window.__IS_SSR__=true
window.__INITIAL_STATE__={
"attachmentsReducer": {
"audio_0": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_0",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background0.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_1": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_1",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background1.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_2": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_2",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background2.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_3": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_3",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background3.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_4": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_4",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background4.jpg"
}
}
},
"placeholder": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "placeholder",
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-768x512.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 512,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"small": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 32,
"height": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 50,
"height": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 64,
"height": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 96,
"height": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 128,
"height": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
}
},
"arts_13980218": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13980218",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13980218",
"found": true
},
"title": "Z-One 1-1 crop",
"publishDate": 1755214030,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13980212,
"modified": 1755214134,
"caption": "In the last two years, San Bruno's Z-One Kitchen has added 'Texas'-style barbecue to its menu of Shaanxi drinking food.",
"credit": "Thien Pham",
"altTag": "A spread of Chinese food, including meat-stuffed flatbreads, a noodle soup, and slabs of grilled ribs.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Z-One-1-1-crop-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Z-One-1-1-crop-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Z-One-1-1-crop-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Z-One-1-1-crop-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Z-One-1-1-crop-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Z-One-1-1-crop.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13979464": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13979464",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13979464",
"found": true
},
"title": "keiths 1 cropped",
"publishDate": 1754075759,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13979460,
"modified": 1754075864,
"caption": "The fried chicken at Keith's Chicken N Waffles is extraordinarily crunchy and flavorful.",
"credit": "Thien Pham",
"altTag": "Illustration: two men devour fried chicken and waffles inside a restaurant.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-cropped-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-cropped-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-cropped-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-cropped-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-cropped-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-cropped.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13978361": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13978361",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13978361",
"found": true
},
"title": "Mama Go's2-crop",
"publishDate": 1751585727,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13978355,
"modified": 1751585760,
"caption": "The kiosk is open until 11:30 p.m. each night — and then it opens again at 3:30 a.m. for Filipino breakfast.",
"credit": "Thien Pham",
"altTag": "A busy food kiosk inside an airport. The sign overhead reads, \"Mama Go's Filipino Cuisine.\"",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-crop-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-crop-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-crop-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-crop-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-crop-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-crop.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13977828": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13977828",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13977828",
"found": true
},
"title": "chinatown night market_jason wang",
"publishDate": 1750293624,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13963258,
"modified": 1750293723,
"caption": "During the monthly Chinatown Night Market, crowds pack three blocks of Grant Street in San Francisco.",
"credit": "Jason Wang, courtesy of BeChinatown",
"altTag": "Crowded Chinatown street with red lanterns strung up above.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market_jason-wang-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market_jason-wang-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market_jason-wang-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market_jason-wang-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market_jason-wang-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market_jason-wang.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1125
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13977042": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13977042",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13977042",
"found": true
},
"title": "Hamburger Arepa",
"publishDate": 1748984710,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13977033,
"modified": 1748984938,
"caption": "Salpikitos' menu includes cross-cultural items like this burger-inspired arepa. The food stand is located on Alum Rock Avenue in East San Jose.",
"credit": "Octavio Peña",
"altTag": "An overstuffed arepa, filled with beef patty, quail eggs and more, served on a paper plate.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Hamburger-Arepa-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Hamburger-Arepa-1020x574.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 574,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Hamburger-Arepa-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Hamburger-Arepa-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Hamburger-Arepa-1536x865.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 865,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Hamburger-Arepa-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Hamburger-Arepa-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Hamburger-Arepa-1920x1081.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1081,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Hamburger-Arepa.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1126
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13976701": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13976701",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13976701",
"found": true
},
"title": "4-kings2-crop",
"publishDate": 1747965780,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13976695,
"modified": 1747965828,
"caption": "Part of the excitement at Four Kings comes from covering the table with an abundance of dishes. The new-school Cantonese restaurant is open until 11 p.m. on the weekends in SF Chinatown.",
"credit": "Thien Pham",
"altTag": "Illustration: Two men devouring a table full of Cantonese dishes, including roast squab, fried soft-shell crabs, and a pork chop rice bowl.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-crop-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-crop-1020x574.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 574,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-crop-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-crop-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-crop-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-crop-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-crop-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-crop.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13975911": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13975911",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13975911",
"found": true
},
"title": "heyma-1 cropped",
"publishDate": 1746748662,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13975908,
"modified": 1746748805,
"caption": "In Berkeley, Heyma Yemeni Coffee combines both traditional and contemporary aspects of Yemeni coffee culture.",
"credit": "Wahab Algarmi",
"altTag": "Illustration: two men sit in front of a table loaded with cakes, pastries and coffee.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-cropped-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-cropped-1020x574.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 574,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-cropped-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-cropped-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-cropped-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-cropped-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-cropped-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-cropped.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13975316": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13975316",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13975316",
"found": true
},
"title": "hinodeya1-crop",
"publishDate": 1745539212,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13975308,
"modified": 1745539244,
"caption": "Hinodeya Ramen's Union Square location is known for its late hours and its seafood-based dashi broth.",
"credit": "Thien Pham",
"altTag": "Illustration: two men slurp bowls of ramen inside a crowded restaurant.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-crop-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-crop-1020x574.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 574,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-crop-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-crop-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-crop-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-crop-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-crop-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-crop.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13974389": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13974389",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13974389",
"found": true
},
"title": "newgoldmedal-crop",
"publishDate": 1744330129,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13974383,
"modified": 1744349583,
"caption": "New Gold Medal has been a local favorite for homey Cantonese food in Oakland Chinatown since 2007.",
"credit": "Thien Pham",
"altTag": "Two men devour a table full of Cantonese dishes, including chow mein and fried pork chops.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-crop-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-crop-1020x574.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 574,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-crop-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-crop-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-crop-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-crop-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-crop-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-crop.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13973437": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13973437",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13973437",
"found": true
},
"title": "ONDAM-crop",
"publishDate": 1742515354,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13973430,
"modified": 1742515490,
"caption": "One of Ondam's signature dishes is its spicy raw marinated crab. Located in Santa Clara, the Korean restaurant is open until 1 a.m. on weekends.",
"credit": "Thien Pham",
"altTag": "Illustration: a man devours a crab dripping with red sauce (with red stains all over his shirt) while his companion looks on.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-crop-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-crop-1020x574.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 574,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-crop-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-crop-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-crop-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-crop-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-crop-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-crop.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13972836": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13972836",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13972836",
"found": true
},
"title": "Dimondkitchen2 crop",
"publishDate": 1741377431,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13972834,
"modified": 1741377520,
"caption": "An Oakland-style picnic.",
"credit": "Thien Pham",
"altTag": "Two men stand in front of a car outside a convenience store at night, devouring takeout cartons of soul food.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-crop-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-crop-1020x574.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 574,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-crop-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-crop-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-crop-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-crop-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-crop-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-crop.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_13972707": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_13972707",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13972707",
"found": true
},
"title": "Suhoor Fest drone view_Awaiten Films",
"publishDate": 1741234906,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 13972704,
"modified": 1741235080,
"caption": "Thousands of Bay Area Muslims will attend this year's Suhoor Fest, a massive halal food festival that starts at 11 p.m. on March 15 and stays open until 5 a.m.",
"credit": "Awaiten Films, courtesy of Halal Fest",
"altTag": "Still image of a drone video showing a night market festival from overhead.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Suhoor-Fest-drone-view_Awaiten-Films-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Suhoor-Fest-drone-view_Awaiten-Films-1020x574.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 574,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Suhoor-Fest-drone-view_Awaiten-Films-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 90,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Suhoor-Fest-drone-view_Awaiten-Films-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 432,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Suhoor-Fest-drone-view_Awaiten-Films-1536x864.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 864,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Suhoor-Fest-drone-view_Awaiten-Films-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Suhoor-Fest-drone-view_Awaiten-Films-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Suhoor-Fest-drone-view_Awaiten-Films-1920x1080.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Suhoor-Fest-drone-view_Awaiten-Films.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1125
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
}
},
"audioPlayerReducer": {
"postId": "stream_live",
"isPaused": true,
"isPlaying": false,
"pfsActive": false,
"pledgeModalIsOpen": true,
"playerDrawerIsOpen": false,
"liveAudioPlayStartedAt": 0,
"liveAudioPlayContext": ""
},
"authorsReducer": {
"byline_arts_13975908": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_arts_13975908",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_arts_13975908",
"name": "Luke Tsai and Wahab Algarmi",
"isLoading": false
},
"ltsai": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11743",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11743",
"found": true
},
"name": "Luke Tsai",
"firstName": "Luke",
"lastName": "Tsai",
"slug": "ltsai",
"email": "ltsai@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [
"arts"
],
"title": "Food Editor",
"bio": "Luke Tsai is KQED's food editor and resident stinky tofu connoisseur. Prior to KQED, he was an editor at Eater SF, \u003cem>San Francisco \u003c/em>magazine, and the \u003cem>East Bay Express\u003c/em>, and his work has also appeared in TASTE, the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>, and the \u003cem>Best Food Writing\u003c/em> anthology. When he isn't writing or editing, you'll find him eating most everything he can get his hands on.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1e59b45bf191526e7339d6ba46e33a57b2030d25c27660ecc64ea3cb863e34f7?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "theluketsai",
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor",
"contributor"
]
},
{
"site": "bayareabites",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "food",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Luke Tsai | KQED",
"description": "Food Editor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1e59b45bf191526e7339d6ba46e33a57b2030d25c27660ecc64ea3cb863e34f7?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1e59b45bf191526e7339d6ba46e33a57b2030d25c27660ecc64ea3cb863e34f7?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/ltsai"
},
"tpham": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11753",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11753",
"found": true
},
"name": "Thien Pham",
"firstName": "Thien",
"lastName": "Pham",
"slug": "tpham",
"email": "thiendog@gmail.com",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": null,
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a5b4729969ad46d88e7b9ec9dd4f3fa6af84dd0fa8fa91f01d8d9481694999bc?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Thien Pham | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a5b4729969ad46d88e7b9ec9dd4f3fa6af84dd0fa8fa91f01d8d9481694999bc?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a5b4729969ad46d88e7b9ec9dd4f3fa6af84dd0fa8fa91f01d8d9481694999bc?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/tpham"
},
"opena": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11903",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11903",
"found": true
},
"name": "Octavio Peña",
"firstName": "Octavio",
"lastName": "Peña",
"slug": "opena",
"email": "octaviopenagutierrez@gmail.com",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"arts"
],
"title": "Food Reporter",
"bio": "Octavio Peña is a food journalist and recipe developer from San Jose, CA. His work has appeared in KQED, Eater SF, Serious Eats, NYT Cooking, and Food & Wine. In his free time, he enjoys walking his dogs, photographing his food, and playing MOBAs.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/62850791380238ea3945ee72a3d56056477904792b41daaf11effa8780bab75d?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Octavio Peña | KQED",
"description": "Food Reporter",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/62850791380238ea3945ee72a3d56056477904792b41daaf11effa8780bab75d?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/62850791380238ea3945ee72a3d56056477904792b41daaf11effa8780bab75d?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/opena"
}
},
"pagesReducer": {
"arts_tag_late-night": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_8805",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "8805",
"score": 9.559916
},
"featImg": null,
"name": "late night",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "late night Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 8817,
"slug": "late-night",
"isLoading": false,
"title": "late night",
"pageMeta": {
"site": "arts",
"WpPageTemplate": "page-topic-editorial",
"currentPage": 3
},
"blocks": [
{
"blockName": "kqed/post-list",
"attrs": {
"layout": "cardArticle2",
"query": "posts/arts?tag=late-night",
"seeMore": false,
"paginated": true,
"page": 3
}
},
{
"blockName": "kqed/ad"
}
]
}
},
"pfsSessionReducer": {},
"postsReducer": {
"stream_live": {
"type": "live",
"id": "stream_live",
"audioUrl": "https://hls.kqed.org/hls/kqed_app/playlist.m3u8",
"title": "Live Stream",
"excerpt": "Live Stream information currently unavailable.",
"link": "/radio",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "KQED Live",
"link": "/"
}
},
"stream_kqedNewscast": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "stream_kqedNewscast",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1",
"title": "KQED Newscast",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "88.5 FM",
"link": "/"
}
},
"arts_13980212": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13980212",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13980212",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1755214574000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "chinese-hamburger-barbecue-z-one-kitchen-san-bruno-rou-jia-mo",
"title": "Where Chinese Hamburgers Meet ‘Texas’ Barbecue",
"publishDate": 1755214574,
"format": "aside",
"headTitle": "Where Chinese Hamburgers Meet ‘Texas’ Barbecue | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980220\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980220\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devour\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-1-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-1-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-1-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-1-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the last two years, San Bruno’s Z-One Kitchen has added ‘Texas’-style barbecue to its menu of Shaanxi drinking food. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we pulled into a cramped plaza in San Bruno, the bilingual sign above a modest-looking Chinese restaurant promised an ultra-rare, perhaps never-before-heard-of combination: “岐山肉夹馍 & Texas BBQ.” In other words, Xi’an-style rou jia mo (aka “Chinese hamburgers”) served alongside heaping stacks of Texas ’cue. What?!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it turns out, the “Texas” part of the formula at Z-One Kitchen, as the restaurant is called, really stretches the limits of creative marketing. But that didn’t stop us from having an intensely meaty, rollicking good time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We arrived at around 9 o’clock on a recent Friday night, our curiosity piqued by online reports of this unusual fusion cuisine. The place closes up shop at 10:30 — decently late, even if it isn’t on the extreme end of the late-night dining spectrum. (Curiously, it doesn’t appear to have any connection to the similarly named A-One Kitchen — another \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951914/dungeness-crab-garlic-noodles-san-bruno-late-night\">Midnight Diners’ favorite\u003c/a> — just a mile up the road.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in terms of rowdy, slightly chaotic late-night vibes, Z-One has the part down to a tee, starting with the crowded parking lot, where a suped-up Volkswagen Beetle was gunning its engine. The dining room — a clutter of mismatched furniture and empty Tsingtao beer bottles — was loud, and so busy that we had to share a six-top booth with another party. The workers were all big, burly Chinese guys with Northern accents. After getting vague, slightly brusque responses to our questions about the menu, I finally interjected in Mandarin, prompting our server to cry out (also in Mandarin), “If you speak Chinese, why didn’t you just say so to begin with!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The overall effect was like we’d stumbled onto the kind of roadside food stand you might find somewhere in rural China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980221\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980221\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-2-2.jpg\" alt=\"The exterior of a Chinese restaurant lit up at night. The sign above advertises 'Texas BBQ.'\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-2-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-2-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-2-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-2-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Though it’s only open until 10:30 p.m., the restaurant has its rowdy, slightly chaotic late-night vibes down to a tee. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the restaurant’s signage and branding suggest, the menu is divided into two halves: one side has all the “Texas barbecue”; the other side is a mishmash of Chinese drinking food, most of it specific to Shaanxi province. For the barbecue, there’s a $35 all-you-can-eat option (!), or you can order a plate that comes with your choice of meat and two dishes for as little as $16 — not unlike the meat-and-two format you’d find at a classic barbecue joint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only difference? The spices, the seasoning, the flavor profile and probably the entirety of the cooking process. None of the meats we tried had seen the inside of a smoker. Instead, they appeared to have been braised in some soy sauce–based concoction, then finished on the grill. They tasted not Texan (you should just eliminate that expectation entirely) but rather wholly Chinese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which isn’t to say this take on barbecue wasn’t tasty in its own right. The flavor reminded me of Chinese beef jerky more than anything else — savory with a whisper of honeyed sweetness. We especially loved the beef spare ribs, which were luscious and slightly sticky, with tender meat that pulled right off the bone. We also ordered slippery, gelatinous pigs’ feet and, our least favorite, pork ribs that came out a bit too dry. Next time we might just get three orders of beef ribs. You can also choose from an assortment of cumin-dusted meat skewers, similar to what you’ll find at other \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951382/chinese-skewers-are-the-last-bastion-of-late-night-dining-in-the-bay\">Chinese barbecue restaurants\u003c/a> around the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13979460,arts_13978355,arts_13976695']In truth, the sides are probably the most fusion-y part of Z-One’s menu, allowing you to pair the meats with, say, potato salad (creamy and surprisingly addicting) and a satisfyingly greasy, soy sauce–drenched version of egg fried rice. We loved them both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apparently, when Z-One first opened in 2020, it was a straightforward Shaanxi restaurant, specializing in the northwestern Chinese regional cuisine that gained some mainstream prominence in the U.S. after \u003ca href=\"https://ny.eater.com/2018/6/8/17442082/xian-famous-foods-jason-wang-anthony-bourdain\">the rise of Xi’an Famous Foods\u003c/a>, in New York, in the late aughts. So while the barbecue is worth trying, Z-One’s real sweet spot is its Shaanxi food, especially those so-called “Chinese hamburgers.” These, too, aren’t a fusion thing; rou jia mo has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230508-roujiamo-chinas-2200-year-old-burger\">2,200-year history in China\u003c/a>. The burger comparison comes from the well-seasoned meat stuffed inside a crisp flatbread — more akin to a paratha or an extra-thin English muffin than a burger bun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Z-One’s classic pork rou jia mo came crammed full of saucy, finely shredded meat. It was extraordinarily juicy and well-seasoned, with an occasional jolt of fresh chili heat. I liked the version stuffed with grilled cumin lamb and sliced onions even better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a warm summer night, the sandwiches pair perfectly with an order of liangpi — wide, crinkly cold noodles tossed in a spicy, tangy sesame sauce. Even better: Z-One serves one of the better versions of fried stinky tofu I’ve found in the Bay Area. The tofu cubes were expertly fried, super-crisp without getting dried out, served in a pool of deliciously garlicky chili sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everything Z-One serves goes exceptionally well with cold beer, so it came as no surprise that guys at the table next to us were three or four Tsingtaos in. They kept calling out to the owner (“Lao ban! Lao ban!”), teasing him half-nonsensically. We were feeling a little bit giddy too by the end of the night, even though we hadn’t been drinking. Instead, we left with full bellies — the smell of cumin and garlic heavy on our breath, with two big boxes of leftovers to tote home — feeling like we’d been taken on an unexpected journey. Not to Texas, certainly. But somewhere we hadn’t been before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Z-One Kitchen is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. and 5–10:30 p.m., at 130 El Camino Real Ste. C in San Bruno.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The delicious contradictions of Z-One Kitchen in San Bruno.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1755215483,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 17,
"wordCount": 1155
},
"headData": {
"title": "In San Bruno, Chinese Hamburgers Meet ‘Texas’ Barbecue | KQED",
"description": "The delicious contradictions of Z-One Kitchen in San Bruno.",
"ogTitle": "Where Chinese Hamburgers Meet ‘Texas’ Barbecue",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "Where Chinese Hamburgers Meet ‘Texas’ Barbecue",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "In San Bruno, Chinese Hamburgers Meet ‘Texas’ Barbecue %%page%% %%sep%% KQED",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Where Chinese Hamburgers Meet ‘Texas’ Barbecue",
"datePublished": "2025-08-14T16:36:14-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-08-14T16:51:23-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 12276,
"slug": "food",
"name": "Food"
},
"source": "The Midnight Diners",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13980212",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13980212/chinese-hamburger-barbecue-z-one-kitchen-san-bruno-rou-jia-mo",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980220\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980220\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devour\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-1-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-1-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-1-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-1-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the last two years, San Bruno’s Z-One Kitchen has added ‘Texas’-style barbecue to its menu of Shaanxi drinking food. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we pulled into a cramped plaza in San Bruno, the bilingual sign above a modest-looking Chinese restaurant promised an ultra-rare, perhaps never-before-heard-of combination: “岐山肉夹馍 & Texas BBQ.” In other words, Xi’an-style rou jia mo (aka “Chinese hamburgers”) served alongside heaping stacks of Texas ’cue. What?!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it turns out, the “Texas” part of the formula at Z-One Kitchen, as the restaurant is called, really stretches the limits of creative marketing. But that didn’t stop us from having an intensely meaty, rollicking good time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We arrived at around 9 o’clock on a recent Friday night, our curiosity piqued by online reports of this unusual fusion cuisine. The place closes up shop at 10:30 — decently late, even if it isn’t on the extreme end of the late-night dining spectrum. (Curiously, it doesn’t appear to have any connection to the similarly named A-One Kitchen — another \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951914/dungeness-crab-garlic-noodles-san-bruno-late-night\">Midnight Diners’ favorite\u003c/a> — just a mile up the road.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in terms of rowdy, slightly chaotic late-night vibes, Z-One has the part down to a tee, starting with the crowded parking lot, where a suped-up Volkswagen Beetle was gunning its engine. The dining room — a clutter of mismatched furniture and empty Tsingtao beer bottles — was loud, and so busy that we had to share a six-top booth with another party. The workers were all big, burly Chinese guys with Northern accents. After getting vague, slightly brusque responses to our questions about the menu, I finally interjected in Mandarin, prompting our server to cry out (also in Mandarin), “If you speak Chinese, why didn’t you just say so to begin with!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The overall effect was like we’d stumbled onto the kind of roadside food stand you might find somewhere in rural China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980221\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980221\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-2-2.jpg\" alt=\"The exterior of a Chinese restaurant lit up at night. The sign above advertises 'Texas BBQ.'\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-2-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-2-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-2-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Untitled_Artwork-2-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Though it’s only open until 10:30 p.m., the restaurant has its rowdy, slightly chaotic late-night vibes down to a tee. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the restaurant’s signage and branding suggest, the menu is divided into two halves: one side has all the “Texas barbecue”; the other side is a mishmash of Chinese drinking food, most of it specific to Shaanxi province. For the barbecue, there’s a $35 all-you-can-eat option (!), or you can order a plate that comes with your choice of meat and two dishes for as little as $16 — not unlike the meat-and-two format you’d find at a classic barbecue joint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only difference? The spices, the seasoning, the flavor profile and probably the entirety of the cooking process. None of the meats we tried had seen the inside of a smoker. Instead, they appeared to have been braised in some soy sauce–based concoction, then finished on the grill. They tasted not Texan (you should just eliminate that expectation entirely) but rather wholly Chinese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which isn’t to say this take on barbecue wasn’t tasty in its own right. The flavor reminded me of Chinese beef jerky more than anything else — savory with a whisper of honeyed sweetness. We especially loved the beef spare ribs, which were luscious and slightly sticky, with tender meat that pulled right off the bone. We also ordered slippery, gelatinous pigs’ feet and, our least favorite, pork ribs that came out a bit too dry. Next time we might just get three orders of beef ribs. You can also choose from an assortment of cumin-dusted meat skewers, similar to what you’ll find at other \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951382/chinese-skewers-are-the-last-bastion-of-late-night-dining-in-the-bay\">Chinese barbecue restaurants\u003c/a> around the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "arts_13979460,arts_13978355,arts_13976695",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In truth, the sides are probably the most fusion-y part of Z-One’s menu, allowing you to pair the meats with, say, potato salad (creamy and surprisingly addicting) and a satisfyingly greasy, soy sauce–drenched version of egg fried rice. We loved them both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apparently, when Z-One first opened in 2020, it was a straightforward Shaanxi restaurant, specializing in the northwestern Chinese regional cuisine that gained some mainstream prominence in the U.S. after \u003ca href=\"https://ny.eater.com/2018/6/8/17442082/xian-famous-foods-jason-wang-anthony-bourdain\">the rise of Xi’an Famous Foods\u003c/a>, in New York, in the late aughts. So while the barbecue is worth trying, Z-One’s real sweet spot is its Shaanxi food, especially those so-called “Chinese hamburgers.” These, too, aren’t a fusion thing; rou jia mo has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230508-roujiamo-chinas-2200-year-old-burger\">2,200-year history in China\u003c/a>. The burger comparison comes from the well-seasoned meat stuffed inside a crisp flatbread — more akin to a paratha or an extra-thin English muffin than a burger bun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Z-One’s classic pork rou jia mo came crammed full of saucy, finely shredded meat. It was extraordinarily juicy and well-seasoned, with an occasional jolt of fresh chili heat. I liked the version stuffed with grilled cumin lamb and sliced onions even better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a warm summer night, the sandwiches pair perfectly with an order of liangpi — wide, crinkly cold noodles tossed in a spicy, tangy sesame sauce. Even better: Z-One serves one of the better versions of fried stinky tofu I’ve found in the Bay Area. The tofu cubes were expertly fried, super-crisp without getting dried out, served in a pool of deliciously garlicky chili sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everything Z-One serves goes exceptionally well with cold beer, so it came as no surprise that guys at the table next to us were three or four Tsingtaos in. They kept calling out to the owner (“Lao ban! Lao ban!”), teasing him half-nonsensically. We were feeling a little bit giddy too by the end of the night, even though we hadn’t been drinking. Instead, we left with full bellies — the smell of cumin and garlic heavy on our breath, with two big boxes of leftovers to tote home — feeling like we’d been taken on an unexpected journey. Not to Texas, certainly. But somewhere we hadn’t been before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Z-One Kitchen is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. and 5–10:30 p.m., at 130 El Camino Real Ste. C in San Bruno.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13980212/chinese-hamburger-barbecue-z-one-kitchen-san-bruno-rou-jia-mo",
