If passed, urgency measure Senate Bill 1524 would allow restaurants to continue charging mandatory gratuities, service charges, or other fees, as long as those fees are conspicuously displayed on restaurant menus.

“This will enable restaurants to continue to support increased pay equity and to make contributions to worker health care and other employee benefits,” said Matthew Sutton, senior vice president at the California Restaurant Association. SB 1524 was co-authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) and is supported by the California Restaurant Association and Unite Here labor union, according to a press statement.

Dodd is also behind California’s Senate Bill 478, which he co-authored with Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last year. Starting July 1, it aims to eliminate “junk fees” — hidden costs imposed on customers that raise a bill higher than what was advertised. Concert ticket vendors, hotels and restaurants are among the intended industries. The goal of the legislation is simple, its authors say: The price people see should be the one they pay.

“Restaurant customers shouldn’t be surprised when they get their checks by a slew of extra charges they were not expecting,” Sen. Dodd said in a statement announcing the introduction of SB 1524. “Many restaurants are up-front with their business practices but too many aren’t, necessitating action. This proposal will level the playing field for all restaurants and address confusion and disagreement about what is permissible under state law.”

In the months leading up to the rollout of SB 478, confusion emerged about how it would be implemented. When details about the new policy were released last month in a California Department of Justice FAQ, it triggered alarms around the restaurant community, because it stipulated that no extra restaurant fees — including mandatory tips for large parties (a widespread industry practice), as well as various surcharges, many of which were clearly shown on restaurant menus — would be permitted. That would leave restaurants to try to recoup that income by rolling those costs into the overall price per item on each menu.

And that, in turn, could trigger even more severe sticker shock among restaurant customers, said Darren Matte, owner and managing partner at a number of Bay Area restaurants, including Per Diem in San Francisco, Harvest and Cocina Hermanas in Danville and Los Gatos Parkside.

“There’s an art and a science to menu pricing,” he said. Efforts that restaurants make to, for instance, keep burgers under a ceiling of $20 or entrées under $30, would be in vain if there aren’t other ways to cover the costs of running the restaurant, he said. Without those restaurant fees and required tips from large groups, he said he wasn’t sure what would happen.

“Will people just absorb it? Or will it be the proverbial straw that breaks the back, along with all the other price increases we’ve had?” he said.

In response to learning about the SB 1524 proposal, Matte said, “I think this would be amazing. Hopefully, it goes through.”

Legislation co-author Sen. Wiener added, “Restaurants are vital to the fabric of life in California, and they should be able to cover costs as long as they do so transparently,” he said. “The bill strikes the right balance between supporting restaurants and delivering transparency for consumers, and I’m proud to support it.”

SB 1524 could be adopted within the next month, according to the press statement.

Longtime friends and San Francisco State classmates — and first-time restaurateurs — Linh Jee and Sophia Cheng will be at the helm of three Bay Area franchises, starting with Danville. “I think the space is going to be really beautiful,” Jee says.

In addition to the decked-out toasts, the Danville Toastique will offer açaí bowls, smoothies, soft-serve and espresso drinks, alongside wellness shots and iced collagen lattes. Plus beer and wine, frosé and mimosas made with the shop’s cold-pressed juices.

Details: Toastique is expected to open in mid-September at 350 Railroad Ave., Suite 100, in Danville; toastique.com.

Here are a dozen of the most eagerly anticipated restaurants expected to make their debut in the last half of the year, with a few inching even closer to opening day.

Eos & Nyx, San Jose

The entrepreneurs behind an impressive restaurant venture named after the Greek goddesses of dawn and night — Eos & Nyx —  are hoping to energize a key downtown San Jose block with their modern Mediterranean concept.

Hospitality industry veterans Dan Phan, Johnny Wang and George Lahlouh, who co-own the spirit-centric MiniBoss, Paper Plane and Still OG, all downtown, are bullish on Urban Catalyst’s plans for Paseo, on the site of the old Camera 12 movie complex.

They’ve leased nearly 4,000 square feet for their Eos & Nyx restaurant, and construction is well under way. Schematic designs show an angular and dramatic space with 20-foot-high ceilings, live trees and wood design elements.

Managing partner and GM Ronald Bonifacio and executive chef Nicko Moulinos promise an innovative menu that features the influences of France, Spain, Italy, Greece and North Africa. Dinner, lunch, brunch and craft cocktails will be served both inside and alfresco.

Details: Planning a summer opening at 201 S. Second St., San Jose.

The Monk’s Kettle, Oakland

For nearly 17 years, The Monk’s Kettle served as a sort of church for beer lovers in San Francisco’s Mission District, pouring revered tipples like St. Bernardus Belgian Tripel and smoked Aecht Schlenkerla Urbock (gesundheit!).

But this spring, owners Christian Albertson and Nat Cutler posted a heartfelt Dear John letter announcing their intent to move out of the city, bemoaning the “crazy delivery fee numbers” and “drastically changed customer behavior” that’s damaged the pub environment. “I would say in a nutshell, the city just hasn’t recovered,” says Albertson. “And it’s not just from the pandemic, it’s really been in the works for the last decade where the economics of the city have really made people move out. In a way, we’re really chasing the clientele.”

Well, the Mission’s loss is Oakland’s gain – Rockridge’s, to be specific, that tony neighborhood of boutique shops and buzzy restaurants. The new Monk’s will feature a more spread-out space with perhaps 80 seats and plenty of standing room, plus parklets out front and a back deck with a roof trellis to protect against the elements. In other words, it’ll be a great place to hang for hours while guzzling beer and munching on chef Raiden Brenner’s elevated farm-to-table grub – including a much-lauded burger with stout-onion jam and gruyere, killer pretzels with beer cheese and fried-chicken sandos with hop-salt fries.

“We’re going to bring over our draft system with 28 drafts and do something similar with the bottle list of probably 60 to 80 bottles,” says Albertson. Those rotating drafts have featured the Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa’s Moonlight Brewing and Fort Bragg’s North Coast Brewing, among others. With the move, expect East Bay beers — including Ghost Town, Cellarmaker and Temescal Brewing — to feature heavily as well.

