The Midnight Diners is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and artist Thien Pham. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.
This All-You-Can-Eat Cajun Crab Buffet Is for Serious Eaters Only
We Hung Out With the Cool Kids at This Vibe-y Asian American Cocktail Bar
Hawaiian Barbecue Is This Late-Night Doughnut Shop’s Secret Weapon
Brazen Head Is San Francisco’s Most Delightful Late-Night Secret
Zareen’s Is a Late-Night Pakistani Food Gem in Palo Alto
Bay Pocha Was Made for a Late-Night Feast With Friends
This Hookah Sandwich Lounge Is Redwood City’s Buzziest Late-Night Hotspot
San Jose’s Late-Night Boba Shop Is a One-of-a-Kind Experience
Golden Boy Pizza Is Where You Want To End Your Night
Kinda Is Bringing the Fun Back to Bay Area Izakaya
This 24-Hour Burger Chain Is a Late-Night Landmark in the Bay
Taquerias Come and Go, but La Vic’s Orange Sauce Is Forever
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963096\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963096\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men look starry-eyed with happiness as they devour plates of crab, shimp and other seafood.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Redwood City’s Supreme Crab Buffet is known for its Cajun-style crab legs. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They say that \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/5/19/21259918/sweet-tomatoes-hometown-buffet-silicon-valley-asian-american\">COVID killed the buffet restaurant\u003c/a>. But don’t tell that to the dozens of eager seafood lovers we saw standing in line at Supreme Crab Buffet at 9 o’clock on a Friday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’d been searching for an all-you-can-eat spot that was open late, and this popular Redwood City Asian Cajun spot seemed to check all the boxes: It features two serve-yourself hot food buffet counters, a salad bar, a dessert station, and, oh, did I mention that the crab legs, too, are all-you-can-eat? All that for just over $30 a person, and it’s open until 10:30 every night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fact that the place has the cheesy charm of a theme restaurant — a super-sized inflatable crawfish that greets you at the door, and all manner of maritime paraphernalia — is just an added bonus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more than your average buffet restaurant, Supreme Crab isn’t for the faint of heart. At about half past 9, no one in Supreme Crab Buffet’s dining room looked like they had come to partake in fun conversation. These were serious eaters only. A sisterhood of pre-loosened pants strings. A convocation of hawk-eyed killers ready to clear that fresh tray of crab legs as soon as it hit the buffet counter. (Special shout-out to the \u003ci>solo\u003c/i> diners at a buffet restaurant, like the slender Filipino gentleman we saw who appeared to be loading plate after plate with crawfish exclusively. That guy will eat you under the table.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Any AYCE enthusiast can tell you about the folly of hitting up a buffet without a strategy, which is to say, without a firm commitment to avoid filling up on low-value carbs. And Supreme Crab does offer plenty of carb options to tempt you: garlic bread, fried rice, potstickers, at least two or three different kinds of potato and, for some reason (it’s a trap!), pizza. The two I couldn’t resist were the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a> and the plain white rice, both of which go so well with all of that saucy, spicy seafood — especially when you ladle a little bit of extra garlic butter or Cajun sauce on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two main hot food counters are laden with many of the staple dishes you can find at any Asian American buffet: beef and broccoli, teriyaki chicken, General Tso’s and a panoply of assorted batter-fried things. There were dim sum–style sesame balls. There were leathery kalbi-style short ribs. There was even a whole corner of the salad bar dedicated to Korean banchan — a tasty baby octopus salad and better-than-you’d-expect kimchi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963099\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963099\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2.jpg\" alt=\"An giant inflatable crawfish decorates a restaurant's front entrance.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Supreme Crab has the cheesy charm of a theme restaurant. It’s open until 10:30 p.m. daily. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Listen: You should eat whatever you love. But in our professional opinion, you’re wasting precious stomach space if you stray too far away from Supreme Crab’s most prized offerings — its many different varieties of shellfish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13962759,arts_13954983,arts_13956683']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>In this regard, the restaurant more than met our expectations. We piled our plates high with crawfish and juicy garlic-butter clams. We must have taken down a dozen cheesy mussels, that Asian buffet staple, each plump specimen topped with a comforting layer of mayo and Parmesan. And we feasted on a half-dozen different varieties of shrimp, each one more delicious than the last: cocktail shrimp; easy-peel garlic-butter shrimp; crispy salt-and-pepper shrimp whose heads we bit off and devoured, shells and all; and head-on Cajun seafood boil–style shrimp, whose juices were especially tasty soaked into a mound of steamed rice. We left a fearsome stack of crustacean carcasses in our wake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(You can also order your seafood boil by the bag, a la carte, if that seems like a better value proposition for your party — or if you like your crawfish spicier than the relatively mild heat level they default to on the buffet table.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of it was great, but none greater than the restaurant’s biggest star attraction: the long and spindly snow crab legs, whose tray at the buffet station we monitored at all times so we could snag a plateful whenever the staff unloaded a fresh supply. (This is a “snooze you lose” situation; we watched a whole batch get cleared out in less than 10 minutes.) These, too, were cooked Cajun-style, with lots of garlic and a mild chili heat. We’d suck all the flavor off of the shell, then work our forks inside, jostling them around until it popped open. When we did it just right, the crab’s sweet, succulent flesh would pull out intact, ready to be dipped in butter or lemon juice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For certain immigrant communities in the Bay, in particular, there’s no bite of food that feels more luxurious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is maybe a good time to mention that Supreme Crab Buffet was one of the most diverse restaurants we’ve visited recently, with an even split of Black, brown and Asian American customers. Here in the multicultural Bay Area, it seems, there are few things that bring our communities together quite like the promise of all-you-can-eat crab legs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For anyone who’s ever gone out to eat at a trendy upscale restaurant, looked around the lily-white dining room and wondered, “Where are all my POC at?” — the answer might be that they’ve got their disposable gloves on and are absolutely going to town on a big plate of seafood at Supreme Crab. And they’re probably having a better time than you.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/supremecrabbuffet/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Supreme Crab Buffet\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Mon.–Sat. 11 a.m.–10:30 p.m. and Sun. 10 a.m.–10:30 p.m. at 373 Main St. in Redwood City. (The buffet stations close at around 10 p.m.) There’s also a \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/supremecrabbuffet/?hl=en\">\u003ci>San Francisco location\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>, in Fisherman’s Wharf, that isn’t open as late.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963096\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963096\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men look starry-eyed with happiness as they devour plates of crab, shimp and other seafood.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supreme-crab-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Redwood City’s Supreme Crab Buffet is known for its Cajun-style crab legs. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They say that \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/5/19/21259918/sweet-tomatoes-hometown-buffet-silicon-valley-asian-american\">COVID killed the buffet restaurant\u003c/a>. But don’t tell that to the dozens of eager seafood lovers we saw standing in line at Supreme Crab Buffet at 9 o’clock on a Friday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’d been searching for an all-you-can-eat spot that was open late, and this popular Redwood City Asian Cajun spot seemed to check all the boxes: It features two serve-yourself hot food buffet counters, a salad bar, a dessert station, and, oh, did I mention that the crab legs, too, are all-you-can-eat? All that for just over $30 a person, and it’s open until 10:30 every night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fact that the place has the cheesy charm of a theme restaurant — a super-sized inflatable crawfish that greets you at the door, and all manner of maritime paraphernalia — is just an added bonus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more than your average buffet restaurant, Supreme Crab isn’t for the faint of heart. At about half past 9, no one in Supreme Crab Buffet’s dining room looked like they had come to partake in fun conversation. These were serious eaters only. A sisterhood of pre-loosened pants strings. A convocation of hawk-eyed killers ready to clear that fresh tray of crab legs as soon as it hit the buffet counter. (Special shout-out to the \u003ci>solo\u003c/i> diners at a buffet restaurant, like the slender Filipino gentleman we saw who appeared to be loading plate after plate with crawfish exclusively. That guy will eat you under the table.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Any AYCE enthusiast can tell you about the folly of hitting up a buffet without a strategy, which is to say, without a firm commitment to avoid filling up on low-value carbs. And Supreme Crab does offer plenty of carb options to tempt you: garlic bread, fried rice, potstickers, at least two or three different kinds of potato and, for some reason (it’s a trap!), pizza. The two I couldn’t resist were the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">garlic noodles\u003c/a> and the plain white rice, both of which go so well with all of that saucy, spicy seafood — especially when you ladle a little bit of extra garlic butter or Cajun sauce on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two main hot food counters are laden with many of the staple dishes you can find at any Asian American buffet: beef and broccoli, teriyaki chicken, General Tso’s and a panoply of assorted batter-fried things. There were dim sum–style sesame balls. There were leathery kalbi-style short ribs. There was even a whole corner of the salad bar dedicated to Korean banchan — a tasty baby octopus salad and better-than-you’d-expect kimchi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963099\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963099\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2.jpg\" alt=\"An giant inflatable crawfish decorates a restaurant's front entrance.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/supremecrab2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Supreme Crab has the cheesy charm of a theme restaurant. It’s open until 10:30 p.m. daily. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Listen: You should eat whatever you love. But in our professional opinion, you’re wasting precious stomach space if you stray too far away from Supreme Crab’s most prized offerings — its many different varieties of shellfish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>In this regard, the restaurant more than met our expectations. We piled our plates high with crawfish and juicy garlic-butter clams. We must have taken down a dozen cheesy mussels, that Asian buffet staple, each plump specimen topped with a comforting layer of mayo and Parmesan. And we feasted on a half-dozen different varieties of shrimp, each one more delicious than the last: cocktail shrimp; easy-peel garlic-butter shrimp; crispy salt-and-pepper shrimp whose heads we bit off and devoured, shells and all; and head-on Cajun seafood boil–style shrimp, whose juices were especially tasty soaked into a mound of steamed rice. We left a fearsome stack of crustacean carcasses in our wake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(You can also order your seafood boil by the bag, a la carte, if that seems like a better value proposition for your party — or if you like your crawfish spicier than the relatively mild heat level they default to on the buffet table.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of it was great, but none greater than the restaurant’s biggest star attraction: the long and spindly snow crab legs, whose tray at the buffet station we monitored at all times so we could snag a plateful whenever the staff unloaded a fresh supply. (This is a “snooze you lose” situation; we watched a whole batch get cleared out in less than 10 minutes.) These, too, were cooked Cajun-style, with lots of garlic and a mild chili heat. We’d suck all the flavor off of the shell, then work our forks inside, jostling them around until it popped open. When we did it just right, the crab’s sweet, succulent flesh would pull out intact, ready to be dipped in butter or lemon juice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For certain immigrant communities in the Bay, in particular, there’s no bite of food that feels more luxurious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is maybe a good time to mention that Supreme Crab Buffet was one of the most diverse restaurants we’ve visited recently, with an even split of Black, brown and Asian American customers. Here in the multicultural Bay Area, it seems, there are few things that bring our communities together quite like the promise of all-you-can-eat crab legs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For anyone who’s ever gone out to eat at a trendy upscale restaurant, looked around the lily-white dining room and wondered, “Where are all my POC at?” — the answer might be that they’ve got their disposable gloves on and are absolutely going to town on a big plate of seafood at Supreme Crab. And they’re probably having a better time than you.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/supremecrabbuffet/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Supreme Crab Buffet\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Mon.–Sat. 11 a.m.–10:30 p.m. and Sun. 10 a.m.–10:30 p.m. at 373 Main St. in Redwood City. (The buffet stations close at around 10 p.m.) There’s also a \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/supremecrabbuffet/?hl=en\">\u003ci>San Francisco location\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>, in Fisherman’s Wharf, that isn’t open as late.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "We Hung Out With the Cool Kids at This Vibe-y Asian American Cocktail Bar",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962763\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962763\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Viridian, we filled every available inch of our assigned counter space with plates and bowls piled high with food. The Oakland bar is best known for its cocktails. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The list of Bay Area hotspots that I don’t feel cool enough to frequent is too long to enumerate, but suffice it to say that \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/viridianbar/\">Viridian\u003c/a>, Uptown Oakland’s sleek Asian American cocktail bar, is near the top. With its pulsing electronic music, purple-pink neon glow, abundance of paper lanterns and psychedelic light show projected onto the walls, the vibe at Viridian is somewhere between a moody Wong Kar-wai film set (one of the owners’ \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/2/3/21119819/viridian-uptown-oakland-bar-cocktails-desserts-asian-photos\">stated inspirations\u003c/a>) and a particularly stylish rave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The main thing you notice, though, is how impeccably cool and well-dressed everyone is, from the bar staff to the patrons. Viridian draws an ethnically diverse crowd, but the clientele does skew young (20s and 30s), and it especially skews toward the demographic I’ve always referred to as the Cool Asian, in every single strand: good-looking Cool Asians in designer black-framed glasses, in muscle shirts or showing off intricate full sleeve tattoos. Cool Asians wearing trucker hats or vintage Japanese denim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The one thing that made us feel we hadn’t come to the wrong place at 9 o’clock on a Friday night? The fact that the bar also serves some of Oakland’s best late-night food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be fair, Viridian only qualifies as a late-night restaurant if you’re grading on a bit of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951382/chinese-skewers-are-the-last-bastion-of-late-night-dining-in-the-bay\">Bay Area curve\u003c/a>. The bar is always open late, so you can stay and nibble at your plate of garlic noodles for as long as you like. But the latest the kitchen ever stays open is 10 p.m., and that’s only on weekends. During our recent visit, a server started politely collecting last-call orders at 9:30 sharp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not that it mattered much: We appeared to be the only customers in the entire bustling, fully packed bar who had ordered any food whatsoever. No one else had purchased even a single lonely bowl of tater tots. Meanwhile, in typical fashion, we’d filled every available inch of our assigned counter space with plates and bowls piled high with braised meats and pickled greens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyway, I get it. The vibes at Viridian are great, and the cocktails are spectacular — and I say this as someone who’d never describe themselves as a cocktail person. The signature Tomato Beef, a magically crystal-clear tequila drink that tastes like the purest essence of a ripe summer tomato, might be my favorite cocktail in the Bay Area. For a change of pace, this time I tried the Cafe Sữa Đáddy, a jet-black iced coffee concoction topped with a thick, fluffy cloud of egg foam. It was dangerously sweet and smooth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What we’re here to tell you, though, is that you shouldn’t skip out on the food — that, in fact, Viridian is well worth a dinner or after-dinner-snack visit even if you don’t drink at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962765\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962765\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior facade of Viridian cocktail bar at night, lit up inside in purple neon.