Category: Restaurants (Page 39 of 52)

Andy & Joe’s is the latest restaurant to open in the space once occupied by Taqueria and Casa María #2 on East 14th in San Leandro. It serves coffeeshop-type food, breakfast, burgers, sandwiches and breakfast all day. For dinner it has some standard American dishes such as pastas ($10-13), chicken parmigiana ($12) and pork chops ($13). My friend Aamani and I went for lunch there today, and we weren’t impressed. Though the space looks nice, the walls have been painted with murals of villas (don’t ask me why), the food was mediocre at best.
To be fair to the restaurant, today was its opening day so some mistakes are understandable: a waiter who did not ask how I liked my burger, or who bothered to bring butter and jam to go with my companion’s toast. But others depend on the kitchen, and a good cook is a good cook.
I ordered a cheeseburger and fries ($7.15). I forgot to specify that I wanted the burger medium rare, so it came medium to well done. The burger was on the dry side, not very juicy, and wasn’t particularly flavorful, even though it tasted like it had been seasoned and perhaps even had fillers. The cheese wasn’t melted, and the tomatoes that came with it were pretty pale. In all, it was a mediocre burger at best. The fries also left much to be desired. I don’t understand how this can be, being opening day and all, but they tasted like they’d been fried in old oil – they had that slightly rancid flavor. They were thick wedges and served very hot.
Aamani’s Southwest scramble (bell peppers, chicken apple sausage, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes & cheddar cheese – $6.75) wasn’t very good either. Aamani didn’t like that the potatoes were scrambled with everything else – they’d have been nicer as a side. The scramble wasn’t very flavorful and needed more spice. It came with one (!) slice of toast, with no butter or jam.
Service was friendly, and I feel bad slamming the restaurant on its opening day, but the food really disappointed us – in particular, when I compare it to Joplin’s, another new recently-opened restaurant with a similar menu. The burgers there (and I’ve had them three times now) are much better and cheaper too.
All this said, I will probably give andy & joe’s another try in a couple of months. Perhaps by then they’ll get a more competent cook.
andy & joe’s
1652 E. 14th St.
San Leandro, Ca
510.667.9807
M-F 7 AM – 3 PM, 5 PM – 8:30 PM
Sa 8 AM – 3 PM, 5 PM – 8:30 PM
Su 8 AM – 3 PM

It’s been too long since our visit to be able to write a proper review of Barceluna – but we went during the holiday season when my life was pretty crazy. Still, I figure I should write a couple about it.
First of all, it’s not really a restaurant. It’s a lounge where they serve food. We went early a weekday night, before the music started (at 8PM, I think) and there was nobody there. They didn’t even have waitstuff, instead we were served by the cocktail waitress from the adjoining bar. She was nice and the service was good, but didn’t know anything about the menu. It was pretty weird dining in the restaurant alone – if you want to go, I’d recommend you do it when they’re playing the music.
The menu consists mostly of tapas, though they have larger dishes as well. We like tapas and we went for them. Unfortunately, I can’t recall all of what we ordered. I know we enjoyed the garlic french fries, we ordered a small size but I think they must have served us the larger one – the plate was huge. We didn’t, however, liked the pork back-ribs, which had a strong and bitter glace, which made it very difficult to taste the actual ribs. The tri-tip strips with blue cheese suffered from a similar affliction, the blue cheese was too strong and made it impossible to taste the meat. Alas, I don’t remember what else we had, but our whole impression was that the dishes were off. We really wanted to like the place, as we were out in a rare date, but ultimately we couldn’t and I don’t think we’d go again.
Barceluna at Kelly’s
1313 Park Street
Alameda, CA 94501
510-522-7425
510-769-1011
http://barceluna.org/

Yesterday we spent the afternoon in San Francisco, or in Yerba Buena Gardens to be more exact. The kids played at the Metreon, hunted for worms in a little structure outside, run behind the fountain, enjoyed the merry-go-round and had the greatest time at the playground – those are some fast slides they have. We did have a moment of terror when Mika decided to play hide-n-seek with us without telling us, but in all, we had a very good time.
By the middle of it, however, we were starving, and Mo’s, located right next to the playground, seemed like the ideal place to eat. It was pretty good.
As its name implies, Mo’s concentrates on burgers and while none of the choices are particularly original, they are made from 100% Angus meat. The burgers are pretty expensive, at $7-8 without fries. They also serve breakfast items and have a short kid-menu, with a burger, a hot dog, chicken nuggets and a grilled cheese sandwich – all pretty expensive at $6.
But portions are pretty large. Mike and I shared a burger and some onion rights, plus had some of the pancakes Mika didn’t eat and we were pretty full.
Our blue cheese burger was quite good, it had both a meaty and blue cheesy taste, and we enjoyed it. However, it had been overcooked. We’d asked for our burger medium rare, and you could barely discern any pink inside. Oh well, next time we’ll be more adamant about how it’s cooked. The onion rings were also very good, the batter held well together, and it wasn’t overly greasy. I’d liked if they’d been accompanied by ranch dressing, but they were quite good by themselves. We also liked the pancakes that Mika got. They were nice and light, and had none of that chemical taste that comes from making them from a mix. Mika and Camila were quite pleased.
In all we had a pretty good meal, and next time I’m at Yerba Buena I’d eat there again.
Mo’s Gourmet Burgers
772 Folsom Street
Yerba Buena Gardens
San Francisco, CA
(415) 957-3779

A few years ago we had lunch at City Tavern in Philadelphia, a “theme restaurant” that features revolutionary period cuisine served by people dressed on period clothing. We had a pretty good experience. However, the person who sent us the following note, did not.
—-
Dear Sirs:
Last Sunday, Nov. 26, 2006, three friend and I ate at your restaurant after seeing a show at the Society HIll Playhouse. We had made reservations, but didn’t really need them as it didn’t seem too busy.
ON one friends suggestion, we all ordered the special of the day. It was steak and shrimp.
We all had soup also. 3 Gumbo and 1 Pepper Pot.
The soups were very good, although expensive.. When our dinners came we were disappointed, but didn’t make a fuss as we didn’t want to embarrass our friend who suggested the restaurant and also made the reservation. Her last name is Yokim.
The steak was tough and the shrimp very over cooked. Needles to say most of our steak went back. I had the feeling that the meals were already cooked and then warmed up just before serving us.
Needless to say we were very disappointed. I am always recommending places to out of town guests, but your restaurant won’t be on my list.
Just thought you might like to know, so maybe some improvements can be made.
Sincerely
Phyllis Reighter

Hello,
I enjoy eating out here in San Leandro. I have a
comment and some suggestions–
Nick’s Family Restaurant is the only restaurant in
town that serves home fries similar to what I have
eaten at Full House Cafe or Mama’s Royal Cafe. They
also have really good fresh fruit. I would suggest a
revisit to try those two items. The others places in
town serve hash brown potatoes (no thanks).
Suggestions: my favorite place to eat is Ernies
Seafood on E. 14th St. where it crosses San Leandro
Blvd. near the hospital. It is the pink building.
Lots of great fish and seafood items. I especially
like the half crab sandwich special with coles slaw
and shrimp salad. Lots of variations. They also
serve steak. You can eat in the front area in booths,
the backroom where there is a televison which you can
ignore or sit out on their deck which faces a side
street.
I also like the Imperial Garden on MacArthur
Blvd. I can request no salt, no soy sauce, no MSG, no
sugar, no cornstarch and cooked in a dry wok and I get
it that way.
There is also a Vietnamese restaurant at the end
of Merced St. in a shopping center that serves very
nice fresh spring rolls and a fish soup. I request
certain things be left out of the soup and they serve
it that way. I have to go back again to get the name
of the place. Enjoy

