chow_eb's Profile
Cal Poly SLO (San Luis Obispo) -- lunch recs?
Gus's: sandwiches. A funky grocery store with a deli counter. Great sandwiches. Sit outside if the weather is nice.
Firestone Grill: BBQ. Great menu (including salads), great BBQ, great prices.
Petra, Mediterranean. Falafel, hummus, salads, gyros, shawarma plates, they've got it all. Along with the best pita bread in the world.
Splash Cafe, seafood and bakery. Chowder, fish/clams/calamari/shrimp and chips, burgers, etc.
Shalimar, Indian. Great buffet lunch. Great flavors.
Novo, "nice restaurant". Great menu, good food, nice atmosphere.
Forget chick-fil-a and Frank's.
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Firestone Grill
1001 Higuera St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Shalimar Restaurant
2115 Broad St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Dim Sum Memory Questions
> an old school establishment ... southwest corner of Stockton and B'way
Just in case your location isn't exact, Tung Fong was one block south of there at Stockton and Pacific.
Is there any good grocery stores near Dublin/Pleasanton/Livermore?
Gene's Fine Foods in Pleasanton has a lot of good products.
Draeger's in Blackhawk has high end stuff. Take Camino Tassajara north.
Lunardi's in Danville is nice.
Livermore has several Mexican markets along Railroad and Olivina.
Dublin has 5 Indian markets, all on or near Dublin Blvd.
> Oh sure there are two 99 Ranches
I consider us lucky in that regard. It was 0 until a couple of years ago.
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Gene's Fine Foods
18850 Cox Ave, Saratoga, CA 95070
Hainan Chicken Rice or Khao Man Gai Recommendations in the Bay Area?
We never really cared for Kopitiam. Nothing wrong with it, just not special. We really like Singapore Old Town Cafe in Ulferts Center in Dublin. Their Hainanese chicken rice is great.
Ohgane Korean BBQ - 2nd location now in Dublin!
We found the food as good as Oakland. Their problem is that they are in an absolutely ancient strip mall, it's been there forever. And in this economy you know that they must have gotten a good deal on the lease. And yet the prices are the same as in Oakland on Broadway. $25 for a plate of gal bi out here in the burbs is not competitively priced.
Lumprais from Lakdiva Foods (Sri Lankan in Livermore)?
We were there. Short summary: the food is good but they are going through HUGE startup problems. Huge. Best to let them figure it all out for a couple weeks before t
Sri Lankan Cuisine - San Ramon
I drove by there today and the Open sign was in the window.
How many Sri Lankan restaurants are there in the Bay Area?
> I have no idea what Sri Lankan cuisine is all about
Very similar to Indian. It's an island off the south coast of India. Used to be called Ceylon.
> right next to Lumpia House
Yeah. I was in there recently. Hadn't been in there for quite a while. One of the items on the lunch special was Bicol Express. It was great. Didn't know what it was. Turns out wikipedia has a page on it. It's named for a district in Manila. One of the legends (not on wikipedia, on another site) says that it was named after a train that passed throught the local station.
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Lumpia House
8937 San Ramon Rd, Dublin, CA 94568
Calling all BBQ connoisseurs...
This link mentions KCBS. Is that the radio station 740AM?
Taqueria Reynoso – my new Fruitvale favorite - tacos campechano, tacos dorado de barbacoa, and the best bare-bones burrito
The authentic ones do. Most don't because it's easier just to fake it (chopped meat reheated on a flattop grill).
Burmese Kitchen's Special of the Day: Goat Curry
This reminds me. Last week we had the best goat curry we've ever had at Tandoori Bite in Dublin. Unfortunately it's not on the menu, it was a special of the day.
The previous week we had goat curry at Turmeric in Sunnyvale and liked it a lot.
We were surprised that Tandoori Bite was better, since Turmeric is kind of an upscale place.
Smalley's in Salinas
Thanks for the info. Sounds like it's time for a trip to Salinas.
The only thing I worry about is that the history of successful restaurants moving to a larger location is filled with failures.
We really liked Central Texan in its previous, small location (across the street a few blocks east). The current large location not so much.
Livermore or Pleasanton
Livermore:
Wente's - American (steak is on the menu)
Terra Mia - Italian
Pleasanton:
Hap's - steak
If high end is the key, I'd choose Wente's. See the menu on their website.
Real Mexican Near Pleasanton
All the cities in the area are small in size (in population and in area) compared to Honolulu, and are pretty much border to border. You cross a certain street and you're in a different city. You can go from Pleasanton to Livermmore or from Pleasanton to Dublin in a few minutes.
If you are looking for tripa and cabeza, you're unlikely to find it in Pleasanton. The only decent Mexican restaurant in Pleasanton (and I've been to most of them) is Blue Agave, which is an expensive, high end, fancy place down town.
In Livermore there are several that we like: El Charro, Taqueria Los Caporales, and El Castellito. These are authentic hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurants/taquerias. The Spanish speaking customers often outnumber the English speaking customers. The food is good and reasonably priced.
