Berkeley

Places to go to

Places I’ve been to that I’d recommend.

• Cheese Board Pizza (also see /pizza) (1512 Shattuck Ave)
• Takara Sake
• Berkeley Rose Garden (map)
• Berkeley’s secret/hidden waterfall

  Located on private property near Cordornices Park (map). The property owners graciously allow the public to visit it (but they certainly don’t advertise it).

• Jupiter (2181 Shattuck, www.jupiterbeer.com)
• Fieldwork Brewing (see /beer) (1160 Sixth Street, https://fieldworkbrewing.com/)
• Gilman Brewing Company (912 Gilman, https://gilmanbrew.com/)
• Top Dog (2534 Durant, http://www.topdoghotdogs.com/) - Good hotdogs with a bunch of Libertarian postings on the walls.

  There’s only one now, but there used to be three. It’s comforting that they’re still this mission-driven place, which feels very Berkeley-spirit (which there isn’t as much of now).

• Indian Rock (map)
• Fire trails
• Acme Bread (map)
• Albatross (sadly closed)

  Used to love playing darts here and getting bowls of popcorn.

• Caffe Mediterranean (sadly closed)

  Claimed to be the birthplace of the latte. I just went here a lot to study, as it used to be open fairly late.

  I also remember a lot of people meeting here talking about communism. And I mean these were old people, that had probably been talking about communism since the 60s or something.

• The Aquatic Park (map) has disc golf
• Wat Mongolratanarm (often just called “Thai Temple”) (1911 Russell)

  They have a pretty good brunch on Sundays. You have to buy tokens which you exchange for food and drinks like Thai iced tea.

• Urban Ore (900 Murray Street) has cool second-hand furniture and other stuff. It’s where I got my desk.
• Spiral Gardens (2850 Sacramento Street) is a pretty good place to get plants
• Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles (2982 Adeline, https://lacismuseum.org/)
• Fourth Street (map) has a lot of nice shops
• Hopkins Street/Monterey Avenue (map) has Monterey Market, Monterey Fish Market, and Berkeley Horticultural Nursery (haven’t been)
• Berkeley Bowl
• The Sawtooth Building (map) near Eighth and Dwight has a lot of artists
• East Bay Nursery (2332 San Pablo) is another good place to get plants and trees
• The Ecology Center at (2530 San Pablo Ave, Suite H) has a seed library, zero waste stuff (cool mason jar tops), other things.

  Their phone number is (510) 548-3402.

• Poet’s Corner or whatever that park is called (map) seems to be a pretty popular hangout
• The Starry Plough (3101 Shattuck, https://thestarryplough.com/) has open mic nights on Tuesdays

  For open mic on Tuesdays: sign ups at 7:30 and show starts at 8. (I haven’t performed.)

  Guinness $11, Smithwicks Irish Red $9. Kitchen closes at 10pm.

• Moe’s books (2476 Telegraph) has pretty cool books. I haven’t checked out the rare books on the fourth floor yet, you need an appointment for that.
• Discount Fabrics (1805 East Bayshore Highway)
• Berkeley Typewriter (1823 University Ave, https://berkeleytypewriter.com/) has typewriters that you can test out and buy. Pretty fun.

  Typewriters I looked at were around the $300-$500 range, and work well since the person there repairs them. They’ve also got some cool typewriters and typewritten letters from Tom Hanks, who apparently has a big collection.

• Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics (2518 Shattuck)
• Far Leaves Tea (2626 San Pablo Ave) is a nice tea place with a lot of different types of tea. I also like the interior decoration.
• Photolab (2235 Fifth Street) has analog and digital film processing and film rolls.
• MacBeath Hardwood has all different kinds of hardwood. Got some poplar boards for my desk. Cool place to check out if you like woodworking.
• Missouri Lounge (2600 San Pablo, https://www.missouriloungebar.com/) is a good bar. Has a nice patio outside with pop-up food places.
• Acme Bar has whiskey
• Payn’s Stationery (1791 Solano) (see also stationery).
• Oak Barrel (1443 San Pablo, https://oakbarrel.com/) for home brewing. It’s where we got the CO₂ tank for our carbonator setup.
• Spats (1974 Shattuck, https://www.spatsonshattuck.com/) seems like a decent bar from when I went to it. It’s got pinball, billiards. Pretty casual type place. I think they have karaoke on Wednesdays from 9-11pm? I should check that out.
• Way Station (2120 Dwight, https://www.waystationberkeley.com/) is a decent cafe with outdoor seating

  Has a decent mocha with Guittard chocolate. Accepts cash.

