A second visit to this popular San Leandro brewery
Last week, we met our friend William at Fieldwork Brewing in downtown San Leandro for a long awaited catch up. It’s amazing how time flies.
William suggested Fieldwork as he frequents its Berkeley location and we were game. Mike and I tried it a year or two ago, with our friend Elektra, and while we weren’t impressed by its expensive pizzas, we did appreciate the patio-like atmosphere.
Fieldwork is a small but expanding chain of tap rooms situated in the Bay Area and surrounding counties. They offer a wide variety of beer as well as pizza and other bites. The San Leandro location is at the Washington Plaza, in front of the downtown Safeway. It features a large enclosed patio, with both picnic-style tables and benches and lounge-type chairs around gas fire pits. It’s open air, though they have a retractable roof they can close down when it rains. They also have some indoor table and bar seating.
We were there before dinner time, so we just got some beers and appetizers. William had a tasting of 3 beers, and I went for a 1/2 glass of Hills & Valleys American pilsner ($5), which I enjoyed very much. It was a bright, easy to drink but balanced and flavorful pilsner, without the bitter tones often found in this style of beer.
We shared some Honey Calabrian Wings ($16), which were very spicy and quite messy. They probably weren’t sweet enough, but they weren’t bad. the portion was quite generous (or we weren’t that hungry).
We also got the Brussel sprouts ($13) and they were a hit at the table. They were nicely caramelized.
We had the pizzas once before and we also felt they were OK but overpriced – their small pizzas are $19 to $25. They are now offering all their pizzas in “Detroit style,” with a thicker crust, so I might enjoy them more. I’m usually not a fan of “Neapolitan style” thin crust pizza, their other choice.
What annoys me most about Fieldwork is their ordering system. You have to scan a code and order and pay online. You can also go into the restaurant and order at the bar, but of course that means waiting in line (if there is one). Waiters bring your food and drinks, but if you need anything you need to go inside the restaurant to get it.
Fieldwork Brewing 100 West Juana Avenue, San Leandro, CA (510) 564-4298
For fifteen years, this has been our default Thai restaurant
For the last fifteen years, since it opened, Mai Thai has been our “default” Thai restaurant in San Leandro. The food is good standard Thai-restaurant-in-America faire, the prices are reasonable and it’s close enough to our house. Since the pandemic, we usually get take out from there but last Sunday night we decided to go there for a quick date before watching White Lotus on TV – this season the series is based in Thailand.
Mai Thai has been remodeled since our last visit, and I can’t say I like the new format. It now has a long bar, which I guess allows for alcohol sales and more casual dining, but the restaurant altogether has a more casual look.
The decore now looks pretty generic and not really Thai, though I did like having flowers at the table.
I also liked the table setting, even if came with paper napkins.
Still, I’m not sure I feel a compelling reason to go to eat there versus getting take out.
Though we have explored much of Mai Thai’s menu, we tend to go back to our usuals, and we did so this time as well. To start with, we shared the roti with yellow curry ($13). I discovered this dish at Mai Thai and the restaurant continues to have my favorite version of it. Roti is a multi-layered flat bread, rich with oil, that is absolutely delicious – dipped in a good yellow curry, it’s just heavenly. I don’t really understand why this dish is so expensive, but it’s invariably so no matter where you order it. On the plus side, it’s so rich that you can’t eat that much of it.
I had the massaman curry with beef ($19) and, unfortunately, this recipe has changed a little. It was spicier than usual and I could taste the bitter flavor of the pepper. The curry also didn’t feel as deep and delicious as usual. It did continue to suffer from having undercooked potatoes, but this is a problem with every massaman curry I’ve had everywhere.
Mai Thai uses sliced beef which I think they add at to the curry after cooking it, rather than cubed beef cooked in the curry itself. This makes sense practically, as they can then offer your choice of multiple proteins with each curry, but it means that the meats are tougher and less flavorful.
Mike had the panang chicken ($19), which we both felt was better. It tasted just as it usually does, though it was less spicy than usual. Still, he enjoyed it. Like with the massaman curry, the sliced chicken seems to be cooked separately and is therefore not as succulent and tasty as it otherwise could be.
Rice was an additional $3.50 for a single but generous portion and a soda was $3. Service was friendly and competent.
San Leandro has a new Indian restaurant. Sort of. In reality, Kismat, an Indian restaurant that had opened near Bayfair Mall during the pandemic, has rebranded as Roti Indian Cuisine. I’m not sure whether it’s also under new ownership or management, but I can tell that it has a new chef. I personally liked Kismat’s food the couple of times I got take out from there – but my family had found the dishes too sweet. The new chef seems to be sinning in the opposite direction.
We got take out from Roti Indian Cuisine last week and overall we liked the food – it’s pretty solid. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as that from other nearby Indian restaurants. On the other hand, it was cheaper.
I got the lamb korma ($17), my usual. It was pretty good, the lamb was tender and not too fatty and he curry was developed, but it lacked the slight sweetness I want to taste in this dish. I probably wouldn’t get it again, but wouldn’t mind eating it.
