Bar Skula, a seafood-focused restaurant and bar, opened in Oakland in summer 2026.

Bar Skula, a seafood-focused restaurant and bar, opened earlier this summer in the old Sidebar location at 542 Grand Ave. near Lake Merritt in Oakland, East Bay Magazine reported.

Owner Rick Mitchell affectionately calls Bar Skula a remix of Luka's Taproom, his previous restaurant that closed in 2022 after nearly two decades, according to East Bay Magazine.

The menu emphasizes raw and chilled seafood with culinary influences from Baja California, Peru, Barcelona and Mexico City, East Bay Magazine reported. The restaurant features an underwater theme with murals of fish and sea creatures.

Because the new space is much smaller than Luka's, the 16-tap beer program was replaced with a focus on wine and cocktails, according to East Bay Magazine.

Mitchell and his wife Maria Alderete co-founded Community Kitchens, a nonprofit in Oakland. Last year the organization made 200,000 meals, East Bay Magazine reported.