ORINDA, CALIFORNIA — The former Starbucks in Orinda’s Theatre Square has traded coffee runs for cocktails, Italian small plates and a bar that stays open way past typical Orinda bedtimes–until midnight on weekends.
Bar Sorso is officially open at 2 Orinda Theatre Square, Suite 106. The restaurant quietly welcomed its first guests on September 23, according to an announcement its representatives sent to Bay Area Telegraph this week.
For readers who have been following this one since our first report in March (we were the ones to break the “scoop” about Sorso!), the opening brings a long-awaited new option for an evening out close to home.
And we now have more details about what you’ll find inside, from a Torino-style pizza to a tequila cocktail called the Spicy Nonna.
We’re also planning to stop by for a full review soon. Join our free 925 News newsletter so we can share it with you.
The project comes from longtime Orinda resident Daniele Carsano. When we spoke with him earlier this year, he described a cocktail bar and wine lounge built around Italian small plates, with somewhere to linger after a movie at the neighboring Orinda Theatre.
His goal was to “give residents an excuse to stay in Orinda.”
Carsano told us people had questioned whether Orinda could support the kind of lively bar he envisioned.
“I’m going to do something in Orinda and prove people wrong,” he said at the time.
Now, locals can go see what he has created.
The restaurant’s name means “sip” in Italian, and the concept draws on aperitivo: gathering over drinks and something to eat.
According to the new announcement, the menu includes local oysters, seafood crudo and vegetarian bruschetta that changes daily. There are also more substantial options, including wagyu tartare and lamb chop Milanese.
One specialty is pizza al padellino, a pan pizza from Torino with a light, airy crust. Other dishes include warm focaccia with mortadella, plus prawns served with cannellini beans, celery, bottarga and olives.
It’s a broader picture of the food than we had when Sorso was still behind covered windows, and gives people several ways to approach a visit: a drink and a small bite, or a selection of dishes to share.
The drinks have a familiar East Bay connection, too. Beverage Director Lucas Tischler was previously general manager of Montesacro Walnut Creek, according to the restaurant’s representatives.
His cocktails include the Sorso Spritz, which combines tequila, orange aperitif, amontillado sherry and amaretto. The Firenze Highball features Tuscan gin, plum vermouth and chamomile, while the Spicy Nonna brings together tequila, cilantro and serrano salt foam.
There are also Italian and international wines, amaro and Italian beers.
For Theatre Square, Sorso puts a prominent former coffee-shop space back into use and adds another reason to make an evening of a trip to the movies.
The late hours are especially relevant to the vision Carsano described back in March. According to Sorso’s current website, the bar stays open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
The posted business hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with those extended weekend bar hours, and 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Sorso is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Find it at 2 Orinda Theatre Square, Suite 106, and check @barsorso on Instagram for updates.
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