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A slice of strawberry pie on a plate with a drink in the background. Adahlia Cole

Here Are the Hottest New Restaurants in the East Bay, May 2023

The most exciting new restaurants in Oakland, Berkeley, and beyond

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The East Bay’s food scene for a long time existed in the shadow of San Francisco’s, relegated to mentions of Alice Water’s hallowed Chez Panisse, but not much else. Yet with time, the East Bay’s restaurants and reputation have grown as it became home to some of the most innovative, fun, and exciting openings around. The East Bay Heatmap is made for those keeping track of the latest and greatest restaurants and cafes to open on this side of the bridge, from late-night Korean food from a celebrity chef to a restaurant serving Peruvian chicken with picturesque views of the bay. Read on for 19 of the East Bay’s most exciting new places to eat and drink.

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Sailing Goat Restaurant

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Chef Arnon Oren recently took over the picturesque restaurant space once operated by Black Star Pirate BBQ, situated at the Point San Pablo Harbor. He’s making the space his own with the new fast-casual restaurant Sailing Goat. Expect wood-fired pizzas, such as the seasonally appropriate mushroom and asparagus pie, alongside other dishes such as Brazilian moqueca, a seafood stew made with local fish, and roasted Peruvian chicken. Beers, wine, and some nonalcoholic drinks are available as well.

A plate of sliced chicken with lacquered skin, an arugula-carrot salad, and grapes against a purple table background, from the Sailing Goat restaurant. Sailing Goat

SanDai & KOPI Bar

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The new SanDai and adjacent Kopi Bar in Walnut Creek offer two ways to try chef Nora Haron’s food. SanDai is the restaurant side of things, serving Nusantara cuisine that spans Haron’s background and food from across Southeast Asia. There are sambal-laden dishes such as the grilled half chicken dish smothered in a coconut- and turmeric-flavored sambal, and Haron’s version of beef rendang. At Kopi Bar, Indonesian coffee and Haron’s pastries are front and center, with items such as a coconut egg cream cruffin among the offerings.

Adahlia Cole

Pizzeria da Laura

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Laura Meyer’s competition-winning pizzas are the best reason to visit her first restaurant, Pizzeria da Laura, located in downtown Berkeley. The pies here come in four forms — New York, Sicilian, Detroit, and grandma — and pizzas are available in a mix-and-match style that sees toppings placed on the base of your choice. The Ray J features a tomato-based sauce, with mozzarella, thick and thin pepperoni, basil, stracciatella, fermented honey, and shaved parm — but we’ll leave it to you whether you go for Sicilian or Detroit-style. Make sure to give the pasta side of the menu a once-over too, as it comes packed with Meyer’s favorites, including a family ragu recipe courtesy of her dad.

Tim Marsolais

Boichik Bagels

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Every bagel aficionado in the Bay Area has perhaps already tried one of Emily Winston’s lauded bagels, but now the mothership has arrived in the form of a brand-new factory located in North Berkeley. Watch the bagel robot assist with the production line, then grab an Everything bagel with hatch chile cream cheese — or whatever your preference may be — before heading over to the outdoor patio to enjoy your haul.

A spread of bagels, lox, and cream cheese spreads on a table from Boichik Bagels Lydia Daniller/Boichik Bagels

Starter Bakery

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Starter Bakery is already familiar to those in the East Bay as a wholesale operation outfitting grocery stores and cafes with kouignoù-amann and croissants for 10 years. Now it’s finally opening a retail shop on March 4. Expect updated recipes fit for being lifted straight from the oven directly into customers' hands; don’t skip the cardamom pistachio buns, the chocolate babka, or any of the new cake offerings. Savory options will include quiche, as well as a grab-and-go line of sandwiches and salads.

