The new year will bring new culinary adventures from the Bay Area’s creative, resilient chefs and restaurant owners: Homegrown classics. A Yelp favorite. New gathering spots for foodies. And a couple of celebrity chefs will stake claims here in 2025. Whether you have been waiting for “Top Chef” Stephanie Izard’s eclectic Valley Goat menu or one of Meadowlark Dairy’s refreshing soft-serve cones, we have updates for you. Read on.

Zaytinya from the José Andrés Group, Palo Alto

An architect’s rendering of what the main entrance of Zaytinya will look like when the restaurant opens this year. (Finn Wijatno Architects, Rockwell Group) 

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Announced in early 2023, this restaurant from José Andrés will finally come to fruition this year at Stanford Shopping Center. The James Beard Award-winning chef was a big deal in the culinary field, of course, and then became a revered name when he founded his humanitarian nonprofit, the World Central Kitchen.

Zaytinya, a live-fire Eastern Mediterranean concept, has been under construction at the Stanford center near one of 2024’s hot openings — the glam RH rooftop restaurant. What’s in store? The newest Zaytinya, which opened this month in Culver City, offers 22 shareable meat, seafood or vegetable mezze, from Black Cod with mushroom tahini to Chicken Youvetsi braised with tomatoes and cinnamon, along with platters of Lamb Shoulder roasted over cherry wood, Dry-Aged Sea Bass, flatbreads, spreads and dips.

Although this is Andrés’ first NorCal venture, he’s no stranger to Silicon Valley. For years, he made occasional visits to lecture and cook at the prestigious International Culinary Center’s Campbell campus in his role as dean of the Spanish studies program. And in 2020, the man who has made a mission of feeding the world’s hungry and displaced received the John Steinbeck Award from San Jose State University

Details: No opening date announced as of yet. 660 Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto; https://joseandres.com/ and www.simon.com

Sweet Maple, Walnut Creek

Millionaire’s bacon at Sweet Maple, which is opening a new location in Walnut Creek. (Photo Sweet Maple) 

When co-owner Hoyul Steven Choi put Millionaire’s Bacon on the menu at his San Francisco restaurant, Sweet Maple, for the first time in 2012, he had no idea it would become so popular. Then he got a phone call from the Discovery Network. Todd Fisher, host of “United States of Bacon,” was featuring Sweet Maple and its thick rashers, coated in brown sugar, chile flakes, black pepper and cayenne, on the show.

“They said we have the best bacon in the city,” Choi remembers.

Millionaire Bacon — and Sweet Maple — took off. The brunch-forward eatery has since expanded to Palo Alto, Cupertino and Santa Monica and soon to Walnut Creek. It’s the most beautiful location yet, Choi says, with art specifically designed for the new space. Expect to see the same beloved brunch dishes of its sister eateries, from deep-fried French toast to bottomless mimosas and bloody marys and, of course, that bacon.

Details: Coming in February to 1523 Giammona Drive in Walnut Creek; sweetmaplesf.com.

Valley Goat, Sunnyvale

Award-winning chef Stephanie Izard will open her first Northern California restaurant in Sunnyvale in 2025. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Izard) 

After her “Top Chef” win, celebrity chef Stephanie Izard — she’s also a James Beard Award winner and Michelin honoree — turned her attention to growing her restaurant concept, Girl & The Goat.

Goat? From a chef with Connecticut and Chicago roots?

Turns out it’s all about her surname. Izard is a type of mountain goat in the French Pyrenees — so she ran with the theme. Naturally, her menus are much broader than that, as diners will discover when she opens her first NorCal place. Valley Goat will be the star restaurant tenant of the first Treehouse Hotel in the United States.

Here are a few temptations from her Los Angeles restaurant: Chile-Sichuan Basted Bass with Honeycrisp apples and spiced almonds; Beef Short Rib Noodles with grilled pineapple and pickled veggies); and Grilled Oysters with sausage butter and smoked cocktail sauce. The signature ingredient currently shows up in Confit Goat Belly, Goat Curry and Goat Liver Mousse.

The Sunnyvale Goat will be open daily for lunch, happy hour and dinner.