In Dublin there is Taqueria Los Pericos. It's a local institution. Not a great meat selection, but this place is very popular.
Places to avoid at all costs: Chevy's, La Salsa, Mexxi's, Casa Orozco, El Balazo.
For what you're looking for, a trip to Oakland will be necessary. Look for threads in this forum, especially those about taco trucks.
Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield, King City - Updates request
> SAN MIGUEL:
> Little taqueria next door to 10th St. Vineyard Cafe
Across from the Chevron station?
That may be closed now.
Kopitiam: New Singaporian Restaurant in Lafayette
We like Singapore Old Town Cafe in Dublin in the Ulferts center.
Where to buy a Tandoor
Whew! I'm exhausted after just reading it.
Interesting though.
I think I'll just do takeout.
Where to Buy a SmallTurkey-East Bay
If you can use a 10 lb turkey, your options broaden considerably.
Turkey freezes well, and you're not tired of it when you pull it out of the freezer a month later.
Otherwise a turkey breast might be a good choice.
Kopitiam in Lafayette Closing
hkf:
> This place was always pretty empty
Correct. I would describe that as people "voting with their dollars". We went there multiple times. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't special. And it was usually empty.
> locals in that area probably don't even know much about authentic Chinese food
That's a peculiar thing to say. Because you could say the same thing about almost any ethnic cuisine. Even Italian. What percent of the diners at Postino have been to italy?
A510:
> Old Town Cafe in Dublin, perhaps?
Exactly. That's our favorite place.
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Postino
3565 Mt. Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA 94549
Emil Villa'a barbeque sauce
zasha:
> I grew up in Hayward and I remember the restaurant that near the library.
> I remember the cow head on the sign
Wasn't that The Rancher?
> Other smells and tastes of Hayward that are not there are hot dogs at a little place near Palmer's drug store.
> The Big Top grocery store that had a mechanical clown
Wasn't there a Purity grocery store a block east of Mission. They had a distinctive building style -- like a concrete quonset hut.
The Doggie Diner next to the post office, with the big head of the dog on top.
And, of course, La Imperial.
Best stuck-in-the-past restaurants?
Val's in Hayward. Where waitresses of a certain age, with hairstyles to match, call you honey. Burgers, etc in the original 50's diner.
Banchero's in Hayward. An old Italian restaurant that celebrated their 60th anniversary last year. Not much has changed. Old pictures of the restaurant and of the surrounding area are on the wall along with old menus. Dinner for $1.25 back when.
ALBA Organics Open House 7-25-09
The open house at ALBA on Sunday was terrific. We saw a cooking demonstration, took a tour of the organic fields, and even got a special tour of the cooling warehouse (where the produce is stored prior to sale) and some greenhouses.
ALBA is a non-profit farmer education and incubator program. Students go through a months long series of classes. Graduates have an opportunity to lease, at below market rates, small plots of Alba's 110 acres. If they're successful and want to continue, they can apply for more land each year. Many of the farmers were there on Saturday, some working and others selling their produce.
The variety of produce that's grown there is extensive and really surprised us. It's far beyond the iceberg lettuce that's often associated with Salinas. We bought lots of different things to take home.
The quality was just amazing. It wasn't just clean, it almost looked like it had been polished. Produce doesn't look like this at the grocery store. They really went all out. There were tasting samples available, and the flavor was significantly better than those tired, old vegetables from the grocery store.
And then there's the food. The instructor at the cooking demonstration passed out samples of several items that she prepared using the produce that was provided by ALBA. The food at the taco trucks, and the cart, was great. I had read here on Chowhound about the hotdog stand in Salinas. They raise hotdogs to another level. In addition to tacos, one of the trucks, in a bow to the local produce, had a vegetable dish of squash, onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, and garlic. The aroma alone sold it. Free cups of hand cranked strawberry ice cream, using strawberries from the farm, were given out. And the weather was even great!
Thanks to Melanie for letting us know about this.
ALBA Organics
1700 Old Stage Road
Salinas
www.albafarmers.org
Box Lunches around San Luis Obispo?
Not exactly a classical box lunch, but it works out the same. Pick up some sandwiches, sides/chips, and drinks at Gus' Grocery on Osos St. These are some of the best sandwiches anywhere, my favorite place.
Get some cookies/pastries at Splash Cafe on Monterey (corner of California).
They'll have the best lunch ever.
Best Hummus and fresh pita bread in bay area?
> the super garlicky hummus at Gourmet Express,
> every other hummus doesn't compare.
No way. I was there recently. I ordered the schwarma chicken plate (meat with four small sides). They were low on hummus and brought over an industrial container to refill the pan with. I couldn't see the label on the container from my table, but it looked familiar.