Two cardamom pistachio buns are seen in the sunlight. Molly DeCoudreax

ACRE Kitchen and Bar

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Many were saddened to see Oliveto’s 35-year tenure in the Market Hall building come to an end, but in its place is the new Acre, looking to fill out the two-story space with a cafe and restaurant. If you’re more in the mood for the feel of a “European-style” cafe, park yourself downstairs and pick out some sardines or garlic shrimp with a glass of wine. If you’d rather have bigger dishes for a dinner at night (with a cocktail), head upstairs for the heftier plates, such as a whole roasted branzino or a rotisserie chicken.

Photo by Hardy Wilson, Courtesy ACRERestaurant

Poppy Bagels

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Pop-up favorite Poppy Bagels built its fanbase through bagel deliveries and a regular stint at the Grand Lake Farmers Market, but now they’re throwing open the doors on a permanent home in Temescal. The everything and salt and pepper bagels are favorites, and on the sandwich side go classic with a lox bagel, or try something different like the truffle honey combo, employing black truffle chive cream cheese topped with local honey.

Lauren Saria

Hanshin Pocha Oakland

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Bay Area fans of celebrity chef Baek Jong-won will be excited to note that an outpost of the Korean restaurant chain Hanshin Pocha has landed in Oakland. The restaurant will serve the late-night crowds past midnight — it’s open until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday — with plates of fried chicken, corn cheese, tteokbokki, and bowls of seafood-laden soondubu jjigae.

Mother Tongue Cafe & Bar

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Oakland-based Mother Tongue Coffee is already known for its excellent coffee beans, but now the roaster opened its first cafe with an (expected) robust coffee program and perhaps an unexpected element: a cocktail menu. Taking advantage of a full liquor license that came with the space, along with the coffee, pastry, and toast offerings, there will be a chance to sip on pisco palomas and spritzes as well.

A bar in a business. Lindsey Shea

Chef Paul Iglesias recently opened Parche in Uptown Oakland, a new restaurant serving “contemporary Colombian” food in a well-designed setting. The menu offers small plates and shareable items, including build-your-own ceviches, which are well worth a look. The empanadas and carimañolas are also worth consideration, along with the restaurant’s Spanish-style gin and tonics.

A bar with chairs. Adahlia Cole

Calabash

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Calabash is a new project from Kingston 11’s Nigel Jones and Komaaj’s Hanif Sadr. It’s an all-day spot that serves both Afro-Caribbean dishes and Northern Iranian cuisine, taking diners from day to night. There are egg dishes and tahini and jam toast for breakfast, while heartier dishes like roasted chicken or platters of sumac-laden labneh dip go from lunch until the evening. There’s also a cocktail bar with specialty drinks and a separate wine bar featuring local wines to keep the party going in this multi-functional spot.

Patricia Chang

Mama's Boy

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There’s a new New York-style slice shop in the Town and its name is Mama’s Boy, from the Athletic Club team. Pies are sold whole or by the slice, but whatever your hunger dictates, make sure to scope out the daily special, or stick with the classic pepperoni slice to sate your pizza needs.

Edith's Pie

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Mike Raskin and Jeffrey Wright built Edith’s Pie into a local favorite, selling all sorts of sweet and savory pies at pop-ups around the Bay Area. Now, the duo opened a brand-new shop in Oakland serving, of course, pies, including savory hand pies, sweet chocolate chess pies, plus some seasonal options. But this place is about more than just pies — alongside their crusted confections, the storefront also serves local wines and beers, plus low-ABV drinks, such as the Gemini & Leo, made with syrup from leftover strawberry tops, Manzanilla sherry, orange sweet vermouth, and citrus.

Adahlia Cole

Señor Sisig (Oakland)

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Señor Sisig became a well-known brand in the Bay Area through years of running their fleet of food trucks and expanding into permanent restaurants, slinging sisig burritos, and even expanding into vegan options. With their latest Oakland location, Señor Sisig is adding new shareable dishes such as sisig lumpia and a lechon kawali plate, but there’s also the addition of a bar and cocktails. The mezcal- and tequila-focused drinks menu will include cocktails like a tamarind and chile margarita or an ube colada slushy with rum and mezcal.

