ORW20 – 15sec from Visit Oakland on Vimeo.
Oakland Restaurant Week is more than just about eating great food. The program, presented by Visit Oakland in partnership with See Eat Love, also celebrates the history of cuisine in The Town so that diners can learn the stories behind their meals and get rare peeks at behind-the-scenes events.
Oakland Restaurant Week runs from Jan. 9 to 20. More than 100 Oakland restaurants will be offering prix fixe lunch and/or dinner menus with prices in increments of $10 starting at $10 and ending at $80. The promotional prices reflect up to 25 percent off regular a la carte items.
“We are excited to bring back Oakland Restaurant Week for its 10th year,” says Mark Everton, CEO of
Visit Oakland. “With brand new events and experiences, we’re highlighting what the people want to
know about Oakland’s chefs, their cuisine, and the deep-rooted history of the culinary scene in
Oakland.”
Here are some highlights.
Jan. 10, 5 p.m., Discover Temescal: There will be guided street art walks, historical tours, special happy hours at select restaurants and bars, and more. Don’t forget to book your reservation via OpenTable at participating restaurants in the neighborhood. While the guided tour is sold out, there’s still
plenty to enjoy!
Jan. 11 and 18, 10 a.m., Jack London Square Meets San Francisco Tour: Take a journey from San Francisco via the ferry to Oakland to explore the food, history, art, and culture of The Town. On this three-plus hour tour, walk and eat along the East Bay’s waterfront and say “cheers!” to the heritage of
Jack London Square, the historic warehouse district, and the newly founded Jack London Brewing District. For guests starting in San Francisco, the tour includes round-trip tickets onboard the San Francisco Bay Ferry. Already on this side of the bay? Sweet. You get a slight discount as you don’t need ferry fare. $79 per person. Reserve your tickets here.
Jan. 12, 10 a.m., Hide and Go Eat: An Oakland Restaurant Week Scavenger Hunt: Ten-plus challenges. Three hours. One epic adventure. This is your opportunity to discover the best local
eateries in town and witness firsthand how the culinary scene in Oakland has evolved. On this scavenger hunt, your team will solve a series of clues and riddles, all the while capturing the best
#ORW20 bites and moments. $10 per team of 1-5. Reserve your tickets here.
Jan. 14 and Jan. 16, 7 p.m., Just Call Me Chef Dinner Series: The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in the United States. To commemorate this occasion, two dinners celebrate two chefs who have pursued their dreams to run their own kitchens, despite obstacles and challenges, and have earned the right to be called chef — not female chef, just chef.
Chef Mona Leena Michael from Dyafa hosts a dinner on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. where participants can get to know the chef personally as she recounts her journey from oyster-shucker at Jardinière to the head chef of Dyafa while enjoying a multi-course meal of Cali-Palestinian food. $60 per person. Reserve your tickets here.
Chef Kanitha Matoury from Spice Monkey Restaurant & Bar is the second featured chef in the series and has scheduled a dinner on Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. and will be sharing how she became owner and chef of Spice Monkey. She’ll be preparing a multi-course meal of her globally inspired cuisine. $50 per person. Reserve your tickets here.
Jan. 17, 5 p.m., Discover Uptown/Downtown: Come out to Uptown/Downtown for an evening of drink specials at select bars, happy hour offerings at participating restaurants, a mural walking tour, and a food tour for the vegan curious. $59 per person. Reserve your tickets here.
Jan. 19, 10 a.m, Rockridge Neighborhood Heritage Food Tour: Dive into the food culture, history, architecture, and current happenings of one Oakland’s top foodie neighborhoods. During this three-hour guided walking, participants tour the community and taste some seriously delicious flavors along the
way. $69 per person. Reserve your tickets here.
The Alameda County Community Food Bank returns as the Oakland Restaurant Week’s nonprofit partner. All proceeds from event ticket sales will be donated to the organization to help distribute fresh food in the region and battle child hunger within schools and the community. Visit Oakland will also be
encouraging visitors on OaklandRestaurantWeek.org to donate to the food bank.
Complete lists of participating restaurants, menus, special events, and reservation availabilities are on
OaklandRestaurantWeek.org. Participating restaurants can be searched by neighborhood, cuisine, meal-type, and cost. Through a partnership with OpenTable, reservations (strongly recommended) can
be made directly from the Oakland Restaurant Week page.
Reservations made at any of the restaurants participating in Oakland Restaurant Week 2020 could be forwarded to [email protected] for a chance to win a free meal. Each winner will receive a $125 gift card to use toward an Oakland Restaurant Week brunch, lunch, or dinner.
In 2017, visitor spending in Oakland generated a record of $882 million in business sales, an increase of 6.7 percent over 2016. Oakland visitors spent over $165 million on food and beverage in 2017, an increase of 5.4 percent over 2016. Oakland visitor spending supported 7,310 jobs in the city and generated $288.6 million in personal income for Oakland workers, with 2,218 of those jobs in food and beverage and generated $62 million in personal revenue for the industry.
Oakland Restaurant Week is a part of California Restaurant Month, created by Visit California. The statewide event is a promotional initiative encouraging post-holiday travel to California during the month of January. Join Oakland Restaurant Week on social media by following #ORW20. Follow @visitoakland on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