“We’re just really excited and honestly, it feels in a way we’re getting back to what Monk’s was a decade ago, until the city fell apart and went a little haywire,” says Albertson. “We love the new space and neighborhood, and we couldn’t be happier.”

Details: Scheduled to open in September at 5484 College Ave., Oakland; monkskettle.com. (Monk’s also has a location in San Rafael.)

Pedro’s, Los Gatos

How many combination plates and margaritas do you suppose have been served in the past 52 years?

Pedro’s Restaurant & Cantina, the classic Mexican restaurant that has held forth in downtown Los Gatos since 1972, is temporarily closed for a major renovation of both the interior and the menu.

What began as a 12-table restaurant more than 50 years ago has gone through two expansions since, including opening a massive location near California’s Great America in Santa Clara. That’s where Pedro’s fans will need to get their fix until the Los Gatos original reopens.

Diners can expect a new food and drink menu that balances creativity, seasonality and authenticity, the Pedro’s team says, while retaining generational classics such as chiles rellenos and enchiladas. And longtime general manager Harry will be back to welcome customers.

Details: Look for a late summer reopening at 316 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos; www.pedrosrestaurants.com.

The Black Cat, Livermore

Livermore’s dining scene continues to heat up with the imminent arrival of The Black Cat, a restaurant and bar that will highlight natural wines, eclectic small plates and tins of seafood known as conservas.

The Black Cat is the passion project of Dina Parks, daughter of the head winemaker at Plowboy Wine in the Sierra foothills, and restaurateur Gianni Schell, who owns Livermore’s Rebel Kitchen & Libations. The space is undergoing renovations to transition from its old life as a Mexican restaurant into a charming, retro-themed space with natural wood, pops of contrasting color and midcentury light fixtures. There’s a lush back patio and garden, with mismatched bistro sets, colorful umbrellas and picnic tables, and a restored vintage photo booth inside.

“We have just hired our chef, Abel Visa, who is the creator of Aguita Dinner Club (in Los Angeles) and has experience at numerous L.A. restaurants, such as Poltergeist and All Day Baby,” says Parks. “We are currently creating a menu based on seasonal and local ingredients. There is no specific cuisine, but the dishes are inspired by the foods that Gianni and I love to eat, but done in our own way.” That means small bites like “fresh crudo, Japanese sweet potato, bone marrow and an anchovy snack plate with Wingen Bakery sourdough which is down the street from us.”

The restaurant will stock traditional wines from California — including Wood Family Vineyards, Soda Rock Winery and Retzlaff Vineyards — as well as natural wines from the U.S., Europe and South America. The cocktail list is small but focused on craft ingredients in concoctions such as the Cat’s Meow, made with black sesame-infused aged rum, Amaro Averna and honey.

“We are crazy cat lovers,” explains Parks. “So 10 percent of proceeds from this cocktail will go to local cat-rescue groups, such as one I used to foster cats called Paws That Matter.”

Details: The Black Cat plans to open in early June at 2241 First St., Livermore; blackcatlivermore.com.

Rise Woodfire, Santa Clara

Restaurateur Omid Zahedi, who transformed the historic San Mateo train station into a huge eatery and bar with outside dining during the pandemic, has turned his sights to the South Bay.

He’s opening his second Rise Woodfire restaurant — with wood-fired rotisserie chicken, salmon, ribs, prime rib and pizza — in the largest restaurant space at Rivermark Plaza in Santa Clara. There will be house-baked pies too (maybe in time for summer’s stone fruit).

Zahedi grew up in the fast-food pizza business — his Iranian immigrant father opened pizzerias after coming to this country — but chose the financial services field for his career. Years later, he developed a passion for “the new wave of fine pizza” and built a brick oven on a trailer to practice on family and friends and serve at charity events.

Once the recipes were perfected, he and wife Susan Payrovi launched their first eatery, Rise Pizzeria, in downtown Burlingame in 2017.

Details: Expected to open in late summer at 3905 Rivermark Plaza, Santa Clara; www.risewoodfire.com

Calicraft, Walnut Creek

The Walnut Creek-based brewery is working on three big expansion projects right now: adding a rooftop bar in downtown Walnut Creek; building a new research and development brewing, winemaking and distilling space in Walnut Creek’s Shadelands area and launching a new taproom in Davis.

According to brewmaster Thomas Vo and CEO Blaine Landberg, the first of these to open will be a new rooftop bar and taproom planned in downtown Walnut Creek above Va de Vi. One of just two rooftop bars in the city, the new Calicraft venture will have an outdoor deck and indoor drinking space. They’re also working on building out their non-alcoholic drink offerings, with beverages like a new mint-and-ginger spritz, as a way of making their brewery a “third place” — one where people of all ages feel comfortable hanging out that’s neither home nor work.

Next, they’ll expand their production facility to not only brew more beer but expand into winemaking and distilling. The new 10,000-square-foot, two-story building in Walnut Creek will offer research and development space to broaden their offerings beyond beer. The team recently returned from a visit to Louisville, Kentucky, where they got pointers on adding whiskey distilling to their repertoire. And on the winemaking front, they’re hoping to make natural-style wines that celebrate the region and play with unorthodox grapes. That’s currently set to open in spring or summer of 2025.

And the Davis project — a new taproom and beer garden — is on deck for fall of 2025. Why Davis? Several Calicraft staffers are alums of UC Davis’ prestigious brewing program.

Details: Calicraft plans to open its rooftop taproom at 1501 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Walnut Creek in early September; calicraft.com.

Giorgio’s, Mountain View

Red-sauce lovers who’ve been missing Frankie Johnnie & Luigi Too since the vintage El Camino Real restaurant closed for redevelopment a few years ago can rejoice: The Italian classics are coming back.

Giorgio’s, a sibling restaurant from the D’Ambrosio family, will open this summer in the new mixed-use development being constructed near Castro Street.

Look for the same great recipes (insider tip: the Sausage Bread is stuffed with links from their New York Style Sausage Co. in Sunnyvale) but a different footprint. There will be about 60 indoor and patio seats for onsite dining, as the new restaurant puts a greater emphasis on takeout, delivery and corporate catering.

For those new to the D’Ambrosio clan, they’ve been cooking in the Bay Area since 1956. The original Giorgio’s is located on Foxworthy in San Jose; there’s also one in Milpitas and the newest location in Morgan Hill. And the Frankie, Johnnie & Luigi nameplate lives on in Dublin.

