Long-awaited Cook’s Seafood set for soft opening in Pleasanton next week

Yes, you read that right and no, it’s not a joke — Cook’s Seafood is at long last opening in Pleasanton this month. 

“We’re really excited to open this place,” Moises Bucio, the chef and butcher for the new restaurant, told the Weekly Tuesday.

It’s been almost eight years since the Menlo Park-based market and restaurant announced its plans to move into the Koll Center Plaza, located at 6654 Koll Center Pkwy.

After the restaurant first filed its original permits to the city for tenant improvements in 2017, the restaurant remained in a sort of limbo where no work was actually done up until 2024. But when the original permit expired and the restaurant filed for a new one — which the city issued in January — things finally started getting serious.

Now, after months of renovation work, the much-anticipated eatery and market will open its doors solely for friends and family this Thursday and Friday (May 8 and 9), according to Ramalah LaBang, the general manager for the new location.

Then, starting Monday (May 12), they will launch a soft opening where the restaurant will be open Monday through Sunday from 5-9 p.m. 

LaBang said they are doing a soft opening first for a couple of reasons: to make sure there is enough staff to meet demand and to make sure the employees — both front and back of the house — are prepared to meet the level of service and quality of food expectations set by the original Menlo Park restaurant.

For Bucio, opening the restaurant is more than just excitement — it’s personal. He said getting the job as head chef a few years back (he has been working at the Menlo Park location up until now) gave him some much needed financial stability and health insurance, which is why he made a promise to the Cook’s Seafood owner’s mom that he would open the Pleasanton location and that it would be successful.

“Cook’s Seafood saved my life,” Bucio said. “I need to pay them back.”

He also recognized how hard it has been to get the place up and running over the past few years and had to fight back the tears as the reality of the restaurant finally opening dawned on him.

“A lot of emotions,” Bucio said regarding the opening. “I have so much love for Cook’s Seafood and at some point I feel like Cook’s Seafood loves me back.”

LaBang said Bucio’s emotions were true to form on what they wish to do at the restaurant and that he too is excited to see the restaurant open.

While the official grand opening — when the restaurant will operate during normal hours — is yet to be determined, LaBang said more information will be made available when the time comes.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of the story misspelled Moises Bucio’s name. The Weekly regrets the error.

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