The hit Sichuan hot chicken sandwich from Ok’s Deli, opening soon in Oakland.

Summer is often a busy, exciting time for restaurant openings, and this year is no different.

Bay Area restaurants of all kinds are gearing up to debut, from the groundbreaking Cafe Ohlone in Berkeley to a rare Malaysian restaurant in San Francisco.

The Bay Area is also seeing the success of more pandemic-born pop-ups. East Bay sandwich sensations Ok’s Deli and Pyro’s Pastrami are growing into permanent shops in Oakland and Berkeley, respectively. And lines are sure to form at two cult-favorite fried chicken chains arriving this summer: Raising Cane’s first Bay Area location, slated to open July 14 in Oakland, and three Dave’s Hot Chicken outposts in the East Bay and South Bay.

Some exciting projects that were aiming to open this summer, however, have been delayed to the fall, including bagel phenomenon Boichik’s first Peninsula shop in Palo Alto. Other expansions are on track, though. Sunnyvale’s popular Turkish spot Meyhouse, for example, is set to open in downtown Palo Alto in August with wood-fired mezes and whole branzino.

Summer officially starts on June 21. Read on for more on the seven most anticipated restaurants set to open throughout the Bay Area this summer, listed in alphabetical order.

Bay Area diners will be hard-pressed to find a restaurant with fresher, more local seafood than at San Francisco’s Ancora (formerly Seven Fishes) in the Mission District. The owners run noted sustainable fish company Water2Table, so Ancora will use their hyperlocal seafood network to serve a menu filled with fish caught that same day. They teamed up with fine-dining chef Nick Anichini, formerly of Atelier Crenn, to be Ancora’s executive chef and partner. He’s coming up with dishes like grilled oysters with creamed ramps and papardelle pasta with a sugo made from abalone. There will be a few ways to dine at Ancora, from a seven-course tasting menu ($125 per person) and a-la-carte dishes to more casual bar snacks.

557 Valencia St., San Francisco. ancorasf.com

Cafe Ohlone owners Vincent Medina, left, and Louis Trevino, at the future site of their restaurant on the UC Berkeley campus.

The world’s first Ohlone restaurant, where diners will eat venison backstrap and tea-soaked quail eggs among traditional shellmounds and native plants, is finally gearing up to make its much anticipated debut. Cafe Ohlone, led by Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino, will celebrate Ohlone food, culture and history through ticketed meals and interactive activities. A seasonal menu will change often, but expect dishes like Indian lettuces dressed in a blackberry sauce and smoked walnut oil and local oysters with tart gooseberry sauce. They’ve transformed the courtyard at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley into a powerful, physical reminder of the university’s own harmful role in Ohlone history.

102 Anthropology and Art Practice Building, Berkeley. makamham.com

Laksa will always be on the menu at Damansara, Tracy Goh's Malaysian restaurant in San Francisco.

Malaysian restaurants remain few and far between in the Bay Area, but Damansara hopes to change that. Damansara, named after chef Tracy Goh’s hometown in Malaysia, will focus on shareable snacks like curry puffs and laksa, Malaysia’s famous noodle soup. The shrimp-and-chicken broth is amped up with coconut milk and aromatics like lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and torch ginger buds. Goh built a following for her laksa through pop-up dinners she hosted in her home, and later through food delivery during the pandemic.

1781 Church St., San Francisco. instagram.com/damansarasf

Abura soba from Kajiken, which is opening its first U.S. restaurant in San Mateo.

Ramen heads, get excited: The first U.S. location of a hit Japanese abura soba chain is headed to the Peninsula this summer. Kajiken, known in Japan for brothless bowls of noodles mixed with sauces and toppings, will open in downtown San Mateo. Noodles, made fresh in a glass-walled room in front of diners, will get coated in housemade soy sauce, chile oil and vinegar with customizable toppings like chashu, egg yolk and bamboo shoots. While some Bay Area Japanese restaurants serve abura soba, Kajiken will likely be the region’s first and only spot devoted to the ramen genre.

112 B St., San Mateo. kajikenusa.com

Kelvin Choy prepares the Sichuan hot chicken sandwich during an Ok’s Deli pop-up on Friday, May 14, 2021 in Oakland.

Ok’s Deli, known for creative Asian American sandwiches that sold out in minutes, is opening a sandwich shop in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood. Expect the hits from chef Albert Ok’s pop-up, like his most popular Sichuan hot chicken sandwich, seasoned with numbing Sichuan peppercorns and served on a housemade sesame bun. New at the to-go deli will be his takes on Italian sandwich classics, including a meaty combo stuffed with salami, coppa and mortadella in homage to shuttered Oakland institution Genova’s Deli. Ok, an Oakland native who previously cooked at acclaimed Bay Area restaurants Iyasare, Mago and the Michelin-starred Maum, makes nearly everything in the sandwiches from scratch, from hot sauces to bread.

3932 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. instagram.com/oksdeli

Pizza pop-up Outta Sight is opening a New York-style slice shop in San Francisco.

Another buzzy pandemic pop-up is graduating to a permanent home: pizza favorite Outta Sight. While chef Eric Ehler will continue to sling whole pies out of Hayes Valley wine bar Fig & Thistle, the new, casual space in San Francisco’s Civic Center neighborhood will be devoted to New York-style slices. Expect nine pizzas by the slice, from a classic mushroom white pizza to square Sicilian-style pies. Ehler and business partner Peter Dorrance met while working at Michelin-starred Chinatown restaurant Mister Jiu’s.

422 Larkin St., San Francisco. instagram.com/thatsouttasight

Snail Bar’s popular ham and cheese sandwich will be on the menu at the owner’s second bar, Slug, opening this summer in downtown Oakland.

If the perpetual crowds and critical acclaim for Oakland’s Snail Bar are any indication, the owner’s second act in downtown Oakland will be a similar hit. At Slug, chef-owner Andres Giraldo Florez will channel the same devotion to quality food and natural wine, plus live music and late-night hours. He’s creating a seasonal menu with chef Spencer Horovitz, who’s leaving his post at popular San Francisco Italian restaurant Itria to open Slug. (Don’t worry; Snail Bar staples like the oozing ham and cheese sandwich found on nearly every table will be available here, too.)

102 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. instagram.com/slugbaroak

Elena Kadvany is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany

Elena Kadvany joined The San Francisco Chronicle as a food reporter in 2021. Previously, she was a staff writer at the Palo Alto Weekly and its sister publications, where she covered restaurants and education and also founded the Peninsula Foodist restaurant column and newsletter.