Four glasses with drinks of different colors, in front of a mural depicting heroes of Oakland at Senor Sisig. Daniel Beck

Left Bank Jack London Square

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Left Bank Brasserie has become a part of the Bay Area’s exploding French restaurant scene, with outposts in San Jose, Larkspur, and Menlo Park. But the newest addition to the mini-restaurant chain boasts views of the waterfront at Jack London Square along with the classic French fare fans have come to expect. Among the new options are a seafood platter and a fried chicken dish made as an ode to New York’s Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken.

Leila Seppa

Crumble & Whisk

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Charles Farrier has sold his popular cheesecakes and treats at farmer’s markets since 2016, but the La Cocina incubator alum opened his own space in Oakland’s Laurel District in December. Now, those who know Farrier for his sweets — the personal-sized cheesecakes are perfect for when you just want a sweet little something — can buy them at his permanent bakery, and sample more of Farrier’s food with the inclusion of breakfast and lunch.

Four mini-sized cheesecakes with fruit toppings from Crumble & Whisk Crumble & Whisk

Saltbreaker

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Despite construction making it a bit hard to find, Saltbreaker can feel like a restaurant oasis in Alameda. The spot creates space for chef Justin Davis to use “basic French techniques and principles to reinterpret California cuisine,” per the East Bay Express. Go for the SB Burger, which features a bacon beef patty, or the solid steak frites. For drinks, the restaurant serves both a freezer martini and freezer Manhattans, as well as a spiked hot guava drink served with a spiced guava butter cookie.

Charlie May Coffee and Tea House

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Charlie May made a name for itself as a coffee shop staple at pop-ups and markets, but now sisters Arianna and Analyssa Cruz have opened a permanent location in Oakland. Try the champorado or latiya cold brew, two drinks for which the shop is known.

Pizza The Bay

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PizzaHacker alums continue to spread the good pizza gospel, including pizzaiolo Derek Lau who opened State Flour Pizza Company in Berkeley, and Amrafel Tomas who debuted the new Castro Valley spot Pizza the Bay. Along with business partner Shimei Burgueno, the duo is baking sourdough pizza with a creative spin, such as the Washington Square pie with mozzarella, onions, aged prosciutto, grana padana, and an egg. They’re also providing non-pizza options, including calzones, sandwiches, and a selection of wings; if you’re a fan of dipping food into cups of ranch dressing, don’t skip Burgueno’s version.

A pizza topped with mozzarella and green pesto is seen on a pizza peel. Pizza the Bay

Sailing Goat Restaurant

Chef Arnon Oren recently took over the picturesque restaurant space once operated by Black Star Pirate BBQ, situated at the Point San Pablo Harbor. He’s making the space his own with the new fast-casual restaurant Sailing Goat. Expect wood-fired pizzas, such as the seasonally appropriate mushroom and asparagus pie, alongside other dishes such as Brazilian moqueca, a seafood stew made with local fish, and roasted Peruvian chicken. Beers, wine, and some nonalcoholic drinks are available as well.

A plate of sliced chicken with lacquered skin, an arugula-carrot salad, and grapes against a purple table background, from the Sailing Goat restaurant. Sailing Goat

SanDai & KOPI Bar

The new SanDai and adjacent Kopi Bar in Walnut Creek offer two ways to try chef Nora Haron’s food. SanDai is the restaurant side of things, serving Nusantara cuisine that spans Haron’s background and food from across Southeast Asia. There are sambal-laden dishes such as the grilled half chicken dish smothered in a coconut- and turmeric-flavored sambal, and Haron’s version of beef rendang. At Kopi Bar, Indonesian coffee and Haron’s pastries are front and center, with items such as a coconut egg cream cruffin among the offerings.

Adahlia Cole

Pizzeria da Laura

Laura Meyer’s competition-winning pizzas are the best reason to visit her first restaurant, Pizzeria da Laura, located in downtown Berkeley. The pies here come in four forms — New York, Sicilian, Detroit, and grandma — and pizzas are available in a mix-and-match style that sees toppings placed on the base of your choice. The Ray J features a tomato-based sauce, with mozzarella, thick and thin pepperoni, basil, stracciatella, fermented honey, and shaved parm — but we’ll leave it to you whether you go for Sicilian or Detroit-style. Make sure to give the pasta side of the menu a once-over too, as it comes packed with Meyer’s favorites, including a family ragu recipe courtesy of her dad.

