Competent pastries from this stand at the Farmer’s Market
I woke up very early Saturday morning so by the time mid-morning came about, I was actually hungry enough for a bite. So I talked my husband into going to the farmer’s market for some fresh orange juice and something to eat.
There aren’t too many food choices at the Bayfair farmer’s market – dumplings, felafel and a couple of bakery stands – so Mike went for the obvious and got me a couple of pastries from Alonso Baking and Foods, a Hayward based bakery.
Overall, I liked the blueberry strudel, once I heated it up. Even before I appreciated the crystalized sugar on the pastry, which gave it texture in addition to sweetness. But the blueberry compote/jam was just OK – too sweet and one note. I’m not sure that it could be any better in a baked good, however. I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure I’d get it again.
The cream cheese danish reminded me in taste and appearance of a cinnamon roll, though it didn’t have the heavy cinnamon flavor. The pastry has that rustic texture, somewhat on the dry side, that so many artisan bakeries seem to favor nowadays. I actually prefer them softer and chewier, but they do get better with heating. The flavor, however, was on point. The thick, dry sugar glace was delicious and the cream cheese was just heavenly. It tasted farm made. I’d definitely want it again.
Both pastries were $5 each and they were huge, large enough to share – one would be way too much for one person.
Alonso Baking and Foods San Leandro Farmers’ Market at Bayfair Center Bayfair Center Parking Lot by Khol’s San Leandro, CA Sat 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
I’ve lived in San Leandro for decades, but it wasn’t until a week ago that I ever thought of trying Bit of Ireland Bakery. That’s mostly because I’m not in the habit of going to bakeries. I will buy the occasional pastry at the supermarket, or get a craving for donuts, and when the kids were little, we would stop at the Chinese bakery in the way from school, but otherwise it’s Mike who gets the idea of bringing pastries home.
Thus he was surprised when I suggested that he go to Bit of Ireland – or rather, “that Irish bakery on that strip mall we always drive by” – and try to get some actual Irish pastries. By the time I suggested it, it was a bit late in the morning, so I’m not sure that he succeeded. But the pastries were pretty good.
He got three pastries. One was clearly a cinnamon roll, another seemed to be a butterhorn, and the other an apple flavored sweet Danish. In reality, they all had a similar flavor profile. They were tasty when microwaved – because every pastry is better when warmed – and dipped on coffee, though that made the apple one lose its flavor. It was $8.50 for the three.
I’d like to send Mike again and try the more Irish stuff, but I guess it’ll have to be earlier in the morning.
Bit of Ireland Bakery 1268 Davis St San Leandro, CA (510) 568-7398 M - W 5:30am – 3pm Th - Sa 5:30am – 4:30 pm
This newish Japanese restaurants will put a smile on your face
“You want to go for Japanese food?” Mike was surprised. I don’t eat sushi, so I only tend to eat at Japanese restaurants when I want to treat my older daughter. Mike loves Japanese food, though, so he was game when I suggested we go to Hanami, a relative new restaurant in the Broadmoor neighborhood of San Leandro.
Hanami had attracted my interest unwittingly. The picture that showed up next to its very-good-review of Yelp was that of a cheesecake. I had wanted to make a Japanese cheesecake when I cooked Japanese food several years ago, but I never quite got around it. So I was intrigued with the possibility of actually trying one. Still, it was the thought of having ramen that attracted me to Hanami. In all my year of eating Top Ramen, I’d never actually had gotten ramen at a restaurant, and I thought it was about time. As it happened, it really wasn’t.
Our first impressions of Hanami were pretty positive. The little restaurant is very casual and it functions under the misfortune of having a very square room, but it manages to capture the kitschiness of Japanese material culture without going overboard. It was, overall, a pleasant place to eat at.
We sat by a cupboard with little nick knacks, which provided visual stimulation while we waited. I totally love the rabbits wearing kimonos.
We started our meal with the Gyoza ($7). These deep fried dumplings were served with soy sauce. Mike really liked them and I thought they were good, but the flavor of the shell overshadowed the subtle pork filling. I’m not sure I’d get it again but Mike would.
Mike got the miso soup with his combo, and we both really enjoyed it. It has a very bright, fresh miso broth that was refreshing on a hot summer day. We’d both definitely have it again.