Mike got the butter chicken ($16) and this was probably the biggest disappointment. Once again, the sauce did taste developed, but it just wasn’t as compelling as butter chicken usually is. The chicken itself was fine, but the sauce was ultimately flat. We’d definitely skip this one.
Much better was the paneer tikka masala ($15). This sauce was everything the butter chicken sauce was not. Bright, intense and just yummy.
The curries come with rice, which was also disappointing. It was a low quality white rice which tasted boiled.
Fortunately, we also got nan which was much better. We shared plain nan ($2.50), onion nan ($3), garlic nan ($3) and kabuli nan ($4) and they were all pretty standard – nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about either.
Though we were doing take out, service was an issue. The restaurant was completely empty when my husband went to pick up the food. There was a server behind the counter looking at her phone and she did not lift up her eyes once to acknowledge my husband – until, of course, he spoke to her.
In all, I don’t think we’ll be rushing back here.
Roti Indian Cuisine 15099 Hesperian Blvd Suite A San Leandro, CA (510) 460-9280
A favorite San Leandro pizzeria never fails to satisfy
Last night, my oldest was in town and had a hankering for pizza. I didn’t myself, but I still have been craving pasta, so I decided to order from an old favorite: Porky’s Pizza Palace. This is a restaurant we have frequented ever since we moved to San Leandro, almost a quarter of a century ago. I love the old-fashioned, family-oriented, small-town-America feel of the place, and there food is pretty good as well. I didn’t take pictures this time, we just dived into the food.
The kids had a half-pineapple, half-Golden cheese pizza ($28). They thought the pizza was OK, pretty average pizzeria pizza.
We also ordered cheesy garlic bread ($6.3) and it’s definitely very cheesy. However, the cheese is not that flavorful. Next time we’d order the garlic bread without the cheese.
I decided to order a quart of ravioli ($14) and three meatballs ($12), so I’d have food for three meals. I really like Porky’s ravioli and meatballs. They are not going to win any culinary awards, but the ravioli are well cooked, with soft pasta, and are bursting with beef filling. The meat sauce is flavorful and tastes home made and the meatballs are light and, while commercial, not something I can actually buy myself at the supermarket. They are also pretty large.
In all, I like Porky’s Pizza, in particular the ravioli, and I’ll continue to order from there from time to time, as I have over the decades.
Porky's Pizza Palace 1221 Manor Blvd. San Leandro, CA (510) 357-4323 Mon-Thu 3 – 9 pm Fri 3 – 10 pm Sat 1 – 10 pm Sun 1 – 9 pm
This Greek fast food chain serves authentic souvlaki pitas!
I have written before about how my first introduction to Greek food was during a trip to Greece while doing my year abroad in Egypt. I was a starving student and Greece seemed expensive compared to Egypt back then, so my diet while there consisted pretty much only of souvlaki pitas. These sandwiches of sliced lamb and beef, with tomatoes and onions, French fries and tzatziki sauce were absolutely delicious. I had the opportunity to try them again when we travelled back to Athens, right before the pandemic. They hadn’t changed.
The gyros that Greek and Mediterranean restaurants in the US were different, and not just because they lacked French fries. I could never really tell why, but the flavor was just not there. Thus I was surprised that Nick the Greek – a chain of all things – has managed to approximate them so well.
Nick the Greek opened a location in San Leandro in the last couple of years, and we’ve been regular costumers since. They have a pretty limited menu, however, of pitas, plates and a bowl.
I usually get the Beef/Lamb Gyro Pita ($12.50). I’ve now learned that the difference between a gyro and souvlaki is that the former consists of meat shaved off a chunk of meat cooked in a rotisserie, while the latter refers to meat cooked in a skewer. I could have sworn that the souvlaki pitas I had in Greece were cooked in a rotisserie, but I could be wrong. I do prefer the taste of texture of meat cooked in skewers, as it turns out.
I like how soft and spongy the pita is. The meat is a little too salty by itself, but it mellows out within the pita. By itself, the lamb has a very intense flavor – you can tell it’s lamb -, while the beef is softer. I like having fries in the pita, though these could be a bit crispier, you don’t really notice them while you eat. The whole combo just works together well, though the predominant flavor is that of onion, when you get a piece, and of the tzatziki when you don’t.
I’ve tried the chicken souvlaki pita before, and I didn’t like it as much. Despite the marinade, the flavor of the chicken was too soft to measure up to the rest of the ingredients. My daughter has done the felafel pita before and she thought it was OK, but not remarkable.
My husband prefers to get the gyro bowl ($13.50) which includes the meat of your choice, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and cucumbers, feta cheese, tzatziki and spicy yogurt on a bed of rice. The whole thing feels like a larger, more substantial meal than the gyro and is enough for two meals. He likes how the flavors meld together.
Nick the Greek has been expanding throughout California and the west, and I can understand why. It’s not a place where you’d eat every day, given the limited menu, but a great place to grab a pita when you don’t feel like cooking.
Nick the Greek 1509 E 14th Street. San Leandro, CA Daily 11 AM - 10 PM
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.
