Eat along Concord Taco Trail and support family restaurants
Taco aficionados already know it, but Concord is right up there with San Jose and Richmond when it comes to having some of the Bay Area’s best Mexican food.
Many of these restaurants and taquerias, which are open for takeout, outdoor dining or both, are family-run and trying to make ends meet during this crisis. You can help them — and get your taco fix — by hitting the “trail,” a Visit Concord promotion that features 35-plus taquerias along Monument Boulevard, Willow Pass Road, Clayton Road and beyond.
The list is a solid mix of wellknown spots like Tortilleria El Molino and hidden gems such as El Yahualica Tacos, which serves up mighty shrimp tacos as well as birria.
To get a spot on the Concord Taco Trail, the businesses had to serve primarily Mexican or Latino food, be located in Concord and be a single brick-and-mortar location, or one of a small number of locations. No chains were allowed, and neither were standalone taco trucks, though several of the restaurants also own taco trucks.
Each of the trail’s restaurants offer specialty and signature
tacos including al pastor, carnitas, carne asada, crispy fish, grilled tilapia and vegitariano. There’s even filet mignon.
Not sure where to start? Download the Concord Taco Trail map at Visitconcordca.com and start eating. Hit all the restaurants and you may even win a taco-shaped trophy.
New Dunkin’ Donuts with drive-thru opens in San Jose
Two years after expanding to San Jose, Dunkin’ Donuts has opened a second location in the South Bay.
The new shop, on Winchester Boulevard south of Moorpark Avenue, features a drive-thru, as does the one on Snell Road, and the company’s new lineup of pumpkin-spiced coffee drinks and baked goods.
When pandemic restrictions are lifted, customers will be able to head inside this DD Green Certified building to enjoy their food in front of the fireplace and TV.
It’s the first Dunkin’ for franchisee and San Jose resident Ted Zafiris, who has hired more than 30 employees to staff this location.
Hours of operation will be 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
Dunkin’ Donuts’ reemergence in the Bay Area — there was a shop in San Jose about 25 years ago — started in June 2016 with a Walnut Creek store.
DETAILS >> 844 S. Winchester Blvd., San Jose. 408-554-2403; www. dunkindonuts.com
2 Paul Martin’s steakhouses are closing for good
Paul Martin’s American Grill has pulled out of the Bay Area market, citing the economic impact of the coronavirus.
The restaurants in Mountain View (at the Village at San Antonio) and San Mateo (Hillsdale Shopping Center), which had shut down temporarily in March, will remain closed, as will a Dallas location, the corporate headquarters announced.
“This decision comes after painstaking discussions and deliberations due to the devastating effects of the pandemic and its impact on our local business and community,” the statement said. “At this time, we are unable to operate given the challenges in the current landscape and those anticipated challenges yet to come.
“We remain hopeful that we will be able to reopen some of these locations in the future.”
Six Paul Martin’s remain open — one in Roseville, three in Southern California (El Segundo, Irvine and Westlake Village) and one in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Kara’s Cupcakes closes in Walnut Creek after 10 years
For sweets fans, this closure is particularly bitter.
Kara’s Cupcakes, the small-batch cupcakery on North Main Street in Walnut Creek, has officially closed.
“Our lease was up and it just made sense for us to close because of COVID-19,” owner and founder Kara Haspel Lind said.
Lind opened the Walnut Creek bake shop in 2010. The daughter of a dentist, Lind launched Kara’s Cupcakes as a catering business in 2006 after attending Tante Marie’s Professional Pastry School in San Francisco. It quickly ballooned into a mini-chain, with locations in Palo Alto, Napa and Emeryville (though that location is not currently open).
Kara’s is known for its seasonal cupcakes made with ingredients sourced locally and organically whenever possible.
Kara’s Cupcakes started what has become known as “sweet row” on its side of North Main Street. Lottie’s Creamery and CREAM, which are also on that side, both opened in 2013.
But it’s not all bad news. As the saying goes, when one treats door closes, another one opens. Earlier this summer, Lind opened a rosé and sparkling wine bar in Napa called Bar Lucia.
Located in Oxbow Public Market next to Kara’s Cupcakes, Bar Lucia offers a food menu of seasonal salads, panini sandwiches and salumi, crostini and dip boards. And yes, frozé.
Lind said the wine bar is dedicated to the women in her family — her daughter is named Lucia and her great-grandmother was Luci — and her love of and knowledge about wine is deeply connected to her foodie-family roots.
Bar Lucia’s outdoor patio is open for sipping and dining from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at 610 First St., Suite 19, Napa.
The Kara’s Cupcakes in Palo Alto and San Francisco remain open.