"authors": [
"11743",
"11753"
],
"series": [
"arts_22316"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276"
],
"tags": [
"arts_13831",
"arts_21727",
"arts_10278",
"arts_1297",
"arts_8805",
"arts_21929",
"arts_21928"
],
"featImg": "arts_13980218",
"label": "source_arts_13980212"
},
"arts_13979460": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13979460",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13979460",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1754076712000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "keiths-chicken-waffles-crunchiest-fried-chicken-daly-city-late-night",
"title": "Keith’s Chicken N Waffles Slings Some of the Bay’s Crunchiest Fried Chicken",
"publishDate": 1754076712,
"format": "aside",
"headTitle": "Keith’s Chicken N Waffles Slings Some of the Bay’s Crunchiest Fried Chicken | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979465\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979465\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Illustration: two men devour fried chicken and waffles inside a restaurant.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-160x160.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The fried chicken at Keith’s Chicken N Waffles is extraordinarily crunchy and flavorful. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a sparse, vaguely industrial stretch of Daly City, tucked among a cluster of auto body shops, a tiny storefront sells some of the best fried chicken in the Bay Area — dollar for dollar, almost certainly the best you can get your hands on at 10 o’clock on a Wednesday night, which is when we were inducted into the cult of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/keithschickennwaffles/?hl=en\">Keith’s Chicken N Waffles\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keith’s came onto our radar a few months ago, when it \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DEk_2lDzRty/?hl=en\">extended its hours\u003c/a> to midnight four nights a week. But for the longest time afterward, we couldn’t find any online evidence of anyone ever actually eating there late at night: No one picked up the phone the dozen or so times I called, and the one time we showed up, hungry, on a Friday night, the place was closed. No sign on the door or anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So we were thrilled to confirm firsthand that you \u003ci>can\u003c/i> score a plate of top-notch chicken and waffles in Daly City until midnight — or at least 11:30 p.m., when the shop puts in its last call for orders. (The hours are a little wonky, though, so if you’re trekking from the other side of the Bay, you should double-check the \u003ca href=\"https://keithschickennwaffles.com/menu\">restaurant website\u003c/a> to make sure they are in fact open and accepting orders before heading out.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shop itself looks like your standard corner soul food joint — a bit cramped and well-worn, with black and white checkerboard-tile flooring and a jaunty, muscle-bound cartoon rooster painted on the facade. A few framed paintings of Bob Marley and Tupac hang on the walls, and a hand-written sign next to the counter reads: “Don’t stare. After you order please sit your ass down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979468\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979468\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-2.jpeg\" alt=\"Exterior of a chicken and waffles restaurant lit up at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-2.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-2-160x160.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-2-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-2-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keith’s is now open late — until midnight — Wednesday through Saturday. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You will have to wait a little while, at least. One of the restaurant’s hallmarks is that the cooks fry every batch of chicken to order; there are no heat lamps to speak of. The chicken comes out burn-your-tongue hot, with a thin, well-bronzed, shatteringly crisp sheath. This was the crunchiest fried chicken I’ve eaten in recent memory, and some of the most flavorful too. I don’t know what they put in their seasoning mix, but every piece is seasoned extraordinarily well down to the last nook, cranny and crevice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the shop’s quirks is that the chicken pieces come in a range of sizes — we received a big, ample thigh, a slightly smaller one, and a rather diminutive drumstick. It didn’t bother us. If anything, the nonuniformity underscored Keith’s Chicken N Waffles’ status as a homegrown, made-from-scratch operation, not some cookie-cutter McNugget factory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you happen to be more of a chicken tender connoisseur, Keith’s still has you covered. The tenders here are plump, moist and uncommonly large — and, again, seasoned so aggressively well that you can enjoy them straight-up. (Though I did like the orange-gold, Carolina-style, honey-based barbecue sauce that the shop provided.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One remarkable thing about Keith’s is how reasonable the prices are. Combo meals — all named after rappers (the DMX, the Rick Ross and so on) — start at around $12 and come with waffles, sides, soda, the whole nine yards, and there’s always a bargain-priced daily special too (say, three wings and a waffle for $10). The upshot is you wind up paying cheaper-than-fast-food prices — I’m looking at you, Popeyes and Raising Cane’s — for fresher, more generous portions of chicken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the soul food side dishes (soupy, well-spiced collard greens, proper Southern-style mac and cheese, and more) were all better than solid, and we decided to save the saucy party wings and promising-looking fried chicken sandwich for our next visit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13978355,arts_13956683,arts_13969092']Of course at Keith’s Chicken N Waffles, the chicken is only half the story. In much of the Bay Area, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/food/1337630/chicken\">fried chicken and waffles\u003c/a> is strictly a brunch-time treat, so it’s a rare pleasure to be able to score a good waffle late at night. And the waffles at Keith’s are very good, and available in a variety of flavors and sizes. We liked the standard Belgian waffle best: light, yeasty and super-buttery, with crisp edges, topped with a huge dollop of even more soft butter. It’s tasty enough that you don’t even really need to add syrup — though it’s hard to resist when the restaurant offers serve-yourself syrup, dispensed out of a gigantic coffee urn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone with a sweet tooth should also try the mini waffle trio, which comes with a pint-sized version of the standard waffle, plus a richly chocolatey (and surprisingly not-too-sweet) red velvet waffle and a waffle topped with candied yams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the union of the chicken and the waffles — of savory and sweet — is, of course, what has long made breakfast for dinner (or breakfast for a midnight snack) one of life’s most deeply pleasurable indulgences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That alone makes Keith’s well worth a visit. It might not be the most vibey or bustling of the late-night food destinations we’ve frequented — when we visited, it seemed to be doing all takeout business past 9 p.m., as hungry teens and twentysomethings pulled up to pick up buckets of chicken and waffles before heading out into the night. But who needs vibe when the cooking is this good? The air hung thick with the smell of sweet syrup and hot fryer oil. A match, honestly, made in heaven.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://keithschickennwaffles.com/\">\u003ci>Keith’s Chicken N Waffles\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m.–midnight, Sunday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. and Mondays and Tuesdays 11 a.m.–8 p.m. at 270 San Pedro Rd. in Daly City. It’s within walking distance of the Colma BART station.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The Daly City staple now stays open until midnight four nights a week.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1754076712,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 17,
"wordCount": 1122
},
"headData": {
"title": "Keith’s Serves the Bay Area’s Crunchiest Fried Chicken | KQED",
"description": "The Daly City staple now stays open until midnight four nights a week.",
"ogTitle": "Keith’s Chicken N Waffles Slings Some of the Bay’s Crunchiest Fried Chicken",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "Keith’s Chicken N Waffles Slings Some of the Bay’s Crunchiest Fried Chicken",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "Keith’s Serves the Bay Area’s Crunchiest Fried Chicken %%page%% %%sep%% KQED",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Keith’s Chicken N Waffles Slings Some of the Bay’s Crunchiest Fried Chicken",
"datePublished": "2025-08-01T12:31:52-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-08-01T12:31:52-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 12276,
"slug": "food",
"name": "Food"
},
"source": "The Midnight Diners",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13979460",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13979460/keiths-chicken-waffles-crunchiest-fried-chicken-daly-city-late-night",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979465\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979465\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Illustration: two men devour fried chicken and waffles inside a restaurant.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-160x160.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-1-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The fried chicken at Keith’s Chicken N Waffles is extraordinarily crunchy and flavorful. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a sparse, vaguely industrial stretch of Daly City, tucked among a cluster of auto body shops, a tiny storefront sells some of the best fried chicken in the Bay Area — dollar for dollar, almost certainly the best you can get your hands on at 10 o’clock on a Wednesday night, which is when we were inducted into the cult of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/keithschickennwaffles/?hl=en\">Keith’s Chicken N Waffles\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keith’s came onto our radar a few months ago, when it \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DEk_2lDzRty/?hl=en\">extended its hours\u003c/a> to midnight four nights a week. But for the longest time afterward, we couldn’t find any online evidence of anyone ever actually eating there late at night: No one picked up the phone the dozen or so times I called, and the one time we showed up, hungry, on a Friday night, the place was closed. No sign on the door or anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So we were thrilled to confirm firsthand that you \u003ci>can\u003c/i> score a plate of top-notch chicken and waffles in Daly City until midnight — or at least 11:30 p.m., when the shop puts in its last call for orders. (The hours are a little wonky, though, so if you’re trekking from the other side of the Bay, you should double-check the \u003ca href=\"https://keithschickennwaffles.com/menu\">restaurant website\u003c/a> to make sure they are in fact open and accepting orders before heading out.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shop itself looks like your standard corner soul food joint — a bit cramped and well-worn, with black and white checkerboard-tile flooring and a jaunty, muscle-bound cartoon rooster painted on the facade. A few framed paintings of Bob Marley and Tupac hang on the walls, and a hand-written sign next to the counter reads: “Don’t stare. After you order please sit your ass down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979468\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979468\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-2.jpeg\" alt=\"Exterior of a chicken and waffles restaurant lit up at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-2.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-2-160x160.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-2-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/keiths-2-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keith’s is now open late — until midnight — Wednesday through Saturday. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You will have to wait a little while, at least. One of the restaurant’s hallmarks is that the cooks fry every batch of chicken to order; there are no heat lamps to speak of. The chicken comes out burn-your-tongue hot, with a thin, well-bronzed, shatteringly crisp sheath. This was the crunchiest fried chicken I’ve eaten in recent memory, and some of the most flavorful too. I don’t know what they put in their seasoning mix, but every piece is seasoned extraordinarily well down to the last nook, cranny and crevice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the shop’s quirks is that the chicken pieces come in a range of sizes — we received a big, ample thigh, a slightly smaller one, and a rather diminutive drumstick. It didn’t bother us. If anything, the nonuniformity underscored Keith’s Chicken N Waffles’ status as a homegrown, made-from-scratch operation, not some cookie-cutter McNugget factory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you happen to be more of a chicken tender connoisseur, Keith’s still has you covered. The tenders here are plump, moist and uncommonly large — and, again, seasoned so aggressively well that you can enjoy them straight-up. (Though I did like the orange-gold, Carolina-style, honey-based barbecue sauce that the shop provided.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One remarkable thing about Keith’s is how reasonable the prices are. Combo meals — all named after rappers (the DMX, the Rick Ross and so on) — start at around $12 and come with waffles, sides, soda, the whole nine yards, and there’s always a bargain-priced daily special too (say, three wings and a waffle for $10). The upshot is you wind up paying cheaper-than-fast-food prices — I’m looking at you, Popeyes and Raising Cane’s — for fresher, more generous portions of chicken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the soul food side dishes (soupy, well-spiced collard greens, proper Southern-style mac and cheese, and more) were all better than solid, and we decided to save the saucy party wings and promising-looking fried chicken sandwich for our next visit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "arts_13978355,arts_13956683,arts_13969092",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Of course at Keith’s Chicken N Waffles, the chicken is only half the story. In much of the Bay Area, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/food/1337630/chicken\">fried chicken and waffles\u003c/a> is strictly a brunch-time treat, so it’s a rare pleasure to be able to score a good waffle late at night. And the waffles at Keith’s are very good, and available in a variety of flavors and sizes. We liked the standard Belgian waffle best: light, yeasty and super-buttery, with crisp edges, topped with a huge dollop of even more soft butter. It’s tasty enough that you don’t even really need to add syrup — though it’s hard to resist when the restaurant offers serve-yourself syrup, dispensed out of a gigantic coffee urn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone with a sweet tooth should also try the mini waffle trio, which comes with a pint-sized version of the standard waffle, plus a richly chocolatey (and surprisingly not-too-sweet) red velvet waffle and a waffle topped with candied yams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the union of the chicken and the waffles — of savory and sweet — is, of course, what has long made breakfast for dinner (or breakfast for a midnight snack) one of life’s most deeply pleasurable indulgences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That alone makes Keith’s well worth a visit. It might not be the most vibey or bustling of the late-night food destinations we’ve frequented — when we visited, it seemed to be doing all takeout business past 9 p.m., as hungry teens and twentysomethings pulled up to pick up buckets of chicken and waffles before heading out into the night. But who needs vibe when the cooking is this good? The air hung thick with the smell of sweet syrup and hot fryer oil. A match, honestly, made in heaven.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://keithschickennwaffles.com/\">\u003ci>Keith’s Chicken N Waffles\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m.–midnight, Sunday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. and Mondays and Tuesdays 11 a.m.–8 p.m. at 270 San Pedro Rd. in Daly City. It’s within walking distance of the Colma BART station.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13979460/keiths-chicken-waffles-crunchiest-fried-chicken-daly-city-late-night",
"authors": [
"11743",
"11753"
],
"series": [
"arts_22316"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276"
],
"tags": [
"arts_2854",
"arts_10278",
"arts_1297",
"arts_8805",
"arts_14729",
"arts_21928"
],
"featImg": "arts_13979464",
"label": "source_arts_13979460"
},
"arts_13978355": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13978355",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13978355",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1751586199000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "mama-gos-filipino-food-sfo-airport-late-night-san-francisco",
"title": "Mama Go’s Serves the Best Late-Night Airport Food at SFO",
"publishDate": 1751586199,
"format": "aside",
"headTitle": "Mama Go’s Serves the Best Late-Night Airport Food at SFO | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13978358\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13978358\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos.jpg\" alt=\"Two men devour trays of Filipino food out of cafeteria-style trays. Behind them, travelers pull carry-on suitcases in the background. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Located in the Harvey Milk Terminal concourse at SFO, Mama Go’s serves a real rarity: home-style Filipino food at the airport. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We stepped off the airplane and onto the gleaming white \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/harvey-milk\">Harvey Milk\u003c/a> Terminal concourse with a rumbling in our stomachs and beef kaldereta on our minds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was nearly 10 o’clock on a Sunday night, when the options for late-night dining in San Francisco are even slimmer than usual. But we were lucky: We’d heard that \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mamagos_filipino/?hl=en\">Mama Go’s\u003c/a>, located just outside our gate, serves its menu of home-style Filipino classics until 11:30 p.m. every night. As we soon learned, it’s probably the best restaurant in the entire airport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We were hardly the only folks on our flight who made a beeline directly toward Mama Go’s, joining other travelers grabbing a quick bite before boarding their redeyes. The shared dining area encompassed a wide spectrum of late-night airport life: An off-shift ground crew member waited for his boba order. An older white guy in a neatly pressed dress shirt tucked a napkin bib into his collar, opened up the newspaper, and proceeded to dig into a big bowl of pancit bihon. A Gen Z Filipina absentmindedly picked at a plate of garlic rice while scrolling her phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kiosk is set up similarly to the dozens of turo-turo (“point-point”) steam table restaurants you can find scattered throughout the Bay, except with slightly (but not outrageously) higher prices and a more tightly curated selection of pre-cooked dishes. During our visit, a couple of hours before close, the restaurant had sold out of a few a la carte offerings like its arroz caldo and grilled chicken skewers. In any case, the highlight of the menu at Mama Go’s by far is its array of homey, slow-cooked stews, which you can order as part of a two- or three-item combo plate for around $20 — easily the best bang for your buck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airport food or not, all of the meaty stews we tried were showstoppers, as comforting and compulsively eatable as anything you’d find at a Daly City or Vallejo neighborhood Filipino spot. Take that beef kaldereta, for instance. I’ve eaten slightly more elaborate versions made with oxtail and studded with green olives. But the airport kiosk’s take on the classic beef stew was as satisfying as any I’ve had — generous chunks of exquisitely tender meat, soft potatoes, and bell peppers in a rich, velvety brown gravy that tasted amazing over garlic rice. I could have eaten three bowls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bicol express might have been even better. It featured cubes of tender, fatty pork bathed in a creamy coconut sauce with a surprising chili kick and a jolt of funky shrimp paste umami — the kind of flavor-packed dish I’d expect to find at a Filipino family potluck instead of just steps away from the airport’s children’s play area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The restaurant also sells a very solid version of chicken adobo — boneless, skinless thigh meat to make things easier for the on-the-go crowd, but as lovingly slow-cooked as the other stews, with a bright vinegar tang that perked up our palates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The combo plates all come with a side dish (we went with the cigar-shaped lumpia Shanghai, naturally), a choice of rice or noodles, and a bowl of sibuya soup topped with crispy onions that went soft after soaking up the clear, hot broth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13978359\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13978359\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2.jpg\" alt=\"A busy food kiosk inside an airport. The sign overhead reads, "Mama Go's Filipino Cuisine."\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The kiosk is open until 11:30 p.m. each night — and then it opens again at 3:30 a.m. for Filipino breakfast. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13977177,arts_13956683,arts_13966812']Mama Go’s claims to be the first Filipino restaurant to open at any airport in the United States, and there’s something so fitting and poetic about chicken adobo, garlic rice and lumpia being a traveler’s first and/or last taste of San Francisco. In fact, we only had a chance to experience one end of the restaurant’s late-night clutchness. Mama Go’s closes for just a few hours each night before opening again at 3:30 a.m. (!) to serve a full slate of Filipino breakfast dishes — silog plates with eggs, garlic rice, and your choice of grilled meat (or vegan patty) — to predawn travelers getting ready to board the earliest flights of the day. (When I flew back from the East Coast earlier this week, the prospect of a silog tempted me to \u003ci>not \u003c/i>reschedule a flight that was delayed so much I would have landed at SFO after 3 a.m. Sadly, Mrs. Midnight Diners was not amused.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What really makes Mama Go’s stand out, however, is the way it offers a counterpoint to the inhumanity of commercial airline travel today — the shrinking legroom and overhead compartments, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/17/18412450/tsa-airport-full-body-scanners-racist\">racial profiling\u003c/a>, the fee-ification of every last aspect of the travel experience. Even at SFO, which has better food than the bulk of American airports, almost all of the options are blandly corporate to the utmost degree: fast-casual fried chicken ordered from a touch-screen, overpriced chain restaurant banh mi, or a celebrity chef’s 28th or 29th new pizza franchise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Against that backdrop, a home-style meal from Mama Go’s feels particularly special. To be sure, the restaurant’s parent company has its own \u003ca href=\"https://ladyluckgourmet.com/about-us/our-team/\">corporate hierarchy\u003c/a> — but for now, at least, the SFO kiosk is the only location in the world. The staff is warm and welcoming. And there is something wonderful and incredibly human about eating a meal like this at the airport. Luxuriating in a hearty stew (or two or three) and a mound of garlic rice. Sipping from a bowl of hot broth between bites. Just taking a minute to breathe.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://mamagos.com/\">\u003ci>Mama Go’s Filipino Cuisine\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open 3:30 a.m.–11:30 p.m. daily in Terminal 1 of the San Francisco International Airport, near Gate B18.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The home-style Filipino meals — including breakfast at 3:30 a.m. — are a surprising find in Terminal 1.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1751593153,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 15,
"wordCount": 1092
},
"headData": {
"title": "This Filipino Restaurant Serves the Best Airport Food at SFO | KQED",
"description": "The home-style Filipino meals — including breakfast at 3:30 a.m. — are a surprising find in Terminal 1.",
"ogTitle": "Mama Go’s Serves the Best Late-Night Airport Food at SFO",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "Mama Go’s Serves the Best Late-Night Airport Food at SFO",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "This Filipino Restaurant Serves the Best Airport Food at SFO %%page%% %%sep%% KQED",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Mama Go’s Serves the Best Late-Night Airport Food at SFO",
"datePublished": "2025-07-03T16:43:19-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-07-03T18:39:13-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 12276,
"slug": "food",
"name": "Food"
},
"source": "The Midnight Diners",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13978355",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13978355/mama-gos-filipino-food-sfo-airport-late-night-san-francisco",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13978358\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13978358\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos.jpg\" alt=\"Two men devour trays of Filipino food out of cafeteria-style trays. Behind them, travelers pull carry-on suitcases in the background. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Located in the Harvey Milk Terminal concourse at SFO, Mama Go’s serves a real rarity: home-style Filipino food at the airport. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We stepped off the airplane and onto the gleaming white \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/harvey-milk\">Harvey Milk\u003c/a> Terminal concourse with a rumbling in our stomachs and beef kaldereta on our minds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was nearly 10 o’clock on a Sunday night, when the options for late-night dining in San Francisco are even slimmer than usual. But we were lucky: We’d heard that \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mamagos_filipino/?hl=en\">Mama Go’s\u003c/a>, located just outside our gate, serves its menu of home-style Filipino classics until 11:30 p.m. every night. As we soon learned, it’s probably the best restaurant in the entire airport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We were hardly the only folks on our flight who made a beeline directly toward Mama Go’s, joining other travelers grabbing a quick bite before boarding their redeyes. The shared dining area encompassed a wide spectrum of late-night airport life: An off-shift ground crew member waited for his boba order. An older white guy in a neatly pressed dress shirt tucked a napkin bib into his collar, opened up the newspaper, and proceeded to dig into a big bowl of pancit bihon. A Gen Z Filipina absentmindedly picked at a plate of garlic rice while scrolling her phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kiosk is set up similarly to the dozens of turo-turo (“point-point”) steam table restaurants you can find scattered throughout the Bay, except with slightly (but not outrageously) higher prices and a more tightly curated selection of pre-cooked dishes. During our visit, a couple of hours before close, the restaurant had sold out of a few a la carte offerings like its arroz caldo and grilled chicken skewers. In any case, the highlight of the menu at Mama Go’s by far is its array of homey, slow-cooked stews, which you can order as part of a two- or three-item combo plate for around $20 — easily the best bang for your buck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airport food or not, all of the meaty stews we tried were showstoppers, as comforting and compulsively eatable as anything you’d find at a Daly City or Vallejo neighborhood Filipino spot. Take that beef kaldereta, for instance. I’ve eaten slightly more elaborate versions made with oxtail and studded with green olives. But the airport kiosk’s take on the classic beef stew was as satisfying as any I’ve had — generous chunks of exquisitely tender meat, soft potatoes, and bell peppers in a rich, velvety brown gravy that tasted amazing over garlic rice. I could have eaten three bowls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bicol express might have been even better. It featured cubes of tender, fatty pork bathed in a creamy coconut sauce with a surprising chili kick and a jolt of funky shrimp paste umami — the kind of flavor-packed dish I’d expect to find at a Filipino family potluck instead of just steps away from the airport’s children’s play area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The restaurant also sells a very solid version of chicken adobo — boneless, skinless thigh meat to make things easier for the on-the-go crowd, but as lovingly slow-cooked as the other stews, with a bright vinegar tang that perked up our palates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The combo plates all come with a side dish (we went with the cigar-shaped lumpia Shanghai, naturally), a choice of rice or noodles, and a bowl of sibuya soup topped with crispy onions that went soft after soaking up the clear, hot broth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13978359\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13978359\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2.jpg\" alt=\"A busy food kiosk inside an airport. The sign overhead reads, "Mama Go's Filipino Cuisine."\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/Mama-Gos2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The kiosk is open until 11:30 p.m. each night — and then it opens again at 3:30 a.m. for Filipino breakfast. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "arts_13977177,arts_13956683,arts_13966812",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Mama Go’s claims to be the first Filipino restaurant to open at any airport in the United States, and there’s something so fitting and poetic about chicken adobo, garlic rice and lumpia being a traveler’s first and/or last taste of San Francisco. In fact, we only had a chance to experience one end of the restaurant’s late-night clutchness. Mama Go’s closes for just a few hours each night before opening again at 3:30 a.m. (!) to serve a full slate of Filipino breakfast dishes — silog plates with eggs, garlic rice, and your choice of grilled meat (or vegan patty) — to predawn travelers getting ready to board the earliest flights of the day. (When I flew back from the East Coast earlier this week, the prospect of a silog tempted me to \u003ci>not \u003c/i>reschedule a flight that was delayed so much I would have landed at SFO after 3 a.m. Sadly, Mrs. Midnight Diners was not amused.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What really makes Mama Go’s stand out, however, is the way it offers a counterpoint to the inhumanity of commercial airline travel today — the shrinking legroom and overhead compartments, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/17/18412450/tsa-airport-full-body-scanners-racist\">racial profiling\u003c/a>, the fee-ification of every last aspect of the travel experience. Even at SFO, which has better food than the bulk of American airports, almost all of the options are blandly corporate to the utmost degree: fast-casual fried chicken ordered from a touch-screen, overpriced chain restaurant banh mi, or a celebrity chef’s 28th or 29th new pizza franchise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Against that backdrop, a home-style meal from Mama Go’s feels particularly special. To be sure, the restaurant’s parent company has its own \u003ca href=\"https://ladyluckgourmet.com/about-us/our-team/\">corporate hierarchy\u003c/a> — but for now, at least, the SFO kiosk is the only location in the world. The staff is warm and welcoming. And there is something wonderful and incredibly human about eating a meal like this at the airport. Luxuriating in a hearty stew (or two or three) and a mound of garlic rice. Sipping from a bowl of hot broth between bites. Just taking a minute to breathe.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://mamagos.com/\">\u003ci>Mama Go’s Filipino Cuisine\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open 3:30 a.m.–11:30 p.m. daily in Terminal 1 of the San Francisco International Airport, near Gate B18.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13978355/mama-gos-filipino-food-sfo-airport-late-night-san-francisco",
"authors": [
"11743",
"11753"
],
"series": [
"arts_22316"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276"
],
"tags": [
"arts_10278",
"arts_14183",
"arts_1297",
"arts_8805",
"arts_1146",
"arts_4231",
"arts_21928"
],
"featImg": "arts_13978361",
"label": "source_arts_13978355"
},
"arts_13963258": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13963258",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13963258",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1750378547000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "best-bay-area-night-markets-summer-2025",
"title": "Bay Area Night Markets Are the Best Place to Taste the World’s Cuisines",