The "schwarma" chicken was soft and moist -- wet actually. When I finished my lunch and went to the cashier to pay, I said that the "schwarma" chicken appeared to be _boiled_ and I asked where the (whatever it is) vertical roaster is, since I didn't see one in their kitchen. She said "we cook it in the oven." Hmmm. I pointed out again that the chicken was soft and actually WET, and she said, "Well, yeah, we boil it."
Of course they do. It was easy to figure out. In taquerias that have lots of meat choices, they will have a "pollo asado" and a "pollo." The first is grilled and the latter is stewed. The schwarma chicken at GE is exactly like "pollo," it's stewed/boiled and has a soft/flaky texture. Not like any schwarma I've had at other places.
Livestock Auction: Healdsburg Future Farmers Country Fair, 5/23
Kind of reminds me of Mike's at the Yard in Petalima.
R.I.P.
Any serious BBQ to recommend in SF/Bay Area? Hosting a Texas native - and need to impress.
I agree that taking him someplace for traditional BBQ would likely be a losing proposition. Take him someplace for "grilled meats" that he may not have access to back home, e.g.:
Korean BBQ, the kind where you grill your food at your table. Also some place that serves Korean short ribs (kalbi).
Middle Eastern kabobs (lamb, beef, chicken).
A Hong Kong-style Chinese BBQ meats place.
A Brazilian/Argentinian churrasco place -- grilled meat heaven.
There are good examples of each in the B.A.
Driving North From San Luis Obispo
> breakfast in SLO
We like Margie's a lot. There's no Black Bear in SLO. Closest one north on 101 is in Salinas, about 2 hrs. Both serve huge portions, so it can affect your lunch time and choice.
> Our plan is to leave early Friday morning,
You really want to be past the 680/580 interchange before 3:00 p.m. on Fridays. The traffic getting out of the Bay Area on Fridays is a real problem. You can also go 101 -> 680 -> 80 -> 5. We do both when heading north. It's about the same time, just depends on traffic. Both can get backed up at commute time. You'll probably hit traffic around Sacramento also (80, 5, 99 all intersect) that might affect how far you'll get.
For a real diner experience in the Sacramento area there's Squeeze Inn. It's a real experience, and the burgers are great.
> My hope is to make it to Ashland that evening for dinner.
That's pretty ambitious. Keep Redding and Yreka in mind. Both have Black Bear diners BTW, if it's dinner time. They might even be the best food in town, or close to it. Great menu, lots of choices. It's not gourmet, but stick to your ribs comfort food. See yelp for details.
> I do have two nights in SLO before heading north
If you're the adventureous type:
Petra for Middle Eastern. And pizzas too.
Shalimar for Indian, especially the buffet lunch.
Firestone's for BBQ.
They aren't fancy, but the food is good.
If you're picking up a CP student, they can probably tell you about two of them.
Three if they're a real chowhound.
Pismo Beach / San Luis Obispo - what's best?
I understand your concern about thick clam chowder. Some places add enough thickening to it so that, as you say, a spoon stands up in it and gives it a pasty taste. Which is not to say that all thick chowders are bad.
We did a taste test in Pismo of several restaurants' clam chowders and Splash was the winner.
To the OP, nh is correct that Splash is pretty casual. In fact, it's a dive. If you are looking for fancy/gourmet it's not your place. If you are looking for good food in a casual, chaotic, crowded, loud atmosphere, then it is your place.
Well, now that we've scared off the tourists, we can resume our bowl of clam chowder.
And then there's Sylvester's in Los Osos for great burgers. :)
Good food is where you find it, and it's often not fancy. Or expensive.
That's the Chowhound motto.
Driving North From San Luis Obispo
Go Mustangs.
> We will need breakfast lunch and dinner.
At least. What time of day will you be leaving SLO?
That will determine where you will be for what meal.
> I will probably take the 101 north from SLO to San Jose, then cut over to I-5
101 -> 680 -> 580 -> 205 -> 5 .
Once you get to 205 the dining opportunities get sparse, except for the Sacramento area. How far do you plan to go the first day?
Book about California Mexican food
Here's a second for California Rancho Cooking. It's not a academic treatise, it's a great cookbook that's an enjoyable read about old California as well as having some good recipes.
The author is Jacqueline Higuera McMahan. She used to have a column in the Chronicle years ago. The book is available on Amazon for a good price.
Where to eat near Fort Hunter Liggett?
Well, you beat me to that one. In the little town of San Miguel, just south of Camp Roberts, is this interesting looking restaurant that I think is only open on weekends. They cater on other days. It's directly across the street from the Chevron station. This place brings funk to a new level. It's a little old house. The kitchen is one room, a wine bar another, and what passes as it's largest room (not very big) is the dining room. We went in once and spoke with the owner. I've always wanted to try it, but it's difficult to get the rest of the family to drive back to San Miguel from wherever we are when we're down there.
There are only two highway exits for SM. This is 10th St, the northern of the two, with the Chevron station. Next door to the restaurant is a little taqueria that we like.
At the south end of the town (the other exit) is Mission San Miguel Arcangel. It's like going back in time.
