2 stars
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2 stars
Palo Alto Creamery, Palo Alto
Posted on February 29, 2016
Palo Alto Creamery has been serving up classic burger joint food since 1988 when Robert Fischer took over the business. They used to have 2 locations in Palo Alto, with the downtown location open since 1923 in previously known as the Peninsula Creamery. Stanford Shopping Center location closed in 2013.
Town Restaurant Review, San Carlos
Posted on February 22, 2016
Steak on the Peninsula. Town Restaurant is a steakhouse serving American comfort food in downtown San Carlos. It opened in 2006 and has gotten positive press, so we figured we would see how it stacks up. Over the years, this restaurant has been consistently busy. Town is definitely a hit with the locals, many of which can just walk over for a meal. Our last visit was in December 2015. It is so busy, we had to make a reservation over a week in advance.
Champa Garden, San Francisco
Posted on January 14, 2016
Why did we dine here? – Champa Garden is a Thai restaurant not far from City College in San Francisco’s Ingleside district. The original location opened in Oakland in 2006 and is well loved. Our friends like this casual restaurant, so it was time to give it a try. Last to go visit was in early 2017.
Shabuway Restaurant Review, San Mateo
Posted on November 15, 2015
Shabuway is a Japanese hot pot restaurant in San Mateo that opened in 2004. They also have a location in Mountain View, San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Jose, and Union City. You cook vegetables and thinly sliced beef at your table in a your own boiling pot of watery broth. Shabuway does not take reservations and insists all folks are present when names are called. Our last visit was in 2016, where we get a sense that the business changed hands.
Hakka Restaurant, San Francisco
Posted on November 2, 2015
Hakka Restaurant SF is a family run Chinese restaurant in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond District that opened in early 2010. It has garnered some foodie attention on chowhound. While they serve a wide variety of Chinese dishes including Americanized standbys, they are known for their regional Chinese specialties. We returned for to go in late 2015.
Himawari Restaurant, San Mateo
Posted on September 18, 2015
Himawari is a Japanese Ramen Noodle house located in downtown San Mateo. Every block down here has a Japanese restaurant. Their chief rival, a couple miles away, is the legendary Santa Ramen along with its sister Ramen restaurants. They have a broader menu than Santa Ramen, with Rice Bowls, lots of appetizers, and many ramen options. We came on hot day and noted no air conditioning, just ceiling fans cranked up. Last visit September 2017.
BonChon Chicken, San Mateo
Posted on September 6, 2015A video review of the newest BonChon Chicken location in San Mateo, California.
The Chairman Restaurant and Food Truck, San Francisco
Posted on August 10, 2015
The Chairman (Formerly Chairman Bao) is a San Francisco food truck that serves Chinese steamed and baked buns with a variety of fillings. These are offshots of Taiwanese Gua bao or bun sandwich. When we were in Taiwan, it was difficult to find this old school dish. Our only Gua bao was ironically at the ritz Shin Yeh, Taipei 101.
Kingdom of Dumpling, San Francisco
Posted on July 18, 2015
Why did we dine here? – Kingdom of Dumpling is a small Chinese restaurant specializing in dumplings. Being large dumpling fans, we decided to finally give this place a try. There are few restaurants with this variety of dumplings on the menu. The place has been featured on Check Please, so it has become busier over the years. Lots of to go orders. Our last visit was in July 2016.
Howie’s Artisan Pizza Restaurant Review, Palo Alto
Posted on January 19, 2015
Howie’s Artisan Pizza was opened by Howard Bulka in late 2009 into Town & Country Village shopping Center of Palo Alto. He had worked at various restaurants including Marche. Inspired by the New Haven school of East Coast pizza-making and the renaissance of artisanal products including organic, natural, and local ingredients. Our last visit was in the beginning of 2015 when we noticed that pizza prices went up again.
Espetus Churrascaria Restaurant Review
Posted on November 24, 2014
Espetus Churrascaria is a Brazilian steakhouse serving Rodizio style food. They focus on meats straight from the fire brought to your table, continuously through the meal! You can stop the meat parade by flipping the table card to red. They have a salad and hot plate bar with lots of different options including asparagus, bean salad, eggplant, rice, beans, cod, and much more. Do not eat too much of this stuff otherwise you wonder have room for all the meat. Vegetarians should stay away.
Espetus Churrascaria has locations in San Francisco and San Mateo. We tried the brand new San Mateo location for dinner. It is all you can eat, with lunch going for $25.95 with 7 meat options, $37.95 on weekends. Dinner is $54.95 with 14 meat options. Kids are 50% off. Our last visit was in the Summer of 2014.
Jeffreys Hamburgers San Mateo Review
Posted on June 16, 2014
Jeffrey’s Hamburgers is a popular burger joint in downtown San Mateo open since 1997. They also have a location in Menlo Park. They serve American fast food including burgers, hot dogs, fish and chips, salads, fries, and shakes. Seems like every town has a place like this, San Francisco has its Mel’s Drive in..
Fentons Creamery, Oakland and Vacaville
Posted on January 13, 2014
Fenton’s Creamery has been around since 1922 in Oakland. They produce their own ice cream and toppings batch by batch on site. They serve breakfast, sandwiches, burgers, salads, but the main draw is of course, ice cream. Their creations are simply huge. Even the kid’s ice creams are huge. Our last visit was to the Nut Tree Vacaville location in the spring of 2015.
Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe Restaurant Review, Emeryville
Posted on September 4, 2013
Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe is a diner in Emeryville, near the Home Depot shopping center, serving American food till 1am. Big breakfasts, salads, burgers, and sandwiches. Breakfast is served all day. It is owned by Billie Joe from rock band Green Day.
Turtle Tower Restaurant Review, San Francisco
Posted on August 24, 2013Turtle Tower moved to a new nicer location on 220 California street.
Why did we dine here? – Turtle Tower is a popular Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco with several locations. Hà Nội Style Vietnamese Cuisine is their focus. We dined at the original, located in the heart of the gritty Tenderloin District of San Francisco. It moved down the block and reopened in June 2013 and added banh mi sandwiches. Our last visit was in February 2014.
Dumpling Empire Restaurant Review, South San Francisco
Posted on July 8, 2013
Why did we dine here? – Dumpling Empire is a new Chinese dumpling shop in South San Francisco, right off Grand Ave. It reminds us of Town of Dumpling in San Mateo. Simple, small (10 tables), family run, reasonable prices, plain decor.
Fey Restaurant Restaurant Review, Menlo Park
Posted on April 22, 2013
Why did we dine here? – Fey Restaurant recently opened in Menlo Park. It has gotten positive buzz, so we decided to give it a try. The owner has owned many different Sichuan Chinese restaurants including Little Sichuan in San Mateo and Classic Sichuan in Millbrae. She has built up a fan base and hopefully has found a restaurant that has some staying power.
The restaurant features somewhat neo-classical lighting and decor, probably from China. They have a small parking lot in the back, so you might have to park on El Camino Real.
Elliott’s Oyster House Restaurant Review, Seattle
Posted on April 1, 2013
Why did we dine here? – Elliott’s Oyster House is located on the waterfront, smack dab in the middle of different attractions we were visiting. They have their Oyster New Year event every year, leading to crowds of oyster fans from all over. You can also visit Taylor Shellfish Farms in Seattle to purchase a wide variety of local oysters.
Pike Place Market Review, Seattle
Posted on March 25, 2013.jpg)
Pike Place Market is America’s oldest food market. This 9 acre market has been in its current location since 1907. Home of the legendary flying fish at Pikes Place Fish, this market is a wholesale fruit and vegetable market most of the time and a retail market with 200 small vendors. Right outside of the market are several streets full of food related shops, restaurants, bakeries, and more. This is where a lot of the interesting finds are located. We were suprised by the variety of seafood as well as produce in some of the markets. Clearly there were many items that we don’t have in the San Francisco area.
New England Lobster Market and Eatery Restaurant Review, Burlingame
Posted on February 18, 2013Why did we dine here? – New England Lobster Market and Eatery has been selling Maine lobsters, Dungeness crab and shellfish since 1986. They recently opened an
eatery in Burlingame’s hotel row area, just south of San Francisco Airport (SFO). Being a fan of crustaceans, we had to try this restaurant.
Insider Tip – Great place to purchase shellfish to go
Memphis Minnie’s Restaurant Review, San Francisco
Posted on January 17, 2013
Memphis Minnie’s is one of the best barbecue places in San Francisco. It is located in the colorful lower Haight district. They specialize in slowly smoking meats from 4 to 18 hours over white oak logs. Memphis Minnie’s prides themselves in cooking items from scratch. They have BBQ plates, sandwiches, burgers, and even catfish. Our last visit was in April 2013.
Everett and Jones BBQ Restaurant Review
Posted on January 1, 2013
Everett and Jones is a Barbecue restaurant with locations in Berkeley, Hayward, Sacramento, and Oakland’s Jack London Square. We ate at their Berkeley location, which is much more informal than their flagship Oakland one, which has live music. Our last visit was to the Berkeley location in 2013.
Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ Restaurant Review
Posted on January 1, 2013
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. You will find them in California, Colorado, and New Mexico. We have eaten their food several times over the years and found it to be pretty good. Our last visit in 2013 was during the Maker’s Faire in San Mateo.
Black Bear Diner Restaurant Review, Shasta
Posted on December 12, 2012
Why did we dine here? – Black Bear Diner is a chain with many locations in Central California. We kept passing locations and decided to see what this place was all about.
San Bruno Korean BBQ Restaurant Review, San Bruno
Posted on December 3, 2012
Why did we dine here? – San Bruno Korean BBQ is an all you can eat $23.95 Korean buffet located almost across the street from Asian Pearl Peninsula.
We’ve passed by this location many times and read the Yelp reviews, so we finally decided it was time to give it a try.
Cat Heads BBQ Restaurant Review, San Francisco
Posted on November 28, 2012
Why did we dine here? – Cat Heads BBQ was a pop-up that has morphed into a permanent restaurant in the former Big Nate’s BBQ location. We are being BBQ fans, always on the lookout for new openings.
South Legend Restaurant Review, Milpitas
Posted on October 31, 2012
Why did we dine here? – South Legend is a long standing Sichuan Chinese restaurant in Milpitas that has been listed in the Michelin Guide. We were in the area and decided to give this restaurant another try.
Divino Ristorante Review, Belmont
Posted on October 22, 2012
Brown Sugar Kitchen Restaurant Review, Oakland
Posted on September 24, 2012
Why did we dine here? – Brown Sugar Kitchen is run by Tanya Holland, who draws upon her African-American heritage and her formal culinary training from France. This restaurant is located in an industrial part of Oakland, not far from Emeryville. We happened to be in the area and had this legendary place on our hit list. Our meal was for lunch on a weekday, so the wait was short. This place is packed during the weekends for breakfast.
Amber India Restaurant Review, Mountain View
Posted on August 13, 2012
Orenchi Restaurant Review, Santa Clara
Posted on July 2, 2012
Why did we dine here? – Orenchi is a very popular Japanese Noodle House that has been on our hit list for a while. They are a sister restuarant to Sumika in Los Gatos. The broth that they use is cooked for a minimum of 18 hours. It is made with organic chicken, Canadian black pork, and filtered water. There is a line much of the time. We had to wait approximately 45 minutes for a Saturday night dinner. They close up when they run out of broth, which happened about 8:30pm on this particular evening.
Gioia Pizzeria Review, Berkeley and San Francisco
Posted on May 18, 2012
Gioia is a top rated Pizza place in North Berkeley. It has been there since 2004. As they put it: “Gioia Pizzeria takes the best of pizza traditions from the old world and the new. Classic flavors and ingredients such as artisanally made sausage, fresh mozzarella cheese and arugula come together in inspired traditional ways, seasoned with the influence of Bay Area kitchens such as Zuni Café, Chez Panisse and Oliveto” Gioia is a small hole in the wall with minimal counter seating. The place specializes in thin crust pizza and is known for local, organic ingredients. It was rated as a top pizza place by Michael Bauer. Our last visit was in late 2011 and we noticed prices had gone up. Their San Francisco location opened in 2012, we dined here in May 2012. It is located right next door to burger heaven, Polkers.
Great China Restaurant Review, Berkeley
Posted on March 5, 2012
Why did we dine here? – Great China is a popular Chinese restaurant in Berkeley right near UC Berkeley. A friend recommended this restaurant to us and Great China has been rated highly in Zagat’s.
Kunjip Restaurant Review, Santa Clara
Posted on February 29, 2012
Why did we dine here? – Kunjip is a top rated Korean restaurant in Santa Clara, situated in a Korean focused strip mall. They focus on soups and noodles, no BBQ unlike most other places.
Cottonwood Restaurant Review, Truckee
Posted on February 8, 2012
Why did we dine here? – Cottonwood is one of the chief rivals of Moody’s in Truckee. We have dined so many times at their adversary, we decided it was time to try something new.
Buck’s Restaurant Woodside Restaurant Review, Woodside
Posted on January 30, 2012
Buck’s is a quirky restaurant nestled in the small town of Woodside. The interior is full of off the wall models, toys, posters, and more. Even the front of the seasonal menu has a lecture on different topics. Their website is pretty crazy. Our last visit was in 2014. They have a separate lunch special menu that changes from time to time. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We came for lunch.
