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"slug": "chiricana-panamanian-food-oakland-bay-area-pop-up",
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"content": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina.jpg\" alt=\"Hands holding a plate of loaded Panamanian patacones (fried green plantains).\" class=\"wp-image-13993947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chiricana chef Dani Solis holds a plate of Panamanian patacones — fried green plantains loaded with oyster mushrooms, olives and peppers. Solis’ pop-up and catering company is one of the Bay Area’s only Panamanian food businesses. (Courtesy of La Cocina)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Let’s get Panamanian food” is a suggestion most Californians aren’t used to hearing. In fact, even the most knowledgeable Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/food\">foodies\u003c/a> may have never even considered Panamanian cuisine as an option at all.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chances are, you don’t know a local spot where you can grab sancocho, Panama’s national dish, which consists of a yam-thickened broth with chicken, yuca, corn and otoe (taro root). And you’ve probably never had the pleasure of eating carimañolas (Panamanian beef patties) or almojábanos (fried corn dough and cheese). Until recently, I hadn’t either.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For all of its culinary charms, the Bay has never had much of any Panamanian food scene to speak of. It’s not just the Bay either. Comida Panameña has rarely expanded beyond its own borders into other parts of the world in a noticeable way, and it doesn’t have the same reputation or ubiquity that other diasporic foods from Latin America have been able to cultivate, particularly within California’s diverse foodscape.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Recognizing that absence, Dani Solis — a San Jose-raised chef and daughter of Panamanian parents — wants to change that. With \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chiri_cana/?hl=en\">Chiricana\u003c/a>, a small pop-up and catering business, she’s putting the Bay onto Panamanian American flavors, one recipe at a time.\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/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling chef preps food inside a commercial kitchen.\" class=\"wp-image-13993951\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Solis preps a dish for La Cocina’s pop-up night market in October 2025. (Courtesy of La Cocina)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m the only one doing this,” says Solis, who was informally trained by her grandmother and mom, who’ve both lived in San Jose together since arriving as immigrants. Chiricana is named after Chiriqui, the region in Panama where Solis’ grandmother was raised.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Though Solis is now based in Emeryville and works two part-time jobs outside of the food industry, she notes the role of her family’s close support network: her relatives often travel back to Panama to find materials and ingredients for Chiricana.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m privileged to have the choice to be able to pursue this. It’s a gift. I’m sharing my heart. I’m sharing all of my family with you,” she says, fresh off \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbZTEwnEsig/?hl=en&img_index=1\">vending Panamanian chicken wings at Outside Lands\u003c/a> for the first time this summer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2019 with a degree in Urban Studies and a minor in Food Systems, Solis worked at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Then, everything flipped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Solis went from preserving foodways and supporting foodmakers to becoming one herself.\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/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a spread of Panamanian dishes, including corn cheese fritters, rice and beans, and a beet salad. \" class=\"wp-image-13993953\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A spread of dishes for an Open Test Kitchen pop-up in 2025. Pictured dishes include almojábanos (corn cheese fritters), arroz con guandú with beet salad, and sancocho de pollo. (Courtesy of Chiricana)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2022, Solis began incubating Chiricana at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963726/oakland-bloom-open-test-kitchen-incubator-restaurant-understory\">Oakland Bloom\u003c/a>’s test kitchen. Her vision was manifold: to honor the legacy of her family’s migratory journey, and to expose a greater Bay Area audience to Panama’s multicultural history and the slept-on goodness of its food. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So what exactly is Panamanian food — and more importantly, what defines it when exported outside of its Central American context?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Begin with a basket of crispy, fat-rendered pork chicharrón, mixed with thick wedges of yuca frita. “It’s comfort food,” Solis says. “There’s a big ‘fritura’ culture in Panama. Any Central American kid will tell you they ate this growing up. Fry it, put on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the grease, and then put it on the table for whoever gets first dibs.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s accompanied with a side of creamy, mustard-yellow Panamanian salsa made from ají chombo, a relative of the habanero chile. The salsa is a centerpiece in Panamanian food, and might surprise unsuspecting eaters: It delivers enough bite to hint at oncoming pain, even if it never quite crosses the threshold of unbearability. I was personally surprised and delighted as someone who has traveled extensively in Latin America, where, save for in Mexico, it can get tricky to find a fiery meal. The ají chombo — which is native to the Caribbean islands and reached Panama in the 1850s, when workers immigrated to Panama to build railroads and, eventually, the Panama Canal — offers a different, more heat-intensive perspective on Central American gastronomy. Like Panama’s overlooked culinary history itself, the pepper packs a bigger punch than expected.\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/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal.jpg\" alt=\"A wooden platter with a tamal, rice and beans, and a mustard-yellow salsa.\" class=\"wp-image-13993956\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Panamanian tamal plate with ají chombo salsa on the side. (Alan Chazaro)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To stave off ají chombo’s pepperiness and wash down the richness of the fried yuca and chicharrón, Solis provides a housemade chicha de limón con raspadura, or Panamanian lemonade. Served in a large totuma (a dried, hollowed-out calabash), the bright, citrusy beverage recalls a tropical getaway with just enough sweetness and zest without overdoing it. Made from Rangpur limes and raspadura (unrefined brown sugar made from evaporated sugarcane juice), it contains a floral, malty complexity that you won’t get from your neighborhood lemonade stand.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The main dish, when I visited Solis at her shared-use commercial kitchen at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11988111/la-cocina-reopens-as-commercial-kitchen-in-the-tenderloin-after-food-hall-closure\">La Cocina on Hyde Street\u003c/a>, was a showstopper: a Panamanian tamal, wrapped in banana and bijao leaves, and served with a side of arroz con guandú (pigeon peas) sauteed in coconut milk. It’s all paired with a fruity, herbaceous salad lightly dressed in a ginger hibiscus vinaigrette inspired by the lush Boquete region of Panama. D’Boca — Panama’s national ají chombo hot sauce — is also provided, to be used at your discretion.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In and of itself, the Panamanian tamal is impressive — a “mesoamerican protein bar,” Solis jokes. Weighty and firm yet jiggly and yielding, it’s larger than your standard tamal. The tamal Panameño is juicy, a result of a stewing of the ingredients to make a bone-in chicken broth from scratch. Afterwards, the broth is mixed in with the maíz pilado masa, adding a marrow-rich flavor to the dough. Inside, it’s overloaded with culantro (a staple in Panamanian cuisine), onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, chicken, olives and — a Solis family specialty — plums. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Recipes change with immigration. My grandma told me about how the recipe changed for her over time based on whatever ingredients were available,” says Solis. “When she came to the U.S., my grandma found plums and swapped them in for [the traditional] raisins.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“As much as I want to bring Panamanian ingredients, it’s important to also bring my whole self through California produce and recipes that aren’t always super Panamanian in their preparation,” she adds. “But the essence has a Panamanian flair.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The tamal is a delicacy, a labor of love that can take all day to prepare and craft; it’s generally reserved for special occasions and holidays. At Chiricana, it allows Solis to reshape her lineage in the kitchen, across borders and across time, as an edible vessel for identity and cultural preservation that requires — in her own words — a “spiritual approach.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Solis, the approach has deep connections to her own family history. When she was an undergrad at UC Berkeley, she worked for the \u003ca href=\"https://food.berkeley.edu/\">Berkeley Food Institute\u003c/a> and was inspired by \u003ca href=\"https://viacampesina.org/en/\">La Vía Campesina\u003c/a>, a global grassroots movement of indigenous farm workers. Her own grandmother grew up living off the Panamanian land; Solis documented her grandma’s story as part of an oral history project titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.gemsoralhistories.com/settingthetable/dani\">Setting the Table\u003c/a>,” in which foodmakers spoke with elders about diasporic recipes. \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/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance.jpg\" alt=\"Square of flan drizzled with caramel and topped with crumbled cheese.\" class=\"wp-image-13993962\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Flan de nance — an original Chiricana creation. (Alan Chazaro)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Luckily, for Bay Area diners, Solis is just getting started. She’s currently toying with a Panamanian flan infused with nance — a yellow, pungent fruit that somewhat resembles a cherry — that is topped with crumbled queso fresco and drizzled with a raspadura crème caramel. The original invention is her interpretive ode to pesada de nance, a traditional Panamanian porridge her grandmother used to make. Solis herself was never crazy about nance, but now she’s translating it — by turning good memories into even better ones — for a Bay Area palate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If I don’t learn these things, then others won’t be able to learn these [Panamanian] foodways and traditions,” says Solis. “Ingredients like guandú and corn from Panama can be difficult to find, but it’s my mission to seek them out as much as I can to make Chircana as authentic as I can.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chiricana.com/\">\u003cem>Chiricana Cocina Panameña\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> will be at KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/kqed/events/the-edible-atlas-a-global-street-eats-festival-192748\">\u003cem>Edible Atlas\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> global street food festival on Saturday, Sept. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. at Bloc15 (252 2nd St., Oakland). Entrance to the outdoor block party is free; tickets for the indoor market (where Chiricana will be vending) start at $45. Chiricana also does \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chiricana.com/catering\">\u003cem>catering\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> with custom menus.\u003c/em>\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/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina.jpg\" alt=\"Hands holding a plate of loaded Panamanian patacones (fried green plantains).\" class=\"wp-image-13993947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chiricana chef Dani Solis holds a plate of Panamanian patacones — fried green plantains loaded with oyster mushrooms, olives and peppers. Solis’ pop-up and catering company is one of the Bay Area’s only Panamanian food businesses.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of La Cocina)\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/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina.jpg\" alt=\"Hands holding a plate of loaded Panamanian patacones (fried green plantains).\" class=\"wp-image-13993947\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chiricana chef Dani Solis holds a plate of Panamanian patacones — fried green plantains loaded with oyster mushrooms, olives and peppers. Solis’ pop-up and catering company is one of the Bay Area’s only Panamanian food businesses.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of La Cocina)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Let’s get Panamanian food” is a suggestion most Californians aren’t used to hearing. In fact, even the most knowledgeable Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/food\">foodies\u003c/a> may have never even considered Panamanian cuisine as an option at all.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Let’s get Panamanian food” is a suggestion most Californians aren’t used to hearing. In fact, even the most knowledgeable Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/food\">foodies\u003c/a> may have never even considered Panamanian cuisine as an option at all.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Chances are, you don’t know a local spot where you can grab sancocho, Panama’s national dish, which consists of a yam-thickened broth with chicken, yuca, corn and otoe (taro root). And you’ve probably never had the pleasure of eating carimañolas (Panamanian beef patties) or almojábanos (fried corn dough and cheese). Until recently, I hadn’t either.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Chances are, you don’t know a local spot where you can grab sancocho, Panama’s national dish, which consists of a yam-thickened broth with chicken, yuca, corn and otoe (taro root). And you’ve probably never had the pleasure of eating carimañolas (Panamanian beef patties) or almojábanos (fried corn dough and cheese). Until recently, I hadn’t either.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For all of its culinary charms, the Bay has never had much of any Panamanian food scene to speak of. It’s not just the Bay either. Comida Panameña has rarely expanded beyond its own borders into other parts of the world in a noticeable way, and it doesn’t have the same reputation or ubiquity that other diasporic foods from Latin America have been able to cultivate, particularly within California’s diverse foodscape.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For all of its culinary charms, the Bay has never had much of any Panamanian food scene to speak of. It’s not just the Bay either. Comida Panameña has rarely expanded beyond its own borders into other parts of the world in a noticeable way, and it doesn’t have the same reputation or ubiquity that other diasporic foods from Latin America have been able to cultivate, particularly within California’s diverse foodscape.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Recognizing that absence, Dani Solis — a San Jose-raised chef and daughter of Panamanian parents — wants to change that. With \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chiri_cana/?hl=en\">Chiricana\u003c/a>, a small pop-up and catering business, she’s putting the Bay onto Panamanian American flavors, one recipe at a time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Recognizing that absence, Dani Solis — a San Jose-raised chef and daughter of Panamanian parents — wants to change that. With \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chiri_cana/?hl=en\">Chiricana\u003c/a>, a small pop-up and catering business, she’s putting the Bay onto Panamanian American flavors, one recipe at a time.\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/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling chef preps food inside a commercial kitchen.\" class=\"wp-image-13993951\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Solis preps a dish for La Cocina’s pop-up night market in October 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of La Cocina)\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/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling chef preps food inside a commercial kitchen.\" class=\"wp-image-13993951\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Solis preps a dish for La Cocina’s pop-up night market in October 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of La Cocina)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m the only one doing this,” says Solis, who was informally trained by her grandmother and mom, who’ve both lived in San Jose together since arriving as immigrants. Chiricana is named after Chiriqui, the region in Panama where Solis’ grandmother was raised.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I’m the only one doing this,” says Solis, who was informally trained by her grandmother and mom, who’ve both lived in San Jose together since arriving as immigrants. Chiricana is named after Chiriqui, the region in Panama where Solis’ grandmother was raised.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Though Solis is now based in Emeryville and works two part-time jobs outside of the food industry, she notes the role of her family’s close support network: her relatives often travel back to Panama to find materials and ingredients for Chiricana.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Though Solis is now based in Emeryville and works two part-time jobs outside of the food industry, she notes the role of her family’s close support network: her relatives often travel back to Panama to find materials and ingredients for Chiricana.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m privileged to have the choice to be able to pursue this. It’s a gift. I’m sharing my heart. I’m sharing all of my family with you,” she says, fresh off \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbZTEwnEsig/?hl=en&img_index=1\">vending Panamanian chicken wings at Outside Lands\u003c/a> for the first time this summer.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I’m privileged to have the choice to be able to pursue this. It’s a gift. I’m sharing my heart. I’m sharing all of my family with you,” she says, fresh off \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbZTEwnEsig/?hl=en&img_index=1\">vending Panamanian chicken wings at Outside Lands\u003c/a> for the first time this summer.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2019 with a degree in Urban Studies and a minor in Food Systems, Solis worked at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Then, everything flipped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Solis went from preserving foodways and supporting foodmakers to becoming one herself.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2019 with a degree in Urban Studies and a minor in Food Systems, Solis worked at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Then, everything flipped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Solis went from preserving foodways and supporting foodmakers to becoming one herself.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-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/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a spread of Panamanian dishes, including corn cheese fritters, rice and beans, and a beet salad. \" class=\"wp-image-13993953\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A spread of dishes for an Open Test Kitchen pop-up in 2025. Pictured dishes include almojábanos (corn cheese fritters), arroz con guandú with beet salad, and sancocho de pollo.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Chiricana)\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/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a spread of Panamanian dishes, including corn cheese fritters, rice and beans, and a beet salad. \" class=\"wp-image-13993953\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A spread of dishes for an Open Test Kitchen pop-up in 2025. Pictured dishes include almojábanos (corn cheese fritters), arroz con guandú with beet salad, and sancocho de pollo.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Chiricana)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2022, Solis began incubating Chiricana at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963726/oakland-bloom-open-test-kitchen-incubator-restaurant-understory\">Oakland Bloom\u003c/a>’s test kitchen. Her vision was manifold: to honor the legacy of her family’s migratory journey, and to expose a greater Bay Area audience to Panama’s multicultural history and the slept-on goodness of its food. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2022, Solis began incubating Chiricana at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963726/oakland-bloom-open-test-kitchen-incubator-restaurant-understory\">Oakland Bloom\u003c/a>’s test kitchen. Her vision was manifold: to honor the legacy of her family’s migratory journey, and to expose a greater Bay Area audience to Panama’s multicultural history and the slept-on goodness of its food. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>So what exactly is Panamanian food — and more importantly, what defines it when exported outside of its Central American context?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>So what exactly is Panamanian food — and more importantly, what defines it when exported outside of its Central American context?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Begin with a basket of crispy, fat-rendered pork chicharrón, mixed with thick wedges of yuca frita. “It’s comfort food,” Solis says. “There’s a big ‘fritura’ culture in Panama. Any Central American kid will tell you they ate this growing up. Fry it, put on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the grease, and then put it on the table for whoever gets first dibs.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Begin with a basket of crispy, fat-rendered pork chicharrón, mixed with thick wedges of yuca frita. “It’s comfort food,” Solis says. “There’s a big ‘fritura’ culture in Panama. Any Central American kid will tell you they ate this growing up. Fry it, put on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the grease, and then put it on the table for whoever gets first dibs.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s accompanied with a side of creamy, mustard-yellow Panamanian salsa made from ají chombo, a relative of the habanero chile. The salsa is a centerpiece in Panamanian food, and might surprise unsuspecting eaters: It delivers enough bite to hint at oncoming pain, even if it never quite crosses the threshold of unbearability. I was personally surprised and delighted as someone who has traveled extensively in Latin America, where, save for in Mexico, it can get tricky to find a fiery meal. The ají chombo — which is native to the Caribbean islands and reached Panama in the 1850s, when workers immigrated to Panama to build railroads and, eventually, the Panama Canal — offers a different, more heat-intensive perspective on Central American gastronomy. Like Panama’s overlooked culinary history itself, the pepper packs a bigger punch than expected.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It’s accompanied with a side of creamy, mustard-yellow Panamanian salsa made from ají chombo, a relative of the habanero chile. The salsa is a centerpiece in Panamanian food, and might surprise unsuspecting eaters: It delivers enough bite to hint at oncoming pain, even if it never quite crosses the threshold of unbearability. I was personally surprised and delighted as someone who has traveled extensively in Latin America, where, save for in Mexico, it can get tricky to find a fiery meal. The ají chombo — which is native to the Caribbean islands and reached Panama in the 1850s, when workers immigrated to Panama to build railroads and, eventually, the Panama Canal — offers a different, more heat-intensive perspective on Central American gastronomy. Like Panama’s overlooked culinary history itself, the pepper packs a bigger punch than expected.\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/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal.jpg\" alt=\"A wooden platter with a tamal, rice and beans, and a mustard-yellow salsa.\" class=\"wp-image-13993956\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Panamanian tamal plate with ají chombo salsa on the side.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Alan Chazaro)\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/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal.jpg\" alt=\"A wooden platter with a tamal, rice and beans, and a mustard-yellow salsa.\" class=\"wp-image-13993956\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Panamanian tamal plate with ají chombo salsa on the side.