Moxy Beer Garden, a new craft beer garden and burger restaurant is set to open as early as next month in south Berkeley, at Sacramento and 66th streets, in the old Casa Vino space.
Long-time Berkeley residents and restaurateurs, Mike and Amy Voisenat, who run The Hobnob restaurant on Park Street in Alameda, say they are excited to be bringing their new venture into the area, not least because they live just four blocks away. Also, they describe the Lorin district as a community “poised to blossom like Temescal.”
Moxy plans to have 14 craft beers on tap and a choice of bottled beers, as well as wine by the glass. The menu will include grass-fed beef and Moroccan lamb burgers, Greek veggie burger, blackened turkey burger, vegan “Buffalo Wings” with cauliflower and vegan “buttermilk” dressing, housemade fries and salads. There will also be gluten-free bun options.
The Voisenats met when they were both working at Curve Bar in San Francisco. Amy was the Executive Chef there in 2001-02, the year San Francisco Magazine named the restaurant Best American Bistro.
They plan to continue running The Hobnob, which they own, as well as the new place in Berkeley.
“For years we have driven by the location and thought how great a beer garden would be on the patio,” Amy told Berkeleyside Nosh.
They move into the space on April 1 to begin renovating.
“We decided to do a beer garden because we thought it was the perfect idea to showcase and enjoy the large deck out front — and what better to accompany beer than a nice artisan burger?” Amy said.
Moxy will be five blocks west of the intersection of MLK and Adeline and Ashby BART, an area which is seeing a lot of new food-related arrivals on the back of some long-established favorites such as Sweet Adeline bakery.
New haunts include the cooperative-run Alchemy Café. Coming down the pike is Easy Creole, which started as a pop-up in San Francisco, and is set to open a brick-and-mortar joint in the old Ming’s Chinese Kitchen at 1761 Alcatraz (at Ellis). A bar with attached micro-brewery is going through the application process for 1763 Alcatraz Ave. And controversial San Francisco Housing Authority Director Henry August Alvarez III and his wife are planning to open Next Door Restaurant in the old Addie’s Pizza Pie space at Adeline and Ashby.
The fact that Berkeley’s original, 25-year-old farmers market moved to the Lorin last summer, transposed from Derby Street, completes the picture of a neighborhood enjoying a culinary renaissance — and explains why recently erected “The Lorin” street banners included images of food.
The plan is for Moxy Beer Garden to be serving lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Sunday, at 3136 Sacramento St. Follow the restaurant’s Facebook page for updates.
Bookmark Berkeleyside NOSH for East Bay food news and stories, and follow Berkeleyside NOSH on Twitter, and on Facebook.
