the point.
Oakland has never lacked for people who show up for each other. What’s often missing are reliable places to hold that energy.
solfood is stewarding a community space and outdoor garden at the California Hotel, a place where neighbors can gather, elders can share knowledge, local organizations can convene, and community life can take up space.
We’re starting here, in West Oakland, and building something grounded, useful, and worth returning to.
What happens here? Gather. Learn. Build.
Gather
Community meals, cultural gatherings, and conversations that bring people together across generations.
Learn
Workshops that honor what our communities already know — about growing, cooking, healing, and belonging.
Build
Shared space for residents, organizers, and local partners to connect, contribute, and shape what happens next.
Starting at the California Hotel
The California Hotel has long been part of West Oakland’s story. solfood is helping bring new life to its community space and garden as a place for residents and the broader Oakland community to gather in a consistent, meaningful way.
This is our first site. We’re building the model here, with the people here.
Resident note: If you live at the California Hotel, this space is being built with you. Residents will have priority access to workshops, gatherings, and early opportunities to help shape what happens here.
Stay close to the build
We’re preparing for our first season of programming now. Sign up to hear about community gatherings, workshops, volunteer opportunities, and ways to support the work.
Want to help bring this to life?
solfood runs on real things: food, tools, supplies, coordination, and care. Early support helps activate the space, steward the garden, and build programming people can count on.
solfood is using food and culture to build connection, knowledge, and belonging — taking root in a new storefront community space and garden at the California Hotel in West Oakland.
Fiscally sponsored by Brotherhood of Elders Network (BOEN), a 501(c)(3).
Oakland, CA | hello@solfood.org