Details: Opening date not yet available. 1100 N. Mathilda Ave., Sunnyvale; www.treehousehotels.com/silicon-valley/eat-drink/valley-goat

Meadowlark Dairy, Livermore

Pleasanton’s Meadowlark Dairy drive-through is a local institution. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group File) 

Meadowlark Dairy owner Jesse Takens never planned on opening a second location. His Pleasanton place, a century-old institution best known for its drive-through and its towering soft-serve ice cream, kept him plenty busy. But when his oldest customers kept telling him how much they hated the long lines around the original dairy — it’s that ice cream, we’re telling you — Takens figured he’d better do something about it.

In May, he plans to open a Meadowlark in Livermore.

“We have generations of people who have been coming here. I think three years ago, I would’ve said we’d never open another location. I can barely handle one, let alone a second one,” Takens says. “But we have some good people who can take on more responsibility.”

Takens plans to start with a walk-in shop — in Livermore’s old Bank of the West building — that will carry Meadowlark’s signature fare and partner with local cheese, bread and butcher shops. A drive-through will come along later. “We’re just trying to get it to not look like a bank,” he says.

Details: Opening in May at 2287 Second St. in Livermore; themeadowlarkdairy.com.

Jagalchi, Daly City

A rendering of the seafood market planned in Jagalchi, a Korean food complex with a restaurant and bakery set to open in Daly City’s Serramonte Center in February. (Courtesy Regency Centers) 

What was once a JC Penney is about to reopen as Jagalchi, a new, 75,000-square-foot Korean grocery store, restaurant and bakery complex named after Busan’s famous seafood market, considered to be the largest fish market in Korea. It’s the Bay Area’s third and most massive iteration of Mega Mart, and one that amps up the wow factor.

The complex’s restaurant — Pogu — is helmed by Tony Yoo, a celebrity chef with Michelin cred, who also owns Dooreyoo in Seoul. Expect an impressive seafood market, prepared foods ranging from kimbap to banchan, and a gluten-free baked goods from Basquia Bakery, which has locations inside the Mega Mart in Sunnyvale and Fremont too.

Details: Set to open in February at 63 Serramonte Center, Daly City; www.instagram.com/jagalchi_official/.

Original Joe’s, Walnut Creek

Original Joes, first opened in San Francisco in 1937, is bringing its Italian-American fare to Walnut Creek this spring (photo by Emma K Morris for Original Joes). 

The San Francisco siblings who revived their family’s Original Joe’s restaurant — and its classic dining style — are bringing their Italian-American specialties to the East Bay for the first time.

Elena and John Duggan, owners of the OJ’s in North Beach and Daly City (and three other eateries), will open their newest in the coming months at the site of the former Stanford’s Restaurant and Bar, a Broadway Plaza mainstay for steaks and seafood for 23 years.

The Duggans are the grandchildren of Tony Rodin, who opened the first Original Joe’s on San Francisco’s Taylor Street in 1937.

“This is an exciting moment for our family to continue his legacy in a large new region,” John Duggan said. “We believe that Walnut Creek is a real centerpiece of the East Bay.”

Red-sauce traditionalists will find plenty to like on the expansive menu — think Joe’s Eggplant Parmigiana, Housemade Ravioli and Joe’s Special, along with seafood, veal and chicken entrees. According to a Joe’s manager, a few dishes are being created just for the Walnut Creek crowd.

Besides red sauce, expect to find Original Joe’s signature red booths in the dining room and a counter where you can watch the action in the open kitchen.

Details: Aiming for an April opening at 1300 S. Main St., Walnut Creek; www.originaljoes.com

Joey’s Silicon Valley, San Jose

Yes, Joey is arriving soon from Canada.

The British Columbia-based restaurant chain known for its globally inspired menu — Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Indian, American and more — and upbeat customer service, will open its first Northern California location at Westfield Valley Fair’s restaurant row.

It’s another score for the upscale mall, which was selected a few years ago by Eataly for its first Italian food emporium in the Bay Area/NorCal.

Joey, a family-owned business in the “premium casual” restaurant category, boasts a menu that ranges from shareable plates of Korean Fried Cauliflower and Roasted Corn Guacamole to entrees of Ravioli Bianco with seafood and Bollywood Butter Chicken. An Individually Baked Apple Pie is the signature dessert. And there’s a full bar with craft cocktails, wine and beer.

Details: Opening soon at 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd., San Jose; https://joeyrestaurants.com.

Canyon Club Brewery, Danville

Heat lamps keep patrons cozy in the beer garden at Canyon Club Brewery in Moraga. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group File) 

When owners Ken Markey and Kevin Hamilton transformed Moraga’s former Wachovia Bank into a family-friendly restaurant with an expansive beer garden in 2019, Canyon Club Brewery was an instant success.

