Oakland/San Fran Cheapest of the cheap

[rooftop1000]

Hey All

My daughter is moving to Oakland next month to attend California College of the Arts, and as you might guess she is a bit of a foodie. The only problem will be she will have almost no income. She will have access to a shared kitchen at the dorm and will also definately want to try out some of the local "specialties".

Any suggestions for her...or invitations to dinner ?

I will be joining her for 3 days in August also

tracey

Edited July 13, 2010 by rooftop1000 (log)

[Katie Meadow]

There are plenty of great inexpensive options in Oakland, although CCA isn't in a particularly inexpensive neighborhood, being close to College Ave/Rockridge area. Back when my husband went to CCA (then CCAC) there weren't any dorms there--your only option was off campus living. I have no doubt your daughter will learn the hot spots very quickly. I'm guessing a good percentage of the student body is local to the Bay Area, although that may be less true than it used to be. Will she have a car?

My favorite Thai place is called Old Weang Ping, and it is located near Mills College. Talk about atmosphere! In spades, and very good food. My favorite pho place is Pho Au Sen, on 2nd st nr International Blvd. Best bowl of pho, dirt cheap; open all afternoon but closes early (like 7 or 8). In Oakland Chinatown there are a couple of banh mi places that are very good, and It's pretty cheap to shop and snack there. Of all the Farmers markets in Oakland and Berkeley, probably the best prices are at the downtown Oakland market on Friday mornings. The Berkeley Farmers market on Saturday morning is wonderful, but my daughter, when she deigns to visit from a college town in WA, is horrified by the prices. She's right, it's a little scary how much 2 bags of high-end organic produce ends up costing.

I can't stand the long lines at Bakesale Betty's, but that fried chicken sandwich is awfully tasty; it's big enough that my daughter and I used to share one. She and her east bay cronies like to eat Ethiopian food, and that's pretty reasonable--and there are a lot of them around. As you can imagine, there are plenty of cheap eats on Telegraph, near UCB.

Happy to help out in any way I can, and you can certainly PM me.

[Carolyn Tillie]

She will immediately want to go and investigate Berkeley Bowl - one of the best grocery stores in the country. How can you not love a place that routinely has a dozen different kinds of CARROTS?

Also, grocery shopping Chinatown can save a lot of money. I bought a pound of Ranier cherries in Chinatown for 79¢ a pound when they were showing up at local farmer's markets for $2.99 a pound. Contrary to popular belief, farmers markets are not necessarily a great place for cheap ingredients, but the ethnic restaurants are.

There is the advantage that ethnic dining is usually always cheaper than anything else and can be really fabulous. I recently wandered Oakland's Chinatown and two of us had a huge meal with left-overs for around $20. It doesn't matter what the name of the restaurant was (since I can't remember). I just walked around and went into the one that was the busiest.

[rooftop1000]

Thanks ladies keep 'em coming, neither one of has ever been to California.

After going to college 20 miles from home she suddenly decides to go to grad school 3000 miles away.

Her dorm is the former Oakland YMCA now Webster Hall, the literature says it is near the Lake Merrit Farmers market but she won't have a car.

Hey what will be the easiest place to go stick my toes in the Pacific when we get there? LOL

[Katie Meadow]

Actually the Webster residence hall is a pretty cool location, now being referred to as "uptown Oakland" which is slightly silly, because it a few blocks from downtown Oakland. However, a Bart station is only a few blocks away. She will be closer to Chinatown than she will to the Lake Merritt Farmers Market--definitely walking distance. And she will also be walking distance from some new clubs and restaurants that are becoming trendy hangouts at night for young people. Okay, I'm going on heresay now! But friends tell me the streets around B'way and Telegraph down there are hopping at night. The new Bakesale Betty's is just a few blocks away from 15th.

For minor splurge dinners in the area look into Flora and Pizzaiolo, but there are tons of nice places to eat. I assume you will be renting a car when she comes out.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Hey what will be the easiest place to go stick my toes in the Pacific when we get there? LOL

Not recommended without a wetsuit. The ocean here in Northern California is seriously cold and only after several weeks of consistently hot weather, is it possible to stick one's toes in it (the average temperature is around 54°).

