Photography: Carrie Cizauskas

At the grand opening of the Actual Cafe, the indoor bicycle parking wall hooks were full all night. At some points during the evening, bicycles were piled up several rows deep against the railing inside and on the racks outside. At the corner of San Pablo and Alcatraz – near the spot where Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville meet – a new addition to the flourishing East Bay bicycle culture was born.

Bicycle culture is an important part of the Actual Cafe. The Cafe’s owner, Sal Bednarz, uses an Xtracycle Radish to pick up supplies and run errands. The Cafe also features a custom-built bicycle-powered video jukebox.

On a typical day, everyone from spandex-clad weekend warriors to helmeted hippies to hipsters on fixies join the neighborhood crowd and enjoy homemade, locally sourced food and free wi-fi. That’s the way Bednarz likes it: “I want people to feel they can visit any time of the day or night and not have to worry about their bikes. I would like more business owners to take it for granted that people ride bikes and work to make their businesses accessible.”

actualcafe.com