A restaurant specializing in vegan, fungus-based meals has sprouted in Oakland.
Fungi Foods is in its soft-opening phase, with a grand opening planned for April 9, at 434 25th St. in the Northgate neighborhood. On the storefront’s preliminary menu are KFV bowls (“Kentucky Fried Vegan”) with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, loaded mac and cheese, ‘shroom lasagna and “No Clucks Given” brioche sandwiches with fried maitakes and Cajun ranch.
“You’ve all been asking since our first pop-up where you can find us, and we finally have an answer!” the operators write on Instagram. “Come by and see the adorable mushroom-themed dining space we’ve curated for you all to hang and connect with friends.”
Fungi Foods is a sister enterprise to Fungi Farms, which operates a mushroom-production farm in the East Bay. It’s existed since 2022 as a pop-up at farmers markets and antique fairs, where, in addition to hot food, it sells grow kits for pink-oyster and chestnut mushrooms as well as mushroom jerky.
That jerky has gained a following and will be available at the new shop. It comes in varieties like sesame ginger, coconut curry and O.G. Mush, which the company describes as a “teriyaki-inspired flavor with a subtle woodsmoke finish.”
Fungi Farms was started by Jake Stolz, a former server and bartender who moved to the Bay Area from Pittsburgh.
“After a friend introduced me to mushroom cultivation, my brain went on the most intense creative journey to date,” Stolz told Bold Journey magazine in 2025. “After my first successful grow, the next 72 hours were chaos in the most beautiful way. I was pacing back and forth in my Alameda apartment, where Fungi Farms was launched — calling friends, taking notes, laughing and smiling at what was to come.”
The business plan started small, but much like a puffball, it blew up. “At first, I just wanted to sell mushroom-based food at music festivals with my friends,” Stolz said in the same interview. “That meant growing mushrooms and selling them at farmers markets to get some traction. Everything has just seemed to click since then, which tells me I’m on the path I’m supposed to be on right now.”
The limited menu for the new space is rounded out by a Caesar salad with oyster-mushroom “anchovies” and fresh lemonade. And during soft-opening hours, there is also “free cornbread for all,” which the company mysteriously promises is “served in a way you’ve never had.”
Details: Soft-opening hours are 5 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays at 434 25th St., Oakland; instagram.com/thefungifoods and thefungifoods.com