"It was thanks to the community support and love that our initial 6-month residency at the La Cocina kiosk turned into 15 beautiful months," the founders of Alma y Sazón wrote on Instagram this summer, as The E'ville Eye reported in its August roundup. Their vegan Mexican kiosk, with jackfruit-and-tofu "pastor" and oyster-mushroom "fish," served its last day at Public Market Emeryville on August 30.
That kiosk exists to change hands. It's the one spot at 5959 Shellmound St. set up to have a new cook every few months. This fall it's also the spot that's moving slowest. A corner stall that sat empty for years has filled, a juice kiosk has a new owner, and a national salad chain announced more than two years ago finally has opening dates. Each change ran on its own schedule, and knowing which one tells you what to expect at the market through the end of the year.
The kiosk designed to empty out
Public Market's partnership with La Cocina, the San Francisco nonprofit that develops women-owned food businesses, has been running for about a decade. When Alma y Sazón opened on June 20, 2025, The E'ville Eye reported that the lease ran six months with options to extend three months at a time. Successful tenants are encouraged to sign a long-term lease at one of the food hall's vacant stalls. The August 2026 roundup added that a permanent stall comes at market-rate pricing.
So the kiosk works as a short, low-cost trial, and the businesses that pass through it have gone in very different directions afterward.
| Kiosk tenant | Who ran it | What followed |
|---|---|---|
| Nyum Bai | Nite Yun | Several years in the kiosk, then a Michelin-starred restaurant in Oakland's Fruitvale district, which has since closed |
| Minnie Bell's Soul Movement | Fernay McPherson | Signed a permanent stall lease in 2019, then left at the end of July 2024 for its own San Francisco space |
| Mama Lamees | Lamees Dahbour | Temporary lease ended in 2021 |
| Nusa | Jennifer and Perry Huang | Kiosk run ended December 22, 2024; food still sold at farmers markets and online |
| Alma y Sazón | Paola Lagunas, Fernanda Lagunas, Xavier Herrera | Six months became 15; final day August 30, 2026 |
A Girl Named Pinky and El Mesón de Violeta also had turns in the kiosk. In Edible East Bay's 2024 profile, Nusa's owners explained how the kiosk worked for them. They had been selling Indonesian pastries at a weekly farmers market stand and kept selling out. The low-cost kiosk let them build out a full menu of beef rendang, nasi goreng and soto ayam around those sweets.
Why the next handoff is taking longer
Alma y Sazón's successor is Xula Guatemalan Cuisine, an Oakland business run by chef-owner Veronica Bran and co-owner Jose Reyes. The menu centers on tamales, garnachas, rellenitos and a house ChiQ'aq salsa. Before this, Xula worked as a ghost kitchen and sold at farmers markets and pop-ups, including Outside Lands.
Xula planned to open September 15. The E'ville Eye reported in mid-September that city permitting had pushed that date back. Berkeleyside's Nosh had expected a soft opening at the end of September. The E'ville Eye's October 15 roundup still listed Xula as expected before the end of the year. Xula's Instagram is the place to check before you walk over for tamales.
The market's own online directory still lists Alma y Sazón, so the stall signs inside are a better guide than the website for now.
The corner stall that waited years
While the kiosk built to turn over sat between tenants, a stall that had been empty for years filled from outside the program. Jamaica Again opened August 27 in the corner stall between Market Bar and Pig in a Pickle, serving jerk chicken, braised oxtail, curried goat, ackee and saltfish, patties, plantains and homemade juices.
Jamaican food has a history at this market. The E'ville Eye noted that Calypso Rose ran a stall from 2022 to 2024. Before that, Jamaica Place operated here until the food hall's major 2016 renovation. The same corner had signs promising "Summer 2026" well before any food came out of it, which is a reminder that Public Market's permanent stalls take longer to fill than the kiosk does.
A few steps away, Liquified Juicery took over the kiosk Juice House Co. used to run. Ashley Comora, a Bay Area native, founded the self-funded, woman-owned brand in 2019. It makes raw, organic cold-pressed juices, sea moss gels and wellness elixirs at a production facility in Richmond, and it runs bottle reuse and pulp composting programs. The Emeryville kiosk is its first brick-and-mortar storefront, and it hands out free daily samples with new seasonal juices each week.
Sweetgreen's two-year timeline
The third schedule belongs to the national chain. Sweetgreen first announced its Public Market location more than two years ago, and construction picked up over the past few months. Compare that with Alma y Sazón's whole 15-month run, which began after Sweetgreen's announcement and ended before Sweetgreen opened.
The E'ville Eye's October update lays out the plan. A company representative gave Tuesday, November 17 as the grand opening date "if all goes according to plan." On opening day, Sweetgreen will donate a meal to the Alameda County Community Food Bank for every meal bought at the new location. The menu will include the Crispy Rice Bowl, Miso Glazed Salmon and the chain's newer wraps.
The dates to know around Shellmound
- Friday, November 13 and Saturday, November 14: Sweetgreen's soft opening, with a free bowl for attendees who download the app and register through Eventbrite.
- Tuesday, November 17: Sweetgreen's tentative grand opening and the Food Bank meal match.
- Before the end of the year: Xula's expected opening in the La Cocina kiosk, now that permitting has pushed back its September target.
- Friday, December 4 at 5:30 p.m.: The city's Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting at City Hall, 1333 Park Ave.
The same pattern elsewhere in town
The rest of Emeryville's food scene runs on the same mix of quick arrivals, slow buildouts and quiet exits. The E'ville Eye's October roundup lists two matcha shops among the openings expected by year's end: For the Love of Matcha at 1195 65th St. and Maruwu Seicha at 5637 Bay St. In February, Maruwu was expected to open in the summer.
On San Pablo Avenue, Bran Azevedo is turning the former Punjab Bazar space at 4336 San Pablo Ave., next to Como en Casa, into Mundo Coffee + Wine. The project is still in design and permitting, with an opening "optimistically" targeted for late 2026. Cotti Coffee, a Hong Kong-based chain, has signed a lease for the former Starbucks next to Home Depot at East Bay Bridge Shopping Center, but hasn't announced an opening date.
Two small spots have closed. The Peregrine Cafe trailer behind the Emeryville Hyatt House served its last beignets on September 26 after three years, and its owner has promised updates on a "next adventure." Go Bánh Mì, the sandwich kiosk inside Lanesplitter Pizza at 3645 San Pablo Ave., is now listed as permanently closed.
What opens on Shellmound and San Pablo this fall shapes what a weeknight dinner looks like within walking distance of your home. It also shapes how buyers see the area when they come to look. If you'd like to know how those changes show up in your home's value, the Chris Clark Team can walk you through it. Request a complimentary home valuation.