What you should do while in town
… which is mostly food. See hand-drawn map, searchable map, and list of recommendations below!
Coffee!!
Ain’t Normal in the Rockridge neighborhood is our favorite coffee shop, and has a lot of the best coffee we’ve had. Colin loves the espresso tonic and the natural process espressos while Hannah will go for the espresso and the pour overs. We both love the Tuna and Avocado Toasts.
Mother Tongue Cafe & Bar is another great cafe in the Piedmont Ave neighborhood if you’re looking for some variety!
The Hidden Cafe in Berkeley is also extremely charming, tasty, and adjacent to a park perfect for lounging on the grass.
Not-Food Attractions
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is a fantastic stop to see Californian art, learn about the indigenous communities and many immigrant communities that shaped the area, and enjoy some incredible eco-brutalist architecture! And it’s kid-friendly. It’s right next to:
Lake Merritt is a beautiful urban lake with great views of Oakland and San Francisco and a great walking trail. It’s adjacent to Children’s Fairyland, an adorable theme park.
The hiking trails around Oakland and Berkeley simply cannot be beat, for beauty and proximity to the urban center. We love Redwood Regional Park. Kiddos big and small would love the tiny steam train in Tilden Park.
Meals
Our Neighborhood
Sparky’s Giant Burgers is a burger shack with cute outdoor seating and a chicken teryaki plate that is not to be missed!
Ghost Town Brewing is one of our two super-local beer gardens, with a great outdoor patio and good food. A great spot for kid- and dog-watching.
Degrees Plato is our most-frequently-visited beer garden, with the most friendly staff, an awesome beer selection, and great Mexican fare.
Sequoia Diner is a popular brunch spot down the hill, so be prepared to wait!
donut savant has incredible flavor selection, with some of the most interesting donuts we’ve ever had.
Restaurants
Namestay Patio is one of the first places we went to in Oakland before moving here, and where we first discovered momos (get the chicken chili momos). We claim that it is the reason we moved.
Geta is our favorite sushi place, with the Hamachi a particular standout.
Belotti Ristorante E Bottegga, and its sister restaurant Bottegga for takeout, are great for pasta-focused Italian food.
Marzano is closer to our neighborhood, and is more pizza forward with great cocktails.
Agrodolce Osteria in Berkeley is another Italian place we’ve enjoyed if you’re staying up there.
Saul’s Restaurant & Delicatessen has great ambience and classic food, along with fun cocktails.
Commis is our recommendation if you’re trying to spend $300pp for an awesome meal. The bar is also great and more reasonably priced.
Breweries etc.
Ghost Town Brewing in the Laurel district is walking distance to our house, and has a great outdoor patio and good food.
Degrees Plato in the Laurel is also down the hill from us, and is our most-frequently-visited beer garden. It has the most friendly staff, an awesome beer selection, and great Mexican fare.
Drake’s Dealership is another brewery with great ambience uptown in an old car dealership, with Drake’s brews on tap, and great sheet pan pizzas and apps.
Redfield Cider Bar is a common bike stop for us to grab empanadas and a cider flight.
Cocktails (w/ food)
Friends and Family is a fun cocktail bar with lots of fun bites, and crayon + paper placemats, but in an upscale way.
North Light is another fun cocktail bar in Temescal, with great drinks and a curated food menu.