Start Your 7-Day Trial for $45
Everywhere you need to visit during Oakland, Berkeley, and SF Restaurant Week 2025
I have to be honest, I've seen some underwhelming "special offers" by some of the restaurants listed this year. And since the deadline for submissions has passed, I've gone through and selected not only my favorite spots, but those offering my kind of deals.
Hopefully the restaurants featured below incentivize you to go out and enjoy a night (or day) on the town.
Oakland Restaurant Week 2025
Add to Calendar: Oakland Restaurant Week March 20-March 30.
Starting off strong, Z Bar Café presents two appetizers, a soup or salad, an entree, and a dessert for $50. They have more martinis than anywhere else in Oakland, and arguably the Bay Area. If you go during Happy Hour all martinis and cocktails are $13, premium cocktails like the mojito or purple Cadillac martini are $15, and champagne flutes are $11. Don't say I never put you on!
Portal hasn't published the cost of their pre-fixe menu curated for the week, but I wouldn't count them out. Whether it's for brunch, happy hour, or Restaurant Week, Portal is the place to be especially when the weather is warm.
For lunch, you can order two crispy chicken tacos with chips + salsa, and a drink, from Cactus for $11.95. Then right across the street from the Rockridge location, at Market Hall Foods, you can get half a pint of my favorite Kale Caesar salad, a slice of pizza, and a can of soda for $10-12. So if that man sends you $30 for lunch one day, you can get TWO lunches out of it and still have money left over for a small matcha. Girl math.
Crumble & Whisk has been on my radar for minute as someone who lovesss pastries. $25 for a pot pie, salad, drink, and dessert is also within a reasonable lunch-break budget.
Thankfully, Starter Bakery and Town Fare have special menus, so they're at the top of my list to try. Y'all know a latte alone will run you $9, but you can have that AND a pastry at Starter this week. Town Fare is offering an entree, dessert and drink for $25. Hello? When's the last time that happened in California?
I've been meaning to go to Saucy in Old Oakland for Happy Hour but they're serving a family-style tasting menu featuring their Hamachi Spoons, Saucy Wings, Shaken Beef, Pandan Bread Pudding, and other selections for $45; all items I've been wanting to try.
The creme de la creme of pizza joints, Zachary’s, has a $45 pre fixe menu: medium stuffed pizza or large thin pizza, with an entree salad. This week you can also buy one pizza, and get one half off. On another note, the Grand Ave location is offering two house cocktails for the price of one; perfect for happy hour or pregaming.
If you're looking for an event, check out the "Mac and Cheese Cookoff" put on by CoCo Noir downtown for one night only on Saturday, March 22.
Similarly, on March 29 Café Colucci and Brudo Spices are hosting a five-course dinner party highlighting some off-menu items and ciders. I love the freshness of their food and definitely recommend them to anyone in search of Ethiopian food out here.
Berkeley Restaurant Week 2025
Berkeley Restaurant Week follows on Oakland's heels, starting March 21 through March 31.
If you stop reading right here, my hope is that you at least make the trip to La Marcha Tapas Bar afterwards. I'm pretty sure I'm the last person to try this place, but everything great happens in due time. It's one of those places that you'll want to go to everyday after your first time. Aside from the food, they have a great happy hour both before dinner and after.
Their specials include:
$30 Brunch: a starter, entree, and special cocktail of your choice
$35 Lunch: two courses plus an individual-sized paella (totally worth it)
$55 Dinner: 5-Course meal incorporated with chocolate in each dish
Maybe it's the nostalgia from high school, but I still love Angeline’s Louisiana Kitchen on Shattuck. I'll be monitoring them for any upcoming specials so follow us on IG @thankumina for updates.
My tenure in Berkeley ended a long time ago, and since then new spots like Gather, Revival Bar + Kitchen, and Roses on Adeline have popped up. If I had all the time in the world I'd go by all of them because the published menus for this week seem delicious and affordable.
SF Restaurant Week 2025
SF Restaurant Week is expected to run April 4 to April 13.
San Francisco hasn't published the exact list of participants in this year's lineup but some past options I’m looking forward to potentially trying are: Bodega SF, Chapeau, Dalida, Doppio Zero, Early to Rise, El Techo, and One65.
Several of my recently featured restaurants should be participating this year as well including Cantina los Mayas, Lolinda, The Vault Garden & Steakhouse.
I love Chotto Matte for girls night, and even solo dates; and it's not a party if y'all don't go to Crustacean.
Fingers crossed the best restaurant on the Pier, Fog Harbor, is also featured this year so I'll have an excuse to take the ferry over there.
There are endless restaurants in The City so I'd definitely check the website for the full selection.
If you attend any of the restaurant week festivities, leave a comment and let us know about your experience.
Thanks for reading, happy eating!