12 East Bay restaurants make Bauer's Top 100

The Dock at Linden. Photo- The Dock at Linden Street — The Dock at Linden Street: one of two new East Bay restaurants to make the SF Chronicle’s latest Top 100 list. Photo: The Dock

Michael Bauer’s list of the top 100 Bay Area restaurants causes a stir each spring. The San Francisco Chronicle food critic has been producing the compilation of his favorite spots for the past 20 years. His choices are typically San Francisco-heavy, but they do include a growing number — 12 this year — of East Bay restaurants.

In a nod to the increasing relevance and excitement of the East Bay food scene, none of the spots cut from the list this year came from our the right side of the Bay.

The two new additions to the East Bay list are both restaurants from James Syhabout. Bauer praised The Dock at Linden Street for its “uncanny skill for matching food to beer” and “unexpected” food combinations. He especially likes Syhabout’s crisp fried cranberry beans, curried lamb riblets with lime pickled chutney, and Caesar popcorn (“the best thing since caramel corn”).

Hawker Fare has been packed since its opening, with diners regularly enduring waits of up to an hour for what amounts to a decorated bowl of rice. Photo: Kate Williams — James Syhabout’s Hawker Fare, whose Oakland location has been joined by one in San Francisco, made Michael Bauer’s Top 100 Restaurant list this year. Photo: Kate Williams

Syhabout’s Hawker Fare also made the cut this year. The entry includes both the original Oakland location as well as the new Hawker Fare in San Francisco. Bauer gave the Mission district eatery three stars earlier this year, and the Oakland restaurant a similar rave in an updated review last December. We praised its poached chicken and rice in 2012.

Curiously, Syhabout’s Michelin-starred restaurant Commis, on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue, has yet to make the Top 100.

Also in Oakland, Camino, Hopscotch, Nido, Pizzaiolo/Boot & Shoe Service (which was included as one entry) and Ramen Shop all made the list for at least the second year in a row.

Berkeley’s Chez Panisse has been on Bauer’s list for the last 20 years. This year, he recognized it, as well as nine other Bay Area restaurants, in a special list of “Top 100 Classics.” Says Bauer: “Dining here is still a revelation about the joy of simple preparation and pristine ingredients.”

Comal, Ippuku and Iyasare joined Chez Panisse on the Berkeley list. We visited Iyasare last year and called it a “game-changer” for the East Bay.

Rounding out the East Bay picks is Bull Valley Roadhouse, a Victorian-styled restaurant and cocktail bar in Port Costa. See the full list. (The full list is under a pay wall for subscribers until Sunday.)

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Kate Williams