612ONE Restaurant taking over former Bucci’s space

Beloved Emeryville institution Bucci’s announced their decision to retire last August and since then the spot had sat vacant. Berkeleyside NOSH columnist Kate Williams recently uncovered in their bites roundup that an ABC License has been filed at the address.

612ONE Restaurant (6121 Hollis is the location’s address) has filed paperwork to assume the remainder of Bucci’s lease which still has over six years left according to their listing. The style of cuisine they plan to bring to the space is unknown but the applicant is referred to as “Asian-American Venture Group”. One of the co-owners listed on the ABC application is Utid Srisawat, who is the chef and co-owner at Cha Am Thai in San Francisco.

After a Seven-Year Run, Liba Falafel Is Taking Its Food Truck Out of Commission

Liba Falafel proprietor Gail Lillian announced the sad decision to shutter her popular food truck after seven years of operation. “The economics of restaurants, as well as food trucks, are broken and have been broken for a long time” Lillian notes in the Luke Tsai written East Bay Express article. Lillian also notes that despite the trucks popularity, the profit margins were a mere 6%.

Liba Falafel was a favorite of the Doyle-Hollis Park lunch crowd since it first opened in 2009. Lillian will focus her energy on her Brick & Mortar restaurant of the same name that she opened in Downtown Oakland in 2014. Lillian is married to Actual Cafe & Victor Burger’s Sal Bednarz whom she lives with in North Oakland.

Read more on East Bay Express →

“Patatas”, new tenant at former CommonWealth space, making progress

Barely seven months after opening, Commonwealth Micropub placed their restaurant up for sale before closing for good in December 2015. It was announced back in March that a new tenant had been found to assume Commonwealth’s lease but very little information has been made available on their timetable. The E’ville Eye was recently contacted by the establishment who updated us on their progress.

Patatas “A neighborhood kitchen” is in the process of making kitchen and interior modifications to the space and expect to have a draft menu available by the end of the month. Spokesperson Alicia Flores expects they will begin offering homemade meals through take-out and food delivery services like Door Dash and Uber Eats sometime in August.

Chef/Owner Marcos Quezada currently runs Patatas as a catering business providing 200-600 meals per day to Corporations throughout the Bay Area as well as through farmers’ markets. Quezada was born in Chile but has a Spanish background and incorporates this and other South American influences into his recipes.

There is no timetable for the sit-down portion of the restaurant according to Flores, but they are consulting with the Alameda County Small Business Small Development Center to come up with an effective business plan that fits the space. Follow Patatas’ progress on their Facebook page.

[adrotate group=”10″]