It was in Berkeley that restaurateur Alice Waters created an original genre of cooking based on fresh, locally produced ingredients that earned her international renown, and made the city a mecca for gourmets. Ms. Waters and her restaurant still flourish here. So do hundreds of other restaurants, representing almost every imaginable cuisine, serving local residents and countless visitors. This is a place where good things and discriminating people come together.

Along the streets of the city's bustling retail districts are businesses selling an astonishing assortment of goods and services: traditional and ethnic arts, crafts and goods, bona fide factory outlet stores, bookstores and dozens of antique shops and art galleries. Painters, sculptors, printmakers, ceramists, textile artists, furniture makers and other artisans sell their creations directly to the public from studios and shops. Street vendors along Telegraph Avenue sell an infinite variety of handmade jewelry, crafts and clothing.

West Berkeley's industrial center, where the exotic and high tech easily coexist with more traditional manufacturing plants and businesses, is conveniently located to the nearby Bay Area ocean terminals, airports and railheads.

Office and retail space is available throughout the city, ranging from historic seismically upgraded buildings and new buildings to live-work-work lofts in renovated warehouses. Throughout Berkeley's commercial areas, nationally recognizable franchise businesses rub shoulders affably with one-of-a-kind boutiques.

Have an idea for a new business? Come to Berkeley. We are the home of innovation. Whether it is in a small café kitchen or a technology lab, Berkeley welcomes the true entrepreneur.

Ten Largest Employers # Employees

University of California, Berkeley 12,377
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 4,127 (UC/US Dept. of Energy)
Alta Bates Medical Center 2,700
City of Berkeley 1,569
Berkeley Unified School District 1,200
Kaiser Permanente Medical Group 750 (health support services)
Bayer Corporation 1,200 (pharmaceutical manufacturing)
California Department of Health Services 600(public health lab)
Pacific Steel Casting Company 340
Andronico's Market (grocer) 345

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