clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Road Trip Restaurants, Taco Valparaiso Shutters, and More A.M. Intel

Four things to start your day

The Lark in Santa Barbara
The Lark in Santa Barbara
The Lark/Yelp

Oakland’s Saigon Deli Sandwich and Taco Valparaiso are no more

That sort-of-secret-seeming taqueria inside of a banh mi shop, Saigon Deli Sandwich and Taco Valparaiso, has sadly closed. The East Bay Express reports that co-owner Dieu Ngo, who ran the Vietnamese side, had some health problems and decided to sell the business, forcing co-owner Tony Torres, who ran the taqueria side, to follow suit. Mom’s Bun Mi, which has a Tenderloin location, has opened in the space since then. Torres hopes to reopen in a new Oakland space.

In case you’re hankering for a road trip...

Our friends over at Eater LA put together quite the handy map of 16 road trip-worthy Central Coast restaurants. From old school spots like Hitching Post II in Buellton to relative newcomers like the immaculate Ember in Arroyo Grande, this guide has some of the best places to eat along the Central Coast, right now.

Peet’s Coffee creates a UC Davis Coffee Center

You can now get a degree in coffee, as a $250,000 donation from Peet’s Coffee has created a Coffee Pilot Roastery in UC Davis’ brand-new Coffee Center, which researches post-harvest coffee and engineering. The center is for students and people in the coffee industry alike, offering both graduate research fellowships and technical short courses, respectively.

Be careful of your mislabeled fish

A recent report from seafood watchdog group Oceana found widespread fish fraud. Namely, out of 25,000 seafood samples in 55 countries (including the U.S.), 20 percent were mislabeled. Of those, 58 percent carried health risks to consumers like parasites, environmental chemicals, and natural toxins. According to Larry Olmsted, author of the new book Real Food, Fake Food, “The best strategy for getting real fish is to eat at places that display it whole, order whole fish options, or stick to cheaper fishes that are not worth counterfeiting.”