Best of Bakersfield Food Tour

[sassille]

A small group of foodies from L.A. are determined to invade Bakersfield for a weekend of discovery. We are looking for fresh authentic foods that highlight the best of local cuisine. We are open for anything from high-end gastronomy to family-style dining to hole in the wall finds that include deli-fare, juice bars, bakeries, ice cream stores. We are more than willing to taste cheese, wines, olives, honeys, you name it.
We are seeking food adventure and welcome any help you can give us in making our tour a memorable one.
Cecilia
[e-mail]

[badseed]

Here’s my list of favorite Bakersfield restaurants:

Mama Roomba – Caribbean
Try the jerk chicken, sweet potato fries, empanadas

Basque:

Wool Growers
Pickled tongue and all the food is very good.

Noriega
Family style Basque

Italian:

Uricchio's
Pretty decent red sauce italian

Luigi’s – lunch only
Old italian deli.

J’s Place – Southern/Soul Food
Try chicken & waffles, catfish on weekends, dirty rice, chocolate pie.

Coming from LA, I don’t think it’s worth trying any of the Vietnamese, Thai, or Chinese. Although some of the chinese food is very retro, so if you’re looking for chop suey, chow mein, or egg foo yong try Bill Lee’s Bamboo Chopsticks. They have something called “coolie chows”.

Also, most Mexican restaurants seem to be pretty americanized, mostly combination plates with crispy tacos - but still good.

Westchester Bowl
Try the fish & chips.

The Orchid – Asian fusion
Some pretty good dishes but consistency seems to be a problem. Nice wine bar.

Dewar’s Candy & Ice Cream

Pizza:

Tony’s Pizza, chile verde pizza

John’s Pizza, this is a kids all you can eat pizza place, it’s not very good but they do have a peanut butter pizza.

Country Food:

Hodel’s – all you can eat

Buck Owen’s Crystal Palace
Steaks, chicken fried steak, live music on weekends

Also, Kern County Fair – Sept 17 -28:
http://www.kerncountyfair.com/home.asp

If you like Sonic, there are a bunch in Bakersfield.

For more events:
http://people.bakersfield.com/home/ViewCategory/499/

There’s a great old LA Weekly article by jonathan gold:
http://www.laweekly.com/2004-01-15/ea...

There's a relatively new vegan restaurant - Elaine's Cafe.
A very limited menu but the ice cream is pretty good.

also, Cafe Med, Jake's Tex Mex, Garden Spot, Valentin, Coconut Joe's Island Grill, Tom's Famous Burgers, Tam O 'Shanter, 24th Street, Red Pepper, Grandview Asian

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Wool Growers Restaurant
620 E 19th St, Bakersfield, CA 93305

Noriega Hotel
525 Sumner St, Bakersfield, CA 93305

Dewar's Candy Shop
1120 Eye St, Bakersfield, CA 93304

Dewar's Candy Shop
9530 Hageman Rd, Bakersfield, CA 93312

Uricchio's Trattoria
1400 17th St, Bakersfield, CA 93301

Tony's Pizza
4130 California Ave, Bakersfield, CA 93309

Westchester Bowl Coffee Shop
1819 30th St, Bakersfield, CA 93301

Luigi's Restaurant & Deli
725 E 19th St, Bakersfield, CA 93305

Bill Lee's Bamboo Chopsticks
1203 18th St, Bakersfield, CA 93301

Hodel's
5917 Knudsen Dr, Bakersfield, CA 93308

J's Place
5141 Ming Ave, Bakersfield, CA 93309

Orchid Thai Fusion Cusine
9500 Brimhall Rd, Bakersfield, CA 93312

John's Incredible Pizza Co
3709 Rosedale Hwy, Bakersfield, CA 93308

Buck Owen's Crystal Palace
2800 Buck Owens Blvd, Bakersfield, CA 93308

[Bcakes]

Dewars is awesome! Great chews to take home with you, and great ice cream and ice milk to enjoy in the valley heat.

Definitely try Basque food. Chalet Basque is sort of a hangout spot. I would eat at one of the other recommended restaurants (Wool Growers, Benji's)

[VisitBakersfield]

Well, you’ve picked the right place to come to for authentic, locally owned restaurants and eateries. Bakersfield is known for its dining experiences that can only be found here. Craving Mexican food check out:

La Costa Mariscos
716 21st St
Bakersfield, CA 93301
[phone]

Mexicali
631 18th St
Bakersfield, CA 93301
[phone]

Mauricio's Grill & Cantina
10700 Rosedale Hwy
Bakersfield, CA 93312
[phone]

Basque has been covered by previous posters

Italian food:

Uricchio's Trattoria
1400 17th St.
Bakersfield, CA 93301
[phone]

Luigi's
725 E 19th St
Bakersfield, CA 93305
[phone]

Frugatti's Italian Eatery
600 Coffee Rd. Ste. L
Bakersfield, CA 93309
[phone]

There are really so many more we could mention. Dessert lovers should head to Dewars or Rosemary’s.

If you need more assistance on finding dining in Bakersfield, give the Visitors Bureau a call toll free at 1-866-425-7353 or go to VisitBakersfield.com

[Gail]

Noriega's or Woolgrowers for Basque. You can google for both for menus.

[tavmark]

I completely agree with Luigi's and Dewars. For higher end dinner my suggestion is Cafe Med on Stockdale Highway. There's also a good pho place on Union.

[fresnohotspot]

While driving to Fresno from L.A., I went in search of cheap fuel and stumbled upon the Pho Vy and Little Saigon restaurants in a new Asian shopping center at 333 Union Street, just north of Hwy 58. This is a short jog east of Hwy. 99. There is also a croissant bakery and an Asian supermarket here but I did not visit them. This is part of town that is undergoing renovation and it was nice to see the new buildings. The Asian cuisine was a nice change from the usual freeway fare and I found the cheap fuel at Union and 58.

I also recently dined at the Chalet Basque, 200 Oak Street, family style dining, Decent food and a whole lot of it, nothing exotic.

[tavmark]

The pho place mentioned by Fresnohotspot is the one I was referring to.

[Bakersfield Hound]

Welcome to Bakersfield. For Italian there's Luigi's at 725 E. 19th Street in Old town. They have a deli and restaurant with the restaurant open 11:00 to 2:30 pm. Tuesday to Saturday http://www.shopluigis.com/ . Another Italian restaurant in downtown at 1400 17th Street. West of Luigi's is the Wool Growers Basque restaurant www.woolgrowers.net and the Noriega Hotel around the cornor on Summer and Tulare Streets. There's also Benji's Basque Restaurant on Rosedale Hiway just West of Hiway 99. For BBQ there's Champs BBQ at Hiway 65 and 7th Standard Road, now called Merle Hagard Way www.champsbbq.org . For ice cream it has to be Dewars, 2 locations, one at California Ave and Eye street and at Calloway and Hagman Road in the Save Mart shopping center. Sandwiches would have to Sequoia Sandwich Shop, on Rosedale Hiway in the Noirthwest Promiade shopping center, open everyday until 8 pm.
For now.......
Danny