Now they’re expanding the concept to the Danville Livery, with a similar philosophy of elevated beer-centric fare, family-friendly vibe and, of course, a beer garden complete with fire pits and live music. The drink offerings will include Canyon Club beers as well as guest taps, and the food skews in a gastropub direction with wings of all sorts (including cauliflower), interesting salads, burgers and such.

Details: Coming soon to 206 Sycamore Valley Road in Danville; canyonclub.works.

Delirama Jr., Oakland

A Pyros Ruben sandwich is photographed at Delirama in Berkeley, Calif., in 2022. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) 

How much heartbreak can fans of deli meat take? Cash Caris shot to fame with his supremely tender, smoky pastrami at Berkeley’s Delirama, cofounded with Anahita Cann, only to have it abruptly close in 2023. Then the chef opened Elsie’s in North Berkeley to highlight his grandmother’s recipes, featuring more of that incredible pastrami, but that shut down after just six weeks.

Well, it’s a new year and a new chance for cured meats. Caris is reinvigorating one of his rumored long-term projects, a “micro-deli” called Delirama Jr. in Oakland’s Golden Gate neighborhood. “The menu is limited to start with: espresso drinks, pastrami-egg-and-cheese bagels, breakfast burritos and a couple of hot-pastrami sandwich offerings,” says Caris. “We will have vegan pastrami and gluten-free options, also.”

Once the staff gets settled in, the deli will also offer soup-and-salad combos and pastrami sold by the pound. Finger’s crossed — if everything proves successful, and disaster doesn’t strike thrice, Caris says he hopes to replicate the micro-deli concept in the future somewhere in San Jose.

Details: Scheduled to open in February at 5512 San Pablo Ave., Oakland; beginning hours are 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, instagram.com/delirama_jr

Mazra and Zorek, San Bruno

For the Makableh family, 2024 was quite the challenging year.

In the spring, they opened a second outpost of their Yelp Top 100-rated Mediterranean restaurant in Redwood City while temporarily closing the original San Bruno location for a massive renovation. A couple of months later, a two-alarm fire tore through the Redwood City kitchen, closing that restaurant while repairs were done.

But 2025 looks promising. Redwood City reopened in the fall. And chef-founder Saif Makableh says, “We’re thrilled to share that we’re aiming to reopen Mazra San Bruno in May (fingers crossed). The progress has been fantastic, and everything seems to be on track.”

Yelpers who gave the all-halal Mazra menu five stars raved about the wood-grilled Double Kebab Plate; the 6-Hour Lamb Shank, the Crispy Cauliflower appetizer and the Street-Style Wraps filled with steak or chicken shawarma and “to die for” fries.

Plus there will be a bonus: Zorek, a bakehouse cafe located just a block away. “The café will spotlight Levantine savory pastries called borek, featuring a variety of fillings like feta and spinach, mushroom cream, halloumi and zaatar, among others,” Makableh said.

Details: May launch planned for both businesses. 504 San Bruno Ave. West and 799 El Camino Real, San Bruno; www.eatmazra.com

Prescott Market, Oakland

st Oakland isn’t exactly a food desert – in recent years, it’s attracted cult favorites like Horn Barbecue and June’s Pizza – but it’s also not most people’s idea of a dining destination.

That could very well change with the opening of the long-planned Prescott Market. Sited inside a restored 1920s industrial building, the 12,000-square-foot market will present eight new places to eat, drink and grocery shop. It’s the latest project from Joe Ernst of srmErnst Partners, which has a track record in the East Bay as the group behind other large-scale operations such as Semifreddi’s production facility and Peet’s Coffee’s roasting factory.

For liquid diets, there will be a new taproom from Almanac Beer Co. and the local chain Highwire Coffee Roasters. The half-dozen restaurants include Taiwanese street food from Woo Can Cook, which shot to fame from Internet videos, and Fast Times Burgers, known for killer smashburgers (despite people claiming thick-burgers are back in 2025). There’s also Prescott Meats and Delicatessen for shopping and noshing and Pizzeria Violetta, which swings from vegan offerings to a brown-sugar-candied-bacon pizza. In other words, the market should have something for almost everyone.

Details: Scheduled to open in March at 1620 18th St., Oakland; westoaklandfarmersmarket.org/markethall

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