"publishDate": 1750378547,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Bay Area Night Markets Are the Best Place to Taste the World’s Cuisines | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/summer-guide-2025\">2025 Summer Arts Guide to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more\u003c/a> in the Bay Area.\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever wandered the back alleyways of a stinky tofu–fragrant Taipei night market, or done a laksa crawl at a Singaporean hawker center, or strolled from yakisoba stall to takoyaki stand amid a sea of yukata at a traditional Japanese summer festival — then you know the\u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20171201052033/https://modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-power-of-night-market\"> power of a night market\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And you also probably know: We’ve never really had a street food culture quite like that in the Bay Area, and\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/soleilho/article/san-francisco-night-market-food-bureaucracy-19654195.php\"> maybe we never will\u003c/a>. And yet, five years since the start of a pandemic that isolated communities and crippled downtown shopping districts, the night market has emerged as the single most popular antidote to those woes. Loosely modeled after the kinds of late-night, food-centric markets that are ubiquitous through much of Asia, night market events have launched as a way to bring communities together in cities and neighborhoods all across the Bay — from the chilly west end of San Francisco to the vast suburban parking lots of Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, there are some weekends when a dedicated night market enthusiast can hit up two or three of these street food panaceas.\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\"> Miracle of miracles\u003c/a>, a few of them are even open as late as 10 p.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as we head into the heart of the summer, these night markets are some of the best places to taste a sampling of our region’s diverse, multicultural cuisines. Here are nine night markets we’re excited about:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>365 Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>June 20–21, July 25–26, Aug. 29–30 and Sept. 26–27, 4–10 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>1111 Story Rd., San José (Grand Century Mall parking lot)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Set in the heart of San José’s Little Saigon neighborhood, this market replaces the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961537/san-jose-night-market-vietnamese-grand-century-mall\">heavily Vietnamese\u003c/a>-inflected one that previously held court in the Grand Century Mall parking lot. For its part, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/365nightmarket/?hl=en\">365 Night Market\u003c/a> takes a somewhat more pan-Asian approach but otherwise keeps the same format: Spread across a consecutive Friday and Saturday night each month, the event features 60-some-odd food stalls, live DJ sets, a sprinkling of cultural performances, and carnival games like Plinko and Connect Four. The June 20–21 food lineup includes vendors specializing in Chinese candied fruit skewers, northern-style beef phở, dessert crepes and pandan tiramisu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977829\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977829\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/OyC-Night-Lights.jpg\" alt=\"View of an outdoor beer garden with vintage lowrider cars on display.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/OyC-Night-Lights.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/OyC-Night-Lights-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/OyC-Night-Lights-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/OyC-Night-Lights-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Berryessa Night Market’s ‘Oldies y Cerveza’–themed events are a celebration of old soul vinyls and lowrider culture. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Berryessa Night Market)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Berryessa Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Fridays, 5–9 p.m., from April through October\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>San José Flea Market, 1590 Berryessa Rd., San José\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every Friday through October, the San José Flea Market (aka\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905374/la-pulga-san-jose-flea-market-redevelopment-eulogy\"> La Pulga\u003c/a>) operates a weekly night market at its “Garden at the Flea” beer garden and events space, often with a specific theme. On June 20, for instance, the market will host its annual Kawaii Kpop Night — a celebration of anime, K-pop and J-pop, to go along with a diverse lineup of food vendors serving poke bowls, shaved ice and Mexican-style loaded baked potatoes. Meanwhile, June 27 will be “Oldies y Cerveza” night, a recurring event that celebrates rare soul vinyls, lowriders and cold beer.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Heart of the Richmond Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>June 21, July 19, Aug. 16 and Sept. 20, 4–8 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>Clement Street (between 22nd and 25th Avenues), San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Richmond District has long been one of the best dining destinations in San Francisco, between its well-established (if informal) designation as the city’s “New Chinatown,” status as the historical center for the local Russian-speaking communities, and sprinkling of trendy higher-end restaurants. It’s fitting, then, that the neighborhood’s new night market reflects that vibrancy and diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://heartoftherichmonddistrictnightmarket.com/june-21st-participants/\">June 21 market\u003c/a> will have a special focus on kid-friendly activities like lawn games, Lego and temporary tattoos. Meanwhile the food options play to the neighborhood’s strengths: dim sum, Korean barbecue, ube hand pies, dragon beard candy, ice cream sandwiches and more. All that, plus free cartoons for kids at the 4 Star Theater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977831\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977831\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market-fruit_julie-ramsey.jpg\" alt=\"A street vendor sells colorful skewers of candied fruit.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market-fruit_julie-ramsey.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market-fruit_julie-ramsey-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market-fruit_julie-ramsey-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market-fruit_julie-ramsey-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A street vendor sells tanghulu, or Chinese candied fruit, at the Chinatown Night Market. \u003ccite>(Julie Ramsey, courtesy of BeChinatow )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Chinatown Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 11, Aug. 8, Sept. 12, Oct. 10 and Nov. 14, 5:30–9 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>Grant Avenue (between Sacramento and Jackson), San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the tail of several challenging pandemic-era years, San Francisco’s Chinatown now has its own night market, held the second Friday of every month. Hosted by \u003ca href=\"https://bechinatown.weebly.com/\">BeChinatown\u003c/a> and a fleet of hundreds of volunteers, the Chinatown Night Market now regularly packs three full blocks of Grant Avenue with a crowd that includes a large proportion of young people — a priority for Chinatown legacy businesses hoping to connect with the new generation, says BeChinatown president Lily Lo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People just feel the energy,” says Jonathan Sit, president of the volunteer coalition. “There’s lanterns. There’s karaoke in the street.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foodwise, the market’s main distinguishing feature is that it’s focused almost entirely on local vendors within Chinatown (“\u003ci>no\u003c/i> food trucks,” Lo stresses), many of which offer special items that they only sell during the night market — fried cheese at the Wong Lee bakery, for instance, or tea eggs at one of the sushi shops. Another difference? The prices are set lower than other street food events, with most vendors offering $5 menu items. Fan favorites include tanghulu (candied fruit), coconut pudding served inside the shell, and Xinjiang-style meat skewers — one of the few items that are grilled fresh on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977836\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/valencia-live_ugur-dursun.jpg\" alt=\"Crowded street party at night.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/valencia-live_ugur-dursun.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/valencia-live_ugur-dursun-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/valencia-live_ugur-dursun-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/valencia-live_ugur-dursun-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Valencia Live! night market takes place every second Thursday of the month. \u003ccite>(Ugur Dursun/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Valencia Live!\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 10, Aug. 14, Sept. 11, Oct. 9, 5–10 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Valencia Street (between 16th and 19th), San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of San Francisco’s newest night markets takes place on every second Thursday of the month, with a focus on highlighting local vendors in the Mission. Instead of bringing in outside food trucks or other street vendors, the event is more like a street party that promotes Valencia Street’s existing brick-and-mortar restaurants, many of which set up pop-ups with outdoor dining outside their space. Notably, Valencia Live! is one of three new “entertainment zones” in the city that allow, among other things, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/valencia-street-night-market-20246721.php\">the sale of to-go cocktails\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963298\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963298\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria.jpg\" alt=\"Asian man in black backwards baseball cap tosses fried rice in a hot wok at an outdoor market.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Woo Can Cook’s wok-fried rice is one of the Prescott Night Market’s street food options. \u003ccite>(Don Feria)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Prescott Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 24, Aug. 21, Sept. 4 and Oct. 9, 5–9 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>1620 18th St., Oakland\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>West Oakland’s popular monthly\u003ca href=\"https://www.westoaklandfarmersmarket.org/nightmarket\"> Thursday night market\u003c/a> packs plenty of Town energy into each four-hour market, starting with a multicultural lineup of food vendors that might, in a given month, sell Cambodian meat skewers, Nigerian jollof, Cubano sandwiches, Taiwanese night market–inspired fried rice, whole roast pig and more. (The exact lineup for this year’s first market in July is still in the works.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prescott Night Market is located in an increasingly lively stretch of West Oakland, on the same block where an\u003ca href=\"https://www.westoaklandfarmersmarket.org/markethall\"> affiliated food hall\u003c/a> opened earlier this spring and just across the street from the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13960687/oakland-ballers-baseball-summertime-fans\"> Oakland Ballers’ ballpark\u003c/a>, which has created a fortuitous bit of synergy when market nights have coincided with Ballers’ home games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963302\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963302\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6.jpg\" alt=\"A woman grilling meat skewers over a charcoal grill.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Indian barbecue courtesy of Hayward’s Wah Jee Wah. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Bhangra and Beats)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Bhangra and Beats Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 25 and Oct. 24, 5–10 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>Battery Street at Clay Street, San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of downtown San Francisco’s most unique night markets is essentially a massive, rollicking Friday night block party that shines a particular spotlight on South Asian culture — feet-pounding\u003ca href=\"https://nonstopbhangra.com/\"> bhangra folk music and dancing\u003c/a> and, of course, a wide spectrum of street food offerings, including charcoal-grilled meat skewers from Indian barbecue sensation\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wahjeewah/?hl=en\"> Wah Jee Wah\u003c/a>, Nepalese momos from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/biniskitchen/\">Bini’s Kitchen\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13960580/jollof-festival-oakland-west-african-food-competition-nigerian-sierra-leone\">championship-pedigreed Nigerian jollof rice\u003c/a> from Jollof Kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each edition of\u003ca href=\"https://www.bhangraandbeats.com/\"> Bhangra and Beats\u003c/a> has its own theme. The July night market, for instance, is being billed as a “Summer Block Party.” Meanwhile, October’s market has been designated as the city of San Francisco’s official Diwali celebration.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Millbrae Gateway Night Market\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Aug. 1, Sept. 5, Oct. 3, Nov. 7, Dec. 5, 4–10 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>200 Rollins Rd., Millbrae\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The quiet suburb of Millbrae has long been one of the Bay Area’s top destinations for Asian cuisines, so it’s no surprise that the city now has its own \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/millbrae-gateway-night-market-tickets-1269974902119\">Asian-style night market\u003c/a>, hosted at the Gateway at Millbrae Station mixed-use complex. The first few markets have featured live music, free yoga classes, axe throwing and, of course, a robust selection of (mostly Asian) street food vendors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963303\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963303\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market.jpg\" alt=\"A crowd waits in line at the Liang's Village food stand.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Liang’s Village Taiwanese food stand at a previous edition of the Cupertino Night Market. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cupertino Chamber of Commerce)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Cupertino Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Aug. 16, 3–10 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>De Anza College, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-cupertino-night-market-tickets-1333444200499\">Cupertino’s annual night market\u003c/a> typically features about 20 food vendors. This year’s lineup is still being set, but past participants have included South Bay stalwarts like longtime Taiwanese favorite\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/liangsvillage/\"> Liang’s Village\u003c/a> and Mexican pizza truck\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tlaxiacos/\"> Tlaxiaco’s\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fittingly for a Cupertino event, previous editions of the night market have often featured a heavy tech angle, with VR gaming trucks, Tesla test drives and the like — though we’re told organizers are still looking for an electric car sponsor for this year.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "This summer, the region’s tastiest food events will be out in the streets.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1750381583,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 31,
"wordCount": 1689
},
"headData": {
"title": "The Best Bay Area Night Markets to Visit This Summer | KQED",
"description": "This summer, the region’s tastiest food events will be out in the streets.",
"ogTitle": "Bay Area Night Markets Are the Best Place to Taste the World’s Cuisines",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "Bay Area Night Markets Are the Best Place to Taste the World’s Cuisines",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "The Best Bay Area Night Markets to Visit This Summer %%page%% %%sep%% KQED",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Bay Area Night Markets Are the Best Place to Taste the World’s Cuisines",
"datePublished": "2025-06-19T17:15:47-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-06-19T18:06:23-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"source": "Summer Guide 2025",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/summer-guide-2025",
"sticky": false,
"WpOldSlug": "night-markets-are-bringing-back-bay-area-nightlife-one-neighborhood-at-a-time",
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13963258",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13963258/best-bay-area-night-markets-summer-2025",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/summer-guide-2025\">2025 Summer Arts Guide to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more\u003c/a> in the Bay Area.\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever wandered the back alleyways of a stinky tofu–fragrant Taipei night market, or done a laksa crawl at a Singaporean hawker center, or strolled from yakisoba stall to takoyaki stand amid a sea of yukata at a traditional Japanese summer festival — then you know the\u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20171201052033/https://modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-power-of-night-market\"> power of a night market\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And you also probably know: We’ve never really had a street food culture quite like that in the Bay Area, and\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/soleilho/article/san-francisco-night-market-food-bureaucracy-19654195.php\"> maybe we never will\u003c/a>. And yet, five years since the start of a pandemic that isolated communities and crippled downtown shopping districts, the night market has emerged as the single most popular antidote to those woes. Loosely modeled after the kinds of late-night, food-centric markets that are ubiquitous through much of Asia, night market events have launched as a way to bring communities together in cities and neighborhoods all across the Bay — from the chilly west end of San Francisco to the vast suburban parking lots of Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, there are some weekends when a dedicated night market enthusiast can hit up two or three of these street food panaceas.\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\"> Miracle of miracles\u003c/a>, a few of them are even open as late as 10 p.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as we head into the heart of the summer, these night markets are some of the best places to taste a sampling of our region’s diverse, multicultural cuisines. Here are nine night markets we’re excited about:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>365 Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>June 20–21, July 25–26, Aug. 29–30 and Sept. 26–27, 4–10 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>1111 Story Rd., San José (Grand Century Mall parking lot)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Set in the heart of San José’s Little Saigon neighborhood, this market replaces the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961537/san-jose-night-market-vietnamese-grand-century-mall\">heavily Vietnamese\u003c/a>-inflected one that previously held court in the Grand Century Mall parking lot. For its part, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/365nightmarket/?hl=en\">365 Night Market\u003c/a> takes a somewhat more pan-Asian approach but otherwise keeps the same format: Spread across a consecutive Friday and Saturday night each month, the event features 60-some-odd food stalls, live DJ sets, a sprinkling of cultural performances, and carnival games like Plinko and Connect Four. The June 20–21 food lineup includes vendors specializing in Chinese candied fruit skewers, northern-style beef phở, dessert crepes and pandan tiramisu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977829\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977829\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/OyC-Night-Lights.jpg\" alt=\"View of an outdoor beer garden with vintage lowrider cars on display.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/OyC-Night-Lights.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/OyC-Night-Lights-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/OyC-Night-Lights-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/OyC-Night-Lights-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Berryessa Night Market’s ‘Oldies y Cerveza’–themed events are a celebration of old soul vinyls and lowrider culture. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Berryessa Night Market)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Berryessa Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Fridays, 5–9 p.m., from April through October\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>San José Flea Market, 1590 Berryessa Rd., San José\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every Friday through October, the San José Flea Market (aka\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905374/la-pulga-san-jose-flea-market-redevelopment-eulogy\"> La Pulga\u003c/a>) operates a weekly night market at its “Garden at the Flea” beer garden and events space, often with a specific theme. On June 20, for instance, the market will host its annual Kawaii Kpop Night — a celebration of anime, K-pop and J-pop, to go along with a diverse lineup of food vendors serving poke bowls, shaved ice and Mexican-style loaded baked potatoes. Meanwhile, June 27 will be “Oldies y Cerveza” night, a recurring event that celebrates rare soul vinyls, lowriders and cold beer.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Heart of the Richmond Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>June 21, July 19, Aug. 16 and Sept. 20, 4–8 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>Clement Street (between 22nd and 25th Avenues), San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Richmond District has long been one of the best dining destinations in San Francisco, between its well-established (if informal) designation as the city’s “New Chinatown,” status as the historical center for the local Russian-speaking communities, and sprinkling of trendy higher-end restaurants. It’s fitting, then, that the neighborhood’s new night market reflects that vibrancy and diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://heartoftherichmonddistrictnightmarket.com/june-21st-participants/\">June 21 market\u003c/a> will have a special focus on kid-friendly activities like lawn games, Lego and temporary tattoos. Meanwhile the food options play to the neighborhood’s strengths: dim sum, Korean barbecue, ube hand pies, dragon beard candy, ice cream sandwiches and more. All that, plus free cartoons for kids at the 4 Star Theater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977831\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977831\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market-fruit_julie-ramsey.jpg\" alt=\"A street vendor sells colorful skewers of candied fruit.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market-fruit_julie-ramsey.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market-fruit_julie-ramsey-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market-fruit_julie-ramsey-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/chinatown-night-market-fruit_julie-ramsey-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A street vendor sells tanghulu, or Chinese candied fruit, at the Chinatown Night Market. \u003ccite>(Julie Ramsey, courtesy of BeChinatow )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Chinatown Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 11, Aug. 8, Sept. 12, Oct. 10 and Nov. 14, 5:30–9 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>Grant Avenue (between Sacramento and Jackson), San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the tail of several challenging pandemic-era years, San Francisco’s Chinatown now has its own night market, held the second Friday of every month. Hosted by \u003ca href=\"https://bechinatown.weebly.com/\">BeChinatown\u003c/a> and a fleet of hundreds of volunteers, the Chinatown Night Market now regularly packs three full blocks of Grant Avenue with a crowd that includes a large proportion of young people — a priority for Chinatown legacy businesses hoping to connect with the new generation, says BeChinatown president Lily Lo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People just feel the energy,” says Jonathan Sit, president of the volunteer coalition. “There’s lanterns. There’s karaoke in the street.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foodwise, the market’s main distinguishing feature is that it’s focused almost entirely on local vendors within Chinatown (“\u003ci>no\u003c/i> food trucks,” Lo stresses), many of which offer special items that they only sell during the night market — fried cheese at the Wong Lee bakery, for instance, or tea eggs at one of the sushi shops. Another difference? The prices are set lower than other street food events, with most vendors offering $5 menu items. Fan favorites include tanghulu (candied fruit), coconut pudding served inside the shell, and Xinjiang-style meat skewers — one of the few items that are grilled fresh on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977836\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/valencia-live_ugur-dursun.jpg\" alt=\"Crowded street party at night.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/valencia-live_ugur-dursun.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/valencia-live_ugur-dursun-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/valencia-live_ugur-dursun-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/valencia-live_ugur-dursun-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Valencia Live! night market takes place every second Thursday of the month. \u003ccite>(Ugur Dursun/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Valencia Live!\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 10, Aug. 14, Sept. 11, Oct. 9, 5–10 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Valencia Street (between 16th and 19th), San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of San Francisco’s newest night markets takes place on every second Thursday of the month, with a focus on highlighting local vendors in the Mission. Instead of bringing in outside food trucks or other street vendors, the event is more like a street party that promotes Valencia Street’s existing brick-and-mortar restaurants, many of which set up pop-ups with outdoor dining outside their space. Notably, Valencia Live! is one of three new “entertainment zones” in the city that allow, among other things, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/valencia-street-night-market-20246721.php\">the sale of to-go cocktails\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963298\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963298\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria.jpg\" alt=\"Asian man in black backwards baseball cap tosses fried rice in a hot wok at an outdoor market.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/prescott-1_don-feria-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Woo Can Cook’s wok-fried rice is one of the Prescott Night Market’s street food options. \u003ccite>(Don Feria)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Prescott Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 24, Aug. 21, Sept. 4 and Oct. 9, 5–9 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>1620 18th St., Oakland\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>West Oakland’s popular monthly\u003ca href=\"https://www.westoaklandfarmersmarket.org/nightmarket\"> Thursday night market\u003c/a> packs plenty of Town energy into each four-hour market, starting with a multicultural lineup of food vendors that might, in a given month, sell Cambodian meat skewers, Nigerian jollof, Cubano sandwiches, Taiwanese night market–inspired fried rice, whole roast pig and more. (The exact lineup for this year’s first market in July is still in the works.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prescott Night Market is located in an increasingly lively stretch of West Oakland, on the same block where an\u003ca href=\"https://www.westoaklandfarmersmarket.org/markethall\"> affiliated food hall\u003c/a> opened earlier this spring and just across the street from the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13960687/oakland-ballers-baseball-summertime-fans\"> Oakland Ballers’ ballpark\u003c/a>, which has created a fortuitous bit of synergy when market nights have coincided with Ballers’ home games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963302\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963302\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6.jpg\" alt=\"A woman grilling meat skewers over a charcoal grill.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BHANGRA_BEATS_7.12.24_SM-6-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Indian barbecue courtesy of Hayward’s Wah Jee Wah. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Bhangra and Beats)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Bhangra and Beats Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 25 and Oct. 24, 5–10 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>Battery Street at Clay Street, San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of downtown San Francisco’s most unique night markets is essentially a massive, rollicking Friday night block party that shines a particular spotlight on South Asian culture — feet-pounding\u003ca href=\"https://nonstopbhangra.com/\"> bhangra folk music and dancing\u003c/a> and, of course, a wide spectrum of street food offerings, including charcoal-grilled meat skewers from Indian barbecue sensation\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wahjeewah/?hl=en\"> Wah Jee Wah\u003c/a>, Nepalese momos from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/biniskitchen/\">Bini’s Kitchen\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13960580/jollof-festival-oakland-west-african-food-competition-nigerian-sierra-leone\">championship-pedigreed Nigerian jollof rice\u003c/a> from Jollof Kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each edition of\u003ca href=\"https://www.bhangraandbeats.com/\"> Bhangra and Beats\u003c/a> has its own theme. The July night market, for instance, is being billed as a “Summer Block Party.” Meanwhile, October’s market has been designated as the city of San Francisco’s official Diwali celebration.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Millbrae Gateway Night Market\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Aug. 1, Sept. 5, Oct. 3, Nov. 7, Dec. 5, 4–10 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>200 Rollins Rd., Millbrae\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The quiet suburb of Millbrae has long been one of the Bay Area’s top destinations for Asian cuisines, so it’s no surprise that the city now has its own \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/millbrae-gateway-night-market-tickets-1269974902119\">Asian-style night market\u003c/a>, hosted at the Gateway at Millbrae Station mixed-use complex. The first few markets have featured live music, free yoga classes, axe throwing and, of course, a robust selection of (mostly Asian) street food vendors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963303\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963303\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market.jpg\" alt=\"A crowd waits in line at the Liang's Village food stand.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cupertino-night-market-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Liang’s Village Taiwanese food stand at a previous edition of the Cupertino Night Market. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cupertino Chamber of Commerce)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Cupertino Night Market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Aug. 16, 3–10 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003ci>De Anza College, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-cupertino-night-market-tickets-1333444200499\">Cupertino’s annual night market\u003c/a> typically features about 20 food vendors. This year’s lineup is still being set, but past participants have included South Bay stalwarts like longtime Taiwanese favorite\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/liangsvillage/\"> Liang’s Village\u003c/a> and Mexican pizza truck\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tlaxiacos/\"> Tlaxiaco’s\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fittingly for a Cupertino event, previous editions of the night market have often featured a heavy tech angle, with VR gaming trucks, Tesla test drives and the like — though we’re told organizers are still looking for an electric car sponsor for this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13963258/best-bay-area-night-markets-summer-2025",
"authors": [
"11743"
],
"programs": [
"arts_140"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276",
"arts_235"
],
"tags": [
"arts_10278",
"arts_10422",
"arts_1297",
"arts_22196",
"arts_8805",
"arts_22344",
"arts_12982",
"arts_22483",
"arts_585"
],
"featImg": "arts_13977828",
"label": "source_arts_13963258"
},
"arts_13977033": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13977033",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13977033",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1748985708000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "salpikitos-arepas-san-jose-charcoal-grill-late-night",
"title": "San Jose’s New Late-Night Hot Spot Serves Smoky, Charcoal-Grilled Arepas",
"publishDate": 1748985708,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "San Jose’s New Late-Night Hot Spot Serves Smoky, Charcoal-Grilled Arepas | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>On a recent Saturday night, I was food-truck-hopping in East \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San Jose\u003c/a> when the aroma of charcoal lured me to a small food stand on Alum Rock — a Colombian arepa joint called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/salpikitos.usa24/?hl=en\">Salpikitos\u003c/a>, it turned out. I felt like I had stumbled into a family’s backyard barbecue. There was an assembly line of cooks. One tended to a simmering pot of speckled quail eggs; another fanned the flames while searing a batch of arepas on the grill. It was nearly midnight and every table was packed with customers chowing down on charred masa cakes and sipping bottles of Colombiana cola.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For research purposes, I ordered the fattest arepa on the menu, the desgranada, which overflowed with beef, corn, plantain, avocado, chicharron and quail eggs skewered on toothpicks. I loved the contrast between the crisp, brittle masa and the creamy filling. It was one of the tastiest arepas I’ve come across in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edward Tovar and Vivian Sanchez opened the San Jose location of Salpikitos last December, but the business was born in Villavicencio, Colombia, in 2008. Tovar’s brother, Carlos Kaleet, started out selling arepas from a street stall and eventually expanded to a brick-and-mortar location in Villavicencio and another in Bogota. Tovar and Sanchez worked alongside Kaleet back in Colombia and got his blessing to continue the family business when they moved to the United States three years ago. Over the last six months, they’ve transformed Salpikitos from a simple food stall that had a few scattered tables to something more like an outdoor restaurant, complete with a walled-off, fully built-out kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977046\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977046\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripin%CC%83a-on-Grill.jpg\" alt=\"An arepa topped with shredded cheese and pinapples cooking over a charcoal grill, alongside a sausage link.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salpikitos’ calling card is that it cooks its arepas on a charcoal grill, imparting the corn cakes with a smoky flavor. Pictured here are the components of the choripiña. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13971280,arts_13954112,arts_13939388']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Of course, the food stand’s specialty is its arepas, which are a kind of masa cake that originated in Colombia and Venezuela. There’s a growing number of Colombian and Venezuelan food businesses in San Jose that make these stuffed corn cakes, but almost always on an indoor griddle. What makes the arepas at Salpikitos special is that they’re grilled over charcoal to impart a smoky flavor and a light char. Plus, the cooks make the masa from scratch using white corn kernels. “Before we had an electric machine,” says Sanchez, “but right now, we’re grinding it by hand. It takes about two and a half hours for the thirty pounds of masa we make per day.” The arepas are sturdy enough to encase an incredible amount of filling and have a subtle corn flavor that serves as a blank slate for a diverse cast of ingredients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple spent years studying the recipes at the original Salpikitos to replicate the flavors as precisely as possible. “The spices, amounts and ingredients are all the same we used in Colombia,” says Sanchez. There are over a dozen varieties of stuffed arepas on the menu. The top seller is the aforementioned desgranada. Sanchez’s personal favorite is the shrimp arepa filled with gooey cheese, tomatoes, red onions, avocado and paprika.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977043\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977043\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman, both dressed in black, pose for a portrait next to a fence.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1920x1081.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Owners Edward Tovar and Vivian Sanchez. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, Tovar says his favorite dish isn’t a stuffed arepa at all. It’s the choripiña — a plain, unstuffed arepa topped with melted cheese and chunks of macerated pineapple, and served with a grilled Colombian chorizo link on top. All of the flavors come together incredibly well — the smoke-infused corn flavor of the grilled masa, the tart sweetness of the pineapple, the richness of the cheese, and the savoriness of the spice-infused chorizo. It’s also just a fun eating experience, since you can wrap the arepa around the sausage and bite into the whole thing as if it were a large stuffed taco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tovar and Sanchez say their menu is identical to the one at the Salpikitos locations in Colombia, so I was surprised to see dishes inspired by American and Mexican cuisine. The rancher burger arepa is filled with traditional burger toppings along with the addition of corn and quail eggs. Those two aren’t ingredients I would ever typically consider adding to my burger, but I can confirm that the combination works exceptionally well, especially with the hard sear the beef patty gets on the grill. The Mexicana, on the other hand, features beans, jalapeño, tomato, avocado, cheese and meat with a tangy red salsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977044\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977044\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada.jpg\" alt=\"A cheesy, overstuffed arepa on a paper plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The fat, overstuffed desgranada is the bestseller. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977045\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977045\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripin%CC%83a.jpg\" alt=\"Arepa topped with chopped pineapple and a sausage link.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The choripiña isn’t stuffed — instead, chopped pineapple and a grilled chorizo link are placed on top. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When asked about their favorite menu item, every Salpikitos employee recommended something different. In other words, it’s the type of place where there’s something for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salpikitos isn’t visible from the street, and it’s tucked directly in the middle of the food truck park. Which is to say, the place isn’t easy to come across accidentally, yet the tables fill up nearly every night of the week, and the owners say they sell around 150 arepas a day. It’s become a popular late-night spot for diners in the mood for Colombian barbecue who gather near the fire as the cold night air fills with smoke and chatter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We feel customers come here because of the flavor of the arepa,” says Sanchez. “Customers tell us the flavor is unique because of the charcoal. It’s the essence of the arepa.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/salpikitos.usa24/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Salpikitos\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Friday 7 p.m.–12 a.m. and Saturday to Sunday 5 p.m.–midnight at 1948 Alum Rock Ave. in San Jose.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Salpikitos is the first U.S. location for a family business born in Colombia.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1749193221,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 13,
