El Caballo Jack London Square
El Caballo Oakland was a Mexican restaurant and live music venue at Jack London Square. Bill Fulton played there several times in 1984 with a band called Stylus. The venue closed years ago, but this page keeps its memory alive.
About El Caballo Oakland
El Caballo Oakland sat at 70 Jack London Square in Oakland, CA. It served food and drinks alongside live music. Details on the restaurant are hard to find today, since it has been closed for decades. This page is an attempt to document what is remembered.
Playing with Stylus
Bill Fulton performed at El Caballo as a member of the band Stylus. The lineup included Dee Dee Crockett on vocals, Paul Cotruvo on guitar and vocals, Steve Coburn on bass and vocals, and Tom Fulton on drums and vocals. Dee Dee’s husband, Greg Brown, booked the band at El Caballo and other venues around the Bay Area.
A Newspaper Mention
El Caballo also showed up in local news coverage. An article from the Ukiah Daily Journal, dated October 19, 1988, quoted restaurant manager Robert Guitron on how business was going that week.
“However, El Caballo restaurant manager Robert Guitron said Monday that food business at his Jack London Square eatery was par for the course, but the bar was booming. ‘For some reason, people get more excited about beer and margaritas during the game than enchiladas,’ he said. As of Monday night, it was still possible to get a hotel room in Oakland despite earlier warnings of room shortages.”
A napkin saved from the restaurant offers one more small piece of El Caballo Oakland’s history.
More From Bill Fulton
Stories like this one are part of a much longer career playing keys and piano across the Bay Area and beyond. Read more in Bill Fulton’s biography. You can also browse his full keyboardist and pianist credits, or check out more memories like this on the music articles and news page.
