Taste of City Center returns to Bishop Ranch on September 18, running for ten days through September 27, and if you've lived in San Ramon for more than a year you already know the drill: prix fixe menus, limited-time dishes, and a wine event at the end that's worth planning your week around. What you might not know is that the restaurant week roster doesn't automatically include every place people have been buzzing about this year. Two of the most talked-about openings at City Center aren't on the participant list at all, which matters more than it sounds like if you're chasing the free ticket to that closing event.
What actually counts toward the free ticket
The mechanics are straightforward on paper. Spend $300 or more at participating restaurants between September 18 and 27, and you get a complimentary ticket to September Sips, the wine and food pairing event that closes out restaurant week on the afternoon of September 27, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. This year's Sips pours from a dozen Livermore Valley producers, including Almost Famous Wine Company, Darcie Kent Estate Winery, Arroyo Cellars, Del Valle Winery, Garré Vineyards & Winery, JMC Cellars, McGrail Vineyards & Winery, Pruett Farms Winery, Rosa Fierro Cellars, Shanti Wines, The Steven Kent Winery, and Wood Family Vineyards, timed to land right as those vineyards hit peak harvest.
Chuck Martinez, vice president and general manager of City Center Bishop Ranch, framed the pairing as a chance to put the neighborhood's dining scene on display alongside the wine list, saying the event "gives us a chance to put our restaurants front and center." That's the pitch. The fine print is the part worth reading closely: the $300 has to land at one of ten specific restaurants. Meyhouse, Slanted Door, Alora Social, Bamboo Sushi, Marugame Udon, Salt & Straw, ROAM Burger, Social Affair, World Wrapps, and ZENTRL Kitchen + Bar are the participants. That's the whole list.
The two names missing from that list
If you've been paying attention to City Center's openings over the past year, you've probably heard about KHAKI Indian Bar and Canteen and Rico Rico Taco. Neither is on the restaurant week roster this year, and that's worth knowing before you plan your ten days around chasing a free wine ticket.
KHAKI opened on the second floor at City Center in summer 2025, a 3,124-square-foot space led by chefs Sujan and Pujan Sarkar, both of whom carry Michelin recognition. It's been open well over a year at this point, long enough to be a known quantity for regulars rather than a novelty. Rico Rico Taco arrived more recently, opening in February 2026 in a space between West Elm and Fieldwork Brewing Company. It's the East Bay outpost of an Oakland taqueria known for handmade tortillas and spit-roasted al pastor, and it's built a following well beyond San Ramon.
Both are genuinely good options at City Center. Neither one will move you toward that $300 threshold. If your plan is to eat your way toward a free September Sips ticket, a dinner at KHAKI or a few tacos at Rico Rico Taco simply won't count, no matter how good the meal is.
Meyhouse made the cut. It's also the newest name on the list.
Here's the part that complicates any theory that restaurant week just rewards whoever's been around longest. Meyhouse, the Turkish restaurant and jazz club that took over the former Dumpling Time space, had its soft opening on April 30, 2026, with jazz programming starting the following week. That makes it younger than both KHAKI and Rico Rico Taco, and it's still on the participant list.
Meyhouse has spent its first several months building a genuine live music program rather than treating the jazz component as decor. September bookings include two-time Grammy winner Mads Tolling and two-time Grammy winner Alan Broadbent, alongside vocalist Jackie Ryan, following a summer run that already included a John Coltrane centennial tribute from the Tim Lin Quartet and a night with British jazz vocalist Claire Martin. Co-owner Koray Altinsoy has described the goal as building "a true flagship experience" for the brand's first East Bay location, one that treats food and live music as the same offering rather than separate draws.
Whatever criteria the venue uses for including restaurants in Taste of City Center, tenure clearly isn't the deciding factor. If it were, Meyhouse would be the first one cut, not the one that made it in over two more established names.
The week actually starts the night before
If you're building a City Center itinerary around September 18 through 27, don't skip September 17. That's the date for 3rd Thursdays Arts and Eats at Dougherty Station Community Arts Center, a monthly evening market running from 5 to 9 p.m. that pairs local artists selling original work with a rotating lineup of food trucks. It's not part of restaurant week and it's not at City Center, but for anyone mapping out a full week of things to do in San Ramon, it's the natural kickoff the night before the main event starts.
The Saturday morning constant through all of this is the San Ramon Farmers Market at Alexander Square, City Center's central plaza. Now in its 19th season, the market brings in more than 70 local growers and artisan food producers alongside street food vendors and live music. Restaurant week or not, that Saturday rhythm doesn't change, and it's worth building into your plans for both weekends that restaurant week spans, September 19-20 and September 26-27.
Building your own ten days
If you're trying to get the most out of this stretch without overcomplicating it, here's a way to think about the two weekends and the days between them:
- Start September 17 at Dougherty Station for Arts and Eats, since it's a natural warm-up the night before restaurant week opens.
- Use the first weekend, September 19-20, to hit two or three of the ten official participants while the prix fixe menus are still fresh and reservations are easier to get.
- Save a weeknight for KHAKI or Rico Rico Taco on their own terms, not as part of a $300 push, since neither will count toward the Sips ticket anyway.
- Keep tracking your restaurant week spending as you go if the free ticket matters to you. Hitting $300 across two or three visits to the ten listed spots is realistic for most households, but only if you're intentional about where the money goes.
- Close the second weekend with September Sips itself on September 27, from 2 to 4:30 p.m., whether you've earned the free ticket or you're buying in.
None of this requires you to choose between the newer, buzzier spots and the restaurant week list. It just means knowing which one is which before you start ordering.
Taste of City Center will keep coming back every fall, and City Center's restaurant lineup will keep changing in between. Right now, in September 2026, the ten-day window and the free wine ticket are real, the two names missing from the official list are just as real, and knowing the difference is the kind of local detail that makes the difference between a good week of eating and a slightly frustrating one.
If you're the kind of San Ramon resident who tracks changes like this around your own neighborhood, that same attention to detail is what we bring to every conversation about buying, selling, or renting property across San Ramon and the rest of the East Bay. When you're ready to talk about what's next for your home, the Aliloupour Real Estate Team is here to help, with the same local, on-the-ground knowledge that goes into posts like this one.
