Top image: University Avenue at Waverley Street in downtown Palo Alto, April 24, 2020. Maison Saigon is planned on nearby Emerson Street. Photo: Brian Sterling / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
iniBurger’s San José location will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 1 to 2 p.m. at 2200 Eastridge Loop, inside the Eatery food court at Eastridge Center, according to the San José Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce’s event listing.
What is confirmed
The restaurant’s San José page already lists the Eastridge location with daily hours, and a company press release counts San José among its Bay Area locations. The Chronicle has not confirmed the date the restaurant began serving customers, so the Nov. 10 event should be read as a ceremony, not necessarily a first day of business.
The company says on its website that its burgers use 100% Angus beef and that its menu is 100% halal. Those are the company’s own claims and the Chronicle has not independently verified them. The release says iniBurger was named Best Burger in the 2026 Best of the Bay readers’ poll. It describes a chain founded in 2020 by Abdul and Leeza Popal that has expanded through franchising across the East Bay and South Bay.
The photograph above shows a VTA bus at the neighboring Eastridge Transit Center. The Chronicle does not have a licensed photo of iniBurger’s restaurant or food, and the burger image below is a stand-in from a different restaurant.
Also in the pipeline: permits, not openings
South Bay Today’s new-restaurant tracker, which compiles Santa Clara County Environmental Health permit activity, lists several recent entries:
- Maison Saigon, 611 Emerson St., Palo Alto, with a permit-activity date of Nov. 6;
- Sweetgreen, 261 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, Oct. 30; and
- Mendocino Farms, 1098 E. Brokaw Road, Suite 10, San José, Nov. 3.
A permit entry shows that a business is moving through county review. It does not say when, or whether, a restaurant will open, and none of these businesses has announced an opening date that the Chronicle has found. We will report dates when owners or official channels provide them.
How to read this
Ribbon cuttings, permit records and “coming soon” signs are different steps in a restaurant’s life. This report labels something as open only when a source establishes the date. If you run one of these businesses and have an opening date, menu or hours to share, email the desk at editor@southbaychronicle.com.
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