In the East Bay, Sichuan Style sets the standard for classic, tongue-numbingly spicy Sichuan fare. Standard orders include the fragrant, chile-topped fish fillet soup; the wok-charred cabbage; and the water-boiled fish, which comes swimming in a pool of spicy bright red sauce. Whatever you do, make sure you order one of the big, puffy rounds of sesame bread and plenty of white rice.

Saul’s has long been a community staple serving updated Jewish deli classics — think pastrami sandwiches, latkes, and matzo ball soup — since before the pandemic, but also throughout it. Most significantly, the restaurant seriously upped its bagel game, boiling and baking its own well-blistered, crunchy-exterior beauties in-house.

A pair of Chez Panisse alums opened a tiny lunch counter spot just around the corner from the mothership in Berkeley. Yes, the aesthetic is there; but so is the flavor. Dine on flatbread sandwiches filled with spicy chicken, herbs, cabbage, yogurt, and harissa; pints of soup; and beautiful salads made with the Bay Area’s best produce, perfectly arranged. There’s nowhere to sit, really, so this is best eaten as a picnic in a Berkeley park.

Open for more than 50 years, Chez Panisse is the progenitor of the whole dang California cuisine movement and remains the Bay Area’s most prominent avatar of unfussy, local, hyper-seasonal cooking. After a lengthy shutdown during the pandemic, the Berkeley institution finally reopened in March 2022 and welcomed customers back into the dining room.

This “new generation Thai” restaurant from former Hawker Fare chef Supasit Puttikaew has become a neighborhood comfort food staple in the Gilman Street corridor, serving up excellent (and quite spicy) pad Thai; “Thai-spicy” party wings; a legit version of khao mun gai (Thai-style poached chicken and rice); and some of the tastiest fried Brussels sprouts in town.

Since 2012, this pint-sized cafe and wine bar has served some of Berkeley’s best daytime dishes: bountiful avocado toast, deeply comforting savory porridge, and jammy eggs topped with good olive oil and Marash pepper. There are also some lovely little baguette sandwiches on the menu too, though you’ll have to show up early to snag one.

As one the East Bay’s premier practitioners of the art of plant-based faux meat, the Butcher’s Son has built up a huge following for its lineup of “meaty” sandwiches — takes on everything from a classic all-American cheesesteak to a Reuben to chicken parm, all made with faux meat products developed and produced in-house. Expect the longest lines during weekend brunch, when the restaurant serves such specialties as hemp milk pancakes (with or without a vegan doughnut stuffed inside) and a tofu scramble breakfast sandwich that’s been dubbed the #Thisismyaddiction.

There is plenty of amazing pizza in Berkeley (many of whom are on this list) but Rose Pizzeria is serving up some great thin-crust pies at this University spot, both indoors and outside on their patio. The champione pizza is a favorite, which comes in a spring onion cream, roasted mushrooms, mozzarella, and green onions, and arrives tableside with a beautifully oven-blistered crust. There’s also a vegan pizza on the menu, appropriately named “Butcher’s Neighbor” since they are located next door to the popular vegan eatery, and don’t sleep on the spicy Caesar salad while you’re at it.

Nearly everything on the Easterly menu, from the smoky stir-fries to their sticky rice, is deftly executed and oftentimes studded with numbing chiles. If you’re looking to step outside your comfort zone, look to adventurous options like griddled, meaty bullfrog, smoked whole bighead carp, and beer-braised duck.

A relative newcomer in Berkeley’s stylish Fourth Street shopping district, Pollara is the only restaurant in the area specializing in Roman-style pizza al taglio — long trays of crisp-bottomed, rectangular pizza that might come topped with prosciutto, or with ’nduja, onions, and potatoes. Pre-order whole or half pizzas online and reheat them in your oven at home.

All of Spain’s classic tapas can be found at this lively restaurant on San Pablo, from patatas bravas to piquillo peppers stuffed with goat cheese. The paellas are the showstoppers, however, particularly the arroz negro that includes squid ink, clams, and fennel sausage, and is topped with uni aioli and smoked trout roe. It now boasts a lovely patio with heaters, too, ideal for sipping Spanish wine on a cool Berkeley evening.

This perenially underrated half-Mexican, half-Venezuelan spot is still dishing out what might be the Bay Area’s best arepas, including the star of the menu, a classic reina pepiada (or “curvy queen”) that comes shockingly overstuffed with shredded chicken tossed in a mashed avocado dressing.

Now housed in a larger space after a 2012 kitchen fire, Great China continues to serve some of the most elegant Northern Chinese food in the Bay. The Peking duck deserves all the praise it gets, but the menu is also loaded with outstanding seafood dishes and sublime dumplings, as well as a number of Korean-Chinese specialties, including an intensely satisfying version of jjajangmyun (noodles with black bean sauce). Oenophiles will appreciate the deep, well-priced wine cellar focused on Burgundies.

This downtown Berkeley izakaya made a name for itself for its inventive, forward-thinking small plates: smoked mentaiko potato salad and fried black cod fish cakes that ooze with melted cheese curds. Settle into the stylish but modest dining room to enjoy sashimi, curry, and more.

The East Bay has many izakaya-style Japanese restaurants, but none that are as much rollicking fun as Kiraku, nor any that serve food that’s as consistently delightful and well executed. Must-order dishes include the corn tempura with green tea salt, the grilled whole squid, and the mini kaisen don or one of the other rice bowls to end the meal in the traditional Japanese way.

On weekend mornings, in particular, Vik’s is an occasion unto itself: A bustling, cafeteria-like gathering place for loud, boisterous extended families and groups of friends. Almost every customer gets an order of cholle bhature (“the big puffy thing,” as the restaurant’s online menu describes it), but all of the chaat is solid to very good — from pani puri to assorted kathi rolls. The adjoining market is a good place to stock up on Indian pantry staples like rice, chutney, and canned mango purée.

Bagel-maker-in-chief Emily Winston may be a self-taught bagel savant and as the often-long lines outside her Berkeley bakery can attest, she’s mastered the art of making New York–style bagels out on the West Coast. In addition to tightly rolled bagels, the menu also includes cream cheese spreads and slices of smoked Nova lox.

This little family-run restaurant is the area’s go-to spot for hearty kebab plates: gyro and chicken shawarma sliced, hot and crisp at the edges, from the restaurant’s two side-by-side vertical spits and served with zippy green hot sauce and a big scoop of impeccably seasoned rice.

This homey, family-run Ethiopian restaurant in South Berkeley is known for its tender, buttery kitfo (a traditional raw beef dish); its tangy, all-teff injera; and its flavorful veggie combo spread. It’s also one of a handful of Bay Area spots where customers could go to enjoy a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony on the weekends.