You can finally sink your teeth into the long-awaited burger concept from celebrated Oakland chef Matt Horn, as Matty’s Old Fashioned is taking reservations for Wednesday night and beyond at their new brick-and-mortar Downtown Oakland location.
The finger-lickin’ fandom of Oakland-based celebrity barbecue chef Matt Horn has only grown since his 2021 Michelin Bib Gourmand, 2021 Food & Wine magazine Best New Chefs distinction, and 2022 James Beard semifinalist nomination. And as fancy as those awards and such sound, Horn’s cuisine is true down-home eatin’ at his popular West Oakland spot Horn Barbecue and its sister chicken sandwich restaurant Kowbird, which opened in January 2022.
Horn’s fans have been patiently waiting since we learned in early 2021 that Horn had a burger concept called Matty’s Old Fashioned in the works at 464 Eighth Street, the former New World Vegetarian restaurant. But like many restaurant openings these days, the wait had been longer than anticipated.
Matty’s Old Fashioned did just launch a website, which rather humorously depicts Samuel L. Jackson eating a burger in Pulp Fiction, though it only says “Coming Soon.” But what’s this in the above Instagram post from this weekend, which says “Check out our newest concept Matty’s Old Fashioned opening next week”? Is the wait finally over?
Eater SF reported Tuesday morning that “Chef Matt Horn’s tribute to old-school burger joints debuts in Oakland tomorrow.” SFist checked the reservation link listed on the Matty’s Old Fashioned Instagram account, and sure enough, they are taking reservations starting Wednesday, July 12, for what appears to be a soft opening.
We are currently seeing reservations available for a few slots on both Wednesday and Thursday nights. But as for Friday and Saturday, the site is currently displaying the message “Matty's Old Fashioned has sold out all reservations,” and “Try another party size or date or join waitlist.”
SFist has reached out to the Horn Hospitality Group’s publicists for comment, and we will update this post with any response.
Reservation slots do appear available on Tuesday-Saturday night for the following two weeks of July, while August reservations slot do not appear to be available yet.
And it’s a reservations-only system at Matty's Old Fashioned, for the time being at least. So you won't have to wait in blocks-long lines, as people did when Horn’s Kowbird opened in West Oakland.
Image: tablehopper via Instagram