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>To stave off ají chombo’s pepperiness and wash down the richness of the fried yuca and chicharrón, Solis provides a housemade chicha de limón con raspadura, or Panamanian lemonade. Served in a large totuma (a dried, hollowed-out calabash), the bright, citrusy beverage recalls a tropical getaway with just enough sweetness and zest without overdoing it. Made from Rangpur limes and raspadura (unrefined brown sugar made from evaporated sugarcane juice), it contains a floral, malty complexity that you won’t get from your neighborhood lemonade stand.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>To stave off ají chombo’s pepperiness and wash down the richness of the fried yuca and chicharrón, Solis provides a housemade chicha de limón con raspadura, or Panamanian lemonade. Served in a large totuma (a dried, hollowed-out calabash), the bright, citrusy beverage recalls a tropical getaway with just enough sweetness and zest without overdoing it. Made from Rangpur limes and raspadura (unrefined brown sugar made from evaporated sugarcane juice), it contains a floral, malty complexity that you won’t get from your neighborhood lemonade stand.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The main dish, when I visited Solis at her shared-use commercial kitchen at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11988111/la-cocina-reopens-as-commercial-kitchen-in-the-tenderloin-after-food-hall-closure\">La Cocina on Hyde Street\u003c/a>, was a showstopper: a Panamanian tamal, wrapped in banana and bijao leaves, and served with a side of arroz con guandú (pigeon peas) sauteed in coconut milk. It’s all paired with a fruity, herbaceous salad lightly dressed in a ginger hibiscus vinaigrette inspired by the lush Boquete region of Panama. D’Boca — Panama’s national ají chombo hot sauce — is also provided, to be used at your discretion.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The main dish, when I visited Solis at her shared-use commercial kitchen at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11988111/la-cocina-reopens-as-commercial-kitchen-in-the-tenderloin-after-food-hall-closure\">La Cocina on Hyde Street\u003c/a>, was a showstopper: a Panamanian tamal, wrapped in banana and bijao leaves, and served with a side of arroz con guandú (pigeon peas) sauteed in coconut milk. It’s all paired with a fruity, herbaceous salad lightly dressed in a ginger hibiscus vinaigrette inspired by the lush Boquete region of Panama. D’Boca — Panama’s national ají chombo hot sauce — is also provided, to be used at your discretion.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In and of itself, the Panamanian tamal is impressive — a “mesoamerican protein bar,” Solis jokes. Weighty and firm yet jiggly and yielding, it’s larger than your standard tamal. The tamal Panameño is juicy, a result of a stewing of the ingredients to make a bone-in chicken broth from scratch. Afterwards, the broth is mixed in with the maíz pilado masa, adding a marrow-rich flavor to the dough. Inside, it’s overloaded with culantro (a staple in Panamanian cuisine), onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, chicken, olives and — a Solis family specialty — plums. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In and of itself, the Panamanian tamal is impressive — a “mesoamerican protein bar,” Solis jokes. Weighty and firm yet jiggly and yielding, it’s larger than your standard tamal. The tamal Panameño is juicy, a result of a stewing of the ingredients to make a bone-in chicken broth from scratch. Afterwards, the broth is mixed in with the maíz pilado masa, adding a marrow-rich flavor to the dough. Inside, it’s overloaded with culantro (a staple in Panamanian cuisine), onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, chicken, olives and — a Solis family specialty — plums. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Recipes change with immigration. My grandma told me about how the recipe changed for her over time based on whatever ingredients were available,” says Solis. “When she came to the U.S., my grandma found plums and swapped them in for [the traditional] raisins.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Recipes change with immigration. My grandma told me about how the recipe changed for her over time based on whatever ingredients were available,” says Solis. “When she came to the U.S., my grandma found plums and swapped them in for [the traditional] raisins.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“As much as I want to bring Panamanian ingredients, it’s important to also bring my whole self through California produce and recipes that aren’t always super Panamanian in their preparation,” she adds. “But the essence has a Panamanian flair.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“As much as I want to bring Panamanian ingredients, it’s important to also bring my whole self through California produce and recipes that aren’t always super Panamanian in their preparation,” she adds. “But the essence has a Panamanian flair.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The tamal is a delicacy, a labor of love that can take all day to prepare and craft; it’s generally reserved for special occasions and holidays. At Chiricana, it allows Solis to reshape her lineage in the kitchen, across borders and across time, as an edible vessel for identity and cultural preservation that requires — in her own words — a “spiritual approach.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The tamal is a delicacy, a labor of love that can take all day to prepare and craft; it’s generally reserved for special occasions and holidays. At Chiricana, it allows Solis to reshape her lineage in the kitchen, across borders and across time, as an edible vessel for identity and cultural preservation that requires — in her own words — a “spiritual approach.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For Solis, the approach has deep connections to her own family history. When she was an undergrad at UC Berkeley, she worked for the \u003ca href=\"https://food.berkeley.edu/\">Berkeley Food Institute\u003c/a> and was inspired by \u003ca href=\"https://viacampesina.org/en/\">La Vía Campesina\u003c/a>, a global grassroots movement of indigenous farm workers. Her own grandmother grew up living off the Panamanian land; Solis documented her grandma’s story as part of an oral history project titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.gemsoralhistories.com/settingthetable/dani\">Setting the Table\u003c/a>,” in which foodmakers spoke with elders about diasporic recipes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For Solis, the approach has deep connections to her own family history. When she was an undergrad at UC Berkeley, she worked for the \u003ca href=\"https://food.berkeley.edu/\">Berkeley Food Institute\u003c/a> and was inspired by \u003ca href=\"https://viacampesina.org/en/\">La Vía Campesina\u003c/a>, a global grassroots movement of indigenous farm workers. Her own grandmother grew up living off the Panamanian land; Solis documented her grandma’s story as part of an oral history project titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.gemsoralhistories.com/settingthetable/dani\">Setting the Table\u003c/a>,” in which foodmakers spoke with elders about diasporic recipes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Luckily, for Bay Area diners, Solis is just getting started. She’s currently toying with a Panamanian flan infused with nance — a yellow, pungent fruit that somewhat resembles a cherry — that is topped with crumbled queso fresco and drizzled with a raspadura crème caramel. The original invention is her interpretive ode to pesada de nance, a traditional Panamanian porridge her grandmother used to make. Solis herself was never crazy about nance, but now she’s translating it — by turning good memories into even better ones — for a Bay Area palate.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Luckily, for Bay Area diners, Solis is just getting started. She’s currently toying with a Panamanian flan infused with nance — a yellow, pungent fruit that somewhat resembles a cherry — that is topped with crumbled queso fresco and drizzled with a raspadura crème caramel. The original invention is her interpretive ode to pesada de nance, a traditional Panamanian porridge her grandmother used to make. Solis herself was never crazy about nance, but now she’s translating it — by turning good memories into even better ones — for a Bay Area palate.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If I don’t learn these things, then others won’t be able to learn these [Panamanian] foodways and traditions,” says Solis. “Ingredients like guandú and corn from Panama can be difficult to find, but it’s my mission to seek them out as much as I can to make Chircana as authentic as I can.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“If I don’t learn these things, then others won’t be able to learn these [Panamanian] foodways and traditions,” says Solis. “Ingredients like guandú and corn from Panama can be difficult to find, but it’s my mission to seek them out as much as I can to make Chircana as authentic as I can.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chiricana.com/\">\u003cem>Chiricana Cocina Panameña\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> will be at KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/kqed/events/the-edible-atlas-a-global-street-eats-festival-192748\">\u003cem>Edible Atlas\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> global street food festival on Saturday, Sept. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. at Bloc15 (252 2nd St., Oakland). Entrance to the outdoor block party is free; tickets for the indoor market (where Chiricana will be vending) start at $45. Chiricana also does \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chiricana.com/catering\">\u003cem>catering\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> with custom menus.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chiricana.com/\">\u003cem>Chiricana Cocina Panameña\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> will be at KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/kqed/events/the-edible-atlas-a-global-street-eats-festival-192748\">\u003cem>Edible Atlas\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> global street food festival on Saturday, Sept. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. at Bloc15 (252 2nd St., Oakland). Entrance to the outdoor block party is free; tickets for the indoor market (where Chiricana will be vending) start at $45. Chiricana also does \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chiricana.com/catering\">\u003cem>catering\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> with custom menus.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Chiricana serves hard-to-find dishes from Panama with a California twist.",
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"title": "Chiricana Is the Bay Area’s Tastiest Panamanian Pop-Up | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina.jpg\" alt=\"Hands holding a plate of loaded Panamanian patacones (fried green plantains).\" class=\"wp-image-13993947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Chiricana-Patacon-Relleno_La-Cocina-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chiricana chef Dani Solis holds a plate of Panamanian patacones — fried green plantains loaded with oyster mushrooms, olives and peppers. Solis’ pop-up and catering company is one of the Bay Area’s only Panamanian food businesses. (Courtesy of La Cocina)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Let’s get Panamanian food” is a suggestion most Californians aren’t used to hearing. In fact, even the most knowledgeable Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/food\">foodies\u003c/a> may have never even considered Panamanian cuisine as an option at all.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chances are, you don’t know a local spot where you can grab sancocho, Panama’s national dish, which consists of a yam-thickened broth with chicken, yuca, corn and otoe (taro root). And you’ve probably never had the pleasure of eating carimañolas (Panamanian beef patties) or almojábanos (fried corn dough and cheese). Until recently, I hadn’t either.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For all of its culinary charms, the Bay has never had much of any Panamanian food scene to speak of. It’s not just the Bay either. Comida Panameña has rarely expanded beyond its own borders into other parts of the world in a noticeable way, and it doesn’t have the same reputation or ubiquity that other diasporic foods from Latin America have been able to cultivate, particularly within California’s diverse foodscape.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Recognizing that absence, Dani Solis — a San Jose-raised chef and daughter of Panamanian parents — wants to change that. With \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chiri_cana/?hl=en\">Chiricana\u003c/a>, a small pop-up and catering business, she’s putting the Bay onto Panamanian American flavors, one recipe at a time.\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/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling chef preps food inside a commercial kitchen.\" class=\"wp-image-13993951\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/2025-10-09-Pop-up-Night-Market-Dani-Solis-courtesy-La-Cocina-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Solis preps a dish for La Cocina’s pop-up night market in October 2025. (Courtesy of La Cocina)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m the only one doing this,” says Solis, who was informally trained by her grandmother and mom, who’ve both lived in San Jose together since arriving as immigrants. Chiricana is named after Chiriqui, the region in Panama where Solis’ grandmother was raised.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Though Solis is now based in Emeryville and works two part-time jobs outside of the food industry, she notes the role of her family’s close support network: her relatives often travel back to Panama to find materials and ingredients for Chiricana.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m privileged to have the choice to be able to pursue this. It’s a gift. I’m sharing my heart. I’m sharing all of my family with you,” she says, fresh off \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbZTEwnEsig/?hl=en&img_index=1\">vending Panamanian chicken wings at Outside Lands\u003c/a> for the first time this summer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2019 with a degree in Urban Studies and a minor in Food Systems, Solis worked at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Then, everything flipped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Solis went from preserving foodways and supporting foodmakers to becoming one herself.\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/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a spread of Panamanian dishes, including corn cheese fritters, rice and beans, and a beet salad. \" class=\"wp-image-13993953\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/chiricana-spread-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A spread of dishes for an Open Test Kitchen pop-up in 2025. Pictured dishes include almojábanos (corn cheese fritters), arroz con guandú with beet salad, and sancocho de pollo. (Courtesy of Chiricana)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2022, Solis began incubating Chiricana at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963726/oakland-bloom-open-test-kitchen-incubator-restaurant-understory\">Oakland Bloom\u003c/a>’s test kitchen. Her vision was manifold: to honor the legacy of her family’s migratory journey, and to expose a greater Bay Area audience to Panama’s multicultural history and the slept-on goodness of its food. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So what exactly is Panamanian food — and more importantly, what defines it when exported outside of its Central American context?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Begin with a basket of crispy, fat-rendered pork chicharrón, mixed with thick wedges of yuca frita. “It’s comfort food,” Solis says. “There’s a big ‘fritura’ culture in Panama. Any Central American kid will tell you they ate this growing up. Fry it, put on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the grease, and then put it on the table for whoever gets first dibs.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s accompanied with a side of creamy, mustard-yellow Panamanian salsa made from ají chombo, a relative of the habanero chile. The salsa is a centerpiece in Panamanian food, and might surprise unsuspecting eaters: It delivers enough bite to hint at oncoming pain, even if it never quite crosses the threshold of unbearability. I was personally surprised and delighted as someone who has traveled extensively in Latin America, where, save for in Mexico, it can get tricky to find a fiery meal. The ají chombo — which is native to the Caribbean islands and reached Panama in the 1850s, when workers immigrated to Panama to build railroads and, eventually, the Panama Canal — offers a different, more heat-intensive perspective on Central American gastronomy. Like Panama’s overlooked culinary history itself, the pepper packs a bigger punch than expected.\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/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal.jpg\" alt=\"A wooden platter with a tamal, rice and beans, and a mustard-yellow salsa.\" class=\"wp-image-13993956\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/panamanian-tamal-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Panamanian tamal plate with ají chombo salsa on the side. (Alan Chazaro)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To stave off ají chombo’s pepperiness and wash down the richness of the fried yuca and chicharrón, Solis provides a housemade chicha de limón con raspadura, or Panamanian lemonade. Served in a large totuma (a dried, hollowed-out calabash), the bright, citrusy beverage recalls a tropical getaway with just enough sweetness and zest without overdoing it. Made from Rangpur limes and raspadura (unrefined brown sugar made from evaporated sugarcane juice), it contains a floral, malty complexity that you won’t get from your neighborhood lemonade stand.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The main dish, when I visited Solis at her shared-use commercial kitchen at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11988111/la-cocina-reopens-as-commercial-kitchen-in-the-tenderloin-after-food-hall-closure\">La Cocina on Hyde Street\u003c/a>, was a showstopper: a Panamanian tamal, wrapped in banana and bijao leaves, and served with a side of arroz con guandú (pigeon peas) sauteed in coconut milk. It’s all paired with a fruity, herbaceous salad lightly dressed in a ginger hibiscus vinaigrette inspired by the lush Boquete region of Panama. D’Boca — Panama’s national ají chombo hot sauce — is also provided, to be used at your discretion.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In and of itself, the Panamanian tamal is impressive — a “mesoamerican protein bar,” Solis jokes. Weighty and firm yet jiggly and yielding, it’s larger than your standard tamal. The tamal Panameño is juicy, a result of a stewing of the ingredients to make a bone-in chicken broth from scratch. Afterwards, the broth is mixed in with the maíz pilado masa, adding a marrow-rich flavor to the dough. Inside, it’s overloaded with culantro (a staple in Panamanian cuisine), onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, chicken, olives and — a Solis family specialty — plums. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Recipes change with immigration. My grandma told me about how the recipe changed for her over time based on whatever ingredients were available,” says Solis. “When she came to the U.S., my grandma found plums and swapped them in for [the traditional] raisins.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“As much as I want to bring Panamanian ingredients, it’s important to also bring my whole self through California produce and recipes that aren’t always super Panamanian in their preparation,” she adds. “But the essence has a Panamanian flair.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The tamal is a delicacy, a labor of love that can take all day to prepare and craft; it’s generally reserved for special occasions and holidays. At Chiricana, it allows Solis to reshape her lineage in the kitchen, across borders and across time, as an edible vessel for identity and cultural preservation that requires — in her own words — a “spiritual approach.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Solis, the approach has deep connections to her own family history. When she was an undergrad at UC Berkeley, she worked for the \u003ca href=\"https://food.berkeley.edu/\">Berkeley Food Institute\u003c/a> and was inspired by \u003ca href=\"https://viacampesina.org/en/\">La Vía Campesina\u003c/a>, a global grassroots movement of indigenous farm workers. Her own grandmother grew up living off the Panamanian land; Solis documented her grandma’s story as part of an oral history project titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.gemsoralhistories.com/settingthetable/dani\">Setting the Table\u003c/a>,” in which foodmakers spoke with elders about diasporic recipes. \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/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance.jpg\" alt=\"Square of flan drizzled with caramel and topped with crumbled cheese.\" class=\"wp-image-13993962\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/flan-de-nance-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Flan de nance — an original Chiricana creation. (Alan Chazaro)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Luckily, for Bay Area diners, Solis is just getting started. She’s currently toying with a Panamanian flan infused with nance — a yellow, pungent fruit that somewhat resembles a cherry — that is topped with crumbled queso fresco and drizzled with a raspadura crème caramel. The original invention is her interpretive ode to pesada de nance, a traditional Panamanian porridge her grandmother used to make. Solis herself was never crazy about nance, but now she’s translating it — by turning good memories into even better ones — for a Bay Area palate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If I don’t learn these things, then others won’t be able to learn these [Panamanian] foodways and traditions,” says Solis. “Ingredients like guandú and corn from Panama can be difficult to find, but it’s my mission to seek them out as much as I can to make Chircana as authentic as I can.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chiricana.com/\">\u003cem>Chiricana Cocina Panameña\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> will be at KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/kqed/events/the-edible-atlas-a-global-street-eats-festival-192748\">\u003cem>Edible Atlas\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> global street food festival on Saturday, Sept. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. at Bloc15 (252 2nd St., Oakland). Entrance to the outdoor block party is free; tickets for the indoor market (where Chiricana will be vending) start at $45. Chiricana also does \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chiricana.com/catering\">\u003cem>catering\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> with custom menus.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "rainbow-grocery-tiny-desk-supermarket-concert-series-sf",
"title": "A Beloved SF Grocery Store Brings ‘Tiny Desk’-Style Concerts to the Produce Aisle",
