South Korea’s BB.Q Chicken now in the Bay Area
There are three things to know about BB.Q Chicken, the incredibly popular South Korean fried chicken chain that has opened in the Cupertino Village shopping center.
First, the name — yes, it’s BBdot-Q — does not refer to barbecue. It stands for “Best of the Best Quality,” the company says.
Second, the restaurant deepfries with extra-virgin olive oil — that’s the unusual part — to achieve “high-quality, healthy chicken” and a lighter, crisper texture.
Third, this is not fast food. Right now, waits are common, especially because so many locals have seen this chicken featured on K-dramas and are eager to try it. Consider calling to order in advance, insiders say.
The restaurant was founded in 1995 in South Korea, and the U.S.
subsidiary, BBDOTQ, formed in 2014 to launch a franchise model in this country. There are now BB.Q locations in 18 states. “A new Goliath has arrived,” the New York Times headline read in 2017 when the first franchise opened there. Southern California is home to 18, with three more on the way.
In Cupertino — the company calls it the Apple Park location — the top seller is the Golden Original (no sauce), available as a whole chicken, wings, boneless or at lunchtime as a sandwich. The most popular sauced option is the Secret Spicy, described variously as “tangy, with a little bit of spice” and “sweet, fruity, spicy and sour, with a punch of garlicky goodness.” If you want to try both, there is a half-and-half combo.
Boneless chicken is also available in six other sauces: hot spicy, honey garlic, soy garlic, galbi, Cheesling (coated in two powdered cheeses) and gangjeong (soy-cinnamon-chile).
On the “K-Food” side of the menu you’ll find ddeok bokki rice-cake snacks, along with the creamy sauced rose ddeok bokki version, and kimchi fried rice. Sides include fries, coleslaw and pickled radish.
DETAILS >> Open at 11 a.m. daily, with the last orders taken at 9:15 p.m., at 10815 N. Wolfe Road, Cupertino. 408-320-2323.
Oakland’s Tribune Tower welcomes new, upscale restaurant
The restaurant group behind Oakland’s popular Town Revival is opening an elegant American brasserie — think tufted banquettes, ornate crown molding — in the historic Tribune Tower building in downtown Oakland.
Tribune, from chef Omri Aflalo and general manager Darrin Ballon, partners of OJD Group Inc., are launching the venture nearly one year after the last restaurant at the top of the 22-story building, Tribune Tavern, closed on Sept. 11 when owners Chris and Jana Pastena weren’t able to negotiate a lease agreement with the new landlord.
Aflalo and Ballon are hoping their rustic-refined cuisine, locally inspired cocktails and Jon De La Cruz-designed space, the visionary behind Che Fico and Leo’s Oyster Bar, will strike a chord with Oaklanders looking to get back to fine dining.
The restaurant will be open for dinner only, Thursdays through Sundays, with an emphasis on French-influenced dishes, like Prather Ranch beef tartare made with shallot-caper vinaigrette and served with warm, fresh Egyptian flatbread, or a Tribune chopped salad of Lolla Rosa lettuce, avocado, baby squash, watermelon radish and Roquefort dressing with crispy bacon bits.
Entrees will include grilled bran
zino amandine served with wild rice pilaf and sauce poured tableside or an 80day, dry-aged, 14-ounce New York steak from Five Dot Ranch served with potato pave. It wouldn’t be a brasserie without a burger; Tribune’s will be served with Lolla Rosa lettuce and caramelized red onion “schmear” atop a toasted, sweet potato Firebrand bun and frites.
In addition to desserts — a caramelized white chocolate cheesecake s’more with graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallow spread could be a showstopper — and a comprehensive wine program, look for creative cocktails like the tiki-centric Rumble in the Jungle and the Almonds in Alameda made with St. George vodka, orgeat, Giffard Abricot du Roussillon and Peychaud’s bitters.
DETAILS >> Tribune will be open for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at 401 13th St., Oakland.
Updated Uncle John’s Pancake House expands to San Jose
Uncle John’s Pancake House in Campbell — a retro-modern version of the 1957 restaurant that launched the Holder family’s empire — has expanded to San Jose.
They’re now serving Swedish pancakes with lingonberry butter, overflowing Uncle John’s skillets and the diner classic country fried steak on The Alameda
at Race Street. That location was briefly home to Scramblz and for years before that, Pasta Pomodoro.
Inside, there are bright red booths and black-and-white checkerboard floors. Outside, red umbrellas shade alfresco diners during breakfast and lunch. The restaurant space retains the convenient second backdoor entrance, which leads to expanded parking.
Owners Matt Westly and John Holder also own the Brew City Grill, a burgerpizza-beer emporium in Campbell.
DETAILS >> Uncle John’s is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily at 1205 The Alameda, San Jose.
World Famous Hotboys chicken heading to Walnut Creek
The hot chicken craze has hit Walnut Creek’s rapidly changing downtown dining scene, and it involves one of the city’s longtime restaurant families.
World Famous Hotboys, which opened in Oakland in 2019 and quickly topped hot chicken sandwich lists around the Bay Area, is taking over The Original Mels Diner location at 1397 N. Main St.
Mels, which has been a downtown staple of milkshakes and fries for 20 years, flipped its last burger Saturday.
But it is not all sad news. The new restaurant, slated to open by year’s end, is in the family.
The chicken joint specializing in five different levels of halal chicken — Southern, mild, medium, hot and hot hot — is the brainchild of Victor Ghaben, who is the cousin of Mels owner Rolla Ghaben. The Ghabens have been in the restaurant industry since the 1970s, and currently own and operate Broderick Roadhouse in Walnut Creek and Batch & Brine in Lafayette.
In addition to slaw-and-pickle-topped sandwiches, World Famous Hotboys offers wings, tenders and quarter, half and whole chicken. A small menu of sides, including beans, crinkle-cut fries and macaroni and cheese, rounds out the offerings.
Rolla Ghaben reflected on the transition from Mels to Hotboys.
“Mels has done its time in Walnut Creek. It has fed the community and it’s been great to us but its time has expired,” she said. “Walnut Creek is changing, and Victor with his chicken concept — he’s gonna kill it.”
Ghaben said construction should start in September and will include a massive graffiti-style mural on the back of the building — a signature of the restaurant — done by Berk. Seating will likely expand indoors and the patio will remain.