Concur with Katie - without a car, she will be much happier exploring the markets in Chinatown and she will become very reliant on BART for further exploration. My favorite "splurge" stop in the East Bay is the Rockridge BART station. Right there is a fabulous market with amazing cheese, wine, meat, etc. I am looking to move to the East Bay and am hoping to be near Rockridge just because it is so close to Trader Joe's and a Safeway as well. It is a great little neighborhood.

[hzrt8w]

Agreed that the Pacific water is far too cold for the right coasters to get used to.

Baker Beach offers a nice view of the Golden Gate Bridge. But the parking lots are small and jam-packed in the summer.

Starting from the Cliff House, Ocean Beach stretches very far. Very nice to walk on. Parking is much easier.

Pacifica, about a 10 minute drive from San Francisco along highway 1, is also beautiful and is less crowded.

[MaxH]

My favorite "splurge" stop in the East Bay is the Rockridge BART station. Right there is a fabulous market with amazing cheese, wine, meat, etc. I am looking to move to the East Bay and am hoping to be near Rockridge just because it is so close to Trader Joe's and a Safeway as well. It is a great little neighborhood.

In case this wasn't clear to the OP, the neighborhood Carolyn mentions is the same one where the daughter will be studying (or very near). CCAC (I didn't realize its name had changed!) is near where College Ave. meets Broadway. A little north, toward the Berkeley border, is the College/Claremont intersection near Rockridge BART station. A little farther north is the College/Alcatraz intersection. They're all full of small neighborhood businesses; first two in particular are commonly called the Rockridge area. This are became known over the 1980s for little independent restaurants of various kinds.

Students with "almost no income" are not exactly unusual at CCAC, and the diversity of cafés around there -- unless this has changed since I hung out there some years back -- serves a range of budgets.

One caution simply to be aware of, which some people gloss over, is the presence of a housing project not far from College and Rockridge, which has long been associated with a higher than usual crime rate in the neighborhood.

(By the way, Carolyn, I've spent some time on and in the Bay Area Pacific and measured surface temps. between 48 and, after unusual hot spells, 60 F. Pleasant places to visit the Pacific -- more inviting, generally, than SF's Ocean Beach -- are Stinson Beach to the north of the Golden Gate and the whole series of state beaches from Santa Cruz south, including one of the largest beaches, called Manresa. Visitors should be aware that none of these places is very near North Oakland, the area we're discussing. The nearest is probably SF's sometimes bleak-looking Ocean Beach which shares SF's near-perpetual fog. That's around a half hour drive in moderate traffic.)

[merle]

If the dorms really are at the old Y (25th and Broadway) and she's going to CCA (52nd and Broadway) then either she doesn't mind a decent hike or will be getting a bus pass. In either case the Lake Merritt farmer's market (or the Chinatown one, or the Jack London Square one) will be within range.

Oakland Chinatown probably is the best bet, as others have mentioned, for good yet dirt-cheap food. It's a long bus ride but just south of UC Berkeley has some inexpensive places if you look around -- there's a salad place on Telegraph whose name I forget, but I recall splitting an excellent $6 salad three ways and being satiated.

[annachan]

We lived in Oakland for a few months and Chinatown was definitely the place for cheap eats. Chinese bakeries always have all type of buns for cheap. There are savory ones filled with BBQ pork, ham & egg, hot dog, etc. Sweet ones has custard, cream, coconut, etc. I also remember picking up Vietnamese sandwiches at a shop several times. Again, it's usually about $3 and definitely substantial enough for a meal. If Saint Anna (Hong Kong style cafe) is still around, I remember cheap meals there.

Over in Berkeley, there are cheap eats by both North Gate and South Gate. Those were always filled with inexpensive restaurants to attract students when I went there. Cheeseboard (Berkeley)/Arizmendi Bakery (Oakland) and great places to get breads and pastries. Very great products (love the cheese rolls!) for really good prices.