Stereo 41, the downtown Walnut Creek restaurant that won Diablo Magazine's Best New Restaurant award less than a year after opening, is replacing its Japanese and Middle Eastern-influenced menu with Southern comfort food.

Co-owner Victor Ghaben told the East Bay Times in a story published Monday, July 27, that the restaurant at 1535 Bonanza St. will undergo a mid-August renovation to make the switch. The pivot will bring Creole, Low Country, and Appalachian dishes to the former PG&E building, along with a new weekend Southern brunch and an additional bar space.

"There will be a lot of comfort food, a little bit of Creole, some Low Country, some Appalachian — basically all of the staples of Southern cuisine done in a more fine-casual setting," Ghaben said.

The change is deliberate. Ghaben said the current menu is "hard to define" and the Southern focus will simplify things. Planned dishes include shrimp and grits, bouillabaisse, chicken-fried steak with red-eye gravy, fried chicken with hot honey, and complimentary cornbread for every table baked in what Ghaben described as his grandmother's 110-year-old cast-iron pan. The brunch will draw on French and African influences.

Ghaben and business partner Berk Gibbs co-own the restaurant. The pair also founded World Famous Hotboys, the Oakland-born hot chicken chain with seven locations including one at 1394 N. Main St., around the corner from Stereo 41. Ghaben comes from a multigenerational family of East Bay restaurateurs active in the region since the 1970s.

Chef Jonathan De La Torre, an Oakland native who previously cooked at San Francisco fine-dining spots Quince, Nopa, and Michelin-starred Mourad, oversees the kitchen.

He will lead the menu transition.

Stereo 41 opened in November 2025 and quickly earned two categories in Diablo Magazine's 2026 Best of the East Bay readers' poll: Best New Restaurant and Best Late-Night Dining. The restaurant's DJ booth, hi-fi Void sound system, and late-night hours will remain after the renovation, according to the East Bay Times report.

The physical space features sidewalk seating, a semi-enclosed patio with breeze blocks and jungle ferns, a mirrored hallway, and artwork painted by a co-owner. Current hours run 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays.

No specific reopening date after the mid-August renovation has been announced. Reservations are available through stereo41.com.