Longtime Lake Merritt restaurant brings on Iranian chef cooking up stews, rice dishes and unique breakfast and brunch offerings.
Bay Area buffet restaurants have been. But one longtime Oakland buffet staple is making a focused and creative comeback.
Bacheeso’s, the 15-year-old Mediterranean buffet restaurant that has been closed since March 2020, is reopening later this month with a remodeled look and a new menu focused on Persian cuisine. The restaurant, located at 246 Grand Ave., is now called Persian Nights at Bacheesos, and is reopening for dinner service featuring Persian stews, rice dishes and other specialties.
Bacheesos first opened in 1997 in Berkeley, with the Oakland location following a decade later. The Berkeley location closed in October 2019 to make way for a five-story mixed-use complex at the Telegraph Avenue site. But the location across from Lake Merritt and Fairyland remained and was especially popular for its weekend buffet brunches and all-you-can-drink mimosas.
When the pandemic hit, buffets were deemed unsafe, and owner Amir Asli had to figure out a plan. His coffee shop, 1888 Coffee Station at Bacheesos, was still bustling, especially for grab-and-go breakfast and lunch. Asli expand the coffee shop menu to include buffet favorites converted to a walk-up window-friendly format.
For dinner, Asli has brought in Iranian chef Farshad Moradi, a native of Tabriz who used to own a restaurant on the island of Kish, a popular tourist destination in Iran. Moradi will serve classic Persian dishes, like marinated filet mignon kabobs and stews including gheimeh, made with yellow peas and slow cooked lamb; and ghormeh sabzi, a meaty, herb-flecked stew with fenugreek.
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