Most of Oakland’s Telegraph Ave. booms with restaurants, but the stretch north of Uptown and south of Temescal is relatively sparse — a particular frustration for the many healthcare workers in the neighborhood.

Those workers got a fresh lunch option on Monday with the arrival of Kono Food Alley, a summer pop-up featuring food and beverage vendors every weekday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 3188 Telegraph Ave.

The pop-up doubles as a precursor to Common Grounds, a twist on a food hall coming to the neighboring space at 3200 Telegraph Ave.

George Dy started plotting Common Grounds months ago. As the owner of Kitchen 1014, a series of commercial kitchens in Oakland, he’s observed chefs have a hard time transition from catering and pop-ups to a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

“The jump is too drastic,” he said.

He envisions Common Grounds as an in-between. Chefs could move into one of five fully equipped kiosk kitchens, each with a takeout window to serve customers as well as a designated area to handle delivery orders. They could build up their base, serve daily and avoid a lot of the high costs associated with a full-on brick-and-mortar.

With the space, diners would essentially get five new restaurant options in the neighborhood. They could either take food to-go or eat in a communal outdoor space.

He started telling medical workers in the neighborhood about his plans, who then began to pester him about when Common Grounds would finally open. The planning process with the city is taking a long time, he said, since nothing quite like it currently exists. Dy hopes it can open in 2021. In the mean time, Kono Food Alley can serve the people.

“It’s like a smaller version of what Common Grounds is supposed to be,” he said.

Kono Food Alley currently features Javi’s Cooking, an Argentine empanada trailer; Curbside Kitchen, a truck serving Filipino-inspired burgers and sandwiches; Tacos y Chelas, a traditional taco stand; and La Vida Boba, a Latin outfit mixing horchata and agua frescas with boba. A coffee vendor should join the lineup next week, and the alley features some seating.

Dy said the mix of vendors might change in a month or two — he likes the idea of giving the chefs some stability in a normally chaotic pop-up lifestyle. Kono Food Alley is scheduled to close Oct. 11, but based on the first day’s turnout, Dy is already considering making it an annual tradition.

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker