44848 Wed Mar 29 20:25:57 -0800 2006 9 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 221124 My wife and I spent Thurs-Sun with my folks in Berkeley. We ate quite a bit. Trip report follows: -Thurs: Arrived in OAK; lunch was a Costco dog at the San Leandro branch. Kept it light since dinner was special...reservations at Rivoli. Dinner- Rivoli. Bottom line...good food for a fair price, but hardly "best in the area". This does not rival the great restaurants elsewhere in the country. However, for the prices, the quality is superb, so I recommend it. The food is very good, but not particularly inventive, nor is it presented particularly well. I would go back, but after I had been to the other great SFBA restaurants (Gary Danko, Zuni Cafe, etc.) The chow... I had the portabello fritter; wife had the sweet potato gnocchi. Good apps; I liked the mushrooms. The gnocchi was a little soggy, but good sauce. Bread plate was sourced from Acme...excellent. For entree, I had the chicken roulade...good, but not imaginative or inventive. Wife had the veal with hollandaise. Also good, but not "blow you away" good. I asked the waitress to recommend a wine; she was a bit overwhelmed and safetied with a Pinot. I would've expected them to jump at the opportunity to show off what appeared to be a very nice wine list. Dessert was hot fudge sundae for me...great use of fresh ingredients. Wife had a chocolate torte; very good as well. The seating was incredibly close together...hard not to get caught up in your neighbor's conversations. Not the place for a quiet romantic dinner, unless you called ahead and specifically requested an isolated booth. So it was good, but not great, and definitely not worth the hype. Fri: Late breakfast at Casper's in Albany; split a dog, and my wife, who likes her dogs with ketchup only, said it was pretty good. (She had it the Casper way; no k-word, but mustard/relish/onion/tomato.) Snack at Acme Bread. Fabulous. Lunch at Zarri's. (Actually a submarine sandwich made "to go" and eaten at the Grinell squirrel sanctuary at Cal.) Fabbo. BTW, they have been bought out, and the Zarri family will no longer work there at the end of '06. New owner is supposed to keep it the same way, so my fingers are crossed. It's so good, I'd hate to lose it. I've ben going there since the 80's. Dinner at Gordo's Taqueria on Solano. I used to love the place; ate there as a kid. Now...not so much. I was not thrilled with the chicken super burrito my wife and I split...maybe b/c I forgot to order it with guac inside, but there just wasn't much there. In fact, I find Chipotle marginally preferable. Guess I need to go to the Mission, or Picante, for the real deal again. Saturday: Starbucks coffee and donuts from Donut Star at the El Cerrito BART station. Tasty, and a nice treat to get a blueberry donut that I can't easily find in San Diego. BART to SF to go to Swan's Oyster Depot. Great place! We waited in line ~30 min, then sat and ate. I had a half dozen oysters; wife had a bowl of clam chowder; we split a seafood cocktail. Great meal at a reasonable price, especially considering the freshness and quality of the shellfish. Also a good Anchor Steam on tap and Boudin bread. Walked to Ghiradelli square for cocoa, then BART home. Mom cooked dinner. Sunday: Home again...hit Happy Donut on the way out; better than Donut Star. But I think all SFBA donut shops are pretty darn good. Looking forward to the next trip... -CSG Wed Mar 29 20:25:57 -0800 2006 0 Chris G. 1 221129 Thanks for the report back. If you're in to donuts you have to try King Pin in Berkeley. They fry them fresh in the evenings beause they know their college student clientelle doesn't wake up early. Nothing better than a piping hot bear claw at midnight. Just make sure to order whatever is hottest - don't let them pull something from behind the glass. Wed Mar 29 20:37:10 -0800 2006 221124 0 Morton the Mousse 2 221131 Actually that's SOP for just about every donut business I can think of. Fryers are busy everywhere between 11pm and 3am. Wed Mar 29 20:42:38 -0800 2006 221129 0 Melanie Wong 1 221133 I think Rivoli is a good neighborhood restaurant, but if you're expecting a "great" "destination" restaurant then I can see being disappointed. I'm surprised you mentioned "hype" though, as I can't remember the last time I've seen it hyped as anything more than a good restaurant for that area. If you want the "real thing" in Mexican, take BART to Fruitvale and cruise the taco trucks and numerous small eateries in that area. Wed Mar 29 20:46:30 -0800 2006 221124 0 Ruth Lafler 2 221149 The "hype" was in Frommer's and in Zagat...both *raved* about it. I'm with you...a good neighborhood restaurant. If I lived there, I'd go more often, but it's not, as you say, a "destination" restaurant. Wed Mar 29 22:07:12 -0800 2006 221133 0 Chris G. 3 221159 Ah, Zagat ... Chowhound is much more reliable, thanks to discussions like this. Wed Mar 29 23:20:57 -0800 2006 221149 0 Ruth Lafler 1 221136 I consider putting ketchup on a hot dog grounds for divorce. Link: http://thefuntimesguide.com/audio/nobody_puts_ketchup_on_a_hot_dog.ram Wed Mar 29 20:52:00 -0800 2006 221124 0 Gary Soup 2 221380 not even organic ketchup from the Ferry Building Market? Fri Mar 31 10:41:11 -0800 2006 221136 0 jschyun 1 221164 Thanks for the report. The only change at Zarri's so far is that the price if the sandwiches went up slightly. If you are at the El Cerrito Bart there's a better coffee shop next to it ... Maggie's Cofee is organic and from a local roaster. No donuts though, but great pastry from a place called Lola's. Wed Mar 29 23:43:36 -0800 2006 221124 0 rworange 2 221177 Maybe I am confused but isn't Maggie's by the El Cerrito del Norte Bart station and I think the OP was at El Cerrito Plaza Bart station. Thu Mar 30 00:35:28 -0800 2006 221164 0 wally