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.Restaurant Review
May 20, 2025
Alora Social creates cheerful atmosphere in San Ramon
Bollinger Canyon Road is lined with miles of white rose bushes. This month they’re in bloom. There’s something funereal about them, as if they indicate the way to a mausoleum entrance rather than mark the perimeter of...
May 13, 2025
Alameda chef John Thiel returns with Pizzeria Pappo
Chef John Thiel makes two kinds of pies at Pizzeria Pappo. Alamedans enjoyed Thiel’s cooking for nearly two decades at his previous restaurant, Pappo, which closed in early 2022. When we spoke on the phone, Thiel told...
May 6, 2025
Yoyo’s Botanería brings authentic Mexican street food to Hayward
Yoyo’s Botanería is a love letter to Mexican street food culture. Tajín rims dust the edges of plastic cups. Old-school jams like “La Niña Fresa” blast overhead. Teens pose with their marquesitas in front of a hot...
Apr 29, 2025
Mia Comida Casera keeps on cooking
After the lunch-hour rush, Jack London Square empties out. It’s not post-apocalyptic, ghost-town quiet, but it’s also not a bustling hub of activity. The Waterfront Hotel’s closure at the end of January contributed to the decrease in...
Apr 1, 2025
Lao Garden blooms in Berkeley
Chef Kanlaya Palivan and her team have transformed the space on San Pablo Avenue that formerly belonged to Paisan. They’ve added bright orange dining room chairs. Yellow, pink, red and blue lanterns hang down from the ceiling....
Mar 11, 2025
BH Wood-Fired Grill revamps Bounty Hunter in Walnut Creek
The sign below BH Wood-Fired Grill’s roofline still reads “Bounty Hunter,” an unfortunate name that conjures chase scenes in B movies. Since it’s embedded in the façade, removing it would require the City of Walnut Creek to...
Feb 18, 2025
Mon Superette opens on Piedmont Avenue
At the wintry end of 2022, Emily Le, Kayla Bui and Khanh Tran launched their first restaurant together. Bacogai quickly became Alameda’s Vietnamese hotpot hotspot. But the small kitchen limited the variety of dishes they could make....
