Big Bubbas Bad BBQ is a food concession that appears at some of the country’s largest State Fairs, Nascar Races, and Livestock Shows since 1996. We have eaten their food several times over the years and found it to be pretty good.

Decor, Vibe - Huge smoker with tons of meat cooking. Long lines most of the time. Lots of families chowing down on fair grub.

Menu Pictures

Website menu

Picks:

Pork Spare Ribs ($7.50) were great. Lots of tender meat and very good BBQ sauce. Messy but delicious. Forget about the dinner with sides, get pure ribs.

Corn on the Cob was fresh and cooked well.

OK:
Tri Tip dinner was average, had to slosh on the BBQ sauce to make it reasonable.

Pans:
None

Big Bubbas Bad BBQ serves up a quick fixing of good BBQ. Look for them at the next county fair. The ribs are on par with Memphis Minnes.
They have restaurant locations in Paso Robles, Visalia, Atascadero, and Merced, but reviews on Yelp do not look good.

Restaurant.com $25 Dining Certificate for $10
Entertainment Book 2 for 1 restaurant, food coupons, and much more

Prather Ranch Meat Company raises cattle in North California’s Mt. Shasta area. The cattle are fed grass and are pastured.

They have a shop in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. They produced certified USDA organic beef that is free of hormones or antibiotics. They dry-age their beef 14-21 days. They sell their meats in their shop and also at various Farmer’s Markets.

Decor, Vibe - Prather Ranch has a stand at the Ferry Building Farmers Market (Tuesday, Saturday) and cooks hamburgers among other items on the grill. They sell cooked $7 breakfast sandwiches, $8/$10 griddle cakes and sausage, $7 hamburgers, $5 Bockwurst sausages during the Farmer’s market. $5 Cooked Hot dogs are sold inside.

Menu Pictures

Picks:

Cheeseburger ($6) - On a fresh Acme Bakery bun with cheddar cheese, this burger was slightly juicy, over cooked, and had lots of beef flavor. We have had it cooked better before, the line cook’s consistency varies. Pretty simple grilling and good meat achieved this result.

OK:
None

Pans:
Buffalo Burger ($6) - Too dry and chewy when compared to the regular burger. Much leaner but who’s looking for healthy stuff in a burger?

Service is not the best in the world and it takes about 10 minutes to get your burger.
Prather Ranch Meat Company sells some of the tastiest meat around, making their burger one of the best around. We ate sitting down by the railing as did others, not the most comfortable location.

Restaurant Serpentine in San Francisco also serves a burger with their meat. You can also buy some meat, bring it home, and roll your own. We have bought their steaks and lamb in the past. They were both excellent quality meats.

Restaurant.com $25 Dining Certificate for $10
Entertainment Book 2 for 1 restaurant, food coupons, and much more

Vik’s Chaat Corner is a busy Indian restaurant in the more industrial area of Berkeley. Chaat means “to lick”. Traditionally this is known as road side snacks that made people lick every last morsel.
They have have a regular menu, and add different specials on weekdays and weekends.

Sweets Case

Decor, Vibe - Warehouse with minimal decor and spartan tables. Their grocery store is next door. Lots of workers on lunch break were eating when we went there.

Menu Pictures

Dessert Menu

Picks:

Chicken Curry Special ($6.25) was a boneless chicken curry that was very spicy but tasty. It came with long grain Basmati rice. Some of the items were pretty greasy especially the Dal (Lentils). The Raita (Spiced / Flavored yogurt) helped reduce the spiciness. The small helping of Achaar (Spicy Pickle) packed a sensory punch.

Masala Dosa ($6.50) is a Crispy savory crepe made of finely ground rice and dai with South Indian style spiced potatoes. It was served with coconut chutney and sambar (Light and spicy Lentils)
The crepe was hot an crispy when we got it. The potatoes inside were flavorful but not spicy. A good vegetarian dish. The Sambar was pretty greasy.

OK:
None

Pans:
None

Vik’s Chaat Corner serves up hot delicous Indian food and very resaonable prices. It is packed on the weekends, a testamet to the good food and excellent values. They have a small kids menu.

