By Caden Gilbert
A popular Berkeley breakfast restaurant, Homemade Cafe, is making a return after closing in January, 2024. This is happening because the owner of the restaurant, Collin Doran, has a longtime neighbor and friend who is able to assist Doran. His name was Rohit Singh, and the building was looking for another tenant. Singh decided to take over the lease and he and Doran worked together as partners to bring back Homemade Cafe.
This could be a bright turn of events for restaurants in Berkeley, since many have been closing down lately. With the return of a beloved restaurant, it could bring hope for the return of more restaurants in the future. Ever since COVID, restaurants have seen the harsh effects and started to lose business. But now there is a brighter side to look at and more restaurants could be coming to not just Berkeley but the Bay Area as a whole.
Homemade Cafe originally opened in 1979, and Collin Dorran worked as a busser there. Dorran eventually purchased the restaurant in 2011, but it crumbled years after. The restaurant faced a lot of financial issues on top of people starting to have different eating patterns after COVID. After the restaurant closed in 2024, Dorran thought he would never see the return of the restaurant. He had lost all hope until his friend Singh helped him, which he feels forever grateful for.
In 2023, Doran got attention globally for his Everybody Eats Initiative. This offered a free breakfast to those who were in need of one but couldn’t afford it. The restaurant had so much support from his regular customers that he was able to cover all of the free meals they made, which added up to 5,000. With the reopening of Homemade Cafe, Dorran said that he will be returning. There will be many changes to the restaurant as well.
Some changes coming to Homemade Cafe are ordering and paying at the greeting station. In doing this, labor costs are reduced and the service will become a lot faster than it was before. The dining room was completely refurbished and will now have goldenrod walls, chairs in many different colors, new tables, and an entirely new floor. These changes will make the return of this restaurant bright and welcoming for the community of Berkeley.
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