For her series California Foodways, Lisa Morehouse is reporting a story about food and farming from each of California's 58 counties. Mike Reddick, who's worked at CJ's for about five years, sharpened knives. Larry Turner trimmed, rinsed and seasoned slabs of ribs, the way he's done for more than 15 years. Nick Gamble took inventory of the freezers. Watching and managing it all was Gamble's uncle, Charles Evans - CJ himself - who's nearly 80.
A restaurant inspired by the gastronomy of the Bay Area's Indigenous Ohlone people will soon open high in the Berkeley Hills. Located inside the Lawrence Hall of Science, the ammatka Cafe is scheduled to debut for lunch service on Jan. 7, 2026. It's the latest project from Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino, who also run the seasonal restaurant ottoytak on the UC Berkeley campus, which reopens this spring. (Both eateries fall under their Cafe Ohlone label.) ammatka means the dining hall' in Chochenyo, the first language spoken in the East Bay, according to the science museum. The cafe offers a variety of options to satisfy different tastes. Our menu features beverages, snacks and entrees inspired by traditional Ohlone flavors and ingredients.
"Needs have been growing, that why this event is so important," Murillo said. "There's around 20,000 community members in the county that rely on SNAP. And so the shutdown, the fear of SNAP cuts that are yet to be implemented has created a lot of fear and a lot of concerns in the larger community."
Though we're still pouring one out for Berkeley's beloved Standard Fare, the space won't be empty for long: the Bolita Masa team, known for their heirloom nixtamalized corn, plans to move in by February 2026. Café Bolita will serve daytime dishes like grab-and-go breakfast burritos, chilaquiles, and frittatas (a nod to Standard Fare's). Dinner is also in the works.
On a recent Wednesday, about a dozen customers lined up inside Bun Appétit Donuts just after 8 a.m. to scan the nearly 30 savory and sweet doughnuts, croissants and stuffed malasada-style pastries displayed behind glass. Classic sprinkle and glazed doughnuts were nowhere in sight, but these loyal patrons already knew that. They were up early for the store's elevated brioche doughnuts, including house favorites such as tiramisu, guava cheesecake and "everything," a savory doughnut like the bagel.
Pour Manners will pop-up at The Punchdown wine bar & bottle shop in Oakland on Friday, November 21st from 4-9pm. Pour Manners is a project of Boi Soth, serving izakaya inspired by the multicultural cuisines of the Bay Area. You can see our latest menu here. A glimpse at Friday's menu: 2-piece kushiyaki skewers: Chicken thigh with frizzled leeks, tare, yuzu kosho and sea salt Cambodian kroeung marinated steak with lemongrass tare, and kaffir lime sea salt Pork belly marinated in a calamansi ponzu topped with garlic chicharon and serrano pepper.
Razavi had been a regular customer at the market ever since he moved to Berkeley in 1976 from his hometown, Yazd, Iran, to attend San Jose State University. At that time, Middle East Market was the only place where Persian and Iranian immigrants could find familiar products from home, including teas, spices, sweets and rice, and it became a cultural and culinary hub for the Iranian community.
San Jose could soon gain another outpost of the beloved In-N-Out Burger chain as the company explores a location at 2641 McKee Road. The burger spot has submitted a preliminary review to the city, seeking feedback on its concept before moving to formal permits. This potential addition builds on In-N-Out's existing presence in the area, offering more opportunities for locals to enjoy fresh burgers and fries.
There will be moments, even years, when I forget about Vik's Chaat. But then I suddenly remember the giant, crispy, thin masala dosa, and a temporarily dormant craving returns. It's hard to find a place in the East Bay that has chaat the spicy, fun, Indian street snacks. I remember poking the garbanzo bean-filled pani puris and watching cholle bhature puff up as a cook fried it. Eating at Vik's is a hands-on, visceral experience.
The East Village Vietnamese restaurant Bánh Anh Em from Nhu Ton and John Nguyen has been popular since it opened in the spring: The line down the block is proof that, even in our age of overhype, customers respond to quality ingredients and strong flavors. Nearly every item on the menu comes loaded with ingredients made from scratch, including the bread in the bánh mì and the springy rice noodles in the phở. And some are punched up by items imported straight from Vietnam.
A buffet's worth of food pop-ups launched in the first year of COVID-19. Some flamed out, while others, like Cenaduria Elvira, became shooting stars. Now, the business that began in a Jingletown backyard and quickly gained notoriety for its focus on flavor-packed, lovingly-crafted dishes from the Mexican state of Jalisco, is ready for the next phase, a brick and mortar in Oakland's Jack London Square.
A Nosh tipster let us know that the College Avenue location of Jot Mahal, a longtime Berkeley institution for vegetarian Indian food, has closed. Ownership confirmed the closure over the phone and also shared that a new Indian spot, Chandni Chowk, has already taken its place as of Oct. 28. Jot Mahal is still up and running at the corner of Shattuck and Cedar in Berkeley, but 3211 College Ave. (at Alcatraz) is now closed.
When Kopi Bar shuttered its original location in Walnut Creek in June, it left behind many fans who turned out for its distinct menu of Indonesian-inspired beverages and pastries like coconut cappuccinos, creamy avocado coffees and croissants made with klepon, a traditional Indonesian sweet glutinous rice ball filled with palm sugar, colored green with pandan, and rolled in grated coconut.
Kasper's Hot Dogs shut down both of its remaining locations in mid-October, one in Concord and the other on Oakland's MacArthur Boulevard. Started in 1929 in Oakland by Kasper Koojoolian, the brand has now gone from roughly a dozen outposts around the Bay down to zero - though Caspers Hot Dogs, another East Bay chain, is still seemingly doing fine.
