One night off in Berkeley

[meeatalot]

Working in East Bay and have but one day off a week. Friday
is that day. Need a great dinner, casua atmosphere and excellent
service. Cafe Panisse has been done. Price and type of food not
a worry. Just superior, whatever it is. Suggestions?

[floraatwell]

Lalime's -- small and festive, great food and service.
Wood Tavern -- outstanding food and warm friendly service at the Berkeley Oakland border
Oliveto -- pricey but you can't go wrong there upstairs
Sea Salt. -- haven't been there in a year or so but it was great then
Garibaldi on College - a standby with really good food and service and you can usually get a table there.
Cesar on Piedmont -- casual, authentic tapas, outstanding bar

-----
Sea Salt
2512 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702

Bar César
4039 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA 94611

Wood Tavern
6317 College Ave., Oakland, CA 94618

Garibaldi's
5356 College Ave., Oakland, CA 94618

Oliveto Cafe
5655 College Ave., Oakland, CA 94618

Lalime's
1329 Gilman, Berkeley, CA 94706

[macadam]

Went to Sidebar last Wednesday for the first time after hearing favorable comments. Excellent choice--service was ideal, food delish and prices decent. A nice atmosphere, able to carry on an audible conversation and just an overall good experience. Did I mention the service was ideal?? For 3 late-40's girls,our younger, male server could not have been nicer or more attentive, and made us feel very welcome.

[rworange]

What did you order?

[rworange]

Digs Bistro
http://www.digsbistro.com/menu/menu.htm

Rive cocina Haven't been there in a while, but positive reports come back from time to time and they won the Chronicle's Best Italian in the Bay Area award
http://baylist.sfgate.com/winners/best-of-the-baylist/3957/great-meals/italian

http://www.rivacucina.com/

[Robert Lauriston]

À Côté - French / Italian small plates, Rockridge
Adesso - Italian, Piedmont
Anh Hong - Vietnamese, downtown Berkeley
Camino - Cal, Grand Lake
Cesar - tapas, Piedmont
Chai Thai Noodles - EastLake, Oakland
Champa Garden - Laotian, Ivy Hill, Oakland
China Village - Sichuan, Solano
Corso - Italian, downtown Berkeley
Daimo - Hong Kong Chinese, Richmond
Dopo - Italian, Piedmont
El Huarache Azteca - Jalisco-style Mexican, Fruitvale
Great China - Korean-Chinese, downtown Berkeley
Jayakarta - Indonesian, downtown Berkeley
Lanesplitter - pizza, Temescal & West Berkeley
Ohgane - Korean, Broadway / Auto Row
Oliveto - Italian, Rockridge
Pizzaiolo - Italian, Temescal
Sea Salt - seafood, West Berkeley
Shanghai - Oakland Chinatown
T-Rex - BBQ, West Berkeley
Turkish Kitchen - downtown Berkeley
Wood Tavern - Cal-American, Rockridge

[lainielou]

Had a great meal recently at Corso - the chicken sauteed in brown butter is particularly good. It's a place I want to return to sooner rather than later which is rare.

[lmnopm]

If you are keeping it to Berkeley, my first two choices would be Rivoli or Lalimes. (I still haven't made it to Corso, but I bet you receive some good recommendations to go there.)

[Truffle Dog]

Rivoli is just *barely* in Berkeley. Just over the border on the other side of Berkeley - in Oakland - Wood Tavern and Oliveto are excellent. Rivoli is my favorite; Lalimes is probably your best bet for a table of all of them. Eccolo is often overlooked in scholarly circles but I've had a couple really good meals there recently and it's a little easier to get seated there than most of these.