It’s that time of the year again, when food lovers don their comfiest loose-fitting pants for a weeklong jamboree of prix-fixe meal deals. We’re talking, of course, about Restaurant Week, and for value-conscious East Bay diners, the rest of this month is especially jam-packed: Both Oakland (March 20–30) and Berkeley (March 21–31) are hosting their respective Restaurant Week promotions.
For this year’s event, Oakland is leaning heavily into its recently-nabbed title as “best food city in the U.S.” (according to a Condé Nast Traveler poll) — a much-needed feather in its cap during these tumultuous times. Meanwhile, this year’s Berkeley Restaurant Week has a chocolate theme, with a number of participants offering dessert specials in addition to the usual array of discounted meal deals.
It’s a lot of information to sort through, though. For instance, the Oakland tourism bureau’s website for the promotion lists no fewer than 145 participating restaurants, about two dozen of which hadn’t yet specified their Restaurant Week menus as of this posting (including personal favorites like T’chaka, Todos and Viridian).
So, to make it easier to map out your dining plan, I’ve put together a handy guide to 10 of my favorite Oakland and Berkeley Restaurant Week deals this year — the restaurants offering the steepest discounts and/or the most interesting special menus.
OAKLAND
Cocobreeze
2370 High St.
Cocobreeze is probably the East Bay’s top spot for Caribbean-style curries and roti wraps. What I like about their Restaurant Week four-course prix-fixe is how there are different special entrees over the course of the week — so, oxtails on both Saturdays (March 22 and 29) and a special brunch menu on Sundays (March 23 and 30).
Tarts de Feybesse
224 24th St.
Before opening Oakland’s newest buzzy French bakery, Monique and Paul Feybesse sold some of the Bay Area’s most exquisitely beautiful breads and pastries out of their home kitchen in Vallejo. For Restaurant Week, they’ll be running two specials: a tarte flambée with smoked carrots and pea shoots and a seeded epi loaf.
Oh G Burger x Chimmelier
3905 Broadway
This newly opened collaboration between the folks behind longtime KBBQ staple Ohgane and a flashy L.A.-based chicken outfit sells some of the East Bay’s tastiest smash burgers and Korean fried chicken wings. They’re offering a $15 lunch deal for a standard smash burger or small fried chicken sandwich, fries and a drink — a savings of about $6, as you essentially get the fries for free. (But if it’s your first visit, I highly recommend also trying the wings and maybe one of the Korean American–inflected options, like the Bulgogi Burger.)
Jaji
422 24th St.
This Uptown newcomer specializes in upscale, modern Afghan cuisine, and its three-course, $65-per-person dinner prix-fixe (with a minimum of two diners participating) looks like one of the best deals of the week: If you select the most expensive options for the appetizer (confit duck dumpling, $30) and entree (whole trout, $72), you’re already saving $37, not even counting dessert.
Burdell
4640 Telegraph Ave.
With its refined takes on soul food, Burdell might be the most celebrated fine dining restaurant to open in the Bay Area in the past two years. It’s offering a dinner special exclusively for Restaurant Week: a double smothered pork chop with a wild mushroom and bacon gravy. Even regular degular smothered pork chops are an impossibly lovely, decadent thing, so I’m especially curious to see what chef Geoff Davis’ take is like.
BERKELEY
Anja’s Kitchen
1966 University Ave.
Almost exactly one year ago, German food lovers mourned the closure of Gaumenkitzel, which had low-key been one of Berkeley’s best restaurants for more than a decade. Anja’s is chef Anja Voth’s new, cozier, more modest little cafe, and for her Restaurant Week menu, she’ll be bringing back at least one old Gaumenkitzel classic: my all-time favorite pork schnitzel, this time served in sandwich form.
Pyeong Chang Tofu
1269 University Ave.
The beloved soondubu house is running a $35 prix-fixe that features one of its signature tofu stews as well as the kimchi pancake Samin Nosrat (of Salt Fat Acid Heat fame) loved so much she wrote a love letter to it in the New York Times. Value-wise, that’s about a $7 savings off the regular menu prices.
Fish & Bird Sousaku Izakaya
2451 Shattuck Ave.
This sleek izakaya is serving a three-course, $54 dinner prix-fixe that includes as an option a version of one of my all-time favorite dishes from the COVID takeout-only prepared foods era: the wagyu nikomi hamburg steak — a giant meatball simmered in the most delicious savory brown gravy.
Thayir Sadam
2379 Telegraph Ave.
One of Berkeley’s most intriguing new restaurants, Thayir Sadam specializes in South Indian curd rice, served with your choice of sweet and savory toppings. Its Restaurant Week menu leans into the sweets, with a variety of special toppings, drinks and pastries on offer.
Myungrang
2598 Telegraph Ave.
Myungrang specializes in crunchy, oozy, outrageously topped Korean hot dogs — and during Restaurant Week, you’ll get a free taiyaki (fish-shaped pastry) with the purchase of any dog or tteokbokki.
