It used to be that if you talked about Berkeley’s dining scene, the conversation would begin and end with a long list of purveyors of so-called California cuisine — the seasonal, local dining aesthetic pioneered by Alice Waters and her peers so many years ago. That style of cooking and eating is alive and well, but the truth is, Berkeley has always been about more than just Chez Panisse and its descendants.
Berkeley continues to be home to one of the Bay Area’s most eclectic and diverse collections of restaurants — with excellent pork schnitzel, pizzas, and New York–style bagels found on any given street corner. We’re graduating a few stalwart Berkeley restaurants off this map to make way for some new favorites, but honorable mentions go to Chez Panisse, the Cheese Board Collective, and Great China for their contributions to the city’s dining scene. Here are 18 of Berkeley’s top dining destinations dishing out some of the region’s tastiest food.
Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.
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