Mike had the Combo F ($27) which came with an unagi roll, three pieces of salmon sashimi, two potato croquettes, two tempura shrimp and some edamame, in addition to the aforementioned miso soup. It was a lot of food on top of the gyoza and he brought most of the roll and the croquettes home.
He enjoyed everything very much. The unagi roll was fresh and very tasty as was the tempura shrimp. He did feel the salmon sashimi was bland – but then again, that’s what you expect from raw salmon and there was lemon and soy sauce to brighten up. The croquettes were delicious, I was amazed at how much flavor they packed. In all, he really enjoyed the meal and would order it again.
I got the ramen ($17) but I messed up, big time. You get to choose our protein and your broth. I decided on chicken katsu, as it’s a favorite, and a pork broth, as I didn’t see a chicken broth in the menu. But then I thought about it some more, and didn’t think that pork broth and chicken would necessarily go together, and not knowing what would work I went with the curry broth. This, as my best friend Lola told me later when I described to her this fiasco, is not a regular broth for ramen – though curry sauce is often eaten with chicken katsu.
The problem came because while I can use chopsticks, I’m not the most competent person with them. And grabbing the noodles of the bowl without dripping the bright yellow broth on my white shirt proved impossible. Every attempt led to an unwashable stain – at least I wasn’t greatly attached to the now ruined shirt I was wearing. The thick spoon with which the ramen was served proved to better. I couldn’t even manage to keep the noodles on it, much less use it to bring them to my mouth. Little kids at other tables were managing alright, so this is just proof of my own clumsiness, but it did make it clear restaurant ramen is not for me. So much for my plans – formulated between the appetizers and the main dishes – of traveling to Japan.
I did eat the chicken katsu and it was… bland. Without katsu sauce, there wasn’t much flavor to it. Dipping it in the broth risked those pesky drops falling on my shirt, so I mostly ate it plain. I wouldn’t order it again.
I took the ramen home with me, packed in a large plastic bowl thick enough that I’ll reuse, and ate it the next day – with a fork and metal spoon. It was quite good. Not out of this world good, but just like you’d expect a generic curry broth to taste. Still, I wouldn’t have it again. What I would have next time is more of that amazing miso broth.
It was finally time for what I really came here for: the cheesecake. They had several flavors in addition to cake slices. I went with the mango cheesecake ($6) and it was everything I dreamed of. Flavor and consistency wise it reminded me a bit of the cheesecakes at Junior’s in NYC. It wasn’t as sweet as a regular cheesecake and a bit chalkier. But it was bursting with flavor, particularly from the pieces of mango – which tasted oh so fresh on that hot summer evening. The thin crust – was it even there or did I imagine it? – tasted like sponge cake, something else that reminded me of Junior’s. In any case, I loved it. I wouldn’t go back just for a slice – it was relatively small and while the price is not excessive for a restaurant, I’m still not used to current prices, but I’d certainly love to eat it again.
We got sodas with dinner, which were $3.
Service was good and attentive. You order by circling what you want with markers on a laminated menu, which helps avoid miscommunications.
In all, I’d go back – probably when my sushi loving daughters is back in town – but I’ll order something else as a main . I’ll still get the cheesecake.
Hanami 377 Bancroft Ave San Leandro, CA (510) 969-4923 Tue - Sun 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM - 8:45 PM Closed 9/16 to 10/23
We’ve been eating at the original Taqueria Los Pericos in the Pelton Center in downtown San Leandro for as long as we’ve lived in San Leandro, now more than twenty four years. It’s been our default taqueria all these years, and the offerings haven’t changed much. Indeed, my review from the early 00’s is just as timely today as it was over twenty years ago. The only thing that has changed are the prices. We probably don’t eat there twice a month now, but periodically get take out.
I always order a large special quesadilla, which comes with a large tortilla and includes your choice of meat, cheese, sour cream guacamole, lettuce and pico de gallo. They cost around $15.50, which is outrageous, but they are large enough that I split them over two meals.
I prefer these to burritos as I don’t like either rice or beans in my burritos.
In the photo at the top, the special quesadilla is on the right – you can see its size in comparison to a bean and cheese burrito (middle) and a small super quesadilla (left).
