Redding foodies alert: In 2023, these 30 restaurants opened, closed or are coming soon
The year was like any other, plenty of comings and goings on the North State’s restaurant landscape.
Popular places like Charlew’s Tap House in Redding and Tantardini’s Italian Deli closed in 2023, but there were plenty of new eateries, bars and bakeries to take their place.
They included the much-anticipated arrival of Panera Bread, a second MOD Pizza and Victoria’s Bakery.
Here’s a rundown:
Openings and coming soon…
Becca’s Café
An Anderson favorite for more than 20 years, Becca’s Café is on the move.
Work has started on the restaurant’s new location on Childress Drive in Anderson, which is on the other side of Interstate 5 from its current location on Balls Ferry Road.
The restaurant remains open on Balls Ferry while work continues to get the new location, the former La Casa Cuevas Mexican Restaurant. The building has been empty for several years.
Per a 2019 Record Searchlight feature, Becca’s Café is known for its generous portions, affordable prices and personable service.
Over the years, owner Becca Howsmon has given back to the community, raising money for kids with cancer and other causes.
Black Diamond Lounge
A few years in the making, the downtown Redding bar opened recently on California Street in the Cascade Square building.
The owner is James Sparman Jr., who owned the Shack Social downtown before selling it.
Black Diamond occupies the space that had been empty for nearly 10 years when Johnny’s Cathouse closed.
The bar also features live music and dancing.
Cask & Cleaver
The cheese and charcuterie shop opened in downtown Redding in April.
The business is owned by the mother-daughter duo of Jennifer Berry and Kaitlyn Rodney.
Started in 2021 inside Sizzle’s Kitchen, also in downtown Redding, Cask & Cleaver moved to the former Downtown Java & Café space at 1534 Market St. in the Market Street Alley.
Cask & Cleaver is a cut-to-order cheese shop where customers can pick up charcuterie boards, tasting boxes and lunch boxes. Imported and domestic cheeses are sold. Customers can also buy blocks of cheese.
Déjà Vu
Opened nearly 30 years ago, Déjà Vu, one of downtown Redding’s oldest restaurants, is on the move.
Owner Karline Niver announced in October that they were moving to the former Charlew’s Tap House on Shasta Street.
Niver said she is relocating because it had become increasingly more difficult to operate on the bottom floor of the Lorenz Hotel.
Since the announcement, Niver and company have been working hard to get their new location ready. A new paint job and new signage is in place.
Niver has said the original Déjà Vu on California Street will close before the new location opens. In the meantime, the California Street location remains open.
Falafel Corner
Sajad Shakoor opened his first Falafel Corner in 2016, three years after he was released from San Quentin State Prison.
So begins the unique story of this Mediterranean restaurant that opened in September in Discovery Village in Redding.
The Redding location is owned and operated by franchisee and brothers Mohamad "Zeb" Shahzaib and Mohamad Sikandar.
The restaurant features, among other things, gyros, combination plates, burgers and wings.
Huff’s at Bridge Bay Resort
With its view of Lake Shasta and the Pit River Bridge, Huff’s at Bridge Bay Resort is the latest restaurant to occupy this popular North State haunt.
Huff’s opened earlier this year, taking the place of the CookHouse. Before that, the building was occupied for many years by the Tail O’ The Whale.
The menu features a wide variety, from steaks, fish, chicken to salads and pasta.
Little Wheels
Peter Stone purchased the old Big Wheels restaurant in 2020 and had plans to rebuild the iconic eatery in Shingletown that burned down in May 2005.
But he discovered the cost and work to revive Big Wheels was going to be a lot more than he anticipated. So Stone purchased another restaurant that was for sale, worked on renovating that business, and opened Little Wheels on Black Butte Road in Shingletown in October.
“We renovated it to look really cool, to kind of resemble Big Wheels. We worked on it for three years and finally opened up on Oct. 1 and here we are,” Stone said.
Little Wheels opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and at 11 a.m. on the weekends, serving lunch and dinner.
Oh, and Stone said he hasn’t given up plans to one day rebuild and reopen Big Wheels.
Lost Era Cafe
Every day is something different at The Lost Era Café, the foodie side of Lost Era antique store, which Joshua Mansfield opened in the fall of October 2022.
The café opened earlier this year.
The menu for the day is featured on a sandwich board that sits out front of the restaurant on Butte Street.
Cherry smoked pork ribs, a New England style prawn roll, roasted organic chicken breast and tagliatelle pasta are just a sampling of the lunch specials the café has offered in recent months.
Mansfiled’s goal is to offer an ever-changing menu with healthy options that customers can sit down and enjoy or grab and go.
Mister Peri Peri’s Grill
Owner Nav Kandola expects to open his latest restaurant in mid-January.
Peri peri is Portuguese chicken that is marinated for hours and served with a choice of sauces that vary from mild to hot.
Mister Peri Peri’s Grill is in a portion of the former Mission Beauty space in Discovery Village.
The restaurant also will feature burgers, chicken wraps and salads.
Kandola also owns Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse and Sourdough Bread Company, both in Redding.