Details: Slated to open in late June or early July at 939 W. El Camino Real, Mountain View; www.giorgiositalianfood.com/mountain-view

Daryoush, Walnut Creek

Berkeley’s popular Persian restaurant will be opening on Walnut Creek’s Locust Street in early June, after redevelopment at the original location forced a move, says owner Daryoush Ermagan. That’s bad news for Berkeley denizens, but excellent news in The Creek, where the eatery is taking over the downtown spot formerly occupied by Kaiwa Sushi.

Expect to enjoy the same Persian fare that has delighted Daryoush devotees near the UC Berkeley campus: Colorful appetizers including Panir Sabzi (marinated feta with fresh herbs) and Kashk-e-Bademjan (roasted eggplant dip), and 14 variations on the kebab theme, from Chicken Koobideh and Shishlik (lamb) to Salmon Kabob and Jujeh, skewered Cornish game hen.

Details: Daryoush plans to open in June at 1534 Locust St. in Walnut Creek; daryoush.com.

Petiscos, Gilroy

Carlos and Fernanda Carreira are expanding their popular Portuguese small plates concept beyond San Jose’s Little Portugal neighborhood and downtown San Jose — to Gilroy first and who knows where next?

The family that won San Jose’s first Michelin star for Adega had been balancing both that upscale restaurant and their more casual Petiscos concept. Now they and their executive chef, David Costa, are concentrating on Petiscos and their Pastelaria bakery.

What can South County diners expect? A menu with dozens of savory Portuguese choices, including Flamed Chourico, Shrimp Fritters, Codfish Cakes, Cuttlefish Tempura, Duck Rice, Pork & Clams and Roasted Octopus. Pastry chef Jessica Carreira makes the desserts, both classic and contemporary.

Look for an impressive wine list, as the Carreiras were wine importers before they got into this end of the business.

Details: Opening later this year at 7574 Monterey Road, Gilroy; www.petiscosadega.com

Crush’d, Danville

From the mind of Francis Hogan, the chef behind Pleasanton’s Sabio on Main, comes a new restaurant concept: Crush’d.

The new spot will offer 24 wines on tap, charcuterie, cheese and seasonal small plates, and a gourmet mini-market beginning in mid-June. The wine bar’s taps are a big deal to Hogan, who says storing wine in kegs lets wine bars optimize their by-the-glass experience. The wine temperature can be precisely controlled and there’s generally less exposure to oxygen, which can dampen a wine’s aroma and flavors, with this method than if the wine is served from an already-opened bottle.

“We’re really focused on changing the narrative about wines on tap,” he says.

Details: Expected to open in mid-June at 312 Railroad Ave. in Danville.

Pivot, Pleasanton

Hogan is also well into the ambitious process of reimagining this former Faz location in Pleasanton and converting it into a modern sports bar.

“At its core, it’s going to be everything you know and love about a sports bar,” he says, with flat screens showing sports from around the world, from the Super Bowl to morning cricket games.

The menu will offer sports bar favorites and classics, but with an elevated spin. Chicken wings, for instance, will come from free-range chickens sourced from the Central Valley, and sauces will be made from scratch.

The restaurant will also offer four private suites designed to mimic those at Chase Center, which offer passed hors d’oeuvres and a comfortable, private space for watching sports. And if you prefer to play, as well as watch, Hogan has partnered with Topgolf to create simulator suites for playing virtual golf.

Details: Pivot is expected to open this fall at 5121 Hopyard Road in Pleasanton.

Raising Cane’s, Hayward, San Jose

Cult favorites can be just as highly anticipated as restaurants with Michelin cred.

Such is the case with Raising Cane’s, which is bringing its signature chicken fingers to two more Bay Area cities, two years after making its regional debut. In the coming months, fans and the Cane’s-curious should be able to buy the crunchy, fried-to-order chicken breast strips in San Jose at the Evergreen Circle Project and in the East Bay at the Hayward Center.

Founded in Baton Rouge, the Raising Cane’s chain is known for maintaining a strict menu focus — just chicken fingers with one signature dipping sauce, crinkle-cut fries, cole slaw and Texas toast. Customers may purchase a single chicken finger, a few as a combo, loaded on a sandwich or in large party packs.

The beverage menu, also concise, includes sweet tea and “unsweet” tea, both freshly brewed throughout the day; lemonade that’s freshly squeezed daily; and fountain soft drinks.

Details: Expect opening dates to be set soon for 2394 Evergreen Place, San Jose, and 26231 Mission Blvd., Hayward; www.raisingcanes.com/home

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STILL COMING

We’ve highlighted these much-anticipated restaurants before, and they recently confirmed that, yes, they are still on the way!

Ocean Oyster Bar & Grill, Redwood City: Ocean, a restaurant in Union City with a large menu of fresh fish, seafood and raw bar offerings, is taking over the prime location on Redwood City’s Broadway that housed the Spaghetti Factory until early in the pandemic.

Hobee’s, San Jose: This venerable breakfast establishment is taking over a German beer garden downtown. Camille and Daniel Chijate, owners of the long-running Hobee’s chain, are opening soon in a historic blue Victorian on North Second Street.

The Silos, Morgan Hill: Ross Hanson, owner of the popular Oak & Rye artisanal pizzeria in Los Gatos, says work is coming along nicely on his new place called The Silos in the historic Granary District on Depot Street. Look for a big bar program and shareable small plates.

The food hall, which will be located at 1620-1640 18th St. in Oakland, will open an Almanac Beer Co. taproom this summer with indoor and outdoor seating. Seven more food and beverage offerings are expected to open by the end of the year.

Bay Area foodies and baseball fans can get a sneak peek, when the a monthly Prescott Night Market launches in June. The first three market dates — June 6, July 11 and Aug. 15 — coincide with Oakland Ballers home games. The new baseball team will play its first season at Raimondi Park just across the street.

Prescott Market hopes to help up-and-coming restaurants experiment and grow, says founder Joe Ernst. Its  modular spaces will help operators manage the costs usually associated with brick-and-mortar restaurants while expanding high-quality food options in a neighborhood long considered to be a food desert.