Last time I got a carnitas special quesadilla. The carnitas tend to be flavorful, not too fatty and stand up well to the other ingredients.
My other favorite is the carne asada special quesadilla, though the beef can be a bit fatty at times. It’s also very flavorful.
These are not out of this world quesadillas, but they are good and familiar.
Mike usually gets a small super quesadilla, which consists of a medium flour tortilla filled with the meat of your choice, cheese, sour cream and guacamole and folded in two. In the photo at top, the small super quesadilla is the one at the left. He likes it with pollo asado, grilled chicken. It’s around $8 now which seems absurd as it’s really quite small.
My daughter always order the bean and cheese burrito (the one in the middle on the photo at the top of the page). She likes it well enough, often asks to go to Los Pericos, but doesn’t think it’s extraordinary. It’s around $7.50, but she usually can’t finish it.
We often get the flan ($5), though we really should know better. If we’re lucky, it’s a competent and tasty flan. Too often, however, it’s absorbed the flavors of the fridge. In those occasions, it usually tastes musty. Last time, however, it had a disquieting cleaner flavor. I really should just remember not to get it from there.
All meals come with chips – they’ll add little bags with them to your take out orders or you can get them from the counter. They have a sauce bar where you can pick up different sauces, including pico de gallo. They also have pickled veggies and limes. Their chips are on the thick side, but pretty good as they ‘re fresh.
Los Pericos no longer has a website and they are not active on Social Media. You used to be able to order online through ChowNow, but they’re no longer using that service. That means you need to order through Doordash and GrubHub an pay higher prices and added fees, or go to the restaurant and order in person. As I didn’t keep my receipt from my order, I’m estimating prices here based on those posted at the GrubHub site.
Taqueria Los Pericos 101 Pelton Center Way San Leandro, CA (510) 352-7667 M-Su 8:30 AM - 9:30 PM
Low participation and limited deals made for a disappointing week.
For years now, large cities around the country – including our neighbors San Francisco and Oakland – have run “restaurant weeks,” where local restaurants serve specially discounted offerings to attract new (and returning) patrons. Usually, restaurants offer a prix-fix menu at a deeply discounted price, with offerings for lunch and dinner – though restaurants for which that model doesn’t work have other promotions.
San Leandro is probably too small a city to have a “restaurant week” – we only have three upscale restaurant, and I daresay the plethora of mom & dad restaurants around probably operate with thin margins. I have to give it to the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce for at least giving it a try, but the San Leandro Restaurant Week ended up being a bust. Few restaurants participated and among those that did, most had extremely lame deals.
Only three restaurants offered the usual 2 or 3 course prix fix deal. Horatio’s, our waterfront steakhouse, had a great 2-course lunch for $25 and 3-course dinner for $40 which we happily partook of. Paradiso, where we’d dined recently, offered its $45 3-4-5 prix-fix menu, usually only available from 4 to 5 PM, all day during restaurant week, though they did add on a 20% service charge. And Tequila Grill had a 2-couse meal for $35 which included a choice of one of three appetizers and entrees; by choosing the two most expensive dishes, you could save $8 over regular price.
Bust most of the restaurants that participated instead offered a modest discount on a few specific dishes, often just one per day. And some weren’t discounts at all. On Tuesday, we went to Habibi’s Birria for their restaurant week $2.50 tacos, only to find out they have that deal every Tuesday. Emile Villa’srestaurant week special menu offerings were the same price as those in their online menu. If you chose the most expensive items in Fieldwork Brewing‘s offering of an appetizer and pizza for $32, you could have ended up saving $9, but if you chose the cheaper options, you would have ended up paying more than by ordering without the deal.
Some of the restaurants were in my list of places to try, but their deals were so disappointing that I didn’t bother going that week. San Gaspar, where I went once over fifteen years ago and had been planning to return, had a single dinner promo, chile verde for $15 (regularly $19) – something that I didn’t find appealing. Zenti Bistro, which was greatly recommended on a local San Leandro group, offered just their chicken chipotle sandwich for $16 – as their menu is not online, I don’t know how good a deal that was, but the sandwich didn’t appeal to me.