"wordCount": 1012
},
"headData": {
"title": "San Jose’s New Late-Night Hot Spot Serves Smoky, Charcoal-Grilled Arepas | KQED",
"description": "Salpikitos is the first U.S. location for a family business born in Colombia.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "San Jose’s New Late-Night Hot Spot Serves Smoky, Charcoal-Grilled Arepas",
"datePublished": "2025-06-03T14:21:48-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-06-06T00:00:21-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"source": "Food",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/food",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13977033",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13977033/salpikitos-arepas-san-jose-charcoal-grill-late-night",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a recent Saturday night, I was food-truck-hopping in East \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San Jose\u003c/a> when the aroma of charcoal lured me to a small food stand on Alum Rock — a Colombian arepa joint called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/salpikitos.usa24/?hl=en\">Salpikitos\u003c/a>, it turned out. I felt like I had stumbled into a family’s backyard barbecue. There was an assembly line of cooks. One tended to a simmering pot of speckled quail eggs; another fanned the flames while searing a batch of arepas on the grill. It was nearly midnight and every table was packed with customers chowing down on charred masa cakes and sipping bottles of Colombiana cola.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For research purposes, I ordered the fattest arepa on the menu, the desgranada, which overflowed with beef, corn, plantain, avocado, chicharron and quail eggs skewered on toothpicks. I loved the contrast between the crisp, brittle masa and the creamy filling. It was one of the tastiest arepas I’ve come across in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edward Tovar and Vivian Sanchez opened the San Jose location of Salpikitos last December, but the business was born in Villavicencio, Colombia, in 2008. Tovar’s brother, Carlos Kaleet, started out selling arepas from a street stall and eventually expanded to a brick-and-mortar location in Villavicencio and another in Bogota. Tovar and Sanchez worked alongside Kaleet back in Colombia and got his blessing to continue the family business when they moved to the United States three years ago. Over the last six months, they’ve transformed Salpikitos from a simple food stall that had a few scattered tables to something more like an outdoor restaurant, complete with a walled-off, fully built-out kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977046\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977046\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripin%CC%83a-on-Grill.jpg\" alt=\"An arepa topped with shredded cheese and pinapples cooking over a charcoal grill, alongside a sausage link.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salpikitos’ calling card is that it cooks its arepas on a charcoal grill, imparting the corn cakes with a smoky flavor. Pictured here are the components of the choripiña. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "arts_13971280,arts_13954112,arts_13939388",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Of course, the food stand’s specialty is its arepas, which are a kind of masa cake that originated in Colombia and Venezuela. There’s a growing number of Colombian and Venezuelan food businesses in San Jose that make these stuffed corn cakes, but almost always on an indoor griddle. What makes the arepas at Salpikitos special is that they’re grilled over charcoal to impart a smoky flavor and a light char. Plus, the cooks make the masa from scratch using white corn kernels. “Before we had an electric machine,” says Sanchez, “but right now, we’re grinding it by hand. It takes about two and a half hours for the thirty pounds of masa we make per day.” The arepas are sturdy enough to encase an incredible amount of filling and have a subtle corn flavor that serves as a blank slate for a diverse cast of ingredients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple spent years studying the recipes at the original Salpikitos to replicate the flavors as precisely as possible. “The spices, amounts and ingredients are all the same we used in Colombia,” says Sanchez. There are over a dozen varieties of stuffed arepas on the menu. The top seller is the aforementioned desgranada. Sanchez’s personal favorite is the shrimp arepa filled with gooey cheese, tomatoes, red onions, avocado and paprika.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977043\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977043\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman, both dressed in black, pose for a portrait next to a fence.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1920x1081.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Owners Edward Tovar and Vivian Sanchez. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, Tovar says his favorite dish isn’t a stuffed arepa at all. It’s the choripiña — a plain, unstuffed arepa topped with melted cheese and chunks of macerated pineapple, and served with a grilled Colombian chorizo link on top. All of the flavors come together incredibly well — the smoke-infused corn flavor of the grilled masa, the tart sweetness of the pineapple, the richness of the cheese, and the savoriness of the spice-infused chorizo. It’s also just a fun eating experience, since you can wrap the arepa around the sausage and bite into the whole thing as if it were a large stuffed taco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tovar and Sanchez say their menu is identical to the one at the Salpikitos locations in Colombia, so I was surprised to see dishes inspired by American and Mexican cuisine. The rancher burger arepa is filled with traditional burger toppings along with the addition of corn and quail eggs. Those two aren’t ingredients I would ever typically consider adding to my burger, but I can confirm that the combination works exceptionally well, especially with the hard sear the beef patty gets on the grill. The Mexicana, on the other hand, features beans, jalapeño, tomato, avocado, cheese and meat with a tangy red salsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977044\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977044\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada.jpg\" alt=\"A cheesy, overstuffed arepa on a paper plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The fat, overstuffed desgranada is the bestseller. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977045\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977045\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripin%CC%83a.jpg\" alt=\"Arepa topped with chopped pineapple and a sausage link.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The choripiña isn’t stuffed — instead, chopped pineapple and a grilled chorizo link are placed on top. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When asked about their favorite menu item, every Salpikitos employee recommended something different. In other words, it’s the type of place where there’s something for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salpikitos isn’t visible from the street, and it’s tucked directly in the middle of the food truck park. Which is to say, the place isn’t easy to come across accidentally, yet the tables fill up nearly every night of the week, and the owners say they sell around 150 arepas a day. It’s become a popular late-night spot for diners in the mood for Colombian barbecue who gather near the fire as the cold night air fills with smoke and chatter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We feel customers come here because of the flavor of the arepa,” says Sanchez. “Customers tell us the flavor is unique because of the charcoal. It’s the essence of the arepa.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/salpikitos.usa24/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Salpikitos\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Friday 7 p.m.–12 a.m. and Saturday to Sunday 5 p.m.–midnight at 1948 Alum Rock Ave. in San Jose.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13977033/salpikitos-arepas-san-jose-charcoal-grill-late-night",
"authors": [
"11903"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276"
],
"tags": [
"arts_10278",
"arts_1297",
"arts_8805",
"arts_14801",
"arts_1084"
],
"featImg": "arts_13977042",
"label": "source_arts_13977033"
},
"arts_13976695": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13976695",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13976695",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1747976387000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "four-kings-sf-chinatown-late-night-cantonese-hong-kong-squab",
"title": "This Buzzy Late-Night Restaurant in Chinatown Lives Up to All the Hype",
"publishDate": 1747976387,
"format": "aside",
"headTitle": "This Buzzy Late-Night Restaurant in Chinatown Lives Up to All the Hype | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976699\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976699\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devouring a table full of Cantonese dishes, including roast squab, fried soft-shell crabs, and a pork chop rice bowl.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Part of the excitement at Four Kings comes from covering the table with an abundance of dishes. The new-school Cantonese restaurant is open until 11 p.m. on the weekends in SF Chinatown. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The buzziest, most popular restaurant in San Francisco today sits in the heart of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/chinatown\">Chinatown\u003c/a>, in a cheerful alleyway festooned with red lanterns, directly downstairs from a Kumon (as the restaurant’s young, first-gen Cantonese proprietors are fond of \u003ca href=\"https://www.itsfourkings.com/about\">pointing out\u003c/a>). In that way, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fourkings__/?hl=en\">Four Kings\u003c/a> feels a little bit like some metaphor for millennial Asian America, or maybe just the setting for a novel I’d like to read — one whose plot hinges on the re-creation of some particularly decadent and nostalgic version of claypot rice or Hong Kong pepper steak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, we had come to this bustling Hong Kong–inspired diner late on a Friday night because we’d heard it stays open, and fully packed, until 11 p.m. on weekends — and because we finally wanted to see for ourselves if the place lived up to all the hype.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a year after the restaurant’s feverishly anticipated debut, Four Kings \u003ci>still \u003c/i>gets booked up weeks in advance. Luckily for night owls, 9:30 p.m. is the most likely time you might be able to land a last-minute reservation. That’s also the best time to just show up and get in line, as we did, hoping to snag one of the tables they save for walk-ins. (We only had to wait about half an hour.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even apart from the food, Four Kings comes advertised as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/four-kings-cantonese-chinatown-19431105.php\">rollicking good time\u003c/a>, and the vibes are indeed excellent from the moment you walk in: Posters of ’80s and ’90s Cantopop idols decorate the walls, and their songs provide a boisterous, deeply nostalgic \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7m5GmSTmYNqJ0VpZFyPG6A?si=c8282f11eef64212&nd=1&dlsi=d4a6f3ea1bdf4a88\">soundtrack\u003c/a> for your meal — lots of moody, sentimental rock ballads with sick guitar riffs. The counter is lined with Polaroids, lucky cat dolls and shochu bottles, and everyone is talking loudly, waving around their chopsticks, throwing back Tsingtao lagers and almond-milk highballs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What we loved about the place, even before we’d taken a bite of the food, was how casual and low-key it was compared to other similarly trendy, acclaimed Bay Area restaurants. The one-page menu is peppered with little cartoon drawings and doesn’t feel the need to name-check any farm or fine-dining technique (despite the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13962284/four-kings-hong-kong-restaurant-san-francisco-chinatown-hella-hungry-interview\">chefs’ fancy pedigrees\u003c/a>). And while Four Kings isn’t an inexpensive restaurant, the kitchen’s bells and whistles don’t call attention to themselves, so even the most exciting dishes just feel like really, really good versions of classic Cantonese cuisine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976700\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976700\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1.jpg\" alt='Illustration: The exterior of a restaurant in Chinatown. The sign about says \"Kumon.\" And there are red lanterns strung up overhead.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant is downstairs from a Kumon. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The chefs \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13962284/four-kings-hong-kong-restaurant-san-francisco-chinatown-hella-hungry-interview\">have said\u003c/a> they designed the menu to consist mostly shareable small plates, not much bigger than a standard dim sum, because of the narrowness of their dining room. Budget-minded diners might complain about the price-to-portion-size ratio, but if you order prudently, you can eat really well for about $50 a person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said: We didn’t order prudently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The best and worst thing about Four Kings is that there are so many amazing-sounding dishes, on both the regular menu and the handwritten specials board, that you really have to restrain yourself from ordering way too much food. (We could have assembled a whole feast out of dishes we lusted after but weren’t able to make room for this time: mapo spaghetti and Singaporean chili crab, clams with black bean sauce and whole fried petrale sole, and and and…)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The net effect was that we wound up filling our table with an abundance of little and not-so-little dishes, one after another. First the complimentary peanuts (roasted with bits of seaweed) and garlicky smacked cucumbers. Then, a sinus-clearing salad of hot mustard jellyfish, cut thick so they resembled udon noodles, but with a pleasing, cartilaginous crunch. Chili crisp pig’s head, cut into thin, fat-speckled rounds and topped with chrysanthemum greens. One perfect butter-seared scallop served on the half-shell over a nest of umami-drenched vermicelli.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13975908,arts_13967564,arts_13962759']If Four Kings has a signature dish, it’s probably the fried squab (i.e., young pigeon), which comes cut into succulent quarters, claws still attached, tiny head staring back at you on the plate. The bird’s bronzed, glistening skin was immaculately crisp, giving away to a burst of soft fat when we bit in. The pink meat was rich and earthy, like duck with an extra bit of oomph. We tore the squab apart with our hands, squeezing lemon over top and dipping each morsel into a dish of tongue-tingling Sichuan-pepper-salt. If you’re bold and willing to work at it a little, even the head makes for good eating — the bits of crispy skin and the sweet, creamy brain in the center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prospect of 10 p.m. squab alone makes Four Kings an elite late-night dining destination, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that it wasn’t even our favorite dish of the night. That title goes to the “typhoon shelter” soft-shell crab, one of the daily specials. Popularized by a genre of floating restaurant that used to hold court in Hong Kong’s typhoon-safe protective harbors, the “typhoon shelter” style refers to seafood that’s batter-fried and topped with a ton of crispy fried garlic and, in this particular version, fried basil. To make the dish even more outlandishly luxurious, Four Kings also places the crunchy crustaceans on top of a layer of aioli — another rich counterpoint to the tender, sweet flesh inside the shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there was so much more. A hefty fried pork chop rice bowl with sweet onions and velvety tomato-egg gravy. Water spinach electried with the pungent jolt of fermented shrimp paste. For dessert, mango pudding with tangy strawberry sorbet, served in a pool of liquified almond tofu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We ate and we ate until we couldn’t possibly take another bite, and then we packed up our leftovers, leaning back ruefully, our hands on our bellies. That’s the kind of energy that Four Kings inspires: At almost every table, people were hunched over four or five different plates at once, crossing chopsticks, double-dipping, letting all those big flavors mingle together. Who’s going to stop you if you decide to dip a morsel of fried squab in the pig head chili oil? What’s to keep you from drizzling some of the fermented shrimp sauce from the ong choy over your pork chop rice?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We didn’t regret any of it. And walking back out into the crisp Chinatown night, we were already dreaming about all those dishes we couldn’t wait to try next time.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fourkings__/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Four Kings\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Thursday through Saturday 6–11 p.m. and Sunday to Monday 6–10:30 p.m. at 710 Commercial St. in San Francisco. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "SF’s new hot spot for late-night fried squab, pig head and ‘typhoon shelter’ crab. ",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1747976387,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 18,
"wordCount": 1273
},
"headData": {
"title": "Four Kings in SF Chinatown Lives Up to the Hype | KQED",
"description": "SF’s new hot spot for late-night fried squab, pig head and ‘typhoon shelter’ crab. ",
"ogTitle": "This Buzzy Late-Night Restaurant in Chinatown Lives Up to All the Hype",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "This Buzzy Late-Night Restaurant in Chinatown Lives Up to All the Hype",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "Four Kings in SF Chinatown Lives Up to the Hype %%page%% %%sep%% KQED",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "This Buzzy Late-Night Restaurant in Chinatown Lives Up to All the Hype",
"datePublished": "2025-05-22T21:59:47-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-05-22T21:59:47-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"source": "The Midnight Diners",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13976695",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13976695/four-kings-sf-chinatown-late-night-cantonese-hong-kong-squab",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976699\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976699\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devouring a table full of Cantonese dishes, including roast squab, fried soft-shell crabs, and a pork chop rice bowl.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Part of the excitement at Four Kings comes from covering the table with an abundance of dishes. The new-school Cantonese restaurant is open until 11 p.m. on the weekends in SF Chinatown. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The buzziest, most popular restaurant in San Francisco today sits in the heart of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/chinatown\">Chinatown\u003c/a>, in a cheerful alleyway festooned with red lanterns, directly downstairs from a Kumon (as the restaurant’s young, first-gen Cantonese proprietors are fond of \u003ca href=\"https://www.itsfourkings.com/about\">pointing out\u003c/a>). In that way, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fourkings__/?hl=en\">Four Kings\u003c/a> feels a little bit like some metaphor for millennial Asian America, or maybe just the setting for a novel I’d like to read — one whose plot hinges on the re-creation of some particularly decadent and nostalgic version of claypot rice or Hong Kong pepper steak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, we had come to this bustling Hong Kong–inspired diner late on a Friday night because we’d heard it stays open, and fully packed, until 11 p.m. on weekends — and because we finally wanted to see for ourselves if the place lived up to all the hype.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a year after the restaurant’s feverishly anticipated debut, Four Kings \u003ci>still \u003c/i>gets booked up weeks in advance. Luckily for night owls, 9:30 p.m. is the most likely time you might be able to land a last-minute reservation. That’s also the best time to just show up and get in line, as we did, hoping to snag one of the tables they save for walk-ins. (We only had to wait about half an hour.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even apart from the food, Four Kings comes advertised as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/four-kings-cantonese-chinatown-19431105.php\">rollicking good time\u003c/a>, and the vibes are indeed excellent from the moment you walk in: Posters of ’80s and ’90s Cantopop idols decorate the walls, and their songs provide a boisterous, deeply nostalgic \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7m5GmSTmYNqJ0VpZFyPG6A?si=c8282f11eef64212&nd=1&dlsi=d4a6f3ea1bdf4a88\">soundtrack\u003c/a> for your meal — lots of moody, sentimental rock ballads with sick guitar riffs. The counter is lined with Polaroids, lucky cat dolls and shochu bottles, and everyone is talking loudly, waving around their chopsticks, throwing back Tsingtao lagers and almond-milk highballs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What we loved about the place, even before we’d taken a bite of the food, was how casual and low-key it was compared to other similarly trendy, acclaimed Bay Area restaurants. The one-page menu is peppered with little cartoon drawings and doesn’t feel the need to name-check any farm or fine-dining technique (despite the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13962284/four-kings-hong-kong-restaurant-san-francisco-chinatown-hella-hungry-interview\">chefs’ fancy pedigrees\u003c/a>). And while Four Kings isn’t an inexpensive restaurant, the kitchen’s bells and whistles don’t call attention to themselves, so even the most exciting dishes just feel like really, really good versions of classic Cantonese cuisine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976700\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976700\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1.jpg\" alt='Illustration: The exterior of a restaurant in Chinatown. The sign about says \"Kumon.\" And there are red lanterns strung up overhead.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/4-kings1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant is downstairs from a Kumon. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The chefs \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13962284/four-kings-hong-kong-restaurant-san-francisco-chinatown-hella-hungry-interview\">have said\u003c/a> they designed the menu to consist mostly shareable small plates, not much bigger than a standard dim sum, because of the narrowness of their dining room. Budget-minded diners might complain about the price-to-portion-size ratio, but if you order prudently, you can eat really well for about $50 a person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said: We didn’t order prudently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The best and worst thing about Four Kings is that there are so many amazing-sounding dishes, on both the regular menu and the handwritten specials board, that you really have to restrain yourself from ordering way too much food. (We could have assembled a whole feast out of dishes we lusted after but weren’t able to make room for this time: mapo spaghetti and Singaporean chili crab, clams with black bean sauce and whole fried petrale sole, and and and…)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The net effect was that we wound up filling our table with an abundance of little and not-so-little dishes, one after another. First the complimentary peanuts (roasted with bits of seaweed) and garlicky smacked cucumbers. Then, a sinus-clearing salad of hot mustard jellyfish, cut thick so they resembled udon noodles, but with a pleasing, cartilaginous crunch. Chili crisp pig’s head, cut into thin, fat-speckled rounds and topped with chrysanthemum greens. One perfect butter-seared scallop served on the half-shell over a nest of umami-drenched vermicelli.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "arts_13975908,arts_13967564,arts_13962759",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If Four Kings has a signature dish, it’s probably the fried squab (i.e., young pigeon), which comes cut into succulent quarters, claws still attached, tiny head staring back at you on the plate. The bird’s bronzed, glistening skin was immaculately crisp, giving away to a burst of soft fat when we bit in. The pink meat was rich and earthy, like duck with an extra bit of oomph. We tore the squab apart with our hands, squeezing lemon over top and dipping each morsel into a dish of tongue-tingling Sichuan-pepper-salt. If you’re bold and willing to work at it a little, even the head makes for good eating — the bits of crispy skin and the sweet, creamy brain in the center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prospect of 10 p.m. squab alone makes Four Kings an elite late-night dining destination, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that it wasn’t even our favorite dish of the night. That title goes to the “typhoon shelter” soft-shell crab, one of the daily specials. Popularized by a genre of floating restaurant that used to hold court in Hong Kong’s typhoon-safe protective harbors, the “typhoon shelter” style refers to seafood that’s batter-fried and topped with a ton of crispy fried garlic and, in this particular version, fried basil. To make the dish even more outlandishly luxurious, Four Kings also places the crunchy crustaceans on top of a layer of aioli — another rich counterpoint to the tender, sweet flesh inside the shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there was so much more. A hefty fried pork chop rice bowl with sweet onions and velvety tomato-egg gravy. Water spinach electried with the pungent jolt of fermented shrimp paste. For dessert, mango pudding with tangy strawberry sorbet, served in a pool of liquified almond tofu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We ate and we ate until we couldn’t possibly take another bite, and then we packed up our leftovers, leaning back ruefully, our hands on our bellies. That’s the kind of energy that Four Kings inspires: At almost every table, people were hunched over four or five different plates at once, crossing chopsticks, double-dipping, letting all those big flavors mingle together. Who’s going to stop you if you decide to dip a morsel of fried squab in the pig head chili oil? What’s to keep you from drizzling some of the fermented shrimp sauce from the ong choy over your pork chop rice?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We didn’t regret any of it. And walking back out into the crisp Chinatown night, we were already dreaming about all those dishes we couldn’t wait to try next time.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fourkings__/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Four Kings\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Thursday through Saturday 6–11 p.m. and Sunday to Monday 6–10:30 p.m. at 710 Commercial St. in San Francisco. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13976695/four-kings-sf-chinatown-late-night-cantonese-hong-kong-squab",
"authors": [
"11743",
"11753"
],
"series": [
"arts_22316"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276",
"arts_235"
],
"tags": [
"arts_2654",
"arts_21727",
"arts_10278",
"arts_1297",
"arts_8805",
"arts_1146",
"arts_21928"
],
"featImg": "arts_13976701",
"label": "source_arts_13976695"
},
"arts_13975908": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13975908",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13975908",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1746749446000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "heyma-yemeni-coffee-shop-berkeley-late-night",
"title": "A Yemeni Coffee Shop Keeps the Masses Well Caffeinated Until Midnight",
"publishDate": 1746749446,
"format": "aside",
"headTitle": "A Yemeni Coffee Shop Keeps the Masses Well Caffeinated Until Midnight | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975912\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975912\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Berkeley, Heyma Yemeni Coffee combines both traditional and contemporary aspects of Yemeni coffee culture. \u003ccite>(Wahab Algarmi)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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. This week they were joined by guest artist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wahabalg/\">\u003ci>Wahab Algarmi\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>, whose debut middle grade graphic novel, \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.harpercollins.com/products/almost-sunset-wahab-algarmi?variant=42563431989282\">Almost Sunset\u003c/a>\u003ci>, is available in bookstores now. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a college town like Berkeley, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/coffee-shops\">coffee shop\u003c/a> open past 10 o’clock at night is a precious commodity. These days, night owl students looking for a place to caffeinate and park their laptops for a couple of hours are more than likely to find themselves at one type of cafe in particular: a Yemeni coffee house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when we dropped by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/heymacoffee/\">Heyma Yemeni Coffee\u003c/a> on a late Sunday night shortly before finals week at UC Berkeley, it was both surprising and completely \u003ci>unsurprising\u003c/i> to see how packed the place was, with a throng of undergrads waiting in line to buy blistering-hot cups of coffee infused with cardamom and maybe a honey-soaked pastry for good measure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve been paying attention to the local coffee scene, you might know that Heyma is one of the dozen or so \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/yemeni-coffee-shop-cafe-18270887.php\">Yemeni coffee shops\u003c/a> that have opened in the Bay Area, all in the past three years, at a rate that only seems to be accelerating. They all have a similar vibe, with their Arab design elements and menus heavy on spiced coffees and the same handful of Yemeni pastries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Heyma, the design is the first thing you notice — the cozy little alcoves lined with black-and-gold arabesque and, in the center of the room, the traditional U-shaped Majlis sofa, where a couple of college kids were sprawled out with their MacBooks. Still, at first glance, you might mistake the place for any other trendy Gen Z cafe or boba shop. The emphasis of the branding and the menu is skewed toward the kinds of flashy drinks and desserts currently popular on TikTok and Instagram: There are matcha lattes and Redbull mojitos, and we spotted at least three or four variations on \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/dining/dubai-chocolate-cant-get-knafeh-it.html\">Dubai chocolate\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975914\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975914\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2.jpg\" alt='Illustration: The exterior of a busy coffee shop lit up at night. The sign says, \"Heyma Coffee & Tea\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heyma stays open until midnight on weekends. \u003ccite>(Wahab Algarmi)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the same time, it’s clear that this is a place of real cultural pride. Just inside the entrance, a large sign summarizes the long history of coffee in Yemen, where 15th century Sufi monks were believed to be the \u003ca href=\"https://www.undp.org/stories/yemeni-coffee-personal-us\">first people to cultivate it\u003c/a> as a beverage. Above the counter, a poem in untranslated Arabic — “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNxDY8jIpCE\">Love and Coffee\u003c/a>,” by the Yemeni poet Mutaher Ali Al-Eryani — celebrates the joy of the coffee harvest. At the bottom of the digital menu board, it says simply, “Free Palestine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The demographics of the shop’s clientele reflects this mix of influences. During our visit, about half the customers were the same laptop-toting college kids you’ll find at any late-night cafe in Berkeley. The other half consisted of Arab Americans of all ages just hanging out, including one big family that came in at around 10 o’clock, kids clambering over the sofa, everyone dressed up as though they’d just come from the symphony. They ordered such a big spread of food, the staff brought it out in a wooden crate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Arabic speaker in our group asked one of the shop’s young Yemeni American baristas whether they sell any drinks that are uniquely Yemeni, he was quick to recommend an off-menu limeade — just lime juice, water and sugar (perhaps a little bit of cream?), whirred in a blender until light and frothy. It’s the same drink you’ll find on any street corner in Yemen, we were told. And it was incredibly refreshing, easily the best drink we had all night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13975308,arts_13954597,arts_13966812']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Meanwhile, the most striking of the pastries was the honeycomb: dough balls stuffed with cream cheese, arranged into a pleasingly geometric cake-slice shape, drizzled with honey, and then blasted in the oven until everything puffs up golden-brown. It was fun pulling the balls apart at the table, like monkey bread; each bite struck a nice balance between sweet and savory. If you want a toasty carb bomb that’s purely savory, the oniony beef sambusas and boat-shaped cheese manakish both hit the spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heyma also goes straight to the top of the list of places I’ll hit up when I’m in the mood for cake at 11 o’clock at night (which for me is at least two or three nights a week). Among the many Dubai chocolate riffs on the menu, we wound up ordering a slice of green and black Dubai chocolate cheesecake, which was as tasty as it was aesthetically pleasing (if perhaps not as pistachio-y as we would have liked). My favorite, though, was the saffron milk cake — one of the many tres-leches-like cakes that the shop sells. It came soaked through with milk and sweet condensed milk and topped with a layer of whipped cream, and was so impossibly moist and airy-light, I would have happily eaten two more slices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, you can’t talk about a Yemeni coffee shop without trying the coffee itself, even if it is 11 p.m. on a work night. And here’s where I have to admit my own hubris: In my desire to try a swath of the menu, I ordered — and finished — not one but two of Heyma’s coffee drinks. First, I had the cardamom and cinnamon–infused Heyma Latte, whose spiced sweetness reminded me of drinks I’ve had at other second-generation diasporic Yemeni and Palestinian cafes. And then the mufawaar, a more traditional medium-roast coffee brewed with cardamom and cream. It was wonderfully fragrant and, as it turns out, very, very strong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I enjoyed both drinks very much at the time. And I enjoyed reminiscing about them, too, a little while later, when I lay in bed wide awake at 3 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/heymacoffee/\">\u003ci>Heyma Yemeni Coffee\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m.–11:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.–midnight, Saturday 8 a.m.-midnight, and Sunday 8 a.m.–11 p.m. at 1122 University Ave. in Berkeley. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Heyma’s pastries and cardamom-infused lattes are late-night fuel for Berkeley college students and families alike.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1746749446,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 15,
