It’s restaurant week season, apparently, when every city and micro-region in the Bay rolls out its own lineup of prix-fixe meal deals, as if to say, “Hello! Spring is here! Wouldn’t you like to eat a juicy burger?”
Fremont is no exception — though its second annual restaurant week, running March 22–31, might be overshadowed by splashier promotions taking place in neighboring cities with more famous, better-established food scenes.
But real ones know that Fremont is one the Bay Area’s great immigrant food cities, due in part to its proximity to the tech hubs of Silicon Valley. As a result, Fremont has one of the densest concentrations of high-quality Indian restaurants in the Bay Area, many of which specialize in one specific item. It’s one of the best places to go if you’re looking for hard-to-find Taiwanese dishes. And the city has also long been home to one of the largest Afghan populations in the U.S. — and, with it, the best Afghan food scene.
All of which makes Fremont Restaurant Week particularly unique. For example, among the suburb’s 45 participating restaurants is my favorite Afghan spot, De Afghanan, which is offering a deal on a sampler plate of their excellent kebabs during the promotion (pro tip: ask for extra green sauce). Cafe Mei, one of the Bay Area’s most singular Taiwanese spots because of its focus on Taiwanese breakfast sandwiches, is promoting its new deluxe cheeseburger with bacon and egg.
Perhaps most exciting is how extensive the South Asian options are. Dosa Xpress SAB is one of the most popular new South Indian dosa specialists in the area, while Hyderabad Dum Biriyani serves one of the better versions of its namesake dish. There’s also Mumbai Chowk, which specializes in Mumbai street foods and seafood dishes. Meanwhile, Pakistani burger spot YSG Halal — recently featured in KQED’s late-night dining series — is offering free milkshakes (I highly recommend the mango) with any burger combo.
Of course, other immigrant cuisines and local mom-and-pop shops are well represented too. It’s also worth noting that unlike other restaurant week promotions, which tend to focus mostly on two- or three-course prix-fixe meals, most of the participating Fremont restaurants are offering discounts on a handful of specific items — so it’s worth scoping out the details before you make the trek.
Fremont Restaurant Week takes place from Friday, March 22 through Sunday, March 31. Check each specific restaurant’s listing for details about its promotion.
