uberslop's Profile
Burgers and coffee, that's elf food, apparently -- your thoughts solicited
Coffee-wise, I adjure you to try Local 123 if you're in the East Bay. Absolutely as good as it gets.
Burgers and coffee, that's elf food, apparently -- your thoughts solicited
I've been to almost all of the places mentioned here, and many others, and I must strenuously if respectfully object to the current frontrunners. I've only eaten at Mua once -- it was a completely acceptable and enjoyable burger, but it didn't come close to making a run for the Top 10. Ditto Slow Club. That said, they're worthy of mention, and great places to go. Luka's, though, has taken noticeable turn for the worse, and I can't see how a visitor would put it on a list of Bay Area to-do's. 510burger's good, and I'm always happy to see their truck -- but unlike a handful of other food trucks that are actually quest-worthy, I wouldn't tell a Canadian visitrix to go out of her way for it.
I haven't eaten the 4505 or Mo's burgers, and can't wait to try, based on reviews here.
My top vote: Sidebar, in Oakland. Consistently, gobstopperingly, revelationally good. Second: Nopa or Marlowe, depending on the day. Honorable mention: Grayson 900.
And a quick remembrance is in order here: RIP Namu's Korean-influenced burger.
Drago (Non-Centro): Should I Go?
Thanks for all the input, ipse, fmh, & NT -- much appreciated. I think I'll keep my Drago reserve for now, based on your input, and maybe hit Jiraffe (which I've wanted to go to for awhile and forgotten about) or Fig (despite the fact that my friend recently called it the most SF restarurant outside of SF)... thank you! (and keep em coming, if anyone else has thoughts!)
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Jiraffe Restaurant
502 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Drago Restaurant
2628 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90403
Drago (Non-Centro): Should I Go?
I'm an SF hound who's staying in Playa del Rey for two nights, and am planning on having dinner with my Pasadena-based parents out near where I'm conferencing (Santa Monica/West LA/etc.). Drago came to mind via some Jonathan Gold-love I read a while back, but I'm surprised by the absence of enthusiasm/comments here in the LA boards -- is this just a case of its having been around a while? (I should note that there's not much in the way of criticism, either.) Or are there other places you'd steer me to in its place?
Notes: 1) I'm looking for a great meal -- not an expense account meal. 2. While my dad's wildly adventuresome, my mom's not -- so I'm looking at something between new American and old Continental....
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Drago Restaurant
2628 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90403
Frances dinner ...
Well, yes... but add to that Esquire's "Best New Restaurant of the Year," Bon Appetit's "Best New Restaurant of the Year," James Beard awards and probably a whole list of things I missed, and there's a whole lot more pressure on the restaurant than the already-considerable pressure exerted by being arguably the only decent dinner spot for blocks and blocks..... Id est: on my last visit there, there was a couple to my left who'd driven in from Novato (!), and a family who'd cabbed directly to the restaurant from the airport.....
Frances dinner ...
I say this as an unabashed Francesophile: you're absolutely right. But it's not "overrated" so much as it is "misrepresented." Imagine that the perfect neighborhood spot went into a neighborhood as popular as it was un- or under-restauranted. then imagine that that restaurant exceeded all of the original neighborhoodites' expectations, and that it got a lot of things really, really right, ranging from signature dishes to an innovative wine approach to lovely desserts. (You'll notice I still haven't said anything about it being The Best Anything and/or it being Worthy of Pilgrimages.) Now imagine national press showered accolades on it so that it became impossible to get into, and ratcheted up everybody's expectations of it to bizarre levels. This is where we are. To get back to being able to enjoy Frances, a) imagine that your friend told you about his favorite bite-sized restaurant and b) don't worry about pursuing a reservation at all costs.
With only 4 days in San Francisco, should we spend a half day checking out Berkeley?
Rumors of North Berkeley Wine's demise have been greatly exaggerated? Still kickin', and still great.....
Where have all the favas gone?
Got Berkeley Bowl favas last week -- very good, nicely priced.