"wordCount": 1118
},
"headData": {
"title": "Heyma Yemeni Coffee Keeps Berkeley Well Caffeinated Until Midnight | KQED",
"description": "Heyma’s pastries and cardamom-infused lattes are late-night fuel for Berkeley college students and families alike.",
"ogTitle": "A Yemeni Coffee Shop Keeps the Masses Well Caffeinated Until Midnight",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "A Yemeni Coffee Shop Keeps the Masses Well Caffeinated Until Midnight",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "Heyma Yemeni Coffee Keeps Berkeley Well Caffeinated Until Midnight %%page%% %%sep%% KQED",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "A Yemeni Coffee Shop Keeps the Masses Well Caffeinated Until Midnight",
"datePublished": "2025-05-08T17:10:46-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-05-08T17:10:46-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"source": "The Midnight Diners",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "Luke Tsai and Wahab Algarmi",
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13975908",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "No",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13975908/heyma-yemeni-coffee-shop-berkeley-late-night",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975912\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975912\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Berkeley, Heyma Yemeni Coffee combines both traditional and contemporary aspects of Yemeni coffee culture. \u003ccite>(Wahab Algarmi)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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. This week they were joined by guest artist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wahabalg/\">\u003ci>Wahab Algarmi\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>, whose debut middle grade graphic novel, \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.harpercollins.com/products/almost-sunset-wahab-algarmi?variant=42563431989282\">Almost Sunset\u003c/a>\u003ci>, is available in bookstores now. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a college town like Berkeley, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/coffee-shops\">coffee shop\u003c/a> open past 10 o’clock at night is a precious commodity. These days, night owl students looking for a place to caffeinate and park their laptops for a couple of hours are more than likely to find themselves at one type of cafe in particular: a Yemeni coffee house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when we dropped by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/heymacoffee/\">Heyma Yemeni Coffee\u003c/a> on a late Sunday night shortly before finals week at UC Berkeley, it was both surprising and completely \u003ci>unsurprising\u003c/i> to see how packed the place was, with a throng of undergrads waiting in line to buy blistering-hot cups of coffee infused with cardamom and maybe a honey-soaked pastry for good measure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve been paying attention to the local coffee scene, you might know that Heyma is one of the dozen or so \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/yemeni-coffee-shop-cafe-18270887.php\">Yemeni coffee shops\u003c/a> that have opened in the Bay Area, all in the past three years, at a rate that only seems to be accelerating. They all have a similar vibe, with their Arab design elements and menus heavy on spiced coffees and the same handful of Yemeni pastries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Heyma, the design is the first thing you notice — the cozy little alcoves lined with black-and-gold arabesque and, in the center of the room, the traditional U-shaped Majlis sofa, where a couple of college kids were sprawled out with their MacBooks. Still, at first glance, you might mistake the place for any other trendy Gen Z cafe or boba shop. The emphasis of the branding and the menu is skewed toward the kinds of flashy drinks and desserts currently popular on TikTok and Instagram: There are matcha lattes and Redbull mojitos, and we spotted at least three or four variations on \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/dining/dubai-chocolate-cant-get-knafeh-it.html\">Dubai chocolate\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975914\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975914\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2.jpg\" alt='Illustration: The exterior of a busy coffee shop lit up at night. The sign says, \"Heyma Coffee & Tea\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/heyma-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heyma stays open until midnight on weekends. \u003ccite>(Wahab Algarmi)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the same time, it’s clear that this is a place of real cultural pride. Just inside the entrance, a large sign summarizes the long history of coffee in Yemen, where 15th century Sufi monks were believed to be the \u003ca href=\"https://www.undp.org/stories/yemeni-coffee-personal-us\">first people to cultivate it\u003c/a> as a beverage. Above the counter, a poem in untranslated Arabic — “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNxDY8jIpCE\">Love and Coffee\u003c/a>,” by the Yemeni poet Mutaher Ali Al-Eryani — celebrates the joy of the coffee harvest. At the bottom of the digital menu board, it says simply, “Free Palestine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The demographics of the shop’s clientele reflects this mix of influences. During our visit, about half the customers were the same laptop-toting college kids you’ll find at any late-night cafe in Berkeley. The other half consisted of Arab Americans of all ages just hanging out, including one big family that came in at around 10 o’clock, kids clambering over the sofa, everyone dressed up as though they’d just come from the symphony. They ordered such a big spread of food, the staff brought it out in a wooden crate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Arabic speaker in our group asked one of the shop’s young Yemeni American baristas whether they sell any drinks that are uniquely Yemeni, he was quick to recommend an off-menu limeade — just lime juice, water and sugar (perhaps a little bit of cream?), whirred in a blender until light and frothy. It’s the same drink you’ll find on any street corner in Yemen, we were told. And it was incredibly refreshing, easily the best drink we had all night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "arts_13975308,arts_13954597,arts_13966812",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Meanwhile, the most striking of the pastries was the honeycomb: dough balls stuffed with cream cheese, arranged into a pleasingly geometric cake-slice shape, drizzled with honey, and then blasted in the oven until everything puffs up golden-brown. It was fun pulling the balls apart at the table, like monkey bread; each bite struck a nice balance between sweet and savory. If you want a toasty carb bomb that’s purely savory, the oniony beef sambusas and boat-shaped cheese manakish both hit the spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heyma also goes straight to the top of the list of places I’ll hit up when I’m in the mood for cake at 11 o’clock at night (which for me is at least two or three nights a week). Among the many Dubai chocolate riffs on the menu, we wound up ordering a slice of green and black Dubai chocolate cheesecake, which was as tasty as it was aesthetically pleasing (if perhaps not as pistachio-y as we would have liked). My favorite, though, was the saffron milk cake — one of the many tres-leches-like cakes that the shop sells. It came soaked through with milk and sweet condensed milk and topped with a layer of whipped cream, and was so impossibly moist and airy-light, I would have happily eaten two more slices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, you can’t talk about a Yemeni coffee shop without trying the coffee itself, even if it is 11 p.m. on a work night. And here’s where I have to admit my own hubris: In my desire to try a swath of the menu, I ordered — and finished — not one but two of Heyma’s coffee drinks. First, I had the cardamom and cinnamon–infused Heyma Latte, whose spiced sweetness reminded me of drinks I’ve had at other second-generation diasporic Yemeni and Palestinian cafes. And then the mufawaar, a more traditional medium-roast coffee brewed with cardamom and cream. It was wonderfully fragrant and, as it turns out, very, very strong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I enjoyed both drinks very much at the time. And I enjoyed reminiscing about them, too, a little while later, when I lay in bed wide awake at 3 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/heymacoffee/\">\u003ci>Heyma Yemeni Coffee\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m.–11:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.–midnight, Saturday 8 a.m.-midnight, and Sunday 8 a.m.–11 p.m. at 1122 University Ave. in Berkeley. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13975908/heyma-yemeni-coffee-shop-berkeley-late-night",
"authors": [
"byline_arts_13975908"
],
"series": [
"arts_22316"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276"
],
"tags": [
"arts_1270",
"arts_20950",
"arts_10278",
"arts_1297",
"arts_8805",
"arts_21928"
],
"featImg": "arts_13975911",
"label": "source_arts_13975908"
},
"arts_13975308": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13975308",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13975308",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1745539452000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "hinodeya-dashi-ramen-late-night-san-francisco-union-square",
"title": "This Union Square Ramen Shop Slings Pure Ocean Umami Until 3:30 a.m.",
"publishDate": 1745539452,
"format": "aside",
"headTitle": "This Union Square Ramen Shop Slings Pure Ocean Umami Until 3:30 a.m. | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975312\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975312\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: two men slurp bowls of ramen inside a crowded restaurant.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hinodeya Ramen’s Union Square location is known for its late hours and its seafood-based dashi broth. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 11 o’clock on a recent Friday night, the busiest restaurant in Union Square wasn’t a pizza joint or all-night diner, but instead a tiny ramen shop specializing in a relatively undersung, niche soup style. That about sums up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> food culture in a nutshell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The noodle shop in question is \u003ca href=\"https://hinodeyaramen.com/\">Hinodeya Ramen\u003c/a>, which first brought its vaunted dashi ramen to San Francisco from Japan’s \u003ca href=\"https://tabelog.com/en/saitama/A1104/A110402/11030891/\">Saitama prefecture\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2016/11/15/13644518/hinodeya-dashi-ramen-japantown-san-francisco\">2016\u003c/a>. Its owners made the bold move of opening a new late-night Union Square outpost in 2022 — in the thick of the pandemic, when the vibes downtown were perhaps at their \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/sf-union-square-alliance-17321368.php\">lowest point\u003c/a>. It’s one of just a small handful of restaurants in the neighborhood that are open past midnight. In fact, on weekends you can still get a bowl of steaming-hot ramen as late as 3:30 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course thousands of words have been written about downtown San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13939383/downtown-san-francisco-doom-spiral-sucka-flea-market-holiday-spirit\">retail apocalypse\u003c/a> and the slow-simmering \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/union-square-macys-18693950.php?utm_content=hed&sid=616ef88e1a685b526a1e6649&ss=A&st_rid=661447bf-9cf8-473c-87cb-db1dea567b1c&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=headlines&utm_campaign=sfc_morningfix\">demise of Union Square\u003c/a>. But at least within the tight, noisy confines of this pint-sized ramen restaurant, you would never guess any of that. During the entirety of our visit, the dining room was filled to capacity — more than 30 ramen eaters crammed practically shoulder to shoulder — with what looked to be an equal mix of SF locals and tourists. At the table next to us: a smiley college-age Latino couple on a date. A few tables down: a big, multi-generational Asian American family, including an 80-plus-year-old grandma with her face mask pulled down for ease of slurping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our server told us they get one big rush of customers from around 10 p.m. to midnight, and then another at 2 a.m., when the bars let out. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may have heard that in Japan, ramen is considered fast food, which isn’t a statement on quality but a matter of pure speed and accessibility. Hinodeya stays true to that spirit: Even though there were five or six parties ahead of us in line when we first stepped through the restaurant’s curtained doorway at a little past 10 o’clock, we were seated within minutes. The food also came out in a flash, just minutes after I buzzed in our QR code orders on my phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975314\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975314\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2.jpg\" alt='Illustration: Exterior of a ramen restaurant at night. The sign reads \"Hinodeya Ramen Bar.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Open since 2022, the Union Square shop is open until 3:30 a.m. on weekends. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In comparison to other top ramen shops, the noodles, chashu, soft-boiled egg and other toppings at Hinodeya are all perfectly adequate. But the shop’s be-all end-all is its dashi broth — especially for ramen enthusiasts tired of the thick, creamy, extra fatty tonkotsu style that’s so pervasive in the Bay Area. Instead of just boiling bones to smithereens, the basis of Hinodeya’s standard house ramen is a relatively light, clear soup that’s all balance and nuance, oriented around the umami of the sea: kombu, bonito flakes and scallop bouillon. The dried scallop, in particular, gives the broth an incredible depth of oceanic flavor, and a touch of pork fat adds just the right amount of luxurious richness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dashi broth is low-key one of my favorite ramen broths in the Bay; it’s the kind of soup I could slurp down once or twice a week without ever getting tired of it. It feels frankly preposterous to have access to something this good, served this quickly, at 2 or 3 in the morning — right smack in the middle of Union Square, no less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13974383,arts_13973430,arts_13972197']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Hinodeya also offers a bunch of special ramens, available in limited quantities, like a sukiyaki beef ramen and a ramen topped with fried pork cutlet. And so the other nice thing about the Union Square shop is that, at least during our visit, all of the specials were still available even at 11 p.m. In keeping with the ocean umami theme, we went with the shop’s other signature dish, the hamaguri ramen, which comes topped with a couple dozen sweet littleneck clams in their shells. Here, Hinodeya’s standard dashi soup gets doctored up with a hit of fresh garlic and, of course, all of the clams’ briny juices. This is the ramen for you if you’re a linguine alle vongole lover — if your favorite part of an order of steamed Quahogs is sipping the clam liquor at the bottom of the bowl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The non-ramen dishes at Hinodeya are equally well calibrated for late-night enjoyment, like the juicy, crisp-bottomed gyoza, which come with a side of salty concentrated dashi broth — the ideal dipping sauce, it turns out. If you’re feeling extra hungry, you can finish off the meal with a big ol’ bowl of rice. We opted for the gyudon, a hearty rice bowl that comes topped with thin slices of tender, soy-sauce-simmered beef and a runny-yolked poached egg. But plain white rice would also hit the spot, especially for \u003ca href=\"https://jewidiarta.medium.com/tetsu-kariya-akira-hanasaki-oishinbo-a-la-carte-ramen-gyoza-f69d4bb812e3\">connoisseurs who know the pleasures\u003c/a> of using rice to soak up the last dregs of your leftover ramen broth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We saved just enough room for one last, not-too-sweet bite for dessert: a little square bowl of jello-like matcha pudding topped with a dollop of whipped cream. And just like that, about an hour after we sat down, even having taken our time, we were back out on the street, our bellies full, the taste of the ocean on our tongues. Up above us, the glittering lights of the big Union Square hotels shined just as brightly as they ever did.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Hinodeya Ramen’s \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hinodeya-unionsquare.square.site/\">\u003ci>Union Square location\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open 10 a.m.–3:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m.–1:30 p.m. the rest of the week at 219 O’Farrell St. in San Francisco. The restaurant also has locations in Japantown, the Financial District, Newark and San Jose.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Hinodeya Ramen's rare dashi broth is a favorite among both locals and tourists.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1745540206,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 14,
"wordCount": 1108
},
"headData": {
"title": "Hinodeya Serves Rare Late-Night Ramen in SF's Union Square | KQED",
"description": "Hinodeya Ramen's rare dashi broth is a favorite among both locals and tourists.",
"ogTitle": "This Union Square Ramen Shop Slings Pure Ocean Umami Until 3:30 a.m.",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "This Union Square Ramen Shop Slings Pure Ocean Umami Until 3:30 a.m.",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "Hinodeya Serves Rare Late-Night Ramen in SF's Union Square%%page%% %%sep%% KQED",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "This Union Square Ramen Shop Slings Pure Ocean Umami Until 3:30 a.m.",
"datePublished": "2025-04-24T17:04:12-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-04-24T17:16:46-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"source": "The Midnight Diners",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13975308",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13975308/hinodeya-dashi-ramen-late-night-san-francisco-union-square",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975312\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975312\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: two men slurp bowls of ramen inside a crowded restaurant.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hinodeya Ramen’s Union Square location is known for its late hours and its seafood-based dashi broth. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 11 o’clock on a recent Friday night, the busiest restaurant in Union Square wasn’t a pizza joint or all-night diner, but instead a tiny ramen shop specializing in a relatively undersung, niche soup style. That about sums up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> food culture in a nutshell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The noodle shop in question is \u003ca href=\"https://hinodeyaramen.com/\">Hinodeya Ramen\u003c/a>, which first brought its vaunted dashi ramen to San Francisco from Japan’s \u003ca href=\"https://tabelog.com/en/saitama/A1104/A110402/11030891/\">Saitama prefecture\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2016/11/15/13644518/hinodeya-dashi-ramen-japantown-san-francisco\">2016\u003c/a>. Its owners made the bold move of opening a new late-night Union Square outpost in 2022 — in the thick of the pandemic, when the vibes downtown were perhaps at their \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/sf-union-square-alliance-17321368.php\">lowest point\u003c/a>. It’s one of just a small handful of restaurants in the neighborhood that are open past midnight. In fact, on weekends you can still get a bowl of steaming-hot ramen as late as 3:30 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course thousands of words have been written about downtown San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13939383/downtown-san-francisco-doom-spiral-sucka-flea-market-holiday-spirit\">retail apocalypse\u003c/a> and the slow-simmering \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/union-square-macys-18693950.php?utm_content=hed&sid=616ef88e1a685b526a1e6649&ss=A&st_rid=661447bf-9cf8-473c-87cb-db1dea567b1c&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=headlines&utm_campaign=sfc_morningfix\">demise of Union Square\u003c/a>. But at least within the tight, noisy confines of this pint-sized ramen restaurant, you would never guess any of that. During the entirety of our visit, the dining room was filled to capacity — more than 30 ramen eaters crammed practically shoulder to shoulder — with what looked to be an equal mix of SF locals and tourists. At the table next to us: a smiley college-age Latino couple on a date. A few tables down: a big, multi-generational Asian American family, including an 80-plus-year-old grandma with her face mask pulled down for ease of slurping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our server told us they get one big rush of customers from around 10 p.m. to midnight, and then another at 2 a.m., when the bars let out. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may have heard that in Japan, ramen is considered fast food, which isn’t a statement on quality but a matter of pure speed and accessibility. Hinodeya stays true to that spirit: Even though there were five or six parties ahead of us in line when we first stepped through the restaurant’s curtained doorway at a little past 10 o’clock, we were seated within minutes. The food also came out in a flash, just minutes after I buzzed in our QR code orders on my phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975314\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975314\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2.jpg\" alt='Illustration: Exterior of a ramen restaurant at night. The sign reads \"Hinodeya Ramen Bar.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/hinodeya2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Open since 2022, the Union Square shop is open until 3:30 a.m. on weekends. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In comparison to other top ramen shops, the noodles, chashu, soft-boiled egg and other toppings at Hinodeya are all perfectly adequate. But the shop’s be-all end-all is its dashi broth — especially for ramen enthusiasts tired of the thick, creamy, extra fatty tonkotsu style that’s so pervasive in the Bay Area. Instead of just boiling bones to smithereens, the basis of Hinodeya’s standard house ramen is a relatively light, clear soup that’s all balance and nuance, oriented around the umami of the sea: kombu, bonito flakes and scallop bouillon. The dried scallop, in particular, gives the broth an incredible depth of oceanic flavor, and a touch of pork fat adds just the right amount of luxurious richness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dashi broth is low-key one of my favorite ramen broths in the Bay; it’s the kind of soup I could slurp down once or twice a week without ever getting tired of it. It feels frankly preposterous to have access to something this good, served this quickly, at 2 or 3 in the morning — right smack in the middle of Union Square, no less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "arts_13974383,arts_13973430,arts_13972197",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Hinodeya also offers a bunch of special ramens, available in limited quantities, like a sukiyaki beef ramen and a ramen topped with fried pork cutlet. And so the other nice thing about the Union Square shop is that, at least during our visit, all of the specials were still available even at 11 p.m. In keeping with the ocean umami theme, we went with the shop’s other signature dish, the hamaguri ramen, which comes topped with a couple dozen sweet littleneck clams in their shells. Here, Hinodeya’s standard dashi soup gets doctored up with a hit of fresh garlic and, of course, all of the clams’ briny juices. This is the ramen for you if you’re a linguine alle vongole lover — if your favorite part of an order of steamed Quahogs is sipping the clam liquor at the bottom of the bowl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The non-ramen dishes at Hinodeya are equally well calibrated for late-night enjoyment, like the juicy, crisp-bottomed gyoza, which come with a side of salty concentrated dashi broth — the ideal dipping sauce, it turns out. If you’re feeling extra hungry, you can finish off the meal with a big ol’ bowl of rice. We opted for the gyudon, a hearty rice bowl that comes topped with thin slices of tender, soy-sauce-simmered beef and a runny-yolked poached egg. But plain white rice would also hit the spot, especially for \u003ca href=\"https://jewidiarta.medium.com/tetsu-kariya-akira-hanasaki-oishinbo-a-la-carte-ramen-gyoza-f69d4bb812e3\">connoisseurs who know the pleasures\u003c/a> of using rice to soak up the last dregs of your leftover ramen broth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We saved just enough room for one last, not-too-sweet bite for dessert: a little square bowl of jello-like matcha pudding topped with a dollop of whipped cream. And just like that, about an hour after we sat down, even having taken our time, we were back out on the street, our bellies full, the taste of the ocean on our tongues. Up above us, the glittering lights of the big Union Square hotels shined just as brightly as they ever did.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Hinodeya Ramen’s \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hinodeya-unionsquare.square.site/\">\u003ci>Union Square location\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open 10 a.m.–3:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m.–1:30 p.m. the rest of the week at 219 O’Farrell St. in San Francisco. The restaurant also has locations in Japantown, the Financial District, Newark and San Jose.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13975308/hinodeya-dashi-ramen-late-night-san-francisco-union-square",
"authors": [
"11743",
"11753"
],
"series": [
"arts_22316"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276",
"arts_235"
],
"tags": [
"arts_10278",
"arts_1297",
"arts_8805",
"arts_13915",
"arts_1146",
"arts_21928"
],
"featImg": "arts_13975316",
"label": "source_arts_13975308"
},
"arts_13974383": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13974383",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13974383",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1744398117000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "oakland-chinatown-new-gold-medal-late-night",
"title": "This Classic Oakland Chinatown Restaurant Hits the Spot at 3 a.m.",
"publishDate": 1744398117,
"format": "aside",
"headTitle": "This Classic Oakland Chinatown Restaurant Hits the Spot at 3 a.m. | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13974388\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13974388\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal.jpg\" alt=\"Two men devour a table full of Cantonese dishes, including chow mein and fried pork chops.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">New Gold Medal has been a local favorite for homey Cantonese food in Oakland Chinatown since 2007 \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in the days when everyone would complain about how nothing in Oakland was open past midnight (which is to say, literally the entire time I lived in Oakland), there was always New Gold Medal — the one no-frills Cantonese spot in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/chinatown\">Chinatown\u003c/a> where you could get a steaming-hot plate of beef chow fun or a bowl of wonton soup until 3 o’clock in the morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How many of us have rolled in through those doors, slightly hammered, with a crew seven or eight deep after the bars and clubs let out, or solo after getting off a late work shift, or halfway through an all-night study session? If you live in the East Bay and have ever gotten extremely, extremely hungry in the middle of the night these past two decades, it’s even odds that New Gold Medal has saved your life at least once or twice. (Going even further back, \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/the-hungry-insomniac-1/\">Sun Hong Kong\u003c/a> held court at the same 8th Street location, with a similar menu and late-night hours, starting in the ’80s.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news is that New Gold Medal is still around, \u003ci>still \u003c/i>open until 3 a.m. It still sits in the same classic Chinatown building with the tall, narrow windows and glazed tile eaves — still has the same picturesque tableau of glistening, well-bronzed ducks hanging in the window above a fat stack of fried dough sticks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most importantly? The food is just as good as it ever was and still hits perfectly when eaten at or around midnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Admittedly, \u003ci>some \u003c/i>things have changed. For one, at least during our visit at around 11 o’clock on a weeknight, the crowd was a lot more subdued than I remember — less party time and more tired gig workers enjoying a late dinner before going home to crash for the night. If anything, this made for even more satisfying people-watching: There was an older Cantonese family — a lady with a walker hunched over a bowl of soup, a severe-looking gentleman with a black sport coat and tidy, slicked-back hair. The whole group of them looked like they’d be stone-cold killers at the mahjong table. In the corner, a middle-aged South Asian guy had ordered two dishes and a tureen of soup all for himself and was absolutely going to town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another change: I regret to inform you that the days of the $6.50 rice plate and $16 whole roast duck — staples of my 2010s initiation as an NGM devotee — are long gone. The prices have gone up here just like they have everywhere in the Bay, so these days most items on the menu will run you $15 to $20. But the portions are still as generous as they ever were, so the upshot is that you can drop about $60 on three dishes and a big tub of rice, eat until you’re stuffed, and go home happy and full, with plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. Not exactly something to complain about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13974391\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13974391\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2.jpg\" alt='Exterior facade of a Chinese restaurant at night. The sign reads, \"New Gold Medal.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant is one of just a handful of Chinatown spots that’s open late — until 3 a.m. most nights. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>New Gold Medal isn’t the kind of destination restaurant that has some rare specialty dish it’s famous for. But if you like homey Cantonese food, its vast menu covers all of the standards — and does almost all of them exceptionally well. It might be best known for its Cantonese-style barbecue, and on a good day, the crispy-skinned roast pork is as tasty as any version you can find in the East Bay. It can be hit or miss, though — and if you’re coming late at night, chances are, the only cuts left in the case will be sad and dry. We went instead with the duck, which is reliably juicy and succulent at all hours, roasted slowly until the fat renders down to a particularly luscious texture. I have to stop myself from eating half a bird all by myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13973430,arts_13972834,arts_13956218']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>On this visit, we also devoured a plate of the Gold Medal chow mein, a crispy nest of fried noodles topped with a slurry of assorted meats, seafood and enough bok choy and shiitake mushrooms to make you feel like you got your meal’s worth of veggies. The salt-and-pepper fried pork chops came out tremendously hot and crispy, sprinkled with sliced garlic and jalapeños, and cut into hefty pieces that were super satisfying to gnaw off the bone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it almost doesn’t matter what you order. Every regular has their own favorites, running the gamut from war wonton soup to the assortment of clay pot rice dishes and stir-fried noodles. My own personal favorite is the stir-fried shrimp and eggs, a dish I’ve ordered at at least a dozen other restaurants in the Bay. But the scallion-flecked eggs never come out as light and fluffy as they do here — slippery enough to make the dish all the more comforting when you scoop it up over a big bowl of white rice. For me, no trip to New Gold Medal is complete without this dish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a couple of middle-aged ladies who’ve been at the restaurant forever run the place with efficiency and good humor, cracking jokes with regulars — equally adept, it seems, in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, and probably several other dialects I’m not aware of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, all we hear about is how the Bay Area’s Chinatowns are dying, and how Oakland Chinatown, in particular, was killed off by the COVID era and its aftermath. All the more reason to celebrate the survivors, then — to give thanks that even now, you can stumble into New Gold Medal at 3 a.m. and eat probably the best meal you’ll eat all week.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>New Gold Medal is open 9 a.m.–3 a.m. daily except for Tuesdays, when it closes at midnight. The restaurant is located at 389 8th St. in Oakland.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "New Gold Medal has long been a late-night favorite for no-frills Cantonese food.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1744401367,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 15,
"wordCount": 1122
},
"headData": {
"title": "New Gold Medal Is Oakland Chinatown’s Late-Night Classic | KQED",
"description": "New Gold Medal has long been a late-night favorite for no-frills Cantonese food.",
"ogTitle": "This Classic Oakland Chinatown Restaurant Hits the Spot at 3 a.m.",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "This Classic Oakland Chinatown Restaurant Hits the Spot at 3 a.m.",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "New Gold Medal Is Oakland Chinatown’s Late-Night Classic %%page%% %%sep%% KQED",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "This Classic Oakland Chinatown Restaurant Hits the Spot at 3 a.m.",
