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"content": "\u003cp>It started with a simple idea: In this time when dining out is an increasingly unattainable proposition for so many people, what if restaurants took money out of the equation? What if — for one day, at least — diners only had to pay however much they could \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">afford\u003c/a>?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This was the vision that Mexico City chefs Norma Listman and Saqib Keval had when they started hosting “Paga Lo Que Puedas” days at their now-Michelin-starred restaurant Masala y Maiz. They weren’t the first restaurant owners to experiment with a Pay What You Can model, but they may be the first to try to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988641/pay-what-you-can-bay-area-restaurants-reems-bombera-masala-y-maiz-oakland-sf\">turn it into a worldwide movement\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This Wednesday, Aug. 26, will be the first \u003cem>global\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.pagaloquepuedas-paywhatyoucan.com/\">Paga Lo Que Puedas day\u003c/a>, a Masala y Maiz–organized initiative that has prompted more than 100 restaurants worldwide to sign up, including nine in the Bay Area. For this one day, these restaurants will serve their regular menus, and diners who come can order whatever they like and pay whatever amount they choose — nothing, even, if that’s all they can afford. (Drinks will still be full price.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg\" alt=\"In an outdoor courtyard, a man and woman in blue aprons prepare banana-leaf tamales in a large pot.\" class=\"wp-image-13987862\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Norma Listman and Saqib Keval cooking at the first iteration of their Mexico City restaurant, Masala y Maiz. The chefs are organizing the first global Paga Lo Que Puedas initiative on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (Sana Javeri Kadri, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The restaurant industry generally is kind of shitty … and it’s really easy to get caught in that spiral of everything that’s wrong about the industry,” says Keval, who’s probably best known in the Bay Area as one of the co-founders of Oakland-based \u003ca href=\"https://peopleskitchencollective.com/\">People’s Kitchen Collective\u003c/a> food justice organization. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“But this wave of interest from restaurants all over the world made me feel hopeful,” he says. It made me see that we’re not alone.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is where Keval and Listman \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987839/masala-y-maiz-mexico-city-restaurant-oakland-bay-area-roots\">first met and fell in love\u003c/a>, and where they began their years-long collaboration in creating community-oriented food spaces. So they’d been hopeful that there would be a strong Bay Area turnout for this initiative. The nine Bay Area participants run the gamut from casual pasta counters (Sfizio in Oakland and Pasta Supply Co. in SF) to upscale Mexican (Bombera in Oakland and Acopio Alta Cocina in San José) and a wine country clam shack (Sonoma’s Valley Swim Club). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If there’s any commonality between the restaurants, Keval says, it’s these are the exact places he would have predicted would sign up for the initiative. These are the restaurants that have an explicit focus on social consciousness and aren’t shy about being outspoken with their activism. That includes places like \u003ca href=\"https://www.reemscalifornia.com/\">Reem’s\u003c/a>, slinger of the California-influenced Palestinian flatbreads known as man’oushe, which recently shifted to a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/06/24/reems-california-jack-london-square/\">worker-owned business model\u003c/a> for its new Jack London Square storefront in Oakland. Worker collective–owned \u003ca href=\"https://understoryoakland.com/\">Understory\u003c/a>, meanwhile, is joining the initiative as an extension of its own Pay What You Can program, which it offers daily in the form of a single entree.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16.jpg\" alt=\"Sun-dappled table inside a sunny restaurant dining room.\" class=\"wp-image-13993318\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A picturesque table at Bombera in Oakland. (Clara Rice, courtesy of Bombera)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As Keval puts it, “They’re the people who I know I can always count on — that are always the first to step up for community and the first to use their restaurants as tools to create change.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In truth, Keval admits he wishes that \u003cem>more \u003c/em>Bay Area restaurants had signed up, particularly in the fine dining sector. Albi and Oyster Oyster, two participants in Washington, D.C., are both Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants; New York’s Caribbean hotspot Kabawa, which topped several \u003ca href=\"https://www.foodandwine.com/top-united-states-restaurants-2026-11919583\">best restaurant\u003c/a> lists \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/dining/best-nyc-restaurants.html\">this year\u003c/a>, occupies a similarly rarefied, high-end space. And Masala y Maiz itself has a Michelin star.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, no restaurants in that tier are participating this year. But Keval believes it would send a powerful message if they did. After all, he says, the cost of operating a restaurant and the cost of dining out have both gone up so much that it’s caused many restaurants to become segregated along lines of race and class.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In areas like the Bay Area, where this is pushed to the extreme, it makes it feel like the only people who get to experience a certain style of hospitality are the people who can afford to pay for it,” he says. “And that goes against why so many of us joined the [restaurant] industry in the first place.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie.jpg\" alt=\"A dish of mussels in a red sauce, with rolls of bread on the side.\" class=\"wp-image-13987863\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A plate of Balchão-style mussels at Masala y Maiz in Mexico City. (Ana Lorenzana, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But what if restaurants like, say, The French Laundry or Chez Panisse were accessible to \u003cem>anyone\u003c/em>, at least for one day? How would that change people’s perspectives on who and what fine dining is for? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What’s the point of it if it’s so exclusive?” Keval says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His hope is that by soliciting feedback from this year’s participants, he’ll get a better sense of how restaurants across different cultures, price points and service styles experienced the Pay What You Can model — and that next year, even more restaurants, including fine dining restaurants, will be inspired to join.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Keval’s experience, for instance, Masala y Maiz doesn’t actually lose money on the Paga Lo Que Puedas days. Some diners pay very little or dine for free, but that’s offset by wealthier patrons who willingly pay more to help subsidize those meals.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the end, isn’t that what community is all about?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What we’re trying to do, ultimately,” Keval says, “is build a global community of like-minded chefs and restaurateurs that are trying to create change.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>See the full list of Bay Area restaurants participating in this year’s Paga Lo Que Puedas initiative below:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Oakland\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Dcei0tPIJ_J/?img_index=1\">Bombera\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reemscalifornia/\">Reem’s\u003c/a> (Jack London Square location only; the Mission restaurant is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbYoCqbMJKr/\">temporarily closed\u003c/a>) \u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sfiziopasta/\">Sfizio\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcfFMUCGicq/?img_index=1\">Tacos Oscar\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcfEEUPm8dn/?img_index=1\">Understory\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>San Francisco\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/merkadosf/\">Merkado\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pastasupplyco/\">Pasta Supply Co.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>San José\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbytnYWy_Ig/\">Acopio Alta Cocina \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Sonoma\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DYx7cHCjieW/\">Valley Swim Club\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction:\u003c/em> \u003cem>An earlier version of this story omitted Tacos Oscar, which is also participating in the Aug. 26 Pay What You Can initiative.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is where Keval and Listman \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987839/masala-y-maiz-mexico-city-restaurant-oakland-bay-area-roots\">first met and fell in love\u003c/a>, and where they began their years-long collaboration in creating community-oriented food spaces. So they’d been hopeful that there would be a strong Bay Area turnout for this initiative. The nine Bay Area participants run the gamut from casual pasta counters (Sfizio in Oakland and Pasta Supply Co. in SF) to upscale Mexican (Bombera in Oakland and Acopio Alta Cocina in San José) and a wine country clam shack (Sonoma’s Valley Swim Club). \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If there’s any commonality between the restaurants, Keval says, it’s these are the exact places he would have predicted would sign up for the initiative. These are the restaurants that have an explicit focus on social consciousness and aren’t shy about being outspoken with their activism. That includes places like \u003ca href=\"https://www.reemscalifornia.com/\">Reem’s\u003c/a>, slinger of the California-influenced Palestinian flatbreads known as man’oushe, which recently shifted to a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/06/24/reems-california-jack-london-square/\">worker-owned business model\u003c/a> for its new Jack London Square storefront in Oakland. Worker collective–owned \u003ca href=\"https://understoryoakland.com/\">Understory\u003c/a>, meanwhile, is joining the initiative as an extension of its own Pay What You Can program, which it offers daily in the form of a single entree.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If there’s any commonality between the restaurants, Keval says, it’s these are the exact places he would have predicted would sign up for the initiative. These are the restaurants that have an explicit focus on social consciousness and aren’t shy about being outspoken with their activism. That includes places like \u003ca href=\"https://www.reemscalifornia.com/\">Reem’s\u003c/a>, slinger of the California-influenced Palestinian flatbreads known as man’oushe, which recently shifted to a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/06/24/reems-california-jack-london-square/\">worker-owned business model\u003c/a> for its new Jack London Square storefront in Oakland. Worker collective–owned \u003ca href=\"https://understoryoakland.com/\">Understory\u003c/a>, meanwhile, is joining the initiative as an extension of its own Pay What You Can program, which it offers daily in the form of a single entree.\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16.jpg\" alt=\"Sun-dappled table inside a sunny restaurant dining room.\" class=\"wp-image-13993318\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A picturesque table at Bombera in Oakland.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As Keval puts it, “They’re the people who I know I can always count on — that are always the first to step up for community and the first to use their restaurants as tools to create change.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In truth, Keval admits he wishes that \u003cem>more \u003c/em>Bay Area restaurants had signed up, particularly in the fine dining sector. Albi and Oyster Oyster, two participants in Washington, D.C., are both Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants; New York’s Caribbean hotspot Kabawa, which topped several \u003ca href=\"https://www.foodandwine.com/top-united-states-restaurants-2026-11919583\">best restaurant\u003c/a> lists \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/dining/best-nyc-restaurants.html\">this year\u003c/a>, occupies a similarly rarefied, high-end space. And Masala y Maiz itself has a Michelin star.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In truth, Keval admits he wishes that \u003cem>more \u003c/em>Bay Area restaurants had signed up, particularly in the fine dining sector. Albi and Oyster Oyster, two participants in Washington, D.C., are both Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants; New York’s Caribbean hotspot Kabawa, which topped several \u003ca href=\"https://www.foodandwine.com/top-united-states-restaurants-2026-11919583\">best restaurant\u003c/a> lists \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/dining/best-nyc-restaurants.html\">this year\u003c/a>, occupies a similarly rarefied, high-end space. And Masala y Maiz itself has a Michelin star.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, no restaurants in that tier are participating this year. But Keval believes it would send a powerful message if they did. After all, he says, the cost of operating a restaurant and the cost of dining out have both gone up so much that it’s caused many restaurants to become segregated along lines of race and class.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, no restaurants in that tier are participating this year. But Keval believes it would send a powerful message if they did. After all, he says, the cost of operating a restaurant and the cost of dining out have both gone up so much that it’s caused many restaurants to become segregated along lines of race and class.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“In areas like the Bay Area, where this is pushed to the extreme, it makes it feel like the only people who get to experience a certain style of hospitality are the people who can afford to pay for it,” he says. “And that goes against why so many of us joined the [restaurant] industry in the first place.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“In areas like the Bay Area, where this is pushed to the extreme, it makes it feel like the only people who get to experience a certain style of hospitality are the people who can afford to pay for it,” he says. “And that goes against why so many of us joined the [restaurant] industry in the first place.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie.jpg\" alt=\"A dish of mussels in a red sauce, with rolls of bread on the side.\" class=\"wp-image-13987863\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A plate of Balchão-style mussels at Masala y Maiz in Mexico City.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie.jpg\" alt=\"A dish of mussels in a red sauce, with rolls of bread on the side.\" class=\"wp-image-13987863\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A plate of Balchão-style mussels at Masala y Maiz in Mexico City.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But what if restaurants like, say, The French Laundry or Chez Panisse were accessible to \u003cem>anyone\u003c/em>, at least for one day? How would that change people’s perspectives on who and what fine dining is for? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But what if restaurants like, say, The French Laundry or Chez Panisse were accessible to \u003cem>anyone\u003c/em>, at least for one day? How would that change people’s perspectives on who and what fine dining is for? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What’s the point of it if it’s so exclusive?” Keval says.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>His hope is that by soliciting feedback from this year’s participants, he’ll get a better sense of how restaurants across different cultures, price points and service styles experienced the Pay What You Can model — and that next year, even more restaurants, including fine dining restaurants, will be inspired to join.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>His hope is that by soliciting feedback from this year’s participants, he’ll get a better sense of how restaurants across different cultures, price points and service styles experienced the Pay What You Can model — and that next year, even more restaurants, including fine dining restaurants, will be inspired to join.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In Keval’s experience, for instance, Masala y Maiz doesn’t actually lose money on the Paga Lo Que Puedas days. Some diners pay very little or dine for free, but that’s offset by wealthier patrons who willingly pay more to help subsidize those meals.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In Keval’s experience, for instance, Masala y Maiz doesn’t actually lose money on the Paga Lo Que Puedas days. Some diners pay very little or dine for free, but that’s offset by wealthier patrons who willingly pay more to help subsidize those meals.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the end, isn’t that what community is all about?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What we’re trying to do, ultimately,” Keval says, “is build a global community of like-minded chefs and restaurateurs that are trying to create change.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“What we’re trying to do, ultimately,” Keval says, “is build a global community of like-minded chefs and restaurateurs that are trying to create change.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>See the full list of Bay Area restaurants participating in this year’s Paga Lo Que Puedas initiative below:\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>See the full list of Bay Area restaurants participating in this year’s Paga Lo Que Puedas initiative below:\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Dcei0tPIJ_J/?img_index=1\">Bombera\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reemscalifornia/\">Reem’s\u003c/a> (Jack London Square location only; the Mission restaurant is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbYoCqbMJKr/\">temporarily closed\u003c/a>) \u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sfiziopasta/\">Sfizio\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcfFMUCGicq/?img_index=1\">Tacos Oscar\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcfEEUPm8dn/?img_index=1\">Understory\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Dcei0tPIJ_J/?img_index=1\">Bombera\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reemscalifornia/\">Reem’s\u003c/a> (Jack London Square location only; the Mission restaurant is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbYoCqbMJKr/\">temporarily closed\u003c/a>) \u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sfiziopasta/\">Sfizio\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcfFMUCGicq/?img_index=1\">Tacos Oscar\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcfEEUPm8dn/?img_index=1\">Understory\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>San Francisco\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>San Francisco\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/merkadosf/\">Merkado\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pastasupplyco/\">Pasta Supply Co.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/merkadosf/\">Merkado\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pastasupplyco/\">Pasta Supply Co.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>San José\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbytnYWy_Ig/\">Acopio Alta Cocina \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbytnYWy_Ig/\">Acopio Alta Cocina \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Sonoma\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DYx7cHCjieW/\">Valley Swim Club\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DYx7cHCjieW/\">Valley Swim Club\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction:\u003c/em> \u003cem>An earlier version of this story omitted Tacos Oscar, which is also participating in the Aug. 26 Pay What You Can initiative.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Reem’s, Bombera, Pasta Supply Co. and more join a global initiative on Aug. 26.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It started with a simple idea: In this time when dining out is an increasingly unattainable proposition for so many people, what if restaurants took money out of the equation? What if — for one day, at least — diners only had to pay however much they could \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">afford\u003c/a>?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This was the vision that Mexico City chefs Norma Listman and Saqib Keval had when they started hosting “Paga Lo Que Puedas” days at their now-Michelin-starred restaurant Masala y Maiz. They weren’t the first restaurant owners to experiment with a Pay What You Can model, but they may be the first to try to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988641/pay-what-you-can-bay-area-restaurants-reems-bombera-masala-y-maiz-oakland-sf\">turn it into a worldwide movement\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This Wednesday, Aug. 26, will be the first \u003cem>global\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.pagaloquepuedas-paywhatyoucan.com/\">Paga Lo Que Puedas day\u003c/a>, a Masala y Maiz–organized initiative that has prompted more than 100 restaurants worldwide to sign up, including nine in the Bay Area. For this one day, these restaurants will serve their regular menus, and diners who come can order whatever they like and pay whatever amount they choose — nothing, even, if that’s all they can afford. (Drinks will still be full price.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg\" alt=\"In an outdoor courtyard, a man and woman in blue aprons prepare banana-leaf tamales in a large pot.\" class=\"wp-image-13987862\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Norma Listman and Saqib Keval cooking at the first iteration of their Mexico City restaurant, Masala y Maiz. The chefs are organizing the first global Paga Lo Que Puedas initiative on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (Sana Javeri Kadri, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The restaurant industry generally is kind of shitty … and it’s really easy to get caught in that spiral of everything that’s wrong about the industry,” says Keval, who’s probably best known in the Bay Area as one of the co-founders of Oakland-based \u003ca href=\"https://peopleskitchencollective.com/\">People’s Kitchen Collective\u003c/a> food justice organization. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“But this wave of interest from restaurants all over the world made me feel hopeful,” he says. It made me see that we’re not alone.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is where Keval and Listman \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987839/masala-y-maiz-mexico-city-restaurant-oakland-bay-area-roots\">first met and fell in love\u003c/a>, and where they began their years-long collaboration in creating community-oriented food spaces. So they’d been hopeful that there would be a strong Bay Area turnout for this initiative. The nine Bay Area participants run the gamut from casual pasta counters (Sfizio in Oakland and Pasta Supply Co. in SF) to upscale Mexican (Bombera in Oakland and Acopio Alta Cocina in San José) and a wine country clam shack (Sonoma’s Valley Swim Club). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If there’s any commonality between the restaurants, Keval says, it’s these are the exact places he would have predicted would sign up for the initiative. These are the restaurants that have an explicit focus on social consciousness and aren’t shy about being outspoken with their activism. That includes places like \u003ca href=\"https://www.reemscalifornia.com/\">Reem’s\u003c/a>, slinger of the California-influenced Palestinian flatbreads known as man’oushe, which recently shifted to a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/06/24/reems-california-jack-london-square/\">worker-owned business model\u003c/a> for its new Jack London Square storefront in Oakland. Worker collective–owned \u003ca href=\"https://understoryoakland.com/\">Understory\u003c/a>, meanwhile, is joining the initiative as an extension of its own Pay What You Can program, which it offers daily in the form of a single entree.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16.jpg\" alt=\"Sun-dappled table inside a sunny restaurant dining room.\" class=\"wp-image-13993318\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Bombera-Jan2024-16-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A picturesque table at Bombera in Oakland. (Clara Rice, courtesy of Bombera)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As Keval puts it, “They’re the people who I know I can always count on — that are always the first to step up for community and the first to use their restaurants as tools to create change.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In truth, Keval admits he wishes that \u003cem>more \u003c/em>Bay Area restaurants had signed up, particularly in the fine dining sector. Albi and Oyster Oyster, two participants in Washington, D.C., are both Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants; New York’s Caribbean hotspot Kabawa, which topped several \u003ca href=\"https://www.foodandwine.com/top-united-states-restaurants-2026-11919583\">best restaurant\u003c/a> lists \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/dining/best-nyc-restaurants.html\">this year\u003c/a>, occupies a similarly rarefied, high-end space. And Masala y Maiz itself has a Michelin star.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, no restaurants in that tier are participating this year. But Keval believes it would send a powerful message if they did. After all, he says, the cost of operating a restaurant and the cost of dining out have both gone up so much that it’s caused many restaurants to become segregated along lines of race and class.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In areas like the Bay Area, where this is pushed to the extreme, it makes it feel like the only people who get to experience a certain style of hospitality are the people who can afford to pay for it,” he says. “And that goes against why so many of us joined the [restaurant] industry in the first place.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie.jpg\" alt=\"A dish of mussels in a red sauce, with rolls of bread on the side.\" class=\"wp-image-13987863\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_PlatilloAlmejas3-copie-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A plate of Balchão-style mussels at Masala y Maiz in Mexico City. (Ana Lorenzana, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But what if restaurants like, say, The French Laundry or Chez Panisse were accessible to \u003cem>anyone\u003c/em>, at least for one day? How would that change people’s perspectives on who and what fine dining is for? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What’s the point of it if it’s so exclusive?” Keval says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His hope is that by soliciting feedback from this year’s participants, he’ll get a better sense of how restaurants across different cultures, price points and service styles experienced the Pay What You Can model — and that next year, even more restaurants, including fine dining restaurants, will be inspired to join.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Keval’s experience, for instance, Masala y Maiz doesn’t actually lose money on the Paga Lo Que Puedas days. Some diners pay very little or dine for free, but that’s offset by wealthier patrons who willingly pay more to help subsidize those meals.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the end, isn’t that what community is all about?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What we’re trying to do, ultimately,” Keval says, “is build a global community of like-minded chefs and restaurateurs that are trying to create change.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>See the full list of Bay Area restaurants participating in this year’s Paga Lo Que Puedas initiative below:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Oakland\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Dcei0tPIJ_J/?img_index=1\">Bombera\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reemscalifornia/\">Reem’s\u003c/a> (Jack London Square location only; the Mission restaurant is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbYoCqbMJKr/\">temporarily closed\u003c/a>) \u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sfiziopasta/\">Sfizio\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcfFMUCGicq/?img_index=1\">Tacos Oscar\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcfEEUPm8dn/?img_index=1\">Understory\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>San Francisco\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/merkadosf/\">Merkado\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pastasupplyco/\">Pasta Supply Co.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>San José\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbytnYWy_Ig/\">Acopio Alta Cocina \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Sonoma\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DYx7cHCjieW/\">Valley Swim Club\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction:\u003c/em> \u003cem>An earlier version of this story omitted Tacos Oscar, which is also participating in the Aug. 26 Pay What You Can initiative.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "best-outdoor-festivals-bay-area-fall-2026",
"title": "15 of the Best Outdoor Festivals in the Bay Area This Fall",
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"headTitle": "15 of the Best Outdoor Festivals in the Bay Area This Fall | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fall-guide-2026\">2026 Fall Arts Guide\u003c/a> to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more in the Bay Area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the magic of autumn approaches, winds swirl and sunsets turn to sherbert hues of pink and orange. Stores fill with Halloween decorations, and kids in backpacks are once again up early, zombie-walking to class.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>With fall comes festivals; for centuries, harvest time has meant outdoor celebrations. Here in the Bay Area, people sing in parks, eat in parking lots and dance in the streets. Below, find a select handful of this year’s outdoor fall festivals.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13974858\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Performances at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival are always free. (Courtesy Yerba Buena Gardens Festival)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/events/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=36955909&gbraid=0AAAAAD3Ys4dhgMHawicf5GGZOYX0Sz9gJ\">Yerba Buena Gardens Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Through Nov. 13\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There’s diversity, and then there’s this festival’s lineup, which includes the Cuban Afro-Latin Funk combo \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/los-calderones/\">Los Calderones\u003c/a>, a full day celebrating cultures of the continent during \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/african-arts-festival-2026/\">the African Arts Festival\u003c/a> and a special \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/indigenous-peoples-day-jeremy-dutcher/\">San Francisco Indigenous Peoples Day\u003c/a> performance by classically trained Indigenous Canadian tenor, Jeremy Dutcher. With free weekly performances on the open lawn between the Metreon and SFMOMA, the series concludes with a celebration of South Asian culture during the \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/bhangra-and-beats-111326/\">Bhangra & Beats Night Market\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/6th-annual-bizerkeley-food-fest-2026-tickets-1685365305999?aff=odcleoeventsincollection\">Bizerkeley Food Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 6\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, Berkeley \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What’s more Berkeley than a vegan food festival? A vegan food festival that helps rescue animals. In addition to live performances and free samples of food from an array of plant-based restaurants, the festival spreads awareness and raises funds for California Pit Bull Rescue — and even hosts a meet-and-greet with a few furry four-legged friends. (Note: Attendees may not bring their own dogs.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838.jpg\" alt=\"An older Black man in a shiny purple suit jacket smiles with eyes shut and arms raised in the air\" class=\"wp-image-13993027\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soul singer Eddie Holman, of “Hey There Lonely Girl” fame, is a scheduled performer at San José’s 2026 Chicano Soul Festival. (Bobby Bank/WireImage)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5th-annual-chicano-soul-fest-tickets-1984652009586\">Chicano Soul Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 29\u003cbr>History Park, San José\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lowriders, Aztec dancers and special appearances dot this afternoon festival. Two stages of live entertainment host performances by the likes of Eddie Holman, Sunny Ozuna, Mellow Man Ace and Discos Resaca. Also taking place is a special tribute to George Kerr, an architect of Latin soul music.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mill-valley-fall-arts-festival-september-19-20-2026-hours-10-5-tickets-1988942471473?aff=ebdsoporgprofile\">Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 19 and 20\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Old Mill Park, Mill Valley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Next year will mark seven decades of the Mill Valley Arts Festival, a traditional celebration of live performances, crafts from over 100 different makers and a children’s grove with magic tricks and storytelling. And who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? This year’s celebration introduces a new wine tasting element with local vineyards like \u003ca href=\"https://www.barraofmendocino.com/\">Barra of Mendocino\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gibbsnapavalley.com/\">Gibbs of Napa Valley\u003c/a> and more.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Schoolchildren in face masks stringing up paper lanterns in Clinton Park, Oakland.\" class=\"wp-image-13901757\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children string up paper lanterns at Clinton Park during the 2020 edition of the Little Saigon Mid-Autumn Festival. (Good Good Eatz)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ovcc-mid-autumn-festival-2026-tickets-1990660367747\">Oakland Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 20\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Clinton Park, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oakland’s Little Saigon district is home to several thousand Vietnamese residents, along with dozens of Vietnamese-owned businesses, including markets, restaurants and stores. Sponsored by the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, this annual event offers a chance to learn about the neighborhood while enjoying food, meeting small businesses owners and more.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.dcpla.org/artfest-about\">Daly City Public Library’s Art & Lit Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 26\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Serramonte Center, Daly City\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All the festivals in this guide are outdoors, but c’mon, we had to make an exception for the library. This festival is… inside \u003cem>the mall\u003c/em>? Hear us out: for the fifth year in a row, Daly City’s arts and crafts scene is on full display at this event, with local performers, craftspeople and musicians. An event for all ages, the celebration doubles as a fundraiser for the Daly City Public Library, whose main branch is just a short walk from the mall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.folsomstreet.org/folsom-street-fair\">Folsom Street Fair\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 27\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Folsom Street, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For 42 years, this eye-popping event has been a place where “pleasure meets protest, leather meets liberation, and visibility is an act of defiance.” A late-September celebration, Folsom is all about taking to the streets and enjoying the sunshine — even where the sun doesn’t usually shine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/sshhb5ISHvI?si=PelIllKibSJTWDbQ\">Oktoberfest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Throughout October\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Various locations\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lederhosen! Tubas! And most importantly: beer! \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaktoberfest.org/\">Oakland’s “Oaktoberfest”\u003c/a> takes place on Saturday Oct. 3 and Sunday Oct. 4 in East Oakland’s Dimond District. On the peninsula, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mvoktoberfest.com/\">Mountain View’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> gets underway the following weekend, Oct. 10 and 11. And if you’re in the South Bay, \u003ca href=\"https://campbelloktoberfest.com/\">Campbell’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> is Oct. 17 and 18. Up north, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sixflags.com/discoverykingdom/events/oktoberfest\">Vallejo’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> takes place beneath the roller coasters at none other than Six Flags amusement park. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13980417\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jaelah (left), 12, a member of the Blue Bird Riders from Manteca, rides with her friend Aniyah, 13, during the Oakland Black Cowboy Association parade in Oakland on Oct. 5, 2024. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandbca.org/\">Oakland’s Black Cowboy Parade\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 3\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Little Bobby Hutton Park, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An annual celebration of African American history and horseback riding, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008139/oaklands-black-cowboy-association-celebrates-50-years-with-parade-and-festival\">the Oakland Black Cowboy Association\u003c/a> returns for its yearly celebration. With food vendors, dancers, pony rides and a parade, this event has been the pride of West Oakland for over 50 years\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://castrostreetfair.org/fair/\">Castro Street Fair\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 4\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Castro Street, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For more than half a century, this celebration of community resilience takes over the Castro with music, arts and chic fashion. People are invited to come out and enjoy live music, food, DJs and more, all while raising funds for a number of charitable causes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.bpp60th.org/\">Black Panther Party 60th Anniversary Celebration\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 15–18\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Location to be determined\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sixty years ago, Bobby Seale and Dr. Huey P. Newton created and implemented a 10-point program, certifying the Oakland-born Black Panther Party for Self-Defense as a leading organization of new ideas and movements. On this weekend, the organization’s lasting legacy will be celebrated in proper fashion: a reunion of those who did the work and the community that’s benefited from their efforts. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://gardensatlakemerritt.org/autumn-lights-festival-2026/\">Autumn Lights Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 15–17\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Lake Merritt, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s an all-ages artistic light show, full of brightly colored illuminated installations, all inside a garden on the edge of Lake Merritt. What more does one need in life?