Berkeley · United States
The Berkeley food cheat sheet
One page from Chef Amazing · November 2026
The dish to eat
Thin sourdough pizza with no tomato sauce: mozzarella, a seasonal vegetable, feta or other cheese, garlic oil and fresh herbs.
Best at Cheese Board Pizza, North Shattuck. Get: The pizza of the day, whole or half
Five places, and what to order
- Cheese Board Collectivebakery · Gourmet Ghetto (North Shattuck)Get: Bread and pastries from the morning bake
- Acme Breadbakery · West Berkeley (San Pablo Ave)Get: Sourdough, levain
- Wat Mongkolratanaramstreet-food · South Berkeley (Russell St)Get: Pad thai, beef noodle soup, mango with sticky rice, coconut pancakes
- Sliver Pizzeriafor cheese Board-style vegetable pizza · Downtown BerkeleyGet: The pizza of the day with extra green sauce
- Pizzeria da Laurafor cheese Board-style vegetable pizza · Downtown BerkeleyGet: A Sicilian square
The market
Farmers market. Certified farmers market, most growers organic, produce, bread, prepared food
In season this November
Asian pears · Persimmons and wild chanterelles · Cheese Board's vegetable of the day
How it works here
Tip: Tip 18-22% at sit-down restaurants, a dollar or two a drink at the bar.
Book: Book the hot places on Resy or OpenTable, often the day tables drop (2-4 weeks out); counters and slices are walk-in.
When locals eat: Lunch noon-2pm, dinner 6-9pm; it gets late only in the big cities.