Downtown Berkeley Is Refilling Itself One Borrowed Room at a Time

At 2021 Shattuck Avenue, between University Avenue and Addison Street, a two-floor billiards hall and cocktail bar now has a hot dog counter inside it. The counter belongs to Top Dog, which has been selling sausages in Berkeley since 1966, and it shares the room with The BreakRoom.

Most of what came to the blocks around Shattuck and University this year arrived the same way. Established businesses opened second locations, new tenants took over empty storefronts, and two businesses agreed to share one room. Hardly anything opened on a blank lot.

Top Dog's Way Back Downtown

Top Dog had been shrinking for years. Berkeleyside reported that the business once ran four East Bay locations. It closed the Hearst Avenue shop across from the north side of campus in 2013, Rockridge in 2014 after 25 years, and Center Street in 2024 after two decades. The Lakeshore Avenue shop in Oakland closed in October 2025 when a new building owner didn't offer a new lease. That left the original Durant Avenue shop as the only Top Dog still open.

The Center Street closure took Top Dog out of downtown entirely. The new counter on Shattuck brings it back, and it was open by Sept. 22.

The Daily Californian covered the partnership as a way for The BreakRoom to improve its food and bring in customers. BreakRoom owner August Wagele told the paper that his Berkeley roots and his fondness for Top Dog were part of the decision.

A shared counter also means a shorter menu. The Daily Cal reported five Top Dog sausages plus potato salad and chips, served next to The BreakRoom's beer list. That's much shorter than the full lineup on Durant. Berkeleyside described the location as a lunch option for Cal and Berkeley High students and one more choice for longtime regulars. Published opening hours and the bar's own posted hours don't fully match, so check before you plan a late visit.

The Same Approach, Four More Times

Top Dog's move is the most visible version of something happening up and down these blocks. Each opening below came in through an expansion, a former tenant's space, or someone else's building.

Berkeley Bagels is the clearest example of an established name moving toward downtown. Berkeleyside reported in July that the new shop would carry the same menu as the Gilman flagship, and that co-owner Alex Suon said customers had been asking the business to expand toward University Avenue. The opening date moved from Aug. 17 to Aug. 27. According to the Berkeley High Jacket, the University Avenue shop is now open daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Ceré Tea took over the old Happy Lemon storefront and serves matcha, hojicha, blended ube drinks and coffee. Palmetto Superfoods serves customizable blended bowls inside Anchor House. Cold Stone opened in the ACE Berkeley apartment building. None of these four needed a new building. Each one used a space that was already there.

Turnover in the Other Direction

Some spaces emptied out this fall too. Berkeleyside reported Alborz's restaurant at 2175 Allston Way closed as of Oct. 1, and Crepes A-Go-Go at 2055 Center St. permanently closed as of Sept. 24. Neither report gave a last day of service.

Those two closures matter because of how the openings above happened. Ceré Tea took over a former tenant's space, and the next tenant on Allston or Center could come in the same way. Downtown is still trading tenants, and lately an empty storefront hasn't stayed empty for long.

A Bookstore Space Becomes a Makers' Market

The biggest empty space being filled this season is the former Half Price Books at Shattuck and Addison. Zero Empty Spaces is preparing a retail arts marketplace and gallery at 2036 Shattuck Ave. The project brings together Zero Empty Spaces, the Downtown Berkeley Association, Visit Berkeley, the City of Berkeley, Gordon Commercial Real Estate Services and local artists.

According to the July announcement, Berkeley's version differs from the group's usual working-studio model. Here, local artists, makers and designers will sell art, handcrafted goods, apparel, books, home goods and prints from individual vendor spaces. Like Top Dog at The BreakRoom, it puts several businesses under one roof.

Berkeleyside's August report said the space would be open daily from noon to 5 p.m. and expected a mid-October grand opening. The timeline has since moved. The organizer's Eventbrite listing now sets the grand opening and ribbon cutting for Saturday, Nov. 7, from 5 to 8 p.m.

On the Calendar Downtown

The Downtown Berkeley Association's free Sidewalk Sessions brought acoustic sets to downtown sidewalks, plazas and corners from July through October and wrap up this month. Two dated events are coming up within a few blocks of the new openings:

1. Halloween Hootenanny, Friday, Oct. 30, 3 to 7 p.m. The seventh annual event at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza has live music, family activities, food vendors and a costume contest.
2. Zero Empty Spaces grand opening, Saturday, Nov. 7, 5 to 8 p.m. The ribbon cutting is at 2036 Shattuck Ave.

The Hootenanny takes place at the plaza right outside the BART entrance, so families can get there by train.

The Standbys the Newcomers Joined

The new arrivals opened into a lunch scene that was already busy. In August, Berkeleyside published a guide to downtown lunches for $12 or less, and several of its picks are on the same downtown blocks as Top Dog's new counter:

• Cafe Brusco, 2000 University Ave.
• Platano Pupuseria y Restaurante, 2042 University Ave.
• Cholita Linda, 2000 Kala Bagai Way
• Saigon Express, 2045 Kala Bagai Way
• Pizzeria da Laura, 2049 Shattuck Ave.
• Triple Rock Brewing, 1920 Shattuck Ave.
• Lox Stock & Bagel, 2043 Allston Way

Lox Stock & Bagel on Allston and Berkeley Bagels on University now give downtown two bagel counters. Pizzeria da Laura, Top Dog's counter and Ceré Tea are all within a short walk of each other on Shattuck. In the same few blocks you can get a weekday lunch from a business that has been on its corner for years or from one that arrived this season by sharing space or moving into an empty storefront.

At Erin Chan-Adams, I follow which downtown Berkeley storefronts change hands and who moves in. If you'd like to talk about what's opening near your part of Berkeley, Let's Connect.