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13993026\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rangoli, a colorful form of Indian folk art celebrating art, beauty and culture, is seen drawn on the sidewalks of Bishop Ranch City Center to celebrate the Hindu holiday Diwali in San Ramon, California, on Nov. 14, 2020. (Jessica Christian/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.aiaevents.org/diwali-dhamaka-2026\">Dussehra Diwali Dhamaka Festival of Lights & Fireworks\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 17\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>With bright lights, live Bollywood dancers and Indian cuisine of all sorts, the East Bay’s largest Diwali celebration boasts carnival rides and more than 150 food and shopping stalls. In addition to community dance groups and a huge fireworks show, attendees can also witness a 40 foot effigy of the demon king Raavan Dahan set aflame. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://hmbpumpkinfest.com/\">Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 17–18\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Half Moon Bay\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They’ll have a Halloween costume contest, seasonal drinks and workshops on pumpkin carving, plus work from over 250 artists, three stages of live music, a pumpkin parade and a pumpkin-weighing contest with some of the largest gourds known to man. All of that, plus a run, walk and stroll on Sunday to raise funds for \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercyhousing.org/california/coastside-senior/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23143634391&gbraid=0AAAAAD2ps6efEFaB6t-5JtQvVQFIEn2CA&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4orUBhCjARIsAIbF3qy72I2TfDfTNSAmIIRW3Ixp4Nt2_lR2SN0J6oSQt3gd5sKS51BZLpQaAoYSEALw_wcB\">low-income senior housing\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13937452\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Amalia Canales attends the Oakland Día de los Muertos Festival in Fruitvale on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://unitycouncil.org/program/diaoakland/\">Oakland’s Día De Los Muertos Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nov. 1\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Fruitvale Village, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are many other Día de los Muertos festivals around the Bay, but if you’ve never been to Fruitvale’s, you’re missing something special. This year’s theme is “La Lucha Continúa: Aquí Estamos y no Nos Vamos” (“The Struggle Continues: We’re Here and We’re Not Leaving”). A celebration of culture, rife with sugar skulls and marigolds, this festival doubles as a reminder that coming together in community can be a political act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Briefly noted\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfcheesefest.com/\">SF Cheese Fest\u003c/a> (Oct. 3, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/filipino-island-fest-tickets-1992240712601?aff=erelpanelorg\">Filipino Island Fest\u003c/a> (Oct. 3, Alameda)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://fleetweeksf.org/\">Fleet Week\u003c/a> (Oct. 4–12, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.litquake.org/\">Litquake\u003c/a> (Oct. 8–24, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"http://eventbrite.com/e/prescott-market-holiday-pop-up-craft-faires-tickets-1983919211768?aff=ebdssbdestsearch\">Prescott Market Holiday Pop-Up Craft Faires\u003c/a> (Oct. 24 and Dec. 19, Oakland)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fallchocolatesalon.com/\">Fall Holiday Chocolate Salon and Festival\u003c/a> (Nov. 22, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fall-guide-2026\">2026 Fall Arts Guide\u003c/a> to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more in the Bay Area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fall-guide-2026\">2026 Fall Arts Guide\u003c/a> to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more in the Bay Area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As the magic of autumn approaches, winds swirl and sunsets turn to sherbert hues of pink and orange. Stores fill with Halloween decorations, and kids in backpacks are once again up early, zombie-walking to class.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>As the magic of autumn approaches, winds swirl and sunsets turn to sherbert hues of pink and orange. Stores fill with Halloween decorations, and kids in backpacks are once again up early, zombie-walking to class.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With fall comes festivals; for centuries, harvest time has meant outdoor celebrations. Here in the Bay Area, people sing in parks, eat in parking lots and dance in the streets. Below, find a select handful of this year’s outdoor fall festivals.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>With fall comes festivals; for centuries, harvest time has meant outdoor celebrations. Here in the Bay Area, people sing in parks, eat in parking lots and dance in the streets. Below, find a select handful of this year’s outdoor fall festivals.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1920x1278.jpg 1920w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13974858\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Performances at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival are always free.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy Yerba Buena Gardens Festival)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13974858\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Performances at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival are always free.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy Yerba Buena Gardens Festival)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Yerba Buena Gardens Festival",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/events/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=36955909&gbraid=0AAAAAD3Ys4dhgMHawicf5GGZOYX0Sz9gJ\">Yerba Buena Gardens Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/events/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=36955909&gbraid=0AAAAAD3Ys4dhgMHawicf5GGZOYX0Sz9gJ\">Yerba Buena Gardens Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Through Nov. 13\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Through Nov. 13\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There’s diversity, and then there’s this festival’s lineup, which includes the Cuban Afro-Latin Funk combo \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/los-calderones/\">Los Calderones\u003c/a>, a full day celebrating cultures of the continent during \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/african-arts-festival-2026/\">the African Arts Festival\u003c/a> and a special \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/indigenous-peoples-day-jeremy-dutcher/\">San Francisco Indigenous Peoples Day\u003c/a> performance by classically trained Indigenous Canadian tenor, Jeremy Dutcher. With free weekly performances on the open lawn between the Metreon and SFMOMA, the series concludes with a celebration of South Asian culture during the \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/bhangra-and-beats-111326/\">Bhangra & Beats Night Market\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There’s diversity, and then there’s this festival’s lineup, which includes the Cuban Afro-Latin Funk combo \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/los-calderones/\">Los Calderones\u003c/a>, a full day celebrating cultures of the continent during \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/african-arts-festival-2026/\">the African Arts Festival\u003c/a> and a special \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/indigenous-peoples-day-jeremy-dutcher/\">San Francisco Indigenous Peoples Day\u003c/a> performance by classically trained Indigenous Canadian tenor, Jeremy Dutcher. With free weekly performances on the open lawn between the Metreon and SFMOMA, the series concludes with a celebration of South Asian culture during the \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/bhangra-and-beats-111326/\">Bhangra & Beats Night Market\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Bizerkeley Food Fest",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/6th-annual-bizerkeley-food-fest-2026-tickets-1685365305999?aff=odcleoeventsincollection\">Bizerkeley Food Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/6th-annual-bizerkeley-food-fest-2026-tickets-1685365305999?aff=odcleoeventsincollection\">Bizerkeley Food Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 6\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, Berkeley \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 6\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, Berkeley \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What’s more Berkeley than a vegan food festival? A vegan food festival that helps rescue animals. In addition to live performances and free samples of food from an array of plant-based restaurants, the festival spreads awareness and raises funds for California Pit Bull Rescue — and even hosts a meet-and-greet with a few furry four-legged friends. (Note: Attendees may not bring their own dogs.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>What’s more Berkeley than a vegan food festival? A vegan food festival that helps rescue animals. In addition to live performances and free samples of food from an array of plant-based restaurants, the festival spreads awareness and raises funds for California Pit Bull Rescue — and even hosts a meet-and-greet with a few furry four-legged friends. (Note: Attendees may not bring their own dogs.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"id": 13993027,
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"alt": "An older Black man in a shiny purple suit jacket smiles with eyes shut and arms raised in the air",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-1536x1025.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838.jpg\" alt=\"An older Black man in a shiny purple suit jacket smiles with eyes shut and arms raised in the air\" class=\"wp-image-13993027\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soul singer Eddie Holman, of “Hey There Lonely Girl” fame, is a scheduled performer at San José’s 2026 Chicano Soul Festival.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Bobby Bank/WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838.jpg\" alt=\"An older Black man in a shiny purple suit jacket smiles with eyes shut and arms raised in the air\" class=\"wp-image-13993027\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soul singer Eddie Holman, of “Hey There Lonely Girl” fame, is a scheduled performer at San José’s 2026 Chicano Soul Festival.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Bobby Bank/WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Chicano Soul Fest",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5th-annual-chicano-soul-fest-tickets-1984652009586\">Chicano Soul Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5th-annual-chicano-soul-fest-tickets-1984652009586\">Chicano Soul Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 29\u003cbr>History Park, San José\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Lowriders, Aztec dancers and special appearances dot this afternoon festival. Two stages of live entertainment host performances by the likes of Eddie Holman, Sunny Ozuna, Mellow Man Ace and Discos Resaca. Also taking place is a special tribute to George Kerr, an architect of Latin soul music.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Lowriders, Aztec dancers and special appearances dot this afternoon festival. Two stages of live entertainment host performances by the likes of Eddie Holman, Sunny Ozuna, Mellow Man Ace and Discos Resaca. Also taking place is a special tribute to George Kerr, an architect of Latin soul music.\u003c/p>\n"
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},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mill-valley-fall-arts-festival-september-19-20-2026-hours-10-5-tickets-1988942471473?aff=ebdsoporgprofile\">Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mill-valley-fall-arts-festival-september-19-20-2026-hours-10-5-tickets-1988942471473?aff=ebdsoporgprofile\">Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 19 and 20\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Old Mill Park, Mill Valley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 19 and 20\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Old Mill Park, Mill Valley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Next year will mark seven decades of the Mill Valley Arts Festival, a traditional celebration of live performances, crafts from over 100 different makers and a children’s grove with magic tricks and storytelling. And who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? This year’s celebration introduces a new wine tasting element with local vineyards like \u003ca href=\"https://www.barraofmendocino.com/\">Barra of Mendocino\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gibbsnapavalley.com/\">Gibbs of Napa Valley\u003c/a> and more.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Next year will mark seven decades of the Mill Valley Arts Festival, a traditional celebration of live performances, crafts from over 100 different makers and a children’s grove with magic tricks and storytelling. And who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? This year’s celebration introduces a new wine tasting element with local vineyards like \u003ca href=\"https://www.barraofmendocino.com/\">Barra of Mendocino\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gibbsnapavalley.com/\">Gibbs of Napa Valley\u003c/a> and more.\u003c/p>\n"
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"alt": "Schoolchildren in face masks stringing up paper lanterns in Clinton Park, Oakland.",
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"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Schoolchildren in face masks stringing up paper lanterns in Clinton Park, Oakland.\" class=\"wp-image-13901757\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children string up paper lanterns at Clinton Park during the 2020 edition of the Little Saigon Mid-Autumn Festival.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Good Good Eatz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Schoolchildren in face masks stringing up paper lanterns in Clinton Park, Oakland.\" class=\"wp-image-13901757\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children string up paper lanterns at Clinton Park during the 2020 edition of the Little Saigon Mid-Autumn Festival.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Good Good Eatz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Oakland Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ovcc-mid-autumn-festival-2026-tickets-1990660367747\">Oakland Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ovcc-mid-autumn-festival-2026-tickets-1990660367747\">Oakland Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 20\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Clinton Park, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 20\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Clinton Park, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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{
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Oakland’s Little Saigon district is home to several thousand Vietnamese residents, along with dozens of Vietnamese-owned businesses, including markets, restaurants and stores. Sponsored by the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, this annual event offers a chance to learn about the neighborhood while enjoying food, meeting small businesses owners and more.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Oakland’s Little Saigon district is home to several thousand Vietnamese residents, along with dozens of Vietnamese-owned businesses, including markets, restaurants and stores. Sponsored by the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, this annual event offers a chance to learn about the neighborhood while enjoying food, meeting small businesses owners and more.\u003c/p>\n"
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},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Daly City Public Library’s Art & Lit Fest",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.dcpla.org/artfest-about\">Daly City Public Library’s Art & Lit Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.dcpla.org/artfest-about\">Daly City Public Library’s Art & Lit Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 26\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Serramonte Center, Daly City\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 26\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Serramonte Center, Daly City\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
],
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{
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>All the festivals in this guide are outdoors, but c’mon, we had to make an exception for the library. This festival is… inside \u003cem>the mall\u003c/em>? Hear us out: for the fifth year in a row, Daly City’s arts and crafts scene is on full display at this event, with local performers, craftspeople and musicians. An event for all ages, the celebration doubles as a fundraiser for the Daly City Public Library, whose main branch is just a short walk from the mall.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>All the festivals in this guide are outdoors, but c’mon, we had to make an exception for the library. This festival is… inside \u003cem>the mall\u003c/em>? Hear us out: for the fifth year in a row, Daly City’s arts and crafts scene is on full display at this event, with local performers, craftspeople and musicians. An event for all ages, the celebration doubles as a fundraiser for the Daly City Public Library, whose main branch is just a short walk from the mall.\u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Folsom Street Fair",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.folsomstreet.org/folsom-street-fair\">Folsom Street Fair\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.folsomstreet.org/folsom-street-fair\">Folsom Street Fair\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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{
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 27\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Folsom Street, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 27\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Folsom Street, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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{
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"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For 42 years, this eye-popping event has been a place where “pleasure meets protest, leather meets liberation, and visibility is an act of defiance.” A late-September celebration, Folsom is all about taking to the streets and enjoying the sunshine — even where the sun doesn’t usually shine.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>For 42 years, this eye-popping event has been a place where “pleasure meets protest, leather meets liberation, and visibility is an act of defiance.” A late-September celebration, Folsom is all about taking to the streets and enjoying the sunshine — even where the sun doesn’t usually shine.\u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Oktoberfest",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/sshhb5ISHvI?si=PelIllKibSJTWDbQ\">Oktoberfest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/sshhb5ISHvI?si=PelIllKibSJTWDbQ\">Oktoberfest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
],
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{
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"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Throughout October\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Various locations\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Throughout October\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Various locations\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
],
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{
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Lederhosen! Tubas! And most importantly: beer! \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaktoberfest.org/\">Oakland’s “Oaktoberfest”\u003c/a> takes place on Saturday Oct. 3 and Sunday Oct. 4 in East Oakland’s Dimond District. On the peninsula, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mvoktoberfest.com/\">Mountain View’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> gets underway the following weekend, Oct. 10 and 11. And if you’re in the South Bay, \u003ca href=\"https://campbelloktoberfest.com/\">Campbell’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> is Oct. 17 and 18. Up north, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sixflags.com/discoverykingdom/events/oktoberfest\">Vallejo’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> takes place beneath the roller coasters at none other than Six Flags amusement park. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Lederhosen! Tubas! And most importantly: beer! \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaktoberfest.org/\">Oakland’s “Oaktoberfest”\u003c/a> takes place on Saturday Oct. 3 and Sunday Oct. 4 in East Oakland’s Dimond District. On the peninsula, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mvoktoberfest.com/\">Mountain View’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> gets underway the following weekend, Oct. 10 and 11. And if you’re in the South Bay, \u003ca href=\"https://campbelloktoberfest.com/\">Campbell’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> is Oct. 17 and 18. Up north, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sixflags.com/discoverykingdom/events/oktoberfest\">Vallejo’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> takes place beneath the roller coasters at none other than Six Flags amusement park. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13980417\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jaelah (left), 12, a member of the Blue Bird Riders from Manteca, rides with her friend Aniyah, 13, during the Oakland Black Cowboy Association parade in Oakland on Oct. 5, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13980417\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jaelah (left), 12, a member of the Blue Bird Riders from Manteca, rides with her friend Aniyah, 13, during the Oakland Black Cowboy Association parade in Oakland on Oct. 5, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Oakland’s Black Cowboy Parade ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandbca.org/\">Oakland’s Black Cowboy Parade\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandbca.org/\">Oakland’s Black Cowboy Parade\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 3\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Little Bobby Hutton Park, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 3\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Little Bobby Hutton Park, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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{
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>An annual celebration of African American history and horseback riding, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008139/oaklands-black-cowboy-association-celebrates-50-years-with-parade-and-festival\">the Oakland Black Cowboy Association\u003c/a> returns for its yearly celebration. With food vendors, dancers, pony rides and a parade, this event has been the pride of West Oakland for over 50 years\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>An annual celebration of African American history and horseback riding, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008139/oaklands-black-cowboy-association-celebrates-50-years-with-parade-and-festival\">the Oakland Black Cowboy Association\u003c/a> returns for its yearly celebration. With food vendors, dancers, pony rides and a parade, this event has been the pride of West Oakland for over 50 years\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Castro Street Fair",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://castrostreetfair.org/fair/\">Castro Street Fair\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://castrostreetfair.org/fair/\">Castro Street Fair\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 4\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Castro Street, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 4\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Castro Street, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For more than half a century, this celebration of community resilience takes over the Castro with music, arts and chic fashion. People are invited to come out and enjoy live music, food, DJs and more, all while raising funds for a number of charitable causes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For more than half a century, this celebration of community resilience takes over the Castro with music, arts and chic fashion. People are invited to come out and enjoy live music, food, DJs and more, all while raising funds for a number of charitable causes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Black Panther Party 60th Anniversary Celebration",
"level": 2
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.bpp60th.org/\">Black Panther Party 60th Anniversary Celebration\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.bpp60th.org/\">Black Panther Party 60th Anniversary Celebration\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 15–18\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Location to be determined\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 15–18\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Location to be determined\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Sixty years ago, Bobby Seale and Dr. Huey P. Newton created and implemented a 10-point program, certifying the Oakland-born Black Panther Party for Self-Defense as a leading organization of new ideas and movements. On this weekend, the organization’s lasting legacy will be celebrated in proper fashion: a reunion of those who did the work and the community that’s benefited from their efforts. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Sixty years ago, Bobby Seale and Dr. Huey P. Newton created and implemented a 10-point program, certifying the Oakland-born Black Panther Party for Self-Defense as a leading organization of new ideas and movements. On this weekend, the organization’s lasting legacy will be celebrated in proper fashion: a reunion of those who did the work and the community that’s benefited from their efforts. \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Autumn Lights Festival",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://gardensatlakemerritt.org/autumn-lights-festival-2026/\">Autumn Lights Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://gardensatlakemerritt.org/autumn-lights-festival-2026/\">Autumn Lights Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 15–17\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Lake Merritt, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 15–17\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Lake Merritt, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s an all-ages artistic light show, full of brightly colored illuminated installations, all inside a garden on the edge of Lake Merritt. What more does one need in life?\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>It’s an all-ages artistic light show, full of brightly colored illuminated installations, all inside a garden on the edge of Lake Merritt. What more does one need in life?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13993026\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rangoli, a colorful form of Indian folk art celebrating art, beauty and culture, is seen drawn on the sidewalks of Bishop Ranch City Center to celebrate the Hindu holiday Diwali in San Ramon, California, on Nov. 14, 2020.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Jessica Christian/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13993026\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rangoli, a colorful form of Indian folk art celebrating art, beauty and culture, is seen drawn on the sidewalks of Bishop Ranch City Center to celebrate the Hindu holiday Diwali in San Ramon, California, on Nov. 14, 2020.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Jessica Christian/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Dussehra Diwali Dhamaka Festival of Lights & Fireworks ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.aiaevents.org/diwali-dhamaka-2026\">Dussehra Diwali Dhamaka Festival of Lights & Fireworks\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.aiaevents.org/diwali-dhamaka-2026\">Dussehra Diwali Dhamaka Festival of Lights & Fireworks\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 17\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 17\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With bright lights, live Bollywood dancers and Indian cuisine of all sorts, the East Bay’s largest Diwali celebration boasts carnival rides and more than 150 food and shopping stalls. In addition to community dance groups and a huge fireworks show, attendees can also witness a 40 foot effigy of the demon king Raavan Dahan set aflame. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>With bright lights, live Bollywood dancers and Indian cuisine of all sorts, the East Bay’s largest Diwali celebration boasts carnival rides and more than 150 food and shopping stalls. In addition to community dance groups and a huge fireworks show, attendees can also witness a 40 foot effigy of the demon king Raavan Dahan set aflame. \u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://hmbpumpkinfest.com/\">Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://hmbpumpkinfest.com/\">Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 17–18\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Half Moon Bay\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 17–18\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Half Moon Bay\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They’ll have a Halloween costume contest, seasonal drinks and workshops on pumpkin carving, plus work from over 250 artists, three stages of live music, a pumpkin parade and a pumpkin-weighing contest with some of the largest gourds known to man. All of that, plus a run, walk and stroll on Sunday to raise funds for \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercyhousing.org/california/coastside-senior/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23143634391&gbraid=0AAAAAD2ps6efEFaB6t-5JtQvVQFIEn2CA&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4orUBhCjARIsAIbF3qy72I2TfDfTNSAmIIRW3Ixp4Nt2_lR2SN0J6oSQt3gd5sKS51BZLpQaAoYSEALw_wcB\">low-income senior housing\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>They’ll have a Halloween costume contest, seasonal drinks and workshops on pumpkin carving, plus work from over 250 artists, three stages of live music, a pumpkin parade and a pumpkin-weighing contest with some of the largest gourds known to man. All of that, plus a run, walk and stroll on Sunday to raise funds for \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercyhousing.org/california/coastside-senior/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23143634391&gbraid=0AAAAAD2ps6efEFaB6t-5JtQvVQFIEn2CA&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4orUBhCjARIsAIbF3qy72I2TfDfTNSAmIIRW3Ixp4Nt2_lR2SN0J6oSQt3gd5sKS51BZLpQaAoYSEALw_wcB\">low-income senior housing\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13937452\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Amalia Canales attends the Oakland Día de los Muertos Festival in Fruitvale on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13937452\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Amalia Canales attends the Oakland Día de los Muertos Festival in Fruitvale on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Oakland’s Día De Los Muertos Festival",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://unitycouncil.org/program/diaoakland/\">Oakland’s Día De Los Muertos Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://unitycouncil.org/program/diaoakland/\">Oakland’s Día De Los Muertos Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nov. 1\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Fruitvale Village, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nov. 1\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Fruitvale Village, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There are many other Día de los Muertos festivals around the Bay, but if you’ve never been to Fruitvale’s, you’re missing something special. This year’s theme is “La Lucha Continúa: Aquí Estamos y no Nos Vamos” (“The Struggle Continues: We’re Here and We’re Not Leaving”). A celebration of culture, rife with sugar skulls and marigolds, this festival doubles as a reminder that coming together in community can be a political act. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There are many other Día de los Muertos festivals around the Bay, but if you’ve never been to Fruitvale’s, you’re missing something special. This year’s theme is “La Lucha Continúa: Aquí Estamos y no Nos Vamos” (“The Struggle Continues: We’re Here and We’re Not Leaving”). A celebration of culture, rife with sugar skulls and marigolds, this festival doubles as a reminder that coming together in community can be a political act. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfcheesefest.com/\">SF Cheese Fest\u003c/a> (Oct. 3, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/filipino-island-fest-tickets-1992240712601?aff=erelpanelorg\">Filipino Island Fest\u003c/a> (Oct. 3, Alameda)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://fleetweeksf.org/\">Fleet Week\u003c/a> (Oct. 4–12, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.litquake.org/\">Litquake\u003c/a> (Oct. 8–24, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"http://eventbrite.com/e/prescott-market-holiday-pop-up-craft-faires-tickets-1983919211768?aff=ebdssbdestsearch\">Prescott Market Holiday Pop-Up Craft Faires\u003c/a> (Oct. 24 and Dec. 19, Oakland)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fallchocolatesalon.com/\">Fall Holiday Chocolate Salon and Festival\u003c/a> (Nov. 22, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "There’s plenty of places to eat, drink, dance and celebrate outside this fall.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fall-guide-2026\">2026 Fall Arts Guide\u003c/a> to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more in the Bay Area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the magic of autumn approaches, winds swirl and sunsets turn to sherbert hues of pink and orange. Stores fill with Halloween decorations, and kids in backpacks are once again up early, zombie-walking to class.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>With fall comes festivals; for centuries, harvest time has meant outdoor celebrations. Here in the Bay Area, people sing in parks, eat in parking lots and dance in the streets. Below, find a select handful of this year’s outdoor fall festivals.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13974858\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Courtesy-of-Yerba-Buena-Gardens-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Performances at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival are always free. (Courtesy Yerba Buena Gardens Festival)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/events/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=36955909&gbraid=0AAAAAD3Ys4dhgMHawicf5GGZOYX0Sz9gJ\">Yerba Buena Gardens Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Through Nov. 13\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There’s diversity, and then there’s this festival’s lineup, which includes the Cuban Afro-Latin Funk combo \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/los-calderones/\">Los Calderones\u003c/a>, a full day celebrating cultures of the continent during \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/african-arts-festival-2026/\">the African Arts Festival\u003c/a> and a special \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/indigenous-peoples-day-jeremy-dutcher/\">San Francisco Indigenous Peoples Day\u003c/a> performance by classically trained Indigenous Canadian tenor, Jeremy Dutcher. With free weekly performances on the open lawn between the Metreon and SFMOMA, the series concludes with a celebration of South Asian culture during the \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/bhangra-and-beats-111326/\">Bhangra & Beats Night Market\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/6th-annual-bizerkeley-food-fest-2026-tickets-1685365305999?aff=odcleoeventsincollection\">Bizerkeley Food Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 6\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, Berkeley \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What’s more Berkeley than a vegan food festival? A vegan food festival that helps rescue animals. In addition to live performances and free samples of food from an array of plant-based restaurants, the festival spreads awareness and raises funds for California Pit Bull Rescue — and even hosts a meet-and-greet with a few furry four-legged friends. (Note: Attendees may not bring their own dogs.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838.jpg\" alt=\"An older Black man in a shiny purple suit jacket smiles with eyes shut and arms raised in the air\" class=\"wp-image-13993027\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/GettyImages-533139838-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soul singer Eddie Holman, of “Hey There Lonely Girl” fame, is a scheduled performer at San José’s 2026 Chicano Soul Festival. (Bobby Bank/WireImage)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5th-annual-chicano-soul-fest-tickets-1984652009586\">Chicano Soul Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 29\u003cbr>History Park, San José\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lowriders, Aztec dancers and special appearances dot this afternoon festival. Two stages of live entertainment host performances by the likes of Eddie Holman, Sunny Ozuna, Mellow Man Ace and Discos Resaca. Also taking place is a special tribute to George Kerr, an architect of Latin soul music.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mill-valley-fall-arts-festival-september-19-20-2026-hours-10-5-tickets-1988942471473?aff=ebdsoporgprofile\">Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 19 and 20\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Old Mill Park, Mill Valley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Next year will mark seven decades of the Mill Valley Arts Festival, a traditional celebration of live performances, crafts from over 100 different makers and a children’s grove with magic tricks and storytelling. And who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? This year’s celebration introduces a new wine tasting element with local vineyards like \u003ca href=\"https://www.barraofmendocino.com/\">Barra of Mendocino\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gibbsnapavalley.com/\">Gibbs of Napa Valley\u003c/a> and more.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Schoolchildren in face masks stringing up paper lanterns in Clinton Park, Oakland.\" class=\"wp-image-13901757\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/midautumnfestival_goodgoodeatz-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children string up paper lanterns at Clinton Park during the 2020 edition of the Little Saigon Mid-Autumn Festival. (Good Good Eatz)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ovcc-mid-autumn-festival-2026-tickets-1990660367747\">Oakland Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 20\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Clinton Park, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oakland’s Little Saigon district is home to several thousand Vietnamese residents, along with dozens of Vietnamese-owned businesses, including markets, restaurants and stores. Sponsored by the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, this annual event offers a chance to learn about the neighborhood while enjoying food, meeting small businesses owners and more.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.dcpla.org/artfest-about\">Daly City Public Library’s Art & Lit Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 26\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Serramonte Center, Daly City\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All the festivals in this guide are outdoors, but c’mon, we had to make an exception for the library. This festival is… inside \u003cem>the mall\u003c/em>? Hear us out: for the fifth year in a row, Daly City’s arts and crafts scene is on full display at this event, with local performers, craftspeople and musicians. An event for all ages, the celebration doubles as a fundraiser for the Daly City Public Library, whose main branch is just a short walk from the mall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.folsomstreet.org/folsom-street-fair\">Folsom Street Fair\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 27\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Folsom Street, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For 42 years, this eye-popping event has been a place where “pleasure meets protest, leather meets liberation, and visibility is an act of defiance.” A late-September celebration, Folsom is all about taking to the streets and enjoying the sunshine — even where the sun doesn’t usually shine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/sshhb5ISHvI?si=PelIllKibSJTWDbQ\">Oktoberfest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Throughout October\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Various locations\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lederhosen! Tubas! And most importantly: beer! \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaktoberfest.org/\">Oakland’s “Oaktoberfest”\u003c/a> takes place on Saturday Oct. 3 and Sunday Oct. 4 in East Oakland’s Dimond District. On the peninsula, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mvoktoberfest.com/\">Mountain View’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> gets underway the following weekend, Oct. 10 and 11. And if you’re in the South Bay, \u003ca href=\"https://campbelloktoberfest.com/\">Campbell’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> is Oct. 17 and 18. Up north, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sixflags.com/discoverykingdom/events/oktoberfest\">Vallejo’s Oktoberfest\u003c/a> takes place beneath the roller coasters at none other than Six Flags amusement park. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13980417\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/241005-OaklandBlackCowboyParade-019-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jaelah (left), 12, a member of the Blue Bird Riders from Manteca, rides with her friend Aniyah, 13, during the Oakland Black Cowboy Association parade in Oakland on Oct. 5, 2024. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandbca.org/\">Oakland’s Black Cowboy Parade\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 3\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Little Bobby Hutton Park, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An annual celebration of African American history and horseback riding, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008139/oaklands-black-cowboy-association-celebrates-50-years-with-parade-and-festival\">the Oakland Black Cowboy Association\u003c/a> returns for its yearly celebration. With food vendors, dancers, pony rides and a parade, this event has been the pride of West Oakland for over 50 years\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://castrostreetfair.org/fair/\">Castro Street Fair\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 4\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Castro Street, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For more than half a century, this celebration of community resilience takes over the Castro with music, arts and chic fashion. People are invited to come out and enjoy live music, food, DJs and more, all while raising funds for a number of charitable causes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.bpp60th.org/\">Black Panther Party 60th Anniversary Celebration\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 15–18\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Location to be determined\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sixty years ago, Bobby Seale and Dr. Huey P. Newton created and implemented a 10-point program, certifying the Oakland-born Black Panther Party for Self-Defense as a leading organization of new ideas and movements. On this weekend, the organization’s lasting legacy will be celebrated in proper fashion: a reunion of those who did the work and the community that’s benefited from their efforts. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://gardensatlakemerritt.org/autumn-lights-festival-2026/\">Autumn Lights Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 15–17\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Lake Merritt, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s an all-ages artistic light show, full of brightly colored illuminated installations, all inside a garden on the edge of Lake Merritt. What more does one need in life?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13993026\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/DiwaliSanRamonGetty-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rangoli, a colorful form of Indian folk art celebrating art, beauty and culture, is seen drawn on the sidewalks of Bishop Ranch City Center to celebrate the Hindu holiday Diwali in San Ramon, California, on Nov. 14, 2020. (Jessica Christian/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.aiaevents.org/diwali-dhamaka-2026\">Dussehra Diwali Dhamaka Festival of Lights & Fireworks\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 17\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>With bright lights, live Bollywood dancers and Indian cuisine of all sorts, the East Bay’s largest Diwali celebration boasts carnival rides and more than 150 food and shopping stalls. In addition to community dance groups and a huge fireworks show, attendees can also witness a 40 foot effigy of the demon king Raavan Dahan set aflame. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://hmbpumpkinfest.com/\">Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 17–18\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Half Moon Bay\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They’ll have a Halloween costume contest, seasonal drinks and workshops on pumpkin carving, plus work from over 250 artists, three stages of live music, a pumpkin parade and a pumpkin-weighing contest with some of the largest gourds known to man. All of that, plus a run, walk and stroll on Sunday to raise funds for \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercyhousing.org/california/coastside-senior/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23143634391&gbraid=0AAAAAD2ps6efEFaB6t-5JtQvVQFIEn2CA&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4orUBhCjARIsAIbF3qy72I2TfDfTNSAmIIRW3Ixp4Nt2_lR2SN0J6oSQt3gd5sKS51BZLpQaAoYSEALw_wcB\">low-income senior housing\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13937452\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231029_OAKDiadelosMuertosFestival_EG-18-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Amalia Canales attends the Oakland Día de los Muertos Festival in Fruitvale on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://unitycouncil.org/program/diaoakland/\">Oakland’s Día De Los Muertos Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nov. 1\u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Fruitvale Village, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are many other Día de los Muertos festivals around the Bay, but if you’ve never been to Fruitvale’s, you’re missing something special. This year’s theme is “La Lucha Continúa: Aquí Estamos y no Nos Vamos” (“The Struggle Continues: We’re Here and We’re Not Leaving”). A celebration of culture, rife with sugar skulls and marigolds, this festival doubles as a reminder that coming together in community can be a political act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Briefly noted\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfcheesefest.com/\">SF Cheese Fest\u003c/a> (Oct. 3, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/filipino-island-fest-tickets-1992240712601?aff=erelpanelorg\">Filipino Island Fest\u003c/a> (Oct. 3, Alameda)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://fleetweeksf.org/\">Fleet Week\u003c/a> (Oct. 4–12, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.litquake.org/\">Litquake\u003c/a> (Oct. 8–24, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"http://eventbrite.com/e/prescott-market-holiday-pop-up-craft-faires-tickets-1983919211768?aff=ebdssbdestsearch\">Prescott Market Holiday Pop-Up Craft Faires\u003c/a> (Oct. 24 and Dec. 19, Oakland)\u003cbr>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fallchocolatesalon.com/\">Fall Holiday Chocolate Salon and Festival\u003c/a> (Nov. 22, San Francisco)\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "best-lechona-colombian-crispy-stuffed-pork-la-grama-san-jose",
"title": "This San José Food Tent Is a Temple to Crispy Colombian Stuffed Pork",
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"headTitle": "This San José Food Tent Is a Temple to Crispy Colombian Stuffed Pork | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The most exciting food often hides where you least expect it. Say, tucked behind a used car dealership just a few blocks away from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> DMV. This is where I found \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/la_grama_san_jose/\">La Grama\u003c/a>, a pop-up tent serving the best version of Colombian \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZa9h3x9PxQ\">lechona\u003c/a>, or crackly-skinned stuffed roast pork, I’ve ever tasted.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The whole operation takes place under a big tent, with the kitchen on one side and a crowded dining area on the other. On my first visit, I had to play a game of musical chairs to snag a seat at one of the picnic tables. All around me, all I could hear was the sound of dozens of people biting into crunchy shards of pork rind. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Owner Augustine Torres moved from Villavicencio, Colombia, to San José in 2022. Together with some friends he knew from back home in Colombia, he started a food truck slinging hot dogs, burgers and picada (a platter of fried meats, plantains and potatoes). Before coming to the U.S., Torres had mostly worked in the cattle industry, but when his associates stepped away from the business, he decided to continue pursuing a food career on his own. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/La-Grama-tent.jpg\" alt=\"A food tent crowded with diners.\" class=\"wp-image-13993149\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/La-Grama-tent.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/La-Grama-tent-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/La-Grama-tent-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/La-Grama-tent-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">La Grama’s crowded food tent is filled with lechona lovers munching on crispy pork skin. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Torres started La Grama in 2023, selling lechona by day and Colombian street food by night. In Colombia, lechona (aka lechona Tolimense), a dish with more than 500 years of history, is often served at weddings and big holiday celebrations. Traditionally, it’s made by stuffing an entire roast pig with rice and yellow peas. Torres mimics the technique to create smaller batches by stuffing everything inside a vessel of crispy pork skin.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When I first started, I wasn’t making lechona,” says Torres. “I was sourcing it from a friend.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, he hired a chef from Colombia to teach him to make the dish over video, developing his own recipe after seven months of experimentation. He begins by marinating pork leg in adobo for two days. Then, rice and yellow peas are stuffed into a giant pouch made by sewing pieces of pork skin together. The whole thing is roasted for eight hours until the skin crisps and the rice and peas get slick from the rendered fat.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Feasting on lechona is a tactile experience. During one visit, I shattered the chicharron with my fingers to dig into the rice and peas. Another time, I used a fragment of skin as a chip and loaded it with filling. Spritzing the whole thing with a lime wedge helps balance out the richness.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Mon%CC%83ona.jpg\" alt=\"An unwrapped tamal topped with meat and a shard of crispy pork skin.\" class=\"wp-image-13993150\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Moñona.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Moñona-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Moñona-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Moñona-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The moñona is a Colombian tamal topped with a portion of lechona. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s safe to say Torres’ lechona has been a hit — he sells 20 trays every weekend. The vast majority of customers are from Colombia, but newcomers to the dish have also wound up enjoying it, Torres says. You can find Colombian lechona, more or less prepared in the same way, in a few spots around the South Bay. At \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGJrO60SnhP/\">Sabor a la Colombiana\u003c/a>, it comes paired with \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@recetasdelamamicarito/video/7626905936120057096\">insulsos\u003c/a> (steamed corn flour and panela). \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lacallejera_cf\">La Callejera\u003c/a>, also in San José, sells an especially flavorful version that’s heavy on the garlic and earthy spices. But La Grama’s version is still my favorite.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While lechona is excellent on its own, it’s even better when paired with other Colombian dishes. My favorite menu item at La Grama is the moñona — a Colombian tamal topped with lechona. The tamal arrives unwrapped in its banana leaf pouch, bursting with drumsticks, pork ribs and hardboiled eggs. As I excavated the meat, the lechona filling blended with the masa. Shards of crispy chicharron functioned like croutons to complement the moist masa. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Torres’ customers are also fond of a less traditional lechona pairing. In Colombia, buñuelos are sweet, ball-shaped fritters typically served as a holiday dessert, after the lechona. At La Grama, though, customers crack open the fritters and top them with a little pile of rice, peas and crispy pork skin. The combination is delicious: The buñuelos — made by Mr. Kike, a neighboring business that shares a tent with La Grama — have a core of stretchy molten cheese that sticks to the lechona, and the cakey, salty-sweet dough is a nice complement to the heavily seasoned rice and legumes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-bun%CC%83uelo.jpg\" alt=\"Rice and crispy pork skin piled on top of a cheese fritter.\" class=\"wp-image-13993151\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Customers at La Grama like to pile some of their lechona inside a buñuelo, or Colombian cheese fritter. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Torres aspires to introduce lechona to as many people in the Bay Area as possible. His plans include opening a restaurant someday, but he’s taking things slow. First, he’d like to extend his hours to three days a week and add more charcoal-grilled dishes like punta de anca, burgers and churrascos to the menu. He’s confident, though, that his food will catch on.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After all, he says, “Lechona is the number one pork dish in the world.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>La Grama is open Saturday and Sunday 7:30 a.m.–12 p.m., and also on some Fridays, at 1501 Monterey Rd. in San Jose. Check the pop-up’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/la_grama_san_jose/\">\u003cem>Instagram page\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>for the most up-to-date schedule.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The whole operation takes place under a big tent, with the kitchen on one side and a crowded dining area on the other. On my first visit, I had to play a game of musical chairs to snag a seat at one of the picnic tables. All around me, all I could hear was the sound of dozens of people biting into crunchy shards of pork rind. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The whole operation takes place under a big tent, with the kitchen on one side and a crowded dining area on the other. On my first visit, I had to play a game of musical chairs to snag a seat at one of the picnic tables. All around me, all I could hear was the sound of dozens of people biting into crunchy shards of pork rind. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Owner Augustine Torres moved from Villavicencio, Colombia, to San José in 2022. Together with some friends he knew from back home in Colombia, he started a food truck slinging hot dogs, burgers and picada (a platter of fried meats, plantains and potatoes). Before coming to the U.S., Torres had mostly worked in the cattle industry, but when his associates stepped away from the business, he decided to continue pursuing a food career on his own. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Owner Augustine Torres moved from Villavicencio, Colombia, to San José in 2022. Together with some friends he knew from back home in Colombia, he started a food truck slinging hot dogs, burgers and picada (a platter of fried meats, plantains and potatoes). Before coming to the U.S., Torres had mostly worked in the cattle industry, but when his associates stepped away from the business, he decided to continue pursuing a food career on his own. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Torres started La Grama in 2023, selling lechona by day and Colombian street food by night. In Colombia, lechona (aka lechona Tolimense), a dish with more than 500 years of history, is often served at weddings and big holiday celebrations. Traditionally, it’s made by stuffing an entire roast pig with rice and yellow peas. Torres mimics the technique to create smaller batches by stuffing everything inside a vessel of crispy pork skin.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Torres started La Grama in 2023, selling lechona by day and Colombian street food by night. In Colombia, lechona (aka lechona Tolimense), a dish with more than 500 years of history, is often served at weddings and big holiday celebrations. Traditionally, it’s made by stuffing an entire roast pig with rice and yellow peas. Torres mimics the technique to create smaller batches by stuffing everything inside a vessel of crispy pork skin.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When I first started, I wasn’t making lechona,” says Torres. “I was sourcing it from a friend.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“When I first started, I wasn’t making lechona,” says Torres. “I was sourcing it from a friend.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Eventually, he hired a chef from Colombia to teach him to make the dish over video, developing his own recipe after seven months of experimentation. He begins by marinating pork leg in adobo for two days. Then, rice and yellow peas are stuffed into a giant pouch made by sewing pieces of pork skin together. The whole thing is roasted for eight hours until the skin crisps and the rice and peas get slick from the rendered fat.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Eventually, he hired a chef from Colombia to teach him to make the dish over video, developing his own recipe after seven months of experimentation. He begins by marinating pork leg in adobo for two days. Then, rice and yellow peas are stuffed into a giant pouch made by sewing pieces of pork skin together. The whole thing is roasted for eight hours until the skin crisps and the rice and peas get slick from the rendered fat.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Feasting on lechona is a tactile experience. During one visit, I shattered the chicharron with my fingers to dig into the rice and peas. Another time, I used a fragment of skin as a chip and loaded it with filling. Spritzing the whole thing with a lime wedge helps balance out the richness.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Feasting on lechona is a tactile experience. During one visit, I shattered the chicharron with my fingers to dig into the rice and peas. Another time, I used a fragment of skin as a chip and loaded it with filling. Spritzing the whole thing with a lime wedge helps balance out the richness.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s safe to say Torres’ lechona has been a hit — he sells 20 trays every weekend. The vast majority of customers are from Colombia, but newcomers to the dish have also wound up enjoying it, Torres says. You can find Colombian lechona, more or less prepared in the same way, in a few spots around the South Bay. At \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGJrO60SnhP/\">Sabor a la Colombiana\u003c/a>, it comes paired with \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@recetasdelamamicarito/video/7626905936120057096\">insulsos\u003c/a> (steamed corn flour and panela). \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lacallejera_cf\">La Callejera\u003c/a>, also in San José, sells an especially flavorful version that’s heavy on the garlic and earthy spices. But La Grama’s version is still my favorite.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It’s safe to say Torres’ lechona has been a hit — he sells 20 trays every weekend. The vast majority of customers are from Colombia, but newcomers to the dish have also wound up enjoying it, Torres says. You can find Colombian lechona, more or less prepared in the same way, in a few spots around the South Bay. At \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGJrO60SnhP/\">Sabor a la Colombiana\u003c/a>, it comes paired with \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@recetasdelamamicarito/video/7626905936120057096\">insulsos\u003c/a> (steamed corn flour and panela). \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lacallejera_cf\">La Callejera\u003c/a>, also in San José, sells an especially flavorful version that’s heavy on the garlic and earthy spices. But La Grama’s version is still my favorite.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While lechona is excellent on its own, it’s even better when paired with other Colombian dishes. My favorite menu item at La Grama is the moñona — a Colombian tamal topped with lechona. The tamal arrives unwrapped in its banana leaf pouch, bursting with drumsticks, pork ribs and hardboiled eggs. As I excavated the meat, the lechona filling blended with the masa. Shards of crispy chicharron functioned like croutons to complement the moist masa. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>While lechona is excellent on its own, it’s even better when paired with other Colombian dishes. My favorite menu item at La Grama is the moñona — a Colombian tamal topped with lechona. The tamal arrives unwrapped in its banana leaf pouch, bursting with drumsticks, pork ribs and hardboiled eggs. As I excavated the meat, the lechona filling blended with the masa. Shards of crispy chicharron functioned like croutons to complement the moist masa. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Torres’ customers are also fond of a less traditional lechona pairing. In Colombia, buñuelos are sweet, ball-shaped fritters typically served as a holiday dessert, after the lechona. At La Grama, though, customers crack open the fritters and top them with a little pile of rice, peas and crispy pork skin. The combination is delicious: The buñuelos — made by Mr. Kike, a neighboring business that shares a tent with La Grama — have a core of stretchy molten cheese that sticks to the lechona, and the cakey, salty-sweet dough is a nice complement to the heavily seasoned rice and legumes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Torres’ customers are also fond of a less traditional lechona pairing. In Colombia, buñuelos are sweet, ball-shaped fritters typically served as a holiday dessert, after the lechona. At La Grama, though, customers crack open the fritters and top them with a little pile of rice, peas and crispy pork skin. The combination is delicious: The buñuelos — made by Mr. Kike, a neighboring business that shares a tent with La Grama — have a core of stretchy molten cheese that sticks to the lechona, and the cakey, salty-sweet dough is a nice complement to the heavily seasoned rice and legumes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo.jpg\" alt=\"Rice and crispy pork skin piled on top of a cheese fritter.\" class=\"wp-image-13993151\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Customers at La Grama like to pile some of their lechona inside a buñuelo, or Colombian cheese fritter.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Torres aspires to introduce lechona to as many people in the Bay Area as possible. His plans include opening a restaurant someday, but he’s taking things slow. First, he’d like to extend his hours to three days a week and add more charcoal-grilled dishes like punta de anca, burgers and churrascos to the menu. He’s confident, though, that his food will catch on.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Torres aspires to introduce lechona to as many people in the Bay Area as possible. His plans include opening a restaurant someday, but he’s taking things slow. First, he’d like to extend his hours to three days a week and add more charcoal-grilled dishes like punta de anca, burgers and churrascos to the menu. He’s confident, though, that his food will catch on.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After all, he says, “Lechona is the number one pork dish in the world.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>La Grama is open Saturday and Sunday 7:30 a.m.–12 p.m., and also on some Fridays, at 1501 Monterey Rd. in San Jose. Check the pop-up’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/la_grama_san_jose/\">\u003cem>Instagram page\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>for the most up-to-date schedule.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>La Grama is open Saturday and Sunday 7:30 a.m.–12 p.m., and also on some Fridays, at 1501 Monterey Rd. in San Jose. Check the pop-up’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/la_grama_san_jose/\">\u003cem>Instagram page\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>for the most up-to-date schedule.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"title": "La Grama Makes the Best Colombian Lechona in San José | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The most exciting food often hides where you least expect it. Say, tucked behind a used car dealership just a few blocks away from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> DMV. This is where I found \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/la_grama_san_jose/\">La Grama\u003c/a>, a pop-up tent serving the best version of Colombian \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZa9h3x9PxQ\">lechona\u003c/a>, or crackly-skinned stuffed roast pork, I’ve ever tasted.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The whole operation takes place under a big tent, with the kitchen on one side and a crowded dining area on the other. On my first visit, I had to play a game of musical chairs to snag a seat at one of the picnic tables. All around me, all I could hear was the sound of dozens of people biting into crunchy shards of pork rind. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Owner Augustine Torres moved from Villavicencio, Colombia, to San José in 2022. Together with some friends he knew from back home in Colombia, he started a food truck slinging hot dogs, burgers and picada (a platter of fried meats, plantains and potatoes). Before coming to the U.S., Torres had mostly worked in the cattle industry, but when his associates stepped away from the business, he decided to continue pursuing a food career on his own. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/La-Grama-tent.jpg\" alt=\"A food tent crowded with diners.\" class=\"wp-image-13993149\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/La-Grama-tent.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/La-Grama-tent-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/La-Grama-tent-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/La-Grama-tent-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">La Grama’s crowded food tent is filled with lechona lovers munching on crispy pork skin. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Torres started La Grama in 2023, selling lechona by day and Colombian street food by night. In Colombia, lechona (aka lechona Tolimense), a dish with more than 500 years of history, is often served at weddings and big holiday celebrations. Traditionally, it’s made by stuffing an entire roast pig with rice and yellow peas. Torres mimics the technique to create smaller batches by stuffing everything inside a vessel of crispy pork skin.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When I first started, I wasn’t making lechona,” says Torres. “I was sourcing it from a friend.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, he hired a chef from Colombia to teach him to make the dish over video, developing his own recipe after seven months of experimentation. He begins by marinating pork leg in adobo for two days. Then, rice and yellow peas are stuffed into a giant pouch made by sewing pieces of pork skin together. The whole thing is roasted for eight hours until the skin crisps and the rice and peas get slick from the rendered fat.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Feasting on lechona is a tactile experience. During one visit, I shattered the chicharron with my fingers to dig into the rice and peas. Another time, I used a fragment of skin as a chip and loaded it with filling. Spritzing the whole thing with a lime wedge helps balance out the richness.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Mon%CC%83ona.jpg\" alt=\"An unwrapped tamal topped with meat and a shard of crispy pork skin.\" class=\"wp-image-13993150\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Moñona.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Moñona-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Moñona-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Moñona-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The moñona is a Colombian tamal topped with a portion of lechona. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s safe to say Torres’ lechona has been a hit — he sells 20 trays every weekend. The vast majority of customers are from Colombia, but newcomers to the dish have also wound up enjoying it, Torres says. You can find Colombian lechona, more or less prepared in the same way, in a few spots around the South Bay. At \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGJrO60SnhP/\">Sabor a la Colombiana\u003c/a>, it comes paired with \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@recetasdelamamicarito/video/7626905936120057096\">insulsos\u003c/a> (steamed corn flour and panela). \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lacallejera_cf\">La Callejera\u003c/a>, also in San José, sells an especially flavorful version that’s heavy on the garlic and earthy spices. But La Grama’s version is still my favorite.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While lechona is excellent on its own, it’s even better when paired with other Colombian dishes. My favorite menu item at La Grama is the moñona — a Colombian tamal topped with lechona. The tamal arrives unwrapped in its banana leaf pouch, bursting with drumsticks, pork ribs and hardboiled eggs. As I excavated the meat, the lechona filling blended with the masa. Shards of crispy chicharron functioned like croutons to complement the moist masa. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Torres’ customers are also fond of a less traditional lechona pairing. In Colombia, buñuelos are sweet, ball-shaped fritters typically served as a holiday dessert, after the lechona. At La Grama, though, customers crack open the fritters and top them with a little pile of rice, peas and crispy pork skin. The combination is delicious: The buñuelos — made by Mr. Kike, a neighboring business that shares a tent with La Grama — have a core of stretchy molten cheese that sticks to the lechona, and the cakey, salty-sweet dough is a nice complement to the heavily seasoned rice and legumes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-bun%CC%83uelo.jpg\" alt=\"Rice and crispy pork skin piled on top of a cheese fritter.\" class=\"wp-image-13993151\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Lechona-on-buñuelo-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Customers at La Grama like to pile some of their lechona inside a buñuelo, or Colombian cheese fritter. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Torres aspires to introduce lechona to as many people in the Bay Area as possible. His plans include opening a restaurant someday, but he’s taking things slow. First, he’d like to extend his hours to three days a week and add more charcoal-grilled dishes like punta de anca, burgers and churrascos to the menu. He’s confident, though, that his food will catch on.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After all, he says, “Lechona is the number one pork dish in the world.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>La Grama is open Saturday and Sunday 7:30 a.m.–12 p.m., and also on some Fridays, at 1501 Monterey Rd. in San Jose. Check the pop-up’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/la_grama_san_jose/\">\u003cem>Instagram page\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>for the most up-to-date schedule.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "ys-choice-soul-food-oxtails-oakland-late-night",
"title": "Y’s Choice Is a Haven of Late-Night Soul Food in Oakland",
"publishDate": 1787272281,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Y’s Choice Is a Haven of Late-Night Soul Food in Oakland | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration Two men dig into an abundant spread of braised oxtails and other soul food dishes.\" class=\"wp-image-13993078\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Y’s Choice, a soul food restaurant in Uptown Oakland, specializes in braised oxtails and other classic soul food dishes. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A late-night hankering for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/soul-food\">soul food\u003c/a> brings us to an unobtrusive building on a relatively quiet block on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland, just down the street from the Fox Theater. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Y’s Choice” reads the neon sign outside — after chef-owner “Y” Ahmed, \u003ca href=\"https://www.yschoice.space/our-story\">we later learn\u003c/a>. The restaurant stays open until 11 p.m. on weekends, and at a little past 9 on a Friday night, the bustling dining room smells of garlic, butter and spice. A steady stream of old \u003cem>Martin \u003c/em>episodes plays on the flatscreen TV in the corner. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Already, we feel like we’ve made a good decision coming here. (“Make A Wise Choice,” the sign behind the bar counter reads; I finally get the pun in the restaurant’s name after re-reading it five or six times.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the night of our visit, the crowd is roughly 90% Black women. One big, exuberant group of twentysomethings is dressed to the nines, maybe only just kicking off their night out on the town. At the table next to ours, a pair of middle-aged ladies is having a cozy chat in sweatshirts and mom jeans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior of a restaurant at nighttime. The sign outside reads, "Y's Choice."\" class=\"wp-image-13993080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Located about a block away from the Fox Theater, the restaurant is open until 11 p.m. on weekends. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>We make ourselves comfortable too. The menu at Y’s covers a fairly wide range of diasporic cuisines — soul food classics and fried seafood, but also Jamaican dishes and African dishes. We start with a couple of the oxtail sambusas, one of a handful of East African–inspired dishes that nod to the chef’s Sudanese roots. After one bite, we know we’re in good hands. These are chonky, square-edged specimens stuffed to the brim with tender, luscious shreds of spice-tinged braised oxtail. The thin, crispy wrappers taste, improbably, just like Chinese \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao\">youtiao\u003c/a>, fresh out of the fryer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And because we’re constitutionally incapable of resisting when we see any form of braised oxtails on a menu, we doubled up with a full entree order. At Y’s Choice, these are served like stew over a big bowl of gravy-soaked rice that tastes strongly of mushrooms — wildly delicious in its own right. The tails themselves are meaty and succulent, with soft nubs of fat and collagen we sucked clean off the bone. (The dish’s soupy, slow-cooked quality is so wonderful, we immediately make plans to come back to try the gumbo.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All of the soul food dishes come with a choice of two sides, and as soon as we taste the green beans and the mac and cheese, I give myself a round of applause for choosing well: The savory green beans have been stewed with smoked turkey until they’re falling-apart soft; the mac and cheese has just the right level of cheddar sharpness and ooze. It’s like we’re eating some holy trinity of soul food. Alternating bites between the oxtails, the green beans and the cheesy pasta shells, everything works together in perfect, complementary balance. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It is worth noting that Y’s Choice isn’t necessarily an inexpensive restaurant. There are a couple of sandwich- and chicken wing–type options for less than $20, but if you splurge on a soul food plate or one of the big “Y’s Special” seafood or surf ’n’ turf combinations — the kind of stacked plates folks like to show off on Instagram — chances are you’ll be dropping at least $40 or $50 on the entree alone. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What you get in exchange, though, is a whole lot of food. The least expensive of the specials, the Lil Sis ($40), comes with grilled lamb chops (a bit overcooked but fatty and aggressively seasoned, just how I like them), thickly battered fried prawns and a big bed of sweet, buttery \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a>. Tasty as it all is, we manage to finish maybe half the plate before waving the white flag.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Also delicious (despite us having ordered way too many carbs): Y’s take on rasta pasta — a huge, and incredibly addicting, portion of creamy, jerk-spiced penne for $15. And for dessert, there’s peach cobbler. Their version comes out looking like an oozy puddle on the plate, but in the best way: soft, syrupy peach chunks with shards of soft, buttery crust mixed in, all topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Full as we are, we hoover up every last bite.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Busy as it is, even past 10 o’clock, the restaurant is big enough and quiet enough to allow for quiet conversation. Before we’d even placed our orders, our friendly server had told us that because everything is cooked to order, it can take a bit of time for the food to come out. It’s a good place to catch up with a friend over a long, languorous meal — not somewhere you go when you’re in a hurry. But the food is delicious enough, and the atmosphere has enough of a whiff of elegance, to make the restaurant feel celebratory. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>We feel that, especially when that one long table of decked-out twentysomethings breaks into the happy birthday song not once but twice. As soon as they finish their second rendition, the servers distribute what looks to be about five dozen takeout cartons. Like us, it seems, the ladies found the portions so abundant that they — very happily — had several meals’ worth of leftovers to take home.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ys_choice_/\">\u003cem>Y’s Choice\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Friday to Saturday 11 a.m.–11 p.m. and Sunday to Tuesday 11 a.m.–9 p.m. at 1825 San Pablo Ave. in Oakland.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration Two men dig into an abundant spread of braised oxtails and other soul food dishes.\" class=\"wp-image-13993078\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Y’s Choice, a soul food restaurant in Uptown Oakland, specializes in braised oxtails and other classic soul food dishes.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A late-night hankering for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/soul-food\">soul food\u003c/a> brings us to an unobtrusive building on a relatively quiet block on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland, just down the street from the Fox Theater. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A late-night hankering for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/soul-food\">soul food\u003c/a> brings us to an unobtrusive building on a relatively quiet block on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland, just down the street from the Fox Theater. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Y’s Choice” reads the neon sign outside — after chef-owner “Y” Ahmed, \u003ca href=\"https://www.yschoice.space/our-story\">we later learn\u003c/a>. The restaurant stays open until 11 p.m. on weekends, and at a little past 9 on a Friday night, the bustling dining room smells of garlic, butter and spice. A steady stream of old \u003cem>Martin \u003c/em>episodes plays on the flatscreen TV in the corner. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Y’s Choice” reads the neon sign outside — after chef-owner “Y” Ahmed, \u003ca href=\"https://www.yschoice.space/our-story\">we later learn\u003c/a>. The restaurant stays open until 11 p.m. on weekends, and at a little past 9 on a Friday night, the bustling dining room smells of garlic, butter and spice. A steady stream of old \u003cem>Martin \u003c/em>episodes plays on the flatscreen TV in the corner. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Already, we feel like we’ve made a good decision coming here. (“Make A Wise Choice,” the sign behind the bar counter reads; I finally get the pun in the restaurant’s name after re-reading it five or six times.