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The vibe at Viridian is somewhere between a moody Wong Kar-wai film set and a particularly stylish rave. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This is at least the third or fourth permutation that Viridian’s distinctly Asian American food program has gone through. When the bar first opened in early 2020, just a month before the start of the pandemic, it served almost exclusively desserts — elegant pandan custard pies and Thai tea tiramisu. It went through a period when the kitchen mostly served fancy reinterpretations of dim sum, and then various stretches when every intricately plated dish would have looked right at home at any three-star palace of fine dining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current food menu, which launched just a few weeks ago, is probably the simplest, most bar-snacky edition yet, leaning toward homey diasporic Asian flavors in a way we found especially enjoyable. There was piping-hot “mala spice chicken tempura,” which turned out to be spicy chicken nuggets, essentially, served with a carrot-flecked sweet chili dipping sauce — but such a tasty rendition that McDonald’s really should have consulted with \u003ci>them\u003c/i> before launching its own tepid version. There were tater tots served with a sour cream, chili crisp and chive dip. It wasn’t anything fancy, but a must-order for anyone who likes munching on hot, crunchy carbs when they drink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13962340,arts_13961997,arts_13956218']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Our favorite dish might have been the huge mound of cucumbers that came coated with a thick layer of fiery, extra-crunchy chili crunch — the ideal bar snack. As delicious as it was, the portion was so abundant that we still wound up taking half of it home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the best thing to order if you want a hearty \u003ci>dinner-\u003c/i>dinner, or to just sample a few different things, is the donburi. The rice bowl comes topped with a generous portion of mirin-glazed pork, crushed peanuts, pickled mustard greens topped with pork floss, and fresh cilantro. Taken all together, it was just like eating a deconstructed gua bao (pork belly bun) — pure comfort to my Taiwanese American soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We must have looked like we were having a good time, because toward the end of the night, one of those Cool Asians (black dress, tattoos) sitting just down the counter from us leaned over to ask what we’d recommend from the food menu. She and her date had already eaten before they came, but they’d noticed how delicious we made everything look when we were eating it. (This is, in the end, our one specialized skill.) So, we talked up the cucumbers, and the donburi, and the chicken, and…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So everything’s good,” she said, laughing. And you could tell she believed us, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.viridianbar.com/\">Viridian\u003c/a> is open Fri.–Sat. 5 p.m.–2 a.m. and Wed., Thu. and Sun. 5 p.m.–midnight at 2216 Broadway in Oakland. The kitchen closes at 9 p.m. except for on Fridays and Saturdays, when it’s open until 10 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Viridian Is an Asian American Cocktail Bar That Serves Great Food | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962763\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962763\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Viridian, we filled every available inch of our assigned counter space with plates and bowls piled high with food. The Oakland bar is best known for its cocktails. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The list of Bay Area hotspots that I don’t feel cool enough to frequent is too long to enumerate, but suffice it to say that \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/viridianbar/\">Viridian\u003c/a>, Uptown Oakland’s sleek Asian American cocktail bar, is near the top. With its pulsing electronic music, purple-pink neon glow, abundance of paper lanterns and psychedelic light show projected onto the walls, the vibe at Viridian is somewhere between a moody Wong Kar-wai film set (one of the owners’ \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/2/3/21119819/viridian-uptown-oakland-bar-cocktails-desserts-asian-photos\">stated inspirations\u003c/a>) and a particularly stylish rave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The main thing you notice, though, is how impeccably cool and well-dressed everyone is, from the bar staff to the patrons. Viridian draws an ethnically diverse crowd, but the clientele does skew young (20s and 30s), and it especially skews toward the demographic I’ve always referred to as the Cool Asian, in every single strand: good-looking Cool Asians in designer black-framed glasses, in muscle shirts or showing off intricate full sleeve tattoos. Cool Asians wearing trucker hats or vintage Japanese denim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The one thing that made us feel we hadn’t come to the wrong place at 9 o’clock on a Friday night? The fact that the bar also serves some of Oakland’s best late-night food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be fair, Viridian only qualifies as a late-night restaurant if you’re grading on a bit of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951382/chinese-skewers-are-the-last-bastion-of-late-night-dining-in-the-bay\">Bay Area curve\u003c/a>. The bar is always open late, so you can stay and nibble at your plate of garlic noodles for as long as you like. But the latest the kitchen ever stays open is 10 p.m., and that’s only on weekends. During our recent visit, a server started politely collecting last-call orders at 9:30 sharp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not that it mattered much: We appeared to be the only customers in the entire bustling, fully packed bar who had ordered any food whatsoever. No one else had purchased even a single lonely bowl of tater tots. Meanwhile, in typical fashion, we’d filled every available inch of our assigned counter space with plates and bowls piled high with braised meats and pickled greens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyway, I get it. The vibes at Viridian are great, and the cocktails are spectacular — and I say this as someone who’d never describe themselves as a cocktail person. The signature Tomato Beef, a magically crystal-clear tequila drink that tastes like the purest essence of a ripe summer tomato, might be my favorite cocktail in the Bay Area. For a change of pace, this time I tried the Cafe Sữa Đáddy, a jet-black iced coffee concoction topped with a thick, fluffy cloud of egg foam. It was dangerously sweet and smooth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What we’re here to tell you, though, is that you shouldn’t skip out on the food — that, in fact, Viridian is well worth a dinner or after-dinner-snack visit even if you don’t drink at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962765\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962765\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior facade of Viridian cocktail bar at night, lit up inside in purple neon.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Viridian2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The vibe at Viridian is somewhere between a moody Wong Kar-wai film set and a particularly stylish rave. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This is at least the third or fourth permutation that Viridian’s distinctly Asian American food program has gone through. When the bar first opened in early 2020, just a month before the start of the pandemic, it served almost exclusively desserts — elegant pandan custard pies and Thai tea tiramisu. It went through a period when the kitchen mostly served fancy reinterpretations of dim sum, and then various stretches when every intricately plated dish would have looked right at home at any three-star palace of fine dining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current food menu, which launched just a few weeks ago, is probably the simplest, most bar-snacky edition yet, leaning toward homey diasporic Asian flavors in a way we found especially enjoyable. There was piping-hot “mala spice chicken tempura,” which turned out to be spicy chicken nuggets, essentially, served with a carrot-flecked sweet chili dipping sauce — but such a tasty rendition that McDonald’s really should have consulted with \u003ci>them\u003c/i> before launching its own tepid version. There were tater tots served with a sour cream, chili crisp and chive dip. It wasn’t anything fancy, but a must-order for anyone who likes munching on hot, crunchy carbs when they drink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Our favorite dish might have been the huge mound of cucumbers that came coated with a thick layer of fiery, extra-crunchy chili crunch — the ideal bar snack. As delicious as it was, the portion was so abundant that we still wound up taking half of it home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the best thing to order if you want a hearty \u003ci>dinner-\u003c/i>dinner, or to just sample a few different things, is the donburi. The rice bowl comes topped with a generous portion of mirin-glazed pork, crushed peanuts, pickled mustard greens topped with pork floss, and fresh cilantro. Taken all together, it was just like eating a deconstructed gua bao (pork belly bun) — pure comfort to my Taiwanese American soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We must have looked like we were having a good time, because toward the end of the night, one of those Cool Asians (black dress, tattoos) sitting just down the counter from us leaned over to ask what we’d recommend from the food menu. She and her date had already eaten before they came, but they’d noticed how delicious we made everything look when we were eating it. (This is, in the end, our one specialized skill.) So, we talked up the cucumbers, and the donburi, and the chicken, and…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So everything’s good,” she said, laughing. And you could tell she believed us, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.viridianbar.com/\">Viridian\u003c/a> is open Fri.–Sat. 5 p.m.–2 a.m. and Wed., Thu. and Sun. 5 p.m.–midnight at 2216 Broadway in Oakland. The kitchen closes at 9 p.m. except for on Fridays and Saturdays, when it’s open until 10 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "late-night-hawaiian-barbecue-donuts-palo-alto",
"title": "Hawaiian Barbecue Is This Late-Night Doughnut Shop’s Secret Weapon",
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"headTitle": "Hawaiian Barbecue Is This Late-Night Doughnut Shop’s Secret Weapon | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962345\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962345\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men seen through the window of a doughnut shop. They're devouring doughnuts and plates of Hawaiian barbecue.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Open late in a Palo Alto strip mall, SH Hawaiian BBQ & Donuts specializes in hearty Hawaiian plate lunches. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our quest to document the Bay Area’s sweetest and most sacred late-night haunts, let us not forget the humble doughnut shop. Temples to sweet-tooth possessors, havens for night owls and scratch lotto addicts, these fried pastry purveyors are often the only food business within a several-mile radius that’s open past midnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Located in a quiet Palo Alto strip mall, SH Hawaiian BBQ & Donuts isn’t a colorful, bustling hangout spot like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bobsdonuts/?hl=en\">Bob’s\u003c/a>. (During our visit on a recent Friday night, it was almost completely empty.) It doesn’t have the surreal weirdness of a Silver Crest Donut Shop (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961794/silver-crest-closed-sf-donut-shop\">R.I.P.\u003c/a>). It isn’t quite open 24 hours. It doesn’t even sell lotto scratchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The one thing the doughnut shop/Hawaiian barbecue hybrid is committed to, though, is feeding anyone with a case of late-night munchies — and not just with doughnuts, but noodle soups, rice bowls and full-on Hawaiian plate lunches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The restaurant falls vaguely in the same category as the kind of \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/doughnuts-and-barbecue-1/\">Cambodian-owned doughnut shop\u003c/a> that sells lemongrass-scented meat skewers and sticky-sweet chicken wings on the side — except the savory food menu is even broader and more eclectic. As its name indicates, the shop is best known for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13911062/hawaiian-barbecue-bay-area-multicultural-oakland-ilava\">Hawaiian barbecue\u003c/a>, but like other Bay Area restaurants in this genre, it rounds out its menu with a wide array of Hawaiian and Chinese American takeout standards. There’s Spam musubi, of course, along with other comfort food favorites like loco moco and kalua pork. You can order a Hawaiian-Japanese beef curry plate, a bowl of wonton soup, and about a half-dozen different variations on saimin (Hawaii’s homegrown, ramen-like noodle soup).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s even Vietnamese pho on the menu, even if we weren’t quite feeling frisky enough to try it on this particular visit. The dining room looks the part, too: the bottles of sriracha and sweet chili sauce (and, why not, green Tabasco) on every table, the flatscreen TV perpetually tuned to cable news, and the Christmas decorations still lit up in the middle of July. It’s a pleasantly chill late-night coffee shop vibe (though the place seems to mostly do a lot of takeout business).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962346\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962346\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: The facade of SH Hawaiian BBQ & Donuts, lit up at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant has a pleasantly chill late-night coffee shop vibe. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In any case, if you’re in the mood for a big, meaty Hawaiian plate lunch at 2 o’clock in the morning — and you won’t believe how often I get this \u003ci>specific\u003c/i> late-night craving — this is your spot. The good news is that the food at SH is as tasty as we had hoped, especially if you stick to the straightforward offerings on the barbecue side of the menu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re feeling particularly famished, go for the “BBQ Mix” plate, which for about $17 comes jam-packed with teriyaki-glazed grilled chicken, beef and kalbi-style on-the-bone short ribs, two scoops of rice, and one scoop of excellent, mayonnaise-y mac salad. The chicken and the short ribs, in particular, were excellent — juicy and flavorful with a nicely caramelized char. It was such a generous plate of food, the takeout carton still had an impressive heft to it even after we’d eaten half of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13961997,arts_13961613,arts_13911062']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Maybe it was the lateness of the hour, but SH’s version of even something as ubiquitous as Spam musubi impressed us. Past midnight, where else can you get musubi where the Spam comes hot off the grill and the crisp nori is freshly toasted?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, we couldn’t visit a late-night doughnut shop without scoring at least a couple of doughnuts, and in this regard too, SH’s offerings seemed to be a few notches better and more varied than the norm. In addition to the standard doughnut purveyor’s selection of crullers, cake doughnuts, variously-filled-and-glazed raised doughnuts, and croissant breakfast sandwiches, the shop also sells trendier items — maple-bacon bars, for instance, and doughnuts topped with ube-taro, Fruity Pebbles or Cinnamon Toast Crunch. (“Some young person is affiliated with this business,” I wrote in my notes.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, I opted for a classic apple fritter — a gargantuan specimen, and one of several different fritter varieties on offer. The first bite was the best bite: those wonderfully crisp edges, rich and oily without being too sweet. The sudden urge I felt to scratch off a lotto ticket notwithstanding, it was the perfect way to close out the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>SH Hawaiian BBQ & Donuts (3890 El Camino Real, Palo Alto) is open Mon.–Wed. 9 a.m.–2 a.m., Thu.–Sat. 8 a.m.–3 a.m. and Sun. 8 a.m.–2 a.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962345\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962345\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men seen through the window of a doughnut shop. They're devouring doughnuts and plates of Hawaiian barbecue.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Open late in a Palo Alto strip mall, SH Hawaiian BBQ & Donuts specializes in hearty Hawaiian plate lunches. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our quest to document the Bay Area’s sweetest and most sacred late-night haunts, let us not forget the humble doughnut shop. Temples to sweet-tooth possessors, havens for night owls and scratch lotto addicts, these fried pastry purveyors are often the only food business within a several-mile radius that’s open past midnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Located in a quiet Palo Alto strip mall, SH Hawaiian BBQ & Donuts isn’t a colorful, bustling hangout spot like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bobsdonuts/?hl=en\">Bob’s\u003c/a>. (During our visit on a recent Friday night, it was almost completely empty.) It doesn’t have the surreal weirdness of a Silver Crest Donut Shop (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961794/silver-crest-closed-sf-donut-shop\">R.I.P.\u003c/a>). It isn’t quite open 24 hours. It doesn’t even sell lotto scratchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The one thing the doughnut shop/Hawaiian barbecue hybrid is committed to, though, is feeding anyone with a case of late-night munchies — and not just with doughnuts, but noodle soups, rice bowls and full-on Hawaiian plate lunches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The restaurant falls vaguely in the same category as the kind of \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/doughnuts-and-barbecue-1/\">Cambodian-owned doughnut shop\u003c/a> that sells lemongrass-scented meat skewers and sticky-sweet chicken wings on the side — except the savory food menu is even broader and more eclectic. As its name indicates, the shop is best known for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13911062/hawaiian-barbecue-bay-area-multicultural-oakland-ilava\">Hawaiian barbecue\u003c/a>, but like other Bay Area restaurants in this genre, it rounds out its menu with a wide array of Hawaiian and Chinese American takeout standards. There’s Spam musubi, of course, along with other comfort food favorites like loco moco and kalua pork. You can order a Hawaiian-Japanese beef curry plate, a bowl of wonton soup, and about a half-dozen different variations on saimin (Hawaii’s homegrown, ramen-like noodle soup).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s even Vietnamese pho on the menu, even if we weren’t quite feeling frisky enough to try it on this particular visit. The dining room looks the part, too: the bottles of sriracha and sweet chili sauce (and, why not, green Tabasco) on every table, the flatscreen TV perpetually tuned to cable news, and the Christmas decorations still lit up in the middle of July. It’s a pleasantly chill late-night coffee shop vibe (though the place seems to mostly do a lot of takeout business).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962346\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962346\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: The facade of SH Hawaiian BBQ & Donuts, lit up at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Sams-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant has a pleasantly chill late-night coffee shop vibe. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In any case, if you’re in the mood for a big, meaty Hawaiian plate lunch at 2 o’clock in the morning — and you won’t believe how often I get this \u003ci>specific\u003c/i> late-night craving — this is your spot. The good news is that the food at SH is as tasty as we had hoped, especially if you stick to the straightforward offerings on the barbecue side of the menu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re feeling particularly famished, go for the “BBQ Mix” plate, which for about $17 comes jam-packed with teriyaki-glazed grilled chicken, beef and kalbi-style on-the-bone short ribs, two scoops of rice, and one scoop of excellent, mayonnaise-y mac salad. The chicken and the short ribs, in particular, were excellent — juicy and flavorful with a nicely caramelized char. It was such a generous plate of food, the takeout carton still had an impressive heft to it even after we’d eaten half of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Maybe it was the lateness of the hour, but SH’s version of even something as ubiquitous as Spam musubi impressed us. Past midnight, where else can you get musubi where the Spam comes hot off the grill and the crisp nori is freshly toasted?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, we couldn’t visit a late-night doughnut shop without scoring at least a couple of doughnuts, and in this regard too, SH’s offerings seemed to be a few notches better and more varied than the norm. In addition to the standard doughnut purveyor’s selection of crullers, cake doughnuts, variously-filled-and-glazed raised doughnuts, and croissant breakfast sandwiches, the shop also sells trendier items — maple-bacon bars, for instance, and doughnuts topped with ube-taro, Fruity Pebbles or Cinnamon Toast Crunch. (“Some young person is affiliated with this business,” I wrote in my notes.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, I opted for a classic apple fritter — a gargantuan specimen, and one of several different fritter varieties on offer. The first bite was the best bite: those wonderfully crisp edges, rich and oily without being too sweet. The sudden urge I felt to scratch off a lotto ticket notwithstanding, it was the perfect way to close out the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>SH Hawaiian BBQ & Donuts (3890 El Camino Real, Palo Alto) is open Mon.–Wed. 9 a.m.–2 a.m., Thu.–Sat. 8 a.m.–3 a.m. and Sun. 8 a.m.–2 a.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "brazen-head-late-night-san-francisco-marina-cow-hollow",
"title": "Brazen Head Is San Francisco’s Most Delightful Late-Night Secret",
"publishDate": 1722620939,
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"headTitle": "Brazen Head Is San Francisco’s Most Delightful Late-Night Secret | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962008\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962008\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: One man eats a bowl of French onion soup, pulling up a long strand of melted cheese. Another, in the foreground, forks escargots into his mouth.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The food at Brazen Head is delightfully old-school. The Cow Hollow pub is one of San Francisco’s best late-night restaurants. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of San Francisco’s best-kept secrets is an unmarked Irish pub that serves French food until midnight — a dimly lit time capsule of a restaurant hidden away on a windswept corner of the Marina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But maybe you already knew that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, what I love about \u003ca href=\"https://www.brazenheadsf.com/\">Brazen Head\u003c/a> — the Cow Hollow pub in question — is how the place is full of seeming contradictions. Start with how the restaurant still feels like a well-kept secret, unknown to wide swaths of San Franciscans — despite being, at the same time, a beloved local institution. Since we started this column, no other late-night spot in San Francisco has been recommended to us more frequently or with greater enthusiasm, in some cases by readers who’ve been frequenting the place since it first opened in the early ’80s. It’s your \u003ca href=\"https://blog.resy.com/2021/09/at-places-like-brazen-head-its-all-about-the-people/\">favorite chef’s favorite restaurant\u003c/a> — an IYKYK haunt for \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/The-old-fashioned-art-of-bartending-is-alive-at-13171622.php\">local food and beverage industry types\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it really \u003ci>is \u003c/i>popular. Even at 10 o’clock on a random Monday night, both the bar counter and dining room were almost fully packed, the whole place busy and buzzing with conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s also true that no one we knew personally had ever heard of Brazen Head, let alone eaten there. And the place is easy to miss, even if you’re already in the area. There’s no signage to speak of, other than a chalkboard specials sign posted on the sidewalk out front and a “B” and “H” on the old-timey stained-glass door panes. Pro tip: Look for the blue awning across the street from the Motel Capri.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962006\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962006\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: The facade of an unmarked bar pictured late at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">There’s no signage other than a sidewalk chalkboard listing the day’s specials. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Inside, Brazen Head’s aesthetics are those of an Irish pub even more ancient than its 40-plus years: wood paneling, thick velvet curtains and portraits of men in wigs reminiscent of the Elizabethan era. Dim orange lights suffuse the room with an eerie, Halloween-esque glow. The vibe is excellent — even if I’m convinced no human has ever taken a food photo here that doesn’t look like it was \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brazenheadsf/\">shot in infrared\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The menu, too, feels like a delightful time warp. It’s about evenly split between French bistro, Italian American and “classic American,” by which I mean the kind of old-school food that used to be ubiquitous at hotel restaurants in the 1980s — or the 1950s, even. When was the last time you saw escargots on the menu at a casual restaurant? Not some newfangled version topped with foam or microgreens, but the classic French style, in deep pools of hot, garlicky melted butter that you sop up with toasted sourdough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13961613,arts_13961328,arts_13959808']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Or when was the last time you had beef Stroganoff, or even thought about the dish’s existence? (I’d probably have to go all the way back to my college struggle meals of Hamburger Helper.) Brazen Head’s version, a special on the night of our visit, featured tender chunks of filet mignon and fresh, handmade pappardelle, all tossed in a tangy sour cream sauce — a combination that was so wonderfully cozy and nostalgic, we couldn’t stop eating it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>French onion soup might seem like a perfunctory dish to put on a pub menu, but Brazen Head’s tastes like it was made with love — rich and melty, with a full-flavored broth that warmed us up from the inside. And even though most tables had ordered hefty prime rib plates (probably the restaurant’s most popular dish), we decided to go with another throwback: New York strip steak seared to an exquisitely tender and pink-centered medium rare, then bathed in a velvety black pepper au jus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It felt extraordinarily luxurious to be eating food like this — escargots and handmade pasta! — at 11 o’clock on a weeknight. But the most surprising thing about Brazen Head was just how genuinely warm and friendly the service was — and, for a casual pub, how downright elegant. I wouldn’t have pegged this as the kind of restaurant where they swap out your plates and silverware between every course, and brush every stray crumb off the table. As soon as we mentioned to our server that we planned on sharing everything, she coursed out the entire meal, bringing one entree at a time, so that we could savor each dish at our own pace. All without the slightest hint of pretension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No wonder the restaurant was still bustling even as the night wound down, a cross section of San Francisco all gathered in that hazy orange glow — young and septuagenarian; tourists and locals; couples dressed up for date night, and servers and line cooks just finished with their shift at some other restaurant. Everyone chatting up the bartender over cold martinis or polishing off the last bit of their prime rib plate. It was hard to imagine a more comfortable place.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brazenheadsf/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Brazen Head\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (3166 Buchanan St., San Francisco) serves dinner Mon. and Tue. from 5–11 p.m. and Wed.–Sun. from 5 p.m.–midnight. The bar is open until 2 a.m. daily. No reservations.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The Cow Hollow pub is unapologetically old-fashioned — but both its food and service are surprisingly elegant.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962008\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962008\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: One man eats a bowl of French onion soup, pulling up a long strand of melted cheese. Another, in the foreground, forks escargots into his mouth.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The food at Brazen Head is delightfully old-school. The Cow Hollow pub is one of San Francisco’s best late-night restaurants. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of San Francisco’s best-kept secrets is an unmarked Irish pub that serves French food until midnight — a dimly lit time capsule of a restaurant hidden away on a windswept corner of the Marina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But maybe you already knew that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, what I love about \u003ca href=\"https://www.brazenheadsf.com/\">Brazen Head\u003c/a> — the Cow Hollow pub in question — is how the place is full of seeming contradictions. Start with how the restaurant still feels like a well-kept secret, unknown to wide swaths of San Franciscans — despite being, at the same time, a beloved local institution. Since we started this column, no other late-night spot in San Francisco has been recommended to us more frequently or with greater enthusiasm, in some cases by readers who’ve been frequenting the place since it first opened in the early ’80s. It’s your \u003ca href=\"https://blog.resy.com/2021/09/at-places-like-brazen-head-its-all-about-the-people/\">favorite chef’s favorite restaurant\u003c/a> — an IYKYK haunt for \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/The-old-fashioned-art-of-bartending-is-alive-at-13171622.php\">local food and beverage industry types\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it really \u003ci>is \u003c/i>popular. Even at 10 o’clock on a random Monday night, both the bar counter and dining room were almost fully packed, the whole place busy and buzzing with conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s also true that no one we knew personally had ever heard of Brazen Head, let alone eaten there. And the place is easy to miss, even if you’re already in the area. There’s no signage to speak of, other than a chalkboard specials sign posted on the sidewalk out front and a “B” and “H” on the old-timey stained-glass door panes. Pro tip: Look for the blue awning across the street from the Motel Capri.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13962006\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13962006\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: The facade of an unmarked bar pictured late at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/BrazenHead-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">There’s no signage other than a sidewalk chalkboard listing the day’s specials. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Inside, Brazen Head’s aesthetics are those of an Irish pub even more ancient than its 40-plus years: wood paneling, thick velvet curtains and portraits of men in wigs reminiscent of the Elizabethan era. Dim orange lights suffuse the room with an eerie, Halloween-esque glow. The vibe is excellent — even if I’m convinced no human has ever taken a food photo here that doesn’t look like it was \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brazenheadsf/\">shot in infrared\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The menu, too, feels like a delightful time warp. It’s about evenly split between French bistro, Italian American and “classic American,” by which I mean the kind of old-school food that used to be ubiquitous at hotel restaurants in the 1980s — or the 1950s, even. When was the last time you saw escargots on the menu at a casual restaurant? Not some newfangled version topped with foam or microgreens, but the classic French style, in deep pools of hot, garlicky melted butter that you sop up with toasted sourdough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Or when was the last time you had beef Stroganoff, or even thought about the dish’s existence? (I’d probably have to go all the way back to my college struggle meals of Hamburger Helper.) Brazen Head’s version, a special on the night of our visit, featured tender chunks of filet mignon and fresh, handmade pappardelle, all tossed in a tangy sour cream sauce — a combination that was so wonderfully cozy and nostalgic, we couldn’t stop eating it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>French onion soup might seem like a perfunctory dish to put on a pub menu, but Brazen Head’s tastes like it was made with love — rich and melty, with a full-flavored broth that warmed us up from the inside. And even though most tables had ordered hefty prime rib plates (probably the restaurant’s most popular dish), we decided to go with another throwback: New York strip steak seared to an exquisitely tender and pink-centered medium rare, then bathed in a velvety black pepper au jus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It felt extraordinarily luxurious to be eating food like this — escargots and handmade pasta! — at 11 o’clock on a weeknight. But the most surprising thing about Brazen Head was just how genuinely warm and friendly the service was — and, for a casual pub, how downright elegant. I wouldn’t have pegged this as the kind of restaurant where they swap out your plates and silverware between every course, and brush every stray crumb off the table. As soon as we mentioned to our server that we planned on sharing everything, she coursed out the entire meal, bringing one entree at a time, so that we could savor each dish at our own pace. All without the slightest hint of pretension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No wonder the restaurant was still bustling even as the night wound down, a cross section of San Francisco all gathered in that hazy orange glow — young and septuagenarian; tourists and locals; couples dressed up for date night, and servers and line cooks just finished with their shift at some other restaurant. Everyone chatting up the bartender over cold martinis or polishing off the last bit of their prime rib plate. It was hard to imagine a more comfortable place.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brazenheadsf/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Brazen Head\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (3166 Buchanan St., San Francisco) serves dinner Mon. and Tue. from 5–11 p.m. and Wed.–Sun. from 5 p.m.–midnight. The bar is open until 2 a.m. daily. No reservations.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "zareens-pakistani-indian-palo-alto-late-night",