Mochi Dough
Chao Vang liked a Mochi donut so much the first time she tasted it that she wanted to bring the franchise to Redding.
And she did, opening Mochi Dough in the Cobblestone Shopping Center on Hartnell Avenue last April in the former Papa Cheesesteaks space.
The donut franchise has locations across the country, including several in the greater Sacramento area.
Vang’s Redding store is Mochi’s farthest north spot in California.
Mochi Dough features six to eight flavors of donuts and the flavors are constantly changing.
MOD Pizza (2nd location)
A popular chain in Redding since it opened in 2015, MOD Pizza opened a location in south Redding in December.
The chain's second location is in the Save Mart shopping center.
MOD prides itself for its fast-paced, family atmosphere, serving personal pizzas that customers can order from the menu, or make their own.
New Clairvaux Tasting Room
New Clairvaux Vineyard opened its tasting room in downtown Redding in November.
The tasting room is on the northeast corner of the Market Center building on Butte Street.
It was an historic occasion for the winery as Redding is the first off-site tasting room for New Clairvaux, which is based in Vina.
New Clairvaux joins a growing downtown wine scene with Moseley Family Cellars, Westside Wines & Hops, and Grape Escape.
Panera Bread
A much-anticipated chain finally opened in Redding on Black Friday.
Panera Bread is in the FoodMaxx shopping center on the site of the former HomeTown Buffet.
Few restaurants had been mentioned more than Panera over the years when North State residents weighed in about which they’d like to see open here.
So it was no surprise that Panera’s grand opening generated big crowds.
Pizza Factory in Redding
Already with a location in Shasta Lake, Pizza Factory came to Redding in 2023.
The restaurant occupies the former Westside Pizza building in the same parking lot as Rodeway Inn on North Market Street.
Alicia and Carlos Pizano, who own the Pizza Factory in Shasta Lake, own the Redding location.
The husband-and-wife team grew up in Siskiyou County, and Carlos worked at the Pizza Factory in Dunsmuir and in Shasta Lake, the latter while he attended Shasta College. The Pizanos bought the Pizza Factory in Shasta Lake in 2019.
In addition to dine-in and take-out, the Redding location offer deliveries.
Pourboys TapYard
The downtown brewpub opened in late October next to Sof-Tek near the corner of Waldon and Gold streets.
The tap room is a dream realized by owner Austin Carter, who worked on the space for months to get it ready.
Pourboys has 16 beers on tap and also serves food via a rotating selection of food trucks. Taco MaMa, Anthony’s Mediterranean and Sum of All Smoke are among the food trucks that have been at the tap yard.
The pub also hosts weekly trivia nights.
Redding Public Market
Expected to be open next summer, developers of the Redding Public Market spent 2023 announcing tenants for their downtown destination.
Here’s the list so far.
Bantam Kitchen & Cooler
Fall River Brewing
Noodle House
32 Below
Wine Bar (name to come)
Coffee shop (name to come)
The public market will be on the ground floor of the Market Center building on Market Street between Butte and Yuba streets.
K2 Development Companies of Redding worked with Steve Carlin, CEO of Carlin Company, who founded the Oxbow Public Market in Napa, to come up with the public market concept. Oxbow is a 40,000-square-foot indoor marketplace that features butcher shops, a fish market, local produce, artisan cheese and wine shop, bakeries, coffee shop, oyster bar and retail shops.
K2 also drew inspiration from the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco and Pike Place Market in Seattle.
Roadrunner Grill in Shasta Lake
The Roadrunner Grill opened in Shasta Lake in December, moving into a building that had previously occupied a barbecue restaurant for a short time.
The restaurant already has a location in Cottonwood.
Tacos are a big thing on the menu in Shasta Lake with 16 different varieties, and six different specialty tacos.
Roadrunner Grill in Shasta Lake also features three varieties of salads, quesadillas, wraps, fish and chips and calamari.
The restaurant in Shasta Lake operates in the former Smokin' Joe's BBQ 2.0, which closed in late August after being open for about eight months.
Sourdough Bread Company
This is another restaurant owned by Pete’s Brewhouse principal Nav Kandola.
The sandwich shop opened this past fall in the Save Mart shopping center next to Crumbl Cookies.
Sourdough Bread Company features traditional sandwich fare like roast beef, turkey, ham and pastrami.
Specialty sandwiches include French dip, smoked brisket, caprese, Krispy Kickin chicken and the All-American crunch.
Soups and salads are also on the menu.
Sweet Spot new location
After operating on Hilltop Drive in Redding for 10 years, owner Charmaine Yu moved her popular Redding restaurant to Hartnell Avenue inside the former Smokehaus Pizza & Pints and building.
Sweetspot opened on Hartnell in November.
Yu told the Record Searchlight that the original plan wasn't to relocate but when she couldn't renew her lease on Hilltop Drive, she decided that moving was the best option.
She has plans to put a covered patio in front of the restaurant and soon will offer a to-go menu featuring Chinese food. The Chinese takeout side of the business will be separate from Sweetspot and it will be called Happy Belly.
Tye Dye Cafe
Josh and Skylar Jarred bought the former Rita's Kitchen on Hartnell Avenue in May 2022.