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Already, we feel like we’ve made a good decision coming here. (“Make A Wise Choice,” the sign behind the bar counter reads; I finally get the pun in the restaurant’s name after re-reading it five or six times.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On the night of our visit, the crowd is roughly 90% Black women. One big, exuberant group of twentysomethings is dressed to the nines, maybe only just kicking off their night out on the town. At the table next to ours, a pair of middle-aged ladies is having a cozy chat in sweatshirts and mom jeans.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On the night of our visit, the crowd is roughly 90% Black women. One big, exuberant group of twentysomethings is dressed to the nines, maybe only just kicking off their night out on the town. At the table next to ours, a pair of middle-aged ladies is having a cozy chat in sweatshirts and mom jeans.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior of a restaurant at nighttime. The sign outside reads, "Y's Choice."\" class=\"wp-image-13993080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Located about a block away from the Fox Theater, the restaurant is open until 11 p.m. on weekends.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior of a restaurant at nighttime. The sign outside reads, "Y's Choice."\" class=\"wp-image-13993080\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Located about a block away from the Fox Theater, the restaurant is open until 11 p.m. on weekends.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>We make ourselves comfortable too. The menu at Y’s covers a fairly wide range of diasporic cuisines — soul food classics and fried seafood, but also Jamaican dishes and African dishes. We start with a couple of the oxtail sambusas, one of a handful of East African–inspired dishes that nod to the chef’s Sudanese roots. After one bite, we know we’re in good hands. These are chonky, square-edged specimens stuffed to the brim with tender, luscious shreds of spice-tinged braised oxtail. The thin, crispy wrappers taste, improbably, just like Chinese \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao\">youtiao\u003c/a>, fresh out of the fryer. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>We make ourselves comfortable too. The menu at Y’s covers a fairly wide range of diasporic cuisines — soul food classics and fried seafood, but also Jamaican dishes and African dishes. We start with a couple of the oxtail sambusas, one of a handful of East African–inspired dishes that nod to the chef’s Sudanese roots. After one bite, we know we’re in good hands. These are chonky, square-edged specimens stuffed to the brim with tender, luscious shreds of spice-tinged braised oxtail. The thin, crispy wrappers taste, improbably, just like Chinese \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao\">youtiao\u003c/a>, fresh out of the fryer. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And because we’re constitutionally incapable of resisting when we see any form of braised oxtails on a menu, we doubled up with a full entree order. At Y’s Choice, these are served like stew over a big bowl of gravy-soaked rice that tastes strongly of mushrooms — wildly delicious in its own right. The tails themselves are meaty and succulent, with soft nubs of fat and collagen we sucked clean off the bone. (The dish’s soupy, slow-cooked quality is so wonderful, we immediately make plans to come back to try the gumbo.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And because we’re constitutionally incapable of resisting when we see any form of braised oxtails on a menu, we doubled up with a full entree order. At Y’s Choice, these are served like stew over a big bowl of gravy-soaked rice that tastes strongly of mushrooms — wildly delicious in its own right. The tails themselves are meaty and succulent, with soft nubs of fat and collagen we sucked clean off the bone. (The dish’s soupy, slow-cooked quality is so wonderful, we immediately make plans to come back to try the gumbo.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>All of the soul food dishes come with a choice of two sides, and as soon as we taste the green beans and the mac and cheese, I give myself a round of applause for choosing well: The savory green beans have been stewed with smoked turkey until they’re falling-apart soft; the mac and cheese has just the right level of cheddar sharpness and ooze. It’s like we’re eating some holy trinity of soul food. Alternating bites between the oxtails, the green beans and the cheesy pasta shells, everything works together in perfect, complementary balance. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>All of the soul food dishes come with a choice of two sides, and as soon as we taste the green beans and the mac and cheese, I give myself a round of applause for choosing well: The savory green beans have been stewed with smoked turkey until they’re falling-apart soft; the mac and cheese has just the right level of cheddar sharpness and ooze. It’s like we’re eating some holy trinity of soul food. Alternating bites between the oxtails, the green beans and the cheesy pasta shells, everything works together in perfect, complementary balance. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It is worth noting that Y’s Choice isn’t necessarily an inexpensive restaurant. There are a couple of sandwich- and chicken wing–type options for less than $20, but if you splurge on a soul food plate or one of the big “Y’s Special” seafood or surf ’n’ turf combinations — the kind of stacked plates folks like to show off on Instagram — chances are you’ll be dropping at least $40 or $50 on the entree alone. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>It is worth noting that Y’s Choice isn’t necessarily an inexpensive restaurant. There are a couple of sandwich- and chicken wing–type options for less than $20, but if you splurge on a soul food plate or one of the big “Y’s Special” seafood or surf ’n’ turf combinations — the kind of stacked plates folks like to show off on Instagram — chances are you’ll be dropping at least $40 or $50 on the entree alone. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What you get in exchange, though, is a whole lot of food. The least expensive of the specials, the Lil Sis ($40), comes with grilled lamb chops (a bit overcooked but fatty and aggressively seasoned, just how I like them), thickly battered fried prawns and a big bed of sweet, buttery \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a>. Tasty as it all is, we manage to finish maybe half the plate before waving the white flag.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>What you get in exchange, though, is a whole lot of food. The least expensive of the specials, the Lil Sis ($40), comes with grilled lamb chops (a bit overcooked but fatty and aggressively seasoned, just how I like them), thickly battered fried prawns and a big bed of sweet, buttery \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a>. Tasty as it all is, we manage to finish maybe half the plate before waving the white flag.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Also delicious (despite us having ordered way too many carbs): Y’s take on rasta pasta — a huge, and incredibly addicting, portion of creamy, jerk-spiced penne for $15. And for dessert, there’s peach cobbler. Their version comes out looking like an oozy puddle on the plate, but in the best way: soft, syrupy peach chunks with shards of soft, buttery crust mixed in, all topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Full as we are, we hoover up every last bite.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Also delicious (despite us having ordered way too many carbs): Y’s take on rasta pasta — a huge, and incredibly addicting, portion of creamy, jerk-spiced penne for $15. And for dessert, there’s peach cobbler. Their version comes out looking like an oozy puddle on the plate, but in the best way: soft, syrupy peach chunks with shards of soft, buttery crust mixed in, all topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Full as we are, we hoover up every last bite.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Busy as it is, even past 10 o’clock, the restaurant is big enough and quiet enough to allow for quiet conversation. Before we’d even placed our orders, our friendly server had told us that because everything is cooked to order, it can take a bit of time for the food to come out. It’s a good place to catch up with a friend over a long, languorous meal — not somewhere you go when you’re in a hurry. But the food is delicious enough, and the atmosphere has enough of a whiff of elegance, to make the restaurant feel celebratory. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Busy as it is, even past 10 o’clock, the restaurant is big enough and quiet enough to allow for quiet conversation. Before we’d even placed our orders, our friendly server had told us that because everything is cooked to order, it can take a bit of time for the food to come out. It’s a good place to catch up with a friend over a long, languorous meal — not somewhere you go when you’re in a hurry. But the food is delicious enough, and the atmosphere has enough of a whiff of elegance, to make the restaurant feel celebratory. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>We feel that, especially when that one long table of decked-out twentysomethings breaks into the happy birthday song not once but twice. As soon as they finish their second rendition, the servers distribute what looks to be about five dozen takeout cartons. Like us, it seems, the ladies found the portions so abundant that they — very happily — had several meals’ worth of leftovers to take home.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>We feel that, especially when that one long table of decked-out twentysomethings breaks into the happy birthday song not once but twice. As soon as they finish their second rendition, the servers distribute what looks to be about five dozen takeout cartons. Like us, it seems, the ladies found the portions so abundant that they — very happily — had several meals’ worth of leftovers to take home.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ys_choice_/\">\u003cem>Y’s Choice\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Friday to Saturday 11 a.m.–11 p.m. and Sunday to Tuesday 11 a.m.–9 p.m. at 1825 San Pablo Ave. in Oakland.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Braised oxtails, in both sambusa and soupy rice bowl form, are the star of this San Pablo Avenue gem.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration Two men dig into an abundant spread of braised oxtails and other soul food dishes.\" class=\"wp-image-13993078\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Y’s Choice, a soul food restaurant in Uptown Oakland, specializes in braised oxtails and other classic soul food dishes. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A late-night hankering for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/soul-food\">soul food\u003c/a> brings us to an unobtrusive building on a relatively quiet block on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland, just down the street from the Fox Theater. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Y’s Choice” reads the neon sign outside — after chef-owner “Y” Ahmed, \u003ca href=\"https://www.yschoice.space/our-story\">we later learn\u003c/a>. The restaurant stays open until 11 p.m. on weekends, and at a little past 9 on a Friday night, the bustling dining room smells of garlic, butter and spice. A steady stream of old \u003cem>Martin \u003c/em>episodes plays on the flatscreen TV in the corner. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Already, we feel like we’ve made a good decision coming here. (“Make A Wise Choice,” the sign behind the bar counter reads; I finally get the pun in the restaurant’s name after re-reading it five or six times.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the night of our visit, the crowd is roughly 90% Black women. One big, exuberant group of twentysomethings is dressed to the nines, maybe only just kicking off their night out on the town. At the table next to ours, a pair of middle-aged ladies is having a cozy chat in sweatshirts and mom jeans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior of a restaurant at nighttime. The sign outside reads, "Y's Choice."\" class=\"wp-image-13993080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/yschoice2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Located about a block away from the Fox Theater, the restaurant is open until 11 p.m. on weekends. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>We make ourselves comfortable too. The menu at Y’s covers a fairly wide range of diasporic cuisines — soul food classics and fried seafood, but also Jamaican dishes and African dishes. We start with a couple of the oxtail sambusas, one of a handful of East African–inspired dishes that nod to the chef’s Sudanese roots. After one bite, we know we’re in good hands. These are chonky, square-edged specimens stuffed to the brim with tender, luscious shreds of spice-tinged braised oxtail. The thin, crispy wrappers taste, improbably, just like Chinese \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao\">youtiao\u003c/a>, fresh out of the fryer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And because we’re constitutionally incapable of resisting when we see any form of braised oxtails on a menu, we doubled up with a full entree order. At Y’s Choice, these are served like stew over a big bowl of gravy-soaked rice that tastes strongly of mushrooms — wildly delicious in its own right. The tails themselves are meaty and succulent, with soft nubs of fat and collagen we sucked clean off the bone. (The dish’s soupy, slow-cooked quality is so wonderful, we immediately make plans to come back to try the gumbo.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All of the soul food dishes come with a choice of two sides, and as soon as we taste the green beans and the mac and cheese, I give myself a round of applause for choosing well: The savory green beans have been stewed with smoked turkey until they’re falling-apart soft; the mac and cheese has just the right level of cheddar sharpness and ooze. It’s like we’re eating some holy trinity of soul food. Alternating bites between the oxtails, the green beans and the cheesy pasta shells, everything works together in perfect, complementary balance. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It is worth noting that Y’s Choice isn’t necessarily an inexpensive restaurant. There are a couple of sandwich- and chicken wing–type options for less than $20, but if you splurge on a soul food plate or one of the big “Y’s Special” seafood or surf ’n’ turf combinations — the kind of stacked plates folks like to show off on Instagram — chances are you’ll be dropping at least $40 or $50 on the entree alone. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What you get in exchange, though, is a whole lot of food. The least expensive of the specials, the Lil Sis ($40), comes with grilled lamb chops (a bit overcooked but fatty and aggressively seasoned, just how I like them), thickly battered fried prawns and a big bed of sweet, buttery \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a>. Tasty as it all is, we manage to finish maybe half the plate before waving the white flag.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Also delicious (despite us having ordered way too many carbs): Y’s take on rasta pasta — a huge, and incredibly addicting, portion of creamy, jerk-spiced penne for $15. And for dessert, there’s peach cobbler. Their version comes out looking like an oozy puddle on the plate, but in the best way: soft, syrupy peach chunks with shards of soft, buttery crust mixed in, all topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Full as we are, we hoover up every last bite.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Busy as it is, even past 10 o’clock, the restaurant is big enough and quiet enough to allow for quiet conversation. Before we’d even placed our orders, our friendly server had told us that because everything is cooked to order, it can take a bit of time for the food to come out. It’s a good place to catch up with a friend over a long, languorous meal — not somewhere you go when you’re in a hurry. But the food is delicious enough, and the atmosphere has enough of a whiff of elegance, to make the restaurant feel celebratory. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>We feel that, especially when that one long table of decked-out twentysomethings breaks into the happy birthday song not once but twice. As soon as they finish their second rendition, the servers distribute what looks to be about five dozen takeout cartons. Like us, it seems, the ladies found the portions so abundant that they — very happily — had several meals’ worth of leftovers to take home.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ys_choice_/\">\u003cem>Y’s Choice\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Friday to Saturday 11 a.m.–11 p.m. and Sunday to Tuesday 11 a.m.–9 p.m. at 1825 San Pablo Ave. in Oakland.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>To the uninitiated, “funk and fermentation” might sound more like a stinky hospital ward full of weird infections than it does like a party. But in fact, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/rooftoprhythms/events/rooftop-rhythms-sunday-199285\">Suds Francisco 2026: A Funk & Fermentation Festival\u003c/a> is a real-life Aug. 23 event where people brewin’ and people groovin’ collide. (Hopefully in a non-sticky way?)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the groovin’ side is San Francisco rapper-producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958102/afterthought-love-letters-to-my-body\">Afterthought\u003c/a>, who’s set to perform with his big, eclectic backing band, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/topchefsband/?hl=en\">Top Chefs\u003c/a>. Expect a hearty dose of positive mental attitude, heartwarming vulnerability, and a blend of hip-hop, jazz, R&B and (yes) funk, that’ll leave you with the warm and tinglies before you’ve even tried any spicy kimchi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Also on the bill is Katdelic, the latest project by former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13839952/its-that-naughty-feeling-george-clinton-on-funks-enduring-appeal\">Parliament Funkadelic\u003c/a> member, RonKat Spearman. (The soulful and multitalented San Francisco resident is also playing the \u003ca href=\"https://boomboomroom.com/events/\">Boom Boom Room\u003c/a> the night before Suds Francisco, for those of you who prefer your funk in small, dark rooms.) Katdelic as a quintet prides itself on producing genre-bending party music, so get ready to move.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This rooftop party at Salesforce Park is hosted by the \u003ca href=\"https://drinkbay.beer/\">Bay Area Brewing Guild\u003c/a>, Bernal Heights’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.barebottle.com/\">Barebottle Brewing Company\u003c/a> and 26 other reputable independent breweries. As such, Suds Francisco will likely be this summer’s hottest party for Bay Area beer breweries, wineries, cideries, sake- and kombucha-makers, and the fans who love them. The fermentation foodies will be happy too, with a selection of artisanal pickles, kimchi, sourdough, sauerkraut and more to snack on.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Entrance is free, but tickets (starting at $85) are available for anyone wanting to indulge in unlimited tastings. Ticket proceeds benefit the Bay Area Brewing Guild, a nonprofit trade association that unites, showcases and supports independent craft breweries around the region.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is funk and fermentation kind of a weird theme to build a festival around? Probably. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fermentation\">fermentation\u003c/a> is undoubtedly having a moment right now, a natural end-point for the multitude of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13879390/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sourdough-starters-but-were-afraid-to-ask\">sourdough obsessions\u003c/a> that started during the COVID pandemic. And yes, as Parliament noted all the way back in 1975, we’ve still gotta have that funk.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/rooftoprhythms/events/rooftop-rhythms-sunday-199285\">Suds Francisco 2026: A Funk & Fermentation Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/em> \u003cem>takes place \u003cem>Aug. 23, 2–6 p.m\u003c/em>. at Salesforce Park (425 Mission St., San Francisco).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On the groovin’ side is San Francisco rapper-producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958102/afterthought-love-letters-to-my-body\">Afterthought\u003c/a>, who’s set to perform with his big, eclectic backing band, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/topchefsband/?hl=en\">Top Chefs\u003c/a>. Expect a hearty dose of positive mental attitude, heartwarming vulnerability, and a blend of hip-hop, jazz, R&B and (yes) funk, that’ll leave you with the warm and tinglies before you’ve even tried any spicy kimchi.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Entrance is free, but tickets (starting at $85) are available for anyone wanting to indulge in unlimited tastings. Ticket proceeds benefit the Bay Area Brewing Guild, a nonprofit trade association that unites, showcases and supports independent craft breweries around the region.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Is funk and fermentation kind of a weird theme to build a festival around? Probably. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fermentation\">fermentation\u003c/a> is undoubtedly having a moment right now, a natural end-point for the multitude of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13879390/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sourdough-starters-but-were-afraid-to-ask\">sourdough obsessions\u003c/a> that started during the COVID pandemic. And yes, as Parliament noted all the way back in 1975, we’ve still gotta have that funk.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>To the uninitiated, “funk and fermentation” might sound more like a stinky hospital ward full of weird infections than it does like a party. But in fact, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/rooftoprhythms/events/rooftop-rhythms-sunday-199285\">Suds Francisco 2026: A Funk & Fermentation Festival\u003c/a> is a real-life Aug. 23 event where people brewin’ and people groovin’ collide. (Hopefully in a non-sticky way?)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the groovin’ side is San Francisco rapper-producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958102/afterthought-love-letters-to-my-body\">Afterthought\u003c/a>, who’s set to perform with his big, eclectic backing band, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/topchefsband/?hl=en\">Top Chefs\u003c/a>. Expect a hearty dose of positive mental attitude, heartwarming vulnerability, and a blend of hip-hop, jazz, R&B and (yes) funk, that’ll leave you with the warm and tinglies before you’ve even tried any spicy kimchi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Also on the bill is Katdelic, the latest project by former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13839952/its-that-naughty-feeling-george-clinton-on-funks-enduring-appeal\">Parliament Funkadelic\u003c/a> member, RonKat Spearman. (The soulful and multitalented San Francisco resident is also playing the \u003ca href=\"https://boomboomroom.com/events/\">Boom Boom Room\u003c/a> the night before Suds Francisco, for those of you who prefer your funk in small, dark rooms.) Katdelic as a quintet prides itself on producing genre-bending party music, so get ready to move.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This rooftop party at Salesforce Park is hosted by the \u003ca href=\"https://drinkbay.beer/\">Bay Area Brewing Guild\u003c/a>, Bernal Heights’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.barebottle.com/\">Barebottle Brewing Company\u003c/a> and 26 other reputable independent breweries. As such, Suds Francisco will likely be this summer’s hottest party for Bay Area beer breweries, wineries, cideries, sake- and kombucha-makers, and the fans who love them. The fermentation foodies will be happy too, with a selection of artisanal pickles, kimchi, sourdough, sauerkraut and more to snack on.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Entrance is free, but tickets (starting at $85) are available for anyone wanting to indulge in unlimited tastings. Ticket proceeds benefit the Bay Area Brewing Guild, a nonprofit trade association that unites, showcases and supports independent craft breweries around the region.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is funk and fermentation kind of a weird theme to build a festival around? Probably. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fermentation\">fermentation\u003c/a> is undoubtedly having a moment right now, a natural end-point for the multitude of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13879390/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sourdough-starters-but-were-afraid-to-ask\">sourdough obsessions\u003c/a> that started during the COVID pandemic. And yes, as Parliament noted all the way back in 1975, we’ve still gotta have that funk.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/rooftoprhythms/events/rooftop-rhythms-sunday-199285\">Suds Francisco 2026: A Funk & Fermentation Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/em> \u003cem>takes place \u003cem>Aug. 23, 2–6 p.m\u003c/em>. at Salesforce Park (425 Mission St., San Francisco).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "bens-chinese-restaurant-oakland-not-closing",
"title": "Oakland’s Most Underrated Chinese Restaurant Isn’t Closing After All",
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"content": "\u003cp>As it turns out, reports on the demise of Ben’s, a spot I once called “\u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/the-best-chinese-restaurant-in-oakland-that-youve-never-heard-of-1/\">the best Chinese restaurant in Oakland that you haven’t heard of\u003c/a>,” were a little bit premature.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Local news outlets \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bens-chinese-restaurant-closed-oakland-22377342.php\">reported\u003c/a> that the Jack London staple had closed after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/oakland/comments/1vgh85y/bens_on_3rd_st_in_jls/\">Reddit poster\u003c/a> found the restaurant shuttered unexpectedly last week. A sign in the window read, “Since 1986, thank you for a great 40 years.” There was no previous warning that Ben’s had been planning to close.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When reached by phone, however, second-generation owner David Fung clarified that Ben’s wasn’t closing permanently after all. Instead, the restaurant will be taking extended break with the goal of reopening in two or three months.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Pops needed a break,” David explained, referring to his father, Ben Fung, the restaurant’s lone chef and namesake since he opened the place in 1986.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a regular at Ben’s when I worked down the street in the early 2010s, I fell in love with the restaurant’s homey, unpretentious Cantonese American lunch plates, which at the time were priced at around just $6 a pop: heaping portions of garlic fried chicken, shrimp and scrambled egg over rice, and curry-spiced Singapore rice noodles, all laden with an abundance of fresh vegetables. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce.jpg\" alt=\"Metal container with chili sauce.\" class=\"wp-image-13992747\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The restaurant’s housemade black bean chili sauce might be even more famous and beloved than its actual dishes. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>My favorite is the off-menu “David Special” rice plate, which folds plump shrimp and tender beef into a fluffy, golden-brown egg omelet. Paired with heaping dollops of Ben’s fiendishly delicious housemade black bean chili sauce, it’s one of my favorite comfort meals.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the restaurant’s temporary closure happened all of a sudden, the Fungs will take the time off to make some much-needed updates. First, they’ve transferred ownership to David’s name. At 76 years old, the elder Fung has long contemplated retirement. The idea, David says, is that when Ben’s reopens, his father can just come in and cook for a few hours every day. Meanwhile, David himself will take over all of the other day-to-day responsibilities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The restaurant itself also needs a fairly significant renovation — new floors, a new fire escape, an updated bathroom. For the entirety of its 40-year history, Ben’s has been the very definition of a tiny, barebones hole-in-the-wall. While David doesn’t expect that to change, he does hope to make the space a little bit more modern and inviting.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Part of what the family is beginning to prepare, then, is a succession plan for when Beneventually does retire. David says he’s already learned most of the recipes — in fact, when Ben’s reopens, he’s thinking about keeping the restaurant open in the evenings for the first time and cooking the dinner service himself. Eventually, though, they’ll need to hire and train a new chef they trust.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As for his father’s real retirement plan? They want to bottle and sell that \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/best-homemade-hot-sauce-2-1/\">famous chili sauce\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior.jpg\" alt=\"Light blue exterior of a well-worn Chinese restaurant. The English-language signage reads, "Ben's." \" class=\"wp-image-13992748\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ben’s has been serving a notably diverse range of customers since 1986. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>David, for his part, was an infant when his father first opened Ben’s in 1986 — he literally grew up at the restaurant. Back in those early days, the nearby Port of Oakland and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047368/while-oakland-sleeps-a-100-year-old-produce-market-bustles-with-life\">wholesale produce market\u003c/a> were both a lot busier, and the railroad tracks used to go all the way through 3rd Street. (“At any given moment,” David recalls, “the freight trains would go through right in front of our store.”) The restaurant used to open at 4 a.m. to serve breakfast to folks finishing up a late-night shift.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What never changed, though, is the diversity of the restaurant’s clientele, which has always included doctors, lawyers, blue-collar dock workers, construction workers and everyone in between. To all of those longtime fans of the restaurant, David promises that there’s no need to worry. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The David Special is not going extinct,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Ben’s is located at 398 3rd St. in Oakland. The restaurant expects to be closed for renovation for at least two or three months.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Local news outlets \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bens-chinese-restaurant-closed-oakland-22377342.php\">reported\u003c/a> that the Jack London staple had closed after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/oakland/comments/1vgh85y/bens_on_3rd_st_in_jls/\">Reddit poster\u003c/a> found the restaurant shuttered unexpectedly last week. A sign in the window read, “Since 1986, thank you for a great 40 years.” There was no previous warning that Ben’s had been planning to close.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When reached by phone, however, second-generation owner David Fung clarified that Ben’s wasn’t closing permanently after all. Instead, the restaurant will be taking extended break with the goal of reopening in two or three months.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When reached by phone, however, second-generation owner David Fung clarified that Ben’s wasn’t closing permanently after all. Instead, the restaurant will be taking extended break with the goal of reopening in two or three months.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Pops needed a break,” David explained, referring to his father, Ben Fung, the restaurant’s lone chef and namesake since he opened the place in 1986.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As a regular at Ben’s when I worked down the street in the early 2010s, I fell in love with the restaurant’s homey, unpretentious Cantonese American lunch plates, which at the time were priced at around just $6 a pop: heaping portions of garlic fried chicken, shrimp and scrambled egg over rice, and curry-spiced Singapore rice noodles, all laden with an abundance of fresh vegetables. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As a regular at Ben’s when I worked down the street in the early 2010s, I fell in love with the restaurant’s homey, unpretentious Cantonese American lunch plates, which at the time were priced at around just $6 a pop: heaping portions of garlic fried chicken, shrimp and scrambled egg over rice, and curry-spiced Singapore rice noodles, all laden with an abundance of fresh vegetables. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce.jpg\" alt=\"Metal container with chili sauce.\" class=\"wp-image-13992747\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The restaurant’s housemade black bean chili sauce might be even more famous and beloved than its actual dishes.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>My favorite is the off-menu “David Special” rice plate, which folds plump shrimp and tender beef into a fluffy, golden-brown egg omelet. Paired with heaping dollops of Ben’s fiendishly delicious housemade black bean chili sauce, it’s one of my favorite comfort meals.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While the restaurant’s temporary closure happened all of a sudden, the Fungs will take the time off to make some much-needed updates. First, they’ve transferred ownership to David’s name. At 76 years old, the elder Fung has long contemplated retirement. The idea, David says, is that when Ben’s reopens, his father can just come in and cook for a few hours every day. Meanwhile, David himself will take over all of the other day-to-day responsibilities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The restaurant itself also needs a fairly significant renovation — new floors, a new fire escape, an updated bathroom. For the entirety of its 40-year history, Ben’s has been the very definition of a tiny, barebones hole-in-the-wall. While David doesn’t expect that to change, he does hope to make the space a little bit more modern and inviting.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Part of what the family is beginning to prepare, then, is a succession plan for when Beneventually does retire. David says he’s already learned most of the recipes — in fact, when Ben’s reopens, he’s thinking about keeping the restaurant open in the evenings for the first time and cooking the dinner service himself. Eventually, though, they’ll need to hire and train a new chef they trust.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Part of what the family is beginning to prepare, then, is a succession plan for when Beneventually does retire. David says he’s already learned most of the recipes — in fact, when Ben’s reopens, he’s thinking about keeping the restaurant open in the evenings for the first time and cooking the dinner service himself. Eventually, though, they’ll need to hire and train a new chef they trust.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As for his father’s real retirement plan? They want to bottle and sell that \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/best-homemade-hot-sauce-2-1/\">famous chili sauce\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As for his father’s real retirement plan? They want to bottle and sell that \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/best-homemade-hot-sauce-2-1/\">famous chili sauce\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior.jpg\" alt=\"Light blue exterior of a well-worn Chinese restaurant. The English-language signage reads, "Ben's." \" class=\"wp-image-13992748\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ben’s has been serving a notably diverse range of customers since 1986.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>David, for his part, was an infant when his father first opened Ben’s in 1986 — he literally grew up at the restaurant. Back in those early days, the nearby Port of Oakland and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047368/while-oakland-sleeps-a-100-year-old-produce-market-bustles-with-life\">wholesale produce market\u003c/a> were both a lot busier, and the railroad tracks used to go all the way through 3rd Street. (“At any given moment,” David recalls, “the freight trains would go through right in front of our store.”) The restaurant used to open at 4 a.m. to serve breakfast to folks finishing up a late-night shift.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What never changed, though, is the diversity of the restaurant’s clientele, which has always included doctors, lawyers, blue-collar dock workers, construction workers and everyone in between. To all of those longtime fans of the restaurant, David promises that there’s no need to worry. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The David Special is not going extinct,” he says.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Ben’s is located at 398 3rd St. in Oakland. The restaurant expects to be closed for renovation for at least two or three months.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Ben’s, a beloved hole-in-the-wall in the Jack London District, plans to renovate and reopen.",
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"title": "Ben’s Chinese Restaurant in Oakland Isn’t Closing After All | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As it turns out, reports on the demise of Ben’s, a spot I once called “\u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/the-best-chinese-restaurant-in-oakland-that-youve-never-heard-of-1/\">the best Chinese restaurant in Oakland that you haven’t heard of\u003c/a>,” were a little bit premature.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Local news outlets \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bens-chinese-restaurant-closed-oakland-22377342.php\">reported\u003c/a> that the Jack London staple had closed after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/oakland/comments/1vgh85y/bens_on_3rd_st_in_jls/\">Reddit poster\u003c/a> found the restaurant shuttered unexpectedly last week. A sign in the window read, “Since 1986, thank you for a great 40 years.” There was no previous warning that Ben’s had been planning to close.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When reached by phone, however, second-generation owner David Fung clarified that Ben’s wasn’t closing permanently after all. Instead, the restaurant will be taking extended break with the goal of reopening in two or three months.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Pops needed a break,” David explained, referring to his father, Ben Fung, the restaurant’s lone chef and namesake since he opened the place in 1986.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a regular at Ben’s when I worked down the street in the early 2010s, I fell in love with the restaurant’s homey, unpretentious Cantonese American lunch plates, which at the time were priced at around just $6 a pop: heaping portions of garlic fried chicken, shrimp and scrambled egg over rice, and curry-spiced Singapore rice noodles, all laden with an abundance of fresh vegetables. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce.jpg\" alt=\"Metal container with chili sauce.\" class=\"wp-image-13992747\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens_chili-sauce-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The restaurant’s housemade black bean chili sauce might be even more famous and beloved than its actual dishes. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>My favorite is the off-menu “David Special” rice plate, which folds plump shrimp and tender beef into a fluffy, golden-brown egg omelet. Paired with heaping dollops of Ben’s fiendishly delicious housemade black bean chili sauce, it’s one of my favorite comfort meals.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the restaurant’s temporary closure happened all of a sudden, the Fungs will take the time off to make some much-needed updates. First, they’ve transferred ownership to David’s name. At 76 years old, the elder Fung has long contemplated retirement. The idea, David says, is that when Ben’s reopens, his father can just come in and cook for a few hours every day. Meanwhile, David himself will take over all of the other day-to-day responsibilities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The restaurant itself also needs a fairly significant renovation — new floors, a new fire escape, an updated bathroom. For the entirety of its 40-year history, Ben’s has been the very definition of a tiny, barebones hole-in-the-wall. While David doesn’t expect that to change, he does hope to make the space a little bit more modern and inviting.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Part of what the family is beginning to prepare, then, is a succession plan for when Beneventually does retire. David says he’s already learned most of the recipes — in fact, when Ben’s reopens, he’s thinking about keeping the restaurant open in the evenings for the first time and cooking the dinner service himself. Eventually, though, they’ll need to hire and train a new chef they trust.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As for his father’s real retirement plan? They want to bottle and sell that \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/best-homemade-hot-sauce-2-1/\">famous chili sauce\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior.jpg\" alt=\"Light blue exterior of a well-worn Chinese restaurant. The English-language signage reads, "Ben's." \" class=\"wp-image-13992748\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/bens-exterior-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ben’s has been serving a notably diverse range of customers since 1986. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>David, for his part, was an infant when his father first opened Ben’s in 1986 — he literally grew up at the restaurant. Back in those early days, the nearby Port of Oakland and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047368/while-oakland-sleeps-a-100-year-old-produce-market-bustles-with-life\">wholesale produce market\u003c/a> were both a lot busier, and the railroad tracks used to go all the way through 3rd Street. (“At any given moment,” David recalls, “the freight trains would go through right in front of our store.”) The restaurant used to open at 4 a.m. to serve breakfast to folks finishing up a late-night shift.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What never changed, though, is the diversity of the restaurant’s clientele, which has always included doctors, lawyers, blue-collar dock workers, construction workers and everyone in between. To all of those longtime fans of the restaurant, David promises that there’s no need to worry. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The David Special is not going extinct,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Ben’s is located at 398 3rd St. in Oakland. The restaurant expects to be closed for renovation for at least two or three months.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "fat-cat-mantis-vietnamese-food-wine-bar-review-late-night-sf-bernal-heights",