But the absolutely worst deal of all had be that offered by Le Soleil, once my favorite restaurant in San Leandro but one I haven’t visited in many years. Rather than discounting a meal, Le Soleil offered that for any amount over $50 that you spent, they would give you a gift card worth 120% that amount – so if you spent $50, they’d give you a $60 gift card. The catch was that you could only use that gift card for 10% of the value of your future meals at Le Soleil. This basically means that if you went to Le Soleil twice and spent $50 each time, you’d save a whole $5 in both meals combined. No thank you.
The problem with the San Leandro Restaurant Week wasn’t just the lame deals, but how clunky and difficult to use the website was. There was no indication on the webpage what deals were offered by each restaurant, if you clicked on the name of a restaurant you were taken to their website, but with a couple of exceptions, their websites didn’t mention Restaurant Week at all. Only by clicking around at all graphics, did I manage to find their list of deals. More attention was paid to a silly game that required you downloading an app and then uploading a photo of your receipt for a chance to get the cost of your restaurant week meals reimbursed. The good news is that probably very few people did it, so you probably do have a good chance to win.
Now, all this complaining aside, restaurant week did work for me in that it made me finally go to Habibi’s Birria, where I fell for their tacos and learned about their ongoing Taco Tuesday promotion and that it sent me back to Horatio’s and reminded me how much I’d enjoyed the place back in my early days in San Leandro.
This local steakhouse is still chill decades after our first visit.
Horatio’s seems frozen in time – very similar today to when I first reviewed it 24 years ago. The bar has been remodeled and an extra dining room added, and new, less whimsical chairs added, but the nautical theme remains as does the basic architecture of the place. What has changed is the San Leandro marina, at which Horatio’s is located. The impossible cost of continuing to dredge this part of the bay has long made it unworkable and there are no more sailboats to see through the window. The mooring columns on the piers, bare and alone, reminded me of the Berlin Holocaust memorial. Alas, all grim thoughts were pushed aside, as I watched a raft of ducks pass by and then return and got into a good natured argument with my husband about whether a particular creature was a duck or a goose.
Horatio’s has always been a surf & turf sort of restaurant. I think once upon a time it might have been independent, then joined a local chain that included other marina-based local restaurants such as Skate’s, and is now part of Landry Inc., which owns massive chains such as Bubba Gump Shrimp, McCormick and Schmick’s and Morton’s. Still, Horatio’s seems to be operated as a stand alone restaurant and, as mentioned above, its feel hasn’t changed.
We went to dinner there on a Wednesday evening as part of the San Leandro Restaurant Week. Horatio’s had a 3-course menu for $40, which included 3 choices of salad, 4 choices of entrée and 3 of dessert. It was a very good deal, particularly as one of the entrée choices was prime rib, usually $46.5 by itself.
The meal started with bread. Horatio’s bread has gone through several iterations throughout the years, and the current is a light, country style bread smeared with garlic butter. It’s delicious. We couldn’t resist eating it all, though we managed to reject the offer for a second serving.
I started my prix fix meal with the Romaine Caesar salad (regularly $11.50). The crisp torn pieces of romaine come with croutons, parmesan and house made dressing. Mike found it generic and was happy he didn’t order it, but I enjoyed it. I felt that the long pieces of shredded parmesan really made the difference. The portion was rather large, so I wouldn’t complain about the regular price.
Mike also felt that his New England clam chowder (regularly $10 for a cup) was pretty generic. He enjoyed it, but didn’t feel there was anything special about this version. He’s have it again, however.
We both had the prime rib (regularly $42) and enjoyed it. It was served with a scoop of mashed potatoes and little cups of horseradish sauce and au jus. The prime rib was perfectly cooked medium-rare as we ordered it, it was tender but with some pull and pretty flavorful. I’m not the biggest fan of prime rib per se – I much prefer a pan-seared rib eye steak – but this was a nice steak, even if not comparable to the one from the House of Prime Rib which we visited recently. I did like their mashed potatoes, which were flavorful and not dry.
Mike ordered the crème brulée (regularly $12) which was as delicious as ever. Horatio’s has always had a very good crème brulée, I’m not sure what their secret is but it’s always been a favorite. It’s a large portion, good enough to share, and it’s now reasonably priced. When we first visited, over two decades ago, I was appalled at paying $9 for their desserts, almost half the price of a dinner entrée. Now they’re less than a third. In any case, I’d order it again.
