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Oct. 1st, 2008 11:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sereneFriend-of-a-friend moved into the neighborhood and asked for local-places suggestions. I went a little bit nuts and spent around an hour and a half putting together a list. It's a locked post, though, so I'm putting it here for safekeeping.
Resources, etc.:
1) freecycle.org, specifically the berkeley list, to which you can subscribe by sending an email to Berkeley_CA_Freecycle-subscribe@yahoogroups.com -- the Berkeley group is made up of folks nearer to me than are most Oaklanders, and the Oakland list is run by fascists.
2) The Berkeley Bowl. It's silly of me to even mention this heavenly place; you'll have fallen in love with it already.
3) The Creative Reuse depot: http://www.east-bay-depot.org/ -- Like a thrift store, but geared toward artists and teachers and lovers of randomosity. Want a bin full of fortylevenmillion orange cowbells? Yep, got 'em. Want miles of chartreuse fabric ribbon? Ayup. How about fifteen gazillion one-inch-by-one-inch envelopes? Etc.
4) If you're at all the sort to want to do such a thing, you can get a plot at the local community garden (called Bushrod), which is across the street from my house. See http://oaklandnet.com/parks/programs/communitygardening.asp
5) The Berkeley Public Library. See http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/
6) The Temescal (Oakland) Library's tool lending library: http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/Branches/temtll.htm
7) The Longs of Delightment. Really, it's just a drugstore, but it's HUGE, and it's in walking distance, and it's even got a really decent garden shop and a passable fabric shop inside. It's on the corner of 51st and Broadway, along with a Safeway, a Jamba Juice, Payless shoes, and a bunch of other little shops.
Coffeehouses:
We don't like Jump-n-Java. Nomad isn't bad. Organic everything, a little pricey, and the owner is an excellent, community-minded person who is a little neurotic about things like making sure everyone who's there is buying something. Our favorite cafe closed down and a yuppier place replaced it, so we have yet to find someplace we really love, but we're pretty happy with Mokka, on Telegraph and maybe Prince or something? There's also a lovely tea shop called Cuppa Tea on College & Alcatraz. Peets in downtown Berkeley isn't great for sitting around comfortably for hours, but their coffee is really good, and their vegan cookies are stunning. Also, not strictly a coffeeshop, but Bakesale Betty makes a decent latte, and their baked goods are the best in town. You can taste the butter in everything. (pretty sure that's bakesalebetty.com)
Eateries:
1) People seriously come from miles around for Bakesale Betty's stuff, especially her fried-chicken sandwiches. The line's often down the block, but they serve people quickly, so we've never waited more than a few minutes to get our food and sit down. The lemon bars and strawberry shortcake are the standouts, in my opinion, but everything's amazing.
2) Genova Deli, across the street from Bakesale Betty, serves really good freshly made sandwiches, along with Italian groceries, good cheese, and ravioli and salame that they make themselves. Also, if you're in a hurry, they put out a dozen or so of their pre-made sandwiches in a cooler case so you don't have to wait in line. They're our favorite choice.
3) Sura Korean, Temescal area. I've only been there twice, but gosh, I really loved it.
4) Avoid the Mixing Bowl. It's the yuppier place I mentioned above.
5) Addis Ethiopian is our favorite of the many fine Ethiopian places around here. Cafe Colucci is more cosmopolitan, and it's good, but we prefer the home-cooking feel of the food at Addis. Plus, the three of us can stuff ourselves on the Addis Combo for $20.
6) Saysetha is our favorite Thai place, followed closely by Tuk Tuk.
7) We love the Vault and Sconehenge for breakfast/brunch
8) For something quick, if you're not a cleanliness freak, the cafe at the Berkeley Bowl has a wide range of deli and hot foods that you can eat there, in their cafeteria-style dining room.
9) The Cameroonian place (Taste of Africa?) is just okay. Not bad, not great. Best thing on the menu, in my opinion, is the sauteed greens.
10) Sweet Adeline could've gone in the coffeeshop category, but they're better known as a bakery. Still, they have good coffee, and they're an excellent place to go for dessert after the Vault.
11) Spuds delivers really good pizza really quickly. So does the vegetarian place called Pizza Plaza, whose website is veganplaza.com, I think, though they're not strictly vegan.