“Prescott Market is fulfilling a genuine need in an underserved area, where access to good food is limited,” Ernst says.

Alameda’s Almanac Beer Co. will pour everything from IPAs to Czech pilsner and fruited sour beers at the new West Oakland taproom, as well as wine, hard cider, hard kombucha and non-alcoholic options. Brewery co-founder Damian Fagan says the brewery’s name is a nod to the Farmer’s Almanac, the old-school agriculture reference guide, and an homage to the beer company’s California agriculture-inspired brews.

“We are fans of traditional styles and methods of brewing, as well as exploring new ways of doing things,” he says. “We like to keep open minds, so we don’t have a lot of hard rules when it comes to brewing.”

West Oakland’s feel and history remind him of his Detroit hometown. “There is a rare sense of deep heritage and a legacy of creativity you get just walking around, which you don’t get in a lot of cities and neighborhoods anymore,” Fagan says. “We are honored to play some small part in West Oakland’s future story.”

Part of the idea behind Prescott Market is to expand on the community-rooted food access initiatives already in place in the neighborhood, including the West Oakland Farmers Market and the Prescott Night Market, according to market director Harvindar Singh.

The hall will have “a farmers market vibe but in a permanent structure, serving as a commons for shared experiences,” Singh says.

Details: The market hall will open later this year,  but the West Oakland Farmers Market is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays at 18th and Peralta Streets; www.westoaklandfarmersmarket.org/ The Prescott Night Market will run from 4 to 8 p.m. on June 6, July 11, Aug. 15, Sept. 5 and Oct. 3 at 1620 18th St. in Oakland.

“The expenses are too much for us,” said restaurant manager Betty Tsai, daughter of restaurant owner Susan Tsai.

In recent years, the cost of rent, labor and materials increased while customers’ dining habits shifted, as fewer people commuted to work nearby, she says.

The restaurant’s lease ends at the end of May. The plan is for the business to find a new location nearby — potentially in Mountain View, Sunnyvale or Santa Clara — and focus on takeout, delivery and catering services, Tsai says.

“We want to express our deepest thanks for your patronage over the years,” the Tsai family announced on the restaurant’s website. “It has been an honor serving this community for 38 years, and we are so grateful for your support and friendship.”

You have just a few days left to enjoy the restaurant’s signature dishes, from tea-smoked duck ($24.50) to kung pao chicken ($17.95), won tons ($12.50), barbecue pork buns ($3) and yuzu citrus cheesecake ($3.50 per slice). Other specialties are the restaurant’s dan dan sauce and candied pecans, according to Tsai.

Details: Open for lunch through Friday. The last day of dinner service will be Saturday at 443 Emerson St. in Palo Alto; jingjinggourmet.com.

They offer six mezcals made from different varieties of agave: Espadín, Tobalá, Madre Cuishe, Mexicano and two blends. Now they’re telling their story.

Q. What’s your Mexico-San Francisco connection?

Jeff: We’re from San Francisco, but our family ended up with a house in Oaxaca and spent an increasing amount of time there over the years (and) still have strong ties to the community.

Q. How did Catedral de mis Padres start?

Sydney: We never thought we were going to be in the spirit business and have no background in that, but we fell in love as a family with Oaxaca and Mexico — the food, people, crafts, arts and, obviously, the mezcal.

Jeff: As a new brand, coming to market with six expressions from six different makers is wildly challenging. We  (wanted) to get the best of the best. We spent a lot of time on the roads and mountains of Oaxaca finding the right partners. In the end, it really paid off.

Sydney: Each of the families we work with is an equity owner in our U.S. brand. There are very few people in the agave space that share equity with distillers. We spent a long time building up the supply chain in a sustainable and ethical way.

Q. What was your goal in finding families to partner with?

Jeff: Quality is paramount. These are all small-scale producers producing 1,000 to 2,000 bottles maximum a month. Coming from San Francisco, we’re especially attuned to our environmental impact and sustainability. When we started this project, it became clear that the demand for wild agave is going to put an enormous amount of pressure on the available plants. If you went to Mexico City five years ago, there wasn’t that much mezcal; it was all tequila.  Now if you go to Mexico City, there’s a mezcal bar on every corner.

The focus is on a lot of the wild agave expressions — you start with espadín, but then you want to try other expressions that (grow) wild. They’re being pulled out of the Oaxaca mountains at a pretty fast pace. It was troublesome to us. It took us two years to find the right partner focused on cultivating wild agave species. They can all be grown, but nobody had been doing it. We’ve got 30 acres now of wild agave — 10,000 or 15,000 plants — and we’re planting more and more every year.

Q. What was it about mezcal and Oaxaca that made you so excited to pursue this?

Jeff: We used to go to a little palenque (a mezcal distillery in Oaxaca) where we lived. About five years ago, we were driving up to the dirt parking lot in front of the distillery, and there was a card table set up on a Sunday afternoon. There were people in their 80s with a bottle of mezcal and copitas, sipping their afternoon away, laughing, and it just seemed so magical. As you get deeper into mezcal, you realize it’s a spiritual spirit for the people of Oaxaca. It’s for good times, bad times, weddings and funerals.

Q. Your bottles are very distinctive…

Jeff: Each of our bottles is adorned with a leather addition on the bottom — we call them our cowboy boots. The leather is sustainably and ethically sourced and hand-sewn and glued to each bottle. It’s meant to exemplify and mirror the mezcal on the inside, because it’s a truly artisanal product.

Q. What made you decide to work together as father and daughter?

Sydney: We were so inspired by the multigenerational tradition in Oaxaca and fell in love with a spirit that not only brings families together but brings communities together.  I launched the brand with my dad, when I was 26. While most of my peers throughout my 20s had a different take on alcohol— they were drinking to get drunk — I was inspired by this thought that a spirit is a spiritual experience that connects you to the earth and to communities and families. We’re really grateful and thankful for the experiences we’ve had thus far and hope to continue sharing our passion for mezcal and the beautiful tapestry that is all of the traditions of mezcal.

Q. What does the future look like?

Sydney: We are one of the most awarded mezcals in the country right now. We’re predominantly focused on California and New York, which are our two biggest markets. We’ve got our toe in the water in Florida, as well as D.C.