I was way too full to eat my own dessert, a molten chocolate cake ($12 regularly), so I had it to go (extra 25-cents charge) and gave it to my daughter. I did have one bite, however, and it was absolutely delicious. This flourless cake has an intense, but not overly sweet, chocolate flavor and rather a light and melted consistency to not have any flour. The somewhat sour cream it was served with, as well as the fresh berries, helped cut through the richness. Once again, I was very impressed.
Service at Horatio’s was very good. Our waiter, Charles, was efficient, convivial, friendly and helpful. It reminded me us of what good service should be like. He refilled water and Mike’s soda ($5) repeatedly, offered us extra bread, and settled an argument over which were the prettiest ducks (mallards, I won) .
Reservations were easy to make and we were promptly seated.
We used to go to Horatio’s quite a bit back in the day, given the dearth of “date” restaurants in San Leandro, but we hadn’t returned in years. San Leandro Restaurant Week did their job of reminding us about Horatio’s, and I think we’ll be returning back – probably just walking in and eating at the bar as we used to. They have a happy hour from Mondays through Thursday from 3:30 to 5 PM that might be worth checking out.
Horatio's 60 Monarch Bay Dr San Leandro (510) 351-5556 SUN - THU: 11:30 AM - 9:00 PM FRI - SAT: 11:30 AM - 10:00 PM
This week is San Leandro Restaurant Week and I saw Tuesday as my opportunity to try Habibi’s Birria. I’d been wanting to try this Middle Eastern influenced taqueria for a long time, but Mike had had a couple of meals there and he hadn’t been impressed. He couldn’t (or at least didn’t try to) say no to their $2.50 taco deal, so we headed there last Tuesday night and had the tacos.
Like most taquerias, Habibi’s Birria is a casual place. You order at the counter and then you wait for your food to be brought to you either at the dining room or in the waiting area by the counter.
Most people we saw that night were getting food to go, but the restaurant has a clean, simple dining room with well spaced tables as well as some outdoor eating. Like most people, we got our tacos to go.
The $2.50 deal is only for birria, al pastor, asada (grilled beef) or chicken tacos. I got a couple of each. They are packed five to a box and each box comes with a lemon wedge and little cups of salsa verde and red pepper sauce. The salsa verde tasted just like Herdez‘ and the the pepper sauce was so spicy that after just a little bite of tortilla dipped in it, my mouth and throat were burning. As it turned out, the tacos were flavorful enough that they didn’t need anything added – not even lemon juice.
All the tacos comes with double fried tortillas. The tortillas are freshly fried and warm and, as one can expect, pretty oily. It’s best to eat these with napkins. While I liked the flavor of the tortillas, I found it too strong as it competed with the flavor of the meat. Ditching one of the tortillas in each taco helped a bit.
The tacos only have meat plus a little bit of chopped onion, if they were cooked with it. That was OK, as the meat was all delicious. They are served in street tacto tortillas, so they are very small. I can’t imagine paying the regular price for them. You basically need 3 for a meal.
My favorite were probably the carne asada tacos. The chopped beef was nicely spiced, only slightly spicy and was very flavorful. I really liked it.
The chicken tacos were also very good. I think they had the same spicing than the beef, they were also chopped and he chicken wasn’t dry.
I was almost as fond of the birria tacos. The shredded meat (and I really don’t know what meat it was) was tasty, juicy (undoubtedly from the broth the meat was cook in), though the cinnamon flavor was a bit too strong for my taste. These tacos had more filling than the others, making them a better deal. These are my daughter’s favorite tacos.
I was also happy with the al pastor tacos. The meat wasn’t as sweet and fruity as other al pastor meat, though it was acidic and it had been clearly caramelized. I still preferred the other tacos to these, but my husband really liked them.
In all, we were quite happy with Habibi’s Birria’s tacos. Even Mike liked them. It would seem by the sign that Taco Tuesday is a regular occurrence, not just a product of San Leandro Restaurant week, and if this is the case, I’m planning to return.