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"content": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-now-crop.jpg\" alt=\"A rock band performs in the produce section of a grocery store. In front, the bass player wears a red velvet suit.\" class=\"wp-image-13993719\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-now-crop.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-now-crop-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-now-crop-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-now-crop-1229x1536.jpg 1229w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The power pop trio Now (from left to right: Oli Lipton, Hannah Forrester and William Smith) performs a song in the produce section at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco. The band’s set was part of “Under the Rainbow,” a new series in which the collective-owned grocery store highlights local Bay Area musicians. (Courtesy of Rainbow Grocery)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The venue for tonight’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/concerts\">concert\u003c/a> is the produce aisle at the local supermarket. The power pop trio \u003ca href=\"https://nowww.bandcamp.com/album/now-does-the-trick\">Now’s\u003c/a> drummer, who’s set his kit up just in front of the onions and the artichokes, taps out a four count with his sticks. Then the mop-haired guitar player breaks into the opening chords of The Clash’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZw23sWlyG0\">Lost in the Supermarket\u003c/a>” — a winking lead-in to the first song of their set. A single shiny apple sits on top of his guitar amp.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Behold the first edition of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcyWTTMSGd9/\">Under the Rainbow\u003c/a>, Rainbow Grocery’s answer to NPR’s popular \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/\">Tiny Desk\u003c/a> concert series. Aldo de la Cruz-Falcon, a member of the collective-owned Mission District staple’s PR team, says the plan is to post these short concert videos — all filmed on site in the market’s produce section — on social media every other week. The idea is to highlight Bay Area indie bands while also showing a different side to your friendly neighborhood grocery store. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://www.instagram.com/reel/DcyWTTMSGd9/\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Something about Rainbow that’s different from other grocers is that we’re part of the community,” de la Cruz-Falcon says. “We’re a co-op; we’re not owned by billionaires. We like to do things for the community.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>De la Cruz-Falcon, who also works in Rainbow’s bulk foods department, says he was first inspired to put the project together after seeing a similar concert series at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fiestafreshmarket/\">Fiesta Fresh Market\u003c/a>, a Latino grocery in Delaware, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZECt3tuvUD/\">go viral\u003c/a> earlier this year. He teamed up with coworkers Britta Leijonflycht (vitamins) and Nico DeEulio (herbs), both avid musicians themselves, to organize the first edition of Under the Rainbow, reaching out to local bands to come to the store for an unconventional recording session. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On a Saturday night in August, four bands showed up ready to rock: the aforementioned \u003ca href=\"https://nowww.bandcamp.com/album/now-does-the-trick\">Now\u003c/a>, the shoegaze-inflected indie pop collective \u003ca href=\"https://aprilmagazine.bandcamp.com/album/double-life-beat\">April Magazine\u003c/a>, gothic cumbia crooner \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/edgarmusicx/\">Edgar\u003c/a> and folk punk singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mistermodee/\">Ryan Modee\u003c/a>. Now’s set is the only video that Rainbow Grocery has posted so far. It will release the others every other Wednesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Under the Rainbow does differ from the Tiny Desk series (which in recent months has featured everyone from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/25/g-s1-126162/shaboozey-tiny-desk-concert\">Shaboozey\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/20/g-s1-136140/weird-al-yankovic-tiny-desk-concert\">“Weird Al” Yankovic\u003c/a>), in a few important ways. Most notably, at least for now, the musicians won’t be playing in front of a live audience, other than a handful of grocery store workers and the other bands in attendance. The logistics of doing a live show inside the supermarket during business hours felt too daunting, de la Cruz-Falcon explains — especially not knowing how unsuspecting customers might respond, and not wanting to make any other workers’ jobs more difficult.\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/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee.jpg\" alt=\"A musician, seated in the produce section of a grocery store, plays the guitar.\" class=\"wp-image-13993723\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Punk folk singer Ryan Modee performs with a pineapple on his guitar amp. (Courtesy of Rainbow Grocery)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For the time being, the project will mostly consist of videos shared on Rainbow Grocery’s YouTube and Instagram accounts. For the first session, the four bands — plus sound engineer Dylan Edrich — arrived at the supermarket shortly after its 9 p.m. closing time. By the time each band finished playing and recording its three-song set, it was around 2 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>William Smith, guitar player and singer for Now, says the idea of performing inside a grocery store was immediately appealing and a natural fit for his band’s DIY aesthetic — they’d done previous shows on highway overpasses and inside vintage clothing stores. (Coincidentally, drummer Oliver Lipton’s father had worked at Rainbow Grocery in the ’80s, so there was a nostalgic personal connection as well.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I love pop art, and I thought, what could be more pop art than having our band play in a grocery store?” Smith explains. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Smith, the whole experience felt like a dream. “It was surreal, like it was such an odd place to be wheeling my amp into,” he says. But everyone was so professional and kind — and the snacks, of course, were second to none. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I ate a really good apple,” he recalls.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For viewers watching the final product on YouTube, the surprising contrast between the vibe of the performance and its homey, lo-fi, out-of-the-studio setting is exactly what makes it so appealing. And the response, already, has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1332\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar.jpg\" alt=\"Two musicians in gray suits performing in the produce section of a grocery store. The man in sunglasses on the left dances energetically. \" class=\"wp-image-13993724\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar.jpg 1332w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar-768x1153.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar-1023x1536.jpg 1023w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1332px) 100vw, 1332px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Edgar (left) dances during his gothic cumbia set. (Courtesy of Rainbow Grocery)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Within a couple of days, more than 3,000 people liked the initial \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcjJ9lVsYGw/\">trailer for the series\u003c/a> that Rainbow Grocery posted; nearly 75,000 viewed the video. (“It’s probably some of the best exposure we’ve gotten,” Smith says.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>De la Cruz-Falcon says one of the other exciting things about the project is that so many of the worker-owners at Rainbow Grocery are talented musicians, many of whom have their own bands. He hopes some of those bands will play at future Under the Rainbow recording sessions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The next one will happen sometime in October, and the store is in the process of putting an application link up on its website. “Everybody’s welcome to submit,” de la Cruz-Falcon says. “We would love to have all kinds of music.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Rainbow Grocery will release new Under the Rainbow videos every other Wednesday morning — full sets on \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/@rainbow-grocery\">\u003cem>YouTube\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and clips on \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcjJ9lVsYGw/\">\u003cem>Instagram\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. The next edition, featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DdEiK8uyqJI/\">April Magazine\u003c/a>, will come out on Sept. 16.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Something about Rainbow that’s different from other grocers is that we’re part of the community,” de la Cruz-Falcon says. “We’re a co-op; we’re not owned by billionaires. We like to do things for the community.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>De la Cruz-Falcon, who also works in Rainbow’s bulk foods department, says he was first inspired to put the project together after seeing a similar concert series at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fiestafreshmarket/\">Fiesta Fresh Market\u003c/a>, a Latino grocery in Delaware, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZECt3tuvUD/\">go viral\u003c/a> earlier this year. He teamed up with coworkers Britta Leijonflycht (vitamins) and Nico DeEulio (herbs), both avid musicians themselves, to organize the first edition of Under the Rainbow, reaching out to local bands to come to the store for an unconventional recording session. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>De la Cruz-Falcon, who also works in Rainbow’s bulk foods department, says he was first inspired to put the project together after seeing a similar concert series at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fiestafreshmarket/\">Fiesta Fresh Market\u003c/a>, a Latino grocery in Delaware, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZECt3tuvUD/\">go viral\u003c/a> earlier this year. He teamed up with coworkers Britta Leijonflycht (vitamins) and Nico DeEulio (herbs), both avid musicians themselves, to organize the first edition of Under the Rainbow, reaching out to local bands to come to the store for an unconventional recording session. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On a Saturday night in August, four bands showed up ready to rock: the aforementioned \u003ca href=\"https://nowww.bandcamp.com/album/now-does-the-trick\">Now\u003c/a>, the shoegaze-inflected indie pop collective \u003ca href=\"https://aprilmagazine.bandcamp.com/album/double-life-beat\">April Magazine\u003c/a>, gothic cumbia crooner \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/edgarmusicx/\">Edgar\u003c/a> and folk punk singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mistermodee/\">Ryan Modee\u003c/a>. Now’s set is the only video that Rainbow Grocery has posted so far. It will release the others every other Wednesday morning.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On a Saturday night in August, four bands showed up ready to rock: the aforementioned \u003ca href=\"https://nowww.bandcamp.com/album/now-does-the-trick\">Now\u003c/a>, the shoegaze-inflected indie pop collective \u003ca href=\"https://aprilmagazine.bandcamp.com/album/double-life-beat\">April Magazine\u003c/a>, gothic cumbia crooner \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/edgarmusicx/\">Edgar\u003c/a> and folk punk singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mistermodee/\">Ryan Modee\u003c/a>. Now’s set is the only video that Rainbow Grocery has posted so far. It will release the others every other Wednesday morning.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Under the Rainbow does differ from the Tiny Desk series (which in recent months has featured everyone from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/25/g-s1-126162/shaboozey-tiny-desk-concert\">Shaboozey\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/20/g-s1-136140/weird-al-yankovic-tiny-desk-concert\">“Weird Al” Yankovic\u003c/a>), in a few important ways. Most notably, at least for now, the musicians won’t be playing in front of a live audience, other than a handful of grocery store workers and the other bands in attendance. The logistics of doing a live show inside the supermarket during business hours felt too daunting, de la Cruz-Falcon explains — especially not knowing how unsuspecting customers might respond, and not wanting to make any other workers’ jobs more difficult.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Under the Rainbow does differ from the Tiny Desk series (which in recent months has featured everyone from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/25/g-s1-126162/shaboozey-tiny-desk-concert\">Shaboozey\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/20/g-s1-136140/weird-al-yankovic-tiny-desk-concert\">“Weird Al” Yankovic\u003c/a>), in a few important ways. Most notably, at least for now, the musicians won’t be playing in front of a live audience, other than a handful of grocery store workers and the other bands in attendance. The logistics of doing a live show inside the supermarket during business hours felt too daunting, de la Cruz-Falcon explains — especially not knowing how unsuspecting customers might respond, and not wanting to make any other workers’ jobs more difficult.\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/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee.jpg\" alt=\"A musician, seated in the produce section of a grocery store, plays the guitar.\" class=\"wp-image-13993723\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Punk folk singer Ryan Modee performs with a pineapple on his guitar amp.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Rainbow Grocery)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For the time being, the project will mostly consist of videos shared on Rainbow Grocery’s YouTube and Instagram accounts. For the first session, the four bands — plus sound engineer Dylan Edrich — arrived at the supermarket shortly after its 9 p.m. closing time. By the time each band finished playing and recording its three-song set, it was around 2 a.m.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For the time being, the project will mostly consist of videos shared on Rainbow Grocery’s YouTube and Instagram accounts. For the first session, the four bands — plus sound engineer Dylan Edrich — arrived at the supermarket shortly after its 9 p.m. closing time. By the time each band finished playing and recording its three-song set, it was around 2 a.m.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>William Smith, guitar player and singer for Now, says the idea of performing inside a grocery store was immediately appealing and a natural fit for his band’s DIY aesthetic — they’d done previous shows on highway overpasses and inside vintage clothing stores. (Coincidentally, drummer Oliver Lipton’s father had worked at Rainbow Grocery in the ’80s, so there was a nostalgic personal connection as well.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>William Smith, guitar player and singer for Now, says the idea of performing inside a grocery store was immediately appealing and a natural fit for his band’s DIY aesthetic — they’d done previous shows on highway overpasses and inside vintage clothing stores. (Coincidentally, drummer Oliver Lipton’s father had worked at Rainbow Grocery in the ’80s, so there was a nostalgic personal connection as well.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I love pop art, and I thought, what could be more pop art than having our band play in a grocery store?” Smith explains. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For Smith, the whole experience felt like a dream. “It was surreal, like it was such an odd place to be wheeling my amp into,” he says. But everyone was so professional and kind — and the snacks, of course, were second to none. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For Smith, the whole experience felt like a dream. “It was surreal, like it was such an odd place to be wheeling my amp into,” he says. But everyone was so professional and kind — and the snacks, of course, were second to none. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I ate a really good apple,” he recalls.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For viewers watching the final product on YouTube, the surprising contrast between the vibe of the performance and its homey, lo-fi, out-of-the-studio setting is exactly what makes it so appealing. And the response, already, has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For viewers watching the final product on YouTube, the surprising contrast between the vibe of the performance and its homey, lo-fi, out-of-the-studio setting is exactly what makes it so appealing. And the response, already, has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.\u003c/p>\n"
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"alt": "Two musicians in gray suits performing in the produce section of a grocery store. The man in sunglasses on the left dances energetically. ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar.jpg\" alt=\"Two musicians in gray suits performing in the produce section of a grocery store. The man in sunglasses on the left dances energetically. \" class=\"wp-image-13993724\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar.jpg 1332w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar-768x1153.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar-1023x1536.jpg 1023w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Edgar (left) dances during his gothic cumbia set.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Rainbow Grocery)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Within a couple of days, more than 3,000 people liked the initial \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcjJ9lVsYGw/\">trailer for the series\u003c/a> that Rainbow Grocery posted; nearly 75,000 viewed the video. (“It’s probably some of the best exposure we’ve gotten,” Smith says.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The next one will happen sometime in October, and the store is in the process of putting an application link up on its website. “Everybody’s welcome to submit,” de la Cruz-Falcon says. “We would love to have all kinds of music.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Rainbow Grocery will release new Under the Rainbow videos every other Wednesday morning — full sets on \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/@rainbow-grocery\">\u003cem>YouTube\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and clips on \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcjJ9lVsYGw/\">\u003cem>Instagram\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. The next edition, featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DdEiK8uyqJI/\">April Magazine\u003c/a>, will come out on Sept. 16.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Rainbow Grocery will release new Under the Rainbow videos every other Wednesday morning — full sets on \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/@rainbow-grocery\">\u003cem>YouTube\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and clips on \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcjJ9lVsYGw/\">\u003cem>Instagram\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. The next edition, featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DdEiK8uyqJI/\">April Magazine\u003c/a>, will come out on Sept. 16.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"title": "Rainbow Grocery Brings ‘Tiny Desk’-Style Concerts to the Produce Aisle | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-now-crop.jpg\" alt=\"A rock band performs in the produce section of a grocery store. In front, the bass player wears a red velvet suit.\" class=\"wp-image-13993719\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-now-crop.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-now-crop-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-now-crop-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-now-crop-1229x1536.jpg 1229w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The power pop trio Now (from left to right: Oli Lipton, Hannah Forrester and William Smith) performs a song in the produce section at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco. The band’s set was part of “Under the Rainbow,” a new series in which the collective-owned grocery store highlights local Bay Area musicians. (Courtesy of Rainbow Grocery)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The venue for tonight’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/concerts\">concert\u003c/a> is the produce aisle at the local supermarket. The power pop trio \u003ca href=\"https://nowww.bandcamp.com/album/now-does-the-trick\">Now’s\u003c/a> drummer, who’s set his kit up just in front of the onions and the artichokes, taps out a four count with his sticks. Then the mop-haired guitar player breaks into the opening chords of The Clash’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZw23sWlyG0\">Lost in the Supermarket\u003c/a>” — a winking lead-in to the first song of their set. A single shiny apple sits on top of his guitar amp.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Behold the first edition of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcyWTTMSGd9/\">Under the Rainbow\u003c/a>, Rainbow Grocery’s answer to NPR’s popular \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/\">Tiny Desk\u003c/a> concert series. Aldo de la Cruz-Falcon, a member of the collective-owned Mission District staple’s PR team, says the plan is to post these short concert videos — all filmed on site in the market’s produce section — on social media every other week. The idea is to highlight Bay Area indie bands while also showing a different side to your friendly neighborhood grocery store. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Something about Rainbow that’s different from other grocers is that we’re part of the community,” de la Cruz-Falcon says. “We’re a co-op; we’re not owned by billionaires. We like to do things for the community.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>De la Cruz-Falcon, who also works in Rainbow’s bulk foods department, says he was first inspired to put the project together after seeing a similar concert series at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fiestafreshmarket/\">Fiesta Fresh Market\u003c/a>, a Latino grocery in Delaware, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZECt3tuvUD/\">go viral\u003c/a> earlier this year. He teamed up with coworkers Britta Leijonflycht (vitamins) and Nico DeEulio (herbs), both avid musicians themselves, to organize the first edition of Under the Rainbow, reaching out to local bands to come to the store for an unconventional recording session. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On a Saturday night in August, four bands showed up ready to rock: the aforementioned \u003ca href=\"https://nowww.bandcamp.com/album/now-does-the-trick\">Now\u003c/a>, the shoegaze-inflected indie pop collective \u003ca href=\"https://aprilmagazine.bandcamp.com/album/double-life-beat\">April Magazine\u003c/a>, gothic cumbia crooner \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/edgarmusicx/\">Edgar\u003c/a> and folk punk singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mistermodee/\">Ryan Modee\u003c/a>. Now’s set is the only video that Rainbow Grocery has posted so far. It will release the others every other Wednesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Under the Rainbow does differ from the Tiny Desk series (which in recent months has featured everyone from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/25/g-s1-126162/shaboozey-tiny-desk-concert\">Shaboozey\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/20/g-s1-136140/weird-al-yankovic-tiny-desk-concert\">“Weird Al” Yankovic\u003c/a>), in a few important ways. Most notably, at least for now, the musicians won’t be playing in front of a live audience, other than a handful of grocery store workers and the other bands in attendance. The logistics of doing a live show inside the supermarket during business hours felt too daunting, de la Cruz-Falcon explains — especially not knowing how unsuspecting customers might respond, and not wanting to make any other workers’ jobs more difficult.\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/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee.jpg\" alt=\"A musician, seated in the produce section of a grocery store, plays the guitar.\" class=\"wp-image-13993723\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-ryan-modee-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Punk folk singer Ryan Modee performs with a pineapple on his guitar amp. (Courtesy of Rainbow Grocery)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For the time being, the project will mostly consist of videos shared on Rainbow Grocery’s YouTube and Instagram accounts. For the first session, the four bands — plus sound engineer Dylan Edrich — arrived at the supermarket shortly after its 9 p.m. closing time. By the time each band finished playing and recording its three-song set, it was around 2 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>William Smith, guitar player and singer for Now, says the idea of performing inside a grocery store was immediately appealing and a natural fit for his band’s DIY aesthetic — they’d done previous shows on highway overpasses and inside vintage clothing stores. (Coincidentally, drummer Oliver Lipton’s father had worked at Rainbow Grocery in the ’80s, so there was a nostalgic personal connection as well.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I love pop art, and I thought, what could be more pop art than having our band play in a grocery store?” Smith explains. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Smith, the whole experience felt like a dream. “It was surreal, like it was such an odd place to be wheeling my amp into,” he says. But everyone was so professional and kind — and the snacks, of course, were second to none. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I ate a really good apple,” he recalls.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For viewers watching the final product on YouTube, the surprising contrast between the vibe of the performance and its homey, lo-fi, out-of-the-studio setting is exactly what makes it so appealing. And the response, already, has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1332\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar.jpg\" alt=\"Two musicians in gray suits performing in the produce section of a grocery store. The man in sunglasses on the left dances energetically. \" class=\"wp-image-13993724\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar.jpg 1332w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar-768x1153.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/rainbow-grocery-edgar-1023x1536.jpg 1023w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1332px) 100vw, 1332px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Edgar (left) dances during his gothic cumbia set. (Courtesy of Rainbow Grocery)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Within a couple of days, more than 3,000 people liked the initial \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcjJ9lVsYGw/\">trailer for the series\u003c/a> that Rainbow Grocery posted; nearly 75,000 viewed the video. (“It’s probably some of the best exposure we’ve gotten,” Smith says.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>De la Cruz-Falcon says one of the other exciting things about the project is that so many of the worker-owners at Rainbow Grocery are talented musicians, many of whom have their own bands. He hopes some of those bands will play at future Under the Rainbow recording sessions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The next one will happen sometime in October, and the store is in the process of putting an application link up on its website. “Everybody’s welcome to submit,” de la Cruz-Falcon says. “We would love to have all kinds of music.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Rainbow Grocery will release new Under the Rainbow videos every other Wednesday morning — full sets on \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/@rainbow-grocery\">\u003cem>YouTube\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and clips on \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DcjJ9lVsYGw/\">\u003cem>Instagram\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. The next edition, featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DdEiK8uyqJI/\">April Magazine\u003c/a>, will come out on Sept. 16.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "a-new-san-jose-pop-up-makes-the-most-unique-bagels-in-the-bay",
