berkeley is my baby (and i want to kill it)*
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| READ ME. |
having spent our formative years in berkeley (1996-2006!!), we're often asked for recommendations on stuff to do/eat/drink there. obviously, you're asking the right people cuz we're cooler than everyone. also, berkeley appears not to have changed AT ALL since we were undergraduates there, so i'm presuming that all these things still exist and are as cool as they used to be.
even if you're not planning on visiting berkeley anytime soon, you can read this as a narrative history of our very thrilling berkeley years. silly anecdotes abound.
take note that our restaurant recommendations are biased towards vegetarian ones (but we all know you should be eating vegetarian anyway). likewise, the music venues and bars are skewed towards the awesome ones. hope you can handle that.
EAT
berkeley- cha-ya: amazing vegan japanese restaurant on north side. it used to be really tiny, and consequently we'd end up waiting hungrily for an hour+.. but it was always soo worth it! they've since expanded their space, and though the bigger space is a bit less charming, there's no longer the excrutiating waits.. and the food is still delicious :-). there's also now a location in the mission (in san francisco).
- random asian vegetarian place on north side: this place looks sketchy as hell but was pretty tasty, as i recall. try the fried walnuts!
- flacos: this place started as a little vegan mexican food stand at the berkeley farmer's market.. now they've upgraded to a tiny cafe near ashby BART, maintaining the same charm as their farmer's market stand (which they still operate, as far as i know). and despite all the years i've lived away in europe, the flacos guy still remembered me when i visited recently! how dope is that! highly, highly recommend the taquitos, tamales, and their avocado salsa.
- cheeseboard: look at how cute their website is; how could you not check this place out? a seriously cool bread/cheese/pizza collective.. the best english muffins of all time! one of our best berkeley stories concerns a (now former-) friend who got into a aggro-bullshit argument (about a place to sit of all things) and ended up smashing through the window of this place! seriously, how could he? this place is like happy hippie heaven. the report in the local paper appropriately called the two morons "mental midgets".
long life veggie house: DO NOT EVER GO HERE. we got the absolute worst food poisoning of our lives from this shithole. (the worst part of it is that i recall giving our leftovers to a homeless man on our way home... i feel sooo bad about what hell that poor fella must've gone through...) fuck this place!
oakland
- manzanita (now, shangri-la): aside from the lame name change, this place is great. simple macrobiotic menus (you choose either a simple meal or the full meal). a little out of the way, but it's really delicious!
- golden lotus: awesome asian vegan place in downtown oakland. a couple blocks from radio bar!
el cerrito
- nations: back in the dark ages, when we were merely vegetarians, we spent many a drunken late night eating grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries out at the el cerrito nations, with the third part of our three-o (maijani). i've never been to the newer berkeley location, but i can't imagine it being nearly as ghetto fabulous as the el cerrito location.
san francisco
- millennium: gourmet vegan restaurant in downtown SF area. i've always had amazing meals here. great for a special occassion be sure to save room for dessert; they're one of the highlights here!
- greens: gourmet vegetarian restaurant over by fort mason. when i want to go somewhere a little more upscale, i typically go to millennium, which is fully vegan and also more accessible by BART. nonetheless, if you can make the trek out to greens, it's worth it just for the setting.
- golden era: similar to golden lotus in downtown oakland. really great vegan asian cuisine. don't be alarmed by the cult-like atmosphere. well, actually maybe you should be; these restaurants are run by the followers of the supreme master ching-hai. but seriously they make good f'ing food!
DRINK
berkeley
- albatross: great pub with popcorn, boardgames, and at times, live music! (a little far out from the main campus area, but you can easily get out there with the bus or a kind hearted friend with a car.)
spats: looks like this place has closed down! and to be honest, i wasn't gonna recommend it anyway. however, it's noteworthy in that this is probably the place that started it all. that is, it's where dorothy & i LEARNED HOW TO BOOZE. this place should probably go into a museum or something. it all went downhill from girly drinks at SPATS.- Starry plough: like the stork club, I've only been to this place once, for a reunion show.. This time for pinhead gunpowder, one of my all time favorite groups. a righteous all-star cast from east bay punk heaven, including the dreamy Aaron cometbus (Aaron cometbus, you will forever be my #2 dream date!!! Drool..) Also, the show was totally mind-blowing. This pub can't be that lame if they've had pinhead gunpowder play there. (or maybe it can be? yah, nevermind, go to albany for a drink instead...)
- ivy room: these two dive bars are reason enough to venture out to albany (which actually isn't that far from berkeley). i saw call&response play here! that automagically makes this place cool.
- hotsy-totsy: dive bar heaven. where else would i want to spend christmas with my mom and my younger brother and sister-in-law? no, i'm serious, we went here for christmas a couple years ago.
oakland
- stork club: i've only been to this place once, but that one night was legendary. no kidding; that night bratmobile reunited for their first show since 1994. we riot grrrls all shat ourselves that night. seriously, it's confirmed on wikipedia, meaning it must be FACT. (the part about bratmobile reuniting that night, not the shatting.) anyway, i am imagining this place must still be pretty cool, if it hosted that legendary show.
- ruby room: dark, smokey (or used to be, at least), seedy, STIFF drinks. exactly how you want your dive bars. well, minus the smokey. this used to be one of our fav hangouts.
- radio: we had a hypothesis going that we pretty much liked any divey bars with red lighting. this place would fall under that category. last time i went it was flooded with a dozen santa clauses. previous to that, they had a DJ in an upstairs booth, to whom we'd send song requests via a little bucket-on-pulley system. thought that was pretty sweet.
