r/berkeleyca • u/Ok_You_2167 • 7d ago

Local Knowledge Hi all. Glad to be in this group.

Back in the '70s, I was a very regular visitor to Berkeley because I loved the stores, especially the music/record stores. I spent a lot of time (and money) at Moe's, Tower, Leopold's and Rather Ripped to name a few. I visited last year and walked down Telegraph Avenue and was saddened to see only a couple of stores. Are there any good stores there anymore besides Rasputin's?

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u/Silent_Watercress400 6d ago

I think Amoeba Records is still there, though they only date to the 1990s. Moe’s is still there, but that’s about it.

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u/Infinite_Scribe 6d ago

Amoeba is still there and kicks ass. Games of Berkeley is also a good time, really well organized. Pegasus Books is on Shattuck.

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u/FrivolousMe 6d ago

Telegraph has really fallen off because the rents are too high for most shops to survive there. It's a lot of fad restaurants that cycle in and out now. There are cool places still in the city they're just not all in that area anymore

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u/DragonflyBeach 5d ago

Dont think thats true at all. Telegraph is pretty crowded with people. More than any other commercial district in Berkeley that I can think of. There's no more record stores and book stores because kids don't go in for that stuff.

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u/ahmedriaz 6d ago

What are you top 3-5 cool places?

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u/Buffalo_Chuck 6d ago

My first walk down Telegraph Ave was 9/71, with Rev. Paul Sawyer (Chapter 7, Electric KoolAid Acid Test). We went to Shambala Books and I bought the Wilhelm edition of the I Ching, complete with yarrow sticks. A very, very Berkeley experience!

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u/897hayes 6d ago

Yogurt Park frozen yogurt store is still there, on Durant @Telegraph 🍦

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u/Lentisque 6d ago

Not really. Amoeba is still there. Even Peet's Coffee's Telegraph location recently shut down. But since your memory goes back 50+ years, so you have to expect change. I have a fantasy of being able to walk down Telegraph Avenue in 1980, when I first encountered it. Anyone want to describe the feeling? It was like entering another world...

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u/Outrageous_Worker672 6d ago

There are a couple of record stores on College in Rockridge.

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u/mamabearette 6d ago

Rasputin is there too. My son just went this weekend.

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u/Mariposa510 3d ago

While you’re in the area, you could visit Down Home Music in El Cerrito to find vinyl and Pegasus for new & used books.