Exploring the Bay Area

Caffe Strada Caffe Strada is a popular cafe on the UC Berkeley campus with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating as well as a large capacity for to-go orders. Open from 6 am to midnight, this cafe is the perfect place to stop, snack, or study at almost any hour. People come to get a coffee or snack, work alone, or meet with other students socially or for classwork. The environment is very conducive to all these activities; people come here, and they come often. The staff here can whip up an iced vanilla latte (or almost any other order) in no time! The service here is extremely speedy. Almost as soon as I ordered, I was holding my drink. This near-superpower for speed helps the cafe quickly serve a large crowd of customers, mostly busy students. The line is usually long, but the wait time is still relatively short because they work so quickly. Customers rotate through the cafe quickly, with some staying in the spacious eating area for a while and others leaving immediately with their or...

  Lox Stock and Bagel Lox Stock and Bagel is a commonly overlooked cafe in Berkeley that deserves more attention. Open Monday through Friday from 8 to 3, this small cafe is just off the beaten path and has been around for more than 30 years, serving breakfast, coffee, brunch, and lunch. From bagels to waffles to sandwiches, this cafe has many affordable, delicious options. The menu with prices is mounted on the wall. There’s plenty of variety and no surprises when it comes to price. It’s not a large cafe, but it still has that spacious feel, and the tables aren’t too close together. It appears bright and sunny on the inside, and although the prices are low, the service is surprisingly enthusiastic and quick. Customers circulate in and out of this pleasant dining area, but I still think the high quality and low prices could draw an even bigger crowd if more people knew about it. It’s not all about bagels and lox, although you can find them on the menu. It’s also a great place to get...

Aburaya  Don’t overlook Aburaya; it’s a popular, lively, and informal spot to indulge in incredible Japanese fried food, particularly fried chicken but also fried tofu and cauliflower, for low prices situated right in downtown Oakland. They also serve fantastic sandwiches and a variety of appetizers and desserts with their signature izakaya-style Japanese flair. It’s a smallish restaurant that is teaming with life and modern decorations, and so many people have already discovered and fallen in love with its magic. It’s no secret that you can get an affordable, delicious, and substantial meal at Aburaya, and the long line proves worth the wait. Offering so many ways to customize your fried chicken, it’s a gluten free kitchen including barbecue sauce and garlic miso seasoning. This small café draws inspiration from Japanese tradition and cranks food out quickly to satisfy the hungry masses that assemble there to enjoy these tasty dishes in a modern, fun setting. You can pick the ...

  The Baked Bear   The Baked Bear was a great find! They served me the type of dessert that left me hungering for more. One bite of my cookie and ice cream sandwich already had me falling in love. I've been here more than once because I find the desserts here so irresistible.  The Baked Bear is a dessert shop that sells ten delicious flavors of sweet, ice-cold ice cream ready to be scooped to order. But The Baked Bear isn’t just a regular ice cream stand; it also specializes in fresh-baked, delectable cookies (they have at least as many cookie flavors as ice cream flavors) and brownies. The cookies are on display, so you can see how pretty they are. You can order any of these items solo or as a combination; they sell ice cream with cookies, ice cream with brownies, but most notably, they sell ice cream sandwiches with a healthy amount of their signature creamy ice cream stacked between two cookies. Examining the great wealth of cookie type options, I was particularly dra...

    Party Sushi As you may know, I’m the kind of person who likes good, inexpensive Japanese food. I’ve had a lifelong love of sushi, and living in the Bay, I’ve come to appreciate the many restaurants that approach serving Japanese food with a little bit of authenticity and a little twist of their own, making food that tastes great but doesn’t cost a fortune. Party Sushi is certainly one such restaurant. Party Sushi offers in-restaurant dining, takeout, and catering.  It’s a small restaurant with a cute, cozy feel, but a menu that’s anything but small—we had no trouble finding all our Japanese favorites and more, with many interesting and unique options, including their awesome specialty rolls. They keep costs down and customer satisfaction high, all while making do with limited space in their rather intimate dining room. The sushi chef stands in a corner behind the counter, carefully (even lovingly) preparing each order. I find the staff here to be genuinely friendly an...

  Sobakatsu You might wonder what it takes to get normal people to form such a long line outside a small soba shop in Japantown. You see, people wait in a long line to take one of the eleven seats at the two four person tables and the three person bar inside San Francisco’s very own traditional Japanese soba specialty shop, Sobakatsu, which is part of the historic Japantown and one of its attractions. Sobakatsu is just a small shop, and the kitchen, with its many stations for preparing hot and cold soba and frying side dishes, takes up half the space. Inside the kitchen, two experienced chefs work meticulously, nonstop, to keep up with the high demand. They don’t offer takeout or to-go orders; everyone must eat at one of the provided seats. While it may be small, this cafe is renowned as one of the very best places to experience quality Japanese soba in the area. Their soba can be served hot or cold with a number of side dishes, including some popular fried tempura. The soba is glu...

