northside roundup

as august approaches and u.c. berkeley students gear up to return, there are a couple of recent food-related changes to report around berkeley's peaceful northside neighborhood near campus.

first, replacing closed banh mi bite is ghe banh mi & rolls, a new vietnamese counter-service spot at 1814 euclid avenue that just celebrated its grand opening july 28. ghe (vietnamese for boat) serves a variety of banh mi, spring rolls, vermicelli bowls and coffee drinks, as well as milk teas, fruit teas and smoothies.

also on euclid, funky little sandwich shop zak's snacks has reopened at the base of the euclid apartment building. the wee counter spot, first opened in 2016, is owned by long-time northside proprietor jamal fares (hummingbird cafe, banana sams), and is named for his son zakaria. after a building retrofit that closed the no-frills shop for a year and a half, fares is happy to be once again serving his simple menu of sandwiches, wraps, bagels and soups at 1865 euclid avenue. cash only please.

coming soon to the strip is newcomer calburger at 1805 euclid avenue, in the former bollywood/ali baba space. (as far as we can tell it bears no relation to downtown berkeley's cal's fried chicken and burgers.) signage has been up for a while, but an opening date has yet to be announced. we'll update accordingly.

around the corner, the opening of j's snacks and tea at 2505 hearst avenue also seems imminent inside the former hay tea spot down in the hearst street food court.

meanwhile, no word yet on new life for the long-closed tc garden, northside/cabanas cafe, subway and snack shack northside neighborhood restaurant spaces, but we predict some movement there as the new school year gets underway, especially as the handsome new nearby gateway building continues to take shape.

july 29, 2025