Hi, Am going to stay in the Eugene/Springfield area for a few days and am desperate for recommendations for good(or decent or the best available) restaurants, both casual places(i.e. burgers, pizzas, breweries, etc) and nice places. Would really love any decent seafood recommendations. We would be willing to drive (say an hour in any direction). Right now the only good place I know of is Marche in Eugene, so would really appreciate any other ideas. I have searched all of the Eugene threads and have found very little current info, so any ideas would be VERY much appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the updated suggestions! You have given us a whole bunch of places to check out. I had looked at all of the past reviews that I could find, but it seemed like a lot of places listed had gone out of business, so much appreciate the update

Hi, We will be spending a few days in Eugene and would really appreciate any recommendations for restaurants in the area. The only place that I know is for a "nice" restaurant - Marche in Eugene, which I would highly recommend. So any other suggestions would be much appreciated, especially for more casual food.

Thanks!!!

Many, many thanks! Due to your recommendations, our dinners turned out better than expected, Went to both Les Caves and Block15 and some friends who were there for longer also went to Vault 244. We also had several lunches & breakfasts from Le Patissier.

Also, FYI, one night, we took a longer drive and went to Marche in Eugene, a French restaurant, which was really good, and I would highly recommend if you want to splurge some evening.

Again thanks, your suggestions were much appreciated.

Will be staying in Gilroy for a few days and would much appreciate any recommendations for good( or as good as possible for the area) restaurants for dinner in preferably Gilroy, but could drive to Morgan Hill, for example. In the past, the only good place we have found was for Mexican food - La Hacienda in Gilroy, so we would really appreciate any recommendations at all.

Thanks much in advance!

Have not been there in a while, but used to like the sand dabs at the Sandbar and Grill in Monterey. It's on the pier next to Fisherman's wharf and used to attract locals, as well as tourists. Down below pier level, very casual, it has a great view of the harbor and you used to be able to watch the sea otters playing at dusk. Maybe someone else has some newer information, because, as I said, it's been a while since I have been there.

Thanks, sounds like some places to try. Are there any places a little further away(like an hour) that are worth driving to? Would particularly like to find fresh seafood, but don't know if we are too far from the coast for that.

No, just one day. We are coming from California and planning on staying overnight at Ashland and driving to Albany from there. But sure could use some help, in the area around Albany,especially for dinner. I put out a separate post for there and have kindly received a few ideas, but don't know if there is much a little further away, around the area(am willing to drive). Especially would like seafood(but we may be too far from the coast) Don't know if it would be worthwhile to drive to Newport for one evening, for instance.

We have been to Ashland a few times(but we have not yet tried Wild Goose, so thanks for the recommendation), but have not spent any time in the area between Eugene And Portland, so any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Thank you for these ideas! They all sound do able, with dogs. The only downside of traveling with them is that it limits your ability to stop many places for lunch, unless it is cold and cloudy out.

We used to go to Bo's in Lafayette all the time, but have given up on it. Quality had really gone downhill - ribs were dried out and tasteless, as was the used to be great bbq'd chicken. For a while, we kept going back every once in a while to see if they had gotten better again, but sadly, they had not. A few of the times that we had taken it home, it was inedible. And unfortunately, so far, we have not been able to find any good bbq places on this side of the hill(Contra Costa, Dublin, Pleasanton, etc.) to replace it, so can't tell you where else to try.

They probably get them from somewhere else then. Zabar's bagels are not my favorite(though I like some things from them and they are very reliable). I usually get bagels and bialys when I order smoked fish from Barney Greengrass and they are pretty good. It would just be nice to have more options. And while I agree with you that it is not at it's best the next day, it still is a whole lot better than anything I have ever found around here. Thanks!

Will be traveling North on I 5 from the San Francisco area up to Oregon.

Would really appreciate any suggestions for quick lunch stops along the way, not too far from I 5, especially past Vacaville. Either recommendations for restaurants for something casual or places for takeout would be appreciated, since we are traveling with dogs.

Thanks!

Will be traveling I 5 from California to Albany, Oregon.

Would really appreciate any suggestions for quick lunch stops along the way, not too far from I 5. Either recommendations for cafes/restaurants or places for takeout would be appreciated, since we are traveling with dogs and thus dependent on weather conditions to be able to leave the dogs in the car.

Thanks!

We will be staying near Albany/ Corvallis, Oregon for a few days. I don't know this area at all and would really appreciate any recommendations for good food/restaurants in the area ?? We have a car and if necessary would be willing to drive to someplace like 30-45 minutes away(or more if it is really great).

Thanks in advance for any help you can give us.

One question though - found a place where we may be able get Riverdog chickens. Says that feet and heads are left on, but my question is - is the inside of the chicken cleaned out or do you need to do some extra cleaning there too ? As you can tell, am not the most experienced chef, so just want to know what to expect. Thanks!

Katz's on line menu looks pretty good. I notice that they also sell bagels and bialys by mail. Have you ever had them there? Are they any good?

Thanks!

Thank you! This is a great list of other chickens to look for. I was beginning to think this did not exist any more. Maybe it's just me, but lately it seems that good ingredients are getting harder and harder to find.

