East Bay Eats

[badthings]

Vi's (Webster near 7th) has great pho.

They also have half-bottles of Navarro Gewurztraminer.

Connie's right, La Pinata is good.

From Alameda, it is a short drive to Fruitvale and its wealth of astonishing Mexican food. The taco trucks are where it's at, but for restaurants I recommend Torta Loca, El Farolito, and La Huarache Azteca. The only reason I don't recommend more is that I haven't been there yet.

I should also mention Doña Tomàs, on Telegraph/51st for high-end Mexican food that is worth the often poor service.

EDIT: Note that La Note only serves dinner Thursday-Sat. Breakfast is excellent, but like every breakfast place in this town, it is overrun.

Edited November 3, 2003 by badthings (log)

[Squeat Mungry]

Hey, thanks marie-louise and merle for all the great info! Lots of exploring for me to do.

I've had some fairly good food at Genji, but good lord, what is up with the prices there?

Cheers,

Squeat

[mysticonnie]

More East Bay Eats:

As I work in the City, I don't lunch in downtown Oakland during business hours much, but my hubby confirms that Pho 84 and Take it Thai are decent. Also, Le Cheval is good. I used to go to Peony for dim sum (they have the best egg tarts), but unless you know the someone who works there, the wait is excruciating. I've heard good things about Legendary (redacted) too, and Vi's has excellent pho. I also like Vien Huong. I think it's on Franklin, between 4th and 5th... or is it 8th and 9th? Anyways, it's the $4 noodle joint with the huge crowd out front on Franklin.

I've heard mixed things about the service at Oliveto, but damn, the man cures his own prosciutto! Someday, I'll have to check that out. Another small plates place is Mezze, down by Lake Merritt, and how can I forget the Parkway? It's a second-run movie house (tix are 5 bucks, and on Wednesdays, it's 2-for-1), but they also serve real food - mostly pizza, it's like, 12 bucks for a pie, and pretty good - during the movie. If you get there early enough, you can snag a sofa.

I could do a whole thread on brunch, but besides the aforementioned La Note and Cafe Fanny, I also like Sam's Log Cabin (mmmm, Swedish pancakes) and Rick and Ann's, but I adore Thai brunch on Sundays. It's at the Thai Buddhist temple near the Ashby BART Station. You exchange your cash for these tokens, then you got to various outdoor vendors and “pay” for food with the tokens. You can get all sorts of Thai street foods you never see in restaurants, plus the standard noodles and curries. Of course, it's really cheap. You have to watch for hornets, though.

Okay, now I'm getting hungry.

[merle]

I also like Vien Huong.  I think it's on Franklin, between 4th and 5th... or is it 8th and 9th?  Anyways, it's the $4 noodle joint with the huge crowd out front on Franklin.

Ah, Vien Huong, I forgot about them. 7th and 8th. Definitely a good, inexpensive, filling eat. I like the "chow jew my fun".

[marie-louise]

Err, sorry for all the corrections. ... I, too, work in downtown Oakland.  Maybe we should all get together for a lunch sometime!

Thank YOU for the corrections. I can never remember the names, it's just more like, "let's go to that Greek place by Broadway..."

Lunch would be fun, but my life is not my own during work hours. I am always cancelling lunch dates for emergency meetings and urgent requests. Such is life. They treat me well and I love my job.

[merle]

marie-louise:

Lunch would be fun, but my life is not my own during work hours. I am always cancelling lunch dates for emergency meetings and urgent requests. Such is life. They treat me well and I love my job.

No prob, I fully understand. Many the day has been that boss-man came in at 11:40am, only to drag us into two hour meetings.

Luckily they need me enough that I can grumble and whine, so the lunchtime meeting frequency has dropped to about once a month.

I'd been thinking of setting up a kind of "casual lunch" meeting, where whoever wanted to (and was free) would just meet at 11:45 somewhere fixed, and we'd decide where to go from there.. maybe weekly, maybe monthly. If we dragged in some chowhound folks, we could probably get ten folks interested (meaning two or three might make it each time). If I ever get organized, and something happens along those lines, I'll do a top-level post here...

