In the 1980s, Emeryville was described as an “industrial rust patch” by the San Francisco Examiner. It was at a time when the East Bay city was less known for its culinary contributions and more for its empty lots. Today, that statement couldn’t be further from the truth.
In recent years, Emeryville has transformed into a foodie haven thanks to overhaul projects that have cemented its local mall and food hall into popular dining destinations. Emeryville’s Bay Street got a major face-lift two years ago when a bevy of spots, from Indian restaurant Pippal and the Michelin-recognized Rooh team to Oakland-based beer garden and pizzeria Arthur Mac’s Little Snack, joined the bustling outdoor shopping center. Just down the road, Public Market Emeryville has been in the midst of its own gastronomic makeover, with a recent wave of new food vendors that have landed inside the Bay Area’s oldest continuously running food hall.
That’s what took me to the 37-year-old Public Market recently. I hadn’t visited the food hall since sometime before the pandemic. On this particular Tuesday, the food hall was abuzz with the chatter of office workers and families wandering throughout the spacious food hub, which is packed with around 20 food stalls. Individuals sat at long wooden tables as they slurped bowls of ramen and sipped on chilled beers. The kiosks of newcomers Demiya and Alma Y Sazon were perched right by the main entrance.
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In April, Japanese comfort food restaurant Demiya opened at a kiosk next to Super Duper Burgers. There, locals can find everything from multiple Japanese curries to omurice, a dish made of tomato-based fried rice wrapped in a fluffy omelet. Owner Demi Ebara, who currently operates four Demiya locations around the Bay Area, told SFGATE via email that opening at the Public Market was a “natural fit,” given her desire to work among vendors who “share their unique culture and flavors with the market.”
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“It’s inspiring to be surrounded by so many passionate restaurant owners,” Ebara said. “There’s a real sense of community and support among the vendors.”
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One stall over is Alma Y Sazon, a vegan Mexican taqueria that opened in June. Co-owner sisters Paola and Fernanda Lagunas along with Xavier Herrera, Paola’s husband, were excited to find a home inside the Public Market after launching Alma Y Sazon through the San Francisco nonprofit La Cocina in 2022. The shift from operating inside a commercial kitchen in order to prepare for catering gigs and pop-up events to now having their own kitchen space has been fundamental in helping the co-owners expand their menu, Paola shared.
“For us, one of the biggest pros is that we don’t have to cross the bridge,” she said. “We were operating in a commercial kitchen space off Folsom Street and would schedule time to come in so that we could use the kitchen. It’s fun to have something that is ours and have a kitchen that we get to return to every day.”
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The team at Alma Y Sazon continues to run pop-ups at Prescott Market in West Oakland while managing their new kiosk location five days a week. Paolo shared that all the recipes come from her mother and grandmother, both of whom are named Alma. Growing up, Paola was mostly vegetarian, and her mother and grandmother encouraged her to give traditional Mexican recipes her own vegetarian spin. Guests can see that at the vegan food stall, with dishes like tempura-battered oyster mushroom tacos and handmade masa sopes that are served with refried beans, poblano peppers and corn.
During my visit, I placed an order of two jackfruit tinga flautas and an order of ginger agua fresca. In no time, my flautas came out topped with lettuce, cashew crema, almond queso fresco, avocado sauce and thin slices of radish for a subtle bite. Both the tofu and jackfruit, which go into many of the entrees, are marinated with an assortment of sauces and spices for 48 hours before they’re slow-cooked. The process helps each filling absorb optimum flavor, Paola shared. After taking a bite, I was impressed by the well-seasoned jackfruit and the creamy queso fresco that both delivered an authentic taste to their traditional dairy counterpart. The agua fresca was no less impressive. It packed the perfect amount of sweetness and was a great balance to my meal.
