The Corner of San Pablo and Washington Has Been Building a Food Hall Since 2024

A taproom on San Pablo Avenue closes in late July. Two months later a Lao restaurant opens in the same room. Is that the usual storefront churn, or did the room have a plan behind it?

At 745 San Pablo Ave., near Washington Avenue, there was a plan, and it has been in place for more than two years. The business next door drew it up. Every change at the address since 2024 has been a step toward the same goal: a small food hall wrapped around one of Albany's longest-running burger counters.

The neighbor that holds the lease

The anchor is 310 Eatery at 747 San Pablo Ave. Founder and owner Aaron Fong runs it, and Berkeleyside has described the food as LA-inspired comfort food. The East Bay Times traced the restaurant back to downtown Walnut Creek in 2014. It later shared a space with The Redux Lounge and made temporary stops in Oakland and Berkeley before settling in Albany. The Albany location took over the former Grazzy Burgers site, a restaurant where Fong had once worked as a busser and server.

Berkeleyside reported in April 2018 that the Albany restaurant had just opened, so 310 has been on this block for more than eight years. The dishes people know it for are the Bacon Jam Fries, the 405 Traffic Jam burger, a Little Tokyo soft-shell-crab po'boy, pork-belly sliders and pineapple duck fried rice.

The food hall started when 310 took over the room next door, the former Albany Taproom. Berkeleyside reported in May 2024 that 310 had acquired that adjoining space and wanted the beer and the food to work as one setup.

Stage one was a brewery

Match Point Brewing was the first tenant. Co-owner Simon Chen told Berkeleyside the idea came up over lunch at 310, when the owner mentioned he wanted a taproom next door. Chen's team thought their beer would pair well with 310's food. They signed a lease in January 2024 and opened on May 10, 2024.

That same May 2024 story laid out a bigger plan. Another food vendor would join, and the space would take the name "310's Craft Beer and Micro Food Hall." The taproom was meant to be the first piece of something larger.

Match Point's run ended after service on July 26, 2026. Chen wrote to Berkeleyside's Nosh that the taproom couldn't reach a new agreement on its sublease, and it closed with a Last Call Taproom Party. The beer is still around. Chen said Match Point brews are still sold at local restaurants and shops, including Berkeley Bowl and El Cerrito Natural Grocery.

Here is how the address got from one taproom to a second tenant:

1. Spring 2018: 310 Eatery opens at 747 San Pablo Ave. in Albany.
2. January 2024: Match Point Brewing signs a lease for the former Albany Taproom next door.
3. May 10, 2024: Match Point opens. The plan is a "micro food hall" with one more food vendor.
4. July 26, 2026: Match Point closes after its last service.
5. July 28, 2026: KQED reports that Souk Savanh is coming to 745 San Pablo as part of a mini food hall run by the people behind 310.
6. September 28, 2026: Souk Savanh 2.0 soft-opens.

Stage two is a Lao kitchen with a long history

Food writer Luke Tsai broke the news at KQED on July 28. He wrote that the restaurant moving into the former taproom would be part of "a new mini food hall run by the folks behind 310 Eatery, the Asian American burger spot next door." That restaurant was Souk Savanh.

Owners Tea Chaiyasith and Nai Sailee, who are married, first ran Souk Savanh in East Oakland. That location closed in 2016. Ten years later the restaurant came back in downtown Oakland, but it closed again after a couple of months. Tsai called it one of the best and most elusive Lao food businesses he had come across in the Bay Area, and he pointed out that the Albany version is "technically 3.0."

Albany got the restaurant on Sept. 28, when Berkeleyside's Nosh reported its soft opening at 745 San Pablo Ave., at Washington Avenue. It's a fast-casual, counter-service spot focused on rice and noodle plates that start at $10. Chaiyasith explained the price point to KQED:

"We want to make our food very tasty and affordable for the community, because not everyone can afford a $20 meal every day."

Chaiyasith was born in Laos and told KQED he is especially proud of how authentic the Lao dishes are. The menu also includes Thai and other Southeast Asian dishes. Tsai's report pointed to these dishes:

• Nam khao, the crispy rice-ball salad
• Kao soy, the noodle soup Tsai called "soulful" and "funk-forward"
• House-made fermented Lao sausage, served at the pop-up as a crisp-edged meatball for dipping in the funky-sweet house jeow som, with the restaurant planning to add the traditional version grilled in its casing
• Lao-style laab and street-food meat skewers
• Garlic noodles and honey walnut shrimp, the fusion dishes with their own following

The two counters suit each other. 310 does Asian American comfort food built around burgers. Souk does Lao rice plates at budget prices. Both sit behind neighboring doors that the same operator now manages as one project.

Why the door is locked on Tuesdays

As of an Oct. 7 update from Berkeley Eats, Souk Savanh 2.0 serves lunch and dinner every day except Tuesday.

The day off connects to Richmond. For the past two years the couple has also run a pop-up called Pai's Eatery at The Lot, the street food market in Richmond, where it sets up on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Chaiyasith told KQED they planned to keep the pop-ups going after the Albany restaurant opened. Part of Albany's appeal was that it's much closer to their home in Richmond than the Oakland location was. If you want Souk Savanh food on a Tuesday, The Lot is the place to find it.

More counters on the plan

KQED's July report described more than one restaurant. Along with Souk Savanh and 310, the food hall will also include a bakery and a beer bar.

That fits the 2024 plan, with a beer program next to the food and more than one kitchen under the same management. Two months after Match Point's last service, the room had its next food tenant.

A block up, Ethiopian coffee

The same stretch of San Pablo picked up another business five days after Souk Savanh opened. Gioia, a cafe serving Ethiopian coffees, pastries and other snacks, opened Friday, Oct. 3, at 816 San Pablo Ave., near Solano Avenue.

Put the two together and this end of Albany's San Pablo now covers a whole day, from coffee and a pastry at Gioia in the morning to a rice plate or a burger a block down at 745 and 747.

December 6 ends at this corner

The Solano Avenue Association's WINTER on Solano runs Sunday, Dec. 6, from noon to 5 p.m. It covers Solano Avenue from The Alameda down to San Pablo Avenue, across Albany and Berkeley. It's free, family-friendly and wheelchair accessible, with the City of Albany and the Upper Solano BID as sponsors. The event ends a short walk from Gioia and the 310 block.

If you're putting that Sunday together:

Santa on Solano also runs the weekends of Dec. 12–13 and Dec. 19–20, noon to 3 p.m. both days, rain or shine and free. The Solano Avenue Association presents it.

The street itself is due for work next. Alameda CTC's San Pablo Avenue Safety Enhancements project, which covers crossing safety, bus stops, lighting and accessibility on San Pablo in Albany and Berkeley, has construction scheduled for spring 2027 through winter 2028, according to the agency's project fact sheet.

Mark Choi covers Albany one block at a time, from the businesses that open in its storefronts to the plans their owners make for the space next door. To talk through what's happening on your stretch of San Pablo or Solano, get in touch with Mark Choi. Start Your East Bay Home Search.