When I lived in Hayward, 2013–2014, I avidly anticipated the opening of Brews & Brats on B Street, one of several new restaurants moving into the downtown strip at the time. Alas, Brews & Brats still wasn’t open by the time I moved to Oakland, but now, a year later, it’s fully established. As I
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Brotzeit Lokal is memorable for more than being a mouthful to pronounce. We all love beer gardens, right? So what makes a beer garden even better? A beautiful view! You can see it from inside the tinted glass walls of Brotzeit’s dining room, but the open-air patio is where that beer garden pull is strongest.
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You may have noticed my recent post on Telegraph Beer Garden? I went there to gather info for my new Localwise article: 4 Beer Gardens in the East Bay with Extra Bang for Your Buck! You can head over and read that article now, but I also have full reviews here on the other beer
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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked past Telegraph Beer Garden and never been entirely sure there’s anything there. That’s because I’m usually trekking into downtown Oakland a little before their weekday hours begin, so all I see is a big, black gate, a peeling sign, and a few windows I can’t peer
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Ba-Bite is an order at the counter, casual restaurant specializing in Middle Eastern comfort food. The name is a play on the Hebrew word babait, which evokes home cooking. Mica Talmor, the executive chef and co-owner of Ba-Bite and Savoy Events catering company along with her husband Robert Gott, is an Isreali-Jewish woman and most
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Wood Tavern is a near universally acclaimed restaurant in north Oakland, at least among my circles. It’s upscale in terms of prices and dish sophistication, although the atmosphere is casual, assuming casual is what you’d call elbow-to-elbow lack of space and sucking in your stomach so you don’t knock over the neighboring diner’s wine glass
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Pinky’s Pizza Parlor is a neighborhood joint worth leaving your neighborhood for. Two of our good friends are regulars, drawn in by the amazing bar specials Pinky’s runs, and we’ve joined them a number of times. On a Sunday, go for the $2 bloody marys. On a Thursday, get any draft beer for the same
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Late January, I went to the inaugural, and soon to be monthly, rooftop night market hosted at one of Port Workspaces new venues at the Kaiser Center in downtown Oakland. Located at 344 Thomas L. Berkley Way, the coworking organization was in the midst of creating a fun, whimsical, hub of offices on the first
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  Phat Matt’s BBQ is an Oakland favorite for the quality and variety of smoked barbecue served. It’s a family-run restaurant, the type where the owners are happy to guide you through the menu of six standard meat preparations. A rotating special appears every week — it’s smoked pastrami according to their website right now,
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Disclaimer: I have only been in Barcelona for five days of my life. There is no way I can determine the best bites in the city. None. But “Best Bites in Barcelona While I Was There” is not a catchy title. That said, these are guaranteed by the Gourmez to be good bites, some of
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