Tony’s Coal-Fired Pizza and Slice House Restaurant Review, San Francisco
Posted on August 30, 2011
Tony’s Coal-Fired Pizza and Slice House is a new San Francisco North Beach takeout place from Tony Gemignani, 9 time Champion Pizza Tosser, certified pizziaolo. He also runs Tony’s Pizza Napoletana next door. This location serves a wide range of food; New York-style pizza, Roman-style pizza, Chicago-style Italian Beef Sandwiches, and New York deli sandwiches. Our last visit was in September 2012.
Hong Kong East Ocean Seafood Restaurant Review, Emeryville
Posted on June 24, 2011
Hong Kong East Ocean Seafood Restaurant is located in Emeryville, right by the Bay. It has excellent views of San Francisco. The restaurant is popular for dim sum and for large banquets, especially on the weekends. Our last visit was in the middle of 2011.
2011 Guilin and Yangshou China Restaurant Reviews
Posted on June 1, 2011We recently finished up our latest culinary tour of China in the Spring of 2011. Guilin a beautiful city in China’s South, is one of the top destinations for Chinese tourists. A quick glimpse of the scenery with the karst formations tells you why. Yangshou is a couple hours from Guilin, just as beautiful, and far less touristy.
Here are some quick mini reviews of places we ate at in Guilin and Yangshou. We feel this will be useful as more people visit this up-and-coming area. We found few reviews on Trip Advisor and Dianping.
Piacere Restaurant Review, San Carlos
Posted on May 23, 2011
Piacere means Pleasure, to please, a source delight or joy in Italian. This restaurant is located in San Carlos in the Laurel Street shopping area right across the street from restaurant Town and near Spasso. Piacere focuses on modern California-Italian cuisine using local and organic ingredients. One last visit was in May of 2011, where we sensed food quality slipping.
Hog Island Oyster Co. Restaurant Review, San Francisco
Posted on May 11, 2011
Hog Island Oyster Co. is located in San Francisco’s Ferry Building. They have an oyster bar that serves sustainable seafood, chowder, and salads. Fresh oysters brought fresh from their Tomales Bay farm each morning. They served baked oysters and cooked seafood for those that do not want raw items. You could drive up to their farm and get oysters even fresher. Our last visit was in May 2011.
Taste In Restaurant Review, Burlingame
Posted on April 18, 2011
Taste In is a family owned Mediterranean deli and restaurant in Burlingame’s Broadway Street shopping district. They focus on Mediterranean cuisine including falafel’s, schawerma, kabobs and the like. This place opened in late 2009. Our last visit was in fall 2011.
Granville Public Market, Vancouver, BC
Posted on April 4, 2011
We visited the Granville Public Market in Vancouver, BC and found it to be a must visit for foodies to visit, but not as spectacular as San Francisco’s ferry building, Beijing’s Dong Hua Men market or London’s Borough market. The network of small vendors and gift shops almost overshadowed the food area for us.
Rosamunde Sausage Grill Review, San Francisco
Posted on March 16, 2011
Rosamunde Sausage Grill is a small Sausage restaurant in the colorful lower Haight district of San Francisco with an additional larger location in the Mission district. This Place has a cult like following. Sort of like Vancouver’s Japadog. They serve grilled sausages on french rolls. You can select 2 free condiments from sauerkraut, grilled onions, peppers, or spicy beef chili. They also sell uncooked sausages, which we took advantage of one time.
Jang Su Jang Restaurant Review, Santa Clara
Posted on February 25, 2011
Jang Su Jang is a popular Korean restaurant in Santa Clara, located on El Camino Real, home to many Korean businesses. We decided to give it a try having seen many reviews on the restaurant, in addition to personal recommendations.
Kabul Afghan Cuisine Restaurant Review, Burlingame
Posted on February 23, 2011
Kabul Afghan Cuisine serves Afghani cuisine on the San Francisco Peninsula with locations in Burlingame and San Carlos. We dined for lunch at the newer Burlingame location. They do have some options for vegetarians. Our last visit was in February 2011.
The Counter Restaurant Review
Posted on January 1, 2011
Another trendy fancy burger place… The Counter opened in 2006 and is another fancy casual restaurant located in the Palo Alto, California Avenue shopping district. They have locations in CA, CO, GA, NC, and TX with many more coming soon. We revisited in March 2011 at the brand-new San Mateo location, click next door to Trader Joes. Loud music greeted us as we entered the place along with some flat screen TVs at the counter.