Nestled between the Downtown Berkeley BART Station and University Avenue stands a new restaurant — Our Family Table — specializing in Northern Chinese cuisine.

Upon walking in, customers are greeted with red Chinese paper lanterns and hanging plant decorations. Two seating sections divide the restaurant, with one on a raised platform allowing access to views of the street from a large window that lets in natural light. The restaurant provides free Wi-Fi and has a refrigerator with a variety of soft drinks for customers.

The menu highlights the restaurant’s signature hand-pulled wide noodles in beef broth along with other noodle soups and a variety of dumplings. In addition, the menu features numerous vegetarian options and traditional dessert items such as sesame balls. Owner Ziyao Jia encouraged feedback on the food from customers. 

Before opening Our Family Table on March 14, Jia — a San Francisco local — worked in the restaurant industry for three years in San Mateo. 

Jia runs Our Family Table alongside his mother and father, working inthe front operating the restaurant and serving customers while his parents work in the back. Jia’s mother, Junxue Zhang, has worked in the restaurant industry for almost 14 years, according to Jia. 

“Since ours is such a warm and loving family, we decided to give it the name ‘Our Family Table,’” said Zhang via Google Translate.

Jia said the restaurant has been steadily increasing in popularity since its opening. Our Family Table is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and reopens at 5 p.m. for dinner every day except Tuesday. 

Jia picked the location for its proximity to UC Berkeley, BART and Citibank. 

Lin Song, a student studying abroad at UC Berkeley for the spring semester, said Our Family Table feels like “home” — China. However, Lin hopes the restaurant will add more rice dishes to the menu.

Chloe Hoversten, an East Bay resident, said the beef wide noodles were “up there with the other top-rated noodle places” and the service was “courteous, attentive (and) fast.” 

Several other Chinese restaurants have opened recently in Berkeley, including Rice Dynasty and Li’s Knife Cut Noodle. 

Before the space was Our Family Table, it was Las Delicias, a restaurant serving halal Salvadorean cuisine. Las Delicias hosted fundraisers with ASUC senators and offered student discounts. 

Kim Gonzalez, a Berkeley resident, had been to Las Delicias before it closed and said it had “really homey food.” 

Gonzalez said Our Family Table is “tasty, very reasonably priced for the portions (with) unlimited refill on noodles” and has the ambience of “a simple, down-to-earth mom and pop (store).”