"title": "A New San José Pop-Up Makes the Most Unique Bagels in the Bay",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>A decent bagel is hard to find in the South Bay. A great one? Nearly impossible. I knew I was in for something special when a line formed in front of the Wonn Bagels pop-up inside a coffee shop in South San José before it had even opened. Customers gazed longingly at the display case filled mostly with non-traditional bagels, some speckled with blueberries or topped with jalapeño slices. Later, after purchasing their bagels, they slathered them with chili crisp cream cheese.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a benchmark, I ordered a plain bagel. The shiny surface was rugged and bubbly with a firm crust. The inside was dense yet fluffy and had just the right amount of chewiness; the flavor was subtly tangy and sweet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bagel was great — and not just by San Jose standards.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tech workers Vivian Kim and Tony Nguyen started The Wonn Bagels as a weekend project this past May, popping up once a month at the San José Japantown Farmers Market. Kim is the head baker; Nguyen is in charge of business operations. The inspiration for the business came when Kim developed an affinity for breadmaking during the pandemic. Although she never cared much for bagels, she was intrigued by the boiling and shaping process. The first time she made her own bagels, she was surprised by how much she enjoyed them. The homemade bagels came out moist and springy, unlike the tough, dry specimens she’d grown up eating. \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/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right.jpg\" alt=\"Asian man and woman pose for a portrait in front of a display of bagels.\" class=\"wp-image-13993650\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tony Nguyen (left) and Vivian Kim started their bagel pop-up as a weekend project in May of 2026. They now sell their bagels twice a month at farmers markets and coffee shops in the South Bay. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bagel recipe Kim settled on after years of tinkering is an amalgamation of several regional styles. “I started exploring different bagels like New York style, Montreal style and Japanese style,” says Kim. “I brought a little bit of everything and came up with my own.” The New York influence appears in the addition of malt (to achieve the ideal texture) and slow-proofing (which helps yield a nutty flavor Kim compares to Korean scorched rice). From Montreal, she borrowed the technique of boiling the bagels in honey water to improve the crust. And like the new vanguard of bagel shops that are now popular in Japan, she uses flour with a lower percentage of protein to create a crumb that’s more tender and moist than the typical New York bagel.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kim says the hardest part of the process is the 20-hour wait for the bagels to finish proofing before they can actually taste how the final product turned out. Right now, the couple produces around 75 bagels for each event. There’s also ongoing R&D for seasonal specials like their corn bagel. Their next project is introducing dessert bagels to the menu.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For now, The Wonn Bagels is one of the Bay Area’s only Asian American–owned bagel businesses. That said, Kim says that even though she’s Korean American, she’s cautious about forcing Korean fusion into her bagels. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Maybe down the line I’ll find the right Korean flavor profile that genuinely clicks,” she says. “But it will never be about labeling them ‘Korean bagels.’” \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/2/2026/09/Cross-section.jpg\" alt=\"Cross section of a bagel, with bits of corn, jalapeño and cheddar cheese visible.\" class=\"wp-image-13993653\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The jalapeño corn cheese bagel is indicative of the pop-up’s creative, seasonal approach. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Instead, Kim describes her bagels as West Coast inspired, reflective of the region’s diverse food scene. Her favorite creation so far is a sweet double blueberry bagel, which she developed after eating too many other blueberry pastries that lacked a potent fruit flavor. The first layer of blueberry comes from mixing blueberry comp0te into the dough. The second involves meticulously incorporating pieces of fresh blueberry — by hand to avoid crushing the berries, which maintain some of their juiciness.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Many of the pop-up’s housemade cream cheese spreads, on the other hand, do draw inspiration from Asian ingredients — a “chili crunch” cream cheese and another that incorporates Japanese yuzu kosho chili paste. Kim also has a fondness for sweet bagel spreads, with flavors like strawberry compote, mango coconut and sweet corn. On the other hand, Nguyen’s go-to order is savory: an everything bagel loaded with bacon-scallion cream cheese.\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/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels.jpg\" alt=\"A display of plain and everything bagels.\" class=\"wp-image-13993652\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Plain and everything bagels for sale at The Wonn Bagels’ August pop-up at Spectra Coffee in San José. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the pop-up I visited at Spectra Coffee, customers could also order a box of standard bagel toppings like smoked lox, capers, cornichons, tomato and onion. I ordered the box so that I could build a sandwich with my jalapeño corn cheddar bagel and yuzu kosho cream cheese. The shell of the bagel made an audible crunch when I bit in, and the jalapeño bagel itself was chewy, light and spicier than I expected. The yuzu cream cheese provided a tart, fragrant contrast to the salmon’s richness. It was a delicious bagel sandwich.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kim and Nguyen have sold out at every event they have booked in the last few months. They currently host two pop-ups per month, alternating between cafes and farmers markets. As farmers market season wraps up, they’re searching for other locations so that they can host more frequent pop-ups. Someday, they might even open a proper brick-and-mortar bagel shop.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Long-term we want to switch our careers to focus on [The Wonn Bagels],” Nguyen says. “Not sure when that will be, but that’s our goal.” \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/the.wonn.bagels/\">\u003cem>The Wonn Bagels\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> pops up around the South Bay. The next pop-ups are at San José’s Japantown Farmer’s Market (357 E. Taylor St.) on Sep. 13 and Spectra Coffee (5353 Almaden Expy #52) on Sep. 27. Check the pop-up’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/the.wonn.bagels\">\u003cem>Instagram page\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> for the most up-to-date schedule.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A decent bagel is hard to find in the South Bay. A great one? Nearly impossible. I knew I was in for something special when a line formed in front of the Wonn Bagels pop-up inside a coffee shop in South San José before it had even opened. Customers gazed longingly at the display case filled mostly with non-traditional bagels, some speckled with blueberries or topped with jalapeño slices. Later, after purchasing their bagels, they slathered them with chili crisp cream cheese.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A decent bagel is hard to find in the South Bay. A great one? Nearly impossible. I knew I was in for something special when a line formed in front of the Wonn Bagels pop-up inside a coffee shop in South San José before it had even opened. Customers gazed longingly at the display case filled mostly with non-traditional bagels, some speckled with blueberries or topped with jalapeño slices. Later, after purchasing their bagels, they slathered them with chili crisp cream cheese.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As a benchmark, I ordered a plain bagel. The shiny surface was rugged and bubbly with a firm crust. The inside was dense yet fluffy and had just the right amount of chewiness; the flavor was subtly tangy and sweet.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As a benchmark, I ordered a plain bagel. The shiny surface was rugged and bubbly with a firm crust. The inside was dense yet fluffy and had just the right amount of chewiness; the flavor was subtly tangy and sweet.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tech workers Vivian Kim and Tony Nguyen started The Wonn Bagels as a weekend project this past May, popping up once a month at the San José Japantown Farmers Market. Kim is the head baker; Nguyen is in charge of business operations. The inspiration for the business came when Kim developed an affinity for breadmaking during the pandemic. Although she never cared much for bagels, she was intrigued by the boiling and shaping process. The first time she made her own bagels, she was surprised by how much she enjoyed them. The homemade bagels came out moist and springy, unlike the tough, dry specimens she’d grown up eating. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tech workers Vivian Kim and Tony Nguyen started The Wonn Bagels as a weekend project this past May, popping up once a month at the San José Japantown Farmers Market. Kim is the head baker; Nguyen is in charge of business operations. The inspiration for the business came when Kim developed an affinity for breadmaking during the pandemic. Although she never cared much for bagels, she was intrigued by the boiling and shaping process. The first time she made her own bagels, she was surprised by how much she enjoyed them. The homemade bagels came out moist and springy, unlike the tough, dry specimens she’d grown up eating. \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/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right.jpg\" alt=\"Asian man and woman pose for a portrait in front of a display of bagels.\" class=\"wp-image-13993650\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tony Nguyen (left) and Vivian Kim started their bagel pop-up as a weekend project in May of 2026. They now sell their bagels twice a month at farmers markets and coffee shops in the South Bay.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Octavio Peña)\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/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right.jpg\" alt=\"Asian man and woman pose for a portrait in front of a display of bagels.\" class=\"wp-image-13993650\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tony Nguyen (left) and Vivian Kim started their bagel pop-up as a weekend project in May of 2026. They now sell their bagels twice a month at farmers markets and coffee shops in the South Bay.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The bagel recipe Kim settled on after years of tinkering is an amalgamation of several regional styles. “I started exploring different bagels like New York style, Montreal style and Japanese style,” says Kim. “I brought a little bit of everything and came up with my own.” The New York influence appears in the addition of malt (to achieve the ideal texture) and slow-proofing (which helps yield a nutty flavor Kim compares to Korean scorched rice). From Montreal, she borrowed the technique of boiling the bagels in honey water to improve the crust. And like the new vanguard of bagel shops that are now popular in Japan, she uses flour with a lower percentage of protein to create a crumb that’s more tender and moist than the typical New York bagel.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The bagel recipe Kim settled on after years of tinkering is an amalgamation of several regional styles. “I started exploring different bagels like New York style, Montreal style and Japanese style,” says Kim. “I brought a little bit of everything and came up with my own.” The New York influence appears in the addition of malt (to achieve the ideal texture) and slow-proofing (which helps yield a nutty flavor Kim compares to Korean scorched rice). From Montreal, she borrowed the technique of boiling the bagels in honey water to improve the crust. And like the new vanguard of bagel shops that are now popular in Japan, she uses flour with a lower percentage of protein to create a crumb that’s more tender and moist than the typical New York bagel.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Kim says the hardest part of the process is the 20-hour wait for the bagels to finish proofing before they can actually taste how the final product turned out. Right now, the couple produces around 75 bagels for each event. There’s also ongoing R&D for seasonal specials like their corn bagel. Their next project is introducing dessert bagels to the menu.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Kim says the hardest part of the process is the 20-hour wait for the bagels to finish proofing before they can actually taste how the final product turned out. Right now, the couple produces around 75 bagels for each event. There’s also ongoing R&D for seasonal specials like their corn bagel. Their next project is introducing dessert bagels to the menu.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For now, The Wonn Bagels is one of the Bay Area’s only Asian American–owned bagel businesses. That said, Kim says that even though she’s Korean American, she’s cautious about forcing Korean fusion into her bagels. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For now, The Wonn Bagels is one of the Bay Area’s only Asian American–owned bagel businesses. That said, Kim says that even though she’s Korean American, she’s cautious about forcing Korean fusion into her bagels. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Maybe down the line I’ll find the right Korean flavor profile that genuinely clicks,” she says. “But it will never be about labeling them ‘Korean bagels.’” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Maybe down the line I’ll find the right Korean flavor profile that genuinely clicks,” she says. “But it will never be about labeling them ‘Korean bagels.’” \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/2/2026/09/Cross-section.jpg\" alt=\"Cross section of a bagel, with bits of corn, jalapeño and cheddar cheese visible.\" class=\"wp-image-13993653\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section-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 jalapeño corn cheese bagel is indicative of the pop-up’s creative, seasonal approach.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Octavio Peña)\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/2/2026/09/Cross-section.jpg\" alt=\"Cross section of a bagel, with bits of corn, jalapeño and cheddar cheese visible.\" class=\"wp-image-13993653\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The jalapeño corn cheese bagel is indicative of the pop-up’s creative, seasonal approach.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Instead, Kim describes her bagels as West Coast inspired, reflective of the region’s diverse food scene. Her favorite creation so far is a sweet double blueberry bagel, which she developed after eating too many other blueberry pastries that lacked a potent fruit flavor. The first layer of blueberry comes from mixing blueberry comp0te into the dough. The second involves meticulously incorporating pieces of fresh blueberry — by hand to avoid crushing the berries, which maintain some of their juiciness.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Instead, Kim describes her bagels as West Coast inspired, reflective of the region’s diverse food scene. Her favorite creation so far is a sweet double blueberry bagel, which she developed after eating too many other blueberry pastries that lacked a potent fruit flavor. The first layer of blueberry comes from mixing blueberry comp0te into the dough. The second involves meticulously incorporating pieces of fresh blueberry — by hand to avoid crushing the berries, which maintain some of their juiciness.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Many of the pop-up’s housemade cream cheese spreads, on the other hand, do draw inspiration from Asian ingredients — a “chili crunch” cream cheese and another that incorporates Japanese yuzu kosho chili paste. Kim also has a fondness for sweet bagel spreads, with flavors like strawberry compote, mango coconut and sweet corn. On the other hand, Nguyen’s go-to order is savory: an everything bagel loaded with bacon-scallion cream cheese.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Many of the pop-up’s housemade cream cheese spreads, on the other hand, do draw inspiration from Asian ingredients — a “chili crunch” cream cheese and another that incorporates Japanese yuzu kosho chili paste. Kim also has a fondness for sweet bagel spreads, with flavors like strawberry compote, mango coconut and sweet corn. On the other hand, Nguyen’s go-to order is savory: an everything bagel loaded with bacon-scallion cream cheese.\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/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels.jpg\" alt=\"A display of plain and everything bagels.\" class=\"wp-image-13993652\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Plain and everything bagels for sale at The Wonn Bagels’ August pop-up at Spectra Coffee in San José.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the pop-up I visited at Spectra Coffee, customers could also order a box of standard bagel toppings like smoked lox, capers, cornichons, tomato and onion. I ordered the box so that I could build a sandwich with my jalapeño corn cheddar bagel and yuzu kosho cream cheese. The shell of the bagel made an audible crunch when I bit in, and the jalapeño bagel itself was chewy, light and spicier than I expected. The yuzu cream cheese provided a tart, fragrant contrast to the salmon’s richness. It was a delicious bagel sandwich.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At the pop-up I visited at Spectra Coffee, customers could also order a box of standard bagel toppings like smoked lox, capers, cornichons, tomato and onion. I ordered the box so that I could build a sandwich with my jalapeño corn cheddar bagel and yuzu kosho cream cheese. The shell of the bagel made an audible crunch when I bit in, and the jalapeño bagel itself was chewy, light and spicier than I expected. The yuzu cream cheese provided a tart, fragrant contrast to the salmon’s richness. It was a delicious bagel sandwich.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Kim and Nguyen have sold out at every event they have booked in the last few months. They currently host two pop-ups per month, alternating between cafes and farmers markets. As farmers market season wraps up, they’re searching for other locations so that they can host more frequent pop-ups. Someday, they might even open a proper brick-and-mortar bagel shop.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Kim and Nguyen have sold out at every event they have booked in the last few months. They currently host two pop-ups per month, alternating between cafes and farmers markets. As farmers market season wraps up, they’re searching for other locations so that they can host more frequent pop-ups. Someday, they might even open a proper brick-and-mortar bagel shop.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Long-term we want to switch our careers to focus on [The Wonn Bagels],” Nguyen says. “Not sure when that will be, but that’s our goal.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/the.wonn.bagels/\">\u003cem>The Wonn Bagels\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> pops up around the South Bay. The next pop-ups are at San José’s Japantown Farmer’s Market (357 E. Taylor St.) on Sep. 13 and Spectra Coffee (5353 Almaden Expy #52) on Sep. 27. Check the pop-up’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/the.wonn.bagels\">\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>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/the.wonn.bagels/\">\u003cem>The Wonn Bagels\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> pops up around the South Bay. The next pop-ups are at San José’s Japantown Farmer’s Market (357 E. Taylor St.) on Sep. 13 and Spectra Coffee (5353 Almaden Expy #52) on Sep. 27. Check the pop-up’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/the.wonn.bagels\">\u003cem>Instagram page\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> for the most up-to-date schedule.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "The Wonn Bagels is rolling out distinctly West Coast bagels with a dash of Asian American flavor.",