"title": "Fat Cat x The Mantis Is Serving Up the Most Exciting Vietnamese Food in SF",
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"content": "\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1.jpg\" alt=\"Three men at a restaurant hunched over a huge spread of Vietnamese dishes.\" class=\"wp-image-13992493\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Vietnamese-inspired dishes at Fat Cat x The Mantis are at once deeply nostalgic and like nothiing you’ve ever tasted. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fatcatsf.com/\">Fat Cat\u003c/a> x \u003ca href=\"https://www.fatmantis.com/\">The Mantis\u003c/a> sounds like one of those deep-cut comic book crossovers — a collector’s edition for anyone who’s ever wondered how two of their favorite super-villains might fare against each other in an intergalactic fist fight. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’re a food lover in San Francisco, however, the real Fat Cat x The Mantis is something even better, and perhaps just as surprising: a wildly creative \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/vietnamese-food\">Vietnamese American restaurant\u003c/a> (The Mantis) that shares a space in Bernal Heights with one of the city’s friendliest and most accessible new wine bars (Fat Cat). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s a roommate situation that came about in part because of mundane San Francisco reasons (i.e. “\u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2026/03/19/buzzy-vietnamese-pop-cult-favorite-wine-club-take-former-pinball-bar/\">it’s so damn expensive out here\u003c/a>”). But the collaboration really works. The restaurant is serving some of the most thrilling, delicious Vietnamese food we’ve had in SF, and makes for one of the city’s most enjoyable late-night (ish) dining experiences.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To be clear, the wine bar isn’t necessarily oriented for the extreme night owl: The kitchen closes at 10 p.m., and servers usually put out a last call for food orders at around 9:30. Still, the bar itself is open until 11 on weekends, and during our visit, plenty of diners were still polishing off the last bites of their dessert at well past 10.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2.jpg\" alt=\"Neon-lit exterior of a restaurant at night time.\" class=\"wp-image-13992492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The wine bar is open until 11 p.m. on weekends, though the kitchen usually stops taking orders after 9:30. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The moment we pull up on a recent Friday night, we get a clear sense of the aesthetic. Unlike the bulk of the city’s trendy bars, Fat Cat eschews dim mood lighting in favor of a cheerfully bright, pink-and-mint-green living room vibe. A bandana mounted on the wall depicts a skateboarding, rice-paddy-hat-wearing granny pulling an ollie. The chopstick caddy on our table features a photo of Tuan An, aka “\u003ca href=\"https://vietceleb.blogspot.com/2015/05/tuan-anh.html?m=1\">the Vietnamese Boy George\u003c/a>,” the flamboyantly coiffed icon from the ’80s and ’90s heyday of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/new-wave-elizabeth-ai-19847502.php\">Vietnamese New Wave\u003c/a> music scene. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The food straddles a similar line between nostalgia and envelope-pushing. We’d been fans of chef Kevin Tang’s inventive Vietnamese American cooking since his days at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13962759/viridian-asian-american-cocktail-bar-late-night-food-oakland\">Viridian\u003c/a> in Oakland. At first glance, the menu at The Mantis doesn’t read as \u003cem>especially\u003c/em> Vietnamese. The dishes all sound like something you might find at a French wine bistro, with one or two Vietnamese ingredients added to every dish. There’s pâté, oysters on the half shell, a crudo, a big platter of steak frites. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All it took was our first slurp of a Miyagi oyster, though, for us to be astounded by just how distinctly Vietnamese — and also how new and unexpected — the food tasted. Each oyster came topped with a tangle of crispy fried shallots, a shiso leaf, diced pluot and, most amazing, a dab of green muối ớt xanh — a zippy, salsa-like sauce made by blending green chilies, lime leaves and sweet condensed milk that Vietnamese restaurants often serve with grilled seafood. Paired with the briny salinity of the raw oysters, the combination of flavors and textures were a delightful shock to our taste buds.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dish after dish elicited a similar reaction. Ricotta and bún riêu tomato jam (!) spread on good sourdough. Confit chicken and taro croquettes topped with slivers of fish sauce–laced green mango, served over a smear of calamansi-chili aioli. (That one was like a Viet-coded take on dim sum taro dumplings. Or, as the table next to ours enthused, “like an egg roll and a crab cake had a son.”)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a plate of fried eggplant came with butterbean miso, whipped tofu, Sungold tomatoes, Thai basil and lemongrass chili jam, according to the menu description. Just reading the list of ingredients set our heads to spinning. But once we bit in, we were sold. The eggplant was astonishingly crunchy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. Taken all together, the sweetness of the tomatoes, the creaminess of the tofu, and the subtle heat of the chili jam made for the perfect bite. We immediately declared the dish our favorite. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Our favorite, that is, until the server brought out the steak frites. This is the chef’s take on bò kho, or Vietnamese-style beef stew: thick slices of medium-rare strip loin drenched in a pool of velvety beef gravy that was so addictively savory, it begged for a big bowl of white rice (which our server was happy to supply). The dish is emblematic of the cooking at The Mantis — at once deeply nostalgic and like nothing you’ve had before. We couldn’t stop thinking about it — and that’s even before accounting for the side of extra-crispy, extra-fluffy double-fried Kennebec potato fries, which were amazing in their own right. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Service, meanwhile, was universally warm and enthusiastic. Never before have we received so much affirmation for ordering a Diet Coke — the ideal beverage to pair with Vietnamese food, we posited. (“Fucking bomb!” our server agreed.) On the night of our visit, the bar was packed from end to end, with diners and bar patrons spread out between the bar counter and the cluster of leather banquettes in the back. (There’d been a two-hour wait to get a seat a couple hours before we arrived, our server told us.) \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The crowd skews a little bit young and maybe half Asian, and everyone’s a little smooshed together so it’s easy to wind up striking up conversations with your neighbors. Like us, the group of twenty- or thirty-somethings at the table next to ours had ordered nearly everything on the menu, so we spent the evening exchanging rave reviews and, at the end, a round of high fives. We’d been on something of a journey together, it felt like. And we couldn’t wait to do it again. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fatmantis.com/\">\u003cem>Fat Cat x The Mantis\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open for dinner service Friday to Monday 5–10 p.m. at 3215 Mission St. in San Francisco. Last call for food orders is typically at around 9:30 p.m. The wine bar itself is open until 11 p.m. on weekends, and serves hot dogs and cheese plates when The Mantis isn’t open. On Sundays and Mondays, The Mantis also offers a $75 tasting menu option. Walk-ins only.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1.jpg\" alt=\"Three men at a restaurant hunched over a huge spread of Vietnamese dishes.\" class=\"wp-image-13992493\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Vietnamese-inspired dishes at Fat Cat x The Mantis are at once deeply nostalgic and like nothiing you’ve ever tasted.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1.jpg\" alt=\"Three men at a restaurant hunched over a huge spread of Vietnamese dishes.\" class=\"wp-image-13992493\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Vietnamese-inspired dishes at Fat Cat x The Mantis are at once deeply nostalgic and like nothiing you’ve ever tasted.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fatcatsf.com/\">Fat Cat\u003c/a> x \u003ca href=\"https://www.fatmantis.com/\">The Mantis\u003c/a> sounds like one of those deep-cut comic book crossovers — a collector’s edition for anyone who’s ever wondered how two of their favorite super-villains might fare against each other in an intergalactic fist fight. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fatcatsf.com/\">Fat Cat\u003c/a> x \u003ca href=\"https://www.fatmantis.com/\">The Mantis\u003c/a> sounds like one of those deep-cut comic book crossovers — a collector’s edition for anyone who’s ever wondered how two of their favorite super-villains might fare against each other in an intergalactic fist fight. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you’re a food lover in San Francisco, however, the real Fat Cat x The Mantis is something even better, and perhaps just as surprising: a wildly creative \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/vietnamese-food\">Vietnamese American restaurant\u003c/a> (The Mantis) that shares a space in Bernal Heights with one of the city’s friendliest and most accessible new wine bars (Fat Cat). \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If you’re a food lover in San Francisco, however, the real Fat Cat x The Mantis is something even better, and perhaps just as surprising: a wildly creative \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/vietnamese-food\">Vietnamese American restaurant\u003c/a> (The Mantis) that shares a space in Bernal Heights with one of the city’s friendliest and most accessible new wine bars (Fat Cat). \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s a roommate situation that came about in part because of mundane San Francisco reasons (i.e. “\u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2026/03/19/buzzy-vietnamese-pop-cult-favorite-wine-club-take-former-pinball-bar/\">it’s so damn expensive out here\u003c/a>”). But the collaboration really works. The restaurant is serving some of the most thrilling, delicious Vietnamese food we’ve had in SF, and makes for one of the city’s most enjoyable late-night (ish) dining experiences.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It’s a roommate situation that came about in part because of mundane San Francisco reasons (i.e. “\u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2026/03/19/buzzy-vietnamese-pop-cult-favorite-wine-club-take-former-pinball-bar/\">it’s so damn expensive out here\u003c/a>”). But the collaboration really works. The restaurant is serving some of the most thrilling, delicious Vietnamese food we’ve had in SF, and makes for one of the city’s most enjoyable late-night (ish) dining experiences.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>To be clear, the wine bar isn’t necessarily oriented for the extreme night owl: The kitchen closes at 10 p.m., and servers usually put out a last call for food orders at around 9:30. Still, the bar itself is open until 11 on weekends, and during our visit, plenty of diners were still polishing off the last bites of their dessert at well past 10.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>To be clear, the wine bar isn’t necessarily oriented for the extreme night owl: The kitchen closes at 10 p.m., and servers usually put out a last call for food orders at around 9:30. Still, the bar itself is open until 11 on weekends, and during our visit, plenty of diners were still polishing off the last bites of their dessert at well past 10.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2.jpg\" alt=\"Neon-lit exterior of a restaurant at night time.\" class=\"wp-image-13992492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The wine bar is open until 11 p.m. on weekends, though the kitchen usually stops taking orders after 9:30.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2.jpg\" alt=\"Neon-lit exterior of a restaurant at night time.\" class=\"wp-image-13992492\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The wine bar is open until 11 p.m. on weekends, though the kitchen usually stops taking orders after 9:30.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The moment we pull up on a recent Friday night, we get a clear sense of the aesthetic. Unlike the bulk of the city’s trendy bars, Fat Cat eschews dim mood lighting in favor of a cheerfully bright, pink-and-mint-green living room vibe. A bandana mounted on the wall depicts a skateboarding, rice-paddy-hat-wearing granny pulling an ollie. The chopstick caddy on our table features a photo of Tuan An, aka “\u003ca href=\"https://vietceleb.blogspot.com/2015/05/tuan-anh.html?m=1\">the Vietnamese Boy George\u003c/a>,” the flamboyantly coiffed icon from the ’80s and ’90s heyday of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/new-wave-elizabeth-ai-19847502.php\">Vietnamese New Wave\u003c/a> music scene. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The moment we pull up on a recent Friday night, we get a clear sense of the aesthetic. Unlike the bulk of the city’s trendy bars, Fat Cat eschews dim mood lighting in favor of a cheerfully bright, pink-and-mint-green living room vibe. A bandana mounted on the wall depicts a skateboarding, rice-paddy-hat-wearing granny pulling an ollie. The chopstick caddy on our table features a photo of Tuan An, aka “\u003ca href=\"https://vietceleb.blogspot.com/2015/05/tuan-anh.html?m=1\">the Vietnamese Boy George\u003c/a>,” the flamboyantly coiffed icon from the ’80s and ’90s heyday of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/new-wave-elizabeth-ai-19847502.php\">Vietnamese New Wave\u003c/a> music scene. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The food straddles a similar line between nostalgia and envelope-pushing. We’d been fans of chef Kevin Tang’s inventive Vietnamese American cooking since his days at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13962759/viridian-asian-american-cocktail-bar-late-night-food-oakland\">Viridian\u003c/a> in Oakland. At first glance, the menu at The Mantis doesn’t read as \u003cem>especially\u003c/em> Vietnamese. The dishes all sound like something you might find at a French wine bistro, with one or two Vietnamese ingredients added to every dish. There’s pâté, oysters on the half shell, a crudo, a big platter of steak frites. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The food straddles a similar line between nostalgia and envelope-pushing. We’d been fans of chef Kevin Tang’s inventive Vietnamese American cooking since his days at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13962759/viridian-asian-american-cocktail-bar-late-night-food-oakland\">Viridian\u003c/a> in Oakland. At first glance, the menu at The Mantis doesn’t read as \u003cem>especially\u003c/em> Vietnamese. The dishes all sound like something you might find at a French wine bistro, with one or two Vietnamese ingredients added to every dish. There’s pâté, oysters on the half shell, a crudo, a big platter of steak frites. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>All it took was our first slurp of a Miyagi oyster, though, for us to be astounded by just how distinctly Vietnamese — and also how new and unexpected — the food tasted. Each oyster came topped with a tangle of crispy fried shallots, a shiso leaf, diced pluot and, most amazing, a dab of green muối ớt xanh — a zippy, salsa-like sauce made by blending green chilies, lime leaves and sweet condensed milk that Vietnamese restaurants often serve with grilled seafood. Paired with the briny salinity of the raw oysters, the combination of flavors and textures were a delightful shock to our taste buds.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>All it took was our first slurp of a Miyagi oyster, though, for us to be astounded by just how distinctly Vietnamese — and also how new and unexpected — the food tasted. Each oyster came topped with a tangle of crispy fried shallots, a shiso leaf, diced pluot and, most amazing, a dab of green muối ớt xanh — a zippy, salsa-like sauce made by blending green chilies, lime leaves and sweet condensed milk that Vietnamese restaurants often serve with grilled seafood. Paired with the briny salinity of the raw oysters, the combination of flavors and textures were a delightful shock to our taste buds.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Dish after dish elicited a similar reaction. Ricotta and bún riêu tomato jam (!) spread on good sourdough. Confit chicken and taro croquettes topped with slivers of fish sauce–laced green mango, served over a smear of calamansi-chili aioli. (That one was like a Viet-coded take on dim sum taro dumplings. Or, as the table next to ours enthused, “like an egg roll and a crab cake had a son.”)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Dish after dish elicited a similar reaction. Ricotta and bún riêu tomato jam (!) spread on good sourdough. Confit chicken and taro croquettes topped with slivers of fish sauce–laced green mango, served over a smear of calamansi-chili aioli. (That one was like a Viet-coded take on dim sum taro dumplings. Or, as the table next to ours enthused, “like an egg roll and a crab cake had a son.”)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a plate of fried eggplant came with butterbean miso, whipped tofu, Sungold tomatoes, Thai basil and lemongrass chili jam, according to the menu description. Just reading the list of ingredients set our heads to spinning. But once we bit in, we were sold. The eggplant was astonishingly crunchy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. Taken all together, the sweetness of the tomatoes, the creaminess of the tofu, and the subtle heat of the chili jam made for the perfect bite. We immediately declared the dish our favorite. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a plate of fried eggplant came with butterbean miso, whipped tofu, Sungold tomatoes, Thai basil and lemongrass chili jam, according to the menu description. Just reading the list of ingredients set our heads to spinning. But once we bit in, we were sold. The eggplant was astonishingly crunchy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. Taken all together, the sweetness of the tomatoes, the creaminess of the tofu, and the subtle heat of the chili jam made for the perfect bite. We immediately declared the dish our favorite. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Our favorite, that is, until the server brought out the steak frites. This is the chef’s take on bò kho, or Vietnamese-style beef stew: thick slices of medium-rare strip loin drenched in a pool of velvety beef gravy that was so addictively savory, it begged for a big bowl of white rice (which our server was happy to supply). The dish is emblematic of the cooking at The Mantis — at once deeply nostalgic and like nothing you’ve had before. We couldn’t stop thinking about it — and that’s even before accounting for the side of extra-crispy, extra-fluffy double-fried Kennebec potato fries, which were amazing in their own right. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Our favorite, that is, until the server brought out the steak frites. This is the chef’s take on bò kho, or Vietnamese-style beef stew: thick slices of medium-rare strip loin drenched in a pool of velvety beef gravy that was so addictively savory, it begged for a big bowl of white rice (which our server was happy to supply). The dish is emblematic of the cooking at The Mantis — at once deeply nostalgic and like nothing you’ve had before. We couldn’t stop thinking about it — and that’s even before accounting for the side of extra-crispy, extra-fluffy double-fried Kennebec potato fries, which were amazing in their own right. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Service, meanwhile, was universally warm and enthusiastic. Never before have we received so much affirmation for ordering a Diet Coke — the ideal beverage to pair with Vietnamese food, we posited. (“Fucking bomb!” our server agreed.) On the night of our visit, the bar was packed from end to end, with diners and bar patrons spread out between the bar counter and the cluster of leather banquettes in the back. (There’d been a two-hour wait to get a seat a couple hours before we arrived, our server told us.) \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Service, meanwhile, was universally warm and enthusiastic. Never before have we received so much affirmation for ordering a Diet Coke — the ideal beverage to pair with Vietnamese food, we posited. (“Fucking bomb!” our server agreed.) On the night of our visit, the bar was packed from end to end, with diners and bar patrons spread out between the bar counter and the cluster of leather banquettes in the back. (There’d been a two-hour wait to get a seat a couple hours before we arrived, our server told us.) \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The crowd skews a little bit young and maybe half Asian, and everyone’s a little smooshed together so it’s easy to wind up striking up conversations with your neighbors. Like us, the group of twenty- or thirty-somethings at the table next to ours had ordered nearly everything on the menu, so we spent the evening exchanging rave reviews and, at the end, a round of high fives. We’d been on something of a journey together, it felt like. And we couldn’t wait to do it again. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The crowd skews a little bit young and maybe half Asian, and everyone’s a little smooshed together so it’s easy to wind up striking up conversations with your neighbors. Like us, the group of twenty- or thirty-somethings at the table next to ours had ordered nearly everything on the menu, so we spent the evening exchanging rave reviews and, at the end, a round of high fives. We’d been on something of a journey together, it felt like. And we couldn’t wait to do it again. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fatmantis.com/\">\u003cem>Fat Cat x The Mantis\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open for dinner service Friday to Monday 5–10 p.m. at 3215 Mission St. in San Francisco. Last call for food orders is typically at around 9:30 p.m. The wine bar itself is open until 11 p.m. on weekends, and serves hot dogs and cheese plates when The Mantis isn’t open. On Sundays and Mondays, The Mantis also offers a $75 tasting menu option. Walk-ins only.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fatmantis.com/\">\u003cem>Fat Cat x The Mantis\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open for dinner service Friday to Monday 5–10 p.m. at 3215 Mission St. in San Francisco. Last call for food orders is typically at around 9:30 p.m. The wine bar itself is open until 11 p.m. on weekends, and serves hot dogs and cheese plates when The Mantis isn’t open. On Sundays and Mondays, The Mantis also offers a $75 tasting menu option. Walk-ins only.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "The Bernal Heights wine bar’s steak frites and herb-topped oysters pack a flavorful wallop.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1.jpg\" alt=\"Three men at a restaurant hunched over a huge spread of Vietnamese dishes.\" class=\"wp-image-13992493\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis1-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Vietnamese-inspired dishes at Fat Cat x The Mantis are at once deeply nostalgic and like nothiing you’ve ever tasted. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fatcatsf.com/\">Fat Cat\u003c/a> x \u003ca href=\"https://www.fatmantis.com/\">The Mantis\u003c/a> sounds like one of those deep-cut comic book crossovers — a collector’s edition for anyone who’s ever wondered how two of their favorite super-villains might fare against each other in an intergalactic fist fight. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’re a food lover in San Francisco, however, the real Fat Cat x The Mantis is something even better, and perhaps just as surprising: a wildly creative \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/vietnamese-food\">Vietnamese American restaurant\u003c/a> (The Mantis) that shares a space in Bernal Heights with one of the city’s friendliest and most accessible new wine bars (Fat Cat). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s a roommate situation that came about in part because of mundane San Francisco reasons (i.e. “\u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2026/03/19/buzzy-vietnamese-pop-cult-favorite-wine-club-take-former-pinball-bar/\">it’s so damn expensive out here\u003c/a>”). But the collaboration really works. The restaurant is serving some of the most thrilling, delicious Vietnamese food we’ve had in SF, and makes for one of the city’s most enjoyable late-night (ish) dining experiences.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To be clear, the wine bar isn’t necessarily oriented for the extreme night owl: The kitchen closes at 10 p.m., and servers usually put out a last call for food orders at around 9:30. Still, the bar itself is open until 11 on weekends, and during our visit, plenty of diners were still polishing off the last bites of their dessert at well past 10.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2.jpg\" alt=\"Neon-lit exterior of a restaurant at night time.\" class=\"wp-image-13992492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/ClawsoftheMantis2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The wine bar is open until 11 p.m. on weekends, though the kitchen usually stops taking orders after 9:30. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The moment we pull up on a recent Friday night, we get a clear sense of the aesthetic. Unlike the bulk of the city’s trendy bars, Fat Cat eschews dim mood lighting in favor of a cheerfully bright, pink-and-mint-green living room vibe. A bandana mounted on the wall depicts a skateboarding, rice-paddy-hat-wearing granny pulling an ollie. The chopstick caddy on our table features a photo of Tuan An, aka “\u003ca href=\"https://vietceleb.blogspot.com/2015/05/tuan-anh.html?m=1\">the Vietnamese Boy George\u003c/a>,” the flamboyantly coiffed icon from the ’80s and ’90s heyday of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/new-wave-elizabeth-ai-19847502.php\">Vietnamese New Wave\u003c/a> music scene. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The food straddles a similar line between nostalgia and envelope-pushing. We’d been fans of chef Kevin Tang’s inventive Vietnamese American cooking since his days at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13962759/viridian-asian-american-cocktail-bar-late-night-food-oakland\">Viridian\u003c/a> in Oakland. At first glance, the menu at The Mantis doesn’t read as \u003cem>especially\u003c/em> Vietnamese. The dishes all sound like something you might find at a French wine bistro, with one or two Vietnamese ingredients added to every dish. There’s pâté, oysters on the half shell, a crudo, a big platter of steak frites. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All it took was our first slurp of a Miyagi oyster, though, for us to be astounded by just how distinctly Vietnamese — and also how new and unexpected — the food tasted. Each oyster came topped with a tangle of crispy fried shallots, a shiso leaf, diced pluot and, most amazing, a dab of green muối ớt xanh — a zippy, salsa-like sauce made by blending green chilies, lime leaves and sweet condensed milk that Vietnamese restaurants often serve with grilled seafood. Paired with the briny salinity of the raw oysters, the combination of flavors and textures were a delightful shock to our taste buds.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dish after dish elicited a similar reaction. Ricotta and bún riêu tomato jam (!) spread on good sourdough. Confit chicken and taro croquettes topped with slivers of fish sauce–laced green mango, served over a smear of calamansi-chili aioli. (That one was like a Viet-coded take on dim sum taro dumplings. Or, as the table next to ours enthused, “like an egg roll and a crab cake had a son.”)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a plate of fried eggplant came with butterbean miso, whipped tofu, Sungold tomatoes, Thai basil and lemongrass chili jam, according to the menu description. Just reading the list of ingredients set our heads to spinning. But once we bit in, we were sold. The eggplant was astonishingly crunchy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. Taken all together, the sweetness of the tomatoes, the creaminess of the tofu, and the subtle heat of the chili jam made for the perfect bite. We immediately declared the dish our favorite. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Our favorite, that is, until the server brought out the steak frites. This is the chef’s take on bò kho, or Vietnamese-style beef stew: thick slices of medium-rare strip loin drenched in a pool of velvety beef gravy that was so addictively savory, it begged for a big bowl of white rice (which our server was happy to supply). The dish is emblematic of the cooking at The Mantis — at once deeply nostalgic and like nothing you’ve had before. We couldn’t stop thinking about it — and that’s even before accounting for the side of extra-crispy, extra-fluffy double-fried Kennebec potato fries, which were amazing in their own right. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Service, meanwhile, was universally warm and enthusiastic. Never before have we received so much affirmation for ordering a Diet Coke — the ideal beverage to pair with Vietnamese food, we posited. (“Fucking bomb!” our server agreed.) On the night of our visit, the bar was packed from end to end, with diners and bar patrons spread out between the bar counter and the cluster of leather banquettes in the back. (There’d been a two-hour wait to get a seat a couple hours before we arrived, our server told us.) \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The crowd skews a little bit young and maybe half Asian, and everyone’s a little smooshed together so it’s easy to wind up striking up conversations with your neighbors. Like us, the group of twenty- or thirty-somethings at the table next to ours had ordered nearly everything on the menu, so we spent the evening exchanging rave reviews and, at the end, a round of high fives. We’d been on something of a journey together, it felt like. And we couldn’t wait to do it again. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fatmantis.com/\">\u003cem>Fat Cat x The Mantis\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open for dinner service Friday to Monday 5–10 p.m. at 3215 Mission St. in San Francisco. Last call for food orders is typically at around 9:30 p.m. The wine bar itself is open until 11 p.m. on weekends, and serves hot dogs and cheese plates when The Mantis isn’t open. On Sundays and Mondays, The Mantis also offers a $75 tasting menu option. Walk-ins only.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Seafood City DJ Brings the Filipino Party Home to Vallejo ",
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"content": "\u003cp>One night last September, as JP Breganza stood behind the decks inside Seafood City in Daly City, he saw what felt to him like an unimaginable sight: hundreds of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/filipino\">Filipino\u003c/a> Americans across generations all crammed inside a Filipino supermarket, ready to \u003cem>get down\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What the Vallejo-raised DJ didn’t realize at the time was his dance party that night would become a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13983119/seafood-city-filipino-supermarket-dj-dance-party-daly-city\">viral sensation\u003c/a>, sparking a national movement as Seafood City locations across the country began hosting their own late-night DJ parties — massive community gatherings that doubled as heartfelt expressions of Filipino cultural pride.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the original creator of those Seafood City parties, Breganza remains deeply proud of their cultural impact. “Families were finding each other at Seafood City who hadn’t even talked to each other for years,” he says today. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the same time, he found himself longing for something a little bit more intimate, where his original vision — born out of nostalgia for the Filipino family parties he grew up attending — wouldn’t be lost. So, for the past several months, Breganza stepped away from the giant supermarket parties to work on a new project: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/isapaonemore/\">Isa Pa\u003c/a>, a series of free Filipino house parties he’ll be hosting on the backyard patio at Village, a new wine bar in his hometown of Vallejo. The first party gets underway this Saturday, Aug. 1. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/251018-filipinodanceparty00774_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Crowd of Filipinos dancing inside a supermarket.\" class=\"wp-image-13983132\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/251018-filipinodanceparty00774_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/251018-filipinodanceparty00774_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/251018-filipinodanceparty00774_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/251018-filipinodanceparty00774_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A crowd of partygoers dancing during a late-night DJ party at Seafood City in Daly City on October 18, 2025. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The name, Isa Pa, means “one more” in Tagalog. It’s a nostalgic phrase for Breganza, who recalls how, as a kid attending Filipino parties with his family, he’d always hear the elders say “isa pa, isa pa” when taking group photos.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was so tired of that term,” he says. “I just wanted to keep on playing with my friends!” Now that he’s in his 30s himself, Breganza says he realizes that those elders didn’t just mean they wanted to take one more picture. They also just wanted one more moment to cherish. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Ultimately, that’s the sentiment Breganza wants to share. He recalls how Bay Area Filipinos used to party every week over the smallest things. “I didn’t realize there was less and less of that in the post-pandemic, post-Pacquiao era,” he says, referencing the way Manny Pacquiao fights used to be the “in-between parties” they would throw to bridge the gap between birthdays and graduations. These days, time seems to be moving faster than ever before.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So, Breganza says, “Why don’t we throw one more party and see where it goes from there?” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While Seafood City’s Late-Night Madness parties were largely focused on DJs, Breganza wanted Isa Pa to be a little bit wider in scope in the way they, as he puts it, “celebrate perseverance through Filipino artistry.” He wants to highlight chefs, dancers and all different kinds of musicians, from all over the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This Saturday’s event, for instance, has a full slate of DJs — including the Peninsula-based Taiwanese Filipino \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djdailomac/\">Dailo Mac\u003c/a>, the South Bay’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C4y2E0fxrYE/?img_index=1\">Psychology Department\u003c/a> and Breganza himself representing the North Bay. Meanwhile, the headliner will be \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theosada3/\">The Osada 3\u003c/a>, a band of teenage siblings that’s built a following for its feel-good, nostalgic \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DViGUZ1FFyz/?img_index=1\">Fugees\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DaCkTaPM07P/\">Tribe Called Quest\u003c/a> covers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Foodwise, chef \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/noroscoroscono/\">Jordan Orosco\u003c/a>, who cooks at Village, has created a couple of special menu additions for the party: Spam musubi with garlic rice and a sisig silog topped with Thai chilis and the chef’s Tito’s special sauce blend. For that night only, the bar will also be slinging San Miguel lagers — the beer of choice for many old-school Filipinos.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Breganza says he drew inspiration from two existing events: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/manilasound.la/\">Manila Sound\u003c/a>, which has hosted similar backyard parties at a brewpub in Los Angeles since 2022, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/barriobounce/\">Barrio Bounce\u003c/a>, a Southeast Asian music collective known for its parties centered on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DRBkrWPkT3g/?img_index=1\">budots\u003c/a>, a genre of Filipino electronic dance music. “Those two lay down the blueprint,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5EDE3F67-2021-4150-BB3B-28EF0ABCBD3E.jpg\" alt=\"A DJ works the turntables inside a hut, surrounded by Filipinos digging into a spread of food.\" class=\"wp-image-13992323\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5EDE3F67-2021-4150-BB3B-28EF0ABCBD3E.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5EDE3F67-2021-4150-BB3B-28EF0ABCBD3E-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5EDE3F67-2021-4150-BB3B-28EF0ABCBD3E-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5EDE3F67-2021-4150-BB3B-28EF0ABCBD3E-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Breganza (center) presides over one of his “Tiny Kubo” Isa Pa sessions, which are loosely inspired by NPR’s Tiny Desk series. (Drew Nogaliza)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For now, Breganza plans to host Isa Pa parties at Village on a quarterly basis. His hope, in part, is “just for the Bay Area to understand the concept of an OPM (\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/blog/2019/8/15/what-is-original-pilipino-music-opm\">Original Pilipino Music\u003c/a>) party,” he says. But his overarching vision for Isa Pa is even more robust. Between parties, he plans to host more intimate gatherings of musicians, chefs and dancers at a bahay kubo (or traditional Filipino hut) that a friend has in his backyard in Vallejo. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Breganza has been filming these smaller gatherings, which are only open to friends and family, and posting the videos on social media — six or seven of them so far. The name he’s taken to calling these sessions? “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DWlUfs3DM7P/\">The Tiny Kubo\u003c/a>.