12) But for the best pizza, I choose Bowser's in downtown Berkeley, no matter what anyone says about Zachary's.
13) I don't recommend Asmara. They've gone downhill, and Addis and Colucci have much better Ethiopian food.
14) Good, fresh, CHEAP sushi: Anzu, downtown Berkeley.
15) I hear much better sushi is at Kirala, but it's more expensive, and we haven't tried it.
16) And now there's http://getnudesushi.com/, which delivers in our neighborhood.
17) There's no good Chinese delivery that we've found yet, but there is ULTRA-CHEAP Chinese delivery, and if you stick to the deep-fried stuff (sweet-and-sour meat, etc.) and the sauteed vegetables, and skip the rice and noodle dishes, you'll be okay. And the man who runs the place delivers it himself and ABSOLUTELY REFUSES to take tips, so it's even cheaper than you'd think.
18) Best cheap vegetarian (and seafood) restaurant: Long Life Vegi House, corner of Shattuck and University (2129 University)
19) Good cheap pizza/pasta/salads: Lanesplitter, 48th & Telegraph. Low prices, huge portions, many vegan options. James and I can eat there for under $10. They have lots of beers, too, but we don't drink, so I can't comment on them.
20) Wonderful, affordable, fresh dim sum: The Old Place Seafood House, 391 Grand Avenue, Oakland. I think they serve until 3 every day, or something amazing like that (lots of places only do dim sum on weekends, or only during brunch hours)
21) The Cheese Board. Oh. My. God. Cheese heaven. The prices aren't any better or worse than the Berkeley Bowl, which has a respectable selection, but their selection is HUGEMONGOUS, and they are a coop whose members all know LOTS about cheese, and won't really let you buy anything until they're sure you've tasted and liked it.
22) Alternate Cheese Heaven: Country Cheese, Berkeley.
Live Music:
We're not bars/clubs sorts -- we lean more to coffeehouses. Nomad has some decent live music of the folkish persuasion. The Starry Plough has everything from modern celtic rock to stuff I can't bear to come near enough to to identify. Best, though, seems to be Freight and Salvage, in Berkeley. I've seen a half-dozen or so shows there, each one better than the last.
Other:
1) Best cheap and used books: Pegasus, downtown Berkeley, 2349 Shattuck (corner of Durant) (I would list more bookstores, but there are about a half a gazillion of them in Berkeley, and they're all great.) Pegasus has a frequent-buyer program -- buy $200, get a $10 gift certificate.
2) Berkeley and Temescal have thriving farmer's markets
Au Coquelet. Yes, it's good. Guy and I had our first date there. There's a separate area in the back, so the crowd can sometimes be mitigated by choosing another section.
I keep thinking of more. Good pub food at Raleigh's on Telegraph, and good-if-foofy pub food at Beckett's on Shattuck. Good, cheap, healthy fast food at Smart Alec's on Telegraph. Excellent, made-in-front-of-your-eyes, cheap pasta and pizza and calzone at Gypsy's Trattoria on Durant.
Grocery Outlet, on 30th & Broadway, has bargain overstock groceries. The best buy is in the cheese department, and we've never had anything be past its date or go bad or anything. We also get a lot of our canned goods there.
Shoe Emporium, on Shattuck in Berkeley, is like the equivalent to the Grocery Outlet, but for shoes. The selection is whatever you get, but for example, I got a great pair of Docs for James for something like $40.
Zipcar! I don't know if you have a car, or even if you drive, but we're car-free for the most part, and we love Zipcar. $9 an hour, gas and insurance included. Zipcar.com
Cooking classes at the Women's Cancer Resource Center are fun and free. I've been to a couple:
http://www.wcrc.org/calendar.htm
Squidlist. How could I have forgotten squidlist?
http://laughingsquid.com/squidlist/events/
Or the "did you feel it?" earthquake reporting page?
http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ca/
Um, hi, me again. I showed James my list and asked for his input. He says:
1) "You might want to tell them WHY they should avoid the mixing bowl." Well, they're weird and yuppie. They make what they call a classic BLT, but it's got pesto on it! On a french roll! And their idea of soup of the day is cold watermelon-and-beet(root)!
