Best Summer Eating Spots
Where do the locals like to eat? Best of the Best is written by Serena Bartlett, author of the GrassRoutes Guidebook Series and Oakland resident. Serena shares with us her best picks from a locals viewpoint of dining in Oakland. Her books, GrassRoutes Guide to Oakland and Berkeley and GrassRoutes Green Road Trip to Northern California Wine Country. For more info visit: www.grassroutestravel.com
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Rio California
Preservation Park is already a wonderful place to while away a sunny summer afternoon, and it is made all the better with a porch seat at Rio California. Order fresh salads to compliment authentic Brazilian dishes like a milder version of jerk chicken, and classic Feijoada pork and bean stew, lemony grilled tilapia, or a plate of large chicken or beef stuffed empanadas. Sit in the sun and order a 'guarana antartica,' or a cashew soda, and it'll be hard to remember where you are on the globe, and in what century! The combination of delightful service, exceptional historic surroundings, mouth-watering South American food, and unique refreshing beverages is a win-win for tourists, conference-goers, locals, and business people alike. It's hard to find a place that will please practically everyone like Rio California does.
Rio California
1233 Preservation Park Way
(510) 834-2565
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Encuentro
There are many exciting thing brewing in Jack London Square. The upcoming opening of the local food marketplace, a number of new restaurants, a fancy cupcake shop… But whenever these new spots become reality, Encuentro alone is a worth a trip to Oakland's waterfront neighborhood. This all-organic wine bar and eatery focuses on small old-world vintners and pairs specific wines with items from their sustainable vegetarian menu. The open glass corner location is an ideal place to perch during the summer to watch the sun set, or the produce vendors shutting up shop while muttering happy utterances under your breath.
It is hard to hold in your enthusiasm when you bite into the white bean and cauliflower bruschetta with sundried tomatoes and tapenade, or the truffled mushroom pecan pate, served with home made prune jam. Empanadas are perfected here - with crispy outsides and warm, luscious insides of gold raisin picadillo and cashew crema. There is a daily soup, and a number of enticing salad and sandwich choices, but the gnocchi with roast fennel and zucchini is hard to resist, even for lunch. If you're just here for drinks, you can sample local cheeses as a small pairing - the cheese plates are divine, especially with the whites from Urban Legend Sauvignon Blanc or Irish Monkey Fume Blanc, made less than a mile from Encuentro. Finally there is an place in Oakland that highlights the Oakland wineries, while celebrating the local bounty on the plate at the same time.
Encuentro Cafe and Wine Bar
202 Second Street
(510) 832-9462
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More reviews of Encuentro Cafe and Wine Bar
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Lush Gelato
The heat of the summer calls for handmade gelato. It is lighter than regular ice cream, and many of the inventive flavors served here are dairy-free sorbettos. Each ingredient is carefully selected, for instance, the chocolate in the mint chocolate gelato comes from Ethiopia, and the mint from a local farm. It is the most popular flavor for good reason, but there's plenty of others to please.
Strawberry basil is a unique sensation, wild honey is made with local honey, and classic chocolate is Mexican semisweet chocolate, vanilla is Madagascar vanilla, with plenty of dots showing off their use of whole pods.
Try the raspberry sorbetto with a scoop of yogurt or ricotta gelato -a match made in heaven. Each trip you'll find new ones too, based on the seasons and the whim of the gelato makers. It Is right across from Piedmont Theater, and a perfect place to talk over the film you just saw while savoring a cool, sweet, treat.
Lush Gelato
4184 Piedmont Avenue
(510) 547-1299
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Jon’s Street Eats
The trend of gourmet food carts is finally hitting Oakland. Jon's Street Eats are a perfect summertime bite, tethered to the corner of Piedmont and Pleasant Valley Avenues from early evening on Saturdays into the night. This food cart is highly developed for how new it is - the delicious plates are made up of the best seasonal ingredients and never reach over $7 for an entree, salads hover around $3. For summer, hand-pulled mozzarella is paired with thick slices of bright yellow heirloom tomatoes and crowned with torn basil and California olive oil melon is elevated by chunks of French feta cheese, arugula, chili flakes a light dressing local corn from Brentwood is roasted and served with fresh lime aioli and a prefect grating of aged parmesan.
It is the perfect way to sample Oakland's food - you can eat it in the company of neighbors, it isn't snobby, it is mostly organic and local, and it won't dent your pocket book. Favorite offerings from the past few months have been homemade lamb sausage with pesto and roasted red peppers, chicken liver mousse, pork belly tacos, French onion soup, and mac and cheese cake, breaded in panko and served with gremolata sauce. Not your usual street food, but it fits right in with the incredible eating scene here in Oakland.
Jon's Street Eats
Piedmont Avenue
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SR24
New American cuisine has come to the Temescal neighborhood in a big way with the entrance of this comfortable yet chic eatery. Between 3 and 6p every day there is a scrumptious happy hour menu, with nothing but the burger priced over $5, including the unique 'pumpkin jojos,' lightly battered and fried wedges of butternut squash and kabocha pumpkin with sweet and spicy chili sauce. Fries are light and crispy, and come with house made ketchup and mustard, and the arugula salad is a refreshing and peppery balance to any of the fried orders.
For a more substantial meal take your wine or beer over to a table and sink in to Yorkshire pudding popovers, many incarnations of braised pork the chef's favorite meat, roast chicken with farro, steamed spicy clams, crisp salads like the famous wedge with house cured bacon, corn-battered fried green tomatoes and an ever-changing slew of other renovated American classics. Comfort food is brought to a new high, so whether you're here for drinks with clients, or a first date, you'll be taken care of and feel satisfied that you've just discovered another Oakland gem.
SR24
5179 Telegraph Ave.
(510) 655-9300
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Destination Oakland Food and Drink