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s basically a Filipino \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/\">Tiny Desk\u003c/a>,” Breganza says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He isn’t sure yet how this new platform will evolve or whether, like those massively successful Seafood City parties, it’ll turn into a broader national movement embraced by record labels and other Filipino American organizations. “But I hope it turns into something,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The first Isa Pa party will take place on Saturday, Aug. 1 at Village (1503 Tennessee St.) in Vallejo, from 4–8 p.m., with an all-vinyl after party from 8 p.m. until the bar closes at 11 p.m. Admission is free, though guests should \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://posh.vip/e/isa-pa-one-more-party-vallejo-ca\">\u003cem>RSVP online\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As the original creator of those Seafood City parties, Breganza remains deeply proud of their cultural impact. “Families were finding each other at Seafood City who hadn’t even talked to each other for years,” he says today. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the same time, he found himself longing for something a little bit more intimate, where his original vision — born out of nostalgia for the Filipino family parties he grew up attending — wouldn’t be lost. So, for the past several months, Breganza stepped away from the giant supermarket parties to work on a new project: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/isapaonemore/\">Isa Pa\u003c/a>, a series of free Filipino house parties he’ll be hosting on the backyard patio at Village, a new wine bar in his hometown of Vallejo. The first party gets underway this Saturday, Aug. 1. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The name, Isa Pa, means “one more” in Tagalog. It’s a nostalgic phrase for Breganza, who recalls how, as a kid attending Filipino parties with his family, he’d always hear the elders say “isa pa, isa pa” when taking group photos.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The name, Isa Pa, means “one more” in Tagalog. It’s a nostalgic phrase for Breganza, who recalls how, as a kid attending Filipino parties with his family, he’d always hear the elders say “isa pa, isa pa” when taking group photos.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I was so tired of that term,” he says. “I just wanted to keep on playing with my friends!” Now that he’s in his 30s himself, Breganza says he realizes that those elders didn’t just mean they wanted to take one more picture. They also just wanted one more moment to cherish. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I was so tired of that term,” he says. “I just wanted to keep on playing with my friends!” Now that he’s in his 30s himself, Breganza says he realizes that those elders didn’t just mean they wanted to take one more picture. They also just wanted one more moment to cherish. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Ultimately, that’s the sentiment Breganza wants to share. He recalls how Bay Area Filipinos used to party every week over the smallest things. “I didn’t realize there was less and less of that in the post-pandemic, post-Pacquiao era,” he says, referencing the way Manny Pacquiao fights used to be the “in-between parties” they would throw to bridge the gap between birthdays and graduations. These days, time seems to be moving faster than ever before.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Ultimately, that’s the sentiment Breganza wants to share. He recalls how Bay Area Filipinos used to party every week over the smallest things. “I didn’t realize there was less and less of that in the post-pandemic, post-Pacquiao era,” he says, referencing the way Manny Pacquiao fights used to be the “in-between parties” they would throw to bridge the gap between birthdays and graduations. These days, time seems to be moving faster than ever before.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>So, Breganza says, “Why don’t we throw one more party and see where it goes from there?” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While Seafood City’s Late-Night Madness parties were largely focused on DJs, Breganza wanted Isa Pa to be a little bit wider in scope in the way they, as he puts it, “celebrate perseverance through Filipino artistry.” He wants to highlight chefs, dancers and all different kinds of musicians, from all over the Bay.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>While Seafood City’s Late-Night Madness parties were largely focused on DJs, Breganza wanted Isa Pa to be a little bit wider in scope in the way they, as he puts it, “celebrate perseverance through Filipino artistry.” He wants to highlight chefs, dancers and all different kinds of musicians, from all over the Bay.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This Saturday’s event, for instance, has a full slate of DJs — including the Peninsula-based Taiwanese Filipino \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djdailomac/\">Dailo Mac\u003c/a>, the South Bay’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C4y2E0fxrYE/?img_index=1\">Psychology Department\u003c/a> and Breganza himself representing the North Bay. Meanwhile, the headliner will be \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theosada3/\">The Osada 3\u003c/a>, a band of teenage siblings that’s built a following for its feel-good, nostalgic \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DViGUZ1FFyz/?img_index=1\">Fugees\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DaCkTaPM07P/\">Tribe Called Quest\u003c/a> covers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Foodwise, chef \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/noroscoroscono/\">Jordan Orosco\u003c/a>, who cooks at Village, has created a couple of special menu additions for the party: Spam musubi with garlic rice and a sisig silog topped with Thai chilis and the chef’s Tito’s special sauce blend. For that night only, the bar will also be slinging San Miguel lagers — the beer of choice for many old-school Filipinos.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Foodwise, chef \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/noroscoroscono/\">Jordan Orosco\u003c/a>, who cooks at Village, has created a couple of special menu additions for the party: Spam musubi with garlic rice and a sisig silog topped with Thai chilis and the chef’s Tito’s special sauce blend. For that night only, the bar will also be slinging San Miguel lagers — the beer of choice for many old-school Filipinos.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Breganza says he drew inspiration from two existing events: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/manilasound.la/\">Manila Sound\u003c/a>, which has hosted similar backyard parties at a brewpub in Los Angeles since 2022, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/barriobounce/\">Barrio Bounce\u003c/a>, a Southeast Asian music collective known for its parties centered on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DRBkrWPkT3g/?img_index=1\">budots\u003c/a>, a genre of Filipino electronic dance music. “Those two lay down the blueprint,” he says.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Breganza says he drew inspiration from two existing events: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/manilasound.la/\">Manila Sound\u003c/a>, which has hosted similar backyard parties at a brewpub in Los Angeles since 2022, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/barriobounce/\">Barrio Bounce\u003c/a>, a Southeast Asian music collective known for its parties centered on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DRBkrWPkT3g/?img_index=1\">budots\u003c/a>, a genre of Filipino electronic dance music. “Those two lay down the blueprint,” he says.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For now, Breganza plans to host Isa Pa parties at Village on a quarterly basis. His hope, in part, is “just for the Bay Area to understand the concept of an OPM (\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/blog/2019/8/15/what-is-original-pilipino-music-opm\">Original Pilipino Music\u003c/a>) party,” he says. But his overarching vision for Isa Pa is even more robust. Between parties, he plans to host more intimate gatherings of musicians, chefs and dancers at a bahay kubo (or traditional Filipino hut) that a friend has in his backyard in Vallejo. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Breganza has been filming these smaller gatherings, which are only open to friends and family, and posting the videos on social media — six or seven of them so far. The name he’s taken to calling these sessions? “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DWlUfs3DM7P/\">The Tiny Kubo\u003c/a>.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s basically a Filipino \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/\">Tiny Desk\u003c/a>,” Breganza says.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He isn’t sure yet how this new platform will evolve or whether, like those massively successful Seafood City parties, it’ll turn into a broader national movement embraced by record labels and other Filipino American organizations. “But I hope it turns into something,” he says.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The first Isa Pa party will take place on Saturday, Aug. 1 at Village (1503 Tennessee St.) in Vallejo, from 4–8 p.m., with an all-vinyl after party from 8 p.m. until the bar closes at 11 p.m. Admission is free, though guests should \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://posh.vip/e/isa-pa-one-more-party-vallejo-ca\">\u003cem>RSVP online\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The first Isa Pa party will take place on Saturday, Aug. 1 at Village (1503 Tennessee St.) in Vallejo, from 4–8 p.m., with an all-vinyl after party from 8 p.m. until the bar closes at 11 p.m. Admission is free, though guests should \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://posh.vip/e/isa-pa-one-more-party-vallejo-ca\">\u003cem>RSVP online\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Filipino food, DJs and musicians round out a new, free party called Isa Pa.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>One night last September, as JP Breganza stood behind the decks inside Seafood City in Daly City, he saw what felt to him like an unimaginable sight: hundreds of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/filipino\">Filipino\u003c/a> Americans across generations all crammed inside a Filipino supermarket, ready to \u003cem>get down\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What the Vallejo-raised DJ didn’t realize at the time was his dance party that night would become a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13983119/seafood-city-filipino-supermarket-dj-dance-party-daly-city\">viral sensation\u003c/a>, sparking a national movement as Seafood City locations across the country began hosting their own late-night DJ parties — massive community gatherings that doubled as heartfelt expressions of Filipino cultural pride.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the original creator of those Seafood City parties, Breganza remains deeply proud of their cultural impact. “Families were finding each other at Seafood City who hadn’t even talked to each other for years,” he says today. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the same time, he found himself longing for something a little bit more intimate, where his original vision — born out of nostalgia for the Filipino family parties he grew up attending — wouldn’t be lost. So, for the past several months, Breganza stepped away from the giant supermarket parties to work on a new project: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/isapaonemore/\">Isa Pa\u003c/a>, a series of free Filipino house parties he’ll be hosting on the backyard patio at Village, a new wine bar in his hometown of Vallejo. The first party gets underway this Saturday, Aug. 1. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/251018-filipinodanceparty00774_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Crowd of Filipinos dancing inside a supermarket.\" class=\"wp-image-13983132\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/251018-filipinodanceparty00774_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/251018-filipinodanceparty00774_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/251018-filipinodanceparty00774_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/251018-filipinodanceparty00774_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A crowd of partygoers dancing during a late-night DJ party at Seafood City in Daly City on October 18, 2025. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The name, Isa Pa, means “one more” in Tagalog. It’s a nostalgic phrase for Breganza, who recalls how, as a kid attending Filipino parties with his family, he’d always hear the elders say “isa pa, isa pa” when taking group photos.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was so tired of that term,” he says. “I just wanted to keep on playing with my friends!” Now that he’s in his 30s himself, Breganza says he realizes that those elders didn’t just mean they wanted to take one more picture. They also just wanted one more moment to cherish. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Ultimately, that’s the sentiment Breganza wants to share. He recalls how Bay Area Filipinos used to party every week over the smallest things. “I didn’t realize there was less and less of that in the post-pandemic, post-Pacquiao era,” he says, referencing the way Manny Pacquiao fights used to be the “in-between parties” they would throw to bridge the gap between birthdays and graduations. These days, time seems to be moving faster than ever before.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So, Breganza says, “Why don’t we throw one more party and see where it goes from there?” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While Seafood City’s Late-Night Madness parties were largely focused on DJs, Breganza wanted Isa Pa to be a little bit wider in scope in the way they, as he puts it, “celebrate perseverance through Filipino artistry.” He wants to highlight chefs, dancers and all different kinds of musicians, from all over the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This Saturday’s event, for instance, has a full slate of DJs — including the Peninsula-based Taiwanese Filipino \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djdailomac/\">Dailo Mac\u003c/a>, the South Bay’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C4y2E0fxrYE/?img_index=1\">Psychology Department\u003c/a> and Breganza himself representing the North Bay. Meanwhile, the headliner will be \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theosada3/\">The Osada 3\u003c/a>, a band of teenage siblings that’s built a following for its feel-good, nostalgic \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DViGUZ1FFyz/?img_index=1\">Fugees\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DaCkTaPM07P/\">Tribe Called Quest\u003c/a> covers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Foodwise, chef \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/noroscoroscono/\">Jordan Orosco\u003c/a>, who cooks at Village, has created a couple of special menu additions for the party: Spam musubi with garlic rice and a sisig silog topped with Thai chilis and the chef’s Tito’s special sauce blend. For that night only, the bar will also be slinging San Miguel lagers — the beer of choice for many old-school Filipinos.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Breganza says he drew inspiration from two existing events: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/manilasound.la/\">Manila Sound\u003c/a>, which has hosted similar backyard parties at a brewpub in Los Angeles since 2022, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/barriobounce/\">Barrio Bounce\u003c/a>, a Southeast Asian music collective known for its parties centered on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DRBkrWPkT3g/?img_index=1\">budots\u003c/a>, a genre of Filipino electronic dance music. “Those two lay down the blueprint,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5EDE3F67-2021-4150-BB3B-28EF0ABCBD3E.jpg\" alt=\"A DJ works the turntables inside a hut, surrounded by Filipinos digging into a spread of food.\" class=\"wp-image-13992323\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5EDE3F67-2021-4150-BB3B-28EF0ABCBD3E.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5EDE3F67-2021-4150-BB3B-28EF0ABCBD3E-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5EDE3F67-2021-4150-BB3B-28EF0ABCBD3E-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5EDE3F67-2021-4150-BB3B-28EF0ABCBD3E-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Breganza (center) presides over one of his “Tiny Kubo” Isa Pa sessions, which are loosely inspired by NPR’s Tiny Desk series. (Drew Nogaliza)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For now, Breganza plans to host Isa Pa parties at Village on a quarterly basis. His hope, in part, is “just for the Bay Area to understand the concept of an OPM (\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/blog/2019/8/15/what-is-original-pilipino-music-opm\">Original Pilipino Music\u003c/a>) party,” he says. But his overarching vision for Isa Pa is even more robust. Between parties, he plans to host more intimate gatherings of musicians, chefs and dancers at a bahay kubo (or traditional Filipino hut) that a friend has in his backyard in Vallejo. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Breganza has been filming these smaller gatherings, which are only open to friends and family, and posting the videos on social media — six or seven of them so far. The name he’s taken to calling these sessions? “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DWlUfs3DM7P/\">The Tiny Kubo\u003c/a>.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s basically a Filipino \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/\">Tiny Desk\u003c/a>,” Breganza says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He isn’t sure yet how this new platform will evolve or whether, like those massively successful Seafood City parties, it’ll turn into a broader national movement embraced by record labels and other Filipino American organizations. “But I hope it turns into something,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The first Isa Pa party will take place on Saturday, Aug. 1 at Village (1503 Tennessee St.) in Vallejo, from 4–8 p.m., with an all-vinyl after party from 8 p.m. until the bar closes at 11 p.m. Admission is free, though guests should \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://posh.vip/e/isa-pa-one-more-party-vallejo-ca\">\u003cem>RSVP online\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "souk-savanh-lao-restaurant-east-bay-albany-opening",
"title": "One of the East Bay’s Best (and Most Elusive) Lao Restaurants Finds a New Home in Albany",
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"headTitle": "One of the East Bay’s Best (and Most Elusive) Lao Restaurants Finds a New Home in Albany | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The first time I ate Souk Savanh’s soulful, funk-forward kao soy noodle soup and outrageously crunchy rice ball salad in East Oakland, I immediately \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/paradise-deferred-2-1/\">crowned the restaurant\u003c/a> one of my favorite Lao spots in the Bay Area. The under-radar-spot closed in 2016, seemingly for good, but then reemerged 10 years later in downtown Oakland, where it briefly served some of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989331/best-cheap-affordable-restaurant-meals-bay-area-oakland-sf\">tastiest $10 rice plates in town\u003c/a> — only to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DYN4ropPhGb/\">close again\u003c/a> after just a couple of months.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The restaurant has simultaneously been one of the best and most elusive Lao food businesses that I’ve encountered in the Bay. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, husband-and-wife owners Tea Chaiyasith and Nai Sailee are hoping they’ve found a long-term home for their business. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/souksavanh2.0/\">Souk Savanh 2.0\u003c/a> — technically 3.0? — will open in Albany as early as next month, in the space previously occupied by the Match Point Brewing taproom at 745 San Pablo Ave. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like the most recent Oakland incarnation of the restaurant, the new Souk Savanh will be a fast-casual, counter-service spot, with a focus on budget-friendly rice and noodle plates starting at $10 a pop.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to make our food very tasty and affordable for the community,” Chaiyasith says, “because not everyone can afford a $20 meal every day.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai.jpg\" alt=\"Sticky rice, sausage balls and fried egg on a metal tray.\" class=\"wp-image-13989378\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The $10 Lao sausage plate at the newly opened Souk Savanh 2.0’s previous incarnation in Oakland. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As it turns out, the couple stayed active in the food and beverage industry during Souk Savanh’s 10-year hiatus. Chaiyasith ran a Rockin’ Crawfish franchise in Sacramento for about a year, after which he and Sailee opened End Zone, a bar in Oakland that evolved into a nightclub called Everything But Hugs & Kisses — and, eventually, the first short-lived reboot of Souk Savanh. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Chaiyasith, the main problem was that the landlord in Oakland kept raising the rent. The new Albany location was appealing in part because it’s much closer to Chaiyasith and Sailee’s home in Richmond, where for the past two years they’ve also built up a customer base through their pop-up, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pais.eatery/\">Pai’s Eatery\u003c/a> (named after the first initials of their children, Princeton, Ava and Ivy), which is open twice a week at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991940/best-dishes-the-lot-richmond-street-food-market\">The Lot street food market\u003c/a>. The plan, Chaiyasith says, is to continue those pop-ups even after the new restaurant opens.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery.jpg\" alt=\"An orange food tent at a street food market. The sign reads, "Pai's Eatery."\" class=\"wp-image-13992100\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pai’s Eatery pops up at The Lot in Richmond on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like many Lao-owned restaurants in the Bay Area, Souk Savanh serves a mix of Lao, Thai and other Southeast Asian dishes. Chaiyasith, who was born in Laos, says he’s especially proud of the authenticity of the Lao offerings. Along with the bright and fragrant rice ball salad, another highlight is the fermented Lao sausage, which the chefs make in-house. At the pop-up, they serve it as a crisp-edged meatball — absurdly delicious when dipped in the funky-sweet house jeow som. The new restaurant will also serve the sausages in the more traditional style, grilled inside their casings, Chaiyasith says. The new menu will also feature Lao-style \u003ca href=\"https://laotiantimes.com/2026/02/16/laos-national-dish-larb-eyes-unesco-heritage-status/#google_vignette\">laab\u003c/a> and street food dishes like meat skewers. Meanwhile, the chefs’ more fusiony dishes also have a strong following — the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a> and honey walnut shrimp, in particular.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When it opens, the reborn Souk Savanh will be part of a new mini food hall run by the folks behind 310 Eatery, the Asian American burger spot next door. The food hall will also include a bakery and a beer bar.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Chaiyasith and Sailee, the opening is the latest stop on what has been a winding, often bumpy road for their restaurant. With any luck, hopefully this version will stick around for a long, long time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/souksavanh2.0/\">\u003cem>Souk Savanh 2.0\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> will open at 745 San Pablo Ave. in Albany in the coming weeks — hopefully no later than the end of August, the owners say. Hours are TBD, but Chaiyasith says he plans to open for dinner six days a week and serve lunch on days when the Pai’s Eatery pop-up isn’t happening.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The first time I ate Souk Savanh’s soulful, funk-forward kao soy noodle soup and outrageously crunchy rice ball salad in East Oakland, I immediately \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/paradise-deferred-2-1/\">crowned the restaurant\u003c/a> one of my favorite Lao spots in the Bay Area. The under-radar-spot closed in 2016, seemingly for good, but then reemerged 10 years later in downtown Oakland, where it briefly served some of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989331/best-cheap-affordable-restaurant-meals-bay-area-oakland-sf\">tastiest $10 rice plates in town\u003c/a> — only to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DYN4ropPhGb/\">close again\u003c/a> after just a couple of months.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The restaurant has simultaneously been one of the best and most elusive Lao food businesses that I’ve encountered in the Bay. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now, husband-and-wife owners Tea Chaiyasith and Nai Sailee are hoping they’ve found a long-term home for their business. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/souksavanh2.0/\">Souk Savanh 2.0\u003c/a> — technically 3.0? — will open in Albany as early as next month, in the space previously occupied by the Match Point Brewing taproom at 745 San Pablo Ave. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Now, husband-and-wife owners Tea Chaiyasith and Nai Sailee are hoping they’ve found a long-term home for their business. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/souksavanh2.0/\">Souk Savanh 2.0\u003c/a> — technically 3.0? — will open in Albany as early as next month, in the space previously occupied by the Match Point Brewing taproom at 745 San Pablo Ave. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Like the most recent Oakland incarnation of the restaurant, the new Souk Savanh will be a fast-casual, counter-service spot, with a focus on budget-friendly rice and noodle plates starting at $10 a pop.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Like the most recent Oakland incarnation of the restaurant, the new Souk Savanh will be a fast-casual, counter-service spot, with a focus on budget-friendly rice and noodle plates starting at $10 a pop.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We want to make our food very tasty and affordable for the community,” Chaiyasith says, “because not everyone can afford a $20 meal every day.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We want to make our food very tasty and affordable for the community,” Chaiyasith says, “because not everyone can afford a $20 meal every day.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai.jpg\" alt=\"Sticky rice, sausage balls and fried egg on a metal tray.\" class=\"wp-image-13989378\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The $10 Lao sausage plate at the newly opened Souk Savanh 2.0’s previous incarnation in Oakland.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai.jpg\" alt=\"Sticky rice, sausage balls and fried egg on a metal tray.\" class=\"wp-image-13989378\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The $10 Lao sausage plate at the newly opened Souk Savanh 2.0’s previous incarnation in Oakland.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As it turns out, the couple stayed active in the food and beverage industry during Souk Savanh’s 10-year hiatus. Chaiyasith ran a Rockin’ Crawfish franchise in Sacramento for about a year, after which he and Sailee opened End Zone, a bar in Oakland that evolved into a nightclub called Everything But Hugs & Kisses — and, eventually, the first short-lived reboot of Souk Savanh. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As it turns out, the couple stayed active in the food and beverage industry during Souk Savanh’s 10-year hiatus. Chaiyasith ran a Rockin’ Crawfish franchise in Sacramento for about a year, after which he and Sailee opened End Zone, a bar in Oakland that evolved into a nightclub called Everything But Hugs & Kisses — and, eventually, the first short-lived reboot of Souk Savanh. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to Chaiyasith, the main problem was that the landlord in Oakland kept raising the rent. The new Albany location was appealing in part because it’s much closer to Chaiyasith and Sailee’s home in Richmond, where for the past two years they’ve also built up a customer base through their pop-up, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pais.eatery/\">Pai’s Eatery\u003c/a> (named after the first initials of their children, Princeton, Ava and Ivy), which is open twice a week at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991940/best-dishes-the-lot-richmond-street-food-market\">The Lot street food market\u003c/a>. The plan, Chaiyasith says, is to continue those pop-ups even after the new restaurant opens.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>According to Chaiyasith, the main problem was that the landlord in Oakland kept raising the rent. The new Albany location was appealing in part because it’s much closer to Chaiyasith and Sailee’s home in Richmond, where for the past two years they’ve also built up a customer base through their pop-up, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pais.eatery/\">Pai’s Eatery\u003c/a> (named after the first initials of their children, Princeton, Ava and Ivy), which is open twice a week at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991940/best-dishes-the-lot-richmond-street-food-market\">The Lot street food market\u003c/a>. The plan, Chaiyasith says, is to continue those pop-ups even after the new restaurant opens.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Like many Lao-owned restaurants in the Bay Area, Souk Savanh serves a mix of Lao, Thai and other Southeast Asian dishes. Chaiyasith, who was born in Laos, says he’s especially proud of the authenticity of the Lao offerings. Along with the bright and fragrant rice ball salad, another highlight is the fermented Lao sausage, which the chefs make in-house. At the pop-up, they serve it as a crisp-edged meatball — absurdly delicious when dipped in the funky-sweet house jeow som. The new restaurant will also serve the sausages in the more traditional style, grilled inside their casings, Chaiyasith says. The new menu will also feature Lao-style \u003ca href=\"https://laotiantimes.com/2026/02/16/laos-national-dish-larb-eyes-unesco-heritage-status/#google_vignette\">laab\u003c/a> and street food dishes like meat skewers. Meanwhile, the chefs’ more fusiony dishes also have a strong following — the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a> and honey walnut shrimp, in particular.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Like many Lao-owned restaurants in the Bay Area, Souk Savanh serves a mix of Lao, Thai and other Southeast Asian dishes. Chaiyasith, who was born in Laos, says he’s especially proud of the authenticity of the Lao offerings. Along with the bright and fragrant rice ball salad, another highlight is the fermented Lao sausage, which the chefs make in-house. At the pop-up, they serve it as a crisp-edged meatball — absurdly delicious when dipped in the funky-sweet house jeow som. The new restaurant will also serve the sausages in the more traditional style, grilled inside their casings, Chaiyasith says. The new menu will also feature Lao-style \u003ca href=\"https://laotiantimes.com/2026/02/16/laos-national-dish-larb-eyes-unesco-heritage-status/#google_vignette\">laab\u003c/a> and street food dishes like meat skewers. Meanwhile, the chefs’ more fusiony dishes also have a strong following — the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a> and honey walnut shrimp, in particular.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When it opens, the reborn Souk Savanh will be part of a new mini food hall run by the folks behind 310 Eatery, the Asian American burger spot next door. The food hall will also include a bakery and a beer bar.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When it opens, the reborn Souk Savanh will be part of a new mini food hall run by the folks behind 310 Eatery, the Asian American burger spot next door. The food hall will also include a bakery and a beer bar.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For Chaiyasith and Sailee, the opening is the latest stop on what has been a winding, often bumpy road for their restaurant. With any luck, hopefully this version will stick around for a long, long time. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For Chaiyasith and Sailee, the opening is the latest stop on what has been a winding, often bumpy road for their restaurant. With any luck, hopefully this version will stick around for a long, long time. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/souksavanh2.0/\">\u003cem>Souk Savanh 2.0\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> will open at 745 San Pablo Ave. in Albany in the coming weeks — hopefully no later than the end of August, the owners say. Hours are TBD, but Chaiyasith says he plans to open for dinner six days a week and serve lunch on days when the Pai’s Eatery pop-up isn’t happening.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/souksavanh2.0/\">\u003cem>Souk Savanh 2.0\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> will open at 745 San Pablo Ave. in Albany in the coming weeks — hopefully no later than the end of August, the owners say. Hours are TBD, but Chaiyasith says he plans to open for dinner six days a week and serve lunch on days when the Pai’s Eatery pop-up isn’t happening.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Souk Savanh is bringing its Lao sausage, rice ball salad and budget-priced rice plates to San Pablo Avenue.",
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"title": "One of the East Bay’s Best Lao Restaurants Is Reopening in Albany | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The first time I ate Souk Savanh’s soulful, funk-forward kao soy noodle soup and outrageously crunchy rice ball salad in East Oakland, I immediately \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/paradise-deferred-2-1/\">crowned the restaurant\u003c/a> one of my favorite Lao spots in the Bay Area. The under-radar-spot closed in 2016, seemingly for good, but then reemerged 10 years later in downtown Oakland, where it briefly served some of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989331/best-cheap-affordable-restaurant-meals-bay-area-oakland-sf\">tastiest $10 rice plates in town\u003c/a> — only to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DYN4ropPhGb/\">close again\u003c/a> after just a couple of months.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The restaurant has simultaneously been one of the best and most elusive Lao food businesses that I’ve encountered in the Bay. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, husband-and-wife owners Tea Chaiyasith and Nai Sailee are hoping they’ve found a long-term home for their business. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/souksavanh2.0/\">Souk Savanh 2.0\u003c/a> — technically 3.0? — will open in Albany as early as next month, in the space previously occupied by the Match Point Brewing taproom at 745 San Pablo Ave. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like the most recent Oakland incarnation of the restaurant, the new Souk Savanh will be a fast-casual, counter-service spot, with a focus on budget-friendly rice and noodle plates starting at $10 a pop.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to make our food very tasty and affordable for the community,” Chaiyasith says, “because not everyone can afford a $20 meal every day.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai.jpg\" alt=\"Sticky rice, sausage balls and fried egg on a metal tray.\" class=\"wp-image-13989378\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/souk-savanh_rice-plate_credit-luketsai-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The $10 Lao sausage plate at the newly opened Souk Savanh 2.0’s previous incarnation in Oakland. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As it turns out, the couple stayed active in the food and beverage industry during Souk Savanh’s 10-year hiatus. Chaiyasith ran a Rockin’ Crawfish franchise in Sacramento for about a year, after which he and Sailee opened End Zone, a bar in Oakland that evolved into a nightclub called Everything But Hugs & Kisses — and, eventually, the first short-lived reboot of Souk Savanh. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Chaiyasith, the main problem was that the landlord in Oakland kept raising the rent. The new Albany location was appealing in part because it’s much closer to Chaiyasith and Sailee’s home in Richmond, where for the past two years they’ve also built up a customer base through their pop-up, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pais.eatery/\">Pai’s Eatery\u003c/a> (named after the first initials of their children, Princeton, Ava and Ivy), which is open twice a week at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991940/best-dishes-the-lot-richmond-street-food-market\">The Lot street food market\u003c/a>. The plan, Chaiyasith says, is to continue those pop-ups even after the new restaurant opens.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery.jpg\" alt=\"An orange food tent at a street food market. The sign reads, "Pai's Eatery."\" class=\"wp-image-13992100\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pai’s Eatery pops up at The Lot in Richmond on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like many Lao-owned restaurants in the Bay Area, Souk Savanh serves a mix of Lao, Thai and other Southeast Asian dishes. Chaiyasith, who was born in Laos, says he’s especially proud of the authenticity of the Lao offerings. Along with the bright and fragrant rice ball salad, another highlight is the fermented Lao sausage, which the chefs make in-house. At the pop-up, they serve it as a crisp-edged meatball — absurdly delicious when dipped in the funky-sweet house jeow som. The new restaurant will also serve the sausages in the more traditional style, grilled inside their casings, Chaiyasith says. The new menu will also feature Lao-style \u003ca href=\"https://laotiantimes.com/2026/02/16/laos-national-dish-larb-eyes-unesco-heritage-status/#google_vignette\">laab\u003c/a> and street food dishes like meat skewers. Meanwhile, the chefs’ more fusiony dishes also have a strong following — the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a> and honey walnut shrimp, in particular.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When it opens, the reborn Souk Savanh will be part of a new mini food hall run by the folks behind 310 Eatery, the Asian American burger spot next door. The food hall will also include a bakery and a beer bar.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Chaiyasith and Sailee, the opening is the latest stop on what has been a winding, often bumpy road for their restaurant. With any luck, hopefully this version will stick around for a long, long time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/souksavanh2.0/\">\u003cem>Souk Savanh 2.0\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> will open at 745 San Pablo Ave. in Albany in the coming weeks — hopefully no later than the end of August, the owners say. Hours are TBD, but Chaiyasith says he plans to open for dinner six days a week and serve lunch on days when the Pai’s Eatery pop-up isn’t happening.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "best-dishes-the-lot-richmond-street-food-market",
"title": "The Five Best Things I Ate at The Lot in Richmond",