"datePublished": "2025-04-11T12:01:57-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-04-11T12:56:07-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"source": "The Midnight Diners",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13974383",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13974383/oakland-chinatown-new-gold-medal-late-night",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13974388\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13974388\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal.jpg\" alt=\"Two men devour a table full of Cantonese dishes, including chow mein and fried pork chops.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">New Gold Medal has been a local favorite for homey Cantonese food in Oakland Chinatown since 2007 \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in the days when everyone would complain about how nothing in Oakland was open past midnight (which is to say, literally the entire time I lived in Oakland), there was always New Gold Medal — the one no-frills Cantonese spot in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/chinatown\">Chinatown\u003c/a> where you could get a steaming-hot plate of beef chow fun or a bowl of wonton soup until 3 o’clock in the morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How many of us have rolled in through those doors, slightly hammered, with a crew seven or eight deep after the bars and clubs let out, or solo after getting off a late work shift, or halfway through an all-night study session? If you live in the East Bay and have ever gotten extremely, extremely hungry in the middle of the night these past two decades, it’s even odds that New Gold Medal has saved your life at least once or twice. (Going even further back, \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/the-hungry-insomniac-1/\">Sun Hong Kong\u003c/a> held court at the same 8th Street location, with a similar menu and late-night hours, starting in the ’80s.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news is that New Gold Medal is still around, \u003ci>still \u003c/i>open until 3 a.m. It still sits in the same classic Chinatown building with the tall, narrow windows and glazed tile eaves — still has the same picturesque tableau of glistening, well-bronzed ducks hanging in the window above a fat stack of fried dough sticks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most importantly? The food is just as good as it ever was and still hits perfectly when eaten at or around midnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Admittedly, \u003ci>some \u003c/i>things have changed. For one, at least during our visit at around 11 o’clock on a weeknight, the crowd was a lot more subdued than I remember — less party time and more tired gig workers enjoying a late dinner before going home to crash for the night. If anything, this made for even more satisfying people-watching: There was an older Cantonese family — a lady with a walker hunched over a bowl of soup, a severe-looking gentleman with a black sport coat and tidy, slicked-back hair. The whole group of them looked like they’d be stone-cold killers at the mahjong table. In the corner, a middle-aged South Asian guy had ordered two dishes and a tureen of soup all for himself and was absolutely going to town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another change: I regret to inform you that the days of the $6.50 rice plate and $16 whole roast duck — staples of my 2010s initiation as an NGM devotee — are long gone. The prices have gone up here just like they have everywhere in the Bay, so these days most items on the menu will run you $15 to $20. But the portions are still as generous as they ever were, so the upshot is that you can drop about $60 on three dishes and a big tub of rice, eat until you’re stuffed, and go home happy and full, with plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. Not exactly something to complain about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13974391\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13974391\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2.jpg\" alt='Exterior facade of a Chinese restaurant at night. The sign reads, \"New Gold Medal.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/newgoldmedal2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant is one of just a handful of Chinatown spots that’s open late — until 3 a.m. most nights. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>New Gold Medal isn’t the kind of destination restaurant that has some rare specialty dish it’s famous for. But if you like homey Cantonese food, its vast menu covers all of the standards — and does almost all of them exceptionally well. It might be best known for its Cantonese-style barbecue, and on a good day, the crispy-skinned roast pork is as tasty as any version you can find in the East Bay. It can be hit or miss, though — and if you’re coming late at night, chances are, the only cuts left in the case will be sad and dry. We went instead with the duck, which is reliably juicy and succulent at all hours, roasted slowly until the fat renders down to a particularly luscious texture. I have to stop myself from eating half a bird all by myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "arts_13973430,arts_13972834,arts_13956218",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>On this visit, we also devoured a plate of the Gold Medal chow mein, a crispy nest of fried noodles topped with a slurry of assorted meats, seafood and enough bok choy and shiitake mushrooms to make you feel like you got your meal’s worth of veggies. The salt-and-pepper fried pork chops came out tremendously hot and crispy, sprinkled with sliced garlic and jalapeños, and cut into hefty pieces that were super satisfying to gnaw off the bone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it almost doesn’t matter what you order. Every regular has their own favorites, running the gamut from war wonton soup to the assortment of clay pot rice dishes and stir-fried noodles. My own personal favorite is the stir-fried shrimp and eggs, a dish I’ve ordered at at least a dozen other restaurants in the Bay. But the scallion-flecked eggs never come out as light and fluffy as they do here — slippery enough to make the dish all the more comforting when you scoop it up over a big bowl of white rice. For me, no trip to New Gold Medal is complete without this dish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a couple of middle-aged ladies who’ve been at the restaurant forever run the place with efficiency and good humor, cracking jokes with regulars — equally adept, it seems, in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, and probably several other dialects I’m not aware of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, all we hear about is how the Bay Area’s Chinatowns are dying, and how Oakland Chinatown, in particular, was killed off by the COVID era and its aftermath. All the more reason to celebrate the survivors, then — to give thanks that even now, you can stumble into New Gold Medal at 3 a.m. and eat probably the best meal you’ll eat all week.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>New Gold Medal is open 9 a.m.–3 a.m. daily except for Tuesdays, when it closes at midnight. The restaurant is located at 389 8th St. in Oakland.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13974383/oakland-chinatown-new-gold-medal-late-night",
"authors": [
"11743",
"11753"
],
"series": [
"arts_22316"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276"
],
"tags": [
"arts_2654",
"arts_21727",
"arts_10422",
"arts_1297",
"arts_8805",
"arts_1143",
"arts_21928"
],
"featImg": "arts_13974389",
"label": "source_arts_13974383"
},
"arts_13973430": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13973430",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13973430",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1742516133000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "best-korean-spicy-raw-crabs-ondam-santa-clara-late-night",
"title": "Korean Spicy Raw Crabs Are the Best Late-Night Snack",
"publishDate": 1742516133,
"format": "aside",
"headTitle": "Korean Spicy Raw Crabs Are the Best Late-Night Snack | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: a man devours a crab dripping with red sauce (with red stains all over his shirt) while his companion looks on.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Ondam’s signature dishes is its spicy raw marinated crab. Located in Santa Clara, the Korean restaurant is open until 1 a.m. on weekends. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It looked like the scene of an unspeakable crime. I pulled off my red-stained plastic gloves and surveyed the damage: the pile of crimson-soaked carcasses, limbs torn off, bits of raw flesh oozing out from open crevices. My hands were sticky (and a little bit sweet??) underneath the gloves, my pants also spattered bright blood red and possibly ruined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All in all, it was just an average night at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ondam_official/?hl=en\">Ondam\u003c/a>, a newish late-night Korean restaurant in Santa Clara. We’d come in search of a rare delicacy, \u003ca href=\"https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/yangnyeom-gejang\">yangnyeom gejang\u003c/a>, or spicy raw marinated crabs — delicious victims of the aforementioned carnage. The dish has been a \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@hoemgirl/video/7218383423558257962\">viral hit\u003c/a> on Korean American TikTok and Instagram for a few years now, but has only recently started to appear on \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/crab-korean-k-banchan-18615070.php\">a handful of Bay Area menus\u003c/a>, often at restaurants, like Ondam, that specialize in booze-friendly fare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Late on a recent Friday night, the restaurant was jam-packed with Asian American twenty- and thirtysomethings, many of them chatting amiably in Korean. Even though about a dozen diners were ahead of us in line, we were seated quickly. The place is a model of efficiency, with a brisk, no-nonsense approach to service and iPad menus on every table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the raw marinated crabs are one of Ondam’s most \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/ondam-santa-clara?q=crab\">popular\u003c/a>, attention-grabbing dishes, we only saw them on a couple other tables. That’s probably because they’re a whole commitment, and you need to come properly prepared, ready to give them your full attention. At $35 a pop, they actually feel like a bargain because the portion size is tremendous — a giant Jenga tower of saucy, chili-stained blue crabs stacked high on the plate. There were so many that we lost count, but I must have eaten eight or 10 of the little crustaceans all by myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The marinade consisted of gochugaru (Korean chili powder), garlic, fresh chilies and soy sauce, which combined with the crab’s juices to form a spicy-sweet paste. The shells were soft enough that you could bite right through to get at the meat inside. What I like to do, though, is put on those plastic gloves and use both hands to smoosh the crab until its soft, gelatinous flesh oozes out over a bowl of hot rice. What a treat it was to luxuriate in the natural sweetness of the raw crab, whose taste and jelly-like texture were reminiscent of really fresh shrimp sashimi. Mixed with the (mildly) fiery kick of that bright red sauce, it was almost impossible to stop eating. And even wearing gloves, you’re bound to make a mess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Would my doctor advise me to eat this at 11 o’clock at night on the regular? If this was wrong, I didn’t want to be right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973440\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2.jpg\" alt='Illustration: the exterior of a restaurant at night. The sign reads \"Ondam Korean Restaurant.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant is a late-night hotspot, especially for Korean Americans in the Santa Clara area. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even if you’re squeamish about the idea of eating raw crab, Ondam serves some of the tastiest Korean food we’ve had in the Bay Area in quite some time. In fact, most of the tables around us were ordering more typical Korean pub standards — fried chicken, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961328/bay-pocha-late-night-korean-pub-bossam-army-stew-sf\">army stew\u003c/a> and tteokbokki. Based on our initial exploration of the menu, this is a restaurant that does the classics well. The complimentary banchan spread, for instance, was nothing but bangers: a tangle of soft, uncommonly savory potato matchsticks; perfectly seasoned sauteed spinach; a mound of creamy (and surprisingly addicting!) macaroni salad flecked with sweet corn kernels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the restaurant also boasts a wealth of dishes that are harder to find in the Bay Area. For instance, it has an extensive selection of kalguksu, or Korean noodle soups featuring handmade knife-cut noodles. The clam kalguksu we ordered came overloaded with clams and mussels, and the broth had a wonderfully deep and soothing flavor, having extracted all of the shellfish’s briny sweetness. On a cold night, it warmed us up from the inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13972834,arts_13957143,arts_13965215']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>There was a sweet, garlicky version of yukhoe, or Korean beef tartare, crowned with a golden egg yolk and served with crunchy slivers of Asian pear. And there was a whole menu of sotbap, a rice dish that’s a lesser known cousin of bibimbap, where all of the ingredients get cooked together in one pot. The steak sotbap turned out to be one of the most luxurious dishes of the night. The steak itself was cut into large, substantial chunks that were seared to a perfect, extraordinarily juicy medium-rare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Saved for a future visit: the six different jeongol (hot pot) dishes, and the elaborate spread of raw meats or seafood that get \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ondam_official/p/C3zRYBLuCUo/\">cooked gently in a cypress wood steamer\u003c/a> and served with an array of dipping sauces — a preparation I haven’t seen at any other Korean restaurant in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might find one or two of these lesser-known items from Ondam’s menu at Korean restaurants in Oakland or San Francisco, but \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20181212124912/https://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/different-kind-of-koreatown\">only in Santa Clara\u003c/a> is it typical to find such a wide array. And based on how crowded the dining room was during our visit, right now Ondam is \u003ci>the\u003c/i> place to be in Santa Clara, at least if you’re looking for a late-night feast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do learn from our mistakes, though, especially if the raw crabs are at the top of your agenda. Don’t wear any clothing you wouldn’t want getting dirty. And consider ordering just one or two dishes to start out, so you can focus on working your way through those crabs before the table gets cluttered and overcrowded. At that point, every bowl and utensil on the table might already be stained red, and one false move will send your sauce-splattered chopsticks flying through the air … and onto your favorite trousers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not that we wouldn’t do it all again in a second.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ondam_official/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Ondam\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m.–midnight, and Friday through Saturday 11 a.m.–1 a.m. at 2450 El Camino Real in Santa Clara.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Ondam, in Santa Clara, serves one of the best versions until 1 a.m. on weekends.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1742516133,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 17,
"wordCount": 1128
},
"headData": {
"title": "The Best Korean Spicy Raw Crabs at Ondam in Santa Clara | KQED",
"description": "Ondam, in Santa Clara, serves one of the best versions until 1 a.m. on weekends.",
"ogTitle": "Korean Spicy Raw Crabs Are the Best Late-Night Snack",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "Korean Spicy Raw Crabs Are the Best Late-Night Snack",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "The Best Korean Spicy Raw Crabs at Ondam in Santa Clara %%page%% %%sep%% KQED",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Korean Spicy Raw Crabs Are the Best Late-Night Snack",
"datePublished": "2025-03-20T17:15:33-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-03-20T17:15:33-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"source": "The Midnight Diners",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13973430",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13973430/best-korean-spicy-raw-crabs-ondam-santa-clara-late-night",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: a man devours a crab dripping with red sauce (with red stains all over his shirt) while his companion looks on.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Ondam’s signature dishes is its spicy raw marinated crab. Located in Santa Clara, the Korean restaurant is open until 1 a.m. on weekends. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It looked like the scene of an unspeakable crime. I pulled off my red-stained plastic gloves and surveyed the damage: the pile of crimson-soaked carcasses, limbs torn off, bits of raw flesh oozing out from open crevices. My hands were sticky (and a little bit sweet??) underneath the gloves, my pants also spattered bright blood red and possibly ruined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All in all, it was just an average night at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ondam_official/?hl=en\">Ondam\u003c/a>, a newish late-night Korean restaurant in Santa Clara. We’d come in search of a rare delicacy, \u003ca href=\"https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/yangnyeom-gejang\">yangnyeom gejang\u003c/a>, or spicy raw marinated crabs — delicious victims of the aforementioned carnage. The dish has been a \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@hoemgirl/video/7218383423558257962\">viral hit\u003c/a> on Korean American TikTok and Instagram for a few years now, but has only recently started to appear on \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/crab-korean-k-banchan-18615070.php\">a handful of Bay Area menus\u003c/a>, often at restaurants, like Ondam, that specialize in booze-friendly fare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Late on a recent Friday night, the restaurant was jam-packed with Asian American twenty- and thirtysomethings, many of them chatting amiably in Korean. Even though about a dozen diners were ahead of us in line, we were seated quickly. The place is a model of efficiency, with a brisk, no-nonsense approach to service and iPad menus on every table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the raw marinated crabs are one of Ondam’s most \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/ondam-santa-clara?q=crab\">popular\u003c/a>, attention-grabbing dishes, we only saw them on a couple other tables. That’s probably because they’re a whole commitment, and you need to come properly prepared, ready to give them your full attention. At $35 a pop, they actually feel like a bargain because the portion size is tremendous — a giant Jenga tower of saucy, chili-stained blue crabs stacked high on the plate. There were so many that we lost count, but I must have eaten eight or 10 of the little crustaceans all by myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The marinade consisted of gochugaru (Korean chili powder), garlic, fresh chilies and soy sauce, which combined with the crab’s juices to form a spicy-sweet paste. The shells were soft enough that you could bite right through to get at the meat inside. What I like to do, though, is put on those plastic gloves and use both hands to smoosh the crab until its soft, gelatinous flesh oozes out over a bowl of hot rice. What a treat it was to luxuriate in the natural sweetness of the raw crab, whose taste and jelly-like texture were reminiscent of really fresh shrimp sashimi. Mixed with the (mildly) fiery kick of that bright red sauce, it was almost impossible to stop eating. And even wearing gloves, you’re bound to make a mess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Would my doctor advise me to eat this at 11 o’clock at night on the regular? If this was wrong, I didn’t want to be right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973440\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2.jpg\" alt='Illustration: the exterior of a restaurant at night. The sign reads \"Ondam Korean Restaurant.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ONDAM2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant is a late-night hotspot, especially for Korean Americans in the Santa Clara area. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even if you’re squeamish about the idea of eating raw crab, Ondam serves some of the tastiest Korean food we’ve had in the Bay Area in quite some time. In fact, most of the tables around us were ordering more typical Korean pub standards — fried chicken, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961328/bay-pocha-late-night-korean-pub-bossam-army-stew-sf\">army stew\u003c/a> and tteokbokki. Based on our initial exploration of the menu, this is a restaurant that does the classics well. The complimentary banchan spread, for instance, was nothing but bangers: a tangle of soft, uncommonly savory potato matchsticks; perfectly seasoned sauteed spinach; a mound of creamy (and surprisingly addicting!) macaroni salad flecked with sweet corn kernels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the restaurant also boasts a wealth of dishes that are harder to find in the Bay Area. For instance, it has an extensive selection of kalguksu, or Korean noodle soups featuring handmade knife-cut noodles. The clam kalguksu we ordered came overloaded with clams and mussels, and the broth had a wonderfully deep and soothing flavor, having extracted all of the shellfish’s briny sweetness. On a cold night, it warmed us up from the inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "arts_13972834,arts_13957143,arts_13965215",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>There was a sweet, garlicky version of yukhoe, or Korean beef tartare, crowned with a golden egg yolk and served with crunchy slivers of Asian pear. And there was a whole menu of sotbap, a rice dish that’s a lesser known cousin of bibimbap, where all of the ingredients get cooked together in one pot. The steak sotbap turned out to be one of the most luxurious dishes of the night. The steak itself was cut into large, substantial chunks that were seared to a perfect, extraordinarily juicy medium-rare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Saved for a future visit: the six different jeongol (hot pot) dishes, and the elaborate spread of raw meats or seafood that get \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ondam_official/p/C3zRYBLuCUo/\">cooked gently in a cypress wood steamer\u003c/a> and served with an array of dipping sauces — a preparation I haven’t seen at any other Korean restaurant in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might find one or two of these lesser-known items from Ondam’s menu at Korean restaurants in Oakland or San Francisco, but \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20181212124912/https://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/different-kind-of-koreatown\">only in Santa Clara\u003c/a> is it typical to find such a wide array. And based on how crowded the dining room was during our visit, right now Ondam is \u003ci>the\u003c/i> place to be in Santa Clara, at least if you’re looking for a late-night feast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do learn from our mistakes, though, especially if the raw crabs are at the top of your agenda. Don’t wear any clothing you wouldn’t want getting dirty. And consider ordering just one or two dishes to start out, so you can focus on working your way through those crabs before the table gets cluttered and overcrowded. At that point, every bowl and utensil on the table might already be stained red, and one false move will send your sauce-splattered chopsticks flying through the air … and onto your favorite trousers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not that we wouldn’t do it all again in a second.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ondam_official/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Ondam\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m.–midnight, and Friday through Saturday 11 a.m.–1 a.m. at 2450 El Camino Real in Santa Clara.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13973430/best-korean-spicy-raw-crabs-ondam-santa-clara-late-night",
"authors": [
"11743",
"11753"
],
"series": [
"arts_22316"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276"
],
"tags": [
"arts_10278",
"arts_1297",
"arts_15803",
"arts_8805",
"arts_22323",
"arts_21928"
],
"featImg": "arts_13973437",
"label": "source_arts_13973430"
},
"arts_13972834": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13972834",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13972834",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1741378323000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "convenience-store-soul-food-oakland-dimond-kitchen-late-night",
"title": "Some of the Bay Area’s Tastiest Soul Food Is Sold Out of a Convenience Store in Oakland",
"publishDate": 1741378323,
"format": "aside",
"headTitle": "Some of the Bay Area’s Tastiest Soul Food Is Sold Out of a Convenience Store in Oakland | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972837\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972837\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1.jpg\" alt=\"Two men in glasses devouring chicken wings, collard greens, mac and cheese, and other soul food dishes.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sold inside the Two Star Market convenience store in Oakland, Dimond Kitchen’s soul food is so good, you want devour it right away — even if there aren’t any tables or chairs. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Located across the street from a weed dispensary in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland’s\u003c/a> Dimond District, the Two Star Market looks like any other corner convenience store in the Bay — bright fluorescent lights, fridges stacked with beer and wine coolers, and shelves upon shelves of chips and candy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, except for this: The store also features a fully equipped kitchen that serves some of the tastiest soul food in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dimond Kitchen,” the grand opening banner outside reads. “Food for the Soul.” The restaurant-inside-a-corner-store markets itself as the Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dimond_kitchen_us_catering/\">only late-night soul food spot\u003c/a>, which seems \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969092/late-night-soul-food-gumbo-san-leandro-nellas-place\">mostly true\u003c/a> — even if it was \u003ci>more\u003c/i> apt a few years ago when the business used to set up on the sidewalk, on Broadway or Telegraph, selling ribs and meatloaf plates to the bar crowd until as late as 2 a.m. These days, the convenience store iteration of Dimond Kitchen is open until midnight on weekends, and that still feels like a miracle — to be able to snag a piping-hot plate of pork chops, greens, and mac and cheese during your late-night liquor store run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My abiding love of restaurants embedded inside \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/hidden-in-plain-sight-norma-meat-amp-deli-1/\">liquor stores\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13950577/halal-king-yemeni-restaurant-gas-station-richmond\">gas station convenience stores\u003c/a> is well-documented at this point, including a long obsession with \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/borinquen-soul-dishes-out-puerto-rican-grandma-food-inside-an-oakland-convenience-store-2-1/\">Borinquen Soul\u003c/a>, which sold the most delicious Puerto Rican pernil and arroz con gandules I’d ever eaten out of this very same slightly janky corner store kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I love most, I think, is the joy of discovery — of stumbling on unexpected deliciousness in an unusually casual or inappropriate setting. “What?” we said to the woman working the counter at 10 o’clock on a recent Friday night. “You serve \u003ci>oxtails\u003c/i> on the weekend?” Even before we’d ordered our food, we were making plans to come back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Dimond Kitchen, you should be prepared for the food to take a little while, especially if you order anything beyond the spread of entrees and side dishes already laid out in warming trays on the steam table. The chicken wings are fried to order. So are the pork chops, before they get smothered in gravy. And the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a> are tossed fresh in a hot pan — again, all to order. With just one or two cooks cranking plates out of that tiny, bootstrapped convenience store kitchen, it’s no wonder we waited a solid 40 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972838\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972838\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Oakland-style picnic. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>How much you enjoy that wait might depend on how you feel about the late-night corner store vibe, which has its own brand of joyously chaotic Town energy. A white guy in a hoodie tried to sweet-talk the staff into letting him buy a (nonexistent) “two-meat, one-side” combo plate. (“It’s twice the meat, half the sorrow,” he quipped, nonsensically.) A young woman with long braids slapped a couple of dollar bills onto the counter after the chef gave her a few extra tubs of housemade hot sauce, shrugging him off when he said she didn’t have to pay. Every once in a while, someone would burst into the store cussing jovially.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chef, you can smell that shit up the street!” one of them shouted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most everyone seemed like they were a regular. Which makes sense because once our food arrived, each takeout carton steaming-hot and filled almost to overflowing, we stopped thinking about anything else except how astoundingly delicious it all was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13972197,arts_13969092,arts_13966030']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>The special of the day was smothered pork chops — juicy, bone-in specimens drowned generously in a savory brown gravy that was pitch perfect, neither too thick nor too thin. The kind of gravy that makes you want to eat a boatload of white rice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another excellent vehicle for rice (or noodles) was the garlic shrimp. Vaguely Alfredo-like in its creamy richness, the sauce was slightly spicy, a little bit sweet, and thoroughly addicting. Meanwhile, the fried chicken wings — arguably the staple of the menu — were plump and full-sized (with the tips attached), impeccably seasoned and succulent as all get-out. These were as delicious plain as they were with a drizzle of Crystal or the restaurant’s sweet, housemade hot sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What really made the meal, however, was the abundance of side dishes, which we found to be even tastier than the mains. There were sweet, syrupy yams and gloriously golden-crusted jalapeño mac and cheese. There was dirty rice that \u003ci>actually\u003c/i> tasted dirty, in the best way, with a livery depth of flavor we couldn’t get enough of. Best of all, there were soft collard greens soaked in a pool of potlikker so tasty and potent, I would happily drink a whole bowl of it on its own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all comes out smelling so intoxicatingly good, you want to devour it right away — which is a slight problem, because the corner-store setting means there aren’t any tables or seats to speak of. But on a clear evening, when the night air isn’t too chilly, you can do what we did and set up a very Oakland-style picnic: Lay your bounty on the hood of your car, right there in the convenience store parking lot. Roll up your sleeves. And dig in.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dimond_kitchen_us_catering/\">\u003ci>Dimond Kitchen\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Tuesday through Thursday, 2–10 p.m., and Friday through Sunday 1 p.m.–midnight inside Two Star Market at 2020 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland — though it’s best to call ahead to confirm their hours.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Dimond Kitchen slings amazing chicken wings and smothered pork chops, with all the fixins, until midnight on weekends.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1741974920,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 17,
"wordCount": 1048
},
"headData": {
"title": "A Corner Store in Oakland Sells Some of the Best Soul Food in the Bay | KQED",
"description": "Dimond Kitchen slings amazing chicken wings and smothered pork chops, with all the fixins, until midnight on weekends.",
"ogTitle": "Some of the Bay Area’s Tastiest Soul Food Is Sold Out of a Convenience Store in Oakland",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "Some of the Bay Area’s Tastiest Soul Food Is Sold Out of a Convenience Store in Oakland",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "A Corner Store in Oakland Sells Some of the Best Soul Food in the Bay %%page%% %%sep%% KQED",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Some of the Bay Area’s Tastiest Soul Food Is Sold Out of a Convenience Store in Oakland",
"datePublished": "2025-03-07T12:12:03-08:00",
