Some of the Bay’s Best Vegan Doughnuts Land in Downtown San Francisco Next Week

A handful of small food and beverage businesses will open at downtown San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center as a part of the city’s Vacant to Vibrant program, which hopes to revive empty storefronts by filling them with pop-ups. Well-loved westside bakery and cafe Devil’s Teeth has already begun serving breakfast sandwiches at 1 Embarcadero Center, Suite 1113. And as of Tuesday, October 2, one of the Bay Area’s best vegan doughnut makers will join the scene.

Per the Chronicle, vegan doughnut pop-up Whack Donuts will debut at Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 4507, and will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The bakery has been selling its nontraditional flavored creations — think chocolate peppermint, Thai tea, and carrot cake. They’re sharing the space with pop-up York Street Cafe, which will serve a variety of coffee drinks, perfect for pairing with those doughnuts. Other businesses participating in the program include Rosalind Bakery, which will open at Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 4504, on October 4; and Teranga, which will open at Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 4104 during “the first week of October,” the Chronicle reports.

Super Duper Burger will open near Japantown

The San Francisco Standard reports that San Francisco-based burger chain Super Duper will open its latest outpost on the corner of Post and Fillmore streets, just across from Copra near Japantown and Lower Pac Heights. Yes, that’s the former Burger King space, and the outlet reports the company hopes to open the new restaurant “next spring.”

Trumer Pils opens East Bay taproom

Trumer, maker of some of the world’s finest pilsners, has opened its first and only U.S. taproom in Berkeley, per a post on the business's Instagram. The brand-new taproom is located at 1404 Fourth Street in Berkeley and will host an Oktoberfest event on Saturday, October 7 from noon to 6 p.m.

Old-school Sacramento diner finally reopens

Jim Denny’s, the downtown Sacramento diner that’d be open for more than 80 years before its closure in 2020, is back open under well-loved local chef N’Gina Guyton. The former South co-owner has been working on revitalizing the diner for months, and the Bee reports it reopened in early September with a menu that includes hot dogs and a tempura-battered cod sandwich. Note: It’s cash-free.

Stateline Road Smokehouse is popping up at Oxbow Public Market

Wine country diners have been waiting for the opening of chef and owner Darryl Bell’s Stateline Road Smokehouse for quite some time, but they’ll be able to get a preview of the food thanks to a collaboration at Oxbow Public Market. The chef will bring “an abbreviated version of his already popular Stateline Road Smokehouse menu,” to the food hall starting Thursday, October 26 ahead of the anticipated early 2024 debut of his standalone restaurant. Menu offerings will include “Kansas City-Invented Burnt Ends ($18), Stateline Road Baby Back Ribs ($12), and a salad made with cherry wood smoked Maitake mushrooms, farm lettuce, crisped purple rice, marinated garbanzo beans, and a lemon vinaigrette ($15),” per an announcement from Oxbow Public Market.