You heard it here first, Joplins has the best burgers in San Leandro, and I’ve eaten at enough places in San Leandro to know. If you like your burgers big and juicy – so big you won’t be able to finish them, so juicy you better have a napkin ready – this is definitely the place to go. And you should hurry, both times I went there, there were only a few customers for lunch, which concerns me as I definitely don’t want the place to close.
On both my visits I ordered their cheeseburger ($5), which comes with the usual ingredients (tomato, lettuce, onions) and is made to order. I already described it as being very good, so good that now every time I want a burger, I want a Joplin’s burger (a Val’s may be better, but they’re too far away). I want one right now as I type this, btw 🙂
Fries come with some of their dishes, but not with the burgers. An order of regular fries will cost you $1.50, but I’d advise you to go for the garlic fries ($3.50) instead. They are made with real garlic, not garlic powder, and they are out of this world. I should say, however, that I liked them better on my first visit, when they were skinny fries, rather than in my second, when they were the thicker wedge-type. I should have said something to the waiter; next time.
I went with my sister Kathy on my first visit, and she ordered the fried chicken wings ($5). These were quite good as well, nicely seasoned but not too spicy, and came served with sauce on the side (so this might be a good dish for little kids too). Our only complaint was that chicken wings are a pain to eat, we would much have preferred fried chicken legs. One more thing to tell them. On my second visit I went with my friend Aamani who also had – and enjoyed – the burger.
Both times service was very good, attentive and friendly.
My one qualm with Joplin’s is their menu. They have an amazing breakfast menu with things such as blueberry sour cream pancakes and bananasplit belgian waffles as well as several types of omelettes and combos – but their lunch menu is quite limited. They have some salads, a few sandwiches, a couple of burgers, friend chicken wings and shrimp, and, out of nowhere, some Mediterranean messe offerings (felafel, hummus, dolmas and salad). As much as I like their burger, I’d like to see more choices. On the plus side, all lunch offerings are extremely well priced, with nothing over $7.50.
Joplins opened a couple of months ago in the space vacated by The Blue Dish, on Victoria Circle in the Broadmoor. It’s name after a relative of the owner who used to be a famous Jazz musician. They have jazz for brunch on Sundays and I definitely want to try that – and then I’ll report back (on the food, not the music, as I’m tone deaf).
Joplin’s
585 Victoria Court
San Leandro, CA
510.568.5100

Today we went to Favorite India for lunch and had their buffet. At $7 each it was quite a bargain. The buffet had various vegetarian entrees, as well as tandori chicken, chicken masala and a chinese-style dish with noodles and very spicy chicken. The latter was good, but the chicken masala was so delicious – velvety with just the right amount of citric – that that’s all I wanted to eat. The chicken tandoori was good as well, moist and not too fatty.
Though the non-vegetarian choices were fewer than at other places, we had one of the best buffet experiences. I’ll certainly go back for lunch when I have the opportunity.

Reader Michaele Maurer wrote me about her own experience at Tsuru Sushi, a small Japanese restaurant in downtown restaurant that I wasn’t particularly thrilled with. I’m always happy to publish other people’s experiences, specially well written ones.

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A couple of days ago I got a flyer from a new pizza joint called “Fiestas”. It’s located in Oakland but it serves San Leandro (and other parts of the East Bay)Its menu is pretty standard, basically pizza, salads and chicken wings, and I thought I’d give it a try. I went for their 3 2-topping medium pizzas for $15 deal, which seemed a pretty good deal.
The pizza was fine, one notch above Dominoes. There was a good amount of cheese and toppings. It wasn’t anything special, but I’d order it again. I wouldn’t say the 2-topping pizzas we ordered were “gourmet,” though we didn’t try their specialties.
Fiestas Pizza
6432 International Boulevard
Oakland, CA
510.777.0012
http://www.fiestaspizza.com/