Berkeley diners, get ready: a slew of new restaurants is coming to town.
Berkeleyside has already reported about the new Elmwood Café, Emilia’s Pizzeria, Gather, Cinnaholic, a new vegan bakery, and the Revival Bar and Grill, which will be operated by the owner of Venus. It will open in the former Downtown location.
A drive around town promises even more. Burgermeister, voted “Best Burger” by numerous local publications, is set to open a branch on Shattuck and Kittredge tomorrow, March 17. The owner, Paul Mogannam, only uses all-natural beef from Neiman Ranch. Their milkshakes are made from Mitchell’s Ice Cream, a San Francisco institution since 1953. The restaurant also buys salad greens locally.
The owner of Sweet Adeline’s Bakeshop, Jennifer Millar, is taking over the old Spud’s Pizza spot in south Berkeley, according to the San Francisco Business Times. She is is teaming up with Thomas Schnetz, of Flora’s and Dona Tomas, to open a pizzeria called Addie’s Pizza Pie. It will serve New York-style pizza and egg creams.
West Berkeley will get a new German restaurant when Anja Voth opens her place in the former Metro Lighting space on San Pablo Avenue near Bancroft. Voth told the Business Times she will make traditional North German recipes with local, seasonal ingredients, “pretty much like my grandmother used to make.”
Christian Geideman, the former chef de cuisine at Oakland’s Ozumo, will open a Japanese-style pub called an izakaya on San Pablo Avenue between Gilman and University. He will serve house-made soba noodle for lunch, and yakitori for dinner. There won’t be any sushi.
Gordo Taqueria is opening its fifth Bay Area branch on Telegraph and Pinkberry, a yogurt store that is all the craze in southern California, is opening next door.
These all sound like delicious places to eat, but can Berkeley handle it? Isn’t there a recession going on? Aren’t we in the era of doing more with less?
It seems that even though times are tough economically, the city’s ice cream stores, restaurants, and bars seem packed on the weekends. Food is such an integral part of living in the Bay Area that residents don’t feel inclined to give up fine dining.
