Michelin Stars
02 Nov

Six Bay Area Restaurants with 3 Michelin Stars

By Michaela To In East Bay, Food, San Francisco, Things to do /   No Comments

Quince’s recent promotion to three Michelin stars means the Bay Area now ranks with New York as one of the country’s top high-end gastronomical destinations. Three stars, in Michelin speak, means “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.” The other Bay Area restaurants with equally high praise are Saison, Benu, Meadowood, Manresa, and The French Laundry.

And some more fun foodie facts for you (according to SF Eater):

  • San Jose Now Has a Michelin Star: Jessica Carriera and David Costa’s Adega has become the second Portuguese restaurant in the states with a Michelin star (Aldea in New York is the other), and the only San Jose restaurant with a star.
  • The Oakland Outlier: Commis, James Syhabout’s acclaimed tasting menu spot, remains the only East Bay spot honored with the guide’s signature accolade. It has two stars.
  • The Total Star Count: San Francisco now has 54 Michelin stars total. New York has 75. Chicago has 22, and the newly launched Washington, DC guide has 12.

In case you want to check a few of these off your list, here’s a map of all 54 Bay Area Michelin star restaurants. Enjoy!

Read More
Bay Area
19 Aug

The Bay Area’s Best Bad Neighborhoods

By Michaela To In East Bay /   No Comments

Rumor has it on RealtyTrac that some of the best up-and-coming neighborhoods are in the East Bay. Instead of looking for the nicest neighborhoods, real estate investors and first-time homebuyers are looking for the best up-and-coming neighborhoods that might be considered bad but are recovering and have the potential to grow in value.

“Many down-and-out neighborhood housing markets across the country are on the rebound thanks to a confluence of market forces working in their favor,” Blomquist said in a RealtyTrac blog. “Tight inventory of homes for sale combined with a dearth of new home building is convincing buyers and investors to reconsider buying in what they once might have considered ‘bad’ neighborhoods.”

Sale Prices

RealtyTrac looked at several factors in more than 3,500 zip codes nationally, including the number of construction loans, which finance both residential and commercial projects; the profitability of house flipping; the percentage of millennials in the neighborhood; and the quality of a neighborhood’s best school. (In this case, the researchers focused on finding neighborhoods where the best school was ranked below the state average. Improving schools are often a lagging indicator of an improving neighborhood.)

Read More
Beer Garden at Temescal Brewing
24 Jun

Oakland’s Newest Restaurants

By Brian Tran In Food, Things to do /   No Comments

Happy Friday!

The weekend is quickly approaching, and if you’re anything like us, you’re already scouring the Internet for the coolest restaurants to fill your stomach and the next two days with. To save you a couple hours of research, we compiled a list of Oakland’s newest spots that have opened up in the past month. Feel free to read, eat, and drink to your heart’s content.

Temescal Brewing – 4115 Telegraph Ave.
After a year of being in the works, Temescal Brewing finally opened its doors with a 35 seat taproom and an expansive beer garden. The wait was definitely worth it!

LocoL – 2214 Broadway
A game-changing fast food operation born in LA, LocoL just opened its second location in Uptown with low-cost and healthier versions of fast food favorites like the “cheeseburgs,” chicken nugs, and even green juice.

Icey Cream – 346 Grand Ave.
You can’t miss that bright pink ice cream store by Lake Merritt that serves Lappert’s ice cream and macarons.

Novel Brewing – 6510 San Pablo Ave.
Novel Brewing is a brewery and tasting room with custom beers on tap.

Stay Gold Deli – 2635 San Pablo Ave.
Stay Gold Deli is a one-stop shop: an Italian-American Deli counter, grocer, restaurant, coffee shop, market, arcade, and soon-to-be beer garden and pintxo bar that will be open this summer.

Rockridge Improvement Club – 5515 College Ave.
Beers and craft cocktails at the historical publik house!

Teni East – 4015 Broadway
An Asian Fusion restaurant that uses only fresh, locally sourced ingredients in their dishes and already has 4.5 stars on Yelp – what more could you possibly ask for?

Tertulia Coffee – 1951 Telegraph Ave.
When art gallery meets coffee bar, it’s only natural that a modern and uniquely sophisticated space like Tertulia Coffee is born. Their grand opening is on July 2nd, so be sure to stop by!

Have you tried any of these places yet? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Read More