After a long wait and several false starts, San Ramon, California’s newest and most exciting Mediterranean restaurant is finally open.
Alora Social opened its doors last week at City Center Bishop Ranch in San Ramon.
The restaurant is a new outpost of the main Alora restaurant in San Francisco. It’s part of a broader trend of iconic San Francisco restaurants establishing locations in the East Bay—often in San Ramon!
I stopped by for The Bay Area Telegraph to try Alora out. In my visit, I discovered Alora’s true culinary identity, and it surprised me.
A Stunning Space
The restaurant took over the space originally occupied by Chow. Chow was also a well-known San Francisco restaurant that moved out to the suburbs decades ago and had all but closed. The restaurant attempted to re-establish itself in San Ramon, building a large and beautiful interior space.
Alas, it didn’t work out, and Chow closed again, shortly after moving to San Ramon. They left behind an absolutely stunning interior—one with a giant 360° fireplace in the center, a demonstration kitchen, and even a tree planted indoors.
Alora moved seamlessly into this space, making changes to transform it into their own but also embracing the fireplace, the tree, and an aesthetic with fire pits and lounge seating outside.
Thanks to this, it’s a lovely restaurant that—despite delays—probably opened far faster than it would have if they had to build the entire interior from scratch.
A Menu Rooted in Middle Eastern Flavors
The menu at Alora Social is more limited than at Alora in the city but still extensive enough for a nice dinner.
One of the signature items is a large platter with pita bread, crispy lavash with za’atar, and a wide variety of house-made dips—hummus, labneh, harissa, and more.
The platter is plenty for two people to share as a substantial appetizer, and our server explained that all of the dips are made fresh in-house from scratch.
This was truly the highlight of the meal—you could come here, just get drinks and a platter, and be completely satisfied with your decision.
Speaking of drinks, Alora serves creative cocktails as well as beer and wine.
The lounge vibe is very much alive with the cocktail selection, and they embrace the restaurant’s flavors—I ordered one with dates, and there was another that featured rosewater and similar ingredients.
For main dishes, there’s a combination of pastas and larger meat dishes, like a beef and lamb kebab.
The kebab was delicious—nicely spiced and served atop a bed of couscous that I substituted for the rice pilaf it typically comes with.
The pasta, however, was just okay. It was too sweet, and the tomato sauce lacked the vibrancy or creativity of flavors found in the other dishes. It tasted a bit like a standard vodka sauce rather than something that warranted its nearly $30 price tag.
Alora’s True Identity: A Middle Eastern Gem
To me, that revealed something essential about Alora—it bills itself as a Mediterranean restaurant, but really, it’s a terrific Middle Eastern place.
Turkish, specifically.
Yes, there are some Greek flavors on the menu, like the tzatziki sauce, that add a bit of the broader Mediterranean influence. But really, the main focus and the best dishes at Alora are from the Levant.
To me, that’s doubly exciting because we already have a lot of great Mediterranean restaurants in the East Bay, but not too many truly excellent Middle Eastern ones.
I came expecting what passes from Mediterranean in the Bay Area–Greek, with some Provencal influences and more Italian food than the “Mediterranean” title would suggest should be on the menu.
Instead, I got some of my favorite Levantine flavors.
That revelation suggests what you should order when you visit Alora. Unless my pasta dish was an anomaly, I would stick to the Middle Eastern specialties on the menu–that seems to be Alora’s true focus, and what they do best at.
Again, the dip sampler—which featured almost exclusively Middle Eastern flavors—was fantastic. The cocktails draw on that same background and were very good as well.
When I go back, I’ll stick to those kinds of dishes, and I would recommend Alora to anyone who enjoys Middle Eastern or Levantine cuisine.
Alora is still getting fully spun up—their menu will apparently expand even further as they complete their rollout at City Center. You can check them out at 6000 Bollinger Canyon Rd. in San Ramon. If you visit, let them know the Bay Area Telegraph sent you.
Website: https://www.visitalora.com
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