WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA — After more than a year of construction at the former PG&E customer service building on Bonanza Street, Walnut Creek’s long-awaited music-centric restaurant and bar is finally open and taking reservations.
We were the first ones to report on Stereo41, and we’ve shared updates as the restaurant came together. Now, it’s open and ready to rock!
The high-design spot aims to bring a big-city nightlife vibe — complete with a dedicated DJ booth and hi-fi sound system — to a town better known for patio brunches than late-night beats.
From PG&E Office To Hi-Fi Party Spot
Stereo41 sits at 1535 Bonanza Street, in the freestanding brick building at Bonanza and Commercial that sat empty for years after PG&E moved out.
City economic development materials and earlier planning documents described the project as a “music-centric restaurant and bar,” with two patios and an in-house DJ booth built right into the floorplan.
Making an old office into a club-like restaurant took some doing. Workers added additional space, and gutted the restaurant down to its studs during the rebuilding process.
When we visited to see how it looks and take the photos in this article, we heard locals murmuring “Wow, it looks way bigger than when it was PG&E!”
Now that the doors are open, those plans are reality: guests walk into a sleek, low-lit space built around sound. Speakers are embedded throughout the room, the DJ booth is a visual focal point, and the overall vibe is closer to a Tokyo or Dubai listening bar than a traditional East Bay restaurant.
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The Team Behind Stereo41
Stereo41 is led by a stacked local hospitality crew. The project comes from Victor Abu-Ghaben and Berk Gibbs, best known for hot chicken favorite World Famous Hotboys, along with Abu-Ghaben’s sister Sofia Ghaben-Sabet and her husband Helmy Sabet, who operate nearby Latin-Caribbean restaurant LITA at Broadway Plaza.
Between Hotboys and LITA, the team already has a track record of turning bold flavors and strong branding into serious buzz. With Stereo41, they are betting that Walnut Creek is ready for a destination that feels as much like a modern music venue as a restaurant.
Middle Eastern Meets Japanese, Right In Downtown Walnut Creek
Food-wise, Stereo41 blends Middle Eastern roots with Japanese influence and a bit of contemporary American flair.
OpenTable and early coverage describe a menu built around Middle Eastern dishes — think lamb, seafood, and shareable mezze — with Japanese touches woven throughout, including sashimi and an omakase counter experience.
The kitchen is led by chef Jonathan De La Torre, who previously cooked at Mourad, a Michelin-starred modern Moroccan restaurant in San Francisco. The idea is to bring that level of technique and detail across the bridge, without requiring Walnut Creek diners to actually cross one.
Cocktails Built For Late Night
Stereo41’s bar program leans just as hard into the concept as the kitchen. According to early reports, the cocktails use ingredients that nod to both sides of the menu — things like pistachio, tea, and Japanese spirits — in photogenic, high-end drinks aimed squarely at the late-night crowd.
With a hi-fi sound system, DJ booth, and full bar in one room, the space is designed to shift from dinner into a more energetic, nightlife-style atmosphere as the evening goes on. It’s a restaurant, and also sort of a club–but for the Lamorinda/WC set!
A DJ Booth At The Center Of It All
The DJ element is not an afterthought here. When the city first teased Stereo41, officials specifically called out the project’s in-house DJ booth and “music-centric” positioning as something new for Walnut Creek’s dining scene.
And when we grabbed permits to see what was being built in the old PG&E space, we found numerous references to a DJ booth in the design and permitting docs.
Owners have said their own backgrounds as DJs and music producers helped drive the concept. Instead of the hushed, vinyl-only listening bars that have popped up elsewhere, Stereo41 is aiming for a more energetic, party-like feel, with music ranging from Japanese city pop to Middle Eastern grooves and 80s West Coast tracks.
If it works, it could give downtown Walnut Creek something it has not really had: a true nightlife anchor that is as focused on sound as it is on food.
How To Visit Stereo41
Stereo41 is now open for lunch and dinner at:
Stereo41
1535 Bonanza St, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Website: http://www.stereo41.com/
Phone: (925) 278-2760
According to reservation platforms, hours are generally:
- Monday through Thursday and Sunday: roughly 11:30 am to 10 pm
- Friday and Saturday: 11:30 am to 11 pm
Given the buzz around the opening, scoring a weekend table will likely require a reservation, especially for prime evening slots when the DJ booth is in full swing.
Whether you are there for an omakase experience, a date-night dinner, or just cocktails and music after a show at Lesher Center, expect Stereo41 to quickly become one of the most talked-about rooms in downtown Walnut Creek.
Read Next
If you want to keep exploring Walnut Creek’s evolving food scene, take a look at our earlier deep dive on multiple new restaurants breaking ground downtown, where we first walked through the plans for Stereo41 alongside projects like North Italia and other incoming spots. From there, you can jump to our coverage of Barebottle Brewing Company’s new taproom across from Trader Joe’s, which turned a mystery construction site into one of downtown’s buzziest brewery openings, and our roundup of 10 great new restaurants that opened in the 925 this year.
