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Food & Drink

FOOD AND DRINK

Readers' Picks

New Restaurant

Camino
    New restaurants have been opening so quickly that it’s a little hard to keep up. But readers didn’t have any problem naming Camino, with its two long-planked communal tables, simple candles, four big chandeliers and rustic décor as their favorite new restaurant in Oakland. But the game-changer isn’t in the scene sets. Here, it’s all about the food. O … M … G … the food. Chef/owner Russell Moore creates masterful menus daily, while mixologist Thad Vogler spins his magic behind the bar. As restaurant critic Derk Richardson wrote in these pages last November, “Dining at Camino can feel like attending a well-managed retreat, but it need not be approached—nor cynically dismissed—as a religious experience, even if the exquisitely tender grilled and roasted duck ($24) I savored on our first visit did almost have me speaking in tongues.”

3917 Grand Ave., (510) 547-5035  |  www.CaminoRestaurant.com

Soul Food

Brown Sugar Kitchen
    It hasn’t taken Tanya Holland and her Brown Sugar Kitchen long to establish itself as the go-to soul food restaurant in Oakland, and no wonder. This is Southern cooking with a bit of Africa thrown in, along with Caribbean influences, in a bright, spacious room in West Oakland. This is the real deal, with O-Town pizzazz, and it’s no surprise that this place fills up at lunch and dinner times. But for many of the voters, it’s all about breakfast and brunch. One of the many reasons just might be the hominy grits, topped with grated cheese. Wow.

2534 Mandela Parkway, (510) 839-7685 | www.BrownSugarKitchen.com

Beer Selection

The Trappist
    In just a little over a year, this small, narrow cathedral in honor of Belgian beer has become far and away the favorite suds stop among the, shall we say, more sophisticated of Oakland Magazine readers. One reason that the brew cognoscenti adore this place is that owners Aaron Porter and Chuck Stilphen feature 15 rotating taps at any given time, along with 140 specialty beers in stock. On their Web site, these guys say three magic words: “No Corporate Beer,” so if it’s a Bud you’re after, don’t bother. But if it’s the Koningshoven Trappist Quadrupel or the Chimay Cinq Cents Triple, by all means, belly up to bar, if you can get there, and have a pint. “Op uw gezondheid!” for you Flemish, and for the French among you, “A votre sante!”

460 8th St., (510) 238-8900  | www.TheTrappist.com

Editors' Picks

Taco Truck Cielo

Sinaloa
    In the unending quest for lonchero cielo along International Boulevard’s Comida Corridor, it might not be a bad idea to stop right at the beginning—at the twin trucks that dominate the corner at 22nd Avenue. That would be Tacos Sinaloa and Mariscos Sinaloa, the opening acts of a roughly 2-mile swath of taco trucks, Latin American restaurants of all stripes, grocery stores, auto-body shops and lots of neighborhoody establishments that stretch to 48th Avenue and spill over into the side streets. What’s more, there are plenty of tables and chairs on the asphalt that separate the two Sinaloa trucks, and what better setting to wolf down the chorizo tacos (!) or the tacos de pescado before making your way to an A’s game? This is Oakland, amigos, and it’s hard to make a wrong choice here.

2138 International Blvd., (510) 535-1206

Best Walk-Up Oysters

Rudy Figueroa’s Oyster Stand Montclair Farmers Market

(Sunday Only)

    Every single Sunday is “Oyster Sunday” for the lucky gang of aficionados who gather on La Salle Avenue to pay homage to Rudy Figueroa. Figueroa is the self-effacing oyster shucker at the Montclair Farmers Market, where he sells the delicious bivalves for $1.75 apiece or $5 for three. He also sells clams, but the oysters are what keep people coming back. Nobody can shuck an oyster as fast or as cleanly as does this Santa Cruz-based monger, and his touch is so good that he never-ever-ever spills the “liquor” (or “soup”) from the shell. As a bonus, you might just run into Oakland best-selling author Mary Roach, (Stiff and, most recently, Bonk) who profiled Figueroa in a New York Times dispatch that ran shortly before Christmas last year. “He never says much, this Rudy Figueroa,” Roach wrote. “Once I asked him how Miyagis differ from Kumamotos, and he said, ‘One’s like macaroni and cheese, and one’s peanut butter and jelly.’ Figueroa is part of the luxury.”

