Downtown Walnut Creek has a late-night spot built around records. Stereo 41 at 1535 Bonanza St. is a Southern restaurant on one side and a hi-fi listening lounge on the other.
An old service station
When co-owner Victor Ghaben was a kid, the building was a PG&E service station. His parents worked at a restaurant nearby, and he played in its courtyard, he told the East Bay Express. The building sat empty for years after PG&E left, until his sister pointed it out. Ghaben and partner Berk Gibbs kept the whitewashed brick front and gave the inside a mid-century look. "It's sexy. It's modern," Ghaben said.
Who's behind it
Ghaben and Gibbs co-founded World Famous Hotboys, the fried-chicken sandwich chain that started as a backyard pop-up and now has seven locations, according to the Express. Both are longtime DJs with large vinyl collections. "We wanted to do something that was nightlife-leaning but not a straight-up club," Ghaben said.
The food and the music
The restaurant's site says the menu draws on Virginia and Nashville roots, Chef Jonathan De La Torre's Arkansas family recipes and the Louisiana traditions of executive sous chef Antwan Williams. Dishes include shrimp creole, short rib pepper pot, hot skillet cornbread, fried chicken and collard greens. In the lounge, a DJ or curated playlists of soul, funk, disco, hip-hop and Latin music play through a hi-fi sound system. The kitchen stays open until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, the site says.