Editor’s note: Nosh covers food and restaurant news across the East Bay, and each week we publish one article covering all the restaurant openings and one article covering closings. Have a tip for Nosh? Submit it here.
A stylish mahjong lounge and speakeasy has opened upstairs from snack shop Baba’s House in downtown Oakland. 13 Orphans, which beckons patrons to “shuffle tiles and escape the ordinary,” artfully combines DJ sets, mahjong games, tea-infused cocktails and dim sum plates underneath a wash of neon lights. You’ll need a reservation for a table in the tea lounge, but you can snag a mahjong table without one. 13 Orphans, 410 15th Street. (at Franklin St.), Oakland
After three years of development, Mediterranean Bistro 4293 is celebrating its soft opening on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. You’ll find a variety of hot and cold starters on the menu (dolmas, hummus and tzatziki all make an appearance), plus rich mains like khan plov, a fragrant Azerbaijani saffron rice dish layered with dried fruit, slow-cooked meat and caramelized onions wrapped in crispy lavash. Bistro 4293, 4293 Piedmont Ave., Oakland
After a four-year closure following an eviction from its MacArthur Blvd. location, Loard’s is once again serving scoops of nostalgia in its iconic retro ice cream parlor. The shop, which hasn’t deviated from its recipe originally developed in 1950, offers flavors like caramel cashew, banana and black raspberry marble, plus sherbert and seasonal flavors. Loard’s Ice Cream, 2825 MacArthur Blvd. (at Coolidge Ave.), Oakland
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