Habibi’s has a second location in Hayward. The one in San Leandro is right next to Koolfi ice cream and in front of the Oriental Tea House. Habibi’s doesn’t have a website, though you can follow them on Instagram and you can order delivery through other delivery services.
Habibi's Birria 403 Lewis Ave San Leandro, CA (510) 935-8611 Mon-Fri 11am-8pm Sat-Sun 12pm-8pm
This upscale bistro is a favorite with San Leandrans, but does it meet my standards?
Paradiso has been occupying a corner location on Bancroft Avenue for as long as I’ve lived in San Leandro, over 24-years now. It’s only one of three upscale restaurants in our little town and it is immensely popular, at least with the gray-haired crowd. It’s hard to have lunch or dinner there and not run into a friend or acquaintance. During a recent lunch visit the place was popping. I noticed that more tables had been crowded together than in the past and our weekday at 12:30 PM reservation landed us on a small table near the front door – not ideal. Business clearly is booming.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Paradiso myself, I’ve found the food solidly tasty but overpriced. San Leandro commercial rents are absurdly high and that makes most of our restaurants more expensive than similar ones in adjacent cities. Still, when a neighbor in a local forum claimed that Paradiso had the best burgers in town, I thought it was worth checking it out again. Looking back at my Paradiso reviews, it seemed that I was of the same opinion circa 2012, but that’s a long time ago.
Paradiso’s lunch menu offers a selection of starters, salads, wood-fired pizzas, pastas, and entrees. Prices are high, with most dishes starting in the $20’s and reaching into the $50’s. Bread is included, but you have to ask for it. Drinks also seem overpriced, a simple Coke is $6.50 – a price I haven’t seen even at Michelin starred restaurants. I drank water – served in a carafe and promptly replaced as needed.
Lunch started with focaccia and olive bread served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (don’t forget to request it). This might have been my favorite part of the meal. The focaccia was fresh and tasty, spongy and soft. The country bread was also flavorful and I liked the occasional pieces of olive. I was less thrilled about the olive oil and balsamic vinegar combination. They were both good quality, but there was too much of the latter for my taste. The flavor was very intense and it actually burned in my throat. I’d had preferred the olive oil on its own. It might be worth seeing if you can just order that. Mike, however, loved the combo. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
Mike started with the New England clam chowder ($16). The presentation, with the clams in the open shells, was very nice but Mike didn’t like having to actually dislodge the clams from their shells. He did like the soup, which had a subtle flavor and a creamy composition. As much as he enjoyed it, he wouldn’t order it again simply because he doesn’t like dealing with shells.
I had, as expected, the half pound Paradiso burger ($22), which is served with parsley parmesan fries. As much as I have lost my taste for French fries in the last few years, these ones made the best part of the dish. They were thin, with the perfect consistency (neither too crispy nor soft) and the parsley parmesan combination was perfect. They were a tad in the dry side – this has become my main issue with potatoes, I think – and while they were served with ketchup, I don’t like ketchup with fries. I wish they had also included an aioli, which is what I’d expect of a restaurant of this caliber. Still, the fries were very good and I, surprisingly, ate them all.
The same cannot be said of the burger. The burger came with American cheese, lettuce , shredded lettuce and some sauce and was served in a potato bun – so it was a high end classic burger. The patty had a nice, if subtle, wood-smoke flavor that I really liked. This was the same thing I’d liked over a decade ago. Unfortunately, the burger was very dry. I had ordered it medium-rare, but it was served medium, there were barely any hints of pink inside. I can’t imagine the dryness was only the result of being overcooked, however. Though it was supposed to be a wagyu beef, I’m going to guess it was low on fat content. That might make it somewhat healthier, but much less pleasant. I would be hesitant of ordering it again, even if I ordered it rare, hoping to get a medium-rare burger instead.
Mike had the prime rib sandwich ($21) which comes with pepperonata, provolone and horseradish aioli in focaccia bread. It’s also served with parsley Parmesan fries. I have always been sort of annoyed that Paradiso uses the same side dishes in multiple entrees, and I’m sad to see this continues to this day. A restaurant this expensive should be able to pair the sides to the mains, rather than simply use the same for all.