Tim Marsolais

Boichik Bagels

Every bagel aficionado in the Bay Area has perhaps already tried one of Emily Winston’s lauded bagels, but now the mothership has arrived in the form of a brand-new factory located in North Berkeley. Watch the bagel robot assist with the production line, then grab an Everything bagel with hatch chile cream cheese — or whatever your preference may be — before heading over to the outdoor patio to enjoy your haul.

A spread of bagels, lox, and cream cheese spreads on a table from Boichik Bagels Lydia Daniller/Boichik Bagels

Starter Bakery

Starter Bakery is already familiar to those in the East Bay as a wholesale operation outfitting grocery stores and cafes with kouignoù-amann and croissants for 10 years. Now it’s finally opening a retail shop on March 4. Expect updated recipes fit for being lifted straight from the oven directly into customers' hands; don’t skip the cardamom pistachio buns, the chocolate babka, or any of the new cake offerings. Savory options will include quiche, as well as a grab-and-go line of sandwiches and salads.

Two cardamom pistachio buns are seen in the sunlight. Molly DeCoudreax

ACRE Kitchen and Bar

Many were saddened to see Oliveto’s 35-year tenure in the Market Hall building come to an end, but in its place is the new Acre, looking to fill out the two-story space with a cafe and restaurant. If you’re more in the mood for the feel of a “European-style” cafe, park yourself downstairs and pick out some sardines or garlic shrimp with a glass of wine. If you’d rather have bigger dishes for a dinner at night (with a cocktail), head upstairs for the heftier plates, such as a whole roasted branzino or a rotisserie chicken.

Photo by Hardy Wilson, Courtesy ACRERestaurant

Poppy Bagels

Pop-up favorite Poppy Bagels built its fanbase through bagel deliveries and a regular stint at the Grand Lake Farmers Market, but now they’re throwing open the doors on a permanent home in Temescal. The everything and salt and pepper bagels are favorites, and on the sandwich side go classic with a lox bagel, or try something different like the truffle honey combo, employing black truffle chive cream cheese topped with local honey.

Lauren Saria

Hanshin Pocha Oakland

Bay Area fans of celebrity chef Baek Jong-won will be excited to note that an outpost of the Korean restaurant chain Hanshin Pocha has landed in Oakland. The restaurant will serve the late-night crowds past midnight — it’s open until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday — with plates of fried chicken, corn cheese, tteokbokki, and bowls of seafood-laden soondubu jjigae.

Mother Tongue Cafe & Bar

Oakland-based Mother Tongue Coffee is already known for its excellent coffee beans, but now the roaster opened its first cafe with an (expected) robust coffee program and perhaps an unexpected element: a cocktail menu. Taking advantage of a full liquor license that came with the space, along with the coffee, pastry, and toast offerings, there will be a chance to sip on pisco palomas and spritzes as well.

A bar in a business. Lindsey Shea

Parche

Chef Paul Iglesias recently opened Parche in Uptown Oakland, a new restaurant serving “contemporary Colombian” food in a well-designed setting. The menu offers small plates and shareable items, including build-your-own ceviches, which are well worth a look. The empanadas and carimañolas are also worth consideration, along with the restaurant’s Spanish-style gin and tonics.

A bar with chairs. Adahlia Cole

Calabash

Calabash is a new project from Kingston 11’s Nigel Jones and Komaaj’s Hanif Sadr. It’s an all-day spot that serves both Afro-Caribbean dishes and Northern Iranian cuisine, taking diners from day to night. There are egg dishes and tahini and jam toast for breakfast, while heartier dishes like roasted chicken or platters of sumac-laden labneh dip go from lunch until the evening. There’s also a cocktail bar with specialty drinks and a separate wine bar featuring local wines to keep the party going in this multi-functional spot.

