muracci's moves on; el trompudo coming soon to dwight

after 11 years on telegraph avenue, the berkeley location for muracci's japanese curry & grill from married owners yasuyuki and tamiko murata has quietly closed in anticipation of new ownership. (fun fact: the smiling boy in the curry restaurant's logo is modeled after the owners' son, whose nickname growing up was "muracci.")

the family's original curry shop, a fast-casual lunch choice in san francisco's financial district since 2008, remains open at 307 kearny street. stay tuned to find out what's next for their now-closed southside space at 2428 telegraph avenue in berkeley.

meanwhile, around the corner at 2441 dwight way, a tipster (thank you!) noticed signage up at the long-closed, stand-alone space that for decades housed 1970s-born berkeley sushi restaurant joshu-ya (then joshu-ya brasserie). it was also home, very briefly, to kyushu ramen in 2017, but has, we believe, remained closed ever since.

coming soon to the airy, cottage-style restaurant space, complete with a veranda, is a new location for jaliso-style taqueria el trompudo, a family-owned el sobrante mainstay since 2015.

el trompudo berkeley will be at 2441 dwight way in berkeley. no eta just yet, but we predict an early fall opening.

august 7, 2025