Q. Cinco de Mayo is coming up. Can you recommend a cocktail recipe?

A. To make a Catedral Paloma, combine 2 ounces of Espadín Catedral mezcal, 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice, 3/4 ounce grapefruit juice, 1/2 ounce simple syrup and 1/4 ounce chareu (aloe liqueur). Salt the rim and serve it with an expressed grapefruit peel or rosemary stem.

Details: Catedral de mis Padres mezcal is available at retailers, bars and restaurants throughout the Bay Area; catedralmezcal.com/home.

Of course, everyone has their own niche preference. Some crave crunchy, while others lean chewy. And sweetness is a continuum unto itself. The one sure thing: We know a great chocolate chip cookie when we taste it.

Here’s a guide to some of the best in the Bay Area. (Did we miss your favorite? Tell us about it via the submission form at the end.)

East Bay Bakery, Danville and farmers markets in Danville, Walnut Creek, Orinda

It’s not surprising that some of the East Bay suburbs’ chewiest, most chocolaty chocolate chip cookies come from chef Gaby Lubaba. Her small but popular bakery in a strip mall near Blackhawk has wowed locals and food critics with its unique spins on baked goods, including signature croffles and treats inspired by Lubaba’s native Indonesia.

Generally, the selection at the bakery is wide-ranging. But when it comes to cookies, Lubaba usually sticks to one flavor – chocolate chip – and focuses on doing it really, really well. We were warned that the cookies, baked fresh every morning, can sell out by noon. Fortunately, you don’t need to drive all the way out to Blackhawk to get the cookies. East Bay Bakery also operates stands at weekend farmers markets in downtown Danville, Walnut Creek and Orinda.

The cookie: As one friend announced on first bite, “This is a substantial cookie.” The cookies ($4 each) are large, and their beautifully balanced brown-butter dough is loaded with slabs of chocolate, instead of mere chips. It’s almost as if the cookies contain rich chocolate deposits — a Mother Lode of chocolate — which may spill out when you bite in, so keep a napkin handy.

Details: The Danville shop is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on weekends at 9000C Crow Canyon Road. Find the bakery stall at the Orinda and Danville farmers markets from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and at the downtown Walnut Creek farmers market from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays. https://eastbaybakery.squarespace.com

Choc Cookies, Santa Clara

It’s a good thing Choc’s website gives the bakery’s location as “in an alley behind a gas station.” You’d never find it otherwise. But it’s definitely worth the effort to find this hidden gem, which serves up some of the tastiest — and certainly biggest cookies — in the South Bay.

Each cookie clocks in at just over 5 ounces, which the Choc folks point out is roughly the size of four “normal cookies.” That makes them big enough to split with a friend — or two friends. No wonder Choc has become so popular with college students. (The late-night hours certainly don’t hurt either.)

The only caveat: Cookies are only sold by the foursome ($14.90-$16.90), so you’d better really, really like cookies.

The cookie: One giant chocolate chip cookie, with its crisp baked surface and warm, gooey interior, and you won’t even want to think about dinner. The chocolate chip is the star of the cookie menu here, which also typically includes cookies and cream, triple chocolate and ube crinkle.

Details: Open for pick-up/delivery from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and until 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday at 1614 Pomeroy Ave. in Santa Clara; choccookies.com.

La Noisette Sweets, Kensington and Berkeley

Growing up in Morocco, Alain Shocron would see his mother’s chocolate mousse cooling in the kitchen and – as little kids are wont to do – dip his finger in for a lick. That deep, unforgettable chocolatey taste led Chocron down a rabbit hole of baking and, after a long career as a hairstylist, he finally indulged his passion by opening a pastry shop in Berkeley.

La Noisette Sweets’ headquarters is only open two days a week, but on Sundays you’ll find Shocron holding court in a prominent spot at the Kensington Farmers Market, a charming East Bay bazaar with vivid vegetables, fresh seafood and live jazz. Jars of his mother’s super-rich mousse are on display, as are buttery croissants, galettes gianduja, creamy mille feuille and a compact but star-studded roster of chocolate-chip cookies.

The cookie: None of the chef patissier’s cookies are overly sugared, instead relying on quality chocolate and a well-measured hit of salt to deliver the flavor. The chocolate chip is an excellent version of the classic, soft and chewy with imported Valrhona chocolate and vanilla-smoked Maldon salt ($5). But if it’s chocolate you’re really after – CHOCOLATE with all-caps – then go for the triple-chocolate cookie with intensely flavored Valrhona P125, which Shocron grinds into a fine powder, as well as milk chocolate, opalys (white-chocolate chips) and a snowfall of cocoa dust on top. That’s actually four kinds of chocolate, and it’s all gluten-free, if you want to make the argument that any of this is remotely healthy for you.

Details: Open from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at 2701 Eighth St., Suite 116 in Berkeley and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Kensington Farmers Market at 379-389 Colusa Ave., Kensington; lanoisettesweets.com.

Icing on the Cake, Los Gatos

“We are chip happy,” bakery founder Lynn Magnoli says of the Icing on the Cake crew and clientele. Not only are there several varieties of chocolate chip cookies, but chocolate chips are also worked into pound cakes, brownies and banana cakes at this wildly popular shop that’s been open nearly four decades, since 1985.

But we’re here for the cookies ($3.75 to $4.25), and customer demand has resulted in lots of choices. These big, satisfying cookies are all made with real butter (except the vegan Top Notch) and semisweet chips. There’s the classic, the Studly Do Right (with walnuts and sea salt), the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, the Dee-Luxe (semisweet and white chips, walnuts, coconut), the Chocolate Cherry Chunk (with brandy-soaked cherries), the Triple Chocolate, plus nutty, vegan and other options. You can also purchase logs of dough to bake at home and Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough shots.

After 39 years of running the shop and developing recipes, Magnoli has just sold the business — and recipes — to former employee Maggie Raye, who vows not to take anyone’s favorite out of the bakery case.

The cookie: There’s no single base recipe, which means you may be tasting many to find the texture you desire. They had us at “brandy-soaked cherries,” but the Hippie Chip, a dairy-free, flour-less cookie made with almond butter, eggs and honey, was a delightfully chewy discovery. Loved the sliced almonds in that one.