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Berkeley Bowl
2020 Oregon St, Berkeley, CA 94703
Why is Farina so crowded every night?
Well, lots of things are more expensive than I might think. Doesn't mean restaurants charge me for it upon entering the door.
Why is Farina so crowded every night?
Wow? Really?!? That's taking the effort to be an "authentic" Italian eatery too far, methinks. Next thing you know the waiters will be ignoring you for hours while smoking at the bar and handing differently priced menus to the out-of-towners.
What's Italian for "breathtaking hubris?"
I hereby retract my earlier defense.
Why is Farina so crowded every night?
But the prices are stoooooooopid, I can agree on that.
Best Coffee Shop in Oakland/Berkeley?
Re: "Peet's does drip about as well as it can be done by a place that doesn't prepare it to order ": the big-ass Emeryville location now has a huge island where you can get any roast they have, single-cup dripped to order! (I've asked about their plans to roll this out to other stores and it seems like it's not happening any time soon....)
Best Coffee Shop in Oakland/Berkeley?
Wow. I, of course, strenuously disagree -- but it's fun to see the hounds unite in a strong-armed consensus. For what it's worth, I'd never heard of Philz when I moved out here, and wandered into the equivalent of a double-blind controlled study of sorts -- i.e., utter ignorance combined with a negative impression of the place itself (my first Phillatio was in the Castro) had me thinking I was just going to get a quick coffee-of-convenience while I waited for a friend. Then -- kablam -- I tasted one of the most delicious coffees I'd ever had. I've been to Remedy (which I'm not a big fan of), 123 (which I'm a huge fan of), Cole, multiple Blue Bottles, multiple Rituals (including my favorite, the one at Flora Grubb), and while we can quibble about favorites, I can assure you that it's silly not to include Philz in and among this group.
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Blue Bottle Cafe
66 Mint St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Best Coffee Shop in Oakland/Berkeley?
Echo that: baristas at 123 are as good as they get. Owners are very, very interested in maintaining the quality of your cuppa.
I think they also source beans from Verve, too, in addition to the ones mentioned above.
If Philz didn't exist, 123'd be my vote for Best in the Bay -- as it is, they're chasing my Philzophilia hard and well. (And while we're on it, how is it possible that Philz isn't getting more love in here? Their Tesora? The Philtered Soul? Hello?)
Need 4 Fab SF Restaurants
Ha! I'm taking that as an encrypted dissent? I hear you if so -- but I like it. Just this side of tryingtoohardism, and the courtyard's awesome on a nice day....
Need 4 Fab SF Restaurants
More re: Bar Agricole, in keeping with my recommendation: they just won the James Beard award for best restaurant design, 2011.....
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Bar Agricole
355 11th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Need 4 Fab SF Restaurants
I think there's plenty of stuff there for the middle-of-the-roader. Took my parents here last year -- if my mom can eat there, *anyone* can eat there.
Need 4 Fab SF Restaurants
Love vulber's choices. I also love how his/her quirky position (Jai Yun) is kinda high-brow, and the high-brow (Aziza) is kinda quirky. Great choices. (I'd quibble with Sotto Mare, both for its choice as "iconic" and for its food (I'm not as much of a fan as others are), but there's no question it has a fun, homey atmosphere and if you're game you're gonna have a fun night of cioppino and beer.)
Obviously anyone's choices in SF are going to be as personal and/or idiosyncratically selected as in any great food city -- the act of narrowing down a list of 200 fantastic options to a handful is necessarily a curatorial exercise. With that caveat, and taking into consideration my sense of your post -- i.e., that there are experiential criteria in the mix as well as culinary ones -- here's a stab:
Iconic: Swan Oyster Depot. Go here for lunch.
Quirky: Alembic. You mentioned they like a good cocktail. They may have tasted Alembic's equals, but I bet they've rarely if ever bested the ones they'll have here -- and the food is pretty darned great, too. (Opting to dine is a great way to get in, too, on a busy night at the bar. You miss the fun of watching/chatting with Alembic's bar staff -- the upside is you actually get in and grab a seat.)