[gknl]

I'd been thinking of setting up a kind of "casual lunch" meeting, where whoever wanted to (and was free) would just meet at 11:45 somewhere fixed, and we'd decide where to go from there.. maybe weekly, maybe monthly.  If we dragged in some chowhound folks, we could probably get ten folks interested (meaning two or three might make it each time).  If I ever get organized, and something happens along those lines, I'll do a top-level post here...

Good luck getting this asocial bunch to do anything.

A business lunch sounds like a good idea though. Maybe easier than getting people together for dinner , at least those of us in the East Bay.

[sfbayx]

One restaurant we go to for "bring back to torment central" dinner or lunch is Phmon Penh House 8th/Webster. Ive never been to the other one, but will certainly try it. the pho-84 is a frequent place we dine.

Im not sure why people dislike Le Cheval so much. I think its good as long as I don't eat it but once or twice a month. I wish the menu would change, but the cube steak w/green beans and coconut milk chicken/tofu are my favorites.

Personally I like Taqueria San Jose better than El Faralito. I believe its right down the street. My favorite taco truck is the one next to the Guadalajara restaurant by the Bart station.

Chinese - again, King Wah, their deep fried rock cod is really good. Their chicken wonton soup is a meal in itself. Also the Mon Yee wonton dish and guy gun yee ( i have no idea how to spell it) is really really good soup.

Thanks again for all the tips and places to try.

Now as far as the get together... wasn't there just a potluck that seemed to be a success????????? Something about a store bought cheese cake and some mango chutney?

[LauraK]

Plearn in Berkeley on University has wonderful Thai food and very reasonable prices. Hunan Village on Grand in Oakland is cheap for lunch and moderate for dinner-great food made fresh to order for lunch plates, not just at dinner. And don't forget the Emery Bay market for what a food court should be: individual mom and pop places mostly with excellent food and great prices.

[merle]

Hunan Village on Grand in Oakland is cheap for lunch and moderate for dinner-great food made fresh to order for lunch plates, not just at dinner.

Someone mentions Hunan Village! Hurrah!

It's my favorite for hot'n'sour soup, mu shu, and kung pao (their kung pao beef is actually a deep fried variant). They're great at substituting ingredients if you have allergies. My wife loves carrots, and they're willing to make a small batch of hot'n'sour with extra carrot shreddings just for us.

Of course, it might be my fave simply because I can walk there in five minutes... and eating there several times a month for seven years makes us regulars. But still great. Closed Sun for lunch and on holidays.

The Grand Lake Theater is just several doors down, if you want to do dinner and a movie (although be prepared for a bigger crowd Thu-Sat evenings).

[capnhank]

And don't forget the Emery Bay market for what a food court should be: individual mom and pop places mostly with excellent food and great prices.

Over the years, my family has been scattered to the far reaches of the Bay Area (we're currently sprinkled from Vacaville to San Jose), but we always meet for holiday get-togethers at the Emery Bay Market. There's something for everybody (my wife and I are vegan; my mother-in-law, brother and sister-in-law are ovo-lacto veggies; my Dad and his girlfriend are carnivores; my Mom could care less either way, etc), it's reasonably priced, centrally located and (most important) tasty. OK, I'll admit that we should probably "do Christmas" at someone's home, but nobody wants to deal with cooking for such a bunch of picky weirdos.

For cheap, greasy eats near Lake Merritt: A Kwik Way triple cheeseburger is the finest little cardio-bomb you can get, if you can handle it. Get some of their greasy ol' fries to guarantee yourself an angioplasty. Yep, I may not do meat anymore, but I used to love me some greasy food.

Here's a question from a former East Bay guy:

Does anybody know if Nadine (San Pablo and ...Channing, Allston?) still exists? I remember having my first real gourmet meal there in the mid-80s. Tasting menu, wine-pairing, kitchen tour, the whole works; waiters appearing only when you need them, that sort of thing. Very indulgent and hedonistic, if I recall correctly. Ring any bells? It was in a beat-up looking old red building on the corner.