- the attic: perhaps the main consumer of our disposable income, from ages 23 to 25. this place was our go-to dive bar for ages. dim red lighting [check]. cheap, stiff drinks [check]. rad bartender who loved us [check]. she was so amazing that we called her "giselle".
- zeitgeist: awesome outdoor beergarden/biker bar type place.
- casanova: i love this place, if only for the fact that they have rad pictures of naked ladies on the walls.
- amnesia: another cool dive-ish bar, and as its name suggests, i barely remember anything about it. (btw, you may have noticed: we rarely ventured out of the mission district.)
SHOWS/CLUBS
berkeley- 924 gilman: if you're a angsty under-age kid into punk music, this is the place for you. all ages. no booze, candy bars only! if you don't have the cash, you can work for entrance. which i begrudgingly did once. (jackson, you cheap fucking bastard.)
san francisco
- bottom of the hill: small, intimate venue with awesome shows. i think the best way to give you a sense of these places is to divulge what bands we've seen at these venues. le tigre. gossip. the anniversary! add (n) to x!!!!!
- bimbo's: amazing place. you must go here! i don't even know how to begin to describe it. saw phoenix play here back when i didn't even realize they were french.
- great american music hall: this place has the feeling that it used to be some kind of old fashioned strip club and saloon. le tigre. sufjan stevens. many others.
- slim's: decent club in SOMA. the most memorable of the shows we saw here was the go-nuts.. a snack-core pop punk band, whose gimmick was to SHOOT snacks into the audience with a CANNON. i'm NOT kidding. they shot cereal, mini brownies, powdered SUGAR into the audience. needless to say, they were likely never invited back.
- the fillmore: big venue in japantown. dorothy dragged me to a sigur ros show here, and i remember thinking, "boy, i sure feel like a fetus in a uterus." i also remember taking a bite into one of the apples (they always give out at the fillmore) DURING the sigor ros set. i'm such an idiot. imagine this moody, atmospheric music playing, and then a sudden, loud "CRUNCH!"...
- warfield: if you ever get a chance to see a show here, you must go. notable gigs include belle&sebastian and... green day!! seriously, that green day show was one of the best shows I've ever seen. top three for sure. it was for their American idiot tour, and of course, having been a long time green day fan, i was incredulous. however, how could I pass up seeing them at the warfield, knowing that they typically sold out pacbell park (F that place!) believe it or not, they basically brought their usual stadium show into the warfield, pyrotechnics and all!! i do not know how that shit was even legal; the venue was so small and the explosions so large that i'm pretty sure i felt my eyebrows singe off from the flames. and fancy fire show side, despite my doubts, they were just tighter than ever. i will always love green day, for this show!!
- palace of fine arts: likewise, if you ever get a chance to see a show here, highly recommend it. it's an amazing venue. saw cat power do a phenomenal set here.
- rickshaw stop: cute club/music venue. saw casiotone for the painfully alone, as well as ROSE MELBERG, play here!
- popscene: the long island iced tea at this place was cause for many occasion of me vomiting on myself. oh, splendid youth. another place to go if you're a teenager (or a teenager at heart), but this time into britpop & indie.
- cat club: great venue. one of our favorite clubs of all time (FAKE) used to run at this place.. i've also been to the 80s night (1984), and believe it or not, also bondage-a-go-go (amazing.. i'd totally pay 10 bucks to watch someone get electrocuted for pleasure.. again!)
if you're curious to see an approximately comprehensive list of shows that we've seen together, most of them in the bay area, check out this post on FWT.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE BUT EAT/DRINK/SHOWS
berkeley- farmer's market: berkeley has the best farmer's markets! they're small and manageable, low key, and have awesome produce. you can usually get a great bite to eat there as well. highly recommend.
- berkeley bowl marketplace: if you want to go grocery shopping, this is the place. the first time i went was back when i was living in the dorms and this place was still in its small former location across the street.. now it's an enormous paradise to fruits and vegetables, still maintaining its crunchy origins. one of my favorite places to spend time oggling apples and asparagi.
- albany bowl: i had my Ph.D. graduation party here!
- berkeley art museum: at times has really phenomenal exhibitions and film screenings.
- moe's bookstore: berkeley's had some amazing bookstores. moe's ties with pegasus for top spot in my book. great selection of both new and used books.
- pegasus bookstore: doesn't have the biggest selection, but always seemed to have exactly the right books and magazines.. which is what matters most anyway, right? who cares about the rest of the garbage, when you know you can always find a good read here. also, always appreciated the worker recommendations.
- ferry plaza farmer's market: enormous-est farmer's market! if you're into that kind of thing, you gotta check it out.
- kabuki spa: if you like spas, you must go here! it's one of my favorite spas in the WORLD! really peaceful, relaxing atmosphere with amazing sauna/bath area. located in japantown, so you can check out the japantown mall while you're at it.
- castro theater: really beautiful place to catch a film
- SF MOMA: occassionally has the most amazing exhibitions; probably the most memorable was a mind-blowing yoko ono retrospective..
- exploratorium: f'ing RAD science museum out by the palace of fine arts. super fun, for kids and adults alike.
- legion of honor: seen some really cool exhibitions here.. a bit of a trek, but well worth the setting.
- tilden park: you'll be shocked to find an enormous park out in the hills of berkeley! there are walking trails, a little lake, a petting zoo, and even a little steam train you can ride! brazil room was the location of the legendary wedding of athena and andrew.
- marin headlands: best view of san francisco, ever.
- muir woods: there are lots of pretty forests outside of san francisco. this one's really close, just half an hour north of the city.
- angel island: brock and i went out here by ferry one day. when we arrived, we rented bikes and rode the circumference of the island. fun way to spend a weekend afternoon.
posted by toyoko @ 5:30 AM
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