Teni East Kitchen, two months after opening its new Piedmont Avenue location, advertises a "full bar" despite California ABC records showing no active liquor license on file for the address.

Two months after opening at 3770 Piedmont Ave., Unit B, Teni East Kitchen is advertising a "full bar" – but records from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) show no active liquor license on file for that address. This raises questions about the Burmese concept’s highly anticipated expansion and promised beverage service.

Chef-owner Tiyo Shibabaw, who previously managed Burma Superstar, opened Teni East Kitchen's new, larger Oakland location on May 5, a significant upgrade from its original Temescal footprint. Despite the restaurant’s website explicitly promoting full bar service, a comprehensive search of the ABC’s public license database for 3770 Piedmont Avenue, Unit B, under both "Teni East Kitchen" and related entities, returned no record of an active or pending alcoholic beverage license. Similarly, no license was found for "East Kitchen Inc." at the previous 4015 Broadway address in Temescal.

The absence of an active liquor license for a restaurant advertising a full bar service poses a direct operational challenge, especially for a new venue looking to establish itself in a competitive corridor. While the specific legal entity holding the license, or the status of any potential application, remains unclear, the current public record shows no state authorization for alcohol sales at the Piedmont Avenue location. This situation underscores the intricate regulatory hurdles restaurant operators face, even as they expand and invest in new spaces.