Details: Open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday at 50 W. Main St., Los Gatos, with phone orders (408-354.2464) accepted starting at 8 a.m. www.icingonthecakebakery.com

Doh!, Lafayette

If you want to taste any of Sonya Ginsburg’s delectable Doh! cookies, you’ll have to plan ahead. Order your treats at least 24 hours in advance — and by the boxful — then pick up your freshly-baked batch in downtown Lafayette. Ginsburg’s cookies are worth that extra effort. And she sells the dough too, in case you want to bake them  at home for that warm-out-of-the-oven experience.

Ginsburg didn’t start out as a professional baker. She left a 20-year career in project management to go to culinary school at Diablo Valley College and found she had a knack for creating unique variations on the drop-cookie template. A generous dusting of Maldon salt flakes, for example, gives her chewy chocolate chip cookies a nice balance of salty and sweet.

The cookies: Other cookies that wowed us include her stellar peanut butter chocolate chip; a Chai Latte cookie studded with white chocolate chips and rolled in sugared chai powder; the Cafe Latte, filled with white and semi-sweet chocolate chips and espresso powder; and the Caramel Pecan Pie, loaded with salted caramel chips and candied pecans. Boxes of 13 or more cookies start at $30.

Details: Doh! offers curbside pickups on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 271 Lafayette Circle, Lafayette. Order at https://cookiedohpro.com/, then arrange an exact pickup time via email.

Little Sky Bakery, Menlo Park, Los Altos and assorted farmers markets

This farmers market darling wows with its giant chocolate chip cookies, which come with and without nuts (we tried both, obviously). The giant cookies on offer, which included a tempting dark chocolate with dried cherries option at the Menlo Park bakery’s outdoor stand, are so hefty, two of them threatened to rip right through their paper bag.

The cookie: Go for the nutty version ($6), and you’ll be blown away. Not only does this cookie contain walnuts and pecans, it has dried apricot bits mixed in among the large, melty dark chocolate chunks. Besides, dried fruit makes this healthy, right?

Details: Open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at 506 Santa Cruz Ave. in Menlo Park and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 170 State St. in Los Altos; littleskybakery.com.

Sideboard, Danville and Lafayette

Over the years, Sideboard has become a town hot spot, where residents flock for high-quality, rustic, comfort food. But those long lines aren’t comprised just of fans ordering breakfast, lunch or dinner fare. There’s the bakery lineup, too. Sideboard’s scrumptious muffins, scones and other baked goods are made, like everything else on the menu, from scratch.

Sideboard is especially known for its really, really good chocolate chip cookies – reminiscent of the cookies your grandmother might have had cooling on the kitchen counter when you arrived. Enjoy those cookies as dessert ($3.65 each) after tucking into a hearty lunch of fried chicken, mac and cheese or a Thai chicken salad. But they’re also a yummy afternoon treat with a latte or tea.

The cookie: Erin Andrews, Sideboard’s chef and owner, said she’s a fan of chewy cookies, so that’s what her chefs bake fresh every day: large, golden cookies, with crinkly, crispy tops and loaded with chips. In one of the few times Andrew uses anything but locally-sourced ingredients, she said the chips come from a French chocolate maker.

Details: Sideboard is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at 90 Railroad Ave. in Danville and 3535 Plaza Way in Lafayette; https://www.sideboard.co.

Butter Pecan Bakeshop, Pleasant Hill, Emeryville and Pinole

Is there any combo better than warm cookies straight from the oven and a cold glass of milk? You’ll find both at Butter Pecan Bakeshop, a newcomer that draws lines out the door for its unapologetically sweet cookies in flavors like Dark Chocolate Sea Salt and Chunky Monkey (chocolate chips, walnut, fresh banana).

Wendell Hunter, a Cal Bear who played briefly in the NFL, wandered into the baking world during the pandemic. Now he has three Butter Pecan Bakeshops and a fourth coming later this year to Fairfield.

“I used my grandma’s nut-cake recipe and turned it into our brown-butter pecan cookie,” Hunter says. “I developed a perspective on what the perfect cookie should taste like and decided to make an entire line of cookies. My ideal cookie was buttery, delicious, handmade and tasted like your grandma made ‘em. This was a sharp contrast from other popular chains that focused on oversized, doughy, dry cookies slathered with icing and weird stuff like gummy bears.”

These are cookies for fans with an intense sweet tooth – and don’t expect any concessions. There are no vegan, gluten-free or low-sugar options. We’re talking real butter, flour, eggs and sugar.

The cookie: As fun as it is to sample the entire lineup, with rotating flavors arriving every month – Banana Pudding or Rocky Road, anyone? – it’s hard to go wrong with the classic chocolate chip ($3.75). It’s a substantial discus of brown-butter dough studded with gooey hunks of chocolate, crispy on the outside and soft and melty within. Get it freshly baked and pair it with milk.

Details: Open daily at 6472 Hollis St. in Emeryville, 2360C Monument Blvd. in Pleasant Hill and 1889 San Pablo Ave. in Pinole; butterpecanbakeshop.com.

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Pacific Cookie Company, Santa Cruz

This Surf City landmark has been wowing chocolate chip cookie fans since 1980, when Larry and Shelly Pearson opened their cookie shop in downtown Santa Cruz.

All these years later, the company still follows the same basic recipe for success, offering up such incredible sweet treats as the Almond Joe cookie (toasted almonds, semi-sweet chocolate chips and coconut) at prices that defy inflation. A single chunky cookie, which will satisfy most people’s sweet cravings, runs just $1.50, with a Baker’s Dozen (13 cookies) going for $16.

Plus, the place is open late, which makes it an ideal stop — perhaps for a Mom’s Special (two cookies, one milk for $3.70) — after catching a movie or a concert downtown.

The cookie: There are so many different takes on the classic, and every one is delicious. We dig the Almond Joe — a salute to the Almond Joy candy bar — and the Cahootz with its white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts and  coconut. But our favorite is the classic chocolate chip with walnuts.

Details: Open 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and until midnight Friday-Saturday at 1203 Pacific Ave. in Santa Cruz; pacificcookie.com.

