Berkeley Joins SF Issuing Vaccination Mandate for Restaurants and Bars

Several weeks after San Francisco officials announced a health order requiring diners provide proof of vaccination before grabbing a table inside at a bar or restaurant, Berkeley city officials are following suit. Officials on Wednesday dropped a similar order for the East Bay city, which will go into effect on September 10, Berkeleyside reports. Starting on that date, patrons wanting to sit indoors at bars and restaurants will be required to provide proof of vaccination. Workers at bars and restaurants — as well as those at clubs, gyms, dance and yoga studios, and a handful of other types of businesses — will also be required to be vaccinated or participate in weekly COVID-19 testing starting on October 15.

Per Berkeleyside, officials had been considering the mandate for several weeks and, of course, a handful of bars and restaurants already began requiring proof of vaccination more than a month ago. The mandates come as the delta variant causes substantial levels of community spread from California to New York and hospitals in some communities are being overwhelmed with patients. In the Bay Area, however, there’s evidence the delta-driven surge could be starting to taper off. Since July, vaccinations in California are also climbing significantly, data analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle shows.

• Gott’s Roadside’s much-anticipated Mission Bay location at Thrive City, the plaza surrounding Chase Center, will open on September 17. The new restaurant at the home of the Golden State Warriors will feature an Airstream trailer as “a tribute to the company’s 20-year history as a favorite roadside destination,” a press release states. The popular burger joint’s new outpost was designed by BCV Architecture + Interiors and also offers an outdoor patio overlooking the plaza, an open kitchen, and white oak communal tables and booths.

Gott’s Roadside

Hardy Wilson/Gott’s Roadside

Hardy Wilson/Gott’s Roadside

• For months iconic Bay Area restaurant Chez Panisse has said it will finally reopen its doors in October — but according to a post on the restaurant’s Instagram fans may have to wait even longer. “We still have many decisions to make around our plans to reopen the dining room in October, and as a result, we are not taking any reservations yet,” the post reads in part. “The answer to most of the pressing questions about exact dates is unfortunately that we still aren’t certain.” In the meantime, the restaurant is still open for takeout and hosting Sunday Markets.
• Union Square is getting a new restaurant: SF Business Times reports that Peruvian-Japanese restaurant Chotto Matte has “inked a deal” to open at 100 Stockton Street, the former home of a Macy’s men’s department store. The restaurant will take over a 3,000-square-foot terrace that overlooks Union Square. [SF Business Times]
• And finally, a man who the SF Chronicle describes as a “Cecilia Chiang super fan” is now finding out that the $25,000 collection of items he thought he purchased from her pioneering San Francisco Chinese restaurant might not actually be from the restaurant after all. Chiang opened the Mandarin in 1959 and helped popularize both regional Chinese cooking and now-familiar dishes like potstickers and kung pao chicken with American diners. [SF Chronicle]