After a full decade of shots and sandwiches near the intersection of 16th Street and Valencia in the Mission, famed sports bar Giordano Bros. announced its closure in February. But the bar is back — sort of — this time with two new owners and a new name: Rudi’s Sports Bar and Restaurant. Mission Local broke the news Thursday, the same day Rudi’s opened at 3108 16th Street.
The new owners have no significant connection to Pittsburgh outside of their shared love of the Steel City-themed sports bar, but nonetheless say they plan to keep the bar’s Pirates and Steelers decor, as well as the staff and the menu. There will be some changes, however; due to the owners’ British roots (Rudi Rughoonundon was born in the UK and Ollie Pender is originally from Ireland, reports Mission Local), they plan to add a full English breakfast including eggs, sausages, tomatoes grilled, beans and toast on the menu.
Emeryville Caribbean restaurant makes late debut
Calypso Rose Kitchen, chef Verna McGowan’s Caribbean restaurant, opened Aug. 20 inside the Emeryville Public Market, Berkeleyside reports. You may recall that McGowan worked as a personal chef for Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, and draws on her personal experiences – “from growing up in New York with a Caribbean and Southern upbringing, to learning the Guyanese cuisine from his mother-in-law and Puerto Rican food from a friend” – at the new restaurant.
Inside Oakland’s New French Restaurant, Le Rendez-Vous
There is a new French restaurant called le Rendez-Vous open at 5526 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Berkeleyside also reports. Husband and wife owners Johnelle Mancha and Brian Hill were inspired to start the project with “a kitchen-focused trip to a small mansion in France” and hired chef Nate Berrigan-Dunlop (Pizzaiolo, Starline Social Club) to lead the kitchen, which offers plates such as “Beetroot Dried Halibut with Marinated Watermelon Rind ($18)” and “Calabrian Chili-Avocado Shrimp Tartine ($18).”
California’s new bartender licensing law goes into effect September 1
The Independent Marine Journal Reminds all service workers in California that the state’s new Responsible Beverage Service Training Program takes effect September 1, when anyone serving alcoholic beverages in the state must be certified. As Eater SF reported in June, that’s about 1 million people. Earlier this summer, bar and restaurant lobbies in San Francisco requested an extension to the deadline, in part because the mandatory training is only available in English and Spanish so far.
Moonbelly Bakery begins selling croissants in East Sacramento
East Sacramento residents have a new neighborhood bakery located at 6511 Folsom Boulevard, the Sacramento bee reports. Moonbelly Bakery is officially open and serving croissants, breads, coffee, tea and “more than 15 flavors of jar preserves” in an intriguing range of flavors such as cherry rose petal, cherry strawberry jam and pear vanilla pod.
Outside Sunset Hotline Korean Restaurant Changes Service
Fans of Korean restaurant Hotline may have noticed that the company has been selling off a bunch of appliances and equipment over the past two weeks; now we know what the owners, who are also behind the Queens Korean convenience store in the Inner Sunset, have planned. On Instagram, the owners simply announced, “Hotline is now a junghwa bistro,” posting photos of a new menu and a dining room more suited to dinner and full service. In the past, the restaurant was built primarily for delivery and takeout.