2) Mariposa gluten-free bakery, near the Temescal library
3) "Tell them Bakesale Betty (whose actual name is Alison) is from Australia, so she has some interesting takes on baked goods"
4) "You might want to mention the small British-foods section at the Berkeley Bowl (which reminded me that not in walking distance, but a 20-minute drive away, is a store that specializes in New Zealand foodstuffs, and has really good prices.)
5) Ashkenaz for live music
6) Book Zoo, the local bookshop run by a Marxist or something. Also, the Long Haul, the anarchist info shop.
7) http://picturepubpizza.com -- movies on loveseats, with food served at your seat. Food like pizza and pasta, along with popcorn and stuff. They also open up the place for free to show things like the presidential debates.
8) Good Vibrations: http://goodvibes.com
3) I think you already get Terra Firma's organic produce box. I recommend getting the biggest box you can afford, because the big box gets stuff the others don't.
4) You can make DMV appointments online and avoid the lines.
5) You can also renew your library books online.
6) The first Friday of every month (including this one), we have game night at our place (board games, mostly, but James is going to start an RPG soon); the game store (It's Your Move) also has game night most Fridays.
7) Speaking of game stores, we like It's Your Move okay, but the owner gets peevish if you don't buy anything, so we started kind of avoiding the place; we prefer Games of Berkeley anyway, and it's worth going the extra distance to be able to go in, browse, and leave without getting a lecture.
8) Best comic-book store ever: Comic Relief, on Shattuck, right next door to Other Change of Hobbit, of which I'm sure you've heard.
9) I work at UC Berkeley, and I fucking love it to death. jobs.berkeley.edu
10) I also really liked temping, which I did for many, many years before I took this job (at which I started as a temp): Volt was my service, and I worked for them happily for ten years.
12, because I tried to type "11" three times and couldn't manage not to type "12" instead, so it's 12, dammit) Netflix.com is so great. Not only do they deliver movies to your house, but their customer service rocks, and they have a watch-instantly feature which means we have access to new stuff all the time.
13) While we're at it, the major networks air video of most of their shows starting the next day. nbc.com, abc.com, etc.
14) Have you been to the Ashby Flea Market yet? Our first sight of Berkeley was when we stepped off the BART into the drum circle area of the flea market, and we were hooked for good.
Resources, etc.:
1) freecycle.org, specifically the berkeley list, to which you can subscribe by sending an email to Berkeley_CA_Freecycle-subscribe@yahoogroups.com -- the Berkeley group is made up of folks nearer to me than are most Oaklanders, and the Oakland list is run by fascists.
2) The Berkeley Bowl. It's silly of me to even mention this heavenly place; you'll have fallen in love with it already.
3) The Creative Reuse depot: http://www.east-bay-depot.org/ -- Like a thrift store, but geared toward artists and teachers and lovers of randomosity. Want a bin full of fortylevenmillion orange cowbells? Yep, got 'em. Want miles of chartreuse fabric ribbon? Ayup. How about fifteen gazillion one-inch-by-one-inch envelopes? Etc.
4) If you're at all the sort to want to do such a thing, you can get a plot at the local community garden (called Bushrod), which is across the street from my house. See http://oaklandnet.com/parks/programs/communitygardening.asp
5) The Berkeley Public Library. See http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/
6) The Temescal (Oakland) Library's tool lending library: http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/Branches/temtll.htm
7) The Longs of Delightment. Really, it's just a drugstore, but it's HUGE, and it's in walking distance, and it's even got a really decent garden shop and a passable fabric shop inside. It's on the corner of 51st and Broadway, along with a Safeway, a Jamba Juice, Payless shoes, and a bunch of other little shops.
Coffeehouses:
We don't like Jump-n-Java. Nomad isn't bad. Organic everything, a little pricey, and the owner is an excellent, community-minded person who is a little neurotic about things like making sure everyone who's there is buying something. Our favorite cafe closed down and a yuppier place replaced it, so we have yet to find someplace we really love, but we're pretty happy with Mokka, on Telegraph and maybe Prince or something? There's also a lovely tea shop called Cuppa Tea on College & Alcatraz. Peets in downtown Berkeley isn't great for sitting around comfortably for hours, but their coffee is really good, and their vegan cookies are stunning. Also, not strictly a coffeeshop, but Bakesale Betty makes a decent latte, and their baked goods are the best in town. You can taste the butter in everything. (pretty sure that's bakesalebetty.com)
Eateries:
1) People seriously come from miles around for Bakesale Betty's stuff, especially her fried-chicken sandwiches. The line's often down the block, but they serve people quickly, so we've never waited more than a few minutes to get our food and sit down. The lemon bars and strawberry shortcake are the standouts, in my opinion, but everything's amazing.
