1409/1411 Powell St. (Now Honor Kitchen & Cocktails)
According to county assessor data, the concrete, brick and timber-framed split-level structure at 1409 & 1411 Powell street was built in the 1920s amid the country’s prohibition years and listed in early Sanborn maps as a “restaurant.”
The earliest news record of the address is from 1924 where the location is cited among nine known locations within Emeryville that were hosting illegal Chinese gambling operations.
The site was targeted for “abatement” by then District Attorney Ezra Decoto (Earl Warren’s predecessor) with the headline “Emeryville War Started on Gambling.”
The owner at the time was listed as Pete Molino. Molino was an Italian immigrant who came to Oakland about 1912. He married the following year.
Following his arrest, Molino was fined $100 but released from custody. The proprietor of the gambling operation, Lee Hing, appears in news archives throughout this period of prohibition.
Rumors of a bordello operating at the space in its early years have persisted but have never been substantiated.
By 1937 it was occupied by Geo. E. Dynan Co., who by today’s standards appear to be a predatory loan company.
The restaurant officially obtained a license to sell beer in 1945. Records show it operated as the Powell Street Café by 1951 and was owned by Pete Molino Jr. (The son of the original 1924 owner).
Molino Jr. was a 1939 graduate of Emery High and a member of the nearby Fratellanza Club.
The elder Molino died in 1962 at the age of 75. Molino Jr. died in 1988 at the age of 62..
In 1960, it became Bavarian Village who advertised themselves as a restaurant and cocktail lounge.
The space was the creation of Ted Duro, a decorator who had a reputation for creating exotic night clubs. The exterior of the building consisted of stucco with exposed wood beams, suggesting a medieval German hunting lodge.
Bavarian Village opened at a time when Hofbrau style restaurants, with hearty portions and ample beer selection at reasonable prices, were growing in popularity across the Bay Area.
In the interior, thousands of knick-knacks were on display including artifacts of German culture. They also had a Piano Bar, a cascading fountain and 101 “foreign beers.”
By the time of their closure in the early 1990s, they were serving Chinese food and featuring live Reggae in an effort to evolve with the times.
For a short period in 1996, 1411 Powell Street functioned as a nightclub named “Formula,” which featured local punk and heavy metal bands including bands like Tilt, Earplay Boy, Creeps in Exile, White Trash Debutantes and The Ravens.
The restaurant next became a Korean owned sushi restaurant named Sushi Village who served sushi on a boat conveyor. They survived for about a decade.
In 2011, the space was reactivated as Honor Bar & Grill operated by the Chalet Restaurant group who also operate the Lake Chalet and Beach Chalet restaurants.
When they initially opened, they offered a nod to the unfortunate missing comma in Sushi Village’s marquee advertising “vegetarian drinks.” They used the marquee to post other cryptic messages including “The Dude Abides,” a reference to the 1998 cult film The Big Lebowski.
They left the original pink Sushi Village neon sign intact until about 2016 when they restored it retaining the distinct ornate shape.
By 2013 they were forced to change their name to Honor Kitchen & Cocktails at the request of an identically named establishment in Southern California.
Honor quickly became a destination with its dark, speakeasy vibe and craft cocktails. Patrons were greeted with an ice bucket full of bottled beers that they were trusted with adding to their tab.
The interior featured a long, curved red bar with ample bar seating and TVs playing cult films on replay.
During the 2020 pandemic, Honor added a temporary outdoor patio space that allowed them to remain open when indoor capacity restrictions were imposed.
Honor closed for renovations at the end of 2022 building an adjoining atrium structure and patio in their front parking lot.
They officially reopened in August 2024.
