Jot Mahal closes on College, Oakland loses an Uptown bar and an Alameda bakery bids adieu

Editor’s note: Nosh covers food and restaurant news across the East Bay, and each week we publish one article covering all the restaurant openings and one article covering closings. The openings and closings for each month are then compiled into a round-up. Have a tip for Nosh? Submit it here.

Alameda restaurant closure

Feel Good Bakery

10.17.25: After serving Alameda for 22 years, Feel Good Bakery is hanging up its chef’s hat for good. The bakery’s last day of business was Oct. 31. Feel Good didn’t provide the reasoning behind the closure, but announced on its website that “this was not an easy decision, and it comes only after thoughtful consideration of all available options.” Feel Good Bakery was located at 3215 Encinal (at High Street) and 1650 Park St. (at Buena Vista Ave.) in Alameda.

Berkeley restaurant closures

Babette

10.08.25: After 14 years of serving Berkeley as a restaurant, wedding venue and community gathering space, Babette is taking its final bow. With a focus on organic and sustainably-sourced food, Babette owners Joan Ellis and Patrick Hooker took to Instagram to relay the message of their closure to the community.

“Like so many of our friends and fellow small business owners, we just could not make the numbers work,” the post says. Ellis and Hooker took out a loan from the Small Business Association to keep Babette afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, but repaying it has proved nightmarish in the wake of DOGE cuts in the SBA and razor-slim margins.

Babette closed on Oct. 31. Babette was located at 2033 San Pablo Ave. (at University Ave.) in Berkeley.

Jot Mahal Palace of Indian Cuisine (College Ave.)

10.31.25: A Nosh tipster let us know that the College Avenue location of Jot Mahal, a longtime Berkeley institution for vegetarian Indian food, has closed. Ownership confirmed the closure over the phone and also shared that a new Indian spot, Chandni Chowk, has already taken its place as of Oct. 28. Jot Mahal is still up and running at the corner of Shattuck and Cedar in Berkeley, but 3211 College Ave. (at Alcatraz) is now closed.

East Bay restaurant closures

Starbucks (multiple)

10.03.25: Starbucks shuttered hundreds of stores across the country in October, and many of the branches on the chopping block were in the East Bay.

Three Oakland stores closed: Broadway and 30th; 2nd Street and Broadway; and Lake Park Avenue and Walker Avenue. The store at 3839 Emery St. in Emeryville and at 1799 Solano Ave. in Berkeley also closed. Other East Bay Starbucks closures hit Danville, at 11000 Crow Canyon Road and 398 Hartz Ave., Walnut Creek, at 1601 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Fremont, at both 38012 Mission Blvd. and 41093 Fremont Blvd., along with 6000 Bollinger Canyon Road in San Ramon.

Oakland restaurant closures

Kasper’s

10.31.25: It’s been a rough week for hot dogs in Oakland: after 95 (!) years in business, Kasper’s Hot Dogs has closed for good. SF Gate reported that 80-year-old owner Harold Koojoolian had planned to sell the building and retire with his wife, Bonnie, but that the process had sped up when Bonnie passed away unexpectedly earlier this year. Kasper’s nostalgic neon sign has already been taken down, but folks looking for a classic, old-timey hot dog can still stop by Caspers, which has five remaining locations in the East Bay. (Caspers was founded in 1934 by a cousin of the original Kasper’s owner after a family dispute.)

Trybe, an Oakland-based nonprofit that works with youth and families across the East Bay, has purchased the distinct Dimond District hexagon-shaped building and renamed it The LinK. Trybe announced in a social media post that it plans to offer cafe service in the morning in addition to the original Kasper’s menu, and also serve as a community kitchen and space for food entrepreneurs to test concepts. Kasper’s was located at 2551 MacArthur Blvd. (at Wilson Ave.) in Oakland.

The Miranda

10.08.25: The Miranda, a longstanding cocktail bar near the Fox Theater in Uptown Oakland, shuttered over the weekend, per an Instagram post. Adorned in wallpaper splashed with California poppies, the Miranda was an elegant watering hole known for affordable drinks and live DJ sets. The bar didn’t give context for the closure. The Miranda was located at 1739 Broadway (between 17th and 19th St.) in Oakland.

Signal Downtown Oakland (Temporary Closure)

10.24.25: Thanks to the tipster that let Nosh know that Signal Coffee located in the bottom floor off the Tribune Tower has a sign posted in the window announcing a temporary closure. “Due to continuing staffing shortages at this location, Signal at Tribune will be closed until further notice while we group,” the note read in part. The cafe opened in the tower in April. Signal’s cafes in Berkeley, Alameda and San Francisco remain open. Signal Coffee, 411 13th St., Oakland

Jot Mahal closes on College, Oakland loses an Uptown bar and an Alameda bakery bids adieu

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