Acclaimed chef and restaurateur Michele McQueen continues to invest in her hometown of Oakland with the official opening of Five & Dime (329 14th Street, Oakland), a new neighborhood pub built around the things that bring Bay Area communities together: stellar bar food, artisanal cocktails, local craft beers, sports on the big screens and a deep sense of Oakland pride.
Five & Dime is the latest chapter in McQueen’s love letter to Oakland and adds an entirely different experience to her restaurant group. Town Fare, located inside the Oakland Museum of California, is McQueen’s destination for Southern-influenced lunch and Sunday brunch; Lucy Blue delivers a sexy cocktail bar night out in Uptown; and located right smack in between the two is Five & Dime — the perfect joint to grab a burger and beer, watch the Warriors, 49ers or other favorite Bay Area teams, play a few arcade games, and settle in for a great hang with family and friends.
For McQueen, the three concepts are connected by something larger: a belief in Oakland and the role independent hospitality businesses can play in bringing people together and adding energy to the city.
“Oakland is home, and everything I’m building here is part of my dedication to this city,” says Michele McQueen. “I want people to have different reasons to come out, gather and enjoy the city. Town Fare gives you Southern cooking with my California-take on it. Lucy Blue is where you get dressed up, have a date night, and devour a couple fine cocktails with some bites. Five & Dime is where you can come exactly as you are, eat some dope food, watch the game, and hang out with your people.”
A LITTLE NEIGHBORHOOD BAR WITH BIG FLAVOR
Five & Dime brings McQueen’s unmistakable culinary style and knack for creating destination gathering places to a decidedly laid-back neighborhood pub, created alongside business partner Matt Sturm, her co-owner at Lucy Blue. Her Dime Piece Wings are sweet, sticky and have just the right amount of spice, while the Oakland Smash Burger is layered with peppered bacon jam, sharp white cheddar and garlic mayo. An East Bay classic, her Fried Chicken Sandwich pairs buttermilk fried chicken breast with her addictive Crack Sauce, dill pickles and shredded lettuce.
Other comfort-food staples include a three-cheese Grilled Cheese with Gruyère, sharp white cheddar and Muenster; House Fries served with Soulspice, herb sour cream and ketchup; and a Wedge Salad finished with house buttermilk ranch, smoked blue cheese, grape tomatoes, applewood-smoked bacon and fried onion strings. McQueen also serves up some Oakland nostalgia with her Crab and Artichoke Dip, a nod to the beloved Kincaid’s Fish, Chop & Steakhouse, pairing delicious fresh crab and artichoke hearts with onions and parmesan. A Short Rib Sandwich with charred scallion aioli and Muenster rounds out the opening food lineup.
COCKTAILS, CRAFT BEER & A PATIO BUILT FOR GAME DAY
Behind the bar, Five & Dime intentionally trades the more elaborate cocktail experience of sister bar Lucy Blue for a straightforward, approachable drinks program designed for a neighborhood pub. Cocktails include playful favorites such as a Hennessy Espresso Martini, Blackberry Smash and the strawberry-forward Dime & Dash, alongside a selection of local craft beers and other pub staples.
Sports are central to the Five & Dime experience. Five televisions and a projector fill the interior, with another television on the patio, making the pub a new home base for watching Bay Area teams and major sporting events. On Saturdays and Sundays, Five & Dime opens at 10 a.m., giving fans a place to claim a seat early, settle in with food and drinks, and stay through the biggest games of the day.
The space accommodates approximately 75 guests, with comfortable indoor seating for roughly 40 guests, additional standing room, and an outdoor patio that seats approximately 25.
PAC-MAN, GALAGA & A LITTLE OLD-SCHOOL FUN
Five & Dime has a dedicated game room filled with classic arcade games — including Pac-Man and Galaga — and every game is free to play.
The arcade room reinforces the philosophy behind Five & Dime: creating a place where guests don’t need a special occasion or elaborate plan to have a good time. Come for the game. Stay for wings. Play Pac-Man between rounds. Meet friends on the patio. Five & Dime is designed to become the kind of neighborhood spot people return to because it simply feels good to be there.
A TRIBUTE TO THE PEOPLE WHO SHAPED OAKLAND
Five & Dime will also feature an Oakland Tribute Wall honoring the artists, athletes, musicians, activists, entrepreneurs, cultural figures and hometown greats who have helped shape the city over generations.
For McQueen, it’s a way for Five & Dime to tell Oakland’s story from inside Oakland itself — celebrating the resilience and cultural influence that have put The Town on the map and made Oakland unlike anywhere else. The idea extends an ethos running throughout McQueen’s hospitality work: restaurants and bars are more than places to eat and drink. They preserve memories, celebrate culture, create jobs, build community and give people a reason to feel connected to their city.
“Five & Dime belongs to Oakland,” adds McQueen. “There are so many incredible people who have stepped up to make the city what it is today, and I want to celebrate them. This isn’t about trying to turn Oakland into somewhere else. It’s about reminding people what has always made this city special and giving them another place to experience it together.”
About Chef Michele McQueen
Chef Michele McQueen is an acclaimed chef, restaurateur, cultural ambassador and food justice advocate whose 25-plus-year career has helped shape the San Francisco Bay Area’s culinary scene. Her growing hospitality portfolio includes Town Fare at the Oakland Museum of California, chic Uptown cocktail bar Lucy Blue, and Five & Dime, her new neighborhood pub. McQueen previously owned San Francisco’s celebrated Gussie’s Chicken and Waffles, where she became widely recognized for helping popularize chicken and waffles throughout the Bay Area. Over her career, she has owned five acclaimed restaurants and cooked for cultural, entertainment and sports icons including Steph and Ayesha Curry, Samuel L. Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Anita Baker and Robin Thicke. Her national television appearances include Food Network’s Grill It! with Bobby Flay and Guy’s Grocery Games and ABC’s The Taste alongside Anthony Bourdain and Marcus Samuelsson. In 2026, she was featured in the James Beard Foundation’s Taste America event in San Francisco and named Black Women In Food’s 2026 Restaurateur Honoree, recognizing an owner behind impactful restaurant concepts.
Beyond the kitchen, McQueen has worked with Steph and Ayesha Curry’s Eat. Learn. Play., World Central Kitchen and Allen Temple Baptist Church on food insecurity and youth empowerment initiatives; co-founded the Oakland Restaurant Collective; represented Oakland at the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C.; and was a featured speaker at Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee’s Inaugural Celebration. A Howard University graduate raised in a family of home cooks, McQueen uses food and hospitality as vehicles for storytelling, cultural preservation, community and economic empowerment as she invests in and celebrates the city, she proudly calls home.
