Posted by Erin Zimmer, August 20, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Armed robbers have been on the loose in Oakland this summer, targeting restaurants primarily around the Lake Merritt, Oakland Hills, and San Antonio neighborhoods. But Monday night, a robbery occurred in the upscale Rockridge district, marking the first instance in this area. At least two men wearing masks and hooded sweatshirts robbed Pasta Pomodoro at 5500 College Avenue, about ten minutes before closing. Nobody was hurt.
Completely unrelated, the crime wave also struck the four-star restaurant La Folie in San Francisco's Russian Hill neighborhood. Thieves went straight for the safe, stealing the entire box and its contents. Unlike the Oakland robberies, this one happened after hours when no staffers or diners were inside the restaurant.
Previously
Oakland Restaurants Hit by More Takeover Robberies
Restaurant Heists in Oakland and Emeryville, California, Continue
Posted by Sarah Wolf, August 8, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Unfortunate Oakland restaurants are experiencing this year's second rash of takeover-style robberies. The area was hit with a string of heists in April, and a hold-up on Wednesday night at Eastlake's King of King Restaurant marked the area's tenth armed robbery in the last two weeks. According to local radio station KTVU, police remain unsure whether the various incidents are linked.
Posted by Erin Zimmer, June 27, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Even if Bakesale Betty in Oakland, California, didn't have such an amazing fried chicken sandwich, the place would still be insanely likable. The ironing boards in lieu of tables outside, the free cookies that somehow end up in your bag, the simple menu scribed onto white butcher paper, the scary long line that moves so fast, the owner Alison Barakat (who most customers just call Betty) and her color-rotating wig, oftentimes blue.
But then they have to serve a delicious, football-sized fried chicken sandwich, and move from likable to obsessively lovable. Almost as satisfying as the actual eating of this sandwich is watching the rushed yet scientifically precise assembly line of fried chicken sandwich-makers behind the glass.
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Posted by Raphael, April 18, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Everybody be cool.
Dining out in the San Francisco Bay Area may have gotten a little more expensive: The blog SFist clues us in on a recent rash of East Bay restaurant "takeover"-style robberies—eight in the past couple of weeks. The most recent robbery in Emeryville follows a similar pattern: "[o]ne of the suspects revealed a black semi-automatic handgun and demanded money from both employees and customers" [cbs5.com]. Prize quote from SFist: "Be careful, Chez Panisse denizens!" [via Eater SF]
Posted by Leslie Pave, March 31, 2008 at 3:15 PM
A typical way to describe kombucha is to say it’s fermented mushroom tea. So when faced with a choice of a well made cappuccino or fermented mushroom tea, that voice inside your head may scream, "double cap extra foam." But Uzbekistan-born Lev Kilun will let you sample his house made kombucha on-tap while you wait for your organic espresso drink at Café Lyon in the Rockridge district of Oakland, California. Before your double cap is done brewing, you might wish you ordered the kombucha instead.
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Posted by Ed Levine, April 10, 2007 at 2:15 PM
I had an old issue of Food & Wine on my desk, and, leafing through it, I came upon a story about wine shops serving cheese and tapas. As a confirmed nondrinker and serious cheese lover, I applaud this trend.
Here are the shops they wrote about:
Smith & Vine
Address: 268 Smith Street, Brooklyn NY 11231
Phone: 718-243-2864
Stinky Brooklyn
Address: 261 Smith Street, Brooklyn NY 11231
Phone: 718-522-7425
Silverlake Wine
Address: 2395 Glendale Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90039
Phone: 323-662-9024
Cesar
Address: 4039 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland CA 94611
Phone: 510-985-1200
Portalis
Address: 5205 Ballard Avenue, Seattle WA 98107
Phone: 206-783-2007
We've got both coasts covered. Any Serious Eaters know of any others?
Photograph from iStockphoto.com