Would also like to hear what other's more recent experiences have been. I have never been there, but have looked at the menu and thought it looked good.

If this does not work out you, for Italian, you may want to try Gianni's Italian Bistro in San Ramon(they are back at their original space, with their original owner). The food is quite good, especially for this area where non-chain choices are few. Or if I was going out for a birthday and wanted to stay local, would go to Chevalier in Lafayette. French and quite good.

Happy Birthday!

When you feel like treating yourself, and if you are willing to do mail order(they have an online website), Zabar's has great cream cheese. The best I have found in a long time. And I have tried all of the others mentioned here. FYI-Their bagels though are not great(though maybe better than what you are finding here).

I would recommend "Douce France", 855 El Camino Real ,Palo Alto, CA 94301,Town & Country Village. French style, would make a very pretty hostess gift. They use good ingredients, so while their cakes have flavor, they are not too sweet. I particularly like their fruit tarts, but lots of choices. It's not a chain.

Also someone mentioned Mayfield bakery in the same shopping center. I don't care for their cakes as much, but they have pretty good breads and good chocolate chip cookies.

Hope this helps.

Saw this thread and was wondering if anyone had a reliable source for good chickens, either in the East Bay or Peninsula?

Getting ok chickens never used to be a problem, especially if you went for the free range ones. Lately, however, we have had a hard time finding anything good, ingredients wise. The chickens seem to (when cooked, of course) have a weird, mushy texture, and don't taste good at all. The Mary's chickens we have gotten have all been like this, and now that Mary's seem to be ubiquitous, we are having a hard time finding anything good. Seems crazy that it would be so tough to find something good in such a basic ingredient as chicken!

Not sure why you think LA would be better a better place to order from. It's just my own personal experience, but no matter what it's called, I have not found good NYC deli any place I have tried in California. I have seen people out here frequently order their pastrami or corned beef sandwiches on wheat bread with tomato, lettuce, and mayo. Just not the same sort of thing. When, I first moved here I tried anything I could find that called itself "NY" style and quickly found that it was better to save my money and just stick to more local traditions here. And since I live in the San Francisco Bay area, ordering something from Los Angeles would not be any less expensive anyway(California is a big state, it would kind like someone in New York ordering from Portland, Maine).

Thanks though.

Thanks for the info, but have not had much luck with anything called a "deli" in California (Los Angeles or San Francisco area) . I used to try them out, but found out the hard way that anything advertised as a NYC deli, actually bore no resemblance to one.

And yes, I have tried Zabar's. Good knishes and great smoked fish. But their pastrami and corned beef, were both really, really dry and not very good. I can only suppose that this extra lean style is popular, but for me does not work well for either pastrami or corned beef. I don't know if you have more choices about it when you order in the store, but for mail order you do not. So that's why I am still looking for a place to get them from.

Used to live in New York, now live in California, where there are no decent delis at all, so we try to do some mail order from New York. Am able to get great smoked fish, bagels, bialys, and chocolate but would really like a source for good NY deli food - pastrami, corned beef, knishes, in particular. Would really appreciate any suggestions. We used to get orders from the Second Ave Deli, but that was before the owner died, and they moved, so things are just not the same with them. Have also tried getting things from the Carnegie deli, but that did not work out at all. Once it was ok(though very expensive), but the next time they sent the pastrami and corned beef frozen solid, to go along with the expired a year before package of NY hot dogs. Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks!! This gives us a few places that we have not tried and helps us avoid us(i.e. Habit burgers does not sound good, from your description).

Thanks! Lots of places to look up. The only one of these that I had tried previously was Mikuni, so these places would all be new for us. It seems like a difficult area for us to find good restaurants.

Also, Hawks in Granite Bay was mentioned, and we have never been there, but we have found an ok(though not great) Italian restaurant in Granite Bay called Dominick's.

Would much appreciate any recommendations for good restaurants on the East side of Sacramento, including areas like Folsom and Rancho Cordova. We are there on a regular basis for weekends and always have a hard time finding good places to eat. So far we have found good sushi at Samurai Sushi and ok pizza at One Speed pizza, but we would really like some alternatives for both nicer restaurants, and/or different types of food. A couple of weeks ago we tried the Roxy Restaurant, but were not impressed.

Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks!

A lot has been written about the Oakland/Berkeley area, but has anyone food good burgers in the Walnut Creek, Danville/San Ramon, Pleasanton side of the East Bay???? Something better than the chains like In 'N Out

We ended up going to Bistro29 and to Hana Japanese. Both were excellent. The food at Bistro 29, besides just being good, was really French( a rarity, most places called bistros have nothing resembling French food) and turned out better than we hoped for. Hana Japanese had both excellent nigiri suishi and sashimi - different selections of fish than usual and very fresh, good quality. Their other courses, both main dishes, and small plates, were also quite good, and different than the usual that one always sees in most Japanese restaurants I have been to. On another note, some friends took us to Caffe Giostra in Petaluma, which I would not recommend. Dinner was edible, but I am not really a fan of American style Italian cuisine and in addition, the ingredients used(especially the veal) were pretty mediocre.

Thanks much for the recommendations.

Are any of these places near the Oakland Coliseum?? We're looking for a place for dinner after an event there.
Thanks!