I appreciate how thorough and enthusiastic your responses are but am also feeling a bit overwhelmed by them. Realistically we will have 2 days in the SF and Oakland area. That’s enough for a couple neighborhood perusals, and a few meals. And I was mostly hopeful for a locations rec and then some points of interest in those areas. I figured that if the spots generally had decent food options, we’d find em. Thanks very much!
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Yes i wall of text too much.
You can be more specific about what you are looking for. There is a wide range of recs from other folks too.
Ok summarizing…
If you are feeling overwhelmed, i would suggest downtown oakland at 12th st bart. It is the most central of all the places. Get a high floor room with a view west (to sf) if you can. You will have a lot of options, including an easy fast bart ride to the city. You’ll also save hundreds a night which you can spend on food.
Whether the area is walkable depends on your tolerance to urban.
If you like the idea but don’t like deep urban, try berkeley bart area. Still transit, more walkable, less central. A number of hotel choices.
Your initial request was neighborhoods, and the nice ones basically don’t have hotels. You’ll have to scour airbnb. I would rank the east bay as rockridge, berkeley northside, temescal, grand lake, piedmont, debatably, or something like that. Go with wherever you can get a good airbnb.
If you will have a car, the airbnb in a nabe option is probably better.
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If you want one east bay location I wouldn’t recommend Oakland Chinatown area - it is something potentially interesting if you live in the bay area but it also has its quite sketchy streets. Try Berkeley where you have multiple nice area - use the Bart system to get from one part to the next.
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Yeah. It’s a small Chinatown.
My bias shows. I don’t think there’s anything sketch until you go over the estuary river thing by laney college. Or going west, pass under 980. Then it gets sketchy 
Thanks very much all. I appreciate it. We may find a hotel rather than Airbnb in Oakland and BART around from there. The bnb cleaning and service fees can double the cost for a 1-2 night stay. Explore Berkeley, botanical gardens, some Oakland, and all the other suggestions above. Lots of food for thought and further research.
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Alameda has great dimsum at East Ocean Seafood Restaurant (not to be confused with Emeryville’s Hong Kong East Ocean)
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Speaking of Alameda, might consider staying and hanging there. Generally considered safe. There’s a lot there, plenty for a few days. Sleepy and not a tourist area, a different view of the Bay Area….and you could take the ferry to SF. When real estate prices got crazy, many former SF’ers moved to Alameda. A search will easily find well rated and good eats. To be honest, not hard to get a good meal in the Bay Area. There’s also a lot of beer, booze, wine on the former Navy base. Do a search of Alameda. Shouldn’t be overwhelming.
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Yeah, staying in Alameda is actually not a bad idea. I second East Ocean, that’s where my HK-born spouse and I go for dim sum in Alameda County. Second gen owners have taken charge and the food took that important step upwards. Don’t miss the Portuguese egg tarts, the po tat (poh tat) - lovely and will make you forget the regular Chinese egg tarts, LOL. Stick with the usuals - har gow, siu mai, shrimp wrapped in rice noodle, etc. - and you can’t go wrong.
Also in Alameda is our favorite Japanese restaurant, hands-down. Waki, at the end of Webster St., open for dinner Mon-Sat, Sun L/D, at 1403 Webster St., is the only really good sushi restaurant in Alameda County right now.
Alameda (city of, not the county of) is level and easily walkable. Park St. and Webster St. are the two main business/restaurant streets, with Park St. the more crowded and established. Lots of fun small stores on Park St. and Webster St. is also starting to accumulate a few.
Just off the end of Webster St. where Waki is located, is a REALLY unique and lovely experience - a Malaysian/British tea shoppe! We’ve gone 3x and it’s delightful. Reservations only (it’s very tiny) and their Afternoon Tea meal is filling, the loose leaf teas are a wide choice of high quality blends, and the atmosphere is charming.
Malaya Tea Room, reservations taken for Thurs-Sun, 11a - 5:30p.
Address: 920 Central Ave, Alameda, CA 94501
Phone: (510) 263-8208
Reservations, website only: Choose one of three times for tea experience
3 seatings taken for 11am, 1:15pm 0R 3:30pm. Reservations a necessity on weekends.
There is a Hawthorn Suites hotel (brand new, just opened a few months ago) and a Rodeway Inn, both right on Webster St.
Both Park St. and Webster St. end with the beach side of Alameda Island one block further south.
Take an Uber/Lyft to South Shore Mall (end of Park St., on the bay side) for lunch or dinner at Trabocco, where owner/chef Alex Naccarelli runs a well-trained kitchen with regional Italian food, with Ligurian touches (where he’s from). It’s hidden from sight; go to the middle of the mall, walk inside to the center aisle that parallels the long side, and Trabocco’s entrance is located facing the center aisle, right in the middle of the mall.
There is one great omakase restaurant in Alameda - Utzuzu at 1428 Park St, Alameda. It is also small so reservations are difficult. You can try through Resy.com if interested.
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For a couple of days, Alameda would be easy and low key. East Ocean is good. Fiskue (Texas BBQ and Indonesian sides) gets a lot of hype…and a long line. You can get pretty much any other cuisine. Also a wineries and distilleries on the West side (Spirit Alley) with food, where the old Navy base was. Ferry ride to SF would be nice, cheap entertainment with a nice view.
I live in Oakland and I feel safe, don’t consider Chinatown sketchy….but I’m not traveling or look like it. That said, Chinatown does close early….most shops closed by 5.
Does the Alameda flea market still exist?
It does, first Sunday of the month.
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Thoughts on whether we should do Chez Panisse? It’s such an icon. But are there more impressive places to drop $700 on dinner? Now that I wrote that down, that’s hella $$$$$. Especially since I have one picky eater who probably won’t like half the food.
I think Chez Panisse did a lot of trailblazing for ingredient-focused California cuisine 30, 40 years ago. But this type of cooking is so commonplace in the Bay Area now. I don’t think you are missing out much if you already ate Californian on your trip.
Personally, I think there are much more interesting food in Oakland.
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If you have a picky eater it might be best to pick another restaurant or consider lunch upstairs with alc menu
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I haven’t gone back since this meal.
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Actually “Honkman” posted this review of a Meal at Commis in Oakland which sounds like a place that I would be willing to drop that kind of Cash.
It may be slightly more that CP but looks much more innovative/interesting (IMO of course).
If you’re curious about Chez Panisse, lunch upstairs in the cafe could work, and less expensive. Similar or same items but ala carte, and you get a choice, instead of prix fixe downstairs. I like CP but I don’t think I’d drop $700 on downstairs. I think the cafe would be a nice lunch but not mind blowing. I usually order fish or seafood at CP. which is the sweet spot IMO. They source very good stuff and will treat it with respect, know how to prepare it.
The most interesting place in the East Bay right now seems to be Sun and Moon Studio but might be difficult to get it. Also, West Oakland, so you should know that.
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I’ll agree with others that lunch upstairs at CP is the thing to do. Main dishes in the $30-$40 range are typical these days, and that’s what they are at CP upstairs.
https://www.chezpanisse.com/cafemenu/
But the set prices downstairs are around $175 next week. Where did you get the $700 figure?
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I am always surprised at the downstairs prices at CP - I understand costs of ingredients etc but you are paying that for 1 appetizer, 2 mains (which tend to be smaller than regular mains) and dessert) - CP might be one of the most expensive restaurants in the Bay area in the moment (for the amount and quality of food) - and yes, it has/had a deep impact on the culinary direction of the US but it is not like that there aren’t many restaurants in area who have a similar mindset
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I forgot to post the downstairs menu for next week.