Public Market Emeryville is slated to gain more vendors in the months to come. Next year, restaurant chain Sweetgreen is expected to open an outpost, as well as Tease Southern Kitchen, which plans to open next month. After Tease Southern Kitchen abruptly closed its Oakland outpost last fall, owner Trevel Adanandus was ready to return to the East Bay to make his signature Southern-style entrees, from honey fried chicken over garlic noodles to crawfish mac and cheese. Adanandus said his Public Market Emeryville menu will be smaller due to the fast-paced environment, but he plans to stay true to the rich flavors that customers at his Antioch restaurant are familiar with. He also plans to add his famous giant stuffed turkey leg as a weekend special.
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“We have different variations of garlic noodles and mac and cheese, like the signature six-cheese blend mac and cheese that’s to die for,” Adanandus said.
Opening inside Public Market Emeryville worked twofold for Adanandus, who had been a longtime visitor of the decades-old food hall. He likes the market’s central location and believes it’s a great place for locals to come in for a casual lunch.
“It’s a cultural hub,” Adanandus said. “I wanted to be part of that community where all walks of life come together. It brings in a diverse crowd of professionals and families.”
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Public Market Emeryville opened as a $35 million project when developers transformed some former 1930s-era warehouses into a downtown food hall in 1988, the Oakland Tribune reported. According to the Tribune, the project was counseled by a legendary panel that included Bay Area radio host Narsai David, Bruce Aidells, the founder of Aidells Sausage Co. and the inventor of the chicken apple sausage, and Jeremiah Tower, a Chez Panisse alum and the former proprietor of legendary San Francisco restaurant Stars.
In 1989, the San Francisco Examiner described Emeryville as a town with “garbage strewn vacant lots” before artists and biotech companies moved into warehouses and retrofitted buildings, thus helping to usher in a wave of boutiques, bars, and restaurants that same decade. The East Bay town gained more attention with the grand opening of the Public Market Emeryville.
“It was the arrival of new apartments, a slick new shopping center, glitzy office buildings and a public market, which opened in 1988, that got people talking about the changes in the town,” the Examiner reported.
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Decades later, talks about renovating the Public Market swirled as San Franciscans made the move to the East Bay amid a housing crunch in 2015, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. At the time, Mark Stefan, a developer with the realty group City Center Realty Partners, which owned Public Market Emeryville until 2021, told the Chronicle that the market renovation project would help bring “hipper new food options” and generate energy in the space. Koja Kitchen, which continues to have a kiosk at Public Market Emeryville, was among the newer vendors that year. La Cocina alum Fernay McPherson of Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement launched her popular restaurant at the food hall, first as a pop-up in 2018 and later as a permanent kiosk in 2019 until 2024. That same year, the popular Southern restaurant opened its first brick-and-mortar space in San Francisco.
“One way we engage with and discover potential new tenants is through our partnership with La Cocina, which offers direct visibility into up-and-coming businesses,” Phaedra Morris, the general manager of Public Market Emeryville, told SFGATE via email. “We’re thrilled to have had some of these businesses get their start at Public Market and go on to open successful brick-and-mortars of their own.”
“What we’re trying to do is freshen things up,” Stefan told the Chronicle. “We want to tap into that food culture and bring in unique purveyors that are different from what you’d find in a typical mall.”
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In 2021, realtor company Oxford Property Group purchased Public Market Emeryville and, according to a Chronicle story in 2022, invested more than $1 million to upgrade the kiosks inside the space with flooring and kitchen equipment. Proposed housing units could eventually find a home in the adjacent land near the food hall under its current property owner, the San Francisco Business Times reported in May.
For his part, Adanandus has enjoyed seeing the transformation of the Public Market over the years and believes the space is livelier than ever, with regular music events and activities that include Drag Queen Bingo. He likes its open forum concept and how, after 37 years, the Public Market continues to draw people in for entertainment and a delicious bite.
“We’re just excited to be part of this community and make something great,” Adanandus said.
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Public Market Emeryville, 5959 Shellmound St., Emeryville. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday , 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.