Small/Cute/Neighborhoody/Wonderful Highbrow: Frances. very hard to get in these days, but worth a try, especially if they're up for going at opening and waiting for a two-top to open up. The definition of small-restaurant delight. Alternatively (and nearby), I recommend L'Ardoise,a French bistro as perfectly situated in its neighborhood as a restaurant's ever been. The food's very good, but that's not why you'd go there -- it's the way the space feels, from the atmosphere inside to the way it sits on its corner.
Quirky High-brow: Aziza, or Zare at Fly-Trap.
Lovely Day High-brow: Sit in the courtyard at Foreign Cinema or Bar Agricole and think about moving to SF.
Dive-ish Delight: I love Broken Record, but they might get a bigger kick out of Emmy's Spaghetti Shack, in every way -- cocktail-wise, food-wise, everything-wise. Also not as far south. Tell them to go early and have a drink in the Mexican dive bar that serves as Emmy's's foyer/waiting room for the full experience.
The only thing left off this list is a great Italian/pizza place, as I'm convinced that SF's the best city in the US for both. Delfina, A16, Beretta, Flour + Water, et al. are all great choices as well. But I look at the weekend ahead of them with either vulber's choices or the ones I threw out above and I envy what's about to happen to them. (I.e., no pizza required.)
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A16
2355 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA 94123
Delfina Restaurant
3621 18th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Emmy's Spaghetti Shack
18 Virginia Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110
Foreign Cinema
2534 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94110
Sotto Mare
552 Green St, San Francisco, CA 94133
Broken Record
1166 Geneva Ave, San Francisco, CA
Bar Agricole
355 11th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Why is Farina so crowded every night?
It blows my mind that I'm about to offer up a (admittedly highly qualified) defense of Farina, because I agree with posters' gripes that it's wackily priced. But I've been three times, and every time I've been as perplexed by the prices as I have been gobstoppered by the quality of the pasta. Luscious, mouth-dilating, look-across-the-table-to-determine-whether-others-are-blowing-gaskets-simultaneously-level stuff.
For background, let me here state that I'm about as far from an expense-accounter as you can get while still being in the changes-his-underwear-on-a-daily-basis crowd, so I can assure you I'd love to hate on this place. But the food prevents me from inveighing -- this is some of the best pasta I've had anywhere, Italy and SF (i.e., the epicenter of all Italian delight outside of Italy, in my book) included.
Now/but: is it 25-33% better than Delfina and A16? I'm not sure it is.
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A16
2355 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA 94123
Delfina Restaurant
3621 18th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Best burgers in the Bay Area 2011
I finally tried Mua, based on hounds' much-professed burgerlove for them. I wasn't wowed -- it was cooked right, and juicy enough -- but there was no next-level tastiness in effect, and a handful of demerits against it (including an over-thick, mealy tomato that has/had no place on a great burger). I'd vote Chop Bar over Mua for Oakland eateries. (Mua was awesome inside, though, and I can't wait to go back... and order something else.)
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Mua
2442A Webster Street, Oakland, CA 94612
Best burgers in the Bay Area 2011
Reposting from outdated thread:
I made The Burger my grail upon arriving here in the Bay -- I'd been disappointed by my options in Boston, and was craving them for some reason at almost menopausal-she-wolf levels. I've slowed down in my quest, but still check back in with my faves:
Sidebar, in Oakland. Get the egg on it. And the gruyere. Trust me. I've done it without, just to ensure that I wasn't being seduced by eggy, cheesy tomfoolery, and it was an amazing burger on its own. But let me repeat: get the egg and gruyere.
Spork: this is a kind of postmodern homage to In N' Out, and it's really, really good.
Namu: almost perfect. They somehow manage to make kim chi on your burger seem as natural as ketchup -- i.e., like it should always have been there, and it's been your fault for having been so dense as not to have ordered it specially.
Ravenous, in Healdsburg: this was a real surprise; I was in a bad mood, and wasn't all that wowed by the restaurant's ambience for whatever reason, and was almost petulantly prepared to not like my meal (I mention this to add weight to what comes next), at which pojnt one of the most singularly juicy and classic burgers I'd ever eaten arrived. I felt upbraided by the angels.
