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Sometimes, the hotter the restaurant, the more quickly it flames out. Especially if the emphasis is on good vibes before sound business practices.

Such was the case with Daytrip, which took Oakland by storm after opening in 2021. The little Temescal restaurant had a quirky of-the-moment menu focused on fermented fare, natural wine, and an idealistic mission centered around creating an equitable workplace. It was a party — complete with a disco ball.

Owned by husband-wife team Finn Stern and Stella Dennig, Daytrip was called one of the “10 Best New Restaurants of 2022” by Bon Appetit and a “psychedelic hallucination of a restaurant” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

“We got the accolades we never imagined we’d get,” says Stern, who was a semifinalist for the 2024 James Beard Award for Best Chef in California. “But even though we remained busy, we couldn’t make the numbers work.” 

So at the end of last year, Daytrip closed. For lovers of the restaurant, it was like a record scratch just as the DJ set was reaching its climax.

At the end of last month, Daytrip reopened as a pragmatic counter-service restaurant focused on an old faithful: rotisserie chicken. The disco ball is still hanging, but the closing hour is 8 p.m. The music is easy-going bossa nova, and the formerly bare-bones space has been painted a relentless glossy mustard yellow, floor-to-ceiling (like the actual ceiling), to the point that it feels like you’re dining inside a squeeze bottle of French’s. 

While the design might not be to everyone’s taste, the menu should be. It’s thoughtfully curated — healthy, quick, affordable, and perfect for to-go — the kind a couple of new parents would create for themselves. (Stern and Dennig had a baby nine months ago, producing a “steroid injection of happiness,” according to the new dad.)

But while Daytrip Counter presents as just another chicken joint (“Souvla, RT Rotisserie — those concepts definitely inspired us,” Stern says), everything on the menu has a tasteful little quirk. Call it casual but a little extra — and all very delicious. If I lived in Oakland, I’d be getting the food to-go on the regular. 

The menu is simple and revolves around chicken, salads, and sides. A friend and I shared the Combo Meal #2, which is $52 but could almost feed three. Included was a whole bird, brined in vinegar and rubbed with a secret spice mix (Sichuan peppercorns was all I could get out of Stern) and cooked low and slow before being finished at a high heat for caramelization. It arrived unabashed and indulgent — a pile of juicy, falling-apart chicken sitting in a pool of sauce made of schmaltz, along with your choice of two side sauces, like Thai chile lime butter and lemon tahini. Barring a few pieces of skin that were inedibly drenched in salt, the chicken was perfect.

To top this, the meal includes your choice of a hefty salad. The Cilantro-Lime Crunch had granola-like clusters of pumpkin seeds candied in pickle juice and turbinado sugar, as well as kale, romaine, and big dollops of a creamy sheep’s milk feta, all tossed in a charred-tomatillo vinaigrette. You get to choose two sides. We selected tender gigante beans in rich chicken broth with three-herb pesto, and Caesar fries topped with fresh herbs and shredded Parm. 

Stern dove into creating the menu knowing the neighborhood was “starved for healthy, affordable lunch options.” At a time when a Sweetgreen salad can run you $22, the shareable combo meals is a great deal, I’d say. “We always wanted to be a neighborhood restaurant, but instead we turned into this hip, cool-kid spot where the prices just got too high — we couldn’t afford to eat at the original Daytrip ourselves,” Stern says. “Now we’ve been able to find our margins elsewhere.” 

He pauses, clearly a little scarred from his experience. “Well, obviously the business model has only been around for three weeks, so we’ll see.” I’m rooting for them.

Eat Here Now is a first look at some of the newest, hottest restaurants around – the ones we think are worth visiting. We dine once, serve forth our thoughts, and let you take it from there.