2) Genova Deli, across the street from Bakesale Betty, serves really good freshly made sandwiches, along with Italian groceries, good cheese, and ravioli and salame that they make themselves. Also, if you're in a hurry, they put out a dozen or so of their pre-made sandwiches in a cooler case so you don't have to wait in line. They're our favorite choice.
3) Sura Korean, Temescal area. I've only been there twice, but gosh, I really loved it.
4) Avoid the Mixing Bowl. It's the yuppier place I mentioned above.
5) Addis Ethiopian is our favorite of the many fine Ethiopian places around here. Cafe Colucci is more cosmopolitan, and it's good, but we prefer the home-cooking feel of the food at Addis. Plus, the three of us can stuff ourselves on the Addis Combo for $20.
6) Saysetha is our favorite Thai place, followed closely by Tuk Tuk.
7) We love the Vault and Sconehenge for breakfast/brunch
8) For something quick, if you're not a cleanliness freak, the cafe at the Berkeley Bowl has a wide range of deli and hot foods that you can eat there, in their cafeteria-style dining room.
9) The Cameroonian place (Taste of Africa?) is just okay. Not bad, not great. Best thing on the menu, in my opinion, is the sauteed greens.
10) Sweet Adeline could've gone in the coffeeshop category, but they're better known as a bakery. Still, they have good coffee, and they're an excellent place to go for dessert after the Vault.
11) Spuds delivers really good pizza really quickly. So does the vegetarian place called Pizza Plaza, whose website is veganplaza.com, I think, though they're not strictly vegan.
12) But for the best pizza, I choose Bowser's in downtown Berkeley, no matter what anyone says about Zachary's.
13) I don't recommend Asmara. They've gone downhill, and Addis and Colucci have much better Ethiopian food.
14) Good, fresh, CHEAP sushi: Anzu, downtown Berkeley.
15) I hear much better sushi is at Kirala, but it's more expensive, and we haven't tried it.
16) And now there's http://getnudesushi.com/, which delivers in our neighborhood.
17) There's no good Chinese delivery that we've found yet, but there is ULTRA-CHEAP Chinese delivery, and if you stick to the deep-fried stuff (sweet-and-sour meat, etc.) and the sauteed vegetables, and skip the rice and noodle dishes, you'll be okay. And the man who runs the place delivers it himself and ABSOLUTELY REFUSES to take tips, so it's even cheaper than you'd think.
18) Best cheap vegetarian (and seafood) restaurant: Long Life Vegi House, corner of Shattuck and University (2129 University)
19) Good cheap pizza/pasta/salads: Lanesplitter, 48th & Telegraph. Low prices, huge portions, many vegan options. James and I can eat there for under $10. They have lots of beers, too, but we don't drink, so I can't comment on them.
20) Wonderful, affordable, fresh dim sum: The Old Place Seafood House, 391 Grand Avenue, Oakland. I think they serve until 3 every day, or something amazing like that (lots of places only do dim sum on weekends, or only during brunch hours)
21) The Cheese Board. Oh. My. God. Cheese heaven. The prices aren't any better or worse than the Berkeley Bowl, which has a respectable selection, but their selection is HUGEMONGOUS, and they are a coop whose members all know LOTS about cheese, and won't really let you buy anything until they're sure you've tasted and liked it.
22) Alternate Cheese Heaven: Country Cheese, Berkeley.
Live Music:
We're not bars/clubs sorts -- we lean more to coffeehouses. Nomad has some decent live music of the folkish persuasion. The Starry Plough has everything from modern celtic rock to stuff I can't bear to come near enough to to identify. Best, though, seems to be Freight and Salvage, in Berkeley. I've seen a half-dozen or so shows there, each one better than the last.
