Bay Area tips - groceries and buying food

[Luftmensch]

A colleague of mine has moved to San Francisco*. I thought it would be nice to help them settle by passing on grocery tips:

• Where to buy good fresh fruit and vegetables (farmers markets?)?
• Where to buy good bread?
• Any particular supermarkets worth mentioning?
• Where do people buy nice cheese?
• Fish?
• Butcher?

While I am looking for recommendations directed towards people cooking in San Fran, if you feel so inclined... no harm in updating Best Eats - Bay Area either!

Thanks KKF!



* They haven't decided where to live yet

 

[MowgFace]

Berkeley Bowl is a fantastic supermarket. Like what Whole Foods is trying to market themselves to be, but Berkeley Bowl actually does.

Sonoma cheese factory - a bit of a drive

Vella cheese (also has good bread) - also a bit of a drive

Caesar Chavez farmers market is good for fruits and veggies

Inside the Ferry Building there is a farmers market every day. (Bread and cheese)

Tokyo fish market in Berkeley has great fish for sushi. They also have a small shop that has knives. Mostly Mac and such but have Japanese kitchen wares too

Let me think some more.

 

[Troopah_Knives]

Saturday Ferry building farmers market is pretty nice as long as you go early before it gets crowded. In the Richmond on clement street there is a great farmers market on Sunday with a very good selection of meats as well as standard farmers market stuff like fruits and veggies.

 

[M1k3]

@TSF415 you got any recommendations?

 

[Borealhiker]

Lol…..Oh my God! Sadly I don’t live out there anymorebut this ? brings back floods of food related memories! I lived in the East Bay. For sure Berkeley Bowl…astounding produce. Monterey Market on Hopkins in Berkeley too. Jack London Square had a great farmers market…not sure if that’s still a thing. Ferry Building farmers market! Berkeley Bowl had great fish too. Lol at the original before moving across the street they had a sign up saying their salmon was not sushi grade….cuz that’s what we all used it for. Used to get my fish also at the long gone Spengers. Oysters… Hog Island. Meat/butcher at Verbrugge on College Ave. Bread I lived and died with Acme. There was also a bread/bakery up in Sonoma or Healdsburg that was awesome. Fine cheese? Oh man! Cheese Board on Shattuck, Vella in Sonoma, Petaluma Creamery in…. Cow Girl Creamery Pt.Reyes Station. A lot of these places are in the Ferry Building Market as well. Rattos on Washington in downtown Oakland. Rock ridge Marketplace had some nice vendors….fresh pasta etc.. and of course Oakland and SF Chinatowns for every freaking thing. There was a Deli in Napa…can’t remember name….where you could get the best tongue. Molinaris on Columbus in SF. Jeez… I think I’m gonna start crying missing all those places

 

[parbaked]

As mentioned, Berkeley Bowl is just amazing. The best selection of vegetables, especially Asian, that I've seen in a supermarket. They also have a decent butcher and fish monger with a separate section for sashimi grade seafood.

Here's some others that I use...
East Bay:
Temescal Farmers Market on Sunday
Market Hall Foods in Rockridge for cheese and fresh pasta. They also have a good produce market and a Marin Sun Farms butcher, who raise all their meats locally.
Firebrand Bakery on Telegraph.
Swan Market has an excellent sausage maker for boudin and linguisa
Monterey Fish Market might be even better than Tokyo Fish

SF:
Jane the Bakery for breads and pastries...so good!
B.Patisserie for fancy pastry
Tartine Manufactury for bread or breakfast and you can visit Heath Ceramics nearby.
Azimendi Bakery, a Cheese Board spin off, for baked goods and veggie pizzas
Avedanos Butcher break down whole beasts by hand and make great sausages etc.
Olivier's Butchery for French style cuts of beef
Bryans Market also has a really good butcher.
Fatted Calf is a good butcher with excellent charcuterie.
Sun Fat is a really good fish market with tanks of live oysters, clams and crustaceans.
Civic Center Farmer's market is ok (Wed & Sun)
Nijiya Japanese Super market and Woori Korean market are both really good.
Cowboy Creamery in the Ferry Building is a good cheese monger.
Rainbow Grocery is a vegetarian market with good bulk stuff and decent cheese selection.

Trader Joe's has cheap beer and booze...

 

[superworrier]

Honestly the list of good places is crazy long… We’re basically scratching the surface. I feel like it’s very neighborhood dependent to an extent where you’d actually go. There’s a ton of small markets that will carry a bunch of local stuff like bread, coffee etc

Not mentioned yet:
Gus’s is pretty good. It’s kinda like a cross between TJs and Whole Foods, but honestly WF in the city can be pretty good except bread selection

Neighbor Bakehouse is super good

HMart and 99ranch of course for Asian groceries and seafood (not quite in the main part of the city). I also buy a lot of live seafood in Chinatown or the Richmond.

