Richmond, California is often thought of as the scariest part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Scarier than Hunter’s Point. Scarier than East Palo Alto. Scarier than the Black Hole at a Raiders game. Even scarier than a Men’s Bathroom in the Castro District.

Yet somehow, in this charming, hidden bayside enclave known as Point Richmond sits the Hotel Mac. It is a place that time, and today crime, seems to have forgotten.

Allegedly an old bordello back in the fishing and trading days of East San Francisco Bay and South San Pablo Bay, long before the bridges were built, the Hotel Mac is a throwback to the Barbary Coast. The hotel survived a fire in 1971, but has not lost any of its charm. Still ornate on the inside, a small but lively bar is to the right as you walk in and is the focal point of the dining tables. Downstairs provides a great view for people watching. Upstairs provide more of the heritage of the place; in fact you expect the Madam to walk out at any moment.

The food is excellent and very reasonable by fine dining standards. You can’t help but crave oysters or crab cakes when you enter the place, and either selection will not disappoint. Nor does the reasonably priced wine list. And, as any great (Point) joint should have, full menu dining is available at the bar.

Point Richmond is only 20 minutes from Oakland and 10 minutes from Berkeley off of the Eastshore Freeway. Stay to the left past Golden Gate Fields racetrack. Do not go into Downtown Richmond on your right, if you cherish your life.

A great place to take a date or visit with friends, the Hotel Mac is in the middle of approximately a half a mile of bars, shops, Victorian houses and an old firehouse. The place still maintains five rooms for lodging. To this day, despite all of the modern conveniences, the Hotel Mac is a testament to the discovery days of early California. You expect to see a patron to belly up to the bar and pay their tab in gold nuggets. – D.M.