"dateModified": "2025-03-14T10:55:20-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"source": "The Midnight Diners",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13972834",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13972834/convenience-store-soul-food-oakland-dimond-kitchen-late-night",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972837\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972837\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1.jpg\" alt=\"Two men in glasses devouring chicken wings, collard greens, mac and cheese, and other soul food dishes.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sold inside the Two Star Market convenience store in Oakland, Dimond Kitchen’s soul food is so good, you want devour it right away — even if there aren’t any tables or chairs. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. 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/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Located across the street from a weed dispensary in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland’s\u003c/a> Dimond District, the Two Star Market looks like any other corner convenience store in the Bay — bright fluorescent lights, fridges stacked with beer and wine coolers, and shelves upon shelves of chips and candy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, except for this: The store also features a fully equipped kitchen that serves some of the tastiest soul food in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dimond Kitchen,” the grand opening banner outside reads. “Food for the Soul.” The restaurant-inside-a-corner-store markets itself as the Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dimond_kitchen_us_catering/\">only late-night soul food spot\u003c/a>, which seems \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969092/late-night-soul-food-gumbo-san-leandro-nellas-place\">mostly true\u003c/a> — even if it was \u003ci>more\u003c/i> apt a few years ago when the business used to set up on the sidewalk, on Broadway or Telegraph, selling ribs and meatloaf plates to the bar crowd until as late as 2 a.m. These days, the convenience store iteration of Dimond Kitchen is open until midnight on weekends, and that still feels like a miracle — to be able to snag a piping-hot plate of pork chops, greens, and mac and cheese during your late-night liquor store run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My abiding love of restaurants embedded inside \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/hidden-in-plain-sight-norma-meat-amp-deli-1/\">liquor stores\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13950577/halal-king-yemeni-restaurant-gas-station-richmond\">gas station convenience stores\u003c/a> is well-documented at this point, including a long obsession with \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/borinquen-soul-dishes-out-puerto-rican-grandma-food-inside-an-oakland-convenience-store-2-1/\">Borinquen Soul\u003c/a>, which sold the most delicious Puerto Rican pernil and arroz con gandules I’d ever eaten out of this very same slightly janky corner store kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I love most, I think, is the joy of discovery — of stumbling on unexpected deliciousness in an unusually casual or inappropriate setting. “What?” we said to the woman working the counter at 10 o’clock on a recent Friday night. “You serve \u003ci>oxtails\u003c/i> on the weekend?” Even before we’d ordered our food, we were making plans to come back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Dimond Kitchen, you should be prepared for the food to take a little while, especially if you order anything beyond the spread of entrees and side dishes already laid out in warming trays on the steam table. The chicken wings are fried to order. So are the pork chops, before they get smothered in gravy. And the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a> are tossed fresh in a hot pan — again, all to order. With just one or two cooks cranking plates out of that tiny, bootstrapped convenience store kitchen, it’s no wonder we waited a solid 40 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972838\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972838\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Dimondkitchen2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Oakland-style picnic. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>How much you enjoy that wait might depend on how you feel about the late-night corner store vibe, which has its own brand of joyously chaotic Town energy. A white guy in a hoodie tried to sweet-talk the staff into letting him buy a (nonexistent) “two-meat, one-side” combo plate. (“It’s twice the meat, half the sorrow,” he quipped, nonsensically.) A young woman with long braids slapped a couple of dollar bills onto the counter after the chef gave her a few extra tubs of housemade hot sauce, shrugging him off when he said she didn’t have to pay. Every once in a while, someone would burst into the store cussing jovially.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chef, you can smell that shit up the street!” one of them shouted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most everyone seemed like they were a regular. Which makes sense because once our food arrived, each takeout carton steaming-hot and filled almost to overflowing, we stopped thinking about anything else except how astoundingly delicious it all was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "arts_13972197,arts_13969092,arts_13966030",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>The special of the day was smothered pork chops — juicy, bone-in specimens drowned generously in a savory brown gravy that was pitch perfect, neither too thick nor too thin. The kind of gravy that makes you want to eat a boatload of white rice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another excellent vehicle for rice (or noodles) was the garlic shrimp. Vaguely Alfredo-like in its creamy richness, the sauce was slightly spicy, a little bit sweet, and thoroughly addicting. Meanwhile, the fried chicken wings — arguably the staple of the menu — were plump and full-sized (with the tips attached), impeccably seasoned and succulent as all get-out. These were as delicious plain as they were with a drizzle of Crystal or the restaurant’s sweet, housemade hot sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What really made the meal, however, was the abundance of side dishes, which we found to be even tastier than the mains. There were sweet, syrupy yams and gloriously golden-crusted jalapeño mac and cheese. There was dirty rice that \u003ci>actually\u003c/i> tasted dirty, in the best way, with a livery depth of flavor we couldn’t get enough of. Best of all, there were soft collard greens soaked in a pool of potlikker so tasty and potent, I would happily drink a whole bowl of it on its own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all comes out smelling so intoxicatingly good, you want to devour it right away — which is a slight problem, because the corner-store setting means there aren’t any tables or seats to speak of. But on a clear evening, when the night air isn’t too chilly, you can do what we did and set up a very Oakland-style picnic: Lay your bounty on the hood of your car, right there in the convenience store parking lot. Roll up your sleeves. And dig in.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dimond_kitchen_us_catering/\">\u003ci>Dimond Kitchen\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Tuesday through Thursday, 2–10 p.m., and Friday through Sunday 1 p.m.–midnight inside Two Star Market at 2020 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland — though it’s best to call ahead to confirm their hours.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13972834/convenience-store-soul-food-oakland-dimond-kitchen-late-night",
"authors": [
"11743",
"11753"
],
"series": [
"arts_22316"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276"
],
"tags": [
"arts_10278",
"arts_1297",
"arts_8805",
"arts_1143",
"arts_14729",
"arts_21928"
],
"featImg": "arts_13972836",
"label": "source_arts_13972834"
},
"arts_13972704": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_13972704",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13972704",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1741276826000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "suhoor-fest-ramadan-san-jose-halal-food-festival-2025",
"title": "Suhoor Fest Is the Bay Area’s Biggest Halal Food Festival ",
"publishDate": 1741276826,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Suhoor Fest Is the Bay Area’s Biggest Halal Food Festival | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>During \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029204/ramadan-2025-where-to-find-iftar-and-suhoor-in-the-bay-area\">Ramadan\u003c/a>, billions of Muslims around the world observe suhoor, the nightly pre-dawn meal taken in preparation for a day of fasting, which one can eat quietly at home — say, taking down a couple of Medjool dates while still groggy with sleep. For thousands of Bay Area Muslims, it also serves as the occasion for the year’s biggest halal food festival: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGXWjk6xQSW/?hl=en\">Suhoor Fest\u003c/a>, a mammoth convocation of food stalls, art and clothing vendors, and lively Arabic music, all crammed together in a football field–sized parking lot in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now in its fourth year, Suhoor Fest is one of the largest events of its kind in the U.S. — so big, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elhalalamigos/?hl=en\">El Halal Amigos\u003c/a> owner Hisham Abdelfattah, “It feels like every Muslim in California is there.” This year’s edition will take place on Sat., March 15, from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.saba-igc.org/\">SABA Center\u003c/a> in North San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organized by \u003ca href=\"https://www.halalfest.com/\">Halal Fest\u003c/a>, which has hosted halal food events in the Bay Area since 2013, Suhoor Fest is one of the many community gatherings that were born as a response to pandemic isolation. Founder Irfan Rydhan explains that he wanted to recreate the “back-home” feeling that Bay Area Muslims might have experienced in the Arab world and other Muslim-majority countries like Malaysia or Pakistan, where his father is from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything is usually shut down during the daytime, and then after sunset, that’s when everybody breaks their fast, and then they start to go out to participate in the street food,” Rydhan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suhoor Fest is the Halal Fest team’s attempt to bring that lively atmosphere to the Bay — the streets lit up, everyone outside mingling until late into the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972709\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972709\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A plate with three al pastor tacos topped with diced pineapple.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A plate of halal tacos — one of the many cuisines represented at Suhoor Fest. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Halal Fest)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 2025 edition of Suhoor Fest looks to be the largest one yet, with a lineup 21 halal food and beverage vendors, including a handful of prominent first-timers. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961613/zareens-pakistani-indian-palo-alto-late-night\">Zareen’s\u003c/a>, maybe the Peninsula’s most beloved Pakistani-Indian restaurant, will have a stall set up for the first time. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGwzUeDxEic/\">Manakish Oven\u003c/a>, a new Palestinian spot in San Jose, will sling its array of popular flatbreads. And, for visitors who like their shawarma with a side of lumpia, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cabalensweetandsavory/\">Cabalen Sweet & Savory\u003c/a> truck will be on hand to sell its unique hybrid of Filipino and Middle Eastern cuisines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954374/suhoor-fest-san-jose-ramadan-el-halal-amigos\">returning Suhoor Fest anchors\u003c/a> like El Halal Amigos will once again draw some of the event’s longest lines. This year, Abdelfattah says he’ll be trying something new for his street tacos, melting cheese on the tortilla, quesataco-style, while it crisps on the griddle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other new features this year include an exotic car show and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mocktailswithmoose/\">mocktail pop-up\u003c/a>. There’s also the option to buy $50 VIP tickets (admission is otherwise free) that come with a grab bag of coupons and other assorted treats — a T-shirt, a can of Palestinian American–owned \u003ca href=\"https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2024/11/29/coca-cola-boycott-drink-palestina-nj/76435834007/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabo5MfVL2MAlEuq_7s1WaCk-uPV7DHdRGZop33XBhq1ZauqwvFYkFz3B9Y_aem_3aujgUTONpA9dxr3MdICXA\">Drink Palestina\u003c/a> soda (which donates 10% of its profits to Palestinian relief), a raffle ticket for a chance to attend the Warriors’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/muslimhoop/reel/DF8i7FYP16V/\">Muslim Heritage Night\u003c/a> game at Chase Center, and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='news_12029204,arts_13961613,arts_13950577']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>In many ways, Suhoor Fest is the biggest, most joyous party of the year for the Bay Area’s Muslim communities. But this year’s event is also tinged with pain and worry, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/graphics/ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/FATALITIES/byvrxlqeqve/\">more than 48,000 Palestinians\u003c/a> reported to have been killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza and attacks on the occupied West Bank, and a tenuous ceasefire many fear is on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgz7p85mdgo\">brink of collapse\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, it is Ramadan. It’s the most beautiful time of the year,” Abdelfattah says. “But it’s also very, very hard to enjoy all of the beautiful things that come with Ramadan because of what’s happening in Gaza, specifically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Rydhan and Abdelfattah cite the sense of responsibility they feel toward to the broader Bay Area Muslim community to practice Sadaqah, or charity, during Ramadan — to, as Rydhan puts it, always be thinking about “our brothers and sisters around the world, especially in Palestine and Gaza.” Toward that end, Suhoor Fest will be partnering with the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://irusa.org/\">Islamic Relief USA\u003c/a>, which will have a booth set up to collect donations for Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972710\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972710\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor.jpg\" alt=\"A crowded dining room inside a restaurant.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hisham Abdelfattah, chef-owner of San Jose’s El Halal Amigos, works the crowd during last year’s suhoor event at his restaurant. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of El Halal Amigos)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Abdelfattah will also host a separate Suhoor Night event at El Halal Amigos (with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DG08ZLTyoUk/\">special guest appearance by Zareen’s\u003c/a>) on Fri., March 21, where he’ll serve beef bacon breakfast burritos and donate 20% of the proceeds to Islamic Relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, one of the most unique aspects of Suhoor Fest is that it runs all the way until 5 o’clock in the morning — and every year, there’s always a healthy crowd that stays to the end to share a quieter, more contemplative moment with their community. After all, Abdelfattah says, “The reason why it runs until 5 a.m. is because we’re all still together to pray right at sunrise after we’ve filled our bellies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DFwla4Ex3Xy/?hl=en\">Suhoor Fest\u003c/a> will take place on Saturday, March 15, from 11 p.m.–5 a.m., in the parking lot of the SABA Islamic Center (4415 Fortran Ct., San Jose). El Halal Amigos’ separate Suhoor Night event will take place 10 p.m.–3 a.m. on Friday, March 21 at 1100 Lincoln Avenue in San Jose. Zareen’s will also host a Suhoor Night at its Palo Alto location on Saturday, March 22.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "This year’s all-night Ramadan celebration in San Jose promises to be the most ambitious one yet.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1741379255,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 16,
"wordCount": 1006
},
"headData": {
"title": "Suhoor Fest Is the Bay Area’s Biggest Halal Food Festival | KQED",
"description": "This year’s all-night Ramadan celebration in San Jose promises to be the most ambitious one yet.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Suhoor Fest Is the Bay Area’s Biggest Halal Food Festival ",
"datePublished": "2025-03-06T08:00:26-08:00",
"dateModified": "2025-03-07T12:27:35-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"source": "Food",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/food",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-13972704",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/arts/13972704/suhoor-fest-ramadan-san-jose-halal-food-festival-2025",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>During \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029204/ramadan-2025-where-to-find-iftar-and-suhoor-in-the-bay-area\">Ramadan\u003c/a>, billions of Muslims around the world observe suhoor, the nightly pre-dawn meal taken in preparation for a day of fasting, which one can eat quietly at home — say, taking down a couple of Medjool dates while still groggy with sleep. For thousands of Bay Area Muslims, it also serves as the occasion for the year’s biggest halal food festival: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGXWjk6xQSW/?hl=en\">Suhoor Fest\u003c/a>, a mammoth convocation of food stalls, art and clothing vendors, and lively Arabic music, all crammed together in a football field–sized parking lot in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now in its fourth year, Suhoor Fest is one of the largest events of its kind in the U.S. — so big, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elhalalamigos/?hl=en\">El Halal Amigos\u003c/a> owner Hisham Abdelfattah, “It feels like every Muslim in California is there.” This year’s edition will take place on Sat., March 15, from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.saba-igc.org/\">SABA Center\u003c/a> in North San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organized by \u003ca href=\"https://www.halalfest.com/\">Halal Fest\u003c/a>, which has hosted halal food events in the Bay Area since 2013, Suhoor Fest is one of the many community gatherings that were born as a response to pandemic isolation. Founder Irfan Rydhan explains that he wanted to recreate the “back-home” feeling that Bay Area Muslims might have experienced in the Arab world and other Muslim-majority countries like Malaysia or Pakistan, where his father is from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything is usually shut down during the daytime, and then after sunset, that’s when everybody breaks their fast, and then they start to go out to participate in the street food,” Rydhan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suhoor Fest is the Halal Fest team’s attempt to bring that lively atmosphere to the Bay — the streets lit up, everyone outside mingling until late into the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972709\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972709\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A plate with three al pastor tacos topped with diced pineapple.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/halal-tacos-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A plate of halal tacos — one of the many cuisines represented at Suhoor Fest. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Halal Fest)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 2025 edition of Suhoor Fest looks to be the largest one yet, with a lineup 21 halal food and beverage vendors, including a handful of prominent first-timers. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961613/zareens-pakistani-indian-palo-alto-late-night\">Zareen’s\u003c/a>, maybe the Peninsula’s most beloved Pakistani-Indian restaurant, will have a stall set up for the first time. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DGwzUeDxEic/\">Manakish Oven\u003c/a>, a new Palestinian spot in San Jose, will sling its array of popular flatbreads. And, for visitors who like their shawarma with a side of lumpia, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cabalensweetandsavory/\">Cabalen Sweet & Savory\u003c/a> truck will be on hand to sell its unique hybrid of Filipino and Middle Eastern cuisines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954374/suhoor-fest-san-jose-ramadan-el-halal-amigos\">returning Suhoor Fest anchors\u003c/a> like El Halal Amigos will once again draw some of the event’s longest lines. This year, Abdelfattah says he’ll be trying something new for his street tacos, melting cheese on the tortilla, quesataco-style, while it crisps on the griddle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other new features this year include an exotic car show and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mocktailswithmoose/\">mocktail pop-up\u003c/a>. There’s also the option to buy $50 VIP tickets (admission is otherwise free) that come with a grab bag of coupons and other assorted treats — a T-shirt, a can of Palestinian American–owned \u003ca href=\"https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2024/11/29/coca-cola-boycott-drink-palestina-nj/76435834007/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabo5MfVL2MAlEuq_7s1WaCk-uPV7DHdRGZop33XBhq1ZauqwvFYkFz3B9Y_aem_3aujgUTONpA9dxr3MdICXA\">Drink Palestina\u003c/a> soda (which donates 10% of its profits to Palestinian relief), a raffle ticket for a chance to attend the Warriors’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/muslimhoop/reel/DF8i7FYP16V/\">Muslim Heritage Night\u003c/a> game at Chase Center, and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12029204,arts_13961613,arts_13950577",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>In many ways, Suhoor Fest is the biggest, most joyous party of the year for the Bay Area’s Muslim communities. But this year’s event is also tinged with pain and worry, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/graphics/ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/FATALITIES/byvrxlqeqve/\">more than 48,000 Palestinians\u003c/a> reported to have been killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza and attacks on the occupied West Bank, and a tenuous ceasefire many fear is on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgz7p85mdgo\">brink of collapse\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, it is Ramadan. It’s the most beautiful time of the year,” Abdelfattah says. “But it’s also very, very hard to enjoy all of the beautiful things that come with Ramadan because of what’s happening in Gaza, specifically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Rydhan and Abdelfattah cite the sense of responsibility they feel toward to the broader Bay Area Muslim community to practice Sadaqah, or charity, during Ramadan — to, as Rydhan puts it, always be thinking about “our brothers and sisters around the world, especially in Palestine and Gaza.” Toward that end, Suhoor Fest will be partnering with the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://irusa.org/\">Islamic Relief USA\u003c/a>, which will have a booth set up to collect donations for Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972710\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972710\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor.jpg\" alt=\"A crowded dining room inside a restaurant.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/el-halal-amigos-suhoor-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hisham Abdelfattah, chef-owner of San Jose’s El Halal Amigos, works the crowd during last year’s suhoor event at his restaurant. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of El Halal Amigos)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Abdelfattah will also host a separate Suhoor Night event at El Halal Amigos (with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DG08ZLTyoUk/\">special guest appearance by Zareen’s\u003c/a>) on Fri., March 21, where he’ll serve beef bacon breakfast burritos and donate 20% of the proceeds to Islamic Relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, one of the most unique aspects of Suhoor Fest is that it runs all the way until 5 o’clock in the morning — and every year, there’s always a healthy crowd that stays to the end to share a quieter, more contemplative moment with their community. After all, Abdelfattah says, “The reason why it runs until 5 a.m. is because we’re all still together to pray right at sunrise after we’ve filled our bellies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DFwla4Ex3Xy/?hl=en\">Suhoor Fest\u003c/a> will take place on Saturday, March 15, from 11 p.m.–5 a.m., in the parking lot of the SABA Islamic Center (4415 Fortran Ct., San Jose). El Halal Amigos’ separate Suhoor Night event will take place 10 p.m.–3 a.m. on Friday, March 21 at 1100 Lincoln Avenue in San Jose. Zareen’s will also host a Suhoor Night at its Palo Alto location on Saturday, March 22.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/13972704/suhoor-fest-ramadan-san-jose-halal-food-festival-2025",
"authors": [
"11743"
],
"programs": [
"arts_140"
],
"categories": [
"arts_1",
"arts_12276",
"arts_22313"
],
"tags": [
"arts_10278",
"arts_1297",
"arts_21762",
"arts_8805",
"arts_22063",
"arts_1084",
"arts_12982",
"arts_585"
],
"featImg": "arts_13972707",
"label": "source_arts_13972704"
}
},
"podcastsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"podcasts": {}
},
"radioProgramsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"radioPrograms": {}
},
"radioSearchSegmentsReducer": {},
"programsReducer": {
"all-things-considered": {
"id": "all-things-considered",
"title": "All Things Considered",
"info": "Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/all-things-considered"
},
"american-suburb-podcast": {
"id": "american-suburb-podcast",
"title": "American Suburb: The Podcast",
"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 19
},
"link": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"
}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Bay Curious",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
"link": "/podcasts/baycurious",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9a90d476-aa04-455d-9a4c-0871ed6216d4/bay-curious",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"
}
},
"bbc-world-service": {
"id": "bbc-world-service",
"title": "BBC World Service",
"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-the-california-report/id79681292",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432285393/the-california-report",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-the-california-report-podcast-8838",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcram/feed/podcast"
}
},
"californiareportmagazine": {
"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Magazine-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report Magazine",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 10
},
"link": "/californiareportmagazine",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/564733126/the-california-report-magazine",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-california-report-magazine",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"
}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"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",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
"tagline": "Your irreverent guide to the trends redefining our world",
"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/CAT_2_Tile-scaled.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Close All Tabs",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/close-all-tabs/id214663465",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC6993880386",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/92d9d4ac-67a3-4eed-b10a-fb45d45b1ef2/close-all-tabs",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6LAJFHnGK1pYXYzv6SIol6?si=deb0cae19813417c"
}
},
"code-switch-life-kit": {
"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 />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"
}
},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"
}
},
"forum": {
"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/forum",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"
}
},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Fresh-Air-p17/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
}
},
"here-and-now": {
"id": "here-and-now",
"title": "Here & Now",
"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.",
"airtime": "MON-THU 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Here-And-Now-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/here-and-now",
"subsdcribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=426698661",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Here--Now-p211/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/How-I-Built-This-p910896/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hyphenaci%C3%B3n/id1191591838",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
"youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/c/kqedarts",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/790253322/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/jerrybrown/feed/podcast/",
"tuneIn": "http://tun.in/pjGcK",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/54C1dmuyFyKMFttY6X2j6r?si=K8SgRCoISNK6ZbjpXrX5-w",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/44420f75-3b0e-4301-ab3b-16da6b09e543/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown"
}
},
"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": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Latino-USA-p621/",
"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": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201853034&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/APM-Marketplace-p88/",
"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"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/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
}
},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/political-breakdown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/07RVyIjIdk2WDuVehvBMoN",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/political-breakdown/feed/podcast"
}
},
"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
}
},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pri.org/programs/the-world",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "PRI"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pri-the-world",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pris-the-world-latest-edition/id278196007?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/",
"rss": "http://feeds.feedburner.com/pri/theworld"
}
},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
"airtime": "SUN 12am-1am, SAT 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/radiolab1400.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/radiolab",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radiolab/id152249110?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/RadioLab-p68032/",
"rss": "https://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab"
}
},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Reveal-p679597/",
"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
}
},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rightnowish-Podcast-Tile-500x500-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Rightnowish with Pendarvis Harshaw",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 16
},
"link": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/rightnowish/feed/podcast",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMxMjU5MTY3NDc4",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I"
}
},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
"airtime": "FRI 11am-1pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-Friday-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/science-friday",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/science-friday",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=73329284&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Science-Friday-p394/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/science-friday"
}
},
"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
"airtime": "SAT 1pm-2pm, 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Snap-Judgment-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Snap Judgment",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 4
},
"link": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/snap-judgment/id283657561",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/449018144/snap-judgment",
"stitcher": "https://www.pandora.com/podcast/snap-judgment/PC:241?source=stitcher-sunset",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3Cct7ZWmxHNAtLgBTqjC5v",
"rss": "https://snap.feed.snapjudgment.org/"
}
},
"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sold-Out-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/soldout",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 13
},
"link": "/podcasts/soldout",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-a-new-future-for-housing",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/soldout",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america",
"tunein": "https://tunein.com/radio/SOLD-OUT-Rethinking-Housing-in-America-p1365871/"
}
},
"spooked": {
"id": "spooked",
"title": "Spooked",
"tagline": "True-life supernatural stories",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Spooked-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Spooked",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 7
},
"link": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spooked/id1279361017",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/549547848/snap-judgment-presents-spooked",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/76571Rfl3m7PLJQZKQIGCT",
"rss": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/TBotaapn"
}
},
"tech-nation": {
"id": "tech-nation",
"title": "Tech Nation Radio Podcast",
"info": "Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.",
"airtime": "FRI 10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tech-Nation-Radio-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://technation.podomatic.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "Tech Nation Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tech-nation",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://technation.podomatic.com/rss2.xml"
}
},
"ted-radio-hour": {
"id": "ted-radio-hour",
"title": "TED Radio Hour",
"info": "The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm, SAT 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/tedRadioHour.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/?showDate=2018-06-22",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/ted-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/8vsS",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=523121474&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/TED-Radio-Hour-p418021/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510298/podcast.xml"
}
},
"thebay": {
"id": "thebay",
"title": "The Bay",
"tagline": "Local news to keep you rooted",
"info": "Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Bay-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Bay",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/thebay",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 2
},
"link": "/podcasts/thebay",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d800ea4c-7a2c-42f2-b861-edaf78a5db0b/the-bay",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/586725995/the-bay",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-bay",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/4BIKBKIujizLHlIlBNaAqQ",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC8259786327"
}
},
"thelatest": {
"id": "thelatest",
"title": "The Latest",
"tagline": "Trusted local news in real time",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-Latest-2025-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Latest",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/thelatest",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 6
},
"link": "/thelatest",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-latest-from-kqed/id1197721799",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1257949365/the-latest-from-k-q-e-d",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/5KIIXMgM9GTi5AepwOYvIZ?si=bd3053fec7244dba",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9137121918"
}
},
"theleap": {
"id": "theleap",
"title": "The Leap",
"tagline": "What if you closed your eyes, and jumped?",
"info": "Stories about people making dramatic, risky changes, told by award-winning public radio reporter Judy Campbell.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Leap-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Leap",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/theleap",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 17
},
"link": "/podcasts/theleap",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leap/id1046668171",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/447248267/the-leap",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-leap",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3sSlVHHzU0ytLwuGs1SD1U",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/programs/the-leap/feed/podcast"
}
},
"the-moth-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-moth-radio-hour",
"title": "The Moth Radio Hour",
"info": "Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. For information on all of our programs and live events, visit themoth.org.",
"airtime": "SAT 8pm-9pm and SUN 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/theMoth.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://themoth.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "prx"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-moth-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-podcast/id275699983?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/The-Moth-p273888/",
"rss": "http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast"
}
},
"the-new-yorker-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"title": "The New Yorker Radio Hour",
"info": "The New Yorker Radio Hour is a weekly program presented by the magazine's editor, David Remnick, and produced by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Each episode features a diverse mix of interviews, profiles, storytelling, and an occasional burst of humor inspired by the magazine, and shaped by its writers, artists, and editors. This isn't a radio version of a magazine, but something all its own, reflecting the rich possibilities of audio storytelling and conversation. Theme music for the show was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YArDs.",
"airtime": "SAT 10am-11am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-New-Yorker-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/tnyradiohour",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1050430296",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/New-Yorker-Radio-Hour-p803804/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/newyorkerradiohour"
}
},
"the-sam-sanders-show": {
"id": "the-sam-sanders-show",
"title": "The Sam Sanders Show",
"info": "One of public radio's most dynamic voices, Sam Sanders helped launch The NPR Politics Podcast and hosted NPR's hit show It's Been A Minute. Now, the award-winning host returns with something brand new, The Sam Sanders Show. Every week, Sam Sanders and friends dig into the culture that shapes our lives: what's driving the biggest trends, how artists really think, and even the memes you can't stop scrolling past. Sam is beloved for his way of unpacking the world and bringing you up close to fresh currents and engaging conversations. The Sam Sanders Show is smart, funny and always a good time.",