Other:
1) Best cheap and used books: Pegasus, downtown Berkeley, 2349 Shattuck (corner of Durant) (I would list more bookstores, but there are about a half a gazillion of them in Berkeley, and they're all great.) Pegasus has a frequent-buyer program -- buy $200, get a $10 gift certificate.
2) Berkeley and Temescal have thriving farmer's markets
Au Coquelet. Yes, it's good. Guy and I had our first date there. There's a separate area in the back, so the crowd can sometimes be mitigated by choosing another section.
I keep thinking of more. Good pub food at Raleigh's on Telegraph, and good-if-foofy pub food at Beckett's on Shattuck. Good, cheap, healthy fast food at Smart Alec's on Telegraph. Excellent, made-in-front-of-your-eyes, cheap pasta and pizza and calzone at Gypsy's Trattoria on Durant.
Grocery Outlet, on 30th & Broadway, has bargain overstock groceries. The best buy is in the cheese department, and we've never had anything be past its date or go bad or anything. We also get a lot of our canned goods there.
Shoe Emporium, on Shattuck in Berkeley, is like the equivalent to the Grocery Outlet, but for shoes. The selection is whatever you get, but for example, I got a great pair of Docs for James for something like $40.
Zipcar! I don't know if you have a car, or even if you drive, but we're car-free for the most part, and we love Zipcar. $9 an hour, gas and insurance included. Zipcar.com
Cooking classes at the Women's Cancer Resource Center are fun and free. I've been to a couple:
http://www.wcrc.org/calendar.htm
Squidlist. How could I have forgotten squidlist?
http://laughingsquid.com/squidlist/events/
Or the "did you feel it?" earthquake reporting page?
http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ca/
Um, hi, me again. I showed James my list and asked for his input. He says:
1) "You might want to tell them WHY they should avoid the mixing bowl." Well, they're weird and yuppie. They make what they call a classic BLT, but it's got pesto on it! On a french roll! And their idea of soup of the day is cold watermelon-and-beet(root)!
2) Mariposa gluten-free bakery, near the Temescal library
3) "Tell them Bakesale Betty (whose actual name is Alison) is from Australia, so she has some interesting takes on baked goods"
4) "You might want to mention the small British-foods section at the Berkeley Bowl (which reminded me that not in walking distance, but a 20-minute drive away, is a store that specializes in New Zealand foodstuffs, and has really good prices.)
5) Ashkenaz for live music
6) Book Zoo, the local bookshop run by a Marxist or something. Also, the Long Haul, the anarchist info shop.
7) http://picturepubpizza.com -- movies on loveseats, with food served at your seat. Food like pizza and pasta, along with popcorn and stuff. They also open up the place for free to show things like the presidential debates.
8) Good Vibrations: http://goodvibes.com
3) I think you already get Terra Firma's organic produce box. I recommend getting the biggest box you can afford, because the big box gets stuff the others don't.
4) You can make DMV appointments online and avoid the lines.
5) You can also renew your library books online.
6) The first Friday of every month (including this one), we have game night at our place (board games, mostly, but James is going to start an RPG soon); the game store (It's Your Move) also has game night most Fridays.
7) Speaking of game stores, we like It's Your Move okay, but the owner gets peevish if you don't buy anything, so we started kind of avoiding the place; we prefer Games of Berkeley anyway, and it's worth going the extra distance to be able to go in, browse, and leave without getting a lecture.
8) Best comic-book store ever: Comic Relief, on Shattuck, right next door to Other Change of Hobbit, of which I'm sure you've heard.
9) I work at UC Berkeley, and I fucking love it to death. jobs.berkeley.edu
10) I also really liked temping, which I did for many, many years before I took this job (at which I started as a temp): Volt was my service, and I worked for them happily for ten years.
12, because I tried to type "11" three times and couldn't manage not to type "12" instead, so it's 12, dammit) Netflix.com is so great. Not only do they deliver movies to your house, but their customer service rocks, and they have a watch-instantly feature which means we have access to new stuff all the time.
13) While we're at it, the major networks air video of most of their shows starting the next day. nbc.com, abc.com, etc.
14) Have you been to the Ashby Flea Market yet? Our first sight of Berkeley was when we stepped off the BART into the drum circle area of the flea market, and we were hooked for good.
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Date: 2008-10-02 12:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 02:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 02:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 04:02 pm (UTC)