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"title": "A New San José Pop-Up Makes the Most Unique Bagels in the Bay | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>A decent bagel is hard to find in the South Bay. A great one? Nearly impossible. I knew I was in for something special when a line formed in front of the Wonn Bagels pop-up inside a coffee shop in South San José before it had even opened. Customers gazed longingly at the display case filled mostly with non-traditional bagels, some speckled with blueberries or topped with jalapeño slices. Later, after purchasing their bagels, they slathered them with chili crisp cream cheese.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a benchmark, I ordered a plain bagel. The shiny surface was rugged and bubbly with a firm crust. The inside was dense yet fluffy and had just the right amount of chewiness; the flavor was subtly tangy and sweet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bagel was great — and not just by San Jose standards.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tech workers Vivian Kim and Tony Nguyen started The Wonn Bagels as a weekend project this past May, popping up once a month at the San José Japantown Farmers Market. Kim is the head baker; Nguyen is in charge of business operations. The inspiration for the business came when Kim developed an affinity for breadmaking during the pandemic. Although she never cared much for bagels, she was intrigued by the boiling and shaping process. The first time she made her own bagels, she was surprised by how much she enjoyed them. The homemade bagels came out moist and springy, unlike the tough, dry specimens she’d grown up eating. \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/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right.jpg\" alt=\"Asian man and woman pose for a portrait in front of a display of bagels.\" class=\"wp-image-13993650\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Tony-Nguyen-left-and-Vivian-Kim-right-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tony Nguyen (left) and Vivian Kim started their bagel pop-up as a weekend project in May of 2026. They now sell their bagels twice a month at farmers markets and coffee shops in the South Bay. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bagel recipe Kim settled on after years of tinkering is an amalgamation of several regional styles. “I started exploring different bagels like New York style, Montreal style and Japanese style,” says Kim. “I brought a little bit of everything and came up with my own.” The New York influence appears in the addition of malt (to achieve the ideal texture) and slow-proofing (which helps yield a nutty flavor Kim compares to Korean scorched rice). From Montreal, she borrowed the technique of boiling the bagels in honey water to improve the crust. And like the new vanguard of bagel shops that are now popular in Japan, she uses flour with a lower percentage of protein to create a crumb that’s more tender and moist than the typical New York bagel.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kim says the hardest part of the process is the 20-hour wait for the bagels to finish proofing before they can actually taste how the final product turned out. Right now, the couple produces around 75 bagels for each event. There’s also ongoing R&D for seasonal specials like their corn bagel. Their next project is introducing dessert bagels to the menu.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For now, The Wonn Bagels is one of the Bay Area’s only Asian American–owned bagel businesses. That said, Kim says that even though she’s Korean American, she’s cautious about forcing Korean fusion into her bagels. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Maybe down the line I’ll find the right Korean flavor profile that genuinely clicks,” she says. “But it will never be about labeling them ‘Korean bagels.’” \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/2/2026/09/Cross-section.jpg\" alt=\"Cross section of a bagel, with bits of corn, jalapeño and cheddar cheese visible.\" class=\"wp-image-13993653\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Cross-section-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The jalapeño corn cheese bagel is indicative of the pop-up’s creative, seasonal approach. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Instead, Kim describes her bagels as West Coast inspired, reflective of the region’s diverse food scene. Her favorite creation so far is a sweet double blueberry bagel, which she developed after eating too many other blueberry pastries that lacked a potent fruit flavor. The first layer of blueberry comes from mixing blueberry comp0te into the dough. The second involves meticulously incorporating pieces of fresh blueberry — by hand to avoid crushing the berries, which maintain some of their juiciness.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Many of the pop-up’s housemade cream cheese spreads, on the other hand, do draw inspiration from Asian ingredients — a “chili crunch” cream cheese and another that incorporates Japanese yuzu kosho chili paste. Kim also has a fondness for sweet bagel spreads, with flavors like strawberry compote, mango coconut and sweet corn. On the other hand, Nguyen’s go-to order is savory: an everything bagel loaded with bacon-scallion cream cheese.\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/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels.jpg\" alt=\"A display of plain and everything bagels.\" class=\"wp-image-13993652\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Plain-and-everything-bagels-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Plain and everything bagels for sale at The Wonn Bagels’ August pop-up at Spectra Coffee in San José. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the pop-up I visited at Spectra Coffee, customers could also order a box of standard bagel toppings like smoked lox, capers, cornichons, tomato and onion. I ordered the box so that I could build a sandwich with my jalapeño corn cheddar bagel and yuzu kosho cream cheese. The shell of the bagel made an audible crunch when I bit in, and the jalapeño bagel itself was chewy, light and spicier than I expected. The yuzu cream cheese provided a tart, fragrant contrast to the salmon’s richness. It was a delicious bagel sandwich.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kim and Nguyen have sold out at every event they have booked in the last few months. They currently host two pop-ups per month, alternating between cafes and farmers markets. As farmers market season wraps up, they’re searching for other locations so that they can host more frequent pop-ups. Someday, they might even open a proper brick-and-mortar bagel shop.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Long-term we want to switch our careers to focus on [The Wonn Bagels],” Nguyen says. “Not sure when that will be, but that’s our goal.” \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/the.wonn.bagels/\">\u003cem>The Wonn Bagels\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> pops up around the South Bay. The next pop-ups are at San José’s Japantown Farmer’s Market (357 E. Taylor St.) on Sep. 13 and Spectra Coffee (5353 Almaden Expy #52) on Sep. 27. Check the pop-up’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/the.wonn.bagels\">\u003cem>Instagram page\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> for the most up-to-date schedule.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "best-pho-san-jose-torched-kobe-wagyu-duoi-bo-oxtails",
"title": "One of San José’s Best Phở Restaurants Slings Flame-Torched Wagyu Past Midnight",
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"headTitle": "One of San José’s Best Phở Restaurants Slings Flame-Torched Wagyu Past Midnight | KQED",
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"content": "\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/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devouring bowls of pho with a ferocity that verges on being frightening.\" class=\"wp-image-13993627\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">While Phở Đuôi Bò is best known for its blowtorched wagyu beef, the East San José restaurant’s phở itself is worth seeking out in its own right. (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>When we pulled into the strip mall parking lot in Eastside \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> at a little past 9 o’clock on a recent Friday night, the whole plaza had mostly shut down for the night: the beauty salon, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986806/dzui-favorite-durian-dessert-shop-san-jose-banh-pia\">durian dessert shop\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905293/vietnamese-tofu-capital-san-jose\">vegan tofu deli\u003c/a>. The one restaurant still open, a neon-lit beacon in the night, was Phở Đuôi Bò, where about a dozen would-be diners mingled on the curb outside, waiting for a table.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Their goal? To snag one of the city’s most talked-about bowls of phở — and, especially, for its blowtorched wagyu beef, served on top.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both of us had eaten at Đuôi Bò before and liked it enough to return on multiple occasions, families in tow. But the restaurant hit our radar again this summer when it put up a neon “LATE NIGHT EATS” sign and extended its hours past midnight — a rarity in a city whose excellent phở shops mostly close by 8 or 9 p.m. Đuôi Bò, on the other hand, is now open from 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. every day of the week: breakfast, lunch, dinner \u003cem>and \u003c/em>second dinner. The shop’s hours are so long, we got dizzy just imagining the size of their stock pot.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The crowd is largely Vietnamese (with other assorted Asians), but less overwhelmingly so than at many of San José’s other top phở spots. There were at least two or three tables’ worth of diverse, non-Asian twentysomethings who’d waited in line like everyone else — evidence, perhaps, of the restaurant’s recent popularity among the South Bay’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/phoduoibo/reels/\">food influencer class\u003c/a>. A lot of times you can tell how good an Asian restaurant is by its cross-generational appeal. Even at 9 p.m., there seemed to be as many 70-year-old Vietnamese aunties and uncles lining up for a hot bowl of phở as there were big groups of college kids. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When Phở Đuôi Bò first opened in 2024, the restaurant captured the attention of local phở lovers by offering flame-blasted Kobe beef as a topping option, sizzling the well-marbled slices of meat with a mini blowtorch tableside: the very definition of a gimmicky, Insta-viral offering. As it turns out, the torched beef (not really “\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef\">Kobe\u003c/a>,” as it’s listed on the menu, but American wagyu from Snake River Farms) is delicious (more on that in a second). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But beyond the flashy pyrotechnics, the core of the restaurant is a lot more rustic and homey. During our visit, the soundtrack was a mix of smooth jazz and old Vietnamese love ballads. In this age of tacky AI-generated wall art, the handpainted murals that line Đuôi Bò’s dining room depict Vietnamese countryside scenes — a bull rearing up in a grassy plain, a resplendently garnished bowl of phở. Nothing about the place reads as overtly “cool” or trendy. And nothing tastes homier than the phở broth itself. \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/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2.jpg\" alt=\"Storefront of a pho restaurant lit up at night. Illustration: The yellow lettering of the sign overhead reads "Pho Duoi Bo."\" class=\"wp-image-13993629\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The restaurant recently extended its hours, which means its phở is now available until 12;30 a.m. daily. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The name “đuôi bò” means oxtail, so of course we decided to order the deluxe oxtail phở, which comes with all the meats you’d get in a bowl of đặc biệt (“special”) phở, plus a big, meaty tailbone that we happily gnawed clean. Here’s our pro tip, though: The reason the restaurant has that name is because it uses dozens of oxtails to make the broth itself, through hours upon hours of slow simmering. The end result is that those tails wind up rather chewy, and all of the flavor has gone into the broth, which is some of the richest and most flavorful we’ve had in the Bay. It’s loaded with collagen and big, glistening droplets of fat, but also clean and light on the palate. And that’s the same broth you get no matter which phở you order. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For our second bowl, then, we stuck with our usual favorites: raw steak (served on the side so we could poach it in the hot soup at the last minute), the soft tendons, the fatty brisket and bouncy meatballs. We opted for the wider, springier fresh noodles, and doctored up a little dipping sauce for our meats: some fish sauce and Sriracha, a clutch of vinegared onions (available as a $1 side), a squeeze of lime. Đuôi Bò also offers Chinese fried crullers as a side dish. Fresh out of the deep fryer, these make an excellent addition to a bowl of phở; the contrast between their crunchiness and the bit of sogginess they pick up after they’ve bobbed around in the soup for a minute is just sublime.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All of this adds up to something approaching our Platonic ideal for phở, easily ranking as one of our top two or three favorite bowls in the Bay. The fact that we could have it at midnight on a random Tuesday night almost seems too good to be true. And all that before we’ve even really talked about the restaurant’s claim to fame — that flame-torched wagyu. Which is definitely worth getting as a side order to share. (We found it too heavy for one person to finish on their own.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’re a fan of dramatics, as we are, you can ask the staff to torch the meat at the table, but in our experience, these days they usually decline that request and instead wield the flameflower at the back of the dining room, right before bringing the meat to your table. What we love is how the torching gives the fatty meat these wonderfully crisp edges and infuses it with a deep smoky flavor, which adds a new dimension to the phở-slurping experience. You can dump the plate of torched wagyu directly into your soup, but we liked eating it on its own, between sips of broth, dunking the meat in our makeshift vinegar dip to cut into the richness.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The rest of Đuôi Bò’s menu is incredibly spare and basic — just some spring rolls and crispy chicken wings as appetizers. In a sign that they understand their audience, or maybe just the Instagram algorithm, they’ve also started blow-torching marrow bones, which were sold out during our visit. We couldn’t figure out how exactly those were meant to complement the phở — but we were here already, why wouldn’t we give it a try? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>By the time we walked out of the restaurant, full beyond the point of comfort, it was close to 11 p.m., and the line of customers waiting outside showed no sign of diminishing. The crowd had started to skew a little bit younger and more fashionably dressed. But as we watched them staring longingly at the menu posted in the window, there was no mistake about it: They were here to \u003cem>eat\u003c/em>. \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/phoduoibo/\">\u003cem>Phở Đuôi Bò\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open 9 a.m.–12:30 a.m. daily at 2465 Alvin Ave. in San José.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\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>When we pulled into the strip mall parking lot in Eastside \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> at a little past 9 o’clock on a recent Friday night, the whole plaza had mostly shut down for the night: the beauty salon, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986806/dzui-favorite-durian-dessert-shop-san-jose-banh-pia\">durian dessert shop\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905293/vietnamese-tofu-capital-san-jose\">vegan tofu deli\u003c/a>. The one restaurant still open, a neon-lit beacon in the night, was Phở Đuôi Bò, where about a dozen would-be diners mingled on the curb outside, waiting for a table.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When we pulled into the strip mall parking lot in Eastside \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> at a little past 9 o’clock on a recent Friday night, the whole plaza had mostly shut down for the night: the beauty salon, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986806/dzui-favorite-durian-dessert-shop-san-jose-banh-pia\">durian dessert shop\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905293/vietnamese-tofu-capital-san-jose\">vegan tofu deli\u003c/a>. The one restaurant still open, a neon-lit beacon in the night, was Phở Đuôi Bò, where about a dozen would-be diners mingled on the curb outside, waiting for a table.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Their goal? To snag one of the city’s most talked-about bowls of phở — and, especially, for its blowtorched wagyu beef, served on top.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Their goal? To snag one of the city’s most talked-about bowls of phở — and, especially, for its blowtorched wagyu beef, served on top.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Both of us had eaten at Đuôi Bò before and liked it enough to return on multiple occasions, families in tow. But the restaurant hit our radar again this summer when it put up a neon “LATE NIGHT EATS” sign and extended its hours past midnight — a rarity in a city whose excellent phở shops mostly close by 8 or 9 p.m. Đuôi Bò, on the other hand, is now open from 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. every day of the week: breakfast, lunch, dinner \u003cem>and \u003c/em>second dinner. The shop’s hours are so long, we got dizzy just imagining the size of their stock pot.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Both of us had eaten at Đuôi Bò before and liked it enough to return on multiple occasions, families in tow. But the restaurant hit our radar again this summer when it put up a neon “LATE NIGHT EATS” sign and extended its hours past midnight — a rarity in a city whose excellent phở shops mostly close by 8 or 9 p.m. Đuôi Bò, on the other hand, is now open from 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. every day of the week: breakfast, lunch, dinner \u003cem>and \u003c/em>second dinner. The shop’s hours are so long, we got dizzy just imagining the size of their stock pot.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The crowd is largely Vietnamese (with other assorted Asians), but less overwhelmingly so than at many of San José’s other top phở spots. There were at least two or three tables’ worth of diverse, non-Asian twentysomethings who’d waited in line like everyone else — evidence, perhaps, of the restaurant’s recent popularity among the South Bay’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/phoduoibo/reels/\">food influencer class\u003c/a>. A lot of times you can tell how good an Asian restaurant is by its cross-generational appeal. Even at 9 p.m., there seemed to be as many 70-year-old Vietnamese aunties and uncles lining up for a hot bowl of phở as there were big groups of college kids. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The crowd is largely Vietnamese (with other assorted Asians), but less overwhelmingly so than at many of San José’s other top phở spots. There were at least two or three tables’ worth of diverse, non-Asian twentysomethings who’d waited in line like everyone else — evidence, perhaps, of the restaurant’s recent popularity among the South Bay’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/phoduoibo/reels/\">food influencer class\u003c/a>. A lot of times you can tell how good an Asian restaurant is by its cross-generational appeal. Even at 9 p.m., there seemed to be as many 70-year-old Vietnamese aunties and uncles lining up for a hot bowl of phở as there were big groups of college kids. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When Phở Đuôi Bò first opened in 2024, the restaurant captured the attention of local phở lovers by offering flame-blasted Kobe beef as a topping option, sizzling the well-marbled slices of meat with a mini blowtorch tableside: the very definition of a gimmicky, Insta-viral offering. As it turns out, the torched beef (not really “\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef\">Kobe\u003c/a>,” as it’s listed on the menu, but American wagyu from Snake River Farms) is delicious (more on that in a second). \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When Phở Đuôi Bò first opened in 2024, the restaurant captured the attention of local phở lovers by offering flame-blasted Kobe beef as a topping option, sizzling the well-marbled slices of meat with a mini blowtorch tableside: the very definition of a gimmicky, Insta-viral offering. As it turns out, the torched beef (not really “\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef\">Kobe\u003c/a>,” as it’s listed on the menu, but American wagyu from Snake River Farms) is delicious (more on that in a second). \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But beyond the flashy pyrotechnics, the core of the restaurant is a lot more rustic and homey. During our visit, the soundtrack was a mix of smooth jazz and old Vietnamese love ballads. In this age of tacky AI-generated wall art, the handpainted murals that line Đuôi Bò’s dining room depict Vietnamese countryside scenes — a bull rearing up in a grassy plain, a resplendently garnished bowl of phở. Nothing about the place reads as overtly “cool” or trendy. And nothing tastes homier than the phở broth itself. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But beyond the flashy pyrotechnics, the core of the restaurant is a lot more rustic and homey. During our visit, the soundtrack was a mix of smooth jazz and old Vietnamese love ballads. In this age of tacky AI-generated wall art, the handpainted murals that line Đuôi Bò’s dining room depict Vietnamese countryside scenes — a bull rearing up in a grassy plain, a resplendently garnished bowl of phở. Nothing about the place reads as overtly “cool” or trendy. And nothing tastes homier than the phở broth itself. \u003c/p>\n"
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"alt": "Storefront of a pho restaurant lit up at night. Illustration: The yellow lettering of the sign overhead reads \"Pho Duoi Bo.\"",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2.jpg\" alt=\"Storefront of a pho restaurant lit up at night. Illustration: The yellow lettering of the sign overhead reads "Pho Duoi Bo."\" class=\"wp-image-13993629\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-600x600.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 recently extended its hours, which means its phở is now available until 12;30 a.m. daily.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Thien Pham)\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/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2.jpg\" alt=\"Storefront of a pho restaurant lit up at night. Illustration: The yellow lettering of the sign overhead reads "Pho Duoi Bo."\" class=\"wp-image-13993629\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The restaurant recently extended its hours, which means its phở is now available until 12;30 a.m. daily.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The name “đuôi bò” means oxtail, so of course we decided to order the deluxe oxtail phở, which comes with all the meats you’d get in a bowl of đặc biệt (“special”) phở, plus a big, meaty tailbone that we happily gnawed clean. Here’s our pro tip, though: The reason the restaurant has that name is because it uses dozens of oxtails to make the broth itself, through hours upon hours of slow simmering. The end result is that those tails wind up rather chewy, and all of the flavor has gone into the broth, which is some of the richest and most flavorful we’ve had in the Bay. It’s loaded with collagen and big, glistening droplets of fat, but also clean and light on the palate. And that’s the same broth you get no matter which phở you order. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The name “đuôi bò” means oxtail, so of course we decided to order the deluxe oxtail phở, which comes with all the meats you’d get in a bowl of đặc biệt (“special”) phở, plus a big, meaty tailbone that we happily gnawed clean. Here’s our pro tip, though: The reason the restaurant has that name is because it uses dozens of oxtails to make the broth itself, through hours upon hours of slow simmering. The end result is that those tails wind up rather chewy, and all of the flavor has gone into the broth, which is some of the richest and most flavorful we’ve had in the Bay. It’s loaded with collagen and big, glistening droplets of fat, but also clean and light on the palate. And that’s the same broth you get no matter which phở you order. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For our second bowl, then, we stuck with our usual favorites: raw steak (served on the side so we could poach it in the hot soup at the last minute), the soft tendons, the fatty brisket and bouncy meatballs. We opted for the wider, springier fresh noodles, and doctored up a little dipping sauce for our meats: some fish sauce and Sriracha, a clutch of vinegared onions (available as a $1 side), a squeeze of lime. Đuôi Bò also offers Chinese fried crullers as a side dish. Fresh out of the deep fryer, these make an excellent addition to a bowl of phở; the contrast between their crunchiness and the bit of sogginess they pick up after they’ve bobbed around in the soup for a minute is just sublime.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For our second bowl, then, we stuck with our usual favorites: raw steak (served on the side so we could poach it in the hot soup at the last minute), the soft tendons, the fatty brisket and bouncy meatballs. We opted for the wider, springier fresh noodles, and doctored up a little dipping sauce for our meats: some fish sauce and Sriracha, a clutch of vinegared onions (available as a $1 side), a squeeze of lime. Đuôi Bò also offers Chinese fried crullers as a side dish. Fresh out of the deep fryer, these make an excellent addition to a bowl of phở; the contrast between their crunchiness and the bit of sogginess they pick up after they’ve bobbed around in the soup for a minute is just sublime.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>All of this adds up to something approaching our Platonic ideal for phở, easily ranking as one of our top two or three favorite bowls in the Bay. The fact that we could have it at midnight on a random Tuesday night almost seems too good to be true. And all that before we’ve even really talked about the restaurant’s claim to fame — that flame-torched wagyu. Which is definitely worth getting as a side order to share. (We found it too heavy for one person to finish on their own.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>All of this adds up to something approaching our Platonic ideal for phở, easily ranking as one of our top two or three favorite bowls in the Bay. The fact that we could have it at midnight on a random Tuesday night almost seems too good to be true. And all that before we’ve even really talked about the restaurant’s claim to fame — that flame-torched wagyu. Which is definitely worth getting as a side order to share. (We found it too heavy for one person to finish on their own.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you’re a fan of dramatics, as we are, you can ask the staff to torch the meat at the table, but in our experience, these days they usually decline that request and instead wield the flameflower at the back of the dining room, right before bringing the meat to your table. What we love is how the torching gives the fatty meat these wonderfully crisp edges and infuses it with a deep smoky flavor, which adds a new dimension to the phở-slurping experience. You can dump the plate of torched wagyu directly into your soup, but we liked eating it on its own, between sips of broth, dunking the meat in our makeshift vinegar dip to cut into the richness.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If you’re a fan of dramatics, as we are, you can ask the staff to torch the meat at the table, but in our experience, these days they usually decline that request and instead wield the flameflower at the back of the dining room, right before bringing the meat to your table. What we love is how the torching gives the fatty meat these wonderfully crisp edges and infuses it with a deep smoky flavor, which adds a new dimension to the phở-slurping experience. You can dump the plate of torched wagyu directly into your soup, but we liked eating it on its own, between sips of broth, dunking the meat in our makeshift vinegar dip to cut into the richness.