Berkeley BART station to UC campus - best place to stop for food

[glbtrtr]

We are in a rut, we come up for Cal Homecoming, take Bart and walk up to the campus and pass a lot of small restaurants and have stopped last two times at a Vietnamize restaurant which we like on the way from the Bart Station to the campus, yet we wonder are we missing any other special places on this route.

So please, any favorite local suggestions for out of towners walking up from the Berkeley BART station to campus. Thanks.

[vincentlo]

There's been a lot of recent chat here on Chowhound about Ippuku, that izakaya very close to the BART station. Feedback has been mostly positive about this moderately expensive Japanese restaurant.

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Ippuku
2130 Center St, Berkeley, CA 94704

[achefsbest]

I like Gather and Zatar too. I also like Chick O Peas if you aren't looking for fancy.

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Zatar
1981 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704

[Robert Lauriston]

Great China is one of the best Chinese restaurants in the East Bay. See many posts on this board for tips on what to order.

Pie in the Sky is good by-the-slice pizza.

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Great China Restaurant
2115 Kittredge St, Berkeley, CA 94704

[Civil Bear]

You might try Angeline's Kitchen for NOLA food, or Jupiter's for wood fired pizzas & beer. What we really need in that area is a place that serves beer and has some large screen TV's!

[sandunga_rbb]

Meridian (a block or two in the opposite direction, on University) just re-opened. We haven't tried it in its new incarnation, but the old burger and duck fat fries were great. And the large screen TVs are definitely still there.

[glbtrtr]

Duck fat fries --- yippee. Shades of some memorable dining in the Dordogne Valley, France. Had a friend who would also fill up her airline baggage allowance with tins of duck fat when she returned from her native France. Thanks for all the suggestions - yes I think the Vietnamize was something like Le Regal, just a block or so up from the BART station. Fun to ride BART on Cal football days when station by station it starts filling up with blue and gold Bear fans, but we all unload at the same stop and slowly the crowd starts spreading out into restaurants along the way up to the campus and stadium.

[wolfe]

Check out PIQ, Ironwood, Saturn Cafe, Brazil Cafe, Gather, Cancun, Great China and Cinnaholic.

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Great China Restaurant
2115 Kittredge St, Berkeley, CA 94704

Cinnaholic
2132 Oxford St, Berkeley, CA 94720

[casalbore spirit]

May I suggest Zatar,a couple owned and run,organic ingredient,mediterranean based charming restaurant that sources it's own garden?Cash only.A few blocks from UC Berkeley.

"With its Moroccan pottery, plump pillows, candelabra full of half burnt candles, and thoroughly organic ingredients, Zatar resembles an opium den for health-minded diners."
(San Francisco Magazine)

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Zatar
1981 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704

[glbtrtr]

This might work for the evening after the Homecoming events are over and we have a trip planned next year that includes Lebanon, Jordan and Syria so what a treat to get started learning about the food from this area we might find here. Thanks.

[bbulkow]

Campus is one short block from the berkeley bart. On that block, I like top dog, and I can't think of any Vietnamese restaurants.

Perhaps you can be more specific about what you like, how much you're interested in spending, and the area you're looking?

[bigwheel042]

The Vietnamese restaurant was likely either Le Cheval on Bancroft or Saigon Express or Le Regal right near BART.

Turkish Kitchen is worth a stop for the baba ghanoush, I think. The campus part of Berkeley seems to not be as favored by Chowhounds compared to the area around Chez Panisse or the San Pablo or University Avenue corridors, though.

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Chez Panisse
1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709

Turkish Kitchen
1984 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704

Saigon Express
2045 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704

Le Regal
2126 Center St, Berkeley, CA 94704

Le Cheval
2600 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94704