Mike was happier with his sandwich than I was with mine. He thought the meat was flavorful, tender and not too fatty. He liked the sauce and found there was a good bread-to-meat ratio – the spongy, light focaccia complemented the meat. However, he probably wouldn’t order it again because he didn’t find the sandwich that compelling. Pleasant but not super exciting.
On a recent visit to Paradiso, Mike also had the crispy Brussels sprouts ($18) appetizer and the slow braised short ribs ($41). He liked both of them and would order them again.
For dessert, we had the banana foster bread pudding ($14). It was a good dessert, nothing to write home about, but satisfying. The bread pudding had large pieces of bananas, a boozy sauce and wasn’t too sweet. The ice cream was good quality and went well with the dessert, though a larger scoop would have been better. Still, no complaints from either Mike nor I. That said, I wouldn’t rush to order it again.
Mike had a lemonade ($8) with lunch and it was very good, though a bit too sweet – I think because the lemons were particularly sour. Still, I felt it was overpriced.
Service was fine, our waiter was pleasant but he never came back to check on our meal – so no opportunity to tell him my burger was over done – and he only brought Mike one refill of lemonade. He did not offer a second serving of bread, but the carafe of water was refilled before I needed it to.
The restaurant looks very much like it has for the last two decades, with a large open kitchen in the center. It now has a couple of other dining rooms. It’s a nice place, good for a lunch date and very safe. Just very, very expensive for what it is. Still, I’m sure I’ll go back before the decade is over.
Paradiso 685 Bancroft Ave San Leandro, CA (510) 430-9310 S - Th 11:30AM – 9:00PM F - Sa 11:30AM – 10:00PM
Sons of Liberty Alehouse is a puzzle. A restaurant that gives it the good old college try – though maybe not too hard – but doesn’t quite deliver. The space is nice, but not nice enough. The food is good, but lacking. Service is competent, but unenthusiastic. It’s a restaurant that seems to go through the motions, rather than reach for heights. I like it well enough, but only well enough. It’s not compelling, it’s serviceable, but you feel it should be more.
Located in the San Leandro plaza downtown, Sons of Liberty occupies that homed Sergio’s Pizzeria (another disappointing restaurant) for decades. Despite my many visits, I’ve never actually eaten inside, so I don’t know how they transformed it from the booths-and-formica-tables decore of years past to one fitting their upscale cuisine (next time I’ll have to look in). Instead, I always eat in the patio they cordoned off in front of their restaurant – facing the busy parking lot. The space is comfortable enough, but I can’t feel helping that it could be spruced up with plants, which might also help isolate you a bit. They now have a second location in Livermore, which I haven’t tried.
Sons of Liberty serves modern California cuisine with an emphasis on high quality and organic ingredients. They consider themselves a tavern and offer elevated versions of popular dishes such as tacos, salads and fish & chips. Their menu is rather brief, however. On Sundays, they also offer brunch. As fits their name, they have a pretty extensive selection of beers as well as cocktails, though I haven’t yet tried them.
Over the years, I’ve gone to Sons of Liberty several times, and tried most items in the menu – though my recollection of them is hazy other than being underwhelmed. Originally, I felt they were overpriced, though prices elsewhere have risen so much that they now seem to be more competitive. I never feel compelled to go to Sons of Liberty, but it’s near my house and has outdoor dining, and the food is dependable if not exciting. Thus when my friend Maximillian asked me to lunch and I couldn’t think of anywhere I wanted to go, Sons of Liberty came to mind. We were lucky enough to find parking – that shopping mall is pretty busy.
The restaurant wasn’t too busy that Tuesday, though we were late enough to miss the lunch crowd. We sat outside and were immediately prompted to use a QR code to look at the menus. I don’t carry a cell phone with me (thus the lack of pictures this time around), but they do have paper menus if you ask for them.
I had the smoked brisket nachos ($20), which came with “smoked Brandt farm beef brisket, housemade nacho cheese sauce, house crema, pickled jalapenos, pico de gallo, fresh guacamole, cilantro.” They sounded better than they were. There was nothing wrong with the nachos per se, I liked them well enough, but the beef had a discordant flavoring that clashed rather than complement them. The guacamole was pretty good, however. It was a large portion and I had looked forward to eat the leftovers. Unfortunately, the dog got to them before I could.
Maximillian was luckier. He got the blistered shishito peppers and loved them, he ended up eating every last one of them – I, personally, don’t like peppers. He was also quite fond of the duck carnitas tacos ($19). I’ve had these in the past and didn’t feel the duck meat stood up to the other flavors, but maybe it’s time for me to try them again.
As I mentioned, I don’t recall any of the dishes I had before enough to explain what underwhelmed me about them. One exception are the chilaquiles verde ($18.5) from their brunch menu. It’s a vegetarian dish with corn tortillas, refried beans, tomatillo salsa, onions, eggs, avocado, queso fresco, crema and cilantro. Here, I felt that the tortillas were too crisp, that there wasn’t enough salsa and that the flavors weren’t quite there. However, afterwards I kept craving them. I tried to make some myself, but all my hatches were very unsuccessful. I’ll have to have them again and figure out what exactly the deal with that is.
I have no doubt that I’ll go to Sons of Liberty again for the reasons I mentioned. I just wish they would get some energy going, spruce up their menu and introduce new dishes from time to time, and figure out how they can add those extra elements of flavor that I crave.
Sons of Liberty Alehouse San Leandro Plaza 150 W Juana Ave San Leandro, CA (510) 352-7652 M-W 12 - 9 PM Th 12 - 10 PM F-Sa 12 - 11 PM Su 10 - 9 PM
Living in San Leandro, I have easy access to a lot taquerías, so it’s probably not surprising that it took me years to finally try Chipotle – which has been occupying the old Copymat space in downtown San Leandro for over a decade now. I finally did several years ago (and you can read my review of their quesadilla), at my daughter’s urging, and I wasn’t impressed. Still, she likes it, so we get it once in a while. My last order reminded me of why it’s not more often.
Chipotle has an easy online ordering system, which allows you to customize your order, and it’s usually ready before you can get to the store. Their prices vary significantly between locations – with the Chipotle in San Leandro having some of the highest prices in the nation. Alas, they haven’t gone up as much as prices at other taquerías. Chipotle has its own frequent user club that allows you to very slowly accumulate points that you can exchange for free food. After this order, I’ll be able to get some free tortilla chips. Yippy (/s).
I ordered a steak burrito ($12.50) with cheese, sour cream and tomatillo-green chili salsa. As usual, I skipped the rice and beans. I was disappointed. Not only was the burrito fairly small, but it was cold. That’s because the cheese, sour cream and salsa are all added cold and very quickly cool down the beef. I suspect the tortilla is not steamed hot before serving it either. I was able to microwave it and melt the cheese as I was eating it at home – but I’m not sure if you’re given that option if you eat it at the restaurant.
I wasn’t thrilled by the flavor either. The tomatillo-green chili salsa was very strong and pretty much overwhelmed all other flavors. The burrito was too salty as well. The meat, cut into cubes, was OK but not particularly flavorful or tender.
In all, there isn’t much to recommend these burritos, other than the fact that I can order them online – unlike the much better ones at Taquería Los Pericos, half a block away.
I also got a large guacamole ($5.90) and a regular order of tortilla chips ($2.10). There are more than enough chips in the regular order to consume the guacamole – and this way I saved 65 cents over the “large guacamole and large chips” item. Yes, I know, it’s not much, but I hate giving any extra money to large corporations.
The guacamole was quite good. It was a little salty, but it tasted quite fresh. The chips are pretty light, a tad greasy, but good as well. Still, they do seem to be on the expensive side given that taquerias usually serve them for free.
My daughter got the chicken al pastor burrito bowl ($11.75), which she gets with extra black beans, extra cheese, extra rice, extra lettuce and extra sour cream. She really likes it, and given that she’s not a huge meat eater it works out well for her. A bowl can work out to two meals if she’s not particularly hungry.
In all, Chipotle is a mixed bag. It works out for my daughter but not for me. I prefer Los Pericos and other local taquerias, but I do like their convenient ordering method. I don’t like that they prompt you to tip for a take out order – but that’s become standard nowadays.
Chipotle 1505 E 14th St San Leandro, CA (510) 667-1003 Daily: 10:30 AM–11 PM
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