"title": "Zareen’s Is a Late-Night Pakistani Food Gem in Palo Alto",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961617\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961617\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men sweating while they eat Indian/Pakistani food.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zareen’s has been a beloved Peninsula institution for the past 10 years, known for its homestyle Pakistani and Indian dishes. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For me, the most scenic vista in Palo Alto isn’t the view from the top of Hoover Tower, or within Gamble Garden’s immaculately manicured grounds, or deep inside a coastal redwood grove, lovely as all of those might be. As of last week, I’ve decided that the most beautiful sight in the entire city is the front patio at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/zareensrestaurant/?hl=en\">Zareen’s\u003c/a> at 10 o’clock on a gorgeous mid-summer night, when the umbrella-bedecked picnic tables are lit up with string lights and bustling with dozens of contented kebab and curry eaters. The vibe was so choice, I started to fall in love even before I took my first bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The beloved Pakistani and Indian restaurant, a staple on the Peninsula for the past 10 years, has two other locations, including the Mountain View original, which opened in 2014. But the Palo Alto Zareen’s is the only one that’s open late — until midnight every day — so that’s where we headed on a recent Friday night, joining the long queue of customers waiting to order at the front counter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13961328,arts_13958041,arts_13952384']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>The menu covers a wide gamut of contemporary Pakistani and Indian food trends. There is, for instance, a whole section devoted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952384/pakistani-desi-burger-fremont-late-night\">desi burgers\u003c/a>, naan wraps and other hybridized street foods that would fit in at any next-generation desi food truck — chapli burgers, fried chicken tikka sandwiches and so forth. Meanwhile, the traditional thali plates, which come with rice, pickles and lentil daal, are perfect for the solo diner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We decided to stick to the kind of cozy, homestyle Indo-Pak dishes upon which Zareen’s first built its reputation. In many ways, the restaurant embodies the apotheosis of fast-casual dining: Within five minutes flat, our order arrives at our patio table piping hot, everything fresh and vibrant as a home-cooked meal. The chicken biryani, a specialty of the restaurant only available on Fridays, is an excellent version of the dish. Each grain of rice is perfectly toothsome, without any clumping, and we couldn’t stop eating the moist, well-spiced chicken and red-tinged potatoes buried underneath. Even better is the lamb gosht, with its tender chunks of meat and rich, savory gravy — the ideal vehicle for Zareen’s outrageously fluffy naan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961619\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961619\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: A bustling front patio of a restaurant (the sign reads, "Zareen's") lit up at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The front patio at Zareen’s. The restaurant’s Palo Alto location is open until midnight daily. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I have to admit that I may have been profiled just a bit: When I inquired about the gola kebab sizzler, the staff member at the front counter took a quick glance at me and suggested, not unkindly, that the dish might be too spicy for me. Of course — something something toxic masculinity — I couldn’t back down from that challenge. When the dish came out sizzling intensely, as promised, on a bed of grilled onions atop a cast iron plate, we took our first bite with more than a little trepidation. Thankfully, these beef meatballs were spicy enough to leave our tongues tingling but not so much that they set our mouths on fire. More importantly, they were \u003ci>delicious \u003c/i>— incredibly soft and flavorful. We smashed them onto pieces of sheermal, a slightly sweet, flaky flatbread that the restaurant suggests ordering to accompany its kebabs. It was a killer combo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What we loved best, though, was the whole atmosphere of the place, whether you’re eating outside on the patio or inside the small but cozy dining room, with its chalkboard art and hanging, mobile-style lending library providing a spark of warmth and color. The vibe is equal parts relaxed and lively, but also cosmopolitan in that uniquely Bay Area way — the crowd is a mix of families with kids, tech workers, older white couples and groups of mostly South Asian teens and college kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On this particular night in Palo Alto, there wasn’t anywhere else we’d rather be.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Palo Alto location of \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/zareensrestaurant/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Zareen’s\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (365 S. California Ave.) is open 11 a.m. to midnight daily (takeout only after 11 p.m.). The restaurant also has \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.zareensrestaurant.com/locations\">\u003ci>locations in Mountain View and Redwood City\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> that close earlier in the evening.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961617\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961617\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men sweating while they eat Indian/Pakistani food.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zareen’s has been a beloved Peninsula institution for the past 10 years, known for its homestyle Pakistani and Indian dishes. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For me, the most scenic vista in Palo Alto isn’t the view from the top of Hoover Tower, or within Gamble Garden’s immaculately manicured grounds, or deep inside a coastal redwood grove, lovely as all of those might be. As of last week, I’ve decided that the most beautiful sight in the entire city is the front patio at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/zareensrestaurant/?hl=en\">Zareen’s\u003c/a> at 10 o’clock on a gorgeous mid-summer night, when the umbrella-bedecked picnic tables are lit up with string lights and bustling with dozens of contented kebab and curry eaters. The vibe was so choice, I started to fall in love even before I took my first bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The beloved Pakistani and Indian restaurant, a staple on the Peninsula for the past 10 years, has two other locations, including the Mountain View original, which opened in 2014. But the Palo Alto Zareen’s is the only one that’s open late — until midnight every day — so that’s where we headed on a recent Friday night, joining the long queue of customers waiting to order at the front counter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>The menu covers a wide gamut of contemporary Pakistani and Indian food trends. There is, for instance, a whole section devoted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952384/pakistani-desi-burger-fremont-late-night\">desi burgers\u003c/a>, naan wraps and other hybridized street foods that would fit in at any next-generation desi food truck — chapli burgers, fried chicken tikka sandwiches and so forth. Meanwhile, the traditional thali plates, which come with rice, pickles and lentil daal, are perfect for the solo diner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We decided to stick to the kind of cozy, homestyle Indo-Pak dishes upon which Zareen’s first built its reputation. In many ways, the restaurant embodies the apotheosis of fast-casual dining: Within five minutes flat, our order arrives at our patio table piping hot, everything fresh and vibrant as a home-cooked meal. The chicken biryani, a specialty of the restaurant only available on Fridays, is an excellent version of the dish. Each grain of rice is perfectly toothsome, without any clumping, and we couldn’t stop eating the moist, well-spiced chicken and red-tinged potatoes buried underneath. Even better is the lamb gosht, with its tender chunks of meat and rich, savory gravy — the ideal vehicle for Zareen’s outrageously fluffy naan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961619\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961619\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: A bustling front patio of a restaurant (the sign reads, "Zareen's") lit up at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Zareens-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The front patio at Zareen’s. The restaurant’s Palo Alto location is open until midnight daily. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I have to admit that I may have been profiled just a bit: When I inquired about the gola kebab sizzler, the staff member at the front counter took a quick glance at me and suggested, not unkindly, that the dish might be too spicy for me. Of course — something something toxic masculinity — I couldn’t back down from that challenge. When the dish came out sizzling intensely, as promised, on a bed of grilled onions atop a cast iron plate, we took our first bite with more than a little trepidation. Thankfully, these beef meatballs were spicy enough to leave our tongues tingling but not so much that they set our mouths on fire. More importantly, they were \u003ci>delicious \u003c/i>— incredibly soft and flavorful. We smashed them onto pieces of sheermal, a slightly sweet, flaky flatbread that the restaurant suggests ordering to accompany its kebabs. It was a killer combo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What we loved best, though, was the whole atmosphere of the place, whether you’re eating outside on the patio or inside the small but cozy dining room, with its chalkboard art and hanging, mobile-style lending library providing a spark of warmth and color. The vibe is equal parts relaxed and lively, but also cosmopolitan in that uniquely Bay Area way — the crowd is a mix of families with kids, tech workers, older white couples and groups of mostly South Asian teens and college kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On this particular night in Palo Alto, there wasn’t anywhere else we’d rather be.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Palo Alto location of \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/zareensrestaurant/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Zareen’s\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (365 S. California Ave.) is open 11 a.m. to midnight daily (takeout only after 11 p.m.). The restaurant also has \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.zareensrestaurant.com/locations\">\u003ci>locations in Mountain View and Redwood City\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> that close earlier in the evening.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Bay Pocha Was Made for a Late-Night Feast With Friends",
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"headTitle": "Bay Pocha Was Made for a Late-Night Feast With Friends | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961332\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961332\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: One diner at a Korean restaurant shoves a lettuce wrap into his mouth while another eats noodles from a pot of stew.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bay Pocha sets itself apart from the crowd of Korean pubs by serving big, shareable, celebratory dishes like its bossam (pork belly wraps). The San Francisco restaurant is open until 1 a.m. on weekends. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in college, my friends and I would eat at the Fontainbleau Diner in Piscataway, New Jersey, every Thursday night after our weekly club meeting. This meant 10 or 20 of us, mostly Asian American, rolling in at 10 p.m. to commandeer a row of pushed-together two-tops. We were loud and giddy, reveling in our Monte Cristos, chicken fingers and root beer floats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, here in the Bay Area, a lot of the late-night restaurants aren’t built for that kind of large-group merrymaking — not when you’re squished up at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13957143/late-night-japanese-whisky-highball-karaage-sunnyvale-nokori\">tiny bar counter\u003c/a> or, in some cases, there \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959808/golden-boy-pizza-north-beach-sf-late-night\">isn’t any seating at all\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://baypocha.menu11.com/\">Bay Pocha\u003c/a>, a Korean pub on Ocean Avenue near Stonestown, is the exception that proves the rule. Even though it isn’t a particularly big restaurant, a long communal table, spacious enough to fit 20 people, runs down the center of the dining room, and the menu skews toward hearty, shareable dishes: bubbling stews and hot pots, and big platters piled high with braised and stir-fried meats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Named after Korea’s famed “pocha” (or \u003ca href=\"https://la.eater.com/2020/8/13/21366722/koreatown-pojangmacha-street-food-parking-look-outdoor-dining-los-angeles\">pojangmacha\u003c/a>) street carts and semi-outdoor food stalls, Bay Pocha has a similar aesthetic to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952823/zzan-korean-fried-chicken-late-night-san-francisco\">other Korean pubs in the Bay Area\u003c/a> with its cheery K-pop soundtrack and neon-lit signs advertising soju and Korean beer brands. On weekends, it’s open until 1 a.m. and, on a recent Friday night, it only seemed to get busier and more rambunctious as the night got later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The broad menu runs through the greatest hits of the kind of booze-friendly food you would find at your standard Bay Area soju bang: Korean fried chicken, cheese corn, tteokbokki. But where Bay Pocha sets itself apart is in its selection of big, celebratory dishes — the kind you’re surprised and delighted to be able to share with a group of friends at 11 o’clock at night. That includes harder-to-find dishes like spicy stir-fried chicken feet and jokbal, a.k.a. braised pig trotters, which Bay Pocha offers in both spicy and non-spicy versions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961334\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2.jpg\" alt='Illustration: Facade of a Korean restaurant; the sign reads, \"Bay Pocha.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant is perfect for a late meal with a big group of friends. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But we had mainly come for the hidden star of the menu, the bossam, or braised pork belly wraps, which is probably the dish Bay Pocha is best known for, even though it isn’t listed on the menu — you have to know to ask for it. It’s a huge platter of tender, fatty meat, cut into thick slices and fanned out like a beautiful flower, with a salad of thinly slivered scallions piled in the center. Make sure you also order the ssam set — a plate of lettuce, raw and pickled jalapeños, raw garlic and spicy ssamjang sauce — so that you can eat the pork belly Korean-style, as lettuce wraps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13961051,arts_13959808,arts_13956218']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>For each ssam, you’ll want a couple of slices of pork, a tangle of scallion salad, a smear of ssamjang, maybe some kimchi and, if you’re like me, an unconscionable amount of garlic. Build each wrap on your plate or do it “freestyle,” the way I learned from watching too many Korean dramas, holding the lettuce leaf in front of your mouth like you’re setting a trap, then \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@plumsoju/video/6799690626007977221?lang=en\">chopsticking all of the other ingredients into the leaf in one smooth motion\u003c/a>. Take it down in one bite if you can. Either way, the result is delicious — unctuous and meaty, spicy and sharp, with enough freshness from the lettuce that you don’t feel weighed down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other thing the restaurant does well is its ample selection of shareable stews and hot pots, the most striking of which is the army stew, or budae jjigae, a Korean pub staple whose use of American processed foods has its \u003ca href=\"https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/budae-jjigae-army-stew-spam\">roots in the U.S. post-war military occupation of South Korea\u003c/a>. At Bay Pocha, they light up a portable gas burner, then bring the big pot of bubbling red broth to your table to finish cooking. The soup comes loaded with spicy pork, Spam, sliced up hot dogs, onions, kimchi, tofu, two different kinds of rice cakes, and a big block of instant ramen topped with two slices of American cheese. It is \u003ci>a lot\u003c/i>. But for us, it was pure comfort food. The salty, spicy broth got more and more flavorful as the night went on, and with some white rice on the side to soak up the soup, we stretched the leftovers into two more meals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As if on cue, toward the end of the night, a boisterous, Cantonese-speaking adult volleyball or baseball team in matching red jackets came in and spread themselves out at the long communal table — the same kind of squad I’d go on those late-night diner runs with in college. They were celebrating, or consoling themselves, with a bubbling pot of galbijjim (short rib stew) that the server ceremoniously scorched with a blow torch until the cheese on top was brown-speckled and