They kept the name for a while before deciding to change things up earlier this year and rename the longtime Redding diner Tye Dye Cafe.
The cozy diner on Hartnell Avenue had been known as Rita’s for more than 20 years.
The husband-and-wife team worked at Lucky Miller’s Deli & Market in Redding before they decided to buy Rita’s and go into business for themselves.
They serve breakfast and lunch and offer weekly specials.
The Vault
The unexpected closure of Club 501 more than a year ago, Redding's only gay bar, saddened many who frequented the downtown bar.
Among them was Brad Thompson, who had gone to Club 501 for years.
So Thompson worked to carry on the club's tradition with The Vault, which opened a few months back inside the former Club 501 on California Street. The building fronts the corner of Center and Division streets.
Thompson owns the bar with his wife, Laurel Blair. He calls The Vault Redding's "gayest bar and nightclub."
Victoria's Bakery-Deli
The Mexican bakery opened in the former Tantardini's Italian Bakery and Deli in Four Corners at the Hartnell Avenue and Churn Creek Road.
The bakery is owned and operated by Rolando Molina and his wife, Esmeralda Chino. Daughter Victoria Molina also helps manage the business.
Conchas (Mexican sweet bread), fruit-filled empanadas, cakes, flan and reganadas are among the offerings. Lunch items include burritos, tortas and tamales.
Beverages include champurrado, hot chocolate and coffee.
West Coast Sourdough
The fast-growing regional chain opened in the Safeway-Lowe's shopping center at Churn Creek Road and Cypress Avenue last January.
The idea of West Coast Sourdough was to bring the classic San Francisco sourdough experience to communities outside the Bay Area. Most of its restaurants are in the Central Valley, with Bakersfield being its southern-most location.
The sourdough is partially baked in San Francisco and then shipped to the restaurant. Uppal said it takes 3 minutes to finish the baking process at the restaurant.
Sandwiches and three different kinds of bread bowls, clam chowder, tomato bisque and the soup of the day are on the menu.
Customers also can order sandwiches on gluten-free bread.
Whiskeytown Barbecue CO.
The steakhouse opened in the Sunset Marketplace shopping center in early 2023.
Owner Tim Gibbons offers Santa Maria-style tri-tip among other items on the menu. Gibbons grew up on the Central Coast, where that style of tri-tip was introduced.
Gibbons did most of the work getting his restaurant ready. One of the walls features the front of a butcher shop made from cedar he said was milled from a tree in the Mount Shasta. The cedar planks behind the bar also come from that tree.
The menu also features rib-eye steak and craft beers.
And we said goodbye to...
California Pita Station
The Mediterranean restaurant opened in the summer of 2022 before closing earlier this year.
It was located in the Dana Crossing shopping center on Dana Drive. The same center includes Five Guys and Chipotle.
The owners' vision was to bring Mediterranean street food to Redding, including chicken and beef shawarmas.
Canelo's
The Mexican restaurant opened in November 2019 on South Market Street next to The Tropics bar.
Owners Juan and Sarah Angel called their restaurant comfort food with a Mexican twist.
But in late November, they announced on Facebook that the restaurant's last day would be Nov. 30.
"After 4 incredible years, the time has come to bid farewell. Your support has been our backbone, and we’re deeply grateful," the post said.
Charlew's in Redding
The longtime downtown restaurant closed in August.
The owners of Charlew’s Tap House, formerly Mary’s Pizza Shack, at the time said they were consolidating operations to their remaining Charlew's Tap House, a busier location in the Shasta Gateway mall in Anderson.
Charles "Charlew" Byerly and his wife, Kathy, opened Mary's Pizza Shack in Anderson in 2007 and then opened their second location on Shasta Street in Redding in 2011.
They rebranded their two Mary's locations as Charlew's Tap House in early 2022.
Deja Vu will open in the former Charlew's spot in downtown Redding in early 2024.
Naked Coffee
The high-profile downtown Redding coffee kiosk closed this fall after more than 10 years in business.
Naked Coffee opened in 2011.
The kiosk was built in 2007, and the business was originally called Coffee Cruz and was the first business to really embrace downtown's then-new "Fifties Glitz" district, created in 2001 as part of the downtown Redding specific plan.
The location is currently for sale.
Smokin' Joe's BBQ 2.0
The restaurant opened in Shasta Lake in late December 2022 before closing in late August.
On Facebook, Smokin’ Joe’s posted:
“To our wonderful customers, it is with a heavy heart that we will have to close our Cascade (Boulevard) location. After the unexpected medical issues shortly after we opened, and some staffing issues, we just can’t get it where we want to be. This decision is heartbreaking for us.”
Smokin' Joe's on Airport Road remains open.
Tantardini’s Italian Bakery and Deli
The bakery and deli opened in 2015 and quickly became a favorite in Redding serving items like chocolate croissants, crostata (Italian tarts), tiramisu, paninis and lasagna.
Diego Tantardini said they closed in late September.
“The community really supported us, we had a good ride but it was time to move on,” he said.
David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on X @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: 30 restaurants in Redding that opened, closed or are still to come
