Julius’ Castle may finally be close to reopening after 12 years of announcements, sandwich shop Limoncello is expanding into Civic Center Plaza, and three new restaurants have been announced for vacant space in the Stonestown Galleria.

Julius’ Castlethe storied 102-year-old landmark restaurant in Telegraph Hill, which has been vacant for nearly two decades and under renovation for 12 years, is apparently set to reopen in the near future. But as the SF Standard reports, owner Paul Scott, who bought the property at a bankruptcy auction in 2012, has yet to hire a chef, who will have to come up with a menu and concept. And we’ve heard this story before, in 2019, so we’ll have to see it to believe it.

Over in the Castro, Fish & Flore has opened its Coffee corner on the Noe Street side, which serves coffee and other beverages as well as pastries, Tablehopper reports. They offer coffee from Oakland’s Flower Child Coffee, as well as pastries from nearby Poesia Cafe, as well as Jane the Bakery and Neighbor Bakehouse. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tablehopper also reports that local Italian delicatessens Lemoncellowhich has locations in Mission and Cathedral Hill, is taking over the vacant cafe at Civic Center Plaza (52 Grove Street). They will serve their highly acclaimed sandwiches as well as take-out pasta dishes, salad, pizza, and wine and beer. The opening is scheduled for October 1st and will be open during the day only – 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

13 year old burger and brunch shop Bernal Sternin Bernal Heights, is forced to move out of its existing space due to a lease dispute. But as Mission Local reports, the owners are moving operations across the street to another restaurant they own. Vega Pizzeriaand will serve the Bernal Star menu there.

Bombay Brasserie makes its public debut tonight at the Taj Campton Place hotel in Union Square. The restaurant hails from London and Dubai, where the concept exists in other Taj hotels, and the menu features a mix of Indian and French cuisine, including dishes such as curries and tandoori fish alongside lobster thermidor and filet mignon.

Next month, a new cocktail lounge will open in Oakland’s Temescal District, called 51 & Telat the corner of 51st Street and Telegraph Avenue. It opens on September 11 and is adjacent to long-established Ethiopian restaurant Asmara, separated by a door (it started as Asmara’s in-house bar). As the Bay Area News Group reports, it is run by the children of Asmara’s owners and the atmosphere is meant to be relaxed and neighborly.

KRON4 reports on the next three new restaurants in the Stonestown Galleria. They are Highest dumplingsa dumpling company based in Seattle; The Sunan offshoot of the Chinese-French restaurant at 133 Clement Street, which will move into the former Banana Republic space by the end of this year; and Kizuki Ramen & Izakayaa Japanese restaurant chain with locations in Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Indiana and Texas, which will open its first California location here early next year in the former Gram Café space.

For information only IKEA Foodie: The Chronicle tells us that the IKEA store in downtown San Francisco is offering a limited-time mac and cheese hot dog from now through the end of September in honor of the store’s one-year anniversary.

Chronicle Food Critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan is entering her third month without writing a restaurant review, and that seems odd considering she’s only just started working?

But associated critic Cesar Hernandez has given a review for the restaurant Oakland this week Joodooboothat grew out of a Korean market and which he now calls “one of the most exciting Korean restaurants in the Bay Area.” The menu features fresh tofu and a wide variety of banchan (appetizers), but now also main dishes, including what Hernandez describes as “melt-in-your-mouth albacore ssam,” which features “flamed tuna with all the necessary fixings to make wraps like perilla leaves, chrysanthemum petals, ssamjang and crispy fried squash blossoms.”