DeLuxe

There are tons of Vietnamese restaurants in the Bay Area and many of them are very good. Many of them are very bare bones in ambience and decor. A few of them are even upscale (Slanted Door, Xyclo). Pho 84 in Oakland’s uptown neighborhood is nicely appointed but still casual. Best of all, their food is delicious. Try pretty much anything on the menu and you can’t go wrong. Be sure to try a dish that includes their ‘special rice’. I could make a meal out of this seasoned rice, yum!

Pho 84
354 17th Street, Oakland, CA 94612
510.832.1338

I probably heard about the tapioca drink craze three or four years before I finally realized what all the fuss was about. Now nearly every week I head over to Quickly in Old Oakland for a bubble tea. My favorite is the Earl Grey Milk Tea with tapioca. They literally have more than a hundred variations on the types of drinks you can get: tea, ice, slush; any number of fruits and flavors; all with the option to have chewy sweet tapioca balls added. Get the extra wide straw and drink it up!

Quickly (Old Oakland)
517 8th Street, Oakland, CA 94607
510.663.2233

I discovered The Wine Mine through a little sign outside Bakesale Betty. The sign advertised $1 wine tasting. We want and learned you could taste 5 wines every Saturday from 2-5 for that price. Nice! On top of that they have hundreds of wines to choose from at great prices. Their focus is on bottles under $15 and are very friendly and informative. On top of all that they have plenty of off street parking. So drop by anytime but especially on Saturday afternoons.

The Wine Mine
5427 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609
510.547.9463

If you like standup comedy, the best place to go in the Bay Area is Cobb’s Comedy Club. As you can see from the thumbnail, we went there to see Patton Oswalt. He had a great routine. At Cobb’s we have also seen Sarah Silverman. If you go, get there early so you can get a good seat. Seating is first come, first served and there’s a two drink minimum. If you don’t have time to eat before the show, you can also order food and they wll bring it to your table.

Cobb’s Comedy Club
915 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133
415.928.4320

On our way to see Patton Oswalt at Cobb’s we figured we could duck into one of North Beach’s many Italian restaurants. No such luck — there was a long wait at all of ’em and we were short on time. Luckily we found Iluna Basque. They had a delightful menu of all kinds of tapas. The seafood dishes were especially good. Chef Mattin Noblia is going to be on one of our favorite shows Top Chef (season 6). So, if you’re in North Beach, this place is worth a visit. Just have tapas and a drink or make a meal out of it.

Iluna Basque
701 Union Street, San Francisco, CA 94133
415.402.0011