Backhaus, San Mateo and Burlingame

A first attempt to score a legendary, browned-butter chocolate chip cookie from Backhaus was stymied, sold out by 1 p.m. on a recent weekday at both mid-Peninsula locations. (This reporter consoled herself with an everything croissant bowl instead. It was beautiful, delicious and everything you’d want in a savory pastry.) The cookie’s elusiveness required a second visit – this time early on a weekend. Fortunately, the cookies were in, and let’s just say, it was worth the shlep.

The cookie: Texturally, this chocolate chip cookie ($5) has hit its golden-brown peak. It has the quintessential blend of crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside mouthfeel that lets you know no butter was spared in the making of this oven-fresh delicacy. Mysteriously, the entire cookie had disappeared by the end of the drive home.

Details: Open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 32 E. Third Ave. in San Mateo and 261 California Drive in Burlingame; backhausbread.com.

Busy Lizzy’s Baked Goods, Burlingame

At some bakeries, it feels like the cookie selection is an afterthought. That’s not the case at Busy Lizzy’s Baked Goods, where cookies take center stage. The small Burlingame storefront is run by Lizzy Detert, who opened the shop in 2021 after offering her baked goods at farmers markets and pop-ups. The bakery’s slogan is “Happiness in a cookie” – and it delivers just that.

The cookie: The browned-butter chocolate chip cookies ($4.25) are ideal for cookie lovers who prefer their chocolate chip cookies on the softer side, so they melt in one’s mouth. Molasses adds caramel notes that blend with the browned butter and chocolate to add complexity and richness to each bite. The S’more cookie ($4.25) is also a contender. It adds graham crackers and marshmallows to the mix for a taste of campfire nostalgia, only tidier.

Details: Opens at 11 a.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends at 10 a.m. at 1231 Burlingame Ave. in Burlingame; busylizzysbakedgoods.com.

Did we miss your favorite bakery? Tell us about it here: 

We caught up with her recently to hear more.

Q. Tell me about your background as a sommelier. How did that begin?

A. It wasn’t on my radar that a sommelier was even a career. When I was in college, working at Alexander’s Steakhouse, I fell in love with wine. We got a Michelin star, and that was the start. At the time, there were no Chinese-speaking advanced or master sommeliers. It became a passion of mine; I wanted to be one of the first. For the longest time, my parents would be like, “When are you going to stop being a bartender and get a real job?” They didn’t quite understand the whole concept — until I passed my advanced-level sommelier exam in 2010.

Q. Why did you leave the restaurant industry?

A. As glamorous, fun and exciting as the restaurant industry is, it does take a toll on you the older you get to have to work nights, weekends and holidays. I transitioned into working with a California distributor, Regal, owned by Jackson Family Wines (and) later with K&L Wine Merchant. In 2015, the idea of angiesomm.com was born. Collecting wine for the Asian and especially the Chinese community is a very up-and-coming thing. I realized there’s a huge underserved market. I provide hopefully a little bit of comfort, because I’m bilingual.

Q. Can you walk me through the process of becoming an advanced sommelier? I know there are introductory classes first …

A. The intro is a fun and welcoming program. The certified portion is when it becomes more geared toward serious professional people. The advanced level gets a little tougher. It used to be five days with a theory exam, a service portion and a tasting portion. I was very fortunate to pass it on my first try. You have to pass all three parts in one go, and the passing rate was around 10 percent at the time.

Q. And master sommelier?

A. I was working on becoming a master sommelier, but there are a couple of personal reasons I decided not to pursue it. The somm community has been under a lot of scrutiny in the last few years. The culture of the master sommeliers for the longest time was a very heavily male-dominated area, and it was a bit exclusive. In the last few years, there were a lot of allegations that came out related to sexual harassment. Even though I was lucky to have never been harassed — my mentors have been extremely respectful — I wasn’t surprised that happened. I was warned as I was going through the process that I might not want to be alone with certain people.

At the end of the day, wine is my passion, but you have to have a work-life balance. I’ve seen so many sommeliers, so many close friends, try for years to pass the exam. It’s not like the bar exam or the MCAT — just because you pass, it doesn’t magically propel your career or your pay to a certain level.

Q. How has that level of knowledge and expertise changed your experiences with wine?

A. Sometimes it’s harder to enjoy wine — or any beverage. For a while, especially right after the test, you find yourself swirling everything, even when you’re drinking water. Every wine you drink, you’re trying to analyze it.

Q. You’ve done some social media posts about wine from an educational perspective and offered wine suggestions at pretty reasonable price points. How does that fit with your work in the luxury wine world?

A. When I first started, I experienced a bit of the snobbiness and exclusiveness of the wine world. I told myself that that’s never someone I wanted to be. Nowadays, I almost exclusively sell very high-end Burgundy, Bordeaux and imported wines, but I don’t want to be someone who is like, “Oh, if you can’t afford the $300 to $600 bottle of wine, then your opinion or your palate is not valid.” I want to make sure it is very approachable.

My way to stand out is to let people know who I am and share what I’ve learned, hopefully in a way that is  somewhat entertaining and not intimidating. Even if you don’t buy wines from me, I hope you learn something that makes you excited to try wine.

Q. What trends have you noticed in the wine world lately?

A. The biggest challenge now for us in the wine industry is that among millennials, there’s a drop in not just wine consumption but alcohol consumption as a whole.

I am very torn on that issue. At the end of 2020, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I started to read into the effects of alcohol and how it actually increases the chance of breast cancer. So I get what the younger millennials and Gen Z are talking about, when they say they want to lower their (alcohol) consumption.

In Europe, the culture is not about getting wasted, it’s about the art of wine pairings, slow living and everything in moderation. I’m watching and thinking about how I can participate in and advocate for a good lifestyle that includes wine as part of sitting down with family, avoiding devices for three or four hour and eating slowly.

Q. What do you think about the Bay Area’s wine scene?

A. The Bay Area is one of the best places for wine culture. You have some of the brightest, most passionate wine people here. Our proximity to Napa and Sonoma alone is amazing. The wines coming out of the Santa Cruz Mountains are absolutely amazing. You can’t talk about wine without talking about food, and the food scene in the Bay Area cultivates a lot of specialized food and wine places.  If you love wine, there’s no better place to be in the country.

