Restaurants in Emeryville

Hot Spud's chef and owner Cemil combines the convenience of fast food with the taste of gourmet cuisine, stuffing piping-hot potatoes to the skin with fresh and organic fillings. Baked to perfection in an imported King Edward convection oven, each 12-ounce potato attains a fluffy interior and evenly browned exterior reminiscent of the Doughboy after spring break. Dungeness crab and lemon beurre blanc sauce tower atop the Wharf—the restaurant's signature spud—while other creations include toppings and sauces such as grilled shrimp, chipotle tartar and alfredo. Cemil creates salads and soups with local and organic products when possible, and–in addition to gluten free items such as brownies and cheesecakes–he incorporates Idaho's state flower, the sweet potato, into desserts. Customers lounge in a sleek, modern dining area with tall picture windows and an interior wall covered in bright, multicolored panels.

Melody Lounge's meals start with fresh ingredients and daily-baked bread. The menu at the Mission Street café stretches like a bungee cord attached to a falling anvil—from American breakfasts and European coffee to Mediterranean standbys such as the chef's specialties, curry melody, tri-cheeses sandwich, and melody french toast.

Though they’re working 2,500 miles from Havana, Chan Chan Cafe Cubano’s chefs trim small sidewalk tables with sweet and spicy dishes inspired by the laidback eateries of the tropical capital. Shareable small plates of tapa capricho accent sweet plantains with black-bean sauce at small sidewalk tables or in front of an indoor accent wall bathed with the orange and purple shades of a Caribbean sunset or an oompa loompa after a fistfight. Shared sustenance makes way for personal servings of the corderdo borracho’s grass-fed lamb slowly simmered in beer, rosemary, and Michel spices.

Haymen Da Luz and Ying Wu travel the tea gardens of China and Taiwan to find the choicest leaves to stock the shelves of their San Francisco shops. The husband-and-wife team promotes a thorough understanding of steeped beverages, brewing complimentary tastes of their many green, oolong, jasmine, and herbal teas. Standing behind a curved tea bar with a built-in stone drain, Da Luz shows the techniques of rinsing leaves, preheating mugs, and ridding teapots of displaced genies during demonstrations and private classes.

Homesick for traditional Hawaiian food, friends Kurt, Al, and Eric opened Hukilau to serve the breaded mahi-mahi, fresh ahi tuna, and teriyaki hamburgers they once bought from island eateries. Inside, the kitchen cooks spam musubi—teriyaki-soaked spam wrapped in rice and nori—alongside aloha chicken adobo simmered in Aloha Shoyu, vinegar, custom blended spices, and grated ukuleles. In the dining area, gently strummed acoustic tunes provide a Hawaiian backdrop to conversations over tropical cocktails modeled after Waikiki favorites.

Beneath a burnished copper dome, the kitchen staff at Arabi Cuisine sears morsels of halal meat and festoons them with sprays of chopped parsley and tomato. Organic ingredients go into every dish, from the sandwiches loaded with almond-hued falafel or savory shawarma to the 28 distinct salads, which are rested lovingly on ice in a glass case like an ice-cream cone autographed by Cal Ripken.