Breakfast and lunch get an infusion of Palestinian flavor at Lulu, the debut restaurant from Palestinian-American chef Mona Leena, formerly executive chef at Dyafa. At Lulu she brings forth a menu of sweet and savory pastries — including her popular mana’eesh — and takes deviled eggs to the Middle East with whipped labneh yolks and a za’atar rim. On weekends, mezze brunch means a family-style spread of hummus, labneh, and more in a bright space with hot pink neon accents and a healthy number of plants. 

Rockridge has a new crown jewel in Sunday Bakeshop, a bakery using French techniques and Asian American flavors to create craveable, flaky pastries. For example, the aloha croissant combines sweet pineapple pork sausage, green onions, furikake, aged parmesan, and house-made kimchee spiced salt, while a dim sum cookie incorporates sesame tahini, roasted sesame seeds, and sweetened red bean paste. Order ahead or stop by to ogle them all, in person.

Hard to say whether it’s the charm of the space — with its sunny interior and checkered floors — or the selection of brightly hued natural wines or the menu of always-rotating chalkboard menu of small plates that’s captivated the attention of Bay Area diners. But in any case, Snail Bar is ready to serve interested parties delicate crudos, colorful crudites, and, naturally, plates of escargots. Chef and owner Andres Giraldo Florez brings experience at Michelin-starred restaurants including Saison and WD-50 in New York to the endeavor.

The East Bay’s buzziest pop-up of the moment is this Taiwanese beef noodle soup specialist, whose Sunday pickup slots tend to sell out within an hour after they’re posted for online preordering (every Wednesday at noon). The enthusiasm is understandable: The East Bay’s Taiwanese food scene has long been fairly thin, which means there aren’t many places where you can score even a half-decent version of hong shao (red-braised) beef noodle soup or lu rou fan (braised pork belly rice) — Yilan Foods’ two signature dishes. Of course, Yilan’s version aims to be much better than half-decent: The rich broth for the soup is cooked overnight; the lu rou fan is made exclusively with hand-cut pork belly, unlike more Americanized spots, which tend to temper the dish’s inherent, glorious fattiness with leaner cuts.

Lovely’s chef and owner Mikey Yoon told the SF Chronicle he wants his newly opened burger shack to become a Bay Area institution — and he’s well on his way, drawing diners to his Uptown shipping container-turned-restaurant with hot dogs, fried fish sandwiches, and crispy-edged smash burgers. Yoon is committed to keeping things accessible, which means for under $8 you can get an American cheese–topped burger made with beef from Stemple Creek Ranch in Marin County. 

Downtown Oaklands’ historic Tribune Tower (formerly the home of the Oakland Tribune newspaper) now houses an American brasserie from the team behind Town Revival. Here partners Omri Aflalo, John Cahill, and Darrin Ballon give familiar classics like steak tartare and a chopped salad a slight refresh and offer up cocktails like the Rumble In The Jungle made with both dark and pineapple rum, Campari, and lime juice. 

Chikara Ono, chef-owner of B-Dama, has flipped the former izakaya-style kiosk at Swan’s Market into a two-for-one special with the opening of Dela Curo and Sundo. Dela Curo centers around rich, black Japanese curry that’s made by caramelizing each component of the curry before combining them. Sundo, meanwhile, is all about sandwiches served on fluffy milk bread that Ono imports from Japan.

It’s been a long wait and slow open for the much-anticipated brick-and-mortar location of this hit birria truck. And though there’s been a truck parked and serving food outside the restaurant at 95 Linden Street, La Santa Torta finally celebrated its soft opening in mid-September. The new digs mean new menu items — including weekend brunch of chilaquiles rojos with choice of birria or chile relleno — though you can never go wrong with a trio of golden, beef-filled tacos on amber-hued tortillas.

Chef Crystal Wahpepah has taken over the former Reem’s space in Fruitvale, giving the space new life as one of the only Indigenous restaurants in the Bay Area. Wahpepah is a lifetime resident of East Oakland, a displaced member of the Kickapoo tribe of Oklahoma, and a graduate of the La Cocina incubator program. Her seasonal menu at the all-day restaurant, which celebrates its grand opening on November 13, stars ingredients like bison, amaranth, and chokeberries in dishes such as a Three Sisters Salad made with corn, squash, and beans and Kickapoo Chili thickened with hominy.