Despite being declared “the best food city in the U.S.” in 2024, not even Oakland—a city notorious for sky-high operating costs, tight business restrictions, and an ecosystem still feeling the impacts of post-pandemic recovery—could keep some of its most lauded restaurants afloat.
Like dominoes, they’ve fallen one after another: Pomella, Shakewell, Horn Barbecue, Phở Vy, Clove & Hoof, Gold Palm, The Kon-Tiki, Left Bank Brasserie, and others have all disappeared in just the last two years.
Lately, though, a new trend is emerging. Restaurants on the precipice—even those that were once believed to have left the city for good—are making surprise returns.
There’s no single reason driving the resurgence. Some, like Daytrip, which came back in leaner, meaner form about six months after its December 2024 closure, have restructured their operations and menus or switched from full-service restaurants to fast-casual models. Others have returned with the help of food-business-friendly policy changes, like recently updated zoning rules in Jack London Square, or with the outpouring of support from patrons and community members.
Whatever the reason, we have only one thing to say to The Town’s most recent comeback kids: Welcome home—we’re so glad to see you.
Reem’s California
(Nader Khouri)
James Beard Award finalist Reem Assil opened her first brick-and-mortar “Arab street corner bakery” in Oakland’s Fruitvale District back in 2017. By 2021, with the restaurant a hit and the pandemic wreaking havoc on the food industry, Assil moved her operations to San Francisco, leaving her original storefront behind (it’s now Wahpepah’s Kitchen). But late last month, Reem’s California made a triumphant return to The Town, this time to a 3,000-square-foot flagship cafe and bakery in Jack London Square. Now a worker-owned cooperative, Reem’s 2.0 is once again producing Assil’s signature saj-baked flatbread wraps in flavors like sumac-braised chicken and quesabirria-style lamb, along with grab-and-go dips and salads. An expanded pastry program is also on its way, adding items like orange-blossom morning buns and shakshuka tarts to a pastry case already packed with cheese and meat-filled hand pies, baklawa, and pistachio-cardamom sticky buns.
// 85 Webster St. (Oakland), reemscalifornia.com
Millenium
(Courtesy of Millenium Restaurant via facebook.com)
When Millenium, one of the country’s most creative, OG plant-based fine-dining restaurants, announced its closure in May, there was an audible outcry across the Bay Area. When it unexpectedly announced its reopening just a few weeks later, that cry—this time of pure joy—grew louder. In that short time, support from patrons new and old convinced chef Eric Tucker and team that Millenium still had a lot of life left to live. They quickly restructured their business model, switching to a three- or five-course prix-fixe menu on the heated patio; giving the interior a more casual, counter-served a la carte menu; and adding regular themed nights like pizza on Tuesdays. Fans will still find several favorites on the menu, including the black lentil-pecan burger and coriander-arborio-crusted oyster mushrooms, along with eats like Korean BBQ corn riblets and Nashville hot tofu sandwiches.
// 5912 College Ave. (Oakland), milleniumrestaurant.com
Oakland Athletic Club
(Courtesy of @oakathclub)
More bar than restaurant, Uptown’s iconic hub for sports fans, Oakland Athletic Club, returned last month with an updated menu and watch parties galore. Saved by a team of former regulars and local business owners, the neighborhood gathering place is back with plenty of game-day nosh made from scratch (buffalo wings, nachos, pretzels with cheese), along with some more sophisticated dinner items including 36-hour-roasted brisket and coffee-crusted pork loin. Women's sports are especially cherished at the new-and-improved Oakland Athletic Club: Even when it’s not a local team shown across the bar (hello, Valkyries!), they play in a special lounge all their own. Happy hour is on from 3pm to 6pm.
// 59 Grand Ave. (Oakland), oaklandathleticclub.com
Cenaduría Elvira
(Courtesy of @shapeslist/@cenaduria.elvira)
Cenaduría Elvira’s comeback story is a little different from the others on this list—not so much a resurrection as a triumphant second act. In June, Cenaduría Elvira left behind its original home-kitchen digs in East Oakland to be reborn in a permanent storefront in Jack London Square. Rising to cult-favorite status during the pandemic for its crispity, cunchity Jalisco-style tostadas raspadas and tacos dorados, the new restaurant has some additional menu items, including barbacoa and tamales, and is now open six days a week.
// 468 3rd St. (Oakland), cenaduriaelvira.com
Bar Skula
(Courtesy of @skulaoakland)
Bar Skula isn’t a straight comeback so much as a closely related descendant of Luka’s—the nearly 20-year-old taproom and lounge that helped pave the way for Oakland’s restaurant bonafides which closed in 2022. This new creature, born of co-owner Rick Mitchell and the space’s previous tenant Sidebar, a cocktail bar that closed in 2024, has inherited some food and drink items from each parent including Sidebar’s mussels and Luka’s burger and fries. The rest of its menu, though, is all its own: full of seafood dishes inspired by Peruvian cevicherías and Mexican marisquerías courtesy of former Luka’s chefs Wilson Mendez and Jacob Alioto. Visit on Mondays for the continuation of Luka’s $2 oyster tradition.
// 542 Grand Ave. (Oakland), barskula.com