 

[McMan]

And, of course, Bernal Cutlery...

 

[Tler]

Do croissants count as bread? I'm going to say yes to mention Arsicault Bakery for the best croissant in the city. Arsicault ruined me when I visited Paris. Then again arsicault is a $3.50+ croissant and most croissants I had in Paris were half that price.

The Clement farmers market is also right next door to arsicault, so two birds one stone if you go on a Sunday.

Berkeley Bowl has already been mentioned, but I actually plan trips to Berkeley just to go to Berkeley Bowl. I'm literally going tomorrow/today (sunday) to grab some super sweet peaches and nectarines before their seasons end. Load up on fresh fruits at a reasonable price, grab a pound or two of sushi grade fish, and decent cheese selection as well. What more can you ask for?

 

[boomchakabowwow]

in SF he will figure it out. things are super expensive there and he will shop accordingly.

I wonder if the Safeway in the Marina is still a place to find a date? I moved out of the city, and I would put any of my butchers out here up against one from the city. we have a GREAT one in Sonoma County.

 

[johnvburke100]

Second the recommendations from borealhiker and parbaked. One bit of sad news, however: Cowgirl Creamery is closing permanently, both the shop in Point Reyes Station and the one in the Ferry building. I've been a devotee of their Mount Tam cheese for several years and will have to go searching for a replacement. Suggestions from other Bay Area foodie types welcome.

 

[johnvburke100]

Rainbow Grocery gives 10% off everything to shoppers over 60. It mounts up!

 

[parbaked]

Second the recommendations from borealhiker and parbaked. One bit of sad news, however: Cowgirl Creamery is closing permanently, both the shop in Point Reyes Station and the one in the Ferry building. I've been a devotee of their Mount Tam cheese for several years and will have to go searching for a replacement. Suggestions from other Bay Area foodie types welcome.

They’re only closing the retail shops to focus on production so their cheeses will still be widely distributed.
That leaves Market Hall in Rockridge as the only cheese monger that cuts to order and encourages sampling…

 

[Borealhiker]

As mentioned, Berkeley Bowl is just amazing. The best selection of vegetables, especially Asian, that I've seen in a supermarket. They also have a decent butcher and fish monger with a separate section for sashimi grade seafood.

Here's some others that I use...
East Bay:
Temescal Farmers Market on Sunday
Market Hall Foods in Rockridge for cheese and fresh pasta. They also have a good produce market and a Marin Sun Farms butcher, who raise all their meats locally.
Firebrand Bakery on Telegraph.
Swan Market has an excellent sausage maker for boudin and linguisa
Monterey Fish Market might be even better than Tokyo Fish

SF:
Jane the Bakery for breads and pastries...so good!
B.Patisserie for fancy pastry
Tartine Manufactury for bread or breakfast and you can visit Heath Ceramics nearby.
Azimendi Bakery, a Cheese Board spin off, for baked goods and veggie pizzas
Avedanos Butcher break down whole beasts by hand and make great sausages etc.
Olivier's Butchery for French style cuts of beef
Bryans Market also has a really good butcher.
Fatted Calf is a good butcher with excellent charcuterie.
Sun Fat is a really good fish market with tanks of live oysters, clams and crustaceans.
Civic Center Farmer's market is ok (Wed & Sun)
Nijiya Japanese Super market and Woori Korean market are both really good.
Cowboy Creamery in the Ferry Building is a good cheese monger.
Rainbow Grocery is a vegetarian market with good bulk stuff and decent cheese selection.

Trader Joe's has cheap beer and booze...

Omg! That’s Taylor’s sausage in Swans …right? The Boudin was excellent. I also remember getting the best smoked ham hocks from them.

 

[Borealhiker]

Second the recommendations from borealhiker and parbaked. One bit of sad news, however: Cowgirl Creamery is closing permanently, both the shop in Point Reyes Station and the one in the Ferry building. I've been a devotee of their Mount Tam cheese for several years and will have to go searching for a replacement. Suggestions from other Bay Area foodie types welcome.

Check out a Whole Foods. Here in the Midwest they carry Cowgirl on a regular basis.

 

[boomchakabowwow]

when i lived in SF, i hit Safeway for most things. when i was feeling fancy, i went to Andronico's.

the Safeway on Noriega was GREAT. but only because across the street is my favorite Chinese BBQ joint. the roasted duck and char sui rice plate is HUGE and so damn good. it can feed three people. okay..two. i still stop there when i viist my auntie. best to bring your own spoon for proper driver seat rice shovelling..

