To convert an old gas station into a restaurant, Alyssa and Anthony Roost first had to figure out what to do with the pumps.

The easy choice was to get rid of them. But they had hopes of keeping the integrity of the space. So they kept the overhang and built around the concrete, turning the pump area into an island bar where customers could enjoy a cocktail in the fresh air.

Around it, they added picnic tables and umbrellas, string lights and televisions, and turned the old gas station at 200 Oak Street into The Yard, a chicken-and-beer quick-eat location that’ll make Brentwood neighbors feel like they’re at a block party.

The Yard opened in late September and has been packed ever since, says Alyssa Roost.

“The focus is just for families to have a place to connect and hang out, and it’s been awesome,” she says. “You see mom and dad meeting grandma and grandpa to get a burger. People are running into their neighbors. It’s very community driven. It’s just what we wanted it to be to bring that community together.”

The Roosts already have two restaurants in Brentwood, the Vine and Grain wine bar and Attraversiamo, a New American restaurant. Both spots are well-reviewed with 4.5 stars on Google. And both cater to adults.

Raising a 4-year-old child, the Roosts wanted something built for families. “We wanted a place to go have a burger or a cocktail while our little guy had space to roam around,” Alyssa says.

At The Yard, the outdoor space provides ample room for children. The menu is kid-friendly, too: burgers, fried chicken sandwiches and french fries.

“This menu is short and sweet,” Alyssa says. “We’d rather do a small menu really well than have 50 menu items.”

A Liberty Smashburger features special sauce, pickles, grilled onions and American cheese on a potato bun, while the chicken sandwich is hand-breaded to order, “a foreign thing in the sandwich world,” Roost says.

The simple menu has worked well with the gas station theme.

“We tried to keep the automotive feel,” said Roost, a Brentwood native. “The ground on the inside is garage flooring. The old pumps, the concrete, it all stayed.

“What’s neat is where we’re located. There’s an ice cream shop right there. People are coming to get a burger then going next door to get an ice cream or a beer from a craft beer shop. There’s a lot of places on our block to go.”

Details >> Open from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday-Monday at 200 Oak St. in Brentwood; brentwoodyard.com.

‘Top Chef’ star Stephanie Izard plans a Sunnyvale restaurant

Celebrity chef Stephanie Izard — a “Top Chef” champion, James Beard Award winner and Michelin honoree — is bringing her acclaimed Girl & The Goat restaurant concept to Silicon Valley.

Her first NorCal place, Valley Goat, will make its debut in early 2025 in Sunnyvale as the star restaurant tenant of the first Treehouse Hotel in the United States, according to the announcement from the Boka Restaurant Group. That lodging project, in the works for two years, has taken over the former Sheraton site on North Mathilda Avenue.

Valley Goat will offer seating for 250 inside, on the patios and in the bar.

Izard got her big break on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” in the fourth season, becoming the first woman to capture the title. She won the James Beard Foundation award for “Best Chef: Great Lakes” in 2013 and has chalked up numerous other awards and raves.

Izard’s restaurants present globally influenced, locally sourced, shareable dishes. At the original Girl & The Goat in Chicago and the Los Angeles one, Mediterranean, Asian and Middle Eastern flavors mingle on the menu.

In L.A., think appetizers of Naan & Dips and Olive Focaccia; entrees like Chile-Sichuan Basted Bass (with Honeycrisp apples and spiced almonds) and Beef Short Rib Noodles (with grilled pineapple and pickled veggies); and a dessert list that includes Plantain Leche Cake and Mango Sticky Rice.

The signature ingredient currently shows up in four dishes: Confit Goat Belly, Goat Curry, Goat Shank and Goat Liver Mousse. (The catchy Girl & The Goat theme came about because the name Izard is a type of mountain goat in the French Pyrenees.)

A seasonal cocktail menu is in the works, and the wine, beer and spirits lists will draw from California and beyond, the Boka announcement said.

Izard has already been meeting with Bay Area and Sunnyvale farmers and producers, and said she’s excited about the bounty of produce.

A native of the Chicago suburbs who grew up in Connecticut, Izard launched her restaurant empire in Chicago but now lives in Los Angeles. Besides the Girl & The Goat, she also owns Cabra restaurants in L.A. and Chicago and Duck Duck Goat and Little Goat in Chicago. She has written two cookbooks: “Girl in the Kitchen” and “Gather & Graze.”

Details >> 1100 N. Mathilda Ave., Sunnyvale; www.treehousehotels.com/silicon-valley/eat-drink/valley-goat and https://stephanieizard.com/

Ramen Hiroshi expands to Emeryville Public Market

Just in time for the colder weather, a new ramen shop is debuting in the Public Market in Emeryville. Ramen Hiroshi features its various ramen iterations plus typical izakaya fare like chicken karaage, yakitori (grilled skewers) and fried squid legs. It is the fifth Bay Area location for the local chain, with others in San Francisco, San Ramon, Walnut Creek and Alameda.

The restaurant’s signature Hakata-style Hiroshi Tonkotsu Ramen is made with long-simmered pork-bone broth with braised Berkshire pork belly, marinated soft-boiled egg, lotus root, black mushrooms and bamboo shoots, with the option of swapping regular noodles for curly-and-thick ones. There are also versions with a soy base, chicken broth, yuzu, miso, creamy-sesame broth with ground pork and at some locations, two types of vegetarian ramen.

Depending on location, Hiroshi does an all-chicken yakitori menu for weekend dinner service. Tasty things on sticks include chicken wings, thighs, gizzards, livers, cartilage and hearts; even the tails and skins are skewered and served, with salt and a little lemon wedge.

There’s a large selection of deep-fried items like chicken bites, calamari, lotus-root chips, potatoes with spicy cod roe sauce, gyoza, Kurobuta sausages and takoyaki (octopus balls). You’ll find mochi ice cream on the dessert list. And to drink, the options include Calpico and Ramune sodas, sparkling shochu cocktails, Japanese draft beer and raw sake. Some locations serve a Kyoto Matcha IPA, a beer made with green tea.

Ramen Hiroshi fills a hole left by a couple of restaurants departing the Public Market recently. The Caribbean operation Calypso Rose shut down this fall, and earlier this year, Shiba Ramen and the bar The Periodic Table both closed.

Details >> 5959 Shellmound St., Emeryville; ramenhiroshi.com.

Send restaurant news tips to Linda Zavoral at lzavoral@bayareanewsgroup.com, Kate Bradshaw at kbradshaw@bayareanewsgroup.com or John Metcalfe at jmetcalfe@bayareanewsgroup.com