"airtime": "FRI 12-1pm AND SAT 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Sam-Sanders-Show-Podcast-Tile-400x400-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "KCRW"
},
"link": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feed.cdnstream1.com/zjb/feed/download/ac/28/59/ac28594c-e1d0-4231-8728-61865cdc80e8.xml"
}
},
"the-splendid-table": {
"id": "the-splendid-table",
"title": "The Splendid Table",
"info": "\u003cem>The Splendid Table\u003c/em> hosts our nation's conversations about cooking, sustainability and food culture.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Splendid-Table-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.splendidtable.org/",
"airtime": "SUN 10-11 pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-splendid-table"
},
"this-american-life": {
"id": "this-american-life",
"title": "This American Life",
"info": "This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.",
"airtime": "SAT 12pm-1pm, 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/thisAmericanLife.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wbez"
},
"link": "/radio/program/this-american-life",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201671138&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"rss": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/rss.xml"
}
},
"tinydeskradio": {
"id": "tinydeskradio",
"title": "Tiny Desk Radio",
"info": "We're bringing the best of Tiny Desk to the airwaves, only on public radio.",
"airtime": "SUN 8pm and SAT 9pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/300x300-For-Member-Station-Logo-Tiny-Desk-Radio-@2x.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-52030/tiny-desk-radio",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tinydeskradio",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/g-s1-52030/rss.xml"
}
},
"wait-wait-dont-tell-me": {
"id": "wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"title": "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!",
"info": "Peter Sagal and Bill Kurtis host the weekly NPR News quiz show alongside some of the best and brightest news and entertainment personalities.",
"airtime": "SUN 10am-11am, SAT 11am-12pm, SAT 6pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wait-Wait-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/Xogv",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=121493804&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Wait-Wait-Dont-Tell-Me-p46/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/344098539/podcast.xml"
}
},
"weekend-edition-saturday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-saturday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Saturday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Saturday wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.",
"airtime": "SAT 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-saturday"
},
"weekend-edition-sunday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-sunday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Sunday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Sunday features interviews with newsmakers, artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, writers, theologians and historians. The program has covered news events from Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from a South African prison to the capture of Saddam Hussein.",
"airtime": "SUN 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-sunday"
}
},
"racesReducer": {},
"racesGenElectionReducer": {},
"racesGenElection2026Reducer": {},
"racesGeneralEl2026Reducer": {},
"radioSchedulesReducer": {},
"listsReducer": {
"posts/arts?tag=late-night": {
"isFetching": false,
"latestQuery": {
"from": 24,
"size": 12
},
"vitalsOnly": false,
"totalRequested": 12,
"isLoading": false,
"isLoadingMore": true,
"total": {
"value": 86,
"relation": "eq"
},
"items": [
"arts_13980212",
"arts_13979460",
"arts_13978355",
"arts_13963258",
"arts_13977033",
"arts_13976695",
"arts_13975908",
"arts_13975308",
"arts_13974383",
"arts_13973430",
"arts_13972834",
"arts_13972704"
],
"complete": true
}
},
"recallGuideReducer": {
"intros": {},
"policy": {},
"candidates": {}
},
"savedArticleReducer": {
"articles": [],
"status": {}
},
"newslettersReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"newsletters": {},
"isSubscribing": false,
"isUnsubscribing": false,
"subscribedNewsletters": {}
},
"termsReducer": {
"about": {
"name": "About",
"type": "terms",
"id": "about",
"slug": "about",
"link": "/about",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"arts": {
"name": "Arts & Culture",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"description": "KQED Arts provides daily in-depth coverage of the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature and arts news, as well as cultural commentary and criticism.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts",
"slug": "arts",
"link": "/arts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"artschool": {
"name": "Art School",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "artschool",
"slug": "artschool",
"link": "/artschool",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareabites": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareabites",
"slug": "bayareabites",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareahiphop": {
"name": "Bay Area Hiphop",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareahiphop",
"slug": "bayareahiphop",
"link": "/bayareahiphop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"campaign21": {
"name": "Campaign 21",
"type": "terms",
"id": "campaign21",
"slug": "campaign21",
"link": "/campaign21",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"careers": {
"name": "Careers",
"type": "terms",
"id": "careers",
"slug": "careers",
"link": "/careers",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"checkplease": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "checkplease",
"slug": "checkplease",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"education": {
"name": "Education",
"grouping": [
"education"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "education",
"slug": "education",
"link": "/education",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"elections": {
"name": "Elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "elections",
"slug": "elections",
"link": "/elections",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"events": {
"name": "Events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "events",
"slug": "events",
"link": "/events",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"event": {
"name": "Event",
"alias": "events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "event",
"slug": "event",
"link": "/event",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"filmschoolshorts": {
"name": "Film School Shorts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "filmschoolshorts",
"slug": "filmschoolshorts",
"link": "/filmschoolshorts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"food": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "food",
"slug": "food",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"forum": {
"name": "Forum",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/forum?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "forum",
"slug": "forum",
"link": "/forum",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"futureofyou": {
"name": "Future of You",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "futureofyou",
"slug": "futureofyou",
"link": "/futureofyou",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"jpepinheart": {
"name": "KQED food",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/food,bayareabites,checkplease",
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "jpepinheart",
"slug": "jpepinheart",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"liveblog": {
"name": "Live Blog",
"type": "terms",
"id": "liveblog",
"slug": "liveblog",
"link": "/liveblog",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"livetv": {
"name": "Live TV",
"parent": "tv",
"type": "terms",
"id": "livetv",
"slug": "livetv",
"link": "/livetv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"lowdown": {
"name": "The Lowdown",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/lowdown?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "lowdown",
"slug": "lowdown",
"link": "/lowdown",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"mindshift": {
"name": "Mindshift",
"parent": "news",
"description": "MindShift explores the future of education by highlighting the innovative – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways educators and parents are helping all children succeed.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift",
"slug": "mindshift",
"link": "/mindshift",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news": {
"name": "News",
"grouping": [
"news",
"forum"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "news",
"slug": "news",
"link": "/news",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"newsletters": {
"name": "newsletters",
"type": "terms",
"id": "newsletters",
"slug": "newsletters",
"link": "/newsletters",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"perspectives": {
"name": "Perspectives",
"parent": "radio",
"type": "terms",
"id": "perspectives",
"slug": "perspectives",
"link": "/perspectives",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"podcasts": {
"name": "Podcasts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "podcasts",
"slug": "podcasts",
"link": "/podcasts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pop": {
"name": "Pop",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pop",
"slug": "pop",
"link": "/pop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pressroom": {
"name": "Pressroom",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pressroom",
"slug": "pressroom",
"link": "/pressroom",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"quest": {
"name": "Quest",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "quest",
"slug": "quest",
"link": "/quest",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"radio": {
"name": "Radio",
"grouping": [
"forum",
"perspectives"
],
"description": "Listen to KQED Public Radio – home of Forum and The California Report – on 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento, 88.3 FM in Santa Rosa and 88.1 FM in Martinez.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "radio",
"slug": "radio",
"link": "/radio",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"root": {
"name": "KQED",
"image": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"imageWidth": 1200,
"imageHeight": 630,
"headData": {
"title": "KQED | News, Radio, Podcasts, TV | Public Media for Northern California",
"description": "KQED provides public radio, television, and independent reporting on issues that matter to the Bay Area. We’re the NPR and PBS member station for Northern California."
},
"type": "terms",
"id": "root",
"slug": "root",
"link": "/root",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"science": {
"name": "Science",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"description": "KQED Science brings you award-winning science and environment coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "science",
"slug": "science",
"link": "/science",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"stateofhealth": {
"name": "State of Health",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "stateofhealth",
"slug": "stateofhealth",
"link": "/stateofhealth",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"support": {
"name": "Support",
"type": "terms",
"id": "support",
"slug": "support",
"link": "/support",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"thedolist": {
"name": "The Do List",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "thedolist",
"slug": "thedolist",
"link": "/thedolist",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"trulyca": {
"name": "Truly CA",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "trulyca",
"slug": "trulyca",
"link": "/trulyca",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"tv": {
"name": "TV",
"type": "terms",
"id": "tv",
"slug": "tv",
"link": "/tv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"voterguide": {
"name": "Voter Guide",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "voterguide",
"slug": "voterguide",
"link": "/voterguide",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"guiaelectoral": {
"name": "Guia Electoral",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "guiaelectoral",
"slug": "guiaelectoral",
"link": "/guiaelectoral",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"arts_tag_late-night": {
"isLoading": true
},
"arts_8805": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_8805",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "8805",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "late night",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "late night Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 8817,
"slug": "late-night",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/late-night"
},
"source_arts_13980212": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13980212",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13979460": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13979460",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13978355": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13978355",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13963258": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13963258",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Summer Guide 2025",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/summer-guide-2025",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13977033": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13977033",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Food",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/food",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13976695": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13976695",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13975908": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13975908",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13975308": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13975308",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13974383": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13974383",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13973430": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13973430",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13972834": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13972834",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_arts_13972704": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_arts_13972704",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Food",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/food",
"isLoading": false
},
"arts_22316": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_22316",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "22316",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"slug": "midnight-diners",
"taxonomy": "series",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "The Midnight Diners | KQED Arts",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 22328,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/series/midnight-diners"
},
"arts_1": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_1",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "1",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Arts",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Arts Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1,
"slug": "arts",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/category/arts"
},
"arts_12276": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_12276",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "12276",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Food",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "Explore the Bay Area culinary scene through KQED's food stories, recipes, dining experiences, and stories from the diverse tastemakers that define the Bay's cuisines.",
"title": "Bay Area Food Archives, Articles, News, and Reviews | KQED",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 12288,
"slug": "food",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/category/food"
},
"arts_13831": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_13831",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13831",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "barbecue",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "barbecue Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 13843,
"slug": "barbecue",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/barbecue"
},
"arts_21727": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21727",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21727",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "chinese food",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "chinese food Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21739,
"slug": "chinese-food",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/chinese-food"
},
"arts_10278": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_10278",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10278",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "featured-arts",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "featured-arts Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 10290,
"slug": "featured-arts",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/featured-arts"
},
"arts_1297": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_1297",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "1297",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "food",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "food Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1309,
"slug": "food",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/food"
},
"arts_21929": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21929",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21929",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "San Bruno",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "San Bruno Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21941,
"slug": "san-bruno",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/san-bruno"
},
"arts_21928": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21928",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21928",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "The Midnight Diners",
"description": "The Midnight Diners is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and artist Thien Pham. 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.",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "The Midnight Diners is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and artist Thien Pham. 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.",
"title": "The Midnight Diners Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21940,
"slug": "the-midnight-diners",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners"
},
"arts_21866": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21866",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21866",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Arts and Culture",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Arts and Culture Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21878,
"slug": "arts-and-culture",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/arts-and-culture"
},
"arts_21865": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21865",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21865",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Food and Drink",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Food and Drink Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21877,
"slug": "food-and-drink",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/food-and-drink"
},
"arts_21863": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21863",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21863",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "News",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "News Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21875,
"slug": "news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/news"
},
"arts_21874": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21874",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21874",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Peninsula",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Peninsula Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21886,
"slug": "peninsula",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/peninsula"
},
"arts_2854": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_2854",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "2854",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "daly city",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "daly city Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2866,
"slug": "daly-city",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/daly-city"
},
"arts_14729": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_14729",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "14729",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "soul food",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "soul food Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 14741,
"slug": "soul-food",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/soul-food"
},
"arts_21879": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21879",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21879",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Entertainment",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Entertainment Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21891,
"slug": "entertainment",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/entertainment"
},
"arts_14183": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_14183",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "14183",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Filipino food",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Filipino food Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 14195,
"slug": "filipino-food",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/filipino-food"
},
"arts_1146": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_1146",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "1146",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "San Francisco",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "San Francisco Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 701,
"slug": "san-francisco",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/san-francisco"
},
"arts_4231": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_4231",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "4231",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "SFO",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "SFO Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 4243,
"slug": "sfo",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/sfo"
},
"arts_21859": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21859",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21859",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "San Francisco",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "San Francisco Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21871,
"slug": "san-francisco",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/san-francisco"
},
"arts_140": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_140",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "140",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "The Do List",
"slug": "the-do-list",
"taxonomy": "program",
"description": null,
"featImg": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/11/The-Do-LIst-logo-2014-horizontal-015.png",
"headData": {
"title": "The Do List Archives | KQED Arts",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 141,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/program/the-do-list"
},
"arts_235": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_235",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "235",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "News",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "News Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 236,
"slug": "news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/category/news"
},
"arts_10422": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_10422",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10422",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "featured-news",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "featured-news Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 10434,
"slug": "featured-news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/featured-news"
},
"arts_22196": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_22196",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "22196",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "food truck",
"slug": "food-truck",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "food truck Archives | KQED Arts",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 22208,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/food-truck"
},
"arts_22344": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_22344",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "22344",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "night market",
"slug": "night-market",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "night market | KQED Arts",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 22356,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/night-market"
},
"arts_12982": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_12982",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "12982",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "street vendors",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "street vendors Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 12994,
"slug": "street-vendors",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/street-vendors"
},
"arts_22483": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_22483",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "22483",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Bay Area Summer Guide 2025",
"slug": "summer-guide-2025",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": "Browse our 2025 Bay Area summer guides, including:\r\n\u003cul>\r\n \t\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13975778/summer-concerts-music-festivals-bay-area-san-francisco-napa-oakland\">Concerts and music festivals\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\r\n \t\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13976029/summer-movie-guide-2025-film-festivals\">Film festivals and the best movies\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\r\n \t\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13976079/best-plays-musicals-summer-bay-area\">Best plays and musicals\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\r\n \t\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13976229/visual-art-summer-2025-guide-museums-galleries-shows\">Museum and gallery shows\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\r\n \t\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963258/best-bay-area-night-markets-summer-2025\">Night markets\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\r\n\u003c/ul>\r\nSee below for even more ways to enjoy and enrich your summer.",
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Bay Area Summer Guide 2025 | KQED Arts",
"description": "Browse our 2025 Bay Area summer guides, including: summer concerts and music festivals, film festivals and the best movies, plays and musicals & night markets",
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 22495,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/summer-guide-2025"
},
"arts_585": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_585",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "585",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "thedolist",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "thedolist Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 590,
"slug": "thedolist",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/thedolist"
},
"arts_21871": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21871",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21871",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "East Bay",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "East Bay Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21883,
"slug": "east-bay",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/east-bay"
},
"arts_21870": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21870",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21870",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Events",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Events Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21882,
"slug": "events",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/events"
},
"arts_21860": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21860",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21860",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Oakland",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Oakland Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21872,
"slug": "oakland",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/oakland"
},
"arts_21861": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21861",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21861",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "South Bay",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "South Bay Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21873,
"slug": "south-bay",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/south-bay"
},
"arts_14801": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_14801",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "14801",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "latin america",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "latin america Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 14813,
"slug": "latin-america",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/latin-america"
},
"arts_1084": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_1084",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "1084",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "San Jose",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "San Jose Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1101,
"slug": "san-jose",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/san-jose"
},
"arts_2654": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_2654",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "2654",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "chinatown",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "chinatown Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2666,
"slug": "chinatown",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/chinatown"
},
"arts_1270": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_1270",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "1270",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Berkeley",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Berkeley Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1282,
"slug": "berkeley",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/berkeley"
},
"arts_20950": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_20950",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "20950",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "coffee shops",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "coffee shops Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20962,
"slug": "coffee-shops",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/coffee-shops"
},
"arts_21872": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21872",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21872",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Berkeley",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Berkeley Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21884,
"slug": "berkeley",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/berkeley"
},
"arts_13915": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_13915",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "13915",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "ramen",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "ramen Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 13927,
"slug": "ramen",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/ramen"
},
"arts_1143": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_1143",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "1143",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Oakland",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Oakland Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 692,
"slug": "oakland",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/oakland"
},
"arts_15803": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_15803",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "15803",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "korean food",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "korean food Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 15815,
"slug": "korean-food",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/korean-food"
},
"arts_22323": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_22323",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "22323",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Santa Clara",
"slug": "santa-clara",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Santa Clara | KQED Arts",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 22335,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/santa-clara"
},
"arts_21868": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21868",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21868",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21880,
"slug": "california",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/interest/california"
},
"arts_22313": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_22313",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "22313",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "The Do List",
"slug": "the-do-list",
"taxonomy": "category",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "The Do List | KQED Arts",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 22325,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/category/the-do-list"
},
"arts_21762": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_21762",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "21762",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Islam",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Islam Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21774,
"slug": "islam",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/islam"
},
"arts_22063": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_22063",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "22063",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "ramadan",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "ramadan Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 22075,
"slug": "ramadan",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/ramadan"
}
},
"userPermissionsReducer": {
"wpLoggedIn": false
},
"eventsReducer": {},
"fssReducer": {},
"tvDailyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvWeeklyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvPrimetimeScheduleReducer": {},
"tvMonthlyScheduleReducer": {},
"userAccountReducer": {
"user": {
"email": null,
"emailStatus": "EMAIL_UNVALIDATED",
"loggedStatus": "LOGGED_OUT",
"loggingChecked": false,
"articles": [],
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"phoneNumber": null,
"fetchingMembership": false,
"membershipError": false,
"memberships": [
{
"id": null,
"startDate": null,
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"familyNumber": null,
"memberNumber": null,
"memberSince": null,
"expirationDate": null,
"pfsEligible": false,
"isSustaining": false,
"membershipLevel": "Prospect",
"membershipStatus": "Non Member",
"lastGiftDate": null,
"renewalDate": null,
"lastDonationAmount": null
}
]
},
"authModal": {
"isOpen": false,
"view": "LANDING_VIEW"
},
"error": null
},
"youthMediaReducer": {},
"checkPleaseReducer": {
"filterData": {
"region": {
"key": "Restaurant Region",
"filters": [
"Any Region"
]
},
"cuisine": {
"key": "Restaurant Cuisine",
"filters": [
"Any Cuisine"
]
}
},
"restaurantDataById": {},
"restaurantIdsSorted": [],
"error": null
},
"userAgentReducer": {
"userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)",
"isBot": true
},
"requestOutcomesReducer": {
"notFound": []
},
"navPromosReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": true,
"promos": {
"news": {
"name": "2026 Voter Guide",
"link": "/voterguide",
"imageURL": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Nav-News-Nov2026ElectionCoverage@2x-7bd4aad4.png",
"description": "Get informed in minutes with our Voter Guide for California’s November 3 election."
},
"podcasts-radio": {},
"video-tv": {},
"events": {},
"support": {}
}
}
}
