If, like us here at team Nosh, you plan to avoid traffic and stay in town this holiday weekend, we suggest consulting the Nosh Guide before stepping out to your usual haunts and watering holes. A holiday weekend is, after all, a great time to check out a new restaurant or two — with weekend travelers away, it can mean shorter wait times and easier reservations.
Do you always eat brunch at 900 Grayson? Maybe it’s time to try a new-school diner like Sequoia in the Oakland hills. Or are you a regular at La Mission? Try venturing out to the Tacos El Autlense truck for a few carnitas tacos. Instead of your usual Thai takeout, give Albany’s Da Nang a go. Or step up to the bar at Belotti for some of the best pasta in the Bay. We know old favorites are favorites for a reason — there’s nothing wrong with visiting established spots. But when there’s so much to try across the East Bay, it’s a shame to always stay so close to home.
A reminder: the Nosh Guide had input from the whole team at Berkeleyside/Nosh, as well as our regular contributors and, importantly, 600 of you who responded to our reader survey to help us compile the Guide. Your answers reminded us of forgotten classics and new gems, the top five of which are listed for each dining category. You can also find your voices embedded throughout this series; we’ve chosen to publish some of our favorite reader comments collected in the survey.
Learn more about our Nosh Guide.
The Nosh Guide is Berkeleyside’s authoritative, dynamic listing of our favorite spots for eating and drinking in the East Bay. We’ve included picks from Nosh editors, writers and, importantly, readers. We will add new favorites as they appear and may (sadly) have to take some away as they close. At its core, we hope that the Nosh Guide will be a helpful way to navigate our wonderful East Bay dining scene, no rankings necessary.
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