Tipsy Yeti Tipsy Yeti, located along San Pablo in Berkeley, is the kind of place I could recommend to anyone. Still, I especially recommend it to those who are seeking something interestingly tasty and relaxingly comfortable. It’s a semi-formal restaurant appropriate for almost all types of groups, with a menu that’s really fun to explore.  The prices aren’t bad, and they even have a happy hour from 4 to 6 pm. With exposed brick and warm-colored wooden trim, Tipsy Yeti has that old-fashioned tavern kind of feel. You can instantly recognize it as the kind of place you can kick back and socialize—whether you’re bringing families with children or are there to grab a drink with your 21+ friend group. There’s a good amount of space between the tables, and it’s orderly and not too loud, meaning that it can simultaneously be a kid-friendly restaurant and a classy bar. The service is respectful, and the slow pace is actually welcome because it prolongs the time for pleasant conversation an...

Tanzie's As someone who loves to eat out and blog about it, I've been to a lot of restaurants in the area, but I'm not sure I have ever experienced a restaurant as enchanting and fascinating as Tanzie's; this one was truly unique and memorable. From the second I walked in until the second I walked out, I was captivated and enthralled by the ambiance of the dining room, which is painted a magical light green and decorated with real plants and flowers, and the exoticism yet wide appeal of the menu options, which stay true only to Northern Thai cuisine, all the while remaining beautiful and elaborate, proving themselves worthy of being served at such an exquisitely decorated restaurant.   Tanzie's is a beautiful but small restaurant with limited seating. It employs a staff so enthusiastic and polite that the entire small business gives off homey, welcoming vibes. The staff not only rotate efficiently between the tables in the dining room, but they also seem to know the...

DH Noodles and Grill I’ve found myself extremely enamored with DH Noodles and Grill, a recently opened Berkeley restaurant bringing bold, soulful northern Chinese flavors to the East Bay. Located not too far from the UC Berkeley campus, this Chinese kitchen specializes in rich broth, hand-pulled noodles, and a bit of heat if you want it. The food is carefully prepared to embrace Chinese cooking traditions all the while exciting your taste buds. When you take a seat in the dining room, which is comfortable and tastefully decorated with Chinese culture in mind, you’ll discover that you can order from a QR code on the table using your phone. This modern touch is perfect for the number of customizable options they offer. Scrolling through the menu, there are a lot of great choices at this place and a lot of ways to customize the options to your liking; without having to work through a server, you will have the ability to choose from a number of interesting options. The specialty is the han...

  Habit Burger and Grill There is something very soothing and satisfying about eating at Habit Burger and Grill. It’s not just your standard fast food; it’s more of a specialized, tasty old-fashioned American comfort food. Known for great burgers, fries, and shakes, plus delicious sauces like ranch and barbecue, this fast-food chain commands respect among fast-food restaurants for serving food people love. I’ll start by saying I am a real fan of good French fries, and the fries at Habit Burger and Grill are among my favorite fast-food fries. I was blown away by how much I liked them when I first tried them, and I will admit, I have stopped in just for a small serving of these incredible fries before. Both the sweet potato and regular fries are salted and deep-fried to perfection; you can choose which one you want, or you can order both with the “half and half” option. Ordering these fries could result in you devouring soft, salty, and enticing fries faster than you realize. They’re...

  Mr. Pickle's Sandwich Shop Mr. Pickle's is known for affordable, quality sandwiches packed with lots of great ingredients, ready in a jiffy. They have a variety of meats, sauces, and toppings, and it’s hard to go wrong. They make your order in front of you behind the counter, carefully but quickly producing premium sandwiches that you can eat in the casual dining room or take to go. The sandwiches are all yummy and affordable—a perfect quick bite. You can choose from a wide assortment of chips and drinks as well. Choosing can be a lot of fun. Personally, I don’t like to miss a chance to enjoy a Mr. Pickle's sandwich; I come by whenever I am in the area to study the menu. I usually favor the chicken sandwiches, but again, it’s hard to go wrong. From the bread to the toppings, everything is high quality and certainly not something you worry about putting in your mouth. The menu is long, and it’s hard to pick favorites. That said, they have a new menu item that you’ve got t...