• Curiosity Shop (2214 MLK) sells a bunch of cool things, including old postcards $1/ea or $5/7 (see also mail)
• Trumer Pils brewery 2026-09-15: I heard this closed.
• Tacos Sinaloa has huge super burritos ($25, but the size of my forearm)
• Li’s Knife Cut noodles (2126 Center Street)

  I usually get the spicy dry noodles (“F04”, $16). It’s pretty close to the kind of biangbiang mian I’d try to find in Shanghai (I know biangbiang mian is from Xi’an, but still). I also like that you can get a noodle refill (like a kae-dama at a Japanese ramen shop).

• Kavamore Press (2828 McGee, kavamorepress.com) has cool printed stuff and snail-mail sessions Sundays 10:30-noon?
• Raleigh’s Pub (2438 Telegraph, https://www.raleighspub.com/)

  Cool outdoor space. They have a trivia night. Decent selection of drinks and snacks.

• Cha Ya (1688 Shattuck) has pretty good Japanese vegan food (sushi rolls, soup)

Places I haven’t been to

Or rather, places I need to check out.

• 924 Gilman (map)
• Aftel Archive of Curious Scents

  Passed by this place on 2023-04-15. Apparently the tour takes an hour, and it’s like $25.

• Berkeley Ironworks (map) rock climbing gym

  Okay place. Waivers on tablets and not printed kinda annoy me. I’ve heard the settings here are much harder compared to Pacific Pipe.

• The Mill bakery - A friend’s brother works there.
• Vik’s Chaat or Vik’s Market? (map)

  Went here for dinner in April 2026. There’s some interesting dishes that I hadn’t seen before like a big poofy bread. Seems hard to order if you don’t already know what to order.

• Oaktown Nursery
• Katz antiques?
• Ashby Lumber
• Mercurio Brothers (https://mercuriobrothers.com/) on San Pablo looks like they have some interesting stationery
• The Hidden Café (map) near Poet’s Corner.

  Someone online mentioned it was a good place to study at, if a little crowded.

• Mudrakers Cafe (2801 Telegraph) - Recommended by someone online
• The Long Haul (3124 Shattuck, https://thelonghaul.org/) seemed interesting, with a bunch of zines, when I walked by
• Berkeley History Center (map, https://berkhistory.org/)
• Tharp Wood Carving Studio (3102 Shattuck, https://tharpcarvingstudio.com/)
• April Provisions (2524 San Pablo) had cool-looking home/kitchen stuff.
• Feral Studio (2520 San Pablo, https://www.feralstudioclasses.com/) has stained glass classes
• Bay Area Alternative Press (1841 Alcatraz, bayareaalternativepress.org)

  It’s volunteer run. Talked with Jacobo on May 29, 2026.

• Local Host (www.hellolocalhost.com) - Something about technology, passed by September 2026, not sure what it is yet.

Event spaces

Venues with calendars and events I should periodically check

• BAMPFA (https://bampfa.org/)
• Berkeley Rep (https://www.berkeleyrep.org/)
• Shotgun Players (https://shotgunplayers.org/)
• UC Theatre (https://www.theuctheatre.org/)
• The Freight & Salvage (https://thefreight.org/)
• Zellerbach Hall and other Cal Performances ()https://calperformances.org/
• Greek Theatre (https://thegreekberkeley.com/)
• Ashkenaz (https://www.ashkenaz.com)
• UC Berkeley Events (https://events.berkeley.edu/)
• KALX (radio, 90.7FM) (https://kalx.berkeley.edu/)

Links and Info

• Official website for the city is berkeleyca.gov.
  • Community recreation: https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation
• Berkeley Tool Lending Library
• Berkeley Municipal Code is available (I guess unofficially) at https://berkeley.municipal.codes/
• Trash/Recycling

  • https://berkeleyca.gov/city-services/trash-recycling/transfer-station
  • https://berkeleyrecycling.org/
• Rent

  You can see rent ceilings and move-in dates of addresses at https://rentregistry.cityofberkeley.info/.

Misc

• Gramps used to live in Berkeley and apparently would roll tires down Marin Avenue (a super steep slope).
• In Berkeley, businesses have to accept cash if offered (BMC 9.50), though they can refuse counterfeits or over $20 denominations. Oakland doesn’t have this protection. Correction: Only certain businesses (basically pharmacies, grocery stores, and retail products) need to accept cash. Cafés don’t. This protection only exists in SF.
• Michael Masley (http://artistgeneral.com) - Interesting busker (sounds quite experimental).

  Website is also quite unique, very web 1.0 (like this).