Solano Avenue bridges two beautiful cities, Berkeley and Albany, bringing together the best of what makes each unique, creating an avenue rich in diversity. Solano is blessed with a wonderful combination of mom-and-pop shops, modern boutiques, and an incredible spectrum of restaurants and cafes that serve delicious, fresh food from around the world. Solano Avenue is the home of hundreds of professional services and health-related retail and service organizations.
Spanning 26 blocks long (one mile) Solano Avenue hosts over 500 businesses which include 65 restaurants, 30 retail shops, two movie theaters and three "pocket parks". Most of them independently owned.
Solano became a business district early in Berkeley's history. According to Malcolm Margolin in Berkeley Inside Out, “John Hopkins Spring, a large landowner, developed Thousand Oaks and the shopping district along Solano Avenue shortly after the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906.” In 1911, the Southern Pacific Railway brought trains in to connect Thousand Oaks in Berkeley with Oakland and the ferry depots and ran tracks the length of Solano Avenue which provided passenger service. In 1912, the Key System's local street car line connected Solano Avenue to downtown Berkeley via The Alameda.
"No one seeks to benefit from natural disasters but the fire and earthquake of 1906 resettled many San Franciscans in Berkeley’s burgeoning neighborhoods. Perhaps the first Berkeley activists were the women of Thousand Oaks, armed with two shotguns and a rifle, holding off garbage trucks that rolled down Solano on the way to Albany Hill dumping grounds." There is "enough variety to satisfy every whim so a day can be enjoyed without requiring a car. Wake up on Saturday morning, feed the pets, throw on some clothes and stroll down the street for coffee and pastries or a full breakfast. Dreams become reality" on Solano Avenue. It’s all a charming, eclectic mixture of ethnic businesses, antiques, used books, coffeehouses and specialty shops perhaps not present on the Kansas plains." (Marta Yamamoto 09.08.2006)
Add your email address to our Association's "Events" email list:
We will notify you when Stroll applications become available (April 16th - annually), and we will send you additional emails throughout the year letting you know what is happening on Solano. (We will be easy on your "in box". We send out about a half dozen emails a year.) We send our mail with the addresses "info at SolanoAvenue.org" and “info at SolanoStroll.org”. Please "green list" these addresses and/or check your "SPAM" file/box frequently.
A free directory of restaurants, shops and services on Solano Avenue is available on our website, or by calling 510-527-5358 or by e-mail to
Solano Avenue Gift Certificates are a great way to give a gift that can be chosen from over 24 businesses on Solano. They make great stocking stuffers and gifts for teachers or coaches.
Does your school or organization sell scrip for a fundraiser? The Solano Avenue Association is able to offer you Solano Avenue Gift Certificates at a ten percent discount to your school or non-profit organization. Please contact us for details regarding the benefits of using SAA gift cards as a fundraiser for your organization while supporting local, independently owned business.
