A mutual love of Oakland and its burgeoning dining scene helped bring Temoor Noor, Steve Sparkes, and Effie Speigler together. But the co-owners of Steel Rail, a new cafe coming to Jack London Square, really bonded over their love of reggae.

“If I’m working at one of my restaurants I’ll always have some reggae on in the background,” says Noor, who founded Grand Tavern and co-owns Lungomare, both in Oakland. “And these guys are the same; we all have that kind of vibe. It’s good chemistry.”

Adds Speigler, sports and entertainment executive chef at Oakland’s O.co Stadium, “It’s not just the music, it’s the lifestyle, the flow, the energy behind it; that’s the true essence of who we are,” he says. “It’s all about a team here and that’s the base that we’re trying to build upon at this new place.”

Sparkes, the third member of the team, was born into his love of reggae as a native of Kingston, Jamaica. He was also the impetus for their joint project, a casual breakfast-through-dinner cafe/sandwich-salad eatery/pub in Jack London Square.

Years ago, Sparkes founded the non-profit My Yute Soccer, which holds sports and mentorship camps for underprivileged Oakland youth. But when the camps were over, he realized that there wasn’t a good casual place to go with participating kids and families to grab a quick beer and a bite. He broached the notion of a community-focused cafe to his friends, and the idea for Steel Rail was born.

“We came up with the concept of something that was part cafe, part deli, and part pub,” says Noor. “It’s sort of a combination public house that allows people to come from morning to early evening, and get everything from a coffee to a pastry to a great sandwich to a local pint of beer.”

Sparkes will be the day-to-day operator at Steel Rail (the name is a nod to Jack London’s history as an ending point for the Transcontinental Railroad), located at 439 Water Street in the former Gio’s space, kitty-corner to Plank. The cafe will double as a gathering and event space for My Yute Soccer, perhaps even offering employment to kids after they graduate from the camps. But more than that, the trio says, it can serve as a casual, affordable eating spot in an area where there aren’t many such options available.

“We realized that in Jack London Square it’s hard to sit down for lunch and spend less than $20, unless you go to Subway,” says Noor. “We don’t want to be shi shi. We want to be a place where a guy in a suit can come sit down and have a beer next to an artist, and eat something that’s made from scratch, that’s made with a lot of love and a lot of attention and a lot of care. That’s the foot that we’re going to put forward.”

Noor, who has a construction/architecture background, is helping with the design of the space, which is around 900 square feet on the inside with a 1,000-square-foot front patio. Speigler, meanwhile, will oversee the menu. The focus for lunch and dinner will be on salads and hearty East Coast–style sandwiches (Speigler is a New York native), but made with fresh, seasonal Bay Area ingredients. There should also be between six to eight great beers on tap: Adam Lamoreaux of Linden Street Brewery, where Sparkes works as a sales manager, is helping curate the list.

And, of course, there will have to be a bit of Jamaican influence. For the last five summers, Sparkes has held a popularJamaican Jerk Cook-Off fundraiser in the parking lot of Linden Street to raise money for his soccer camps. Speigler has been experimenting with a jerk chicken salad sandwich and jerk oysters to add to the menu.

Look for an opening in early April. Just don’t be surprised if you’re greeted with a little reggae music at the door.