We recently met up with AllTrails CEO Ron Schneidermann near his Alamo home — for a hike, of course — at Las Trampas Regional Wilderness to talk about the company, app features in the works and how his team is working to help more people than ever connect with nature.

Q: What was your path to AllTrails?

A: I grew up here in Walnut Creek. My dad is a geologist and he dragged me and my sister around Mount Diablo and local, state and national parks, where we would go check out rock formations. As a kid, I hated it. I just wanted to go to the beach or Disneyland, but I think that’s where the seed got planted. Fast forward quite a bit: I had a startup in the ski space for nine years called Liftopia. The original founder (of AllTrails) had been at it for about five years and wanted to go do something else, so he hit me up to see if I wanted to come and run it. I was working at Yelp at the time and couldn’t say no. I started as chief marketing officer and chief operating officer (in 2015) and then in 2019 became CEO. I’ve been doing that ever since.

Q: Skiing, hiking — being outdoors is clearly a passion for you …

A: Connection to nature is a human thing. For different reasons, we’ve lost connection to that, but I think there’s a reawakening. This matches the data we’ve seen going back to 2010 that more and more people are recognizing the importance of nature in their lives and are very proactively and intentionally trying to spend more time outside. That’s really what we’re all about: trying to get as many people as possible to spend more time outside.

When I first started, we pivoted to focus on inclusivity and accessibility and move away from anything that might make people feel that the outside isn’t for them. Our root philosophy is that the reason people don’t spend time outside is a lack of information and a lack of confidence — and we think we can use technology to instill both.

Q: What are some of the challenges and responsibilities that come that? How do you help people manage risks outdoors?

A: We take our responsibility very seriously. We are sending people off the pavement and sometimes off the grid. We have to get it right. That starts with the way that we create and curate our trail content and add user-generated content. The thing about trails is that they change all the time. We create feedback loops and mechanisms so that as soon as we get a signal that maybe the trailhead has moved or there’s a closure, we can communicate that. We’ve got this beautiful, symbiotic relationship with the community. They’re going out and taking the time to leave reviews for other future trail goers.

Q: How did the pandemic affect AllTrails?

A: At the start, everything stopped. No one was using our platform or going outside. We bet that at some point, there needed to be a release valve. There’s no way that people can stay inside for months with this level of stress and anxiety. There’s nothing that’s more pandemic-appropriate than time outside, so even before things started opening up, we decided we were going to get in front of this.

I don’t think it’s a secret that we were one of the lucky companies during COVID. We saw triple digit growth. But what really transformed our company was hiring amazing tech talent. During the pandemic, everyone was at home having these existential crises, asking things like, “Am I happy with where I’m spending my time and my energy? Am I working on things I even want my kids to use?” We began getting applications from people with a level of talent we would never have been able to reach pre-pandemic.

People spent more time outside in 2023 than they did in 2022. I think that’s because of the pandemic, when people were trading their commutes for a morning or evening hike — once you’ve rediscovered the joy of coming outside, it’s got staying power.

Q: Tell us about your company culture.

A:  We’re about 90 percent (from) outside of the Bay. We went remote first from a hiring perspective, plus a ton of people in the Bay also left — as you can imagine, they went to every cool mountain town you can think of.

The first Friday of every month is trail day. We close the office and encourage everyone to go outside and get some time on the trail. That’s a core part of our culture, and I think it’s unlocked some of our best ideas.

Q: What’s your process for adding new trails to the app?

A:  We now have trails in every country in the world. We crossed that threshold last year — the last two countries were Sudan and North Korea. We’re truly a global platform that’s mapping the globe.

Our data integrity team does not just trail creation but curation. We have our own set of proprietary tools and processes. There’s machine learning, clustering algorithms, and we’re leaning on AI a little bit more, but it’s all still through this lens of human curation.

One thing we added to our toolkit is a partnership with public land managers all over North America. The partnership will give land managers the ability to issue alerts for community members as well. We’re also building out more safety tools to help with search and rescue. Obviously, our goal is to give people information upfront, so that they pick the right trail for them and don’t get lost. But once they’re out there, the question is, what kind of tools can we give them so that if something were to arise, they stay safe and can get home and communicate with loved ones? We have a new feature coming out this month where you can share your live location on the trail.

Q: Is climate change impacting trails?

A: The climate change question is daunting. We’re 1% for the Planet partners, and we donate 1 percent of our revenue to environmental nonprofits. We focus our energy through the lens of connection to nature. People don’t care about things that aren’t personal to them. If you just think the outdoors are buggy, muddy, scary or dirty, then you’re not going to care when a developer comes in or an area burns down. Our focus is on that connection, getting people outside and getting them to care about nature. From that, wonderful downstream things can happen, but it has to start with caring about the outdoors.

Ron Schneidermann

Position: CEO at AllTrails

Age: 45

Residence: Alamo

Education: University of California, Los Angeles, bachelor of arts

Family: Wife, Jenny, and three kids

5 things to know about Ron Schneidermann

1 His earliest childhood hiking memory was exploring Rock City on Mount Diablo with his family.

2 He met his wife, Jenny, in middle school.

3 When he was in college, he and some friends drove from Walnut Creek to Maine, camping every night along the way. “We had so much fun that the next summer, we drove from Walnut Creek to Alaska on an epic 6-week road trip that spanned 8,000 miles,” he says. “That’s when I fell in love with backpacking.”

4 He and Jenny have three kids, and the two oldest share the same birthday, three years apart.

5 The freezer at the San Francisco AllTrails office is always full of frozen fun-sized chocolates.

Officials from the city of Pleasant Hill said Friday that their IT professionals detected a cyber intrusion that targeted the city’s computer servers Thursday afternoon and responded quickly to isolate the threat, but they don’t yet know the extent of the intrusion. The Pleasant Hill Police Department is investigating the incident.

The city of Oakley was also hit Thursday afternoon. In response to a ransomware attack, the Oakley city manager declared a local state of emergency.

Oakley’s IT department has taken affected systems offline and is coordinating with law enforcement and cybersecurity professionals to investigate how severe the problem is, according to the city. While emergency services are not impacted, people should expect delays for non-emergency city services.

“We are actively monitoring the situation and will provide updated information as it becomes available,” city officials said in a statement.