Zuni: I have nothing to add here, really -- it's great. At first the focaccia thing didn't do it for me. Then it did. It's great -- though I'll take Sidebar over it any day, oddly enough.
Nopa: my burgerquestmate's favorite. I think it's very, very good, but not good enough to medal.
Fish & Farm: tied with Nopa.
Lastly, for the grotty ambience and QPR, I'll mention Red's Java Hut.
I thought Slow Club's was meh.
Full disclosure: have not been to Rouge or had a Rosamunde burger yet. Can't wait.
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Zuni Cafe
1658 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Nopa
560 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Slow Club
2501 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Spork
1058 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Namu
439 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA 94118
Java Hut Cafe
60 Greenfield Ave, San Anselmo, CA 94960
Best Burger in Bay Area?
I made The Burger my grail upon arriving here in the Bay -- I'd been disappointed by my options in Boston, and was craving them for some reason at almost menopausal-she-wolf levels. I've slowed down in my quest, but still check back in with my faves:
Sidebar, in Oakland. Get the egg on it. And the gruyere. Trust me. I've done it without, just to ensure that I wasn't being seduced by eggy, cheesy tomfoolery, and it was an amazing burger on its own. But let me repeat: get the egg and gruyere.
Spork: this is a kind of postmodern homage to In N' Out, and it's really, really good.
Namu: almost perfect. They somehow manage to make kim chi on your burger seem as natural as ketchup -- i.e., like it should always have been there, and it's been your fault for having been so dense as not to have ordered it specially.
Ravenous, in Healdsburg: this was a real surprise; I was in a bad mood, and wasn't all that wowed by the restaurant's ambience for whatever reason, and was almost petulantly prepared to not like my meal (I mention this to add weight to what comes next), at which pojnt one of the most singularly juicy and classic burgers I'd ever eaten arrived. I felt upbraided by the angels.
Zuni: I have nothing to add here, really -- it's great. At first the focaccia thing didn't do it for me. Then it did. It's great -- though I'll take Sidebar over it any day, oddly enough.
Nopa: my burgerquestmate's favorite. I think it's very, very good, but not good enough to medal.
Fish & Farm: tied with Nopa.
Lastly, for the grotty ambience and QPR, I'll mention Red's Java Hut.
I thought Slow Club's was meh.
Full disclosure: have not been to Rouge or had a Rosamunde burger yet. Can't wait.
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Zuni Cafe
1658 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Nopa
560 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Slow Club
2501 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Spork
1058 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Namu
439 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA 94118
Java Hut Cafe
60 Greenfield Ave, San Anselmo, CA 94960
Best Burger in the wine country
One of the best burgers I've had anywhere in the Bay Area was the first one I had at Ravenous, in Healdsburg -- a thundering neural blast of burger perfection. I went back and it was still exceptional, if not at the same burgasmic levels.
Mangia Mangia in Albany/Berkeley?
Thanks, all, for your thoughts -- and for the heads-up re: Nizza -- how I've missed *both* of these places, as many times as I've driven that stretch of San Pablo, is beyond me. Thanks again -- will try both and report back!
Mangia Mangia in Albany/Berkeley?
This one just hit my radar, and all I can find on it online is a 13-year-old Chron review and some pretty good (if a bit mixed) Yelp takes -- any hounds been there? Not expecting miracles, but if it's an occasional near-Solano alternative to La Siciliana in Elmwood (or something similar), I'd love to know about it -- anyone?
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Mangia Mangia
755 San Pablo Ave., Albany, CA 94706
Mission Beach vs Canteen for hash?
I'm a mad hashophile, and two of my favorites are in the East Bay: Saul's delicatessen in Berkeley makes a surprisingly good classic rendition, and Aunt Mary's Kitchen in the Temescal part of Oakland makes an amazing red flannel hash.....
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Aunt Mary's Cafe
4307 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609