              Dave's Hot Chicken Dave’s Hot Chicken is famous for fried fast food chicken. It's a cute and modern fast food restaurant with festive red chairs, modern art, and windows that let in sunlight that focuses its efforts on its famous fried chicken. There’s seating indoors and outdoors, and throughout the restaurant, you can hear the speakers belting popular music. It’s the kind of place with a broad appeal that draws eager customers of all ages. I wouldn't be scared off by the word "hot"; they also serve milder options for those who need them. You order from a limited menu and pay at the counter, keeping in mind that this place specializes in one thing: fried chicken. The service is friendly and fast, in my case taking about ten minutes altogether and not costing more than other fast food. The chicken can come as large or small tenders and big or small sandwiches. Not only that, you can choose from seven spice levels, which go from no spice t...

  Al's Big Burger Al’s Big Burger looks like little more than a rundown shack in Albany with a charcoal grill and some casual seating. The entire building is small and weathered, and you can hear the sizzle of the grill in the kitchen and other customers talking throughout the small restaurant. Taking one look at this place, you wonder if you’ve stepped back in time. And you wonder how such a humble shack has made it this long. But before the appearance turns you away, you will notice that the smell is thick, savory, and heavenly, and you can see the flames jumping off the charcoal grill in the kitchen through a window as they help finish cooking the patties. And you will likely feel, as I did, the desire to try the food at this place. The menu features several variations on the classic notion of a small, old-style burger stand; the most popular items appear to be the burgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and fries. The prices are relatively low—so low, in fact, that you might worry ab...

  Dough Zone Dumpling House     Every now and again, you stumble across a restaurant so incredible you can’t believe you’re just now finding it. It’s tasty, reasonably priced, and has a pleasant atmosphere, and you like it so much you wish you’d discovered it sooner. For me, Dough Zone was one of those restaurants… it was the type of good food that completely hit the spot, and I would have liked to have known about it months earlier.   Dough Zone is a big, spacious, and modern restaurant with lots of seating and big, inviting windows in the heart of downtown Berkeley. It’s open every day from 11 am until 9 pm and is known for great prices on its doughy noodles, buns, and dumplings. It’s a casual American spin on some well-loved Chinese classics, perfect for families, students, friends, and professionals. The recipes have been optimized for maximum appeal to their diverse fan base here, and they continue to satisfy customers of all types with the simple elegance of th...

Saigon Express Open almost all day, Monday through Friday (from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm), Saigon Express is a great place to grab an affordable bite anytime you’re hungry. It’s a cute shop decorated with an attractive deep red and some Vietnamese art, where you order and pay at the counter, which has the entire menu posted above it. You can take your food to go or eat it in the cozy dining room, which people trickle through all day. People love the food here, and it’s yummy and hard to argue with the prices—especially when it comes to the banh mi. The banh mi sandwiches cost less than $10, but they’re far from being simple sandwiches. Instead, they come with perfectly seasoned and marinated meat, a healthy amount of pickled and fresh veggies, and a delightful French baguette that’s easy to chew and has a slightly crunchy crust. The flavor is very balanced between contrasting notes that are sweet, savory, herby, and spicy. It’s thick and substantial, but it doesn’t take long at all for the k...

  Daeho Kalbijjim & Beef Soup Situated in Japantown, this Korean masterpiece of a restaurant is not a secret. People line up for a chance to dine in their small, dark, and mysterious dining room. It’s not just a meal; it’s an entire experience. You don’t come just to eat; you come to be treated to a beautiful and luxurious, entertaining and colorful, and complex and delicious culinary adventure. You won’t have second thoughts about waiting in line for this one. Made using only the best ingredients, including USDA Prime Beef/Certified Angus Beef and delicious rice, each dish is carefully created to both adhere to Korean culinary tradition, serving up well-loved Korean favorites, and to surpass your expectations in terms of the high quality of each element of the dish and the harmony between contrasting textures and flavors. There’s a certain depth and richness to each dish that is hard to replicate. Everything comes perfectly executed with a noticeably Korean flavor profile. The...

  Little Plearn Downtown Berkeley has another Thai restaurant you should take note of. It’s called Little Plearn, and it’s a beautifully decorated Thai spot with great food and low prices. Little Plearn is decorated with Thai artwork, dangling artificial flowers, large windows on the storefront, and a mirror along one wall that helps illuminate the long, narrow eating area. It has great service and a lovely ambience. It makes even an everyday meal feel like a festive occasion. Little Plearn is a fantastic place to get a lot of food for only a little money. The menu shows pictures of the different options next to their rather affordable prices. For example, the Pad Thai with chicken, tofu, or beef is only $16. They also have a fantastic lunch special available from 11-3. You can pick from seventeen stir-fries and noodle dishes and pair them with rolls and salad for $16.95. Rice and peanut sauce are an extra dollar each.  The huge portions come out from the kitchen hot and beaut...