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The Bay Area is home to popular, innovative restaurants such as Chez Panisse in Berkeley and Commis in Oakland—for which reservations must be made well in advance. Expect an emphasis on locally grown produce, hormone-free meats, and California wines. Many Marin cafés don't serve dinner, and dinner service ends on the early side. (No 10 pm reservations in that neck of the woods.)
A jazz combo often entertains the line that snakes down the block outside Cheese Board Pizza; it's that good. The cooperatively owned vegetarian and vegan takeout spot and restaurant draws devoted customers with the smell of just-baked garlic on the pie of the day. For just a nibble, the Cheese Board Bakery & Cheese shop next door sells cookies, bialys, and some of the best sourdough baguettes in town.
Sunny patio seating, hand-tossed pizza, and organic local ingredients are the selling points of this laid-back café. The semi-industrial dining room, built around a brick oven, features glazed concrete floors, warm-painted walls, and ceilings high enough to accommodate full-size market umbrellas. The outdoor patio's picnic tables are a wonderful choice for seating if the weather cooperates.
The East Bay is saturated with excellent pizzerias, but arguably the best of the esteemed group is hiding in plain sight on busy University Avenue, right by the heart of downtown Berkeley. Day and night, diners enjoy whole pies (no slices) in the cozy dining room and pleasant back patio. The pizza style is a crispy but not crackery thin crust—kind of its own personality. And those pizzas sure are delightful, whether topped with broccoli rabe and garlic confit or burrata, olives, and capers.
San Jose’s most well-known dining destination might be this Detroit-style square pizza specialist that only found a full-time home in 2022 after being a pop-up in a nightclub. Now it’s part of a multipurpose entertainment space called San Pedro Social, just a block away. New York–style and cast-iron baked Sicilian square pizzas are also offered. Everything is fantastic and uses the highest level of ingredients, from the olive oil, to the flour, to the four kinds of cheeses used in the house blend.
A nautical theme and a tasty "between the sheets" pizza-style sandwich are signatures of this creative pizzeria, which is housed in the 19th-century landmark building that was once home to the Pioneer Boathouse. Indoor deck chairs and a picnic table complete with umbrella add a playful air.
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