Link to last year’s 2025 thread:
Happy New Year to all food newsies. Last year there were 14,700 views and 613 posts. Thanks to all who read, posted, commented and linked.
Snaring the 10 limit on Dungeness on the Coast.
SF Standard
2025 food trends.
Red sauce, pushy influencers, Korean, food courts, suburbs, chicken, breweries, cocktails.
Chicken, red sauce, and influencers gone wild: 10 trends that defined the year in eating https://sfstandard.com/2025/12/20/san-francisco-2025-restaurant-trends/?utm_source=native_share&utm_medium=site_buttons&utm_campaign=site_buttons
Reem’s scheduled to return to Jack London Sq Oakland at 66 Franklin by late Jan. 2026
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/my-bay-area-neighborhood-is-ghost-town-21219076.php
Related to Reem’s new bakery is this article. SF Gate: Why one of the most gorgeous spots in the Bay Area is full of empty storefronts
TL;DR - New development coming to Jack London Square after changing a 1850s law that limited commercial use in JLSq to maritime use. More stuff coming to Jack London Square, Dave and Busters, a couple of cafes, and more.
Poking around on google and yelp, I noticed that Taste of Burma and Simple One Cafe in Daly City have closed. They were in the same building. Comments were that it was a lease issue.
Edalatpour in East Bay Express. Top 10 East Bay meals of 2025.
Some were Dao, Jaji, Oken, Lulu, Lacuma, Mon Superette, Dao Artisan Noodle, Tarts de Feybesse (photo below by Edalatpour),
Informative ad from Hon’s Wun-Tun House in SF, three locations (Kearny, Washington and Irving Streets)
Dao Artisan Noodle is new in San Leandro with Lanzhou hand-pulled noodle
Kaitlyn Bui catches some Dungeness in the surf at SF Ocean Beach 2 weeks ago.
Huangcheng Noodle in Old Oakland at 9th St and Washington in Swan’s Market, main entrance and outside tables on Washington St, might be cash only but check ahead.
Huangcheng also just opened a stall inside Swan’s dedicated just to dumplings.
From KTVU 2
Excerpt:
Tokyo Central will open a 40,000 square foot store in Emeryville at the Bay Street shopping district on Jan. 31.
The store offers a wide range of imported Japanese foods, fresh seafood, meat and poultry, produce, made-to-order and ready-to-go meals, health and beauty products and other specialty goods.
It will also have space for dining.
ad. for opening
KQED Radio 88.5 Forum Jan. 9 at 9 am, repeated at 8 pm and available online soon.
Luke, Lauren, and Octavio discuss what to eat in 2026.
Koi Palace moving to larger space in Serramonte Center in Daly City.
For Korean food, Luke favorably mentioned Gangnam Jajang at 4390 Telegrah Av, Oakland, for black bean noodles.
Cecilia Lei in Coyote
An insightful essay by Cecilia Lei in Coyote about her growing up visiting Pacific East Mall in Richmond which contains, among others, Ranch 99 and Daimo. Cecilia believes that PEMall stands up proudly to the affluent sterility of Jagalchi and the new wave of Asian malls.
hat tip to Luke Tsai for linking to this brilliant essay. This is the first piece from Coyote , co-founded by Soleil Ho, that I’ve seen.
SFGate.
The status of some abandoned SF restaurants: Cliff House, Louis’ Restaurant, Julius’ Castle, Lucky Penny at Geary and Masonic.
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/san-francisco-iconic-buildings-sitting-empty-21281620.php
Julius’ Castle
Photo by Charles Russo/SFGate
SF Eater.
Brandy Ho’s, 217 Columbus in SF Chinatown, has closed after 45 years.
KQED
Fikscue halal bbq opens a branch near SF Chase Center and will be serving in the arena on Jan 15 Muslim Heritage Night during the NY Knicks vs Warriors game.
SFGate
Cheese Board pizzeria, 1512 Shattuck in Berkeley, will be expanding into a former grocery store next door by late spring or early summer.
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/berkeley-most-famous-pizzeria-finally-expanding-21291347.php
EB Express
Petite LaFleur chocolates available at Berkeley Bowl, Rockridge Market Hall, others.
Petite LaFleur’s signature salted dark chocolate honeycomb candy, made from local honey.
Photo by Bobbi Lin
The San Francisco dive bar that won’t give up its $1 deal
Hotel Utah….$1 wings.
Kayma, which was a La Cocina startup and I believe previously was in Saluhall, now has a full restaurant by Fisherman’s Wharf, at 2640 Mason Street near Beach. I work near there, so it was a real treat to find it as I walked to work this morning.
Mediterranean and Halal - KAYMA - Algerian Eatery
KQED
When smoke gets in your wine.
Jan 15
Mushroom poisoning
Maybe 15 years ago, a fire in Mendocino blew smoke into the Anderson Valley. Navarro decided to bottle its pinot noir anyway and sell it under a different label at a steep discount. I got a case. Two or three of the bottles tasted like an ashtray. The rest were fine, to my palate. None tasted like barbecue.
