Nosh offers German-inspired cuisine and lively atmosphere
With a little over one month of providing customers with their German-inspired cuisine, West Oak Nosh is one of the newest additions to Downtown Lodi, and its owners hope to establish their restaurant as a place where communitybuilding and lively dining can happen.
West Oak Nosh is a product of Gabe and Marcus DeAnda, two brothers from Stockton who combined their individual knowledge and experience in the business world to develop Nosh. Gabe, who describes himself as an entrepreneur at heart and studied business at University of the Pacific, brought the idea to Marcus, who before joining his brother was a restaurateur for Chipotle’s San Francisco area.
With Lodi possessing such a traditional German heritage, Gabe said that the city seemed like a perfect place to open up their restaurant. While the food is not wholly traditional German dishes, its “beer hall” atmosphere and design were two major ingredients in its concept.
“We have (German) in our blood, but it’s definitely not a big part of our family heritage, and we really love the food and the style,” Gabe said. “We wanted to have some American food and some German-inspired stuff like our sausages, which we have five types of and we make them all here in-house.”
In addition to their German-inspired foods, the brothers said that they make sure to maintain a wide selection of specialty beers, and Gabe noted that they try to introduce customers to new brews rather than serving the beers that are often found at other restaurants.
“A lot of places around here they stick with the same beers that everyone has ... and when people ask for that here, we say, ‘Sorry, we don’t have that here, but let me show you this other beer that’s comparable or maybe even better.’ ”
Another aspect of their restaurant the brothers enjoy and work to facilitate is an enjoyable atmosphere with sounds that can bring in potential customers walking by. Marcus said that the community seating provides prime networking opportunities and encourages people to start conversations.
“The noise here picks up pretty quickly, and having the windows open not only helps us inside, but also lets people know that there’s something happening here,” Marcus said. “It gets super loud in here, and that’s because people are able to enjoy themselves and don’t feel like they have to restrain themselves in a little box, and they can get loud and have fun.”
One month after opening, the restaurant has grown primarily through wordof-mouth, and, excluding their activity on social media, the brothers have not done any advertising. While they did have a “soft opening,” they are still developing a plan for their grand opening. The brothers also own the suite next to their current location, and they plan to renovate and expand the dining area to allow for more tables and customers.
“Before we really promote and do big events, we want to make sure we can handle the capacity and the response that we’ve been getting,” Gabe said.
West Oak Nosh is located at 10 W. Oak St., and is open Wednesday and Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m., Friday from 4 to 11 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 209-224-8157.