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"content": "\u003cp>Every Tuesday and Thursday, a small, empty lot in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/richmond\">Richmond\u003c/a> transforms into one of the Bay Area’s most vibrant street food markets. About 15 or 20 food tents line up at any given time, the smell of fish sauce, Thai basil, smoked meat and fried plantains wafting in the air. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Welcome to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4685/The-Lot-Downtown-Richmond-Food-Court-for\">The Lot\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Open since October 2024, when it launched with the more literal (if somewhat unsexy) name, “Mobile Vendor Plaza Market,” the outdoor food court grew out of a city initiative meant to deter unlicensed street vending in Richmond. It offers those food vendors a \u003ca href=\"https://richmondside.org/2024/10/24/richmond-street-vendor-plaza-ceremony/\">pathway to legitimacy\u003c/a>, along with a central location, just a short walk from the BART station, where they can peddle their wares. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Informal food businesses, such as driveway pupusa stands and backyard \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915646/barbacoa-mejia-richmond-flea-market\">barbacoa\u003c/a> operations, are in many ways the heart and soul of Richmond’s scrappy, unpretentious food scene. Drive down any side street off 23rd and you’ll see any number of uncles and aunties throwing down on the grill. That part of Richmond, thankfully, is still alive and well.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What The Lot offers is a little bit different. While the Bay Area has no shortage of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/night-market\">night markets\u003c/a> and Off the Grid–style food truck meetups, I don’t know any that offer such a wildly diverse variety of global cuisines, all within the confines of a tiny parking lot. Most street food markets in the Bay don’t have a single Cameroonian, Guatemalan or Laotian food vendor, much less all three lined up in a row, back to back to back. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork.jpg\" alt=\"Takeout container with cubes of fried pork belly, basil, bell peppers and a fried egg.\" class=\"wp-image-13991949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pai’s Eatery’s basil pork belly bowl, with an optional fried egg add-on. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the past few months, I’ve been slowly eating my way through the market, though it still feels like I’ve barely cracked the surface. For now, none of the stands are big, established brands with a lot of social media hype. They’re just cooking up tasty food, without the fuss.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are the five most delicious dishes I’ve tried so far, in no particular order.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Basil pork belly from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pais.eatery/\">\u003cstrong>Pai’s Eatery\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This might be the best-known stand in The Lot’s stable of food vendors, as it’s run by the folks behind Souk Savanh, the dearly departed, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989331/best-cheap-affordable-restaurant-meals-bay-area-oakland-sf\">super-budget-friendly\u003c/a> Lao-Thai restaurant in Oakland (currently on hiatus as it gears up to move to a new location). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At The Lot, Pai’s Eatery serves a stripped-down version of the restaurant \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZFufq2lIQU/?img_index=1\">menu\u003c/a>, featuring hearty rice bowls and noodle bowls for as little as $10. Their Lao sausage patties are one of my all-time favorites, but recently, I’ve become enamored with the basil pork belly over rice: big cubes of crispy, skin-on pork belly tossed with a saucy, colorful mix of bell peppers, onions and Thai basil.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot.jpg\" alt='A man serving food inside a food tent. The name of the stand is \"GRL Catering.\"' class=\"wp-image-13991944\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">GRL’s food tent is the king of sheer value and portion size. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Jerk chicken plate from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/grlcatering_/\">\u003cstrong>GRL Catering\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In terms of sheer value and portion size, GRL’s Jamaican food stall is the king of The Lot (and maybe the whole East Bay). I paid $15 for a “small” jerk chicken plate, and the takeout container was absolutely jam-packed with food: two big, saucy chicken legs, chopped up into smaller chunks; several slices of fried plantains; the doughy Jamaican fried bread known as \u003ca href=\"https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020881-festival\">festival\u003c/a>; and a pile of steamed cabbage — all over a big scoop of rice and peas to soak up the juices. (It’s hard for me to even conceive how much food must come with the $22 large plate.) \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>More importantly, this is some of the tastiest jerk chicken I’ve had in a minute — smoky and incredibly tender with a zip of heat, slathered in a jerk-style barbecue sauce that’s more savory and spicy than sweet. The most delicious bites were the little bits of charred, blackened skin.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas.jpg\" alt=\"A huge mound of sauce-drizzled fries in a Styrofoam clamshell container.\" class=\"wp-image-13991946\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Guatemalan street-style fried chicken and fries, courtesy of Pollo Con Papas Fritas. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fried chicken and fries ‘estilo chapín’ from Pollo Con Papas Fritas\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Lot is home to two near-identical stands selling Guatemalan-style fried chicken. During my most recent market visit, the stand I tried, Pollo Con Papas Fritas (not to be confused with the nearby Pollo Con Papas) was the slightly busier operation between the two, and its chicken proved thoroughly up to snuff. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This isn’t the aggressively seasoned Pollo Campero–style fast food fried chicken that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-14/pollo-campero-central-america-los-angeles\">popular in Guatemala and El Salvador\u003c/a>. Instead, it’s more of a Guatemalan street food style: For $12, you get two pieces of dark meat buried under a giant mound of thick, hand-cut fries topped with colorful squeeze-bottle squiggles of ketchup, mayo and green salsa. The fries are fine, more fluffy than crisp by design, but the real beauty of the dish is that the chicken itself is so thoroughly buried underneath that it’s shielded from all that sauce: The skin stays nice and crunchy, and the flesh is hot and decently juicy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew.jpg\" alt=\"Tomato sauce–soaked pieces of fried catfish in a takeout container.\" class=\"wp-image-13991947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kilama Passion Foods’ tomato-forward Cameroonian catfish stew. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Catfish stew from Kilama Passion Foods\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One of the only Cameroonian food businesses I’ve come across in the Bay Area, Kilama Passion Foods’ tent serves a catfish stew that is shockingly, but quite tastily, tomato-forward — “almost chicken parm–like” was my initial reaction. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I like all the other components of the plate even better: the plump grains of seasoned yellow rice and, especially, the fried plantains, which are extra crispy around the edges. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren.jpg\" alt=\"Two churros in a white paper bag, with food tents at a street market in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-13991945\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Some of the Bay Area’s tastiest churros, courtesy of Churros My Fren. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Churros from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/churrosmyfrenn/\">\u003cstrong>Churros My Fren\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I ignored this Mexican churro stand during my first couple of trips to The Lot because, well, I figured I can get churros anywhere in Richmond. Now I can’t imagine \u003cem>not \u003c/em>snagging a churro or two from Churros My Fren before I leave. These are some of the best I’ve had in recent memory — they’re long and skinny, with deep ridges that help maximize their crinkly cinnamon sugar–enhanced crunch, while the inside stays tender and custardy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like many of The Lot’s offerings, the churros are a bargain at $2 apiece. One of these days, I’ll bring a couple of friends along and splurge on the giant, spiral-shaped churro rosca.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4685/The-Lot-Downtown-Richmond-Food-Court-for\">\u003cem>The Lot\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open from roughly 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Each stand keeps its own hours, though, and you’ll find a slightly different mix of vendors at lunchtime than you will in the evening. Many of the food vendors also sell at Richmond’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.richmondfarmersmarket.org/marina-bay-park-market\">\u003cem>Marina Bay farmers market\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> on Sundays.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Every Tuesday and Thursday, a small, empty lot in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/richmond\">Richmond\u003c/a> transforms into one of the Bay Area’s most vibrant street food markets. About 15 or 20 food tents line up at any given time, the smell of fish sauce, Thai basil, smoked meat and fried plantains wafting in the air. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Every Tuesday and Thursday, a small, empty lot in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/richmond\">Richmond\u003c/a> transforms into one of the Bay Area’s most vibrant street food markets. About 15 or 20 food tents line up at any given time, the smell of fish sauce, Thai basil, smoked meat and fried plantains wafting in the air. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Welcome to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4685/The-Lot-Downtown-Richmond-Food-Court-for\">The Lot\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Welcome to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4685/The-Lot-Downtown-Richmond-Food-Court-for\">The Lot\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Open since October 2024, when it launched with the more literal (if somewhat unsexy) name, “Mobile Vendor Plaza Market,” the outdoor food court grew out of a city initiative meant to deter unlicensed street vending in Richmond. It offers those food vendors a \u003ca href=\"https://richmondside.org/2024/10/24/richmond-street-vendor-plaza-ceremony/\">pathway to legitimacy\u003c/a>, along with a central location, just a short walk from the BART station, where they can peddle their wares. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Open since October 2024, when it launched with the more literal (if somewhat unsexy) name, “Mobile Vendor Plaza Market,” the outdoor food court grew out of a city initiative meant to deter unlicensed street vending in Richmond. It offers those food vendors a \u003ca href=\"https://richmondside.org/2024/10/24/richmond-street-vendor-plaza-ceremony/\">pathway to legitimacy\u003c/a>, along with a central location, just a short walk from the BART station, where they can peddle their wares. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Informal food businesses, such as driveway pupusa stands and backyard \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915646/barbacoa-mejia-richmond-flea-market\">barbacoa\u003c/a> operations, are in many ways the heart and soul of Richmond’s scrappy, unpretentious food scene. Drive down any side street off 23rd and you’ll see any number of uncles and aunties throwing down on the grill. That part of Richmond, thankfully, is still alive and well.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Informal food businesses, such as driveway pupusa stands and backyard \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915646/barbacoa-mejia-richmond-flea-market\">barbacoa\u003c/a> operations, are in many ways the heart and soul of Richmond’s scrappy, unpretentious food scene. Drive down any side street off 23rd and you’ll see any number of uncles and aunties throwing down on the grill. That part of Richmond, thankfully, is still alive and well.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What The Lot offers is a little bit different. While the Bay Area has no shortage of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/night-market\">night markets\u003c/a> and Off the Grid–style food truck meetups, I don’t know any that offer such a wildly diverse variety of global cuisines, all within the confines of a tiny parking lot. Most street food markets in the Bay don’t have a single Cameroonian, Guatemalan or Laotian food vendor, much less all three lined up in a row, back to back to back. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>What The Lot offers is a little bit different. While the Bay Area has no shortage of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/night-market\">night markets\u003c/a> and Off the Grid–style food truck meetups, I don’t know any that offer such a wildly diverse variety of global cuisines, all within the confines of a tiny parking lot. Most street food markets in the Bay don’t have a single Cameroonian, Guatemalan or Laotian food vendor, much less all three lined up in a row, back to back to back. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork.jpg\" alt=\"Takeout container with cubes of fried pork belly, basil, bell peppers and a fried egg.\" class=\"wp-image-13991949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pai’s Eatery’s basil pork belly bowl, with an optional fried egg add-on. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork.jpg\" alt=\"Takeout container with cubes of fried pork belly, basil, bell peppers and a fried egg.\" class=\"wp-image-13991949\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pai’s Eatery’s basil pork belly bowl, with an optional fried egg add-on. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Over the past few months, I’ve been slowly eating my way through the market, though it still feels like I’ve barely cracked the surface. For now, none of the stands are big, established brands with a lot of social media hype. They’re just cooking up tasty food, without the fuss.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Over the past few months, I’ve been slowly eating my way through the market, though it still feels like I’ve barely cracked the surface. For now, none of the stands are big, established brands with a lot of social media hype. They’re just cooking up tasty food, without the fuss.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Here are the five most delicious dishes I’ve tried so far, in no particular order.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Here are the five most delicious dishes I’ve tried so far, in no particular order.\u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Basil pork belly from Pai’s Eatery ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Basil pork belly from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pais.eatery/\">\u003cstrong>Pai’s Eatery\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Basil pork belly from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pais.eatery/\">\u003cstrong>Pai’s Eatery\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This might be the best-known stand in The Lot’s stable of food vendors, as it’s run by the folks behind Souk Savanh, the dearly departed, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989331/best-cheap-affordable-restaurant-meals-bay-area-oakland-sf\">super-budget-friendly\u003c/a> Lao-Thai restaurant in Oakland (currently on hiatus as it gears up to move to a new location). \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This might be the best-known stand in The Lot’s stable of food vendors, as it’s run by the folks behind Souk Savanh, the dearly departed, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989331/best-cheap-affordable-restaurant-meals-bay-area-oakland-sf\">super-budget-friendly\u003c/a> Lao-Thai restaurant in Oakland (currently on hiatus as it gears up to move to a new location). \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At The Lot, Pai’s Eatery serves a stripped-down version of the restaurant \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZFufq2lIQU/?img_index=1\">menu\u003c/a>, featuring hearty rice bowls and noodle bowls for as little as $10. Their Lao sausage patties are one of my all-time favorites, but recently, I’ve become enamored with the basil pork belly over rice: big cubes of crispy, skin-on pork belly tossed with a saucy, colorful mix of bell peppers, onions and Thai basil.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>At The Lot, Pai’s Eatery serves a stripped-down version of the restaurant \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZFufq2lIQU/?img_index=1\">menu\u003c/a>, featuring hearty rice bowls and noodle bowls for as little as $10. Their Lao sausage patties are one of my all-time favorites, but recently, I’ve become enamored with the basil pork belly over rice: big cubes of crispy, skin-on pork belly tossed with a saucy, colorful mix of bell peppers, onions and Thai basil.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot.jpg\" alt=\"A man serving food inside a food tent. The name of the stand is "GRL Catering."\" class=\"wp-image-13991944\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">GRL’s food tent is the king of sheer value and portion size.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot.jpg\" alt=\"A man serving food inside a food tent. The name of the stand is "GRL Catering."\" class=\"wp-image-13991944\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">GRL’s food tent is the king of sheer value and portion size.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"text": "Jerk chicken plate from GRL Catering",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Jerk chicken plate from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/grlcatering_/\">\u003cstrong>GRL Catering\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Jerk chicken plate from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/grlcatering_/\">\u003cstrong>GRL Catering\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In terms of sheer value and portion size, GRL’s Jamaican food stall is the king of The Lot (and maybe the whole East Bay). I paid $15 for a “small” jerk chicken plate, and the takeout container was absolutely jam-packed with food: two big, saucy chicken legs, chopped up into smaller chunks; several slices of fried plantains; the doughy Jamaican fried bread known as \u003ca href=\"https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020881-festival\">festival\u003c/a>; and a pile of steamed cabbage — all over a big scoop of rice and peas to soak up the juices. (It’s hard for me to even conceive how much food must come with the $22 large plate.) \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In terms of sheer value and portion size, GRL’s Jamaican food stall is the king of The Lot (and maybe the whole East Bay). I paid $15 for a “small” jerk chicken plate, and the takeout container was absolutely jam-packed with food: two big, saucy chicken legs, chopped up into smaller chunks; several slices of fried plantains; the doughy Jamaican fried bread known as \u003ca href=\"https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020881-festival\">festival\u003c/a>; and a pile of steamed cabbage — all over a big scoop of rice and peas to soak up the juices. (It’s hard for me to even conceive how much food must come with the $22 large plate.) \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>More importantly, this is some of the tastiest jerk chicken I’ve had in a minute — smoky and incredibly tender with a zip of heat, slathered in a jerk-style barbecue sauce that’s more savory and spicy than sweet. The most delicious bites were the little bits of charred, blackened skin.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>More importantly, this is some of the tastiest jerk chicken I’ve had in a minute — smoky and incredibly tender with a zip of heat, slathered in a jerk-style barbecue sauce that’s more savory and spicy than sweet. The most delicious bites were the little bits of charred, blackened skin.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas.jpg\" alt=\"A huge mound of sauce-drizzled fries in a Styrofoam clamshell container.\" class=\"wp-image-13991946\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Guatemalan street-style fried chicken and fries, courtesy of Pollo Con Papas Fritas.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas.jpg\" alt=\"A huge mound of sauce-drizzled fries in a Styrofoam clamshell container.\" class=\"wp-image-13991946\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Guatemalan street-style fried chicken and fries, courtesy of Pollo Con Papas Fritas.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fried chicken and fries ‘estilo chapín’ from Pollo Con Papas Fritas\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Lot is home to two near-identical stands selling Guatemalan-style fried chicken. During my most recent market visit, the stand I tried, Pollo Con Papas Fritas (not to be confused with the nearby Pollo Con Papas) was the slightly busier operation between the two, and its chicken proved thoroughly up to snuff. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Lot is home to two near-identical stands selling Guatemalan-style fried chicken. During my most recent market visit, the stand I tried, Pollo Con Papas Fritas (not to be confused with the nearby Pollo Con Papas) was the slightly busier operation between the two, and its chicken proved thoroughly up to snuff. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This isn’t the aggressively seasoned Pollo Campero–style fast food fried chicken that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-14/pollo-campero-central-america-los-angeles\">popular in Guatemala and El Salvador\u003c/a>. Instead, it’s more of a Guatemalan street food style: For $12, you get two pieces of dark meat buried under a giant mound of thick, hand-cut fries topped with colorful squeeze-bottle squiggles of ketchup, mayo and green salsa. The fries are fine, more fluffy than crisp by design, but the real beauty of the dish is that the chicken itself is so thoroughly buried underneath that it’s shielded from all that sauce: The skin stays nice and crunchy, and the flesh is hot and decently juicy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This isn’t the aggressively seasoned Pollo Campero–style fast food fried chicken that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-14/pollo-campero-central-america-los-angeles\">popular in Guatemala and El Salvador\u003c/a>. Instead, it’s more of a Guatemalan street food style: For $12, you get two pieces of dark meat buried under a giant mound of thick, hand-cut fries topped with colorful squeeze-bottle squiggles of ketchup, mayo and green salsa. The fries are fine, more fluffy than crisp by design, but the real beauty of the dish is that the chicken itself is so thoroughly buried underneath that it’s shielded from all that sauce: The skin stays nice and crunchy, and the flesh is hot and decently juicy.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew.jpg\" alt=\"Tomato sauce–soaked pieces of fried catfish in a takeout container.\" class=\"wp-image-13991947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kilama Passion Foods’ tomato-forward Cameroonian catfish stew.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew.jpg\" alt=\"Tomato sauce–soaked pieces of fried catfish in a takeout container.\" class=\"wp-image-13991947\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kilama Passion Foods’ tomato-forward Cameroonian catfish stew.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One of the only Cameroonian food businesses I’ve come across in the Bay Area, Kilama Passion Foods’ tent serves a catfish stew that is shockingly, but quite tastily, tomato-forward — “almost chicken parm–like” was my initial reaction. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>One of the only Cameroonian food businesses I’ve come across in the Bay Area, Kilama Passion Foods’ tent serves a catfish stew that is shockingly, but quite tastily, tomato-forward — “almost chicken parm–like” was my initial reaction. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I like all the other components of the plate even better: the plump grains of seasoned yellow rice and, especially, the fried plantains, which are extra crispy around the edges. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I like all the other components of the plate even better: the plump grains of seasoned yellow rice and, especially, the fried plantains, which are extra crispy around the edges. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren.jpg\" alt=\"Two churros in a white paper bag, with food tents at a street market in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-13991945\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Some of the Bay Area’s tastiest churros, courtesy of Churros My Fren.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren.jpg\" alt=\"Two churros in a white paper bag, with food tents at a street market in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-13991945\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Some of the Bay Area’s tastiest churros, courtesy of Churros My Fren.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Churros from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/churrosmyfrenn/\">\u003cstrong>Churros My Fren\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I ignored this Mexican churro stand during my first couple of trips to The Lot because, well, I figured I can get churros anywhere in Richmond. Now I can’t imagine \u003cem>not \u003c/em>snagging a churro or two from Churros My Fren before I leave. These are some of the best I’ve had in recent memory — they’re long and skinny, with deep ridges that help maximize their crinkly cinnamon sugar–enhanced crunch, while the inside stays tender and custardy. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I ignored this Mexican churro stand during my first couple of trips to The Lot because, well, I figured I can get churros anywhere in Richmond. Now I can’t imagine \u003cem>not \u003c/em>snagging a churro or two from Churros My Fren before I leave. These are some of the best I’ve had in recent memory — they’re long and skinny, with deep ridges that help maximize their crinkly cinnamon sugar–enhanced crunch, while the inside stays tender and custardy. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Like many of The Lot’s offerings, the churros are a bargain at $2 apiece. One of these days, I’ll bring a couple of friends along and splurge on the giant, spiral-shaped churro rosca.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Like many of The Lot’s offerings, the churros are a bargain at $2 apiece. One of these days, I’ll bring a couple of friends along and splurge on the giant, spiral-shaped churro rosca.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4685/The-Lot-Downtown-Richmond-Food-Court-for\">\u003cem>The Lot\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open from roughly 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Each stand keeps its own hours, though, and you’ll find a slightly different mix of vendors at lunchtime than you will in the evening. Many of the food vendors also sell at Richmond’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.richmondfarmersmarket.org/marina-bay-park-market\">\u003cem>Marina Bay farmers market\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> on Sundays.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4685/The-Lot-Downtown-Richmond-Food-Court-for\">\u003cem>The Lot\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open from roughly 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Each stand keeps its own hours, though, and you’ll find a slightly different mix of vendors at lunchtime than you will in the evening. Many of the food vendors also sell at Richmond’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.richmondfarmersmarket.org/marina-bay-park-market\">\u003cem>Marina Bay farmers market\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> on Sundays.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "A guide to one of the East Bay’s most diverse — and most underrated — street food markets.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Every Tuesday and Thursday, a small, empty lot in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/richmond\">Richmond\u003c/a> transforms into one of the Bay Area’s most vibrant street food markets. About 15 or 20 food tents line up at any given time, the smell of fish sauce, Thai basil, smoked meat and fried plantains wafting in the air. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Welcome to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4685/The-Lot-Downtown-Richmond-Food-Court-for\">The Lot\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Open since October 2024, when it launched with the more literal (if somewhat unsexy) name, “Mobile Vendor Plaza Market,” the outdoor food court grew out of a city initiative meant to deter unlicensed street vending in Richmond. It offers those food vendors a \u003ca href=\"https://richmondside.org/2024/10/24/richmond-street-vendor-plaza-ceremony/\">pathway to legitimacy\u003c/a>, along with a central location, just a short walk from the BART station, where they can peddle their wares. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Informal food businesses, such as driveway pupusa stands and backyard \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915646/barbacoa-mejia-richmond-flea-market\">barbacoa\u003c/a> operations, are in many ways the heart and soul of Richmond’s scrappy, unpretentious food scene. Drive down any side street off 23rd and you’ll see any number of uncles and aunties throwing down on the grill. That part of Richmond, thankfully, is still alive and well.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What The Lot offers is a little bit different. While the Bay Area has no shortage of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/night-market\">night markets\u003c/a> and Off the Grid–style food truck meetups, I don’t know any that offer such a wildly diverse variety of global cuisines, all within the confines of a tiny parking lot. Most street food markets in the Bay don’t have a single Cameroonian, Guatemalan or Laotian food vendor, much less all three lined up in a row, back to back to back. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork.jpg\" alt=\"Takeout container with cubes of fried pork belly, basil, bell peppers and a fried egg.\" class=\"wp-image-13991949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pais-eatery-basil-pork-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pai’s Eatery’s basil pork belly bowl, with an optional fried egg add-on. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the past few months, I’ve been slowly eating my way through the market, though it still feels like I’ve barely cracked the surface. For now, none of the stands are big, established brands with a lot of social media hype. They’re just cooking up tasty food, without the fuss.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are the five most delicious dishes I’ve tried so far, in no particular order.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Basil pork belly from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pais.eatery/\">\u003cstrong>Pai’s Eatery\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This might be the best-known stand in The Lot’s stable of food vendors, as it’s run by the folks behind Souk Savanh, the dearly departed, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989331/best-cheap-affordable-restaurant-meals-bay-area-oakland-sf\">super-budget-friendly\u003c/a> Lao-Thai restaurant in Oakland (currently on hiatus as it gears up to move to a new location). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At The Lot, Pai’s Eatery serves a stripped-down version of the restaurant \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZFufq2lIQU/?img_index=1\">menu\u003c/a>, featuring hearty rice bowls and noodle bowls for as little as $10. Their Lao sausage patties are one of my all-time favorites, but recently, I’ve become enamored with the basil pork belly over rice: big cubes of crispy, skin-on pork belly tossed with a saucy, colorful mix of bell peppers, onions and Thai basil.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot.jpg\" alt='A man serving food inside a food tent. The name of the stand is \"GRL Catering.\"' class=\"wp-image-13991944\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/GRL-at-The-Lot-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">GRL’s food tent is the king of sheer value and portion size. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Jerk chicken plate from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/grlcatering_/\">\u003cstrong>GRL Catering\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In terms of sheer value and portion size, GRL’s Jamaican food stall is the king of The Lot (and maybe the whole East Bay). I paid $15 for a “small” jerk chicken plate, and the takeout container was absolutely jam-packed with food: two big, saucy chicken legs, chopped up into smaller chunks; several slices of fried plantains; the doughy Jamaican fried bread known as \u003ca href=\"https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020881-festival\">festival\u003c/a>; and a pile of steamed cabbage — all over a big scoop of rice and peas to soak up the juices. (It’s hard for me to even conceive how much food must come with the $22 large plate.) \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>More importantly, this is some of the tastiest jerk chicken I’ve had in a minute — smoky and incredibly tender with a zip of heat, slathered in a jerk-style barbecue sauce that’s more savory and spicy than sweet. The most delicious bites were the little bits of charred, blackened skin.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas.jpg\" alt=\"A huge mound of sauce-drizzled fries in a Styrofoam clamshell container.\" class=\"wp-image-13991946\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/pollo-con-papas-fritas-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Guatemalan street-style fried chicken and fries, courtesy of Pollo Con Papas Fritas. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fried chicken and fries ‘estilo chapín’ from Pollo Con Papas Fritas\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Lot is home to two near-identical stands selling Guatemalan-style fried chicken. During my most recent market visit, the stand I tried, Pollo Con Papas Fritas (not to be confused with the nearby Pollo Con Papas) was the slightly busier operation between the two, and its chicken proved thoroughly up to snuff. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This isn’t the aggressively seasoned Pollo Campero–style fast food fried chicken that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-14/pollo-campero-central-america-los-angeles\">popular in Guatemala and El Salvador\u003c/a>. Instead, it’s more of a Guatemalan street food style: For $12, you get two pieces of dark meat buried under a giant mound of thick, hand-cut fries topped with colorful squeeze-bottle squiggles of ketchup, mayo and green salsa. The fries are fine, more fluffy than crisp by design, but the real beauty of the dish is that the chicken itself is so thoroughly buried underneath that it’s shielded from all that sauce: The skin stays nice and crunchy, and the flesh is hot and decently juicy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew.jpg\" alt=\"Tomato sauce–soaked pieces of fried catfish in a takeout container.\" class=\"wp-image-13991947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Kilama-catfish-stew-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kilama Passion Foods’ tomato-forward Cameroonian catfish stew. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Catfish stew from Kilama Passion Foods\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One of the only Cameroonian food businesses I’ve come across in the Bay Area, Kilama Passion Foods’ tent serves a catfish stew that is shockingly, but quite tastily, tomato-forward — “almost chicken parm–like” was my initial reaction. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I like all the other components of the plate even better: the plump grains of seasoned yellow rice and, especially, the fried plantains, which are extra crispy around the edges. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren.jpg\" alt=\"Two churros in a white paper bag, with food tents at a street market in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-13991945\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/churros-my-fren-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Some of the Bay Area’s tastiest churros, courtesy of Churros My Fren. (Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Churros from \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/churrosmyfrenn/\">\u003cstrong>Churros My Fren\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I ignored this Mexican churro stand during my first couple of trips to The Lot because, well, I figured I can get churros anywhere in Richmond. Now I can’t imagine \u003cem>not \u003c/em>snagging a churro or two from Churros My Fren before I leave. These are some of the best I’ve had in recent memory — they’re long and skinny, with deep ridges that help maximize their crinkly cinnamon sugar–enhanced crunch, while the inside stays tender and custardy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like many of The Lot’s offerings, the churros are a bargain at $2 apiece. One of these days, I’ll bring a couple of friends along and splurge on the giant, spiral-shaped churro rosca.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4685/The-Lot-Downtown-Richmond-Food-Court-for\">\u003cem>The Lot\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open from roughly 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Each stand keeps its own hours, though, and you’ll find a slightly different mix of vendors at lunchtime than you will in the evening. Many of the food vendors also sell at Richmond’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.richmondfarmersmarket.org/marina-bay-park-market\">\u003cem>Marina Bay farmers market\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> on Sundays.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "jollof-rice-festival-west-africa-oakland",
"title": "West African Flavors Do Battle as Jollof Festival Returns to Oakland",