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The rest of Đuôi Bò’s menu is incredibly spare and basic — just some spring rolls and crispy chicken wings as appetizers. In a sign that they understand their audience, or maybe just the Instagram algorithm, they’ve also started blow-torching marrow bones, which were sold out during our visit. We couldn’t figure out how exactly those were meant to complement the phở — but we were here already, why wouldn’t we give it a try? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The rest of Đuôi Bò’s menu is incredibly spare and basic — just some spring rolls and crispy chicken wings as appetizers. In a sign that they understand their audience, or maybe just the Instagram algorithm, they’ve also started blow-torching marrow bones, which were sold out during our visit. We couldn’t figure out how exactly those were meant to complement the phở — but we were here already, why wouldn’t we give it a try? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>By the time we walked out of the restaurant, full beyond the point of comfort, it was close to 11 p.m., and the line of customers waiting outside showed no sign of diminishing. The crowd had started to skew a little bit younger and more fashionably dressed. But as we watched them staring longingly at the menu posted in the window, there was no mistake about it: They were here to \u003cem>eat\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>By the time we walked out of the restaurant, full beyond the point of comfort, it was close to 11 p.m., and the line of customers waiting outside showed no sign of diminishing. The crowd had started to skew a little bit younger and more fashionably dressed. But as we watched them staring longingly at the menu posted in the window, there was no mistake about it: They were here to \u003cem>eat\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/phoduoibo/\">\u003cem>Phở Đuôi Bò\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open 9 a.m.–12:30 a.m. daily at 2465 Alvin Ave. in San José.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Come to Phở Đuôi Bò for the flashy pyrotechnics. Stay for the soul-nourishing broth.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\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/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devouring bowls of pho with a ferocity that verges on being frightening.\" class=\"wp-image-13993627\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">While Phở Đuôi Bò is best known for its blowtorched wagyu beef, the East San José restaurant’s phở itself is worth seeking out in its own right. (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>When we pulled into the strip mall parking lot in Eastside \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> at a little past 9 o’clock on a recent Friday night, the whole plaza had mostly shut down for the night: the beauty salon, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986806/dzui-favorite-durian-dessert-shop-san-jose-banh-pia\">durian dessert shop\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905293/vietnamese-tofu-capital-san-jose\">vegan tofu deli\u003c/a>. The one restaurant still open, a neon-lit beacon in the night, was Phở Đuôi Bò, where about a dozen would-be diners mingled on the curb outside, waiting for a table.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Their goal? To snag one of the city’s most talked-about bowls of phở — and, especially, for its blowtorched wagyu beef, served on top.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both of us had eaten at Đuôi Bò before and liked it enough to return on multiple occasions, families in tow. But the restaurant hit our radar again this summer when it put up a neon “LATE NIGHT EATS” sign and extended its hours past midnight — a rarity in a city whose excellent phở shops mostly close by 8 or 9 p.m. Đuôi Bò, on the other hand, is now open from 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. every day of the week: breakfast, lunch, dinner \u003cem>and \u003c/em>second dinner. The shop’s hours are so long, we got dizzy just imagining the size of their stock pot.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The crowd is largely Vietnamese (with other assorted Asians), but less overwhelmingly so than at many of San José’s other top phở spots. There were at least two or three tables’ worth of diverse, non-Asian twentysomethings who’d waited in line like everyone else — evidence, perhaps, of the restaurant’s recent popularity among the South Bay’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/phoduoibo/reels/\">food influencer class\u003c/a>. A lot of times you can tell how good an Asian restaurant is by its cross-generational appeal. Even at 9 p.m., there seemed to be as many 70-year-old Vietnamese aunties and uncles lining up for a hot bowl of phở as there were big groups of college kids. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When Phở Đuôi Bò first opened in 2024, the restaurant captured the attention of local phở lovers by offering flame-blasted Kobe beef as a topping option, sizzling the well-marbled slices of meat with a mini blowtorch tableside: the very definition of a gimmicky, Insta-viral offering. As it turns out, the torched beef (not really “\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef\">Kobe\u003c/a>,” as it’s listed on the menu, but American wagyu from Snake River Farms) is delicious (more on that in a second). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But beyond the flashy pyrotechnics, the core of the restaurant is a lot more rustic and homey. During our visit, the soundtrack was a mix of smooth jazz and old Vietnamese love ballads. In this age of tacky AI-generated wall art, the handpainted murals that line Đuôi Bò’s dining room depict Vietnamese countryside scenes — a bull rearing up in a grassy plain, a resplendently garnished bowl of phở. Nothing about the place reads as overtly “cool” or trendy. And nothing tastes homier than the phở broth itself. \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/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2.jpg\" alt=\"Storefront of a pho restaurant lit up at night. Illustration: The yellow lettering of the sign overhead reads "Pho Duoi Bo."\" class=\"wp-image-13993629\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/PhoDuoiBo2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The restaurant recently extended its hours, which means its phở is now available until 12;30 a.m. daily. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The name “đuôi bò” means oxtail, so of course we decided to order the deluxe oxtail phở, which comes with all the meats you’d get in a bowl of đặc biệt (“special”) phở, plus a big, meaty tailbone that we happily gnawed clean. Here’s our pro tip, though: The reason the restaurant has that name is because it uses dozens of oxtails to make the broth itself, through hours upon hours of slow simmering. The end result is that those tails wind up rather chewy, and all of the flavor has gone into the broth, which is some of the richest and most flavorful we’ve had in the Bay. It’s loaded with collagen and big, glistening droplets of fat, but also clean and light on the palate. And that’s the same broth you get no matter which phở you order. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For our second bowl, then, we stuck with our usual favorites: raw steak (served on the side so we could poach it in the hot soup at the last minute), the soft tendons, the fatty brisket and bouncy meatballs. We opted for the wider, springier fresh noodles, and doctored up a little dipping sauce for our meats: some fish sauce and Sriracha, a clutch of vinegared onions (available as a $1 side), a squeeze of lime. Đuôi Bò also offers Chinese fried crullers as a side dish. Fresh out of the deep fryer, these make an excellent addition to a bowl of phở; the contrast between their crunchiness and the bit of sogginess they pick up after they’ve bobbed around in the soup for a minute is just sublime.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All of this adds up to something approaching our Platonic ideal for phở, easily ranking as one of our top two or three favorite bowls in the Bay. The fact that we could have it at midnight on a random Tuesday night almost seems too good to be true. And all that before we’ve even really talked about the restaurant’s claim to fame — that flame-torched wagyu. Which is definitely worth getting as a side order to share. (We found it too heavy for one person to finish on their own.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’re a fan of dramatics, as we are, you can ask the staff to torch the meat at the table, but in our experience, these days they usually decline that request and instead wield the flameflower at the back of the dining room, right before bringing the meat to your table. What we love is how the torching gives the fatty meat these wonderfully crisp edges and infuses it with a deep smoky flavor, which adds a new dimension to the phở-slurping experience. You can dump the plate of torched wagyu directly into your soup, but we liked eating it on its own, between sips of broth, dunking the meat in our makeshift vinegar dip to cut into the richness.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The rest of Đuôi Bò’s menu is incredibly spare and basic — just some spring rolls and crispy chicken wings as appetizers. In a sign that they understand their audience, or maybe just the Instagram algorithm, they’ve also started blow-torching marrow bones, which were sold out during our visit. We couldn’t figure out how exactly those were meant to complement the phở — but we were here already, why wouldn’t we give it a try? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>By the time we walked out of the restaurant, full beyond the point of comfort, it was close to 11 p.m., and the line of customers waiting outside showed no sign of diminishing. The crowd had started to skew a little bit younger and more fashionably dressed. But as we watched them staring longingly at the menu posted in the window, there was no mistake about it: They were here to \u003cem>eat\u003c/em>. \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/phoduoibo/\">\u003cem>Phở Đuôi Bò\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open 9 a.m.–12:30 a.m. daily at 2465 Alvin Ave. in San José.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "best-matcha-bay-area-oakland-berkeley-sf-san-jose",
"title": "11 Vibrant Bay Area Matcha Cafes to Keep You Well Caffeinated",
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"headTitle": "11 Vibrant Bay Area Matcha Cafes to Keep You Well Caffeinated | 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>These days, every young person in the Bay Area seems to be walking around with some variation of the same green drink: matcha. Traditionally made by whisking finely ground green tea leaves with hot water, the beverage has been used for ceremonial practices in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/japanese-food\">Japan\u003c/a> for thousands of years. Over the past decade, however, the vibrant drink has taken America by storm. The United States now imports \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd2PpIvUKwo\">over 2,000 tons\u003c/a> of matcha per year, turning the tea powder into drinks, ice cream treats and even skin care products. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Here in the Bay, it feels like a new matcha cafe or matcha-forward coffee shop opens almost every day. Each place offers its own take on the drink, whether it be a latte with your choice of milk, an obsessively sweet concoction of cookie butters and banana puddings, or a simple americano.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Matcha, like life, is all about balance. I spent the past several weeks trying many of the Bay Area’s hundreds of matcha cafes. Here are some of my favorites. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>EAST BAY: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\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/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Hand holding a cup of iced coffee topped with a layer of pale green matcha cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993215\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The matcha americano with cream top at Yume Mori on August 21, 2026, in Berkeley. (Miles Cull/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/yumemori.matcha/\">Yume Mori \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2319 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jazz plays inside this minimalist cafe located in a line of popular matcha cafes near UC Berkeley. The spot is hard to miss because there is always a crowd of people waiting outside — tweens holding mom’s spot in line while she searches for a parking space.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yume Mori is one of the few shops where customers get to choose a specific regional variety of matcha for your drink, each one boasting a different flavor profile. The cafe also serves matcha soft serve, matcha crepes and house specialties like clear matcha (made with coconut water and topped with matcha cream) and genmaicha lattes (made with green tea blended with roasted rice). The matcha here has a vibrant color and taste, but if you don’t care for those intense nutty and astringent flavors, there are also sweeter options like tiramisu, yuzu miso and cold brew options. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mindcoffee.ca/\">Mind Coffee\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1816 Euclid Ave., Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Away from the traffic of the busier parts of Berkeley sits Mind Coffee, a popular study spot for students on the north side of campus. Mind has a large selection of coffee, teas and pastries, and the matcha drinks, in particular, are some of the most creative in the Bay. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Einspänners are especially popular here. These froth-topped drinks, named after a type of horse-drawn carriage, originated in Vienna, Austria. But they’d been a fixture in Korean dramas for years by the time they made their way to the States. Einspänners are traditionally a coffee drink, but Mind features less common versions like an Earl Grey matcha Einspänner latte (which tastes a bit like a sweet, syrupy bowl of cereal) and an iced matcha sakura Einspänner with pink milk, which transports you into a forest of cherry blossom trees.\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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Matcha latte and strawberry matcha latte on a sun-dappled wooden table.\" class=\"wp-image-13993222\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A matcha latte and strawberry matcha latte from Kitsch Coffee in Oakland on Aug. 20, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kitschcoffeeoakland/\">Kitsch Coffee\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>590 2nd St., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kitsch Coffee shares space with a vintage furniture and home goods store in Jack London Square. The big open space is always full with people working behind laptops, chatting with friends or sifting through racks of vintage clothes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kitsch is a coffee shop, but the place takes matcha seriously. Matcha here is bright green and can be amped up with housemade syrups with flavors like ginger and lavender. The carrot cake matcha even comes with a cream cheese foam to mimic the frosting on a slice of cake. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fortheloveofmatchacafe/\">For the Love of Matcha\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Grand Lake Farmers Market (Grand Avenue and Lake Park Avenue, Oakland)\u003cbr>Temescal Farmers Market (5300 Claremont Ave., Oakland)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This weekly pop-up at the Grand Lake and Temescal farmers markets closes once it sells out, so it’s best to arrive early. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The menu rotates based on the season. For summer, they have sweet corn, fig, vanilla and the forever favorite strawberry matcha latte. The farmers market stand is popular, so oftentimes you’ll find many of the flavors crossed out in permanent marker. The Matchacano is my go-to drink, but you can always up the flavor with their seasonal syrups and cream tops. \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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Hand holding matcha soft serve ice cream on a sugar cone.\" class=\"wp-image-13993225\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A customer holds a matcha-and-vanilla swirl soft serve ice cream cone from Urban Matcha in Castro Valley on Aug. 20, 2026 (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/urbanmatcha.castrovalley/\">Urban Matcha \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3311 Castro Valley Blvd., Castro Valley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A hidden gem in suburban Castro Valley, Urban Matcha provides a matcha oasis in a somewhat unlikely part of the Bay. At 7 p.m. on a recent Tuesday evening, the cafe was full of chatty teens, people finding a calm place to get work done and families ending their night with their favorite sweet treats. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Part of a chain that extends from California to Las Vegas, the cafe is especially notable for its matcha-flavored desserts. This is the kind of place where every other customer walks out with their hands full of matcha parfaits loaded with agar jelly, corn flakes, matcha gelato, red bean paste, mochi balls and a big scoop of matcha soft serve. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>SAN FRANCISCO: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/constance.tea/\">Constance Tea\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3512 Balboa St., San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Located on Balboa Street, in the Outer Richmond, Constance Tea is the only place in San Francisco where tea leaves are stone-milled into matcha in house. This new shop isn’t the place to find the drinks that satisfy your sweet tooth. Instead, Constance focuses on the basics: a small selection of hōjicha (roasted green tea), Einspänners and traditional matcha drinks made with matcha sourced from various regions in Japan, showcasing different flavor profiles. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During a recent visit, my matcha americano was a vivid green, perfectly balanced between earthiness and a nutty aftertaste, with a cream top that provided just the right amount of milkiness to complement the grassy taste of the tea. \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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two customers side by side holding creamy matcha drinks.\" class=\"wp-image-13993221\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Customers hold their matcha drinks at Ceré Tea on Valencia Street in San Francisco on Aug. 20, 2026. The tea shop specializes in matcha and hōjicha drinks. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cereteaxyz/\">Ceré Tea \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1186 Valencia St., San Francisco (and other locations)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This popular matcha spot in the Mission, with locations throughout the Bay Area, has all the makings for a viral cafe, with its full-body selfie mirror and minimalist design. The menu puts matcha and hōjicha at the forefront, featuring drinks infused with yuzu, ube, guava and more. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The matcha leans toward the brighter and more bitter side, but you can always sweeten the deal with a banana or crème brûlée cream top. Trendy offerings like Einspänners and cheese cream toppings are also available. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/matchacafemaiko/\">Matcha Café Maiko \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1581 Webster St., San Francisco (and other locations)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This wildly popular Honolulu-based chain has become a Bay Area mall staple. It’s a quick, convenient and portable way to take your matcha to go. Big chains often don’t maintain their quality, but Maiko is always consistent, offering a convenient option to grab your matcha on the go. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Perfect for a matcha beginner, the shop is known for its wide variety of matcha desserts:soft serves, shaved ices, parfaits, frappes and floats. The matcha here strikes just the right balance of sweetness and rich matcha flavor, providing the best caffeine boost after a day at the mall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>SOUTH BAY AND PENINSULA: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\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/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A matcha drink with white swirls of crème brûlée–flavored cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993424\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The crème brûlée matcha swirl at Izumi Matcha in San Mateo on Aug. 27, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/izumi.matcha/\">Izumi Matcha \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>180 E. 3rd Ave. Unit 100A, San Mateo\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>With three locations in the Peninsula and South Bay, Izumi is one of the only cafes in the US that \u003ca href=\"https://izumimatcha.com/premium-matcha-powder/\">sources its matcha from Marukyu Koyamaen\u003c/a>, a highly regarded producer in Uji, Japan. Inside, the walls are lined with tins of the Marukyu matcha powder, along with tea kettles, matcha serving bowls and matcha whisks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The broad menu of teas and desserts really highlight the quality of the matcha itself. The matcha latte options include trendy flavors like a crème brûlée swirl that adds an element of creaminess as a counterpoint to the bright matcha flavor. In addition to the drinks, the shop also offers a diverse selection of matcha- and tea-flavored ice creams — everything from ube to “intense matcha.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/aroma.cct/\">Aroma\u003c/a> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3005 Silver Creek Rd. Ste. 150, San José\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This East San José tea, coffee and chè shop sells a wide variety of Vietnamese-inspired coffee and tea drinks. Matcha is the powerhouse of the menu, available in 10 different flavors, many of them featuring Southeast Asian ingredients like pandan, guava, banana cream and mango sticky rice. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The matcha at Aroma is strong, but not overpoweringly bitter. The quality of the tea shines through even when paired with thick, sweet, syrupy banana, mango and yuzu puddings.\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/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A matcha parfait in a sundae glass, layered with fresh strawberries and ice cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993421\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Another view of the matcha strawberry parfait at Matsu Matcha. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/matsumatcha.usa/\">Matsu Matcha\u003c/a> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3030 El Camino Real, Santa Clara\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp> A calm oasis located inside a busy shopping plaza in Santa Clara, Matsu serves bright green matcha in many different formats. The cafe’s extensive menu offers matcha gelato (available in five levels of increasing intensity, plus a seasonal flavor), matcha floats, matcha flights and much more. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The matcha flights are a good option for customers who have trouble deciding. They feature a triple dose of matcha, a matcha latte with matcha cream on top, a seasonal matcha (guava during my recent visit) and a matcha float (available in flavors like grape and dark chocolate). \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",
