Food

Near Campus:

• Campus Cafes:

  • • Free Speech Movement Cafe in Moffitt

    • Caffe Strada near the Law School

    • Pat Brown's in the PMB Buildling 

    • Yali's Qualcomm in Sutardja Dai Hall

    • The Coffee Lab in the Chem building courtyard

    • Edmond's in I-House

• Top Dog: sausages of many kinds, including veggie.

• Easterly: Really tasty Hunanese Chinese fare super close to campus.  

• Babette: Cute cafe with coffee/tea, pastries, and light lunch fare on the second floor of BAMPFA.

• Yali's Cafe: Coffee shop and cafe with locations on Oxford St, Sutardja Dai Hall, and some other places. They serve salads, sandwiches, soups, and pastries. The Oxford St location is a good spot for one-on-one meetings.

• Saigon Express down on Shattuck quite often. It's super quick service, really affordable and delicious, and everyone who works there is as nice as can be (Morgan Tougas). Their Bahn-Mis are a great deal at a minimum of $3.50 a sandwich.  I'd recommend the tofu/veg Bahn-Mi with the fresh squeezed lemonade! (Dylan Beal, '20)

• The Butcher's Son: Don't let the name fool you, this eatery and sandwich shop is an all vegan delicatessen! The fried chicken sandwich, pulled pork, or reuben are all excellent choices.  They also sell all the vegan meats and cheeses that they produce in house (Dylan Beal, '20).

• La Burrita: Meaning "The Burrita" in the beautiful romance language of Español, this establishment sells "tacos y burritos". Ok so lets start off with the basics. There are two La Burritas near campus. If you head to the northern location on Euclid Ave, you will find nice indoor and outdoor seating, and serve-yourself chips + salsa. This can be used to your advantage. Next to the chip dispensing device, there are signs asking you to only take one bowl's worth of chips. This is a feeble attempt at controlling the masses. You can easily have your fill on multiple servings of these chips, and even fill entire brown paper bags with these chips (+ salsa). This feature, as well as the large amount of indoor and outdoor seating, make the northern location a very desirable La Burrita experience. However, if you find yourself south of campus, on Telegraph, you can take a detour down Durant Ave to find a very humble La Burrita tucked comfortably next to a Taco Bell. This La Burrita is smaller and does not let you serve your own chips, but it does have the better Californa burrito. If you are going there for something other than the California burrito I have no advice to give you. You are in uncharted waters and I wish you the best of luck on your burrito adventures. (Brian "La Blanca" Whyte, '22)

• Urbann Turbann: Indian rice bowls and naan wraps. Meat, veggie, and vegan options. The naan wrap is an evolutionary step in the right direction, but is has its flaws - in integrity, not flavor. This material is susceptible to breaking and leaking, and not toward the ends of the wrap, but the middle. If you were planning on eating this wrap at your desk over some papers, or over your own lap, you are asking for danger. However, the flavors are fantastic so maybe you can do what I do and eat it over the pavement outside and let the squirrels clean up after you (i.e. circle of life or something). (Brian Whyte, '22)

• Plátano Salvadoran Cuisine: Salvadoran spot on University Ave. Their lunch special (2 pupusas + plantains and beans) is delicious and gives you so much bang for your buck.

• Dora's Pies: Try the Pie and a Pint at this wonderful bakery, chocolate shop, and brew pub on University avenue! This sweet and alcoholic deal could be yours for $10. The purveyors only serve pale ales, ipas and farmhouse ales so if you're looking for brew diversity, you're out of luck! (Dylan Beal, '20)

• Imm Thai Street Food: Great Thai food steps from campus. Often very busy during peak hours, but you can get in line on Yelp before heading over to cut down the wait, or order to go.

• Chengdu Style Restaurant on Bancroft: Authentic Szechuanese food

Around the area (Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito): 

• Easy Creole: THE place for the mushy food lover. "Hip, casual joint with a rotating menu of creative Cajun-Creole fare, veggie options included." (Wenjing Xu, '22)

• Shandong: Hand-made dumplings and noodles. Authentic. Eat-in is a great Chinese experience. You can also buy their dumplings (frozen) to cook at home. +1 for Shandong...get the sesame noodles and green beans.

• Nabolom Bakery: Some of the best croissants, scones, and baked goods in the East Bay. And tasty pizza too! 

• Tacos Oscar: Veggie- and vegan-friendly tacos. Small rotating menu with seasonal veg. 

• Geta Japanese Restaurant: "Is there a character that could possibly EVEN TOUCH Madara Uchiha? Let alone defeat him. And I'm not talking about Edo Tensei Uchiha Madara. I'm not talking about Gedou Rinne Tensei Uchiha Madara either. Hell, I'm not even talking about Juubi Jinchuuriki Gedou Rinne Tensei Uchiha Madara with the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and Rinnegan doujutsus (with the rikodou abilities and being capable of both Amateratsu and Tsukuyomi genjutsu), equipped with his Gunbai, a perfect Susano'o, control of the juubi and Gedou Mazou, with Hashirama Senju's DNA implanted in him so he has mokuton kekkei genkai and can perform yin yang release ninjutsu while being an expert in kenjutsu and taijutsu". (Brian "Hokage" Whyte)

• Lemat: Great and affordable Ethiopian restaurant on Adeline St. Their veggie combo is great for sharing and their injera is all gluten-free! 

• La Mission: possibly the only place open past 8pm near Berkeley. Good burritos, nice patio, open past 8pm.

• Daol Tofu: Korean food in Temescal. Great bibimbap. 

• Vik's Chaat: Very popular spot that serves various types of chaat. Grocery store inside is an added bonus! 

• Aburaya: Japanese fried chicken in downtown Oakland. Grab some food and then go hang out by Lake Merritt.

• Firebrand Artisan Breads: Great place to either pick up a loaf of bread and pastries or to get a tasty breakfast sandwiches. 

• Wat Mongkolratanaram (aka Thai Temple): Sunday morning (10am -1pm) Thai food served buffet style. Bring cash to buy tokens, and get there early to avoid lines. Beef noodle soup is delish, but also great selection of both meat and veg curries and noodles. A super fun, classic Berkeley experience. 

• World Famous Hotboy's: spicy, very spicy, and extremeley spicy Nashville-style fried chicken sandwiches north of downtown Oakland.

Grocery Stores: 

• Farmers Markets: 

  • South Berkeley (Tuesdays, 2 - 6:30 pm): Adeline Street and 63rd Street

  • Downtown Berkeley (Sundays, 10am - 3 pm): Center Street @ M. L. King, Jr. Way

  • North Berkeley (Thursdays, 3 - 7pm): Shattuck Avenue @ Vine Street

  • Temescal (Sundays, 9am - 1pm): DMV at 5300 Claremont

  • Grand Lake (Saturdays, 9am - 2pm): Grand Ave & Lake Park Way

  • El Cerrito (Tuesdays and Saturdays, 9am - 1pm): El Cerrito Plaza in front of Trader Joes

  • Kensington (Sundays, 9am - 2pm): Kensington, Colusa Circle

• Berkeley Bowl: There are two Berkeley Bowls (Berkeley Bowl and Berkeley Bowl West). Both are incredible with an amazing selection. Berkeley Bowl West has better parking if that's a concern, but it's farther from campus. 

• KP Market: Korean grocery store in Oakland. Excellent variety of Korean cooking products (various pastes, kimchi, etc.)

• Tokyo Fish Market: Japanese fish market in Berkeley. Beautiful selection of high grade sashimi and sake. Really fun experience.