{"id":249310,"date":"2026-04-03T00:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/249310\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T00:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:51:11","slug":"the-best-deals-of-berkeley-restaurant-week-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/249310\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Deals of Berkeley Restaurant Week 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Restaurant Week season, folks. The city of Oakland just finished its 11-day extravaganza<\/a> of prix-fixe dining deals, while the super-sized spring iteration<\/a> of San Francisco\u2019s twice-yearly promotion kicks off on April 10.<\/p>\n

This week, it\u2019s Berkeley\u2019s<\/a> turn. The 2026 edition of Berkeley Restaurant Week<\/a> runs April 2\u201312, with at least 74 restaurants, bars and wineries signed up to participate. Sponsored by the city\u2019s tourism bureau<\/a>, the annual event features the usual array of discounted set menus and special dishes, with a few added bonuses: This year, a number of participating restaurants will offer free corkage<\/a> to customers who bring a bottle of their favorite Berkeley-made wine or sake. And for those who like an extra helping of culture with their meal, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) is offering discounted tickets<\/a> to visitors who show Berkeley Restaurant Week reservations or dining receipts.<\/p>\n

As for the deals themselves, it\u2019s a bit of a mixed bag: Some restaurants are only adding a single (not necessarily discounted) special dish for the occasion, while a handful are promoting prix-fixe sets that \u2014 gasp! \u2014 actually appear more expensive than their regular menu prices. After scouring the dozens of menus, I\u2019ve picked out eight deals I\u2019m especially enthusiastic about. The best thing about the promotion? The breadth of offerings really shows off Berkeley\u2019s identity as a diverse, globally inspired food city.<\/p>\n

\"SpreadA spread of Ethiopian stews served on injera at Berkeley\u2019s Lemat. (Luke Tsai\/KQED)
\nThe Ethiopian feast<\/p>\n

Lemat<\/a>, one of the East Bay\u2019s most popular Ethiopian restaurants, is doing a $35 prix fixe<\/a> that comes with an appetizer, a meat or veggie sampler entree, and ceremonial coffee service to close. This is an especially good deal for carnivores, as choosing all of the meat options comes out to well over a $40 value. But the smartest play would be to come with a buddy (or a small group, even) and split one meat set and one veggie set \u2014 a classic move for frequent Ethiopian restaurant-goers.<\/p>\n

The vegetarian Thai set<\/p>\n

The Farmhouse Thai<\/a> restaurant group is one of the Bay Area\u2019s most well-regarded Thai establishments, but it\u2019s also on the more expensive end of the spectrum. Its Berkeley location\u2019s Restaurant Week prix fixe should appeal to both budget-minded diners and vegetarians who\u2019ve been thinking about giving the restaurant a try: a $39 vegetarian set<\/a> that includes a sparkly lemon drink, vegan fresh rolls, a pomelo salad, and a vegetarian version of Farmhouse Thai\u2019s signature khao soi curry noodle soup. (The version with meat normally costs $46 all by itself.)<\/p>\n

The indulgent solo tapas spread<\/p>\n

La Marcha<\/a> is offering a few different Restaurant Week deals, but the $25 lunch special is especially appealing to anyone who\u2019s ever thought going out for tapas is thoroughly impractical for a solo diner. The set<\/a> includes your choice of two tapas, plus an individual portion of paella (not normally an available option).<\/p>\n

\"TwoTwo of Chicha San Chen\u2019s highly touted boba drinks, pictured here outside the chain\u2019s Cupertino location. (Luke Tsai\/KQED)
\nThe boba deal<\/p>\n

Chicha San Chen<\/a> has a strong case for being the best boba shop<\/a> in the East Bay and possibly the entire Bay Area. The Berkeley location\u2019s Restaurant Week deal requires a little bit of prior planning: You have to make a reservation<\/a> for a free tea tasting. Once you\u2019ve completed the tasting, you\u2019ll get $2 off<\/a> the purchase of two of the shop\u2019s excellent boba drinks \u2014 I favor anything with their osmanthus oolong.<\/p>\n

The family chicken bucket<\/p>\n

Hopscotch Chicken<\/a>, chef Kyle Itani\u2019s Japanese American\u2013inflected fried chicken spot, has a fun deal for a family or group of friends: $60 for a \u201cpicnic pack<\/a>\u201d that includes a bucket of fried chicken, a miso chicken Caesar salad, fries, collard greens, mac and cheese and two Asahi beers. It\u2019s not a huge savings off the regular menu prices, but you essentially get the beer for free.<\/p>\n

\"PlateKopi Bar\u2019s take on Hainan chicken rice comes with the traditional bowl of broth on the side. (Luke Tsai\/KQED)
\nThe Hainan chicken rice set<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Restaurant Week season, folks. The city of Oakland just finished its 11-day extravaganza of prix-fixe dining deals,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-249310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}