They are moving around the corner to 2390 4th St in April 2009.

Restaurant.com $25 Dining Certificate for $10
Entertainment Book 2 for 1 restaurant, food coupons, and much more

BurgerMeister is a local San Francisco Bay Area burger joint with 5 locations, 3 in San Francisco, Alameda, and Daly City. They pride themselves on making great burgers that are juicy, taste great and require both hands to eat. They’ve won a lot of awards for their burgers.
Open since 1999, they use Niman Ranch all natural, hormone-free and antibiotic-free beef. They uses Mitchell’s ice cream for shakes. We tried the San Francisco Columbus Avenue location near Fisherman’s wharf. They serve burgers, hot dogs, salads, sandwiches, and more.

Decor, Vibe - Clean modern decor with lots of drawings of landmarks on the wall. Many tourists and a couple locals were dining there.

Menu Pictures

Website Menu

Weekday specials

Picks:

Cheeseburger ($9.50) with 1/2 lb Niman Ranch Ground Beef pattie, Cheddar cheese, and a side salad. The burger was huge, bigger than most and it was so juicy the lower bun got soggy. The burger was cooked to our specific medium rare and tasted good. It had more charcoal grill flavor that most burgers.

Kids 1/4lb Niman Ranch Burger ($6.50) came with natural cut fries that were very good and a soda. A great deal for a pretty massive burger.

OK:
None

Pans:
None

BurgerMeister took about 5 minutes to cook our burger to order. The burgers here are very good. We would rank them right in there with favorites from Custom Burger and Pearls. No problems going again if wanted a burger.
Be sure to checkout their Weekday specials Mon-Fri 2-6pm, Meal Deal Mon-Thurs, and Smart A la Carte burger.

Also at:
86 Carl Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
415-566-1274

138 Church Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
415-437-2874

507 Westlake Center
Daly City, CA 94015
650-755-1941

2319 Central Avenue
Alameda, CA 94501
510-865-3032

Restaurant.com $25 Dining Certificate for $10
Entertainment Book 2 for 1 restaurant, food coupons, and much more

Arizmendi Bakery is a worker owned collective of people who serve muffins, scones, breads, salad, and a different pizza each day starting at 11am. It opened in 2004. They use a lot of organic ingredients. It is located in North Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto. They also serve coffee drinks. Cash or check only. They are somewhat related to the Arizmendi locations in Oakland and San Francisco, as well as to the Cheese Board.
Decor, Vibe - Clean small shop with lots of baked goods. Little seating inside and much more outside. Lots of workers on lunch break were getting food. Pixar is around the corner.

Menu Pictures

Picks:

Mushrooms, Red Onions, Gorgonzola, Rosemary-Thyme Oi Pizza ($2.50 slice, $18 entire pie)
This way the pizza of the day. It had crunchy crust throughout. Cheese was high quality, strong, but very good. This is one heavy pizza even though it had no meat and was not thick crust. Good stuff. We did not miss meat when eating this pizza.

Fruit Scone ($2) changes daily and tasted great. Tender yet firm texture. Not too sweet, no big layer of sugar, but lots of apple in it.

OK:
None

Pans:
None

This is very good pizza in a interesting venue. Arizmendi Bakery and Pizzeria’s pizza was almost identical to the Cheeseboard’s version. The bakery had lots of good looking fresh bakery items.
We would come back if we were in the area. The choice of Cheeseboard or Arizmendi location is more geographic than quality.

Related locations:
Arizmendi Bakery
1331 9th Avenue (Between Irving and Judah)
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 566-3117
http://www.arizmendibakery.org

Arizmendi Cooperative
3265 Lakeshore
Oakland, CA 94610
(510) 268-8849

Cheeseboard Pizza Collective
1512 Shattuck Ave (Between Cedar and Vine)
Berkeley, CA 94709
510-549-3055

http://cheeseboardcollective.coop

Restaurant.com $25 Dining Certificate for $10
Entertainment Book 2 for 1 restaurant, food coupons, and much more