New cafes and sandwich spots, including one dedicated to biscuits, mark December debuts

Eating places opening in Berkeley

12.10.25: The staff behind acclaimed Berkeley bistro Chez Panisse launched its offshoot Bar Panisse on Thursday, December 11. San Francisco Chronicle reported that the bar will serve small plates, entrees and cocktails, and a draft menu submitted to town of Berkeley will embody snacks comparable to fritto misto, house-made chips and crostini with duck liver mousse, plus a twist on Chez Panisse’s well-known backyard lettuce salad. A coy Instagram post introduced that Bar Panisse is accessible solely; diners can count on service Thursday by means of Sunday evenings from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Chez Panisse lately received the award Nosh Award for Best Restaurant for Special Occasions for the second yr in a row.

The bar is positioned on César’s former location. When Chez Panisse proprietor Alice Waters determined to finish César’s sublease after 24 years in 2023 in order that she may take over for her personal idea, fans of the popular Spanish tapas restaurant protested. Three years haven’t healed the injured César champions both, in accordance with the emails that Nosh frequently receives. When Chez Panisse received the particular events award on Monday (voted on by Nosh readers), one particular person emailed:

“If Waters hadn’t killed César, perhaps there would have been one other big day winner? We nonetheless grieve and miss it on a regular basis.”

Bar Panisse’s kitchen will probably be led by chef Amelia Telc, previously of San Francisco’s Tartine and Mission Chinese language Meals in New York Metropolis, and the beverage program was developed in collaboration with Dylan O’Brien of Prizefighter Bar in Emeryville, in accordance with the San Francisco Chronicle. Bar Panisse, 1515 Shattuck Ave. (off Vine St.), Berkeley

12.23.25: A brand new spot serving handmade knife-cut noodles, dumplings and rice dishes has opened in Berkeley, as first reported by the Each day Californian. An offshoot of the unique San Mateo location, Li’s Knife Lower Noodle is your finest guess once you’re hungry and craving Chinese language consolation meals: the restaurant affords limitless free noodle refills. Li’s knife-cut noodle2126 Middle St., Berkeley

Opening restaurant El Sobrante

12.23.25: A brand new family-run Korean consolation meals restaurant has opened in what was once Pho Nation in El Sobrante. The household behind OLCHI emigrated from Seoul, the place they owned a Korean BBQ restaurant. The menu contains kimchi fried rice, hotpot, seafood pancakes, tofu soups and donkatsu. The restaurant, which is open from Monday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, opened within the first week of December and had a festive opening on December 13. OLCHI4068 San Pablo Dam Rd., El Sobrante

Emeryville restaurant opening

12.03.25: Crispy Japanese pork chops have landed in Emeryville after a fireplace in October compelled the closure of Jungdon Katsu’s Danville location. (The restaurant began a GoFundMe To fund the reconstruction.) For a crunchy consolation meals, strive the normal pork tenderloin cutlet (Anshim katsu) or the cheese katsu: mozzarella wrapped in pork tenderloin. There are additionally loads of delectable facet dishes, comparable to soba noodles with dipping sauce, fried spam and shrimp tempura. Jungdon Katsu, 6485 Hollis St., Emeryville

Restaurant Openings in Oakland

12.17.25: The Previous Oakland lunch crowd has a brand new spot for sandwiches and salads at Bread Winners, which opened Dec. 8 in Swan’s Market. The menu affords build-your-own sandwich choices, along with home specials, smoothies, sides and extra. Bread winners917 Washington St., Oakland

12.10.25: Cafe da Fonk, a self-proclaimed eco-friendly, Berlin-inspired neighborhood cafe, has opened close to Oakland’s waterfront. You may discover espresso and tea alongside breakfast plates like halal turkey spam and eggs and rice and inexperienced chile brisket breakfast tacos. However maybe essentially the most nostalgic German merchandise on the menu is the schorle — fruit juice infused with carbonated water – one thing this contributor hardly ever sees in america. Café da Fonk, 465 2nd St. (at Broadway), Oakland

12.10.25: Native espresso chain Highwire is opening a brand new location within the Vespr condo advanced in Uptown Oakland, subsequent to Tarts de Feybesse bakery on the bottom flooring. Comfortable hours are set at 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM till they’re adjusted day by day from 6:00 AM to three:00 PM. Highwire coffee, 312 twenty fourth St., Oakland

12.17.25: There are a selection of locations the place you may get all of it, and Pickle Athletics, Oakland’s latest social pickleball membership, serves up extra than simply underhand volleys. It is geared up with pickleball courts, a health heart, a sauna, a kitchen and a wine bar – and regardless of its “social membership” moniker, it is open to the general public. Early morning pickleballers can get pleasure from daily-changing pastries, breakfast sandwiches, egg bites and chia seed pudding; Lunch choices embody chilly sesame noodles, an umami kale salad, tuna and capers on focaccia, and Unhealthy Walter’s ice cream for dessert. Beer and wine are additionally accessible, and sure, there are pickles (and pickle dip) on the menu. No alternative is wasted right here. Pickle Athletics4000 Telegraph Ave. (between fortieth and forty first St.), Oakland

12.10.25: There are numerous fantastic methods to eat a cookie, and the newly opened City Biscuits might have considered each possibility. There are, after all, easy handmade buttermilk biscuits paying homage to North Carolina cuisines, however there’s additionally the blueberry jam and goat cheese biscuit, the fried hen biscuit, the bacon egg and cheese biscuit, and extra. The Metropolis Cookies, 434 twenty fifth St., Oakland

Opening of Pinole restaurant

12.23.25: Informal deli Sourdough & Co. quietly opened in Pinole final month. The menu contains clam chowder, deli sandwiches (together with French dip, caprese and smoked brisket), macaroni and cheese and salads. The deli operates in a number of different Bay Space cities, together with Berkeley, San Ramon, Harmony, Hayward, Danville and Walnut Creek. Sourdough & Co., 1588 Fitzgerald Dr., Pinole