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"\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>These days, every young person in the Bay Area seems to be walking around with some variation of the same green drink: matcha. Traditionally made by whisking finely ground green tea leaves with hot water, the beverage has been used for ceremonial practices in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/japanese-food\">Japan\u003c/a> for thousands of years. Over the past decade, however, the vibrant drink has taken America by storm. The United States now imports \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd2PpIvUKwo\">over 2,000 tons\u003c/a> of matcha per year, turning the tea powder into drinks, ice cream treats and even skin care products. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>These days, every young person in the Bay Area seems to be walking around with some variation of the same green drink: matcha. Traditionally made by whisking finely ground green tea leaves with hot water, the beverage has been used for ceremonial practices in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/japanese-food\">Japan\u003c/a> for thousands of years. Over the past decade, however, the vibrant drink has taken America by storm. The United States now imports \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd2PpIvUKwo\">over 2,000 tons\u003c/a> of matcha per year, turning the tea powder into drinks, ice cream treats and even skin care products. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Here in the Bay, it feels like a new matcha cafe or matcha-forward coffee shop opens almost every day. Each place offers its own take on the drink, whether it be a latte with your choice of milk, an obsessively sweet concoction of cookie butters and banana puddings, or a simple americano.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Here in the Bay, it feels like a new matcha cafe or matcha-forward coffee shop opens almost every day. Each place offers its own take on the drink, whether it be a latte with your choice of milk, an obsessively sweet concoction of cookie butters and banana puddings, or a simple americano.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Matcha, like life, is all about balance. I spent the past several weeks trying many of the Bay Area’s hundreds of matcha cafes. Here are some of my favorites. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Matcha, like life, is all about balance. I spent the past several weeks trying many of the Bay Area’s hundreds of matcha cafes. Here are some of my favorites. \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "EAST BAY: ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>EAST BAY: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>EAST BAY: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"alt": "Hand holding a cup of iced coffee topped with a layer of pale green matcha cream.",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-1536x1025.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/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Hand holding a cup of iced coffee topped with a layer of pale green matcha cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993215\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The matcha americano with cream top at Yume Mori on August 21, 2026, in Berkeley.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Miles Cull/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/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Hand holding a cup of iced coffee topped with a layer of pale green matcha cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993215\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The matcha americano with cream top at Yume Mori on August 21, 2026, in Berkeley.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Miles Cull/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"text": "Yume Mori ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/yumemori.matcha/\">Yume Mori \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/yumemori.matcha/\">Yume Mori \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2319 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2319 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jazz plays inside this minimalist cafe located in a line of popular matcha cafes near UC Berkeley. The spot is hard to miss because there is always a crowd of people waiting outside — tweens holding mom’s spot in line while she searches for a parking space.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Jazz plays inside this minimalist cafe located in a line of popular matcha cafes near UC Berkeley. The spot is hard to miss because there is always a crowd of people waiting outside — tweens holding mom’s spot in line while she searches for a parking space.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yume Mori is one of the few shops where customers get to choose a specific regional variety of matcha for your drink, each one boasting a different flavor profile. The cafe also serves matcha soft serve, matcha crepes and house specialties like clear matcha (made with coconut water and topped with matcha cream) and genmaicha lattes (made with green tea blended with roasted rice). The matcha here has a vibrant color and taste, but if you don’t care for those intense nutty and astringent flavors, there are also sweeter options like tiramisu, yuzu miso and cold brew options. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Yume Mori is one of the few shops where customers get to choose a specific regional variety of matcha for your drink, each one boasting a different flavor profile. The cafe also serves matcha soft serve, matcha crepes and house specialties like clear matcha (made with coconut water and topped with matcha cream) and genmaicha lattes (made with green tea blended with roasted rice). The matcha here has a vibrant color and taste, but if you don’t care for those intense nutty and astringent flavors, there are also sweeter options like tiramisu, yuzu miso and cold brew options. \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Mind Coffee",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mindcoffee.ca/\">Mind Coffee\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mindcoffee.ca/\">Mind Coffee\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1816 Euclid Ave., Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1816 Euclid Ave., Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Away from the traffic of the busier parts of Berkeley sits Mind Coffee, a popular study spot for students on the north side of campus. Mind has a large selection of coffee, teas and pastries, and the matcha drinks, in particular, are some of the most creative in the Bay. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Away from the traffic of the busier parts of Berkeley sits Mind Coffee, a popular study spot for students on the north side of campus. Mind has a large selection of coffee, teas and pastries, and the matcha drinks, in particular, are some of the most creative in the Bay. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Einspänners are especially popular here. These froth-topped drinks, named after a type of horse-drawn carriage, originated in Vienna, Austria. But they’d been a fixture in Korean dramas for years by the time they made their way to the States. Einspänners are traditionally a coffee drink, but Mind features less common versions like an Earl Grey matcha Einspänner latte (which tastes a bit like a sweet, syrupy bowl of cereal) and an iced matcha sakura Einspänner with pink milk, which transports you into a forest of cherry blossom trees.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The Einspänners are especially popular here. These froth-topped drinks, named after a type of horse-drawn carriage, originated in Vienna, Austria. But they’d been a fixture in Korean dramas for years by the time they made their way to the States. Einspänners are traditionally a coffee drink, but Mind features less common versions like an Earl Grey matcha Einspänner latte (which tastes a bit like a sweet, syrupy bowl of cereal) and an iced matcha sakura Einspänner with pink milk, which transports you into a forest of cherry blossom trees.\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
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"alt": "Matcha latte and strawberry matcha latte on a sun-dappled wooden table.",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Matcha latte and strawberry matcha latte on a sun-dappled wooden table.\" class=\"wp-image-13993222\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A matcha latte and strawberry matcha latte from Kitsch Coffee in Oakland on Aug. 20, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Matcha latte and strawberry matcha latte on a sun-dappled wooden table.\" class=\"wp-image-13993222\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A matcha latte and strawberry matcha latte from Kitsch Coffee in Oakland on Aug. 20, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kitschcoffeeoakland/\">Kitsch Coffee\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kitschcoffeeoakland/\">Kitsch Coffee\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>590 2nd St., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>590 2nd St., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Kitsch Coffee shares space with a vintage furniture and home goods store in Jack London Square. The big open space is always full with people working behind laptops, chatting with friends or sifting through racks of vintage clothes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Kitsch Coffee shares space with a vintage furniture and home goods store in Jack London Square. The big open space is always full with people working behind laptops, chatting with friends or sifting through racks of vintage clothes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Kitsch is a coffee shop, but the place takes matcha seriously. Matcha here is bright green and can be amped up with housemade syrups with flavors like ginger and lavender. The carrot cake matcha even comes with a cream cheese foam to mimic the frosting on a slice of cake. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Kitsch is a coffee shop, but the place takes matcha seriously. Matcha here is bright green and can be amped up with housemade syrups with flavors like ginger and lavender. The carrot cake matcha even comes with a cream cheese foam to mimic the frosting on a slice of cake. \u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "For the Love of Matcha",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fortheloveofmatchacafe/\">For the Love of Matcha\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fortheloveofmatchacafe/\">For the Love of Matcha\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Grand Lake Farmers Market (Grand Avenue and Lake Park Avenue, Oakland)\u003cbr>Temescal Farmers Market (5300 Claremont Ave., Oakland)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Grand Lake Farmers Market (Grand Avenue and Lake Park Avenue, Oakland)\u003cbr>Temescal Farmers Market (5300 Claremont Ave., Oakland)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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{
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This weekly pop-up at the Grand Lake and Temescal farmers markets closes once it sells out, so it’s best to arrive early. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>This weekly pop-up at the Grand Lake and Temescal farmers markets closes once it sells out, so it’s best to arrive early. \u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The menu rotates based on the season. For summer, they have sweet corn, fig, vanilla and the forever favorite strawberry matcha latte. The farmers market stand is popular, so oftentimes you’ll find many of the flavors crossed out in permanent marker. The Matchacano is my go-to drink, but you can always up the flavor with their seasonal syrups and cream tops. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The menu rotates based on the season. For summer, they have sweet corn, fig, vanilla and the forever favorite strawberry matcha latte. The farmers market stand is popular, so oftentimes you’ll find many of the flavors crossed out in permanent marker. The Matchacano is my go-to drink, but you can always up the flavor with their seasonal syrups and cream tops. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/image",
"attrs": {
"id": 13993225,
"sizeSlug": "full",
"linkDestination": "none",
"alt": "Hand holding matcha soft serve ice cream on a sugar cone.",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Hand holding matcha soft serve ice cream on a sugar cone.\" class=\"wp-image-13993225\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A customer holds a matcha-and-vanilla swirl soft serve ice cream cone from Urban Matcha in Castro Valley on Aug. 20, 2026\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Hand holding matcha soft serve ice cream on a sugar cone.\" class=\"wp-image-13993225\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A customer holds a matcha-and-vanilla swirl soft serve ice cream cone from Urban Matcha in Castro Valley on Aug. 20, 2026\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Urban Matcha ",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/urbanmatcha.castrovalley/\">Urban Matcha \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/urbanmatcha.castrovalley/\">Urban Matcha \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3311 Castro Valley Blvd., Castro Valley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3311 Castro Valley Blvd., Castro Valley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A hidden gem in suburban Castro Valley, Urban Matcha provides a matcha oasis in a somewhat unlikely part of the Bay. At 7 p.m. on a recent Tuesday evening, the cafe was full of chatty teens, people finding a calm place to get work done and families ending their night with their favorite sweet treats. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>A hidden gem in suburban Castro Valley, Urban Matcha provides a matcha oasis in a somewhat unlikely part of the Bay. At 7 p.m. on a recent Tuesday evening, the cafe was full of chatty teens, people finding a calm place to get work done and families ending their night with their favorite sweet treats. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Part of a chain that extends from California to Las Vegas, the cafe is especially notable for its matcha-flavored desserts. This is the kind of place where every other customer walks out with their hands full of matcha parfaits loaded with agar jelly, corn flakes, matcha gelato, red bean paste, mochi balls and a big scoop of matcha soft serve. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Part of a chain that extends from California to Las Vegas, the cafe is especially notable for its matcha-flavored desserts. This is the kind of place where every other customer walks out with their hands full of matcha parfaits loaded with agar jelly, corn flakes, matcha gelato, red bean paste, mochi balls and a big scoop of matcha soft serve. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "SAN FRANCISCO: ",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>SAN FRANCISCO: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>SAN FRANCISCO: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Constance Tea",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/constance.tea/\">Constance Tea\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/constance.tea/\">Constance Tea\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3512 Balboa St., San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3512 Balboa St., San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Located on Balboa Street, in the Outer Richmond, Constance Tea is the only place in San Francisco where tea leaves are stone-milled into matcha in house. This new shop isn’t the place to find the drinks that satisfy your sweet tooth. Instead, Constance focuses on the basics: a small selection of hōjicha (roasted green tea), Einspänners and traditional matcha drinks made with matcha sourced from various regions in Japan, showcasing different flavor profiles. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Located on Balboa Street, in the Outer Richmond, Constance Tea is the only place in San Francisco where tea leaves are stone-milled into matcha in house. This new shop isn’t the place to find the drinks that satisfy your sweet tooth. Instead, Constance focuses on the basics: a small selection of hōjicha (roasted green tea), Einspänners and traditional matcha drinks made with matcha sourced from various regions in Japan, showcasing different flavor profiles. \u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During a recent visit, my matcha americano was a vivid green, perfectly balanced between earthiness and a nutty aftertaste, with a cream top that provided just the right amount of milkiness to complement the grassy taste of the tea. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>During a recent visit, my matcha americano was a vivid green, perfectly balanced between earthiness and a nutty aftertaste, with a cream top that provided just the right amount of milkiness to complement the grassy taste of the tea. \u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/image",
"attrs": {
"id": 13993221,
"sizeSlug": "full",
"linkDestination": "none",
"alt": "Two customers side by side holding creamy matcha drinks.",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two customers side by side holding creamy matcha drinks.\" class=\"wp-image-13993221\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Customers hold their matcha drinks at Ceré Tea on Valencia Street in San Francisco on Aug. 20, 2026. The tea shop specializes in matcha and hōjicha drinks.\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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two customers side by side holding creamy matcha drinks.\" class=\"wp-image-13993221\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Customers hold their matcha drinks at Ceré Tea on Valencia Street in San Francisco on Aug. 20, 2026. The tea shop specializes in matcha and hōjicha drinks.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Ceré Tea ",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cereteaxyz/\">Ceré Tea \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cereteaxyz/\">Ceré Tea \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1186 Valencia St., San Francisco (and other locations)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1186 Valencia St., San Francisco (and other locations)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This popular matcha spot in the Mission, with locations throughout the Bay Area, has all the makings for a viral cafe, with its full-body selfie mirror and minimalist design. The menu puts matcha and hōjicha at the forefront, featuring drinks infused with yuzu, ube, guava and more. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>This popular matcha spot in the Mission, with locations throughout the Bay Area, has all the makings for a viral cafe, with its full-body selfie mirror and minimalist design. The menu puts matcha and hōjicha at the forefront, featuring drinks infused with yuzu, ube, guava and more. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The matcha leans toward the brighter and more bitter side, but you can always sweeten the deal with a banana or crème brûlée cream top. Trendy offerings like Einspänners and cheese cream toppings are also available. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The matcha leans toward the brighter and more bitter side, but you can always sweeten the deal with a banana or crème brûlée cream top. Trendy offerings like Einspänners and cheese cream toppings are also available. \u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Matcha Café Maiko ",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/matchacafemaiko/\">Matcha Café Maiko \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/matchacafemaiko/\">Matcha Café Maiko \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1581 Webster St., San Francisco (and other locations)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1581 Webster St., San Francisco (and other locations)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This wildly popular Honolulu-based chain has become a Bay Area mall staple. It’s a quick, convenient and portable way to take your matcha to go. Big chains often don’t maintain their quality, but Maiko is always consistent, offering a convenient option to grab your matcha on the go. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>This wildly popular Honolulu-based chain has become a Bay Area mall staple. It’s a quick, convenient and portable way to take your matcha to go. Big chains often don’t maintain their quality, but Maiko is always consistent, offering a convenient option to grab your matcha on the go. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Perfect for a matcha beginner, the shop is known for its wide variety of matcha desserts:soft serves, shaved ices, parfaits, frappes and floats. The matcha here strikes just the right balance of sweetness and rich matcha flavor, providing the best caffeine boost after a day at the mall.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Perfect for a matcha beginner, the shop is known for its wide variety of matcha desserts:soft serves, shaved ices, parfaits, frappes and floats. The matcha here strikes just the right balance of sweetness and rich matcha flavor, providing the best caffeine boost after a day at the mall.\u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "SOUTH BAY AND PENINSULA: ",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>SOUTH BAY AND PENINSULA: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>SOUTH BAY AND PENINSULA: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/image",
"attrs": {
"id": 13993424,
"sizeSlug": "full",
"linkDestination": "none",
"alt": "A matcha drink with white swirls of crème brûlée–flavored cream.",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-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/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A matcha drink with white swirls of crème brûlée–flavored cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993424\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-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 crème brûlée matcha swirl at Izumi Matcha in San Mateo on Aug. 27, 2026.\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/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A matcha drink with white swirls of crème brûlée–flavored cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993424\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The crème brûlée matcha swirl at Izumi Matcha in San Mateo on Aug. 27, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Izumi Matcha ",
"level": 2
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/izumi.matcha/\">Izumi Matcha \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/izumi.matcha/\">Izumi Matcha \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>180 E. 3rd Ave. Unit 100A, San Mateo\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>180 E. 3rd Ave. Unit 100A, San Mateo\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With three locations in the Peninsula and South Bay, Izumi is one of the only cafes in the US that \u003ca href=\"https://izumimatcha.com/premium-matcha-powder/\">sources its matcha from Marukyu Koyamaen\u003c/a>, a highly regarded producer in Uji, Japan. Inside, the walls are lined with tins of the Marukyu matcha powder, along with tea kettles, matcha serving bowls and matcha whisks. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>With three locations in the Peninsula and South Bay, Izumi is one of the only cafes in the US that \u003ca href=\"https://izumimatcha.com/premium-matcha-powder/\">sources its matcha from Marukyu Koyamaen\u003c/a>, a highly regarded producer in Uji, Japan. Inside, the walls are lined with tins of the Marukyu matcha powder, along with tea kettles, matcha serving bowls and matcha whisks. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The broad menu of teas and desserts really highlight the quality of the matcha itself. The matcha latte options include trendy flavors like a crème brûlée swirl that adds an element of creaminess as a counterpoint to the bright matcha flavor. In addition to the drinks, the shop also offers a diverse selection of matcha- and tea-flavored ice creams — everything from ube to “intense matcha.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The broad menu of teas and desserts really highlight the quality of the matcha itself. The matcha latte options include trendy flavors like a crème brûlée swirl that adds an element of creaminess as a counterpoint to the bright matcha flavor. In addition to the drinks, the shop also offers a diverse selection of matcha- and tea-flavored ice creams — everything from ube to “intense matcha.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Aroma",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/aroma.cct/\">Aroma\u003c/a> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/aroma.cct/\">Aroma\u003c/a> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3005 Silver Creek Rd. Ste. 150, San José\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3005 Silver Creek Rd. Ste. 150, San José\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This East San José tea, coffee and chè shop sells a wide variety of Vietnamese-inspired coffee and tea drinks. Matcha is the powerhouse of the menu, available in 10 different flavors, many of them featuring Southeast Asian ingredients like pandan, guava, banana cream and mango sticky rice. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This East San José tea, coffee and chè shop sells a wide variety of Vietnamese-inspired coffee and tea drinks. Matcha is the powerhouse of the menu, available in 10 different flavors, many of them featuring Southeast Asian ingredients like pandan, guava, banana cream and mango sticky rice. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The matcha at Aroma is strong, but not overpoweringly bitter. The quality of the tea shines through even when paired with thick, sweet, syrupy banana, mango and yuzu puddings.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The matcha at Aroma is strong, but not overpoweringly bitter. The quality of the tea shines through even when paired with thick, sweet, syrupy banana, mango and yuzu puddings.\u003c/p>\n"
