Thread: Northern CA Food

my one pathetic year of college was spent up at UC santa cruz, and i spent more time in town than i did in class. i still go up there fairly often and make a point to visit some of my favorite spots. ive been vegetarian for 9 years, so these all have to cater to my diet

ASIAN ROSE/MALABAR
all vegan Sri Lankan food and possibly my favorite restaurant on the planet. it used to be two restaurants, asian rose, which was strictly lunch, almost lunch counter style place where you could get stuffed for 6 bucks on things like deviled soy nuggets, singapore noodles, spicy red potatoes, coconut kale, and more that are so packed with flavor its impossible to stop eating. you pick the number of dishes you want and they pile it all on one big bown over rise with yellow sauce. malabar was owned by the same people and did dinner only and was a more upscale version of asian rose. they are now combined and on front street in downtown santa cruz. i would reccomend this to anyone.

PIZZA MY HEART
pretty hyped place, but worth it. when i was vegan i tortured myself walking by this place. good thin-crust pizza, served by the slice, crispy crust, great tasting sauce and not too much cheese(a lot of pizza places make the mistake of too much cheese IMO)

TAQUERIA VALLARTA
vegetarian-friendly taqueria that isnt necessarily out of this world, but damn tasty, use whole beans, serve big portions and is relatively cheap.

in berkeley, after shows at Gilman St. id often go to lanesplitter nearby, which had decent pizza, but when i was eating vegan, they had a french bread pizza with a tofu pesto spread on top that was really tasty and just as good cold while on the 5 freeway near bakersfield driving back home at 4 in the morning.

i only ate at Herbivore in SF once and it was absolutely fantastic. had a tofu pai thai with peanut sauce(it was like, all peanut sauce) that was amazing.

If you're going to UCD campus, you have to eat at the Tercero or Segundo DC. It's not your father's dorm food. I think it's even better than Fresh Choice.

Originally Posted by vrmdlm

I will be taking my daughter up to UC Davis in a couple of weeks. Any additional suggestions for Sacramento or Davis would be appreciated. My other daughter just went to Sonoma State near Santa Rosa. Any suggestions for that area would also be appreciated. We did eat in a great place in Santa Rosa called Willi's Wine Bar. They have lots of small plates to go with great wine. Dinner for two is about $75.oo with tax and tip if you do not drink too much. The food was very inventive and upscale wine country.

So now that your daughter is at UCD, do you (or she) have any recommendations for the rest of us if we happen to be around there?

Originally Posted by DanteHicks

So now that your daughter is at UCD, do you (or she) have any recommendations for the rest of us if we happen to be around there?

Carl's Jr. at the Silo!

Davis has changed a bit in the past few years, our favorite was the all-u-can-eat buffet at Great Wall for around $5 or so. And of course Sudwerk. Taqueria Guadalajara has pretty damn good cheap Mexican food, and not Americanized Mexican food either.

As far as nicer places, well Davis was never the place for that and Caffe Italia was the "upscale" place when I was there.

I've never been to Taqueria Guadalajara in Davis, but I need to find some good al pastor and lengua.

Sure its slumming it, but I freakin love Boudin. Clam Chowder bread bowl and Im a happy camper.

http://www.boudinbakery.com/

Or you could just go to one of the locations in OC/SD.

Originally Posted by Fisch

French Laundry (French/Yountville)
Bouchon (French/Yountville)

Fan of that bum Thomas Keller, eh? Wish I had a G to spend on dinner.