 

[user 37848]

Do croissants count as bread? I'm going to say yes to mention Arsicault Bakery for the best croissant in the city.

Cannot second this rec enough.

Omg! That’s Taylor’s sausage in Swans …right? The Boudin was excellent. I also remember getting the best smoked ham hocks from them.

I used to work at B-Dama right next to them, cool folks

All the recs here are great, your colleague has a great starting point and then will figure it out soon enough. Not a shortage of great places to eat and shop in Bay Area

 

[Luftmensch]

Gee... Thanks KKF! What an awesome community!

Special shoutout to @MowgFace, @Borealhiker and @parbaked. Those are some solid lists - I know typing it up can take time. I appreciate it... my friend will as well!

To the rest of you. Thanks for participating!

 

[Borealhiker]

Gee... Thanks KKF! What an awesome community!

Special shoutout to @MowgFace, @Borealhiker and @parbaked. Those are some solid lists - I know typing it up can take time. I appreciate it... my friend will as well!

To the rest of you. Thanks for participating!

Ehhh no problem on time to type. Like the corks on Frogs Leap (Anderson Valley..on 128) say…..Times fun when you’re having flies. lol….It’s fun to share special places. And there are many more than were mentioned. It’s a really incredible food/ farm centric place to be. Get out there and discover……but yeah…. no matter where your friend ends up…….get your ass to Berkeley Bowl

 

[johnvburke100]

Fellow-Bay Area-ites: I'm new to the Japanese knife community. I dipped a toe in the water wth a Tojiro 210mm Gyuto and I like it, but I'm a little disappointed that, while sharp, it's not as scary sharp as my ancient Sabatier 8 inch was when a friend sharpened it on her whetstone. (Fun fact: many double reed players--she's a bassoonist--craft their own reeds, which is how she got into cutlery. Fun trivia fact: there are people whose job title is Reed Cane Broker.) I've tried (not very diligently) to learn to sharpen for myself, but I can't keep cadging from reed players until I get good at it, so I'd be grateful for recomendations for good sharpeners in the area--ideally in San Francisco, where I live, but reasonably close-in East Bay or Peninsula might work.

 

[parbaked]

Bernal Cutlery sell Tojiro and have skilled sharpeners. They are busy but will provide a loaner knife, or sell you a better knife, to hold you over.
https://bernalcutlery.com/

 

[Luftmensch]

By the way.... my friend has decided to settle in the East Bay. Better yet... (and completely by chance)... they are a manageable bike riding distance to Berkeley Bowl!

Thanks again

 

[Cliff]

Tartine and Bernal are right next to each other in SF

 

[johnvburke100]

Tartine and Bernal are right next to each other in SF

Bernal is now on Valencia near 19th St. in what longtime San Franciscans may remember as the Valencia Rose performance space.

 

[parbaked]

By the way.... my friend has decided to settle in the East Bay. Better yet... (and completely by chance)... they are a manageable bike riding distance to Berkeley Bowl!

That's great 'cause their parking lot can be a pain!

Bernal is now on Valencia near 19th St. in what longtime San Franciscans may remember as the Valencia Rose performance space.

That goes way back! The building was originally a mortuary.
After Valencia Rose, it split into Mission Bicycle Co. and the insane Paxton Gate's Curiosities.
Bernal first took over the Paxton Gate's space and then expanded into the Mission Bicycle space, which is now very nice dedicated sharpening studio.

Tartine and Bernal are right next to each other in SF

As mentioned, Bernal moved but are now next to Craftsman and Wolves, which is worth a visit for their The Rebel Within muffin...
https://www.craftsman-wolves.com

 

[boomchakabowwow]

By the way.... my friend has decided to settle in the East Bay. Better yet... (and completely by chance)... they are a manageable bike riding distance to Berkeley Bowl!

Thanks again

good choice. personally I like the east bay better!! but that's just me. the Bowl is a cool place, but I dont think I'd buy all my day to day stuff there.

 

[Cliff]

Bernal is now on Valencia near 19th St. in what longtime San Franciscans may remember as the Valencia Rose performance space.

Whoops, thanks

 

[user 37848]

By the way.... my friend has decided to settle in the East Bay. Better yet... (and completely by chance)... they are a manageable bike riding distance to Berkeley Bowl!

Thanks again

Gonna have to plug my mentor’s resto: Fish & Bird Izakaya, its near Berkeley Bowl, please have them visit

https://fishbirdizakaya.com/

 

[Luftmensch]

Gonna have to plug my mentor’s resto: Fish & Bird Izakaya, its near Berkeley Bowl, please have them visit

https://fishbirdizakaya.com/

That looks great! I'll pass on the recommendation