La Salle Avenue between Moraga Avenue and Mountain Boulevard, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Sundays, (510) 745-7100

Restaurants

Favorite Restaurant

Zachary’s Pizza
5801 College Ave.
(510) 655-6385
Also: Berkeley, San Ramon
www.Zacharys.com

Established Restaurant

Baywolf
3852 Piedmont Ave.
(510) 655-6004
www.BayWolf.com

Romantic Restaurant

Baywolf
3852 Piedmont Ave.
(510) 655-6004
www.BayWolf.com

Bakery

La Farine
6323 College Ave.
(510) 654-0338;
3411 Fruitvale Ave.
(510) 531-7750
Also: Berkeley
www.LaFarine.com

Barbecue

Everett & Jones
126 Broadway
(Jack London Square)
(510) 663-2350;
2676 Fruitvale Ave.
(510) 533-0900;
3415 Telegraph Ave.
(510) 601-9377
Also: Alameda, Berkeley, Hayward, South Sacramento
www.EandJbbq.com

Breakfast

Rick & Ann’s
2922 Domingo Ave., Berkeley
(510) 649-8538
www.RickAndAnns.com

Burger

Barney’s Gourmet Burgers
4162 Piedmont Ave., (510) 655-7180;
5819 College Ave., (510) 601-0444;
Also: San Francisco, Berkeley, San Rafael,
Santa Monica, Brentwood, Sherman Oaks,
www.BarneysHamburgers.com

Burrito

Cactus Taqueria
5642 College Ave., (510) 658-6180
www.CactusTaqueria.com

Brunch

Jordan’s 
The Claremont Hotel & Spa
41 Tunnel Road, Berkeley
(510) 549-8510,
www.ClaremontResort.com

Caterer

Miraglia Catering
2096 Burroughs Ave.
San Leandro, (510) 483-5210
www.CateringAndMore.com

Chef 

Alice Waters
Chez Panisse
1517 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
(510) 548-5049
www.ChezPanisse.com

California Cuisine

Chez Panisse
1517 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
(510) 548-5049
www.ChezPanisse.com

Chinese

Little Shin Shin
4258 Piedmont Ave.
(510) 658-9799
http://www.Yelp.com/Biz/Little-Shin-Shin-Oakland

French

La Note
2377 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley (510) 843-1535
www.LaNoteRestaurant.com

Ice Cream

Fenton’s Creamery and Restaurant
4226 Piedmont Ave.
(510) 658-7000
www.FentonsCreamery.com

Italian

Italian Colors
2220 Mountain Blvd.
(510) 482-8094
www.ItalianColorsRestaurant.com

Mexican

Doña Tomás
5004 Telegraph Ave.
(510) 450-0522
www.DonaTomas.com

Pizza

Zachary’s Pizza
5801 College Ave.
(510) 655-6385
Also: Berkeley, San Ramon
www.Zacharys.com

Small Plates

À Côté
5478 College Ave.
(510) 655-6469
www.AcoteRestaurant.com

Sushi

Kirala
2100 Ward St., Berkeley
(510) 549-3486
www.KiralaBerkeley.com

Thai

Soi 4 Bangkok Eatery
5421 College Ave.
(510) 655-0889
www.SoiFour.com

Vegetarian

Golden Lotus
1301 Franklin St.
(510) 893-0383
www.GoldenLotusVege.com

Vietnamese

Le Cheval
1007 Clay St.
(510) 763-8495
www.LeCheval.com
 

Drink

Cocktails

Flora
1900 Telegraph Ave.
(510) 286-0100
www.FloraRestaurant.com

Coffee

Peet’s
Numerous Locations
(800) 999-2132
www.Peets.com

Margaritas

La Piñata No. 3
1440 Park St., Alameda
(510) 769-9110
www.LaPinata.com

Overall Bar

Garibaldi’s
5356 College Ave.
(510) 595-4000
www.GaribaldiRestaurant.com

Wine Shop

Farmstead Cheeses and Wines
6218 Lasalle Ave.
(510) 864-9463;
Also: Alameda
www.FarmsteadCheesesAndWines.com

Wine/Spirits Producer

St. George Spirits
2601 Monarch Ave.,
Alameda, (510) 769-1601
www.StGeorgeSpirits.com

Sports Bar

Crogan’s
6101 La Salle Ave.
(510) 339-2098
www.Crogans.com
 

Kids

4226 Piedmont Ave.

(510) 658-7000