Reviews from Berkeley & Albany
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Berkeley Produce Center (Berkeley) |
Berkeley
It has been said that Berkeley is all about the food.
OK, we’re the ones who said it. Sure, there’s a world-class university, and premier science at the National Laboratory. We have artists, musicians, activists, free-thinkers, you name it—and we have restaurants.
Our love of food is palpable (and palatable) several times a week at the popular farmers’ markets. You can have lunch at the birthplace of California Cuisine, check out the original home of great American coffee, and pick up a loaf of the finest sourdough bread anywhere, all within two blocks. Just think what the rest of the city has to offer.
Best of all, Berkeley is a great place to be a vegetarian. Nearly every restaurant knows you’re coming and has something for you. But that’s not universally true. As we said above, some restaurants are simply more vegetarian-friendly than others.
Vegetarians in and around Berkeley always have a lot of options. There are a number of strict vegetarian resturants, and we love them. But if you’re like us, you dine around, and outside of those few veg places, it’s important to know where you can get a great meal.
If you’re coming in to Berkeley from elsewhere, know that parking at dinner time in Berkeley is never a big hassle, and except for downtown, it’s free.
Albany
Albany should get more respect as a food destination of it’s own.
Albany is Berkeley’s neighbor to the northwest, and the great unbroken chain of restaurant excellence that starts at the top of Solano Avenue and runs 1.2 miles from stem to stern at San Pablo, spends exactly half of its length in Albany. Parking is easy, there are no crowds, no throngs of students, there’s a nice art-house movie theater—give it a try.
—Ken Goldberg and Kathryn Kefauver Goldberg
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