Oakland - Food & Drinks

The new drive-through Taqueria El Mezcal in San Pablo has everything you didn't know you needed to satisfy your munchies (and then some).

The pandemic has continued to devastate the Bay Area’s restaurant scene, and it is forcing Tanya Holland, chef-owner of Oakland’s beloved Brown Sugar Kitchen, to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Red Bay Coffee — the eco-conscious Oakland coffee roaster that will open a cafe inside the Ferry Building later this month — unveiled its new public roastery and headquarters this week at 3136 International Boulevard in Oakland. And it’s every bit as gorgeous as you can possibly imagine.

A new nightclub catering to the LGBTQ+ Latinx community of the East Bay is debuting on Tuesday, April 13 — but for obvious reasons it's going to start out sort of low-key serving drinks and quesabirria tacos.

As more businesses get to reopen around the Bay, we have news of some new ones opening for the first time, as well as a vaccination promotion from Krispy Kreme, and a Cal/OSHA fine for Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.

Sand Bar, a new Caribbean-themed "beach club" and cocktail lounge, is readying for an opening on Oakland's Auto Row, in a former auto dealership space at 2418 Broadway. Hoodline has the exclusive news of this new project from the team behind Uptown cocktail spots Drexl and The Miranda, and the sports bar Fort Green in Old Oakland.

Low Bar (2300 Webster Street, Oakland), a new bar and restaurant from a pair of industry vets that was announced early last year and subsequently delayed by the pandemic, is getting ready for an imminent grand opening.

A new LGBTQ bar appears to be headed for downtown Oakland — technically in the Uptown vicinity — in a ground-floor space of the iconic I. Magnin Building at 2001 Broadway.

West Oakland’s Ghost Town Brewing plans to expand to the city’s Laurel District next month, taking over the recently-vacated 4505 Burgers and BBQ location.

A beloved institution on Grand Avenue in Oakland, The Alley, a divey piano bar/restaurant which has been in operation some 90 years, is one of many bars and music venues around the Bay that have suffered with little or no revenue the past nine months. But now, things are coming to a head because the longtime owner of the bar also has upstairs tenants who are having trouble paying rent.

Rectangular slices with premium ingredients and punny monikers have made a name for Square Pie Guys, who will expand with a new Oakland location on top of their cult-hit SoMa spot.

The Old Oakland sister restaurant to San Francisco's Tropisueno, El Gusano (1015 Clay Street), has closed for good after seven years in business.

Popular New York-based burger chain Shake Shack, which just opened its first San Francisco location earlier this year, is readying its Uptown Oakland outpost for a mid-December opening.

After shuttering its downtown Oakland location last October, Donut Savant debuted its new East Oakland store today to large, socially distant crowds.

During a time of endless restaurant closures, East Bay Chef Leilani Baugh has managed to ascend the odds and will hold the grand opening of her new West Oakland restaurant, Magnolia Street Wine Lounge and Kitchen, this Friday, featuring well-priced “Casian-Creole” cuisine.

The delivery-and-take-out only Burma Bites opened today, delivery app DoorDash is a surprise investor.

Respected local pitmaster Matthew Horn is finally opening the doors of Horn Barbecue (2534 Mandela Parkway) this weekend in the former Brown Sugar Kitchen space near the West Oakland/Emeryville border.

The upscale-casual Daughter's Diner had hoped to open in downtown Oakland earlier this year — but then the pandemic derailed those plans.

A new seafood spot offering Maine lobster, Dungeness crab, crawfish, and raw oysters on the half-shell has just opened in Oakland's Jack London Square with a limited menu.

Popular nightclub The Uptown is also set to close.

Plus, Adams Point has a new zero-waste cafe offering coffee, ice cream and bubble tea.

Plus, there's a new doughnut shop downtown.

Plus, Grand Lake now has a specialty beverage shop focused on beer, wine and liquor made by women and people of color.

Lake Merritt also has a new taqueria, with burritos and quesabirria on the menu.

A Chinese-Singaporean vegan restaurant finds a new permanent home, a popular San Francisco-based barbecue spot closes its MacArthur outpost and Uptown has a new Japanese-American joint.