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"alt": "A matcha parfait in a sundae glass, layered with fresh strawberries and ice cream.",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A matcha parfait in a sundae glass, layered with fresh strawberries and ice cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993421\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Another view of the matcha strawberry parfait at Matsu Matcha.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\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/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A matcha parfait in a sundae glass, layered with fresh strawberries and ice cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993421\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Another view of the matcha strawberry parfait at Matsu Matcha.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/matsumatcha.usa/\">Matsu Matcha\u003c/a> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/matsumatcha.usa/\">Matsu Matcha\u003c/a> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3030 El Camino Real, Santa Clara\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp> A calm oasis located inside a busy shopping plaza in Santa Clara, Matsu serves bright green matcha in many different formats. The cafe’s extensive menu offers matcha gelato (available in five levels of increasing intensity, plus a seasonal flavor), matcha floats, matcha flights and much more. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp> A calm oasis located inside a busy shopping plaza in Santa Clara, Matsu serves bright green matcha in many different formats. The cafe’s extensive menu offers matcha gelato (available in five levels of increasing intensity, plus a seasonal flavor), matcha floats, matcha flights and much more. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The matcha flights are a good option for customers who have trouble deciding. They feature a triple dose of matcha, a matcha latte with matcha cream on top, a seasonal matcha (guava during my recent visit) and a matcha float (available in flavors like grape and dark chocolate). \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The matcha flights are a good option for customers who have trouble deciding. They feature a triple dose of matcha, a matcha latte with matcha cream on top, a seasonal matcha (guava during my recent visit) and a matcha float (available in flavors like grape and dark chocolate). \u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "A guide to the best matcha lattes, Einspänners and soft serve in the Bay.",
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"title": "The Best Matcha Cafes in the Bay Area | KQED",
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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>These days, every young person in the Bay Area seems to be walking around with some variation of the same green drink: matcha. Traditionally made by whisking finely ground green tea leaves with hot water, the beverage has been used for ceremonial practices in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/japanese-food\">Japan\u003c/a> for thousands of years. Over the past decade, however, the vibrant drink has taken America by storm. The United States now imports \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd2PpIvUKwo\">over 2,000 tons\u003c/a> of matcha per year, turning the tea powder into drinks, ice cream treats and even skin care products. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Here in the Bay, it feels like a new matcha cafe or matcha-forward coffee shop opens almost every day. Each place offers its own take on the drink, whether it be a latte with your choice of milk, an obsessively sweet concoction of cookie butters and banana puddings, or a simple americano.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Matcha, like life, is all about balance. I spent the past several weeks trying many of the Bay Area’s hundreds of matcha cafes. Here are some of my favorites. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>EAST BAY: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\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/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Hand holding a cup of iced coffee topped with a layer of pale green matcha cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993215\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/082126-FALLARTSGUIDEMATCHAINTHEBAY-15-MC-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The matcha americano with cream top at Yume Mori on August 21, 2026, in Berkeley. (Miles Cull/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/yumemori.matcha/\">Yume Mori \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2319 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jazz plays inside this minimalist cafe located in a line of popular matcha cafes near UC Berkeley. The spot is hard to miss because there is always a crowd of people waiting outside — tweens holding mom’s spot in line while she searches for a parking space.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yume Mori is one of the few shops where customers get to choose a specific regional variety of matcha for your drink, each one boasting a different flavor profile. The cafe also serves matcha soft serve, matcha crepes and house specialties like clear matcha (made with coconut water and topped with matcha cream) and genmaicha lattes (made with green tea blended with roasted rice). The matcha here has a vibrant color and taste, but if you don’t care for those intense nutty and astringent flavors, there are also sweeter options like tiramisu, yuzu miso and cold brew options. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mindcoffee.ca/\">Mind Coffee\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1816 Euclid Ave., Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Away from the traffic of the busier parts of Berkeley sits Mind Coffee, a popular study spot for students on the north side of campus. Mind has a large selection of coffee, teas and pastries, and the matcha drinks, in particular, are some of the most creative in the Bay. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Einspänners are especially popular here. These froth-topped drinks, named after a type of horse-drawn carriage, originated in Vienna, Austria. But they’d been a fixture in Korean dramas for years by the time they made their way to the States. Einspänners are traditionally a coffee drink, but Mind features less common versions like an Earl Grey matcha Einspänner latte (which tastes a bit like a sweet, syrupy bowl of cereal) and an iced matcha sakura Einspänner with pink milk, which transports you into a forest of cherry blossom trees.\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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Matcha latte and strawberry matcha latte on a sun-dappled wooden table.\" class=\"wp-image-13993222\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-9-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A matcha latte and strawberry matcha latte from Kitsch Coffee in Oakland on Aug. 20, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kitschcoffeeoakland/\">Kitsch Coffee\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>590 2nd St., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kitsch Coffee shares space with a vintage furniture and home goods store in Jack London Square. The big open space is always full with people working behind laptops, chatting with friends or sifting through racks of vintage clothes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kitsch is a coffee shop, but the place takes matcha seriously. Matcha here is bright green and can be amped up with housemade syrups with flavors like ginger and lavender. The carrot cake matcha even comes with a cream cheese foam to mimic the frosting on a slice of cake. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fortheloveofmatchacafe/\">For the Love of Matcha\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Grand Lake Farmers Market (Grand Avenue and Lake Park Avenue, Oakland)\u003cbr>Temescal Farmers Market (5300 Claremont Ave., Oakland)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This weekly pop-up at the Grand Lake and Temescal farmers markets closes once it sells out, so it’s best to arrive early. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The menu rotates based on the season. For summer, they have sweet corn, fig, vanilla and the forever favorite strawberry matcha latte. The farmers market stand is popular, so oftentimes you’ll find many of the flavors crossed out in permanent marker. The Matchacano is my go-to drink, but you can always up the flavor with their seasonal syrups and cream tops. \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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Hand holding matcha soft serve ice cream on a sugar cone.\" class=\"wp-image-13993225\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHA-NG-30-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A customer holds a matcha-and-vanilla swirl soft serve ice cream cone from Urban Matcha in Castro Valley on Aug. 20, 2026 (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/urbanmatcha.castrovalley/\">Urban Matcha \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3311 Castro Valley Blvd., Castro Valley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A hidden gem in suburban Castro Valley, Urban Matcha provides a matcha oasis in a somewhat unlikely part of the Bay. At 7 p.m. on a recent Tuesday evening, the cafe was full of chatty teens, people finding a calm place to get work done and families ending their night with their favorite sweet treats. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Part of a chain that extends from California to Las Vegas, the cafe is especially notable for its matcha-flavored desserts. This is the kind of place where every other customer walks out with their hands full of matcha parfaits loaded with agar jelly, corn flakes, matcha gelato, red bean paste, mochi balls and a big scoop of matcha soft serve. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>SAN FRANCISCO: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/constance.tea/\">Constance Tea\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3512 Balboa St., San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Located on Balboa Street, in the Outer Richmond, Constance Tea is the only place in San Francisco where tea leaves are stone-milled into matcha in house. This new shop isn’t the place to find the drinks that satisfy your sweet tooth. Instead, Constance focuses on the basics: a small selection of hōjicha (roasted green tea), Einspänners and traditional matcha drinks made with matcha sourced from various regions in Japan, showcasing different flavor profiles. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During a recent visit, my matcha americano was a vivid green, perfectly balanced between earthiness and a nutty aftertaste, with a cream top that provided just the right amount of milkiness to complement the grassy taste of the tea. \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/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two customers side by side holding creamy matcha drinks.\" class=\"wp-image-13993221\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260820-MATCHAINTHEBAY-11-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Customers hold their matcha drinks at Ceré Tea on Valencia Street in San Francisco on Aug. 20, 2026. The tea shop specializes in matcha and hōjicha drinks. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cereteaxyz/\">Ceré Tea \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1186 Valencia St., San Francisco (and other locations)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This popular matcha spot in the Mission, with locations throughout the Bay Area, has all the makings for a viral cafe, with its full-body selfie mirror and minimalist design. The menu puts matcha and hōjicha at the forefront, featuring drinks infused with yuzu, ube, guava and more. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The matcha leans toward the brighter and more bitter side, but you can always sweeten the deal with a banana or crème brûlée cream top. Trendy offerings like Einspänners and cheese cream toppings are also available. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/matchacafemaiko/\">Matcha Café Maiko \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>1581 Webster St., San Francisco (and other locations)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This wildly popular Honolulu-based chain has become a Bay Area mall staple. It’s a quick, convenient and portable way to take your matcha to go. Big chains often don’t maintain their quality, but Maiko is always consistent, offering a convenient option to grab your matcha on the go. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Perfect for a matcha beginner, the shop is known for its wide variety of matcha desserts:soft serves, shaved ices, parfaits, frappes and floats. The matcha here strikes just the right balance of sweetness and rich matcha flavor, providing the best caffeine boost after a day at the mall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>SOUTH BAY AND PENINSULA: \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\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/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A matcha drink with white swirls of crème brûlée–flavored cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993424\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The crème brûlée matcha swirl at Izumi Matcha in San Mateo on Aug. 27, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/izumi.matcha/\">Izumi Matcha \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>180 E. 3rd Ave. Unit 100A, San Mateo\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>With three locations in the Peninsula and South Bay, Izumi is one of the only cafes in the US that \u003ca href=\"https://izumimatcha.com/premium-matcha-powder/\">sources its matcha from Marukyu Koyamaen\u003c/a>, a highly regarded producer in Uji, Japan. Inside, the walls are lined with tins of the Marukyu matcha powder, along with tea kettles, matcha serving bowls and matcha whisks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The broad menu of teas and desserts really highlight the quality of the matcha itself. The matcha latte options include trendy flavors like a crème brûlée swirl that adds an element of creaminess as a counterpoint to the bright matcha flavor. In addition to the drinks, the shop also offers a diverse selection of matcha- and tea-flavored ice creams — everything from ube to “intense matcha.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/aroma.cct/\">Aroma\u003c/a> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3005 Silver Creek Rd. Ste. 150, San José\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This East San José tea, coffee and chè shop sells a wide variety of Vietnamese-inspired coffee and tea drinks. Matcha is the powerhouse of the menu, available in 10 different flavors, many of them featuring Southeast Asian ingredients like pandan, guava, banana cream and mango sticky rice. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The matcha at Aroma is strong, but not overpoweringly bitter. The quality of the tea shines through even when paired with thick, sweet, syrupy banana, mango and yuzu puddings.\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/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A matcha parfait in a sundae glass, layered with fresh strawberries and ice cream.\" class=\"wp-image-13993421\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/260827-MATCHAINTHEBAY-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Another view of the matcha strawberry parfait at Matsu Matcha. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/matsumatcha.usa/\">Matsu Matcha\u003c/a> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3030 El Camino Real, Santa Clara\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp> A calm oasis located inside a busy shopping plaza in Santa Clara, Matsu serves bright green matcha in many different formats. The cafe’s extensive menu offers matcha gelato (available in five levels of increasing intensity, plus a seasonal flavor), matcha floats, matcha flights and much more. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The matcha flights are a good option for customers who have trouble deciding. They feature a triple dose of matcha, a matcha latte with matcha cream on top, a seasonal matcha (guava during my recent visit) and a matcha float (available in flavors like grape and dark chocolate). \u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "bay-area-restaurants-pay-what-you-can-2026-reems-bombera-sfizio",
"title": "These 9 Bay Area Restaurants Are Asking You to Pay What You Can",
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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>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",
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"\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"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_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=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\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. \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/2/2026/03/8_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\" />\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. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\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",
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"\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"
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"innerHTML": "\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",
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"\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"
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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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"\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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"innerHTML": "\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\" 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=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A picturesque table at Bombera 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/2/2026/08/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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"\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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"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",
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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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"\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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"text": "Oakland",
"level": 2
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Oakland\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Oakland\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\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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"text": "San Francisco",
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"innerHTML": "\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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"text": "San José",
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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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"text": "Sonoma",
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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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"excerpt": "Reem’s, Bombera, Pasta Supply Co. and more join a global initiative on Aug. 26.",
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"title": "These 9 Bay Area Restaurants Are Asking You to Pay What You Can | KQED",
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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-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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"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 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",
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"\n\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"
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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\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg 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=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">La Grama’s crowded food tent is filled with lechona lovers munching on crispy pork skin.\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/La-Grama-tent.jpg\" alt=\"A food tent crowded with diners.\" class=\"wp-image-13993149\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">La Grama’s crowded food tent is filled with lechona lovers munching on crispy pork skin.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\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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"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\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Moñona.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=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The moñona is a Colombian tamal topped with a portion of lechona.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\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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"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",
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"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",
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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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"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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"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",
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"\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",
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"\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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"\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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"title": "Y’s Choice Is a Haven of Late-Night Soul Food in Oakland | KQED",
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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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"slug": "bens-chinese-restaurant-oakland-not-closing",
"title": "Oakland’s Most Underrated Chinese Restaurant Isn’t Closing After All",
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"headTitle": "Oakland’s Most Underrated Chinese Restaurant Isn’t Closing After All | KQED",
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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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"\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\" />\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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"\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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"\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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"\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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"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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"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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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"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 />",
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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.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
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"id": "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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"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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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"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.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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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",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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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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},
"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",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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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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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"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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},
"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)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
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"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",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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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",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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},
"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",
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"meta": {
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"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/",
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"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"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",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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