Pastiche Is King at Oakland’s Crazy Block Cheesecakes

The type of restaurant I love most is the kind where describing it to another person involves an ever-escalating series of “But wait, there’s more” statements. I feel like a child frantically trying to collect their thoughts as they recount a dream: “And THEN there was a dinosaur. And then we flew on a plane! And then and then—!”

That’s how it feels to describe Crazy Block Cheesecakes, a pure fever dream of a restaurant that opened this past March in Oakland’s Lakeshore neighborhood. Yes, there’s cheesecake, but also a full array of excellent barbecue. And latkes. And dinosaurs.

The restaurant’s bold, graffiti-style storefront sticks out in genteel Lakeshore Avenue, which is otherwise lined with retail, fitness spots, and banks. The logo, which lines up perfectly with the next-door “European Wax Center,” features owner Benjamin Block’s head rendered like Porky Pig in “Th-th-that's all, folks!” mode. Block once again appears by the entrance, still in art form, but this time as a Super Mario Bros. character in a chef hat, double-wielding kitchen spoons. Inside, the brick walls are painted with other famous cartoon and video game characters: the Powerpuff Girls, SpongeBob, Bugs Bunny, Pikachu, and Charmander. The vibe is very much akin to an arcade attached to a lazer tag arena circa 1999.

I had a lot of questions. But I started by asking Block why he put Dragon Ball Z’s Goku on the wall (here, powering up a cheesecake as if it were his patented Spirit Bomb). I was almost flattened in the center of an emotional crater by the pure sincerity of his response: “Goku is like definitely one of the most inspiring cartoon anime characters that ever existed.” And, I mean, no lies were told.

To me, that says it all about this place, which Block fantasized about putting together while working the line at various breakfast spots around the Bay. He’s leaning into nostalgia-induced dopamine and serving us all a slice. 

His predilection toward stewed collard greens, cornbread, New York-style cheesecakes, and latkes reflects the Bay Area native’s upbringing: his dad is a Jewish, his mom is not — she grew up in Virginia, and always threw down with Southern food in the kitchen.. In 2020, Block started selling barbecue and cheesecakes out of his home in Oakland, and in 2022, opened the first iteration of Crazy Block Cheesecakes. Working out of a mobile stall, he sold desserts modeled after his paternal grandmother’s recipe at farmer’s markets and breweries all over the East Bay. Over the years, Block has come up with more than 170 flavors of cheesecake ($5.99 to start), including blueberry-ube, Hennessy praline, Vietnamese coffee, and guava-mango. 

Now, meat and cake (and also latkes) mingle together at the brick-and-mortar. “It’s like a dream menu — what you want if you’re on death row or it’s your birthday,” he said.

For the sake of trying everything all at once, I kept my orders to the enormous platters of barbecue available on the menu. They can easily feed several people: the chicken-brisket-lamb combo, or “Chiblam,” ($27.99) is splittable for a couple, while the five-way ($88) includes five meats (Chiblam plus salmon and beef ribs) and all six side dishes. Of the meats, the star is the sticky, collagen-rich beef rib, which clings to your fingers like the flesh of a ripe mango. You’ll want to hang onto the bone to throw into your next pot of beans. In second place is the brisket, served smoky as a campfire and delivered with the option of “lean” or “juicy” (see: fatty). I like getting the best of both worlds here.

There are seven sides to round out the menu. The best among them are a vinegar-based, vegan cole slaw that gets a good textural variety from hefty hunks of red bell pepper, hand-cut fries much crunchier than In-n-Out’s wimpy contenders, and richly acidic baked beans studded with juicy morsels of smoked meat.

But it’s not entirely a carnivore’s bacchanalia over here. Smoked jackfruit ($20 by the pound or $18.99 for a combo plate) is satisfying, toothy, and fully vegetarian. Toss on one of the five sauces (BBQ, habanero BBQ, garlic aioli, North Carolina-style vinegar sauce, or a piquant aioli-chimichurri-like concoction) to give it even more character.

Then there are the latkes ($2.99 to start). Seeing those crisp little guys arranged so neatly with apple sauce and sour cream, I would have believed Block if he said he’d just flown them in from 2nd Avenue Deli in New York City. Despite the maximalist approach to everything else, the latkes are played straight. They are the humble, unadorned carabiner hooked onto an otherwise phantasmagoric rave fit. 

That said, no one is stopping you from stuffing one into a pulled brisket sandwich. Crazy Block is a place that encourages you to follow your bliss, after all. That worked out well enough for its owner.

Crazy Block Cheesecakes
3355 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland
http://crazyblockcheesecakes.com
Hours: Noon-8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; noon-6 p.m. Sunday
What to order: Brisket, beef ribs, BBQ beans
Good to know: Counter service; inside seating only; one strong vegan option