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"headTitle": "West African Flavors Do Battle as Jollof Festival Returns to Oakland | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Ishmael Osekre wanted to settle the debates once and for all. Amid the everlasting argument over which West African country makes the best Jollof rice, in 2017, Osekre launched a competition that involved actually tasting the food instead of “trying to insult each other’s mama,” he says today, with a laugh.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On Saturday, July 18, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jollof-festival-oakland-26-tickets-1988023963190?gclsrc=aw.ds&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ebps&utm_campaign=PSNB_CUAL_PMK_PDO_0_US_0_BAU_0_GA01-DSA-Page-Feed-High-Value&utm_term=&aff=ebmkmxperformance&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23357619767&gbraid=0AAAAAo0IdU2Z3ZGhY8ySz3F3yR2yhL_GG&gclid=Cj0KCQjwr4jSBhCSARIsAOX1E-I-xYqlUiipNLtcoIVbgoaCFh6rgODwElxLc_Ce1Kkw7h_rHuf_97waAtGbEALw_wcB\">Jollof Festival\u003c/a> returns to Oakland. Along with flavorful rice, the annual event includes live dance performances, an interactive kids zone, and handmade goods, in addition to the inevitable disputes about proper Jollof preparation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After the inaugural Jollof Festival in Washington D.C. and \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41053424\">a BBC article\u003c/a> that swirled around the internet, other regions demanded local iterations of the festival. The community interest, enthusiasm and passion behind the “Jollof wars,” Osekre says on a recent phone call, encouraged him to take the show on the road in hopes of “properly preventing the next world war.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1020\" height=\"702\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-1020x702.jpg\" alt=\"Customers eating jollof rice out of black plastic takeout containers.\" class=\"wp-image-13960583\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-1536x1057.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Customers with Jollof Kitchen’s Nigerian-style jollof rice. Owner Kemi Tijaniqudus won the Oakland edition of Jollof Festival in 2021 and 2023. (Courtesy of Jollof Kitchen)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In its most common form, Jollof rice is made with a combination of rice, meat, tomatoes and spices. Though said to \u003ca href=\"https://www.trtafrika.com/article/17657471?_rt=1\">originate in Senegal\u003c/a>, nearly every country in West Africa has its own variety. And here in the Bay Area, the African diaspora is steadfast about repping their homeland through food.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area shows its unapologetic appreciation, interest and curiosity of African culture, African food,” Osekre says. In one of the most diverse places on earth, it isn’t lost on Osekre that the Black community is deeply connected with their southern roots and African heritage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theesoulfulone/\">Quiana Webster\u003c/a>, co-producer of the festival, adds that “Oakland is the model.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Webster may be slightly biased — she’s an Oakland kid herself — but she’s done her homework, having traveled with the festival and witnessed it in Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta and other places.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In every state, no matter what, this rice is something that everybody wants,” she says. “They want to taste it, they want to vote about it, they want to argue and they want to come together.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2447\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4.jpg\" alt='A woman holding a yellow box of food that reads \"Jollof Festival\" on the top of it.' class=\"wp-image-13991492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-160x196.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-768x940.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-1255x1536.jpg 1255w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-1674x2048.jpg 1674w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jollof rice, from West Africa, is a precursor and cousin to jambalaya, from Louisiana. (Courtesy Jollof Festival)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Working the Jollof Festival helped Webster expand her resources and branch off into catering as the owner of local catering business \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/symplysoul_/\">Symply Soul\u003c/a>. It’s also pushed Osekre to grow as a student of the culinary arts. During the pandemic, he says, he spent his downtime learning to cook so he could better articulate the details of the dishes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The festival’s format will be similar to past years. The competition is a blind tasting with “one little twist,” says Osekre. “We are introducing software that will actually tie the ticket that you bought to your vote.” (While in the past, there had been issues with Google forms and QR codes, this development will ensure one person, per vote.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even still, despite Osekre’s mediation efforts, the debate is sure to continue. It’s a part of the culture.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The 2026 \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jollof-festival-oakland-26-tickets-1988023963190\">Jollof Festival\u003c/a> takes place Saturday, July 18, at 811 Oakland (811 Washington Street, Oakland). Admission is available in multiple tiers, including a non-voting general entry ticket and a five-country “sample pack” voting ticket. \u003ca href=\"http://eventbrite.com/e/jollof-festival-oakland-26-tickets-1988023963190%20%E2%86%97\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Ishmael Osekre wanted to settle the debates once and for all. Amid the everlasting argument over which West African country makes the best Jollof rice, in 2017, Osekre launched a competition that involved actually tasting the food instead of “trying to insult each other’s mama,” he says today, with a laugh.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Ishmael Osekre wanted to settle the debates once and for all. Amid the everlasting argument over which West African country makes the best Jollof rice, in 2017, Osekre launched a competition that involved actually tasting the food instead of “trying to insult each other’s mama,” he says today, with a laugh.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Saturday, July 18, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jollof-festival-oakland-26-tickets-1988023963190?gclsrc=aw.ds&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ebps&utm_campaign=PSNB_CUAL_PMK_PDO_0_US_0_BAU_0_GA01-DSA-Page-Feed-High-Value&utm_term=&aff=ebmkmxperformance&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23357619767&gbraid=0AAAAAo0IdU2Z3ZGhY8ySz3F3yR2yhL_GG&gclid=Cj0KCQjwr4jSBhCSARIsAOX1E-I-xYqlUiipNLtcoIVbgoaCFh6rgODwElxLc_Ce1Kkw7h_rHuf_97waAtGbEALw_wcB\">Jollof Festival\u003c/a> returns to Oakland. Along with flavorful rice, the annual event includes live dance performances, an interactive kids zone, and handmade goods, in addition to the inevitable disputes about proper Jollof preparation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Saturday, July 18, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jollof-festival-oakland-26-tickets-1988023963190?gclsrc=aw.ds&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ebps&utm_campaign=PSNB_CUAL_PMK_PDO_0_US_0_BAU_0_GA01-DSA-Page-Feed-High-Value&utm_term=&aff=ebmkmxperformance&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23357619767&gbraid=0AAAAAo0IdU2Z3ZGhY8ySz3F3yR2yhL_GG&gclid=Cj0KCQjwr4jSBhCSARIsAOX1E-I-xYqlUiipNLtcoIVbgoaCFh6rgODwElxLc_Ce1Kkw7h_rHuf_97waAtGbEALw_wcB\">Jollof Festival\u003c/a> returns to Oakland. Along with flavorful rice, the annual event includes live dance performances, an interactive kids zone, and handmade goods, in addition to the inevitable disputes about proper Jollof preparation.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After the inaugural Jollof Festival in Washington D.C. and \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41053424\">a BBC article\u003c/a> that swirled around the internet, other regions demanded local iterations of the festival. The community interest, enthusiasm and passion behind the “Jollof wars,” Osekre says on a recent phone call, encouraged him to take the show on the road in hopes of “properly preventing the next world war.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>After the inaugural Jollof Festival in Washington D.C. and \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41053424\">a BBC article\u003c/a> that swirled around the internet, other regions demanded local iterations of the festival. The community interest, enthusiasm and passion behind the “Jollof wars,” Osekre says on a recent phone call, encouraged him to take the show on the road in hopes of “properly preventing the next world war.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-1020x702.jpg\" alt=\"Customers eating jollof rice out of black plastic takeout containers.\" class=\"wp-image-13960583\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-1536x1057.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Customers with Jollof Kitchen’s Nigerian-style jollof rice. Owner Kemi Tijaniqudus won the Oakland edition of Jollof Festival in 2021 and 2023.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In its most common form, Jollof rice is made with a combination of rice, meat, tomatoes and spices. Though said to \u003ca href=\"https://www.trtafrika.com/article/17657471?_rt=1\">originate in Senegal\u003c/a>, nearly every country in West Africa has its own variety. And here in the Bay Area, the African diaspora is steadfast about repping their homeland through food.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area shows its unapologetic appreciation, interest and curiosity of African culture, African food,” Osekre says. In one of the most diverse places on earth, it isn’t lost on Osekre that the Black community is deeply connected with their southern roots and African heritage. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theesoulfulone/\">Quiana Webster\u003c/a>, co-producer of the festival, adds that “Oakland is the model.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theesoulfulone/\">Quiana Webster\u003c/a>, co-producer of the festival, adds that “Oakland is the model.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Webster may be slightly biased — she’s an Oakland kid herself — but she’s done her homework, having traveled with the festival and witnessed it in Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta and other places.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Webster may be slightly biased — she’s an Oakland kid herself — but she’s done her homework, having traveled with the festival and witnessed it in Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta and other places.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“In every state, no matter what, this rice is something that everybody wants,” she says. “They want to taste it, they want to vote about it, they want to argue and they want to come together.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4.jpg\" alt=\"A woman holding a yellow box of food that reads "Jollof Festival" on the top of it.\" class=\"wp-image-13991492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-160x196.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-768x940.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-1255x1536.jpg 1255w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-1674x2048.jpg 1674w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jollof rice, from West Africa, is a precursor and cousin to jambalaya, from Louisiana. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4.jpg\" alt=\"A woman holding a yellow box of food that reads "Jollof Festival" on the top of it.\" class=\"wp-image-13991492\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jollof rice, from West Africa, is a precursor and cousin to jambalaya, from Louisiana. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Working the Jollof Festival helped Webster expand her resources and branch off into catering as the owner of local catering business \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/symplysoul_/\">Symply Soul\u003c/a>. It’s also pushed Osekre to grow as a student of the culinary arts. During the pandemic, he says, he spent his downtime learning to cook so he could better articulate the details of the dishes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Working the Jollof Festival helped Webster expand her resources and branch off into catering as the owner of local catering business \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/symplysoul_/\">Symply Soul\u003c/a>. It’s also pushed Osekre to grow as a student of the culinary arts. During the pandemic, he says, he spent his downtime learning to cook so he could better articulate the details of the dishes.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The festival’s format will be similar to past years. The competition is a blind tasting with “one little twist,” says Osekre. “We are introducing software that will actually tie the ticket that you bought to your vote.” (While in the past, there had been issues with Google forms and QR codes, this development will ensure one person, per vote.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The festival’s format will be similar to past years. The competition is a blind tasting with “one little twist,” says Osekre. “We are introducing software that will actually tie the ticket that you bought to your vote.” (While in the past, there had been issues with Google forms and QR codes, this development will ensure one person, per vote.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Even still, despite Osekre’s mediation efforts, the debate is sure to continue. It’s a part of the culture.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The 2026 \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jollof-festival-oakland-26-tickets-1988023963190\">Jollof Festival\u003c/a> takes place Saturday, July 18, at 811 Oakland (811 Washington Street, Oakland). Admission is available in multiple tiers, including a non-voting general entry ticket and a five-country “sample pack” voting ticket. \u003ca href=\"http://eventbrite.com/e/jollof-festival-oakland-26-tickets-1988023963190 ↗\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The annual festival aims to mediate long-running disputes about cuisine and tradition.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Ishmael Osekre wanted to settle the debates once and for all. Amid the everlasting argument over which West African country makes the best Jollof rice, in 2017, Osekre launched a competition that involved actually tasting the food instead of “trying to insult each other’s mama,” he says today, with a laugh.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On Saturday, July 18, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jollof-festival-oakland-26-tickets-1988023963190?gclsrc=aw.ds&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ebps&utm_campaign=PSNB_CUAL_PMK_PDO_0_US_0_BAU_0_GA01-DSA-Page-Feed-High-Value&utm_term=&aff=ebmkmxperformance&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23357619767&gbraid=0AAAAAo0IdU2Z3ZGhY8ySz3F3yR2yhL_GG&gclid=Cj0KCQjwr4jSBhCSARIsAOX1E-I-xYqlUiipNLtcoIVbgoaCFh6rgODwElxLc_Ce1Kkw7h_rHuf_97waAtGbEALw_wcB\">Jollof Festival\u003c/a> returns to Oakland. Along with flavorful rice, the annual event includes live dance performances, an interactive kids zone, and handmade goods, in addition to the inevitable disputes about proper Jollof preparation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After the inaugural Jollof Festival in Washington D.C. and \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41053424\">a BBC article\u003c/a> that swirled around the internet, other regions demanded local iterations of the festival. The community interest, enthusiasm and passion behind the “Jollof wars,” Osekre says on a recent phone call, encouraged him to take the show on the road in hopes of “properly preventing the next world war.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1020\" height=\"702\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-1020x702.jpg\" alt=\"Customers eating jollof rice out of black plastic takeout containers.\" class=\"wp-image-13960583\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop-1536x1057.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/jollof-kitchen-crop.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Customers with Jollof Kitchen’s Nigerian-style jollof rice. Owner Kemi Tijaniqudus won the Oakland edition of Jollof Festival in 2021 and 2023. (Courtesy of Jollof Kitchen)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In its most common form, Jollof rice is made with a combination of rice, meat, tomatoes and spices. Though said to \u003ca href=\"https://www.trtafrika.com/article/17657471?_rt=1\">originate in Senegal\u003c/a>, nearly every country in West Africa has its own variety. And here in the Bay Area, the African diaspora is steadfast about repping their homeland through food.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area shows its unapologetic appreciation, interest and curiosity of African culture, African food,” Osekre says. In one of the most diverse places on earth, it isn’t lost on Osekre that the Black community is deeply connected with their southern roots and African heritage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theesoulfulone/\">Quiana Webster\u003c/a>, co-producer of the festival, adds that “Oakland is the model.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Webster may be slightly biased — she’s an Oakland kid herself — but she’s done her homework, having traveled with the festival and witnessed it in Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta and other places.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In every state, no matter what, this rice is something that everybody wants,” she says. “They want to taste it, they want to vote about it, they want to argue and they want to come together.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2447\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4.jpg\" alt='A woman holding a yellow box of food that reads \"Jollof Festival\" on the top of it.' class=\"wp-image-13991492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-160x196.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-768x940.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-1255x1536.jpg 1255w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/unnamed-4-1674x2048.jpg 1674w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jollof rice, from West Africa, is a precursor and cousin to jambalaya, from Louisiana. (Courtesy Jollof Festival)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Working the Jollof Festival helped Webster expand her resources and branch off into catering as the owner of local catering business \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/symplysoul_/\">Symply Soul\u003c/a>. It’s also pushed Osekre to grow as a student of the culinary arts. During the pandemic, he says, he spent his downtime learning to cook so he could better articulate the details of the dishes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The festival’s format will be similar to past years. The competition is a blind tasting with “one little twist,” says Osekre. “We are introducing software that will actually tie the ticket that you bought to your vote.” (While in the past, there had been issues with Google forms and QR codes, this development will ensure one person, per vote.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even still, despite Osekre’s mediation efforts, the debate is sure to continue. It’s a part of the culture.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The 2026 \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jollof-festival-oakland-26-tickets-1988023963190\">Jollof Festival\u003c/a> takes place Saturday, July 18, at 811 Oakland (811 Washington Street, Oakland). Admission is available in multiple tiers, including a non-voting general entry ticket and a five-country “sample pack” voting ticket. \u003ca href=\"http://eventbrite.com/e/jollof-festival-oakland-26-tickets-1988023963190%20%E2%86%97\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "cupertino-cantonese-roast-duck-changsha-noodle-late-night",
"title": "This Late-Night Noodle House Slings the South Bay’s Tastiest Roast Duck",
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"headTitle": "This Late-Night Noodle House Slings the South Bay’s Tastiest Roast Duck | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devouring Chinese roast duck and rice noodles.\" class=\"wp-image-13991073\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">At Changshan Rice Noodles, the star of the menu is the Cantonese-style roast duck. The Cupertino restaurant is open until midnight most nights. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever wondered where all the young Asian Americans in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/cupertino\">Cupertino\u003c/a> hang out late at night, all you need to do is visit the Cupertino Village shopping plaza. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At around 9:15 on a recent Friday night, the entire plaza was positively swarming with Asian teens and twentysomethings. On one side of the parking lot, a swanky hip-hop dance studio and a Mandarin-friendly board game club hosting a Dungeons & Dragons night each attracted their own particular flavor of Asian youth culture. On the other side was one of the longest lines that I’ve \u003cem>ever\u003c/em> seen queued up outside a boba shop. (The new Charlie’s Tea was running a buy-one-get-one special for its grand opening, it turns out.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>We’d come in search of a late-night Chinese feast, but what we found wasn’t just one solitary restaurant that happened to stay open late. Instead, the whole shopping center buzzed with youthful energy and excitement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Our intended destination, Changsha Rice Noodles, aka \u003ca href=\"https://changsha-mifen.com/\">Changsha Mifen\u003c/a> (长沙米粉) — or “Jade Tea BBQ,” according to the restaurant’s only sign in English — stays open until midnight most nights, tucked away on the far end of the busy plaza. It’s part of a crop of newer, semi-mysterious Chinese restaurants in the South Bay that always seem to be in the middle of a rebrand. In Changsha’s case, it seems the folks who run Jade Tea Garden, the Cantonese banquet hall on the other side of the building, decided last fall to try their hand at Hunan-style street noodles. The two restaurants share a big kitchen in the middle — hence the confusing signage and hodgepodge menu combining two regional cuisines that don’t normally have much to do with each other. Certainly it’s the only place I know of that specializes in Hunan rice noodles \u003cem>and \u003c/em>Cantonese barbecue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2.jpg\" alt='Illustration: Exterior of a restaurant lit up at night. The sign reads \"Jade Tea BBQ.\"' class=\"wp-image-13991072\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Also known as “Jade Tea BBQ,” the restaurant is located in the Cupertino Village shopping plaza — a hugely popular late-night hangout spot for young Asian Americans. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>My suggestion? They may want to consider renaming the restaurant “Jade Duck House,” because the duck is the one must-order dish — the thing that stands out as soon as you walk in the door. In back, dozens of the birds dangled from metal hooks, some already roasted to a gorgeously well-burnished golden brown. Many more hung in various stages of an air-drying process calibrated to yield the crispiest possible skin. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During our visit, Changsha was running an incredible special — $15 for half a “Guangzhou roast duck” (discounted from $22). This was some of the tastiest Cantonese-style roast duck I’ve had anywhere in the United States. The skin was outrageously crispy without being greasy; the layer of flavorful fat had rendered down to soft, melty nubs. The meat itself? Impossibly tender and juicy. On the plate, a nice little “jus” of sweet soy sauce mixed with the duck’s fatty drippings made for a heavenly dipping sauce.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The duck is so good, all you really need to add is a bowl of white rice to assemble a satisfying meal. But the restaurant’s other specialty — rice noodles prepared in the style associated with Changsha, Hunan’s capital city — is also worth trying. These come in a variety of both soupy and dry versions. We thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant’s solid, flavorful take on beef noodle soup, which came topped with mustard greens and a scattering of raw chopped garlic. A dry version topped with scrambled eggs, pickled mustard stems and chopped chilies had its own homey, rustic kind of charm. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In both dishes, the rice noodles themselves were the most memorable component: round and white like spaghetti and cooked just shy of soggy, but with a pleasant, chewy bite in the center. They were very, very slurpable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Really, though, everything we ordered was incredibly tasty — the bright and vinegary cucumber salad; the big, fleshy grilled oysters; the fried black stinky tofu, which had a delightfully squishy texture that helped soak up all the juices from the accompanying mala sauce. If there’s any running theme to the menu, it’s that the kitchen uses a metric ton of raw garlic, chopping it up small or into big chunks, tossing it willy-nilly, it feels like, into almost every dish. We loved it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Changsha Rice Noodles is one of those spots where you order via QR code, and the service is brusque and impersonal if not actively unfriendly. But the food itself is \u003cem>full\u003c/em> of soul. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And based on the jam-packed dining room we encountered, it’s clear they’ve struck on a winning combination. Even well past 10 p.m., the restaurant felt every bit as busy and rambunctious as any of the other Asian hangout spots in Cupertino Village. There were families with kids out past their bedtime. Lovey-dovey Gen Z couples doing that cutesy thing you see young couples do in Asia, sitting next to each other on the same side of the table even though they’re only a party of two. As far as we could tell, everyone was Chinese.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Of course, everyone had ordered the duck. And, just like us, they all cleaned their plates.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/changshamifen/\">\u003cem>Changsha Rice Noodles\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Monday to Saturday 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.–midnight, and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30–9 p.m. at 10911 N. Wolfe Rd. Ste. B (in the Cupertino Village shopping plaza).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devouring Chinese roast duck and rice noodles.\" class=\"wp-image-13991073\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">At Changshan Rice Noodles, the star of the menu is the Cantonese-style roast duck. The Cupertino restaurant is open until midnight most nights.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devouring Chinese roast duck and rice noodles.\" class=\"wp-image-13991073\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">At Changshan Rice Noodles, the star of the menu is the Cantonese-style roast duck. The Cupertino restaurant is open until midnight most nights.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever wondered where all the young Asian Americans in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/cupertino\">Cupertino\u003c/a> hang out late at night, all you need to do is visit the Cupertino Village shopping plaza. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever wondered where all the young Asian Americans in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/cupertino\">Cupertino\u003c/a> hang out late at night, all you need to do is visit the Cupertino Village shopping plaza. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At around 9:15 on a recent Friday night, the entire plaza was positively swarming with Asian teens and twentysomethings. On one side of the parking lot, a swanky hip-hop dance studio and a Mandarin-friendly board game club hosting a Dungeons & Dragons night each attracted their own particular flavor of Asian youth culture. On the other side was one of the longest lines that I’ve \u003cem>ever\u003c/em> seen queued up outside a boba shop. (The new Charlie’s Tea was running a buy-one-get-one special for its grand opening, it turns out.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At around 9:15 on a recent Friday night, the entire plaza was positively swarming with Asian teens and twentysomethings. On one side of the parking lot, a swanky hip-hop dance studio and a Mandarin-friendly board game club hosting a Dungeons & Dragons night each attracted their own particular flavor of Asian youth culture. On the other side was one of the longest lines that I’ve \u003cem>ever\u003c/em> seen queued up outside a boba shop. (The new Charlie’s Tea was running a buy-one-get-one special for its grand opening, it turns out.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>We’d come in search of a late-night Chinese feast, but what we found wasn’t just one solitary restaurant that happened to stay open late. Instead, the whole shopping center buzzed with youthful energy and excitement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>We’d come in search of a late-night Chinese feast, but what we found wasn’t just one solitary restaurant that happened to stay open late. Instead, the whole shopping center buzzed with youthful energy and excitement. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Our intended destination, Changsha Rice Noodles, aka \u003ca href=\"https://changsha-mifen.com/\">Changsha Mifen\u003c/a> (长沙米粉) — or “Jade Tea BBQ,” according to the restaurant’s only sign in English — stays open until midnight most nights, tucked away on the far end of the busy plaza. It’s part of a crop of newer, semi-mysterious Chinese restaurants in the South Bay that always seem to be in the middle of a rebrand. In Changsha’s case, it seems the folks who run Jade Tea Garden, the Cantonese banquet hall on the other side of the building, decided last fall to try their hand at Hunan-style street noodles. The two restaurants share a big kitchen in the middle — hence the confusing signage and hodgepodge menu combining two regional cuisines that don’t normally have much to do with each other. Certainly it’s the only place I know of that specializes in Hunan rice noodles \u003cem>and \u003c/em>Cantonese barbecue. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Our intended destination, Changsha Rice Noodles, aka \u003ca href=\"https://changsha-mifen.com/\">Changsha Mifen\u003c/a> (长沙米粉) — or “Jade Tea BBQ,” according to the restaurant’s only sign in English — stays open until midnight most nights, tucked away on the far end of the busy plaza. It’s part of a crop of newer, semi-mysterious Chinese restaurants in the South Bay that always seem to be in the middle of a rebrand. In Changsha’s case, it seems the folks who run Jade Tea Garden, the Cantonese banquet hall on the other side of the building, decided last fall to try their hand at Hunan-style street noodles. The two restaurants share a big kitchen in the middle — hence the confusing signage and hodgepodge menu combining two regional cuisines that don’t normally have much to do with each other. Certainly it’s the only place I know of that specializes in Hunan rice noodles \u003cem>and \u003c/em>Cantonese barbecue. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Exterior of a restaurant lit up at night. The sign reads "Jade Tea BBQ."\" class=\"wp-image-13991072\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Also known as “Jade Tea BBQ,” the restaurant is located in the Cupertino Village shopping plaza — a hugely popular late-night hangout spot for young Asian Americans.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Exterior of a restaurant lit up at night. The sign reads "Jade Tea BBQ."\" class=\"wp-image-13991072\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Also known as “Jade Tea BBQ,” the restaurant is located in the Cupertino Village shopping plaza — a hugely popular late-night hangout spot for young Asian Americans.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>My suggestion? They may want to consider renaming the restaurant “Jade Duck House,” because the duck is the one must-order dish — the thing that stands out as soon as you walk in the door. In back, dozens of the birds dangled from metal hooks, some already roasted to a gorgeously well-burnished golden brown. Many more hung in various stages of an air-drying process calibrated to yield the crispiest possible skin. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>My suggestion? They may want to consider renaming the restaurant “Jade Duck House,” because the duck is the one must-order dish — the thing that stands out as soon as you walk in the door. In back, dozens of the birds dangled from metal hooks, some already roasted to a gorgeously well-burnished golden brown. Many more hung in various stages of an air-drying process calibrated to yield the crispiest possible skin. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During our visit, Changsha was running an incredible special — $15 for half a “Guangzhou roast duck” (discounted from $22). This was some of the tastiest Cantonese-style roast duck I’ve had anywhere in the United States. The skin was outrageously crispy without being greasy; the layer of flavorful fat had rendered down to soft, melty nubs. The meat itself? Impossibly tender and juicy. On the plate, a nice little “jus” of sweet soy sauce mixed with the duck’s fatty drippings made for a heavenly dipping sauce.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>During our visit, Changsha was running an incredible special — $15 for half a “Guangzhou roast duck” (discounted from $22). This was some of the tastiest Cantonese-style roast duck I’ve had anywhere in the United States. The skin was outrageously crispy without being greasy; the layer of flavorful fat had rendered down to soft, melty nubs. The meat itself? Impossibly tender and juicy. On the plate, a nice little “jus” of sweet soy sauce mixed with the duck’s fatty drippings made for a heavenly dipping sauce.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The duck is so good, all you really need to add is a bowl of white rice to assemble a satisfying meal. But the restaurant’s other specialty — rice noodles prepared in the style associated with Changsha, Hunan’s capital city — is also worth trying. These come in a variety of both soupy and dry versions. We thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant’s solid, flavorful take on beef noodle soup, which came topped with mustard greens and a scattering of raw chopped garlic. A dry version topped with scrambled eggs, pickled mustard stems and chopped chilies had its own homey, rustic kind of charm. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The duck is so good, all you really need to add is a bowl of white rice to assemble a satisfying meal. But the restaurant’s other specialty — rice noodles prepared in the style associated with Changsha, Hunan’s capital city — is also worth trying. These come in a variety of both soupy and dry versions. We thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant’s solid, flavorful take on beef noodle soup, which came topped with mustard greens and a scattering of raw chopped garlic. A dry version topped with scrambled eggs, pickled mustard stems and chopped chilies had its own homey, rustic kind of charm. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In both dishes, the rice noodles themselves were the most memorable component: round and white like spaghetti and cooked just shy of soggy, but with a pleasant, chewy bite in the center. They were very, very slurpable.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In both dishes, the rice noodles themselves were the most memorable component: round and white like spaghetti and cooked just shy of soggy, but with a pleasant, chewy bite in the center. They were very, very slurpable.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Really, though, everything we ordered was incredibly tasty — the bright and vinegary cucumber salad; the big, fleshy grilled oysters; the fried black stinky tofu, which had a delightfully squishy texture that helped soak up all the juices from the accompanying mala sauce. If there’s any running theme to the menu, it’s that the kitchen uses a metric ton of raw garlic, chopping it up small or into big chunks, tossing it willy-nilly, it feels like, into almost every dish. We loved it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Really, though, everything we ordered was incredibly tasty — the bright and vinegary cucumber salad; the big, fleshy grilled oysters; the fried black stinky tofu, which had a delightfully squishy texture that helped soak up all the juices from the accompanying mala sauce. If there’s any running theme to the menu, it’s that the kitchen uses a metric ton of raw garlic, chopping it up small or into big chunks, tossing it willy-nilly, it feels like, into almost every dish. We loved it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Changsha Rice Noodles is one of those spots where you order via QR code, and the service is brusque and impersonal if not actively unfriendly. But the food itself is \u003cem>full\u003c/em> of soul. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/changshamifen/\">\u003cem>Changsha Rice Noodles\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Monday to Saturday 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.–midnight, and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30–9 p.m. at 10911 N. Wolfe Rd. Ste. B (in the Cupertino Village shopping plaza).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/changshamifen/\">\u003cem>Changsha Rice Noodles\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Monday to Saturday 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.–midnight, and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30–9 p.m. at 10911 N. Wolfe Rd. Ste. B (in the Cupertino Village shopping plaza).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Changsha Rice Noodles is Cupertino’s latest after-hours hot spot.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devouring Chinese roast duck and rice noodles.\" class=\"wp-image-13991073\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Noodles1-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">At Changshan Rice Noodles, the star of the menu is the Cantonese-style roast duck. The Cupertino restaurant is open until midnight most nights. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever wondered where all the young Asian Americans in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/cupertino\">Cupertino\u003c/a> hang out late at night, all you need to do is visit the Cupertino Village shopping plaza. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At around 9:15 on a recent Friday night, the entire plaza was positively swarming with Asian teens and twentysomethings. On one side of the parking lot, a swanky hip-hop dance studio and a Mandarin-friendly board game club hosting a Dungeons & Dragons night each attracted their own particular flavor of Asian youth culture. On the other side was one of the longest lines that I’ve \u003cem>ever\u003c/em> seen queued up outside a boba shop. (The new Charlie’s Tea was running a buy-one-get-one special for its grand opening, it turns out.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>We’d come in search of a late-night Chinese feast, but what we found wasn’t just one solitary restaurant that happened to stay open late. Instead, the whole shopping center buzzed with youthful energy and excitement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Our intended destination, Changsha Rice Noodles, aka \u003ca href=\"https://changsha-mifen.com/\">Changsha Mifen\u003c/a> (长沙米粉) — or “Jade Tea BBQ,” according to the restaurant’s only sign in English — stays open until midnight most nights, tucked away on the far end of the busy plaza. It’s part of a crop of newer, semi-mysterious Chinese restaurants in the South Bay that always seem to be in the middle of a rebrand. In Changsha’s case, it seems the folks who run Jade Tea Garden, the Cantonese banquet hall on the other side of the building, decided last fall to try their hand at Hunan-style street noodles. The two restaurants share a big kitchen in the middle — hence the confusing signage and hodgepodge menu combining two regional cuisines that don’t normally have much to do with each other. Certainly it’s the only place I know of that specializes in Hunan rice noodles \u003cem>and \u003c/em>Cantonese barbecue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2.jpg\" alt='Illustration: Exterior of a restaurant lit up at night. The sign reads \"Jade Tea BBQ.\"' class=\"wp-image-13991072\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/noodles2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Also known as “Jade Tea BBQ,” the restaurant is located in the Cupertino Village shopping plaza — a hugely popular late-night hangout spot for young Asian Americans. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>My suggestion? They may want to consider renaming the restaurant “Jade Duck House,” because the duck is the one must-order dish — the thing that stands out as soon as you walk in the door. In back, dozens of the birds dangled from metal hooks, some already roasted to a gorgeously well-burnished golden brown. Many more hung in various stages of an air-drying process calibrated to yield the crispiest possible skin. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During our visit, Changsha was running an incredible special — $15 for half a “Guangzhou roast duck” (discounted from $22). This was some of the tastiest Cantonese-style roast duck I’ve had anywhere in the United States. The skin was outrageously crispy without being greasy; the layer of flavorful fat had rendered down to soft, melty nubs. The meat itself? Impossibly tender and juicy. On the plate, a nice little “jus” of sweet soy sauce mixed with the duck’s fatty drippings made for a heavenly dipping sauce.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The duck is so good, all you really need to add is a bowl of white rice to assemble a satisfying meal. But the restaurant’s other specialty — rice noodles prepared in the style associated with Changsha, Hunan’s capital city — is also worth trying. These come in a variety of both soupy and dry versions. We thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant’s solid, flavorful take on beef noodle soup, which came topped with mustard greens and a scattering of raw chopped garlic. A dry version topped with scrambled eggs, pickled mustard stems and chopped chilies had its own homey, rustic kind of charm. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In both dishes, the rice noodles themselves were the most memorable component: round and white like spaghetti and cooked just shy of soggy, but with a pleasant, chewy bite in the center. They were very, very slurpable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Really, though, everything we ordered was incredibly tasty — the bright and vinegary cucumber salad; the big, fleshy grilled oysters; the fried black stinky tofu, which had a delightfully squishy texture that helped soak up all the juices from the accompanying mala sauce. If there’s any running theme to the menu, it’s that the kitchen uses a metric ton of raw garlic, chopping it up small or into big chunks, tossing it willy-nilly, it feels like, into almost every dish. We loved it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Changsha Rice Noodles is one of those spots where you order via QR code, and the service is brusque and impersonal if not actively unfriendly. But the food itself is \u003cem>full\u003c/em> of soul. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And based on the jam-packed dining room we encountered, it’s clear they’ve struck on a winning combination. Even well past 10 p.m., the restaurant felt every bit as busy and rambunctious as any of the other Asian hangout spots in Cupertino Village. There were families with kids out past their bedtime. Lovey-dovey Gen Z couples doing that cutesy thing you see young couples do in Asia, sitting next to each other on the same side of the table even though they’re only a party of two. As far as we could tell, everyone was Chinese.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Of course, everyone had ordered the duck. And, just like us, they all cleaned their plates.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/changshamifen/\">\u003cem>Changsha Rice Noodles\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Monday to Saturday 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.–midnight, and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30–9 p.m. at 10911 N. Wolfe Rd. Ste. B (in the Cupertino Village shopping plaza).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"id": "here-and-now",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
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},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
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