<p>Chicken fried rice @ thai basil = heaven
Or, if you want to stick it to all the vegans you know, Angeline’s on Shattuck is awesome too, although it’s more expensive than a traditional student restaurant.</p>
<p>Chinese food lovers may like the Mayflower restaurant next to Eudemonia. It’s about one street away from the big greenery near downtown Berkeley.</p>
<p>As a huge foodie, this is something I’ve thought about for the past 2.5 years. I tend to think of the “best” places to eat as meaning “best value” - if a place is super cheap and tastes decent, it’s on the list. If it’s super expensive and merely decent, I probably wouldn’t go back there. Here’s the list, separated into cheap, average, and splurge (and sorry about the length! I kinda go crazy when it comes to food and parentheses, and note that this is generally for lunch and/or dinner, unless noted): </p>
<p>Cheap (<$6):
King Dong (Chinese/American Chinese) - Haste and Shattuck. Great lunch specials can fill you up for 1.5 meals, and it’s not terribly inauthentic. </p>
<p>Pasta Bene (Italian) - Telegraph and Blake. $5.50 lunch specials and decent portions!</p>
<p>Thai Basil (Thai) - Durant Food Court. I avoid the curries, but their noodle and rice dishes are fantastic. Try the pad kee mau - they never fail to amaze me with this dish. </p>
<p>Moccacino (Hong Kong) - Bancroft and between Bowditch and Telegraph. Their bento boxes are a good deal at ~5.50, and you can add a boba drink for pretty cheap. </p>
<p>Saigon Express (Vietnamese) - Shattuck and Addison. $3.50 banh mi might not fill you up, but if you’re not too hungry it’s a good deal. Get the combo and ask for extra mayo. </p>
<p>Ann’s Kitchen (American) - Telegraph and Dwight. Cheap breakfast combos are super filling, and their burgers aren’t bad either. </p>
<p>Cheeseboard (California-style pizza) - Shattuck and Vine. Two slices at $2.50 each will fill you up. It’s a different pizza every day, and always vegetarian. It gets oily at time, but it’s always delicious. </p>
<p>Maoz (Falafel) - Telegraph and Channing. $5 falafel “sandwiches” with an all you can load salad bar. The pickled veggies in the salad bar are SO good! Plus, the sweet potato fries are my favorite in town. Sunrise has better falafel, though.</p>
<p>Top Dog (Hot dogs) - various locations. All of their dogs are tasty, though I’m partial to the Smoked Apple Chicken, Hot Link, and Mango Habanero. Open until 3am or something, so great post-party food =D </p>
<p>Sunrise Deli (Mediterranean) - Bancroft and Telegraph. Their falafel is cheap, at $3 for six (which can fill you up for lunch!) Their pita/lavash wraps are also good. </p>
<p>Average ($6-8):
Phil’s Sliders (American) - $2 sliders are a bit small, but they’re tasty. The portobello ones are amazing, and try the tater tots at least once. </p>
<p>Koryo Palace (Korean) - Parker and Telegraph. Their sundubu is the best in Berkeley, and their other options are good too. </p>
<p>Urbann Turbann (Indian) - Euclid and Hearst. People refer to it as “Indian Chipotle” - they make good naan wraps </p>
<p>Manpuku (Japanese) - College and Ashby. Cheap sushi, combination boxes, and soba/udon meals. </p>
<p>Racha Cafe (Thai) - Telegraph and Dwight. The most underrated Thai place in Berkeley. Has always been consistent for me in terms of taste. I recommend the noodle dishes.</p>
<p>Gordo’s Taqueria (Mexican) - Telegraph and Haste, and College and Ashby (two locations). Their burritos are better than Chipotle’s. Try the chile verde or carnitas. </p>
<p>Indian Flavors Express (Indian) - Bancroft, right next to Moccacino (you’ll have to walk up the stairs). Their naan is my favorite of all the Berkeley Indian restaurants, and the biryanis are also good. </p>
<p>Saturn Cafe (American vegetarian) - Oxford and Kittridge. Some of the food is hit and miss, but it’s a great atmosphere and incredibly vegetarian-friendly (everything is vegetarian?) Try their omelettes - the Southern one is great. </p>
<p>Slow (American) - University and Milvia. Their lunch sandwiches are ridiculously delicious for their price (~6.50), though the portions are a bit on the small side. Foodies will love this place. Haven’t tried the dinner, but I’ve heard that it’s good as well. </p>
<p>Splurge ($8+):
Gregoire (French, ~8.50 for lunch) - Cedar and Shattuck. Only the lunch is worth it, IMHO. Get some kind of sandwich, try the potato puffs.</p>
<p>Cancun Taqueria (Mexican, ~8) - the chicken mole burrito is great; they regular ones aren’t worth trying. They also have an immense salsa bar with <10 choices. Plus, their produce is farm-sourced and maybe organic? </p>
<p>Burgermeister (Burgers) - Shattuck and Allston. Burgers are juicy, and they cook them perfectly to your liking. Their shakes and fries are also great. </p>
<p>La Note (French) - Shattuck and Durant. Great breakfast/brunch and lunches. Take your parents here, if you want to be classy! </p>
<p>Norikonoko (Japanese) - Telegraph and Dwight. Cute restaurant run by an elderly Japanese couple. The most authentic Japanese food you’ll find near campus. </p>
<p>Mount Everest (Indian/Nepalese) - Telegraph and Parker. You’ll find some interesting dishes you won’t see at other North Indian restaurants. Try some of them out! </p>
<p>Gather (California organic/local/sustainable) - Oxford and Allston. Every single thing here is amazing, but the price is high to match. Another thing to take your parents to. If you want value, try the pizzas - they’re ~$17 and are enough for two people.</p>
<p>Guys. This is freaking awesome. Just saying. <em>saving this forever</em> (dragonscale-long is goood xD)</p>
<p>^dragonscale’s post was win. I agree with pretty much everything in that post, based on the restaurants that I’ve gone to which are mentioned in his/her list.</p>
<p>For my vegetarian homies - </p>
<p>No one’s talked about Arinell’s? Best NY Style pizza on the planet. It’s tucked away there on Shattuck, find it, try the neopolitan, pizza CRACK.</p>
<p>Also, for chicago style pizza, take the bus with your friends on a friday night, go to Zachary’s if you’re into deep dish. GOOD STUFF.</p>
<p>FLACO’s if you’re vegan. Great mexican food, beats the ***** out of the other places (and no meat! for me a BIG plus!)</p>
<p>Golden lotus or long life Asian on University, check em out! </p>
<p>BTW I’m lacto-veg. (basically vegan+milk products) so… the above-mentioned may or may not apply to you!</p>
<p>USE the bus! There are some great places out there!</p>
<p>I recommend Brazil Cafe.</p>
<p>I haven’t tried the stand on Sproul yet (it’s new!) but they also have a small sit-in restaurant on Shattuck (near University Ave) and a stand on the corner of University Ave and Walnut St outside of Mike’s Bikes, both of which I have been to. Try the tri-tip sandwich and mango smoothie…yum. And you have to meet Pedro before leaving Berkeley!</p>
<p>^ Can I vote for him?</p>
<p>except Brazil Cafe charges $8 and gives you a bite-sized meal.</p>