You Gotta Do This!

Sunday, 3/4 - Family Day from noon until 2:30pm. Back by popular demand, is the AMAZING Lawrence Lemon. If you haven’t seen him yet, go check him out. He is simply unbelievable! They will have balloons for the kids, kid combos, and of course their famous chalk wall!  And now they serve beer.  Get some tater tots and a milk shake, pull up a chair, and enjoy the tunes.

www.philssliders.com
2024 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley.

I know, lots of food posts.  But… You Gotta Do This!

Zaki Seasoned Rice (photo from eastbayexpress.com)

The Zaki Kabob house in Albany will be having a Community Appreciation Event in this Saturday March 3rd 2012 from 12-3pm in the parking lot of the restaurant.

Zaki’s is across from the entrance to Albany Village at 1101 San Pablo Ave.

Zaki will have an outdoor grill set up selling special items not on the menu and will have kids activities like miniature pony rides and a bouncy play stucture.

10% of all proceeds for this event will go to the Albany Education Fund.

http://www.zakikabobhouse.com/

My favorites at Zaki Kabob House?  Rotisserie chicken, seasoned jasmine rice, and the walnut baklava.  Oh yah!  You gotta try this!

The Kensington Circus Pub

Ah yes, it is true, I heard it from the horse’s mouth.  On Sunday night we ventured to the Kensington Circus Pub with friends for some good beer, good food, and good fun.  {With young kids, this is the B E S T place to go for dinner}  While there we asked the manager for the scoop, and he said that they are expecting the new owners to take over March 15th.  Although the new owners intend to manage the pub themselves, not much else is expected to change.  Sure enough, posted on the infamous pub’s Facebook page, is the announcement.

http://elcerrito.patch.com/articles/kensington-circus-pub-being-sold-will-continue-owner-says.

Thank goodness it isn’t closing…these were the rumors in the rumor mill for a bit.

You gotta eat this: bangers and mash, fish-n-chips, shepherd’s pie, and a pitcher of Boddinton’s.

The pub is located at

(510) 524-8814

Sign, The Circus Pub

Spotted: funny salad bar located at a pizza joint

Hey Monteros: update your website…menu still shows it as Timbao!

” New restaurants and bars beckon amid the grit.”  Despite the Occupy protests, Oakland is getting pretty good reviews. Oakland has some phenomenal restaurants- Commis, Dona Tomas and Plum are some favorite restaurants.  The historic Fox Theater reopened in 2009 and quickly cemented its status as one of the Bay Area’s top music venues, although Yoshi’s will always be my top spot.  Although I have not personally been a part of Oakland’s night scene since having kids (I know, it stinks!), I hear it is still alive and kicking.  Another reason Oakland hit the top 5.

Funny note: this morning, while listening to Sarah and Vinnie on Alice, one caller said “Oakland is San Francisco’s worst neighborhood.” Clearly they won’t be visiting anytime soon.

Maybe once they realize Umami Burger is coming to Oakland they will change their mind.

What constitutes a restaurant as worthy of a Bib Gourmand rating?  A Bib Gourmand restaurant is a d-lish eatery somewhere between Los Gatos and Geyserville where you can enjoy two courses and a glass of wine for under $40 — ooh la la.

Below is the list.  Those with a * next to it are new to the list.

• A 16 – San Francisco
• Artisan Bistro* – Lafayette
• Bar Bambino* – San Francisco
• Bar Tartine* – San Francisco
• BarBersQ – Napa
• Bay Wolf – Oakland
• Bellanico – Oakland
• Betelnut – San Francisco
• Bistro 29 – Santa Rosa
• Bistro Aix – San Francisco
• Bistro Jeanty -Yountville
• Boon Eat + Drink* – Guerneville
• Bottega – Yountville
• Burma Superstar – San Francisco
• C Casa – Napa
• Chapeau! – San Francisco
• Chevalier – Lafayette
• Chu – Oakland
• Colibri – San Francisco
• Contigo* – San Francisco
• Cook St. Helena – St. Helena
• Corso – Berkeley
• Cotogna* – San Francisco
• Crouching Tiger – Redwood City
• Cucina Paradiso – Petaluma
• Delarosa – San Francisco
• Delfina – San Francisco
• Domo – San Francisco
• Dosa – San Francisco
• eVe – Berkeley
• Fish Story* – Napa
• FIVE – Berkeley
• flour + water – San Francisco
• Fringale* – San Francisco
• Gather – Berkeley
• Hachi Ju Hachi – Saratoga
• Hibiscus – Oakland
• Hot Box Grill* – Sonoma
• Incanto – San Francisco
• Insalata’s – San Anselmo
• Ippuku* – Berkeley
• K & L Bistro – Sebastopol
• Kabab & Curry’s- Santa Clara
• Kappou Gomi* – San Francisco
• Kitchen (The) – Saccramento
• Kokkari Estiatorio – San Francisco
• LaSalette* – Sonoma
• Laurus – Danville
• Le Charm – San Francisco
• Le Garage* – Sausalito
• Mamacita – San Francisco
• Marinitas – San Anselmo
• Monti’s Rotisserie – Santa Rosa
• Namu* – San Francisco
• Oenotri – Napa
• Osteria Coppa* – San Mateo
• Perbacco – San Francisco
• Pican – Oakland
• Plum* – Oakland
• Risibisi – Petaluma
• Rivoli – Berkeley
• Sazon* – Santa Rosa
• Scopa* – Healdsburg
• Slanted Door (The) – San Francisco
• Slow Club – San Francisco
• Sociale – San Francisco
• SPQR – San Francisco
• Starbelly – San Francisco
• Sumika – Los Altos
• Sushi Ran – Sausalito
• Thai House – Danville
• the girl & the fig – Sonoma
• Troya – San Francisco
• Willi’s Wine Bar – Santa Rosa
• Wood Tavern – Oakland
• Yank Sing – San Francisco
• Zero Zero* – San Francisco

The full guide will be available October 25th.

I love this!  Only in Berkeley would you find a pimped-out walker.  This was spotted at the official launch of Off-the-Grid in Berkeley.

(and yes!  this time we were there early enough to get some tasty food truck grub)

My guess is that the turnout was much bigger than expected.  The event was supposed to go from 5-9 and most trucks sold out.  My family arrived at 6:15 pm to find swarms and swarms of people.  Cupkates sold out before 6pm, 510 Burger (which is what I wanted!) sold out and was only offering french fries by 6:30, Liba Falafel, Hapa SF and Brass Knuckle had lines that were over a half hour long.  Apparently 3 trucks were a no-show.  Trucking along with two hungry kids, there was no way we could wait in line for over 30 minutes.  Despite my grumbles, we headed down Shattuck to look for something to eat.

Walking back towards the trucks just before 8pm, there were still people all around.

Next week 10 trucks are slated to show, which is the maximum the permit will allow.  Rain was expected, so perhaps that is why they weren’t 100% prepared.  Next week is the official grand opening, and you can count on seeing me there right at 5, probably in line at 510.

How to make a “One Love”:

2 oz Pear Hangar One Vodka
1 oz Organic Apple Juice
0.25 oz Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar
0.25 oz Amaretto

Shake
Pour 4 oz Ginger Beer into a Collins glass
Top with mixture
Add a fresh Pear slice…

Ah, my one true love…