The California sandwich shop Heroic Italian opened a Berkeley location Saturday at 2020 Kittredge St.

Brothers and co-founders of Heroic Italian — Jeffrey Merrihue and David Bullitt — had been looking for a new restaurant location in Silicon Valley but stumbled upon a space in Berkeley instead. Merrihue and Bullitt both worked as executives at companies prior to founding Heroic Italian but remained interested in food their entire lives, according to Merrihue.

“We’re super excited for this opening because it’s the most beautiful of the four Heroics,” Merrihue said. “We were very inspired with how all the residents came by and said, ‘Thank god it’s a wine bar.’ ”

Heroic Italian serves soups, sandwiches and salads, with the “OMG” being its most known sandwich, Merrihue said. According to a press release from the restaurant, its indoor seating will hold 25 diners while its outside seating will hold 50. The restaurant will also add pizzas, pastas and other Italian American food to its menu, the press release adds.

Merrihue said in the next 10 days, Heroic Italian will begin rolling out fresh, handmade pastas. He added that there will be a meat and fish dish as well.

“We get all our ingredients imported from Italy,” Merrihue said. “We get all our bread delivered and make our sauces in-house.”  

The restaurant also has a wine bar, according to Merrihue. The press release states there is also a wine club that gives customers the ability to reserve tables and get a 10% discount on orders.

Heroic Italian also has locations in Santa Monica, San Francisco and Beverly Hills, with its newest location being Berkeley.

Its first location originally opened as a pop-up inside of the Swirl on Castro wine shop in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. That location is now permanently housed within a new kitchen at Swirl, according to the press release.