Berkeley, California - home of the prestigious University of California: Berkeley, but what else? Standing in the shadow of the university's reputation and San Francisco's appeal as a tourist destination, is Berkeley's food scene.
There are two main advantages to dining in Berkeley. The first is that the multicultural and international flair that characterizes San Francisco spills over into Berkeley, granting the city a diverse array of cuisines to choose from for its dining needs. The second is that it's a college town, where menu prices are typically a cheaper than the big city. Couple the two together and its makes for a satisfying meal for both your stomach and your wallet.
The Cheeseboard Pizza Collective (1512 Shattuck Avenue)
The Cheeseboard Pizza Collective is an institution when it comes to Berkeley dining. The restaurant is independently operated and worker-owned and only serves one kind of pizza day. Meat-lovers will be disappointed to hear that all their pizzas are vegetarian, but it will only take one slice of Cheeseboard's pizzas to melt away that disappointment.
A slice will cost you $2.50, but it won't be enough, so you can get half a pizza for $10 or a whole for $20. Each slice comes with an extra mini-slice as an incentive. The crust is a perfect mix of chewy and crispy and it's not overloaded with toppings. The small restaurant tends to crowd up, especially when there are live musicians playing, and so do the tables and benches outside, but you can always eat out on the grassy traffic median, if that's not too crowded as well.
Brazil Fresh Squeeze Café (2161 University Avenue)
Quite literally, Brazil Café is a shack on the corner of the street. It is not the sort of establishment that looks like it serves food, or should serve food, but it does, and it's delicious. Brazil Café is locally famous, along with its owner, Pedro Robin, who can be seen standing outside, greeting customers personally and handing out free samples of tender tri-tip beef. It is best to eat here on a sunny day because, needless to say, there's only outdoor seating.
Brazil Café is famous for two things (three if you count the fact that it is a shack): its sandwiches and its fruit smoothies. The signature sandwich, the aptly named Pedro's Special, is a filling tri-tip sandwich with pineapple, jalapeno, green olive, cheese, onion, lettuce, and tomato topped with cilantro pesto sauce. It's a messy sandwich for sure, but at $7.99 it's worth it.
Sun Hong Kong (2439 Durant Avenue)
For anyone on a budget, Sun Hong Kong is easily one of the best value restaurants in Berkeley. It is a treasure trove of cheap Chinese food and highly affordable prices. What makes Sun Hong Kong a great restaurant is their happy hour which takes place from 3 to 6 PM. During happy hour the prices are ridiculous, in a good way. Appetizers and entrees are $2.75 and $3.75 and drinks are $1. The serving sizes are not skimpy either and neither is the menu. Sun Hong Kong sports a diverse menu that captures a range of cuisines including typical Americanized Chinese food, noodle soups, and even items like French fries and chicken wings.
Eat Where the Students Eat
For those dining on a budget, eating in Berkeley is hidden gem. The city is a mix of upper-middle class taste with student sensibility which means sophisticated and great tasting food for low prices. These three restaurants do not represent the best that Berkeley has to offer in terms of culinary excellence, but for their prices and their proximity to the UC Berkeley campus, they are certainly worth a taste. When dining in Berkeley, or any college town, eat where the students eat because they know how to eat on a budget.
Jeremy Suizo - Jeremy Suizo is freelance writer from San Francisco, California. He graduated from the University of California; Berkeley with a B.A in ...
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