Some of the Bay Area’s Best Bagels Will Roll Into Santa Clara This Fall

Good news for fans of Boichik Bagels in the South Bay: The Mercury News reports the East Bay-based bagel company will open its latest outpost in Santa Clara this October. The bagel shop will be located at the new Mission Park Marketplace at 2050 Wyatt Drive. It will offer a familiar selection of more than a dozen varieties of New York-style bagels, plus smoked salmon, smoked whitefish, and bagel sandwiches.

Boichik owner Emily Winston opened a massive new bagel plant in Berkeley in March, powered by a bagel-making robot called BakerBot, which she designed herself; Winston earned a mechanical engineering degree from Cornell University before entering the baking world. The company branched out of the East Bay with a location on the Peninsula in 2022 and now seems to be fulfilling Winston’s promise to bring Boichik bagels to more corners of the Bay Area.

East Bay taco staple closes due to landlord issues

Super-popular taco-maker Tacos El Último Baile moved into a permanent space in Fruitvale last fall, but the San Francisco Chronicle reports the restaurant is temporarily closed because of “a disagreement with its landlord over construction and frustration over ongoing crime in the area.” The restaurant rents space from the Unity Council, a nonprofit development corporation, which has been doing construction that owner Dominic Prado says “obstructs the way into the restaurant and makes outdoor seating impossible.”

Former NBA star’s soul food restaurant to open in Oakland

Kevin Johnson is many things — a former NBA player, the ex-mayor of Sacramento, and, most relevantly, a restaurateur. He opened his first Fixins Soul Kitchen restaurant in Oak Park, before expanding his fried chicken and Kool-Aid cocktail empire to Los Angeles and Tulsa. Now the Mercury News reports he’s got his sights set on Oakland, where he plans to open a Fixins at 306 24th Street near Lake Merritt by March 2024.

San Jose will get an Italian restaurant from the Left Bank Brasserie team

The team behind a handful of popular Bay Area restaurants including Left Bank Brasserie, LB Steak, and Camper will open a new Italian restaurant called Rollati at 181 East Santa Clara Street, across the street from San Jose City Hall. The San Francisco Business Times reports that the restaurant, which is expected to open next month, will encompass an “indoor dining room, bar and lounge, private dining rooms and retail cafe and outdoor space.”

Piglet & Co launches new prix fixe menu

Piglet & Co, the modern Taiwanese-inspired restaurant in the Mission, has a new prix fixe menu option for early diners. Per a post on Instagram, the four-course menu costs $45 and includes dishes such as an heirloom tomato salad, salt and vinegar chicken wings, and chashao pork saam. It’s available for 5 p.m. reservations or walk-ins only.