At G Street and Yosemite Avenue, the Yosemite North Shopping Center looks very different than it did in the spring. The coffee counter at 3562 G St. never closed, even though it changed hands. Two doors down at 3572 G St., the Five Guys that opened in June 2016 shut down in June and was boarded up. Up the street, crews are building out the Yosemite Crossing shopping center near Sprouts Farmers Market for three restaurants that don't have opening dates yet.
So one stretch of G Street has a reopened café, an empty storefront and a construction site. That's a good summary of Merced's food news in 2026. A lot of places were announced and given target dates. Most of those dates have passed with no opening. The list of new places you can actually visit this October is short, and it's a different list from the one that made headlines in May.
A handoff on G Street that took no days at all
The smoothest change on this corner happened in April. ASIP Coffee Roasters closed its Yosemite North location to focus on The Sensory Lab, its downtown shop at 847 W. Main St. The owners said running two locations had stretched their time, energy and resources. "We realized we were spreading ourselves too thin instead of pouring everything into doing one thing really well," they wrote on Instagram.
The G Street shop served its last ASIP customers on April 10. Ember Coffee & Eatery welcomed its first customers in the same space the same day. Ember told the Merced Sun-Star that the menu was "staying same as before," so the drinks you were used to are still there. Drinks come in 16-ounce sizes, from $4.60 for an espresso to $7.70 for specialty drinks like the matcha cream latte. A 20-ounce upgrade adds $1. Ember is open daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
If you followed ASIP to the north side, it's still around. Its shop is now on Main Street instead of G Street.
A few doors away, Nothing Bundt Cakes was open at 3522 G St. by the time the Sun-Star covered it on May 26, selling Bundt cakes, Bundtinis and Bundtlets. As of the July 6 report, the former Five Guys space at 3572 G St. was boarded up and no new tenant had been announced.
The dates that came and went
That leads to the bigger pattern. Over the spring and early summer, the Sun-Star published a run of coming-soon stories, most with a target month attached. Here's how those targets compare with the latest reporting.
| Business | Where | What was said | Latest reporting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dunkin' | Campus Parkway Plaza, Campus Pkwy. and E. Mission Ave. | City officials expected "between late July and early August" | Still "preparing to open" as of Oct. 1 |
| Licky's | The Hub, 2220 E. Yosemite Ave. | Scheduled to open Aug. 15 | No opening confirmation found |
| Bae Tea Coffeehouse | The Hub | Preparing to open in August | No opening confirmation found |
| Buzz Deli | The Hub | Opening planned for August | No opening confirmation found |
| Dokidoki | 2991 G St. | Targeted a July opening | No opening confirmation found |
| Starbucks, second location | 1285 W. Yosemite Ave. | Spring target, no exact date | No opening confirmation found |
| Raising Cane's | 665 Fairfield Dr., former Big Lots space | No date announced as of May 29 | No opening confirmation found |
| Menchie's Frozen Yogurt | Not yet announced | No address or date as of May 16 | No opening confirmation found |
"No confirmation found" doesn't mean a place isn't open. A shop can quietly start serving and announce it only on its own social accounts. It does mean the summer dates are no longer a good guide. The Hub, the development near UC Merced that mixes off-campus student housing with shops and restaurants, said in the summer that Bae Tea, Licky's and Buzz Deli were expected to open "in the coming weeks." Bae Tea, a Yemeni-inspired coffee house with a planned menu of traditional coffees and teas, smoothies, Turkish delight and honeycomb bread filled with cream cheese and drizzled with honey, had first announced its plans at The Hub more than a year before that coverage.
Dunkin' is the clearest example. Its target window was late July to early August. In its Oct. 1 story, the Sun-Star still described Merced's first Dunkin' as preparing to open.
What a real opening looked like this year
The places that did open mostly had something already in place, like a lease, a following or a launch date set for a specific day.
Vallarta Supermarkets picked a date and kept it. The family-owned chain held its grand opening on June 10 at 851 W. Olive Ave. in the Marketplace at Merced, with a 52,000-square-foot store, a bakery, fresh produce and a seafood counter called Marisquería Costa de Oro. The opening brought 175 jobs. KMPH confirmed that the store opened that day.
Joy Tea Bar opened later than planned. It's the newest confirmed opening on the north side. Owner Hushee Xiong founded the business in 2024 as a mobile pop-up in Merced. In March, Joy Tea Bar announced a permanent shop that it planned to open "by June." The Sun-Star reported it officially open on Sept. 15, at 3360 N. Highway 59, Suite E, inside Fahren's Park Plaza. Mr. Pho and Table 59 are in the same center. ABC30 reported on Sept. 18 that two sisters run the shop off Highway 59 near Buena Vista Drive, with a team of 18 working the counter and kitchen, and drinks with boba pearls on the menu. The Sun-Star lists matcha, specialty chai and fruit teas.
Joy Tea Bar's three-month delay is useful context. A locally owned shop with a following, a signed space and a clear plan still opened about a season late. A summer date posted on a coming-soon sign is a rough estimate at best.
Where the next round is being built
The next cluster on G Street is the one under construction now. City officials told the Sun-Star that the work at Yosemite Crossing, along G Street near Sprouts, is for Chipotle Mexican Grill, Poki Bowl and Angry Chickz. The new Chipotle will be the chain's third location in Merced. Poki Bowl and Angry Chickz will be the first of either brand in Merced County. Poki Bowl first announced plans for Merced in May 2025, so it has been coming for well over a year. No official opening dates have been set.
One clarification for anyone confused by the Chipotle news: the Campus Parkway Chipotle at 3120 Campus Pkwy. has been open since early 2024. It's an existing location, not one of this year's announcements.
Open right now, by part of town
For a weekend this month, here's what has confirmed opening reporting behind it:
- G Street at Yosemite Avenue. Ember Coffee & Eatery at 3562 G St., daily 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Nothing Bundt Cakes at 3522 G St., both in Yosemite North Shopping Center.
- Highway 59 near Buena Vista Drive. Joy Tea Bar at 3360 N. Highway 59, Suite E, in Fahren's Park Plaza, which also has Mr. Pho and Table 59.
- West Olive Avenue. Vallarta Supermarkets at 851 W. Olive Ave., including the Marisquería Costa de Oro seafood counter.
- Downtown Main Street. ASIP's The Sensory Lab at 847 W. Main St., and Una Más Taproom at 420 W. Main St. The Merced County Times reported that brothers Abraham and Isaac Santana opened Una Más at the start of the year with 24 taps, nonalcoholic options and appetizers.
Everything else on the coming-soon lists is still waiting. That includes the Dunkin' sign at Campus Parkway Plaza, the three Hub tenants, Dokidoki at 2991 G St., Raising Cane's in the old Big Lots space at 665 Fairfield Dr., the Starbucks planned for 1285 W. Yosemite Ave., and the three restaurants at Yosemite Crossing. When each opens, the business itself will likely announce it before anyone else does.
At Donald Oliveira, we follow which storefronts on G Street and Yosemite Avenue are filled, empty or under construction, and it shapes how North Merced feels block by block. If you're curious what this year's openings and closures mean for your home's value, ask us for a free home valuation and we'll go over it with you.