Patricia Chang

Mama's Boy

There’s a new New York-style slice shop in the Town and its name is Mama’s Boy, from the Athletic Club team. Pies are sold whole or by the slice, but whatever your hunger dictates, make sure to scope out the daily special, or stick with the classic pepperoni slice to sate your pizza needs.

Edith's Pie

Mike Raskin and Jeffrey Wright built Edith’s Pie into a local favorite, selling all sorts of sweet and savory pies at pop-ups around the Bay Area. Now, the duo opened a brand-new shop in Oakland serving, of course, pies, including savory hand pies, sweet chocolate chess pies, plus some seasonal options. But this place is about more than just pies — alongside their crusted confections, the storefront also serves local wines and beers, plus low-ABV drinks, such as the Gemini & Leo, made with syrup from leftover strawberry tops, Manzanilla sherry, orange sweet vermouth, and citrus.

Adahlia Cole

Señor Sisig (Oakland)

Señor Sisig became a well-known brand in the Bay Area through years of running their fleet of food trucks and expanding into permanent restaurants, slinging sisig burritos, and even expanding into vegan options. With their latest Oakland location, Señor Sisig is adding new shareable dishes such as sisig lumpia and a lechon kawali plate, but there’s also the addition of a bar and cocktails. The mezcal- and tequila-focused drinks menu will include cocktails like a tamarind and chile margarita or an ube colada slushy with rum and mezcal.

Four glasses with drinks of different colors, in front of a mural depicting heroes of Oakland at Senor Sisig. Daniel Beck

Left Bank Jack London Square

Left Bank Brasserie has become a part of the Bay Area’s exploding French restaurant scene, with outposts in San Jose, Larkspur, and Menlo Park. But the newest addition to the mini-restaurant chain boasts views of the waterfront at Jack London Square along with the classic French fare fans have come to expect. Among the new options are a seafood platter and a fried chicken dish made as an ode to New York’s Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken.

Leila Seppa

Related Maps

Crumble & Whisk

Charles Farrier has sold his popular cheesecakes and treats at farmer’s markets since 2016, but the La Cocina incubator alum opened his own space in Oakland’s Laurel District in December. Now, those who know Farrier for his sweets — the personal-sized cheesecakes are perfect for when you just want a sweet little something — can buy them at his permanent bakery, and sample more of Farrier’s food with the inclusion of breakfast and lunch.

Four mini-sized cheesecakes with fruit toppings from Crumble & Whisk Crumble & Whisk

Saltbreaker

Despite construction making it a bit hard to find, Saltbreaker can feel like a restaurant oasis in Alameda. The spot creates space for chef Justin Davis to use “basic French techniques and principles to reinterpret California cuisine,” per the East Bay Express. Go for the SB Burger, which features a bacon beef patty, or the solid steak frites. For drinks, the restaurant serves both a freezer martini and freezer Manhattans, as well as a spiked hot guava drink served with a spiced guava butter cookie.

Charlie May Coffee and Tea House

Charlie May made a name for itself as a coffee shop staple at pop-ups and markets, but now sisters Arianna and Analyssa Cruz have opened a permanent location in Oakland. Try the champorado or latiya cold brew, two drinks for which the shop is known.

Pizza The Bay

PizzaHacker alums continue to spread the good pizza gospel, including pizzaiolo Derek Lau who opened State Flour Pizza Company in Berkeley, and Amrafel Tomas who debuted the new Castro Valley spot Pizza the Bay. Along with business partner Shimei Burgueno, the duo is baking sourdough pizza with a creative spin, such as the Washington Square pie with mozzarella, onions, aged prosciutto, grana padana, and an egg. They’re also providing non-pizza options, including calzones, sandwiches, and a selection of wings; if you’re a fan of dipping food into cups of ranch dressing, don’t skip Burgueno’s version.

A pizza topped with mozzarella and green pesto is seen on a pizza peel. Pizza the Bay

Related Maps