Where to Find the Best Food and Drink in Oakland, California - Bon Appétit | Bon Appétit

For years people have been proclaiming Oakland the next big food destination. Well, I was done waiting. Turns out I timed my visit perfectly. Burger savants, fried chicken masters, and ramen prodigies are all here now, and they’re onto something: Oakland is no San Francisco side trip; it’s the destination. The diversity of eating experiences in just a few square miles is insane. I chased a meticulously made French pastry with a Chinatown cruller and ate pizza topped with half the farmers’ market—and that was just lunch. Here are 11 reasons to eat in the East Bay right now.

Stuffing a doughnut into an eggy crepe sounds like a fusion dessert gone terribly wrong. But at Tian Jin Dumplings, a take-out-window spot in Chinatown, the savory, cruller-filled pancake is the best thing to happen before 11 a.m.

These acolytes continue the fresh-off-the-farm legacy started just five miles away.

Grilled ricotta at Camino.

Almost everything on the menu comes from the two wood-burning hearths that dominate the open kitchen where chef Russell Moore practices his rustic NorCal artistry. Seven years in, it’s the cool aunt of the Oakland dining scene.

All smiles at Ramen Shop.

Give three Chez Panisse alums a 600-pound noodle machine shipped from a Japanese culinary god, and you get ramen Cali style.

The margherita pie at Boot & Shoe Service.

The wood-fired pies are just the beginning at this crowd-pleasing pizzeria in an old cobbler’s shop. Owner Charlie Hallowell should run for mayor already.

Nouveau diner Hopscotch (think swivel stools and Japanese ingredients) serves the Bay Area’s juiciest fried chicken, marinated in buttermilk and soy sauce, dredged in potato starch, and served atop chrysanthemum salad.

Four things to try at Oakland’s tastiest food hall:

At Hawker Fare, chef James Syhabout’s tribute to pan-Asian party food includes fiery larb lettuce wraps and coconut-milk short ribs.

The chef’s burger—a drive-through-esque masterpiece of dry-aged beef—became famous at the KronnerBurger pop-up in San Francisco. But its bricks-and-mortar spot now calls Oakland home. Why? “It’s like the San Francisco I moved to 15 years ago: There’s space for creativity and diversity,” he says.

The crunchy bhel salad (left) and cumin-cilantro lemonade at Juhu Beach Club.

It’s an all-day tropical blowout at Juhu Beach Club, a bright strip-mall oasis where mohawked chef Preeti Mistry is the one to thank for bringing her sloppy, spicy pavs (India’s version of sliders), puffed-rice salads in jars, and cumin-cilantro lemonade to the East Bay. Save room for soft serve with candy-coated fennel seeds on top.

The Tea Leaf Salad at Grocery Café.

Where have all these deliciously fish-saucy noodles and fragrant stews been hiding? Apparently at Grocery Café, an unassuming spot with church pews for seats and ‘80s records for decor. The platter of potent fermented tea leaves, crunchy yellow beans, and tiny dried shrimp—gently tossed tableside by the sole soft-spoken server—will challenge all you thought you knew about salad.

Bottles, bottles everywhere at Alchemy Bottle Shop.

Of all the unofficial titles the city holds, my favorite is its claim on most hard-to-find booze per capita. Any shopping done here should be for bottles: funky natural Blaufränkisch from a nearby winery at the unpretentious Bay Grape; small-batch amari off the dreamy whitewashed shelves of Alchemy Bottle Shop; and esoteric Japanese craft beers at Umami Mart.

Vodka + fresh grapefruit juice = a good time (also known as a Greyhound).

Had it with 14-ingredient drinks and judgey mixologists? (I’m raising my hand.) Meet me at Cafe Van Kleef, where the locals will tell you there’s only one drink to order: the Greyhound. It’s vodka topped off with fresh grapefruit juice that flows freely all night from the old-school juicer. This is no cookie-cutter bar. It’s somewhere between a dive, an art experiment, and a hoarder’s sanctuary.

First stop: Cortados at Subrosa.

Oakland’s hippest neighborhood is the place for boutiques, coffee shops, and bagels worth the long lines. Here’s how I spent a half day strolling Telegraph Avenue, the coolest ten blocks in town.

9 a.m. / SubrosaSip a cortado and nibble a textbook-perfect kouign-amann baked by the pastry pros at nearby Starter Bakery.

9:45 a.m. / Beauty’s Bagel ShopWorship at the altar of Montreal-style bagels and buy in to the notion that deviled eggs work for breakfast too.

10:45 a.m. / Book/ShopThe first editions at this sleek bookshop-slash-gallery make a strong case for ditching your tablet.

11:30 a.m. / Doughnut DollyHead next door for a Naughty Cream: a fried puff filled to order with crème fraîche and vanilla-bean pastry cream.

12:15 p.m. / Homestead ApothecaryName an ailment, and there’s a remedy at this haven for modern herbalists.

1 p.m. / Bakesale BettyThe fried chicken sandwich is rightly famous, but it’s the strawberry shortcake that I’ll get back in line for.