Three Days in Oakland

[pamjsa]

Hello all. I'll be in Oakland for three days in early March, staying at the Marriott City Center. I'll be there for a meeting, but my schedule is somewhat flexible during the day and I'm looking forward to trying out new restaurants as time permits.

Specifically, I'm looking for restaurant recommendations near the hotel or within walking distance. (I know "walking distance" is a relative term, so I'll also mention that I'm a runner and in good physical shape.) Making a quick BART trip isn't out of the question, but may be tricky to negotiate for lunch. Also, I'll be travelling on my own--safety issues may affect your recommendations for the after-dark hours.

I'm an adventurous eater, though, so no holds barred. Price is a consideration, since I have a per diem limit.

Thanks in advance!

[Carlsbad]

Chez Panisse Cafe.

[BSK]

Staying in the Marcel Pagnol trilogy family, there's also:

Cesar's Spanish Tapa's Bar next door to Chez Panisse on 1515 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709 t: 510.883-0222 http://www.barcesar.com/ is fun, cheap and delicious. Owned by former general manager of Chez Panisse.

Cafe Fanny is owned by Chez Panisse Alice Waters' daughter Fanny (http://www.cafefanny.com/

1603 San Pablo Ave at Cedar St., Berkeley, CA 94702

Mon-Fri 7:00am- 3:00pm, Sat 8:00am- 4:00pm, Sun 8:00am- 3:00pm

Tel: (510) 524-5447

It is also perfectly situated next to the Acme Bakery and Kermit Lynch's wine store.

These are both in the Berkeley area, but BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) http://www.bart.gov/index.asp should be able to get you pretty close. I would check with the hotel people first to make sure that it's easily accessible.

[annachan]

I don't know Oakland too well, but I've enjoyed dining at Pho 84 several times. It's a nice little Vietnamese restaurant. A littler pricery and fancier than your average hole in the wall places. It's on 17th between (one block from Broadway) Franklin and Webster.

Another place I really like is Jesso's. It serves up some delicious Southern Food with an emphasis on seafood. I don't know when you'll be in town, but the restaurant host Fat Tuesday every 2nd (? I believe) Tuesday of the month. For $5 if you RSVP, or $10 at the door, you get a buffet dinner (menu varies, but you usually get fried chicken, catfish, calamari, oysters, hushpuppies, mac and cheese and vegetables) and live entertainment. I haven't been to Fat Tuesday for a while, so I suggest you call Jesso's to find out about the details if you're interested.

[subliminalkid]

I had a very nice dinner a few nights ago at Battambang (Cambodian food):

http://www.themenupage.com/battambang.html

Definitely within walking distance.

Some of the Chinese dessert shops in Oakland Chinatown (real close by)

carry the locally produced Marco Polo gelatos. Marco Polo specializes in

intense Asian fruit flavors, such as durian (!), red bean and lychee.

Definitely worth checking out.

Bill

[Eden]

Cafe Fanny is not really near a Bart station. It's about 1 mile from the No.Berkeley station, a reasonable walk on a pretty day, but not really accessibe for lunch from downtown Oakland unless you had a car. FYI the cafe is named for Alice's daughter, but owned by Alice and her sister & brother-in-law.

Le Cheval used to be good Vietnemese, and Jade Garden? used to be good Dim Sum but it's been so long since I was down there...

[Malik]

While you can certainly get better food if you're willing to hop on BART, you also have plenty of good options in downtown Oakland itself. There's quite a few Vietnamese restaurants nearby for Pho (such as Pho 84, which may have changed names recently) or Bahn Mi (BC Deli for example). Other good choices include Tamarindo for modern Mexican and Luka's Taproom which bills itself as a Californian Brasserie (be sure sample the fries, but everything I've ordered there has been good). And there's an outlet of Top Dog, a local mini chain that serves the best hot dogs I've had anywhere, you should have lunch there at least once.

If you're willing to take BART at dinner time (and the downtown Oakland station is right by your hotel), then you open up quite a few more possibilities. My first suggestion would be to take BART to Rockridge, where there's quite a few good restaurants within very short walking distance of the station. Places I would recommend in particular there are A Cote for French small plates and Pearl Oyster Bar for great seafood, in particular oysters and raw plates. Uzen or Tachibana are good choices for sushi, and there's also Zachary's for Chicago style deep dish pizza. I haven't like Oliveto much in the past, but now that Paul Bertolli is gone, the food is supposed to have gotten better.

If you combine BART with a short walk, the Temescal area which is halfway between the Rockridge and MacArthur stations (about 10 blocks away) has many worthwhile restaurants. My top pick would be Pizzaiolo for really good Napolitan style pizza. Dona Tomas is an old favorite, one of the first high end Mexican restaurants in the Bay Area. There's also quite a few Korean restaurants around there, including Sahn Maru which has a great black goat stew (heuk yum so tang). Finally, if you feel like having North African food, Tanjia is a pretty good Moroccan restaurant.

The last BART station worth checking out would be Downtown Berkeley. The area immediately around the station mostly consists of cheap eats that are popular with the student population. Of those, my favorites would be Top Dog (but there's a branch in downtown Oakland too) and Pie in the Sky for gourmet pizza slices. A short walk down University you'll find Chaat Cafe for good chaat and North Indian food, and Udipi Palace for top notch South Indian food. But the more interesting restaurants are in the Gourmet Ghetto, a pleasant walk up Shattuck Ave from the BART station. The standouts there are Chez Panisse (I prefer the cafe over the main restaurant) and Cesar. Have a slice of the daily special pizza at the Cheese Board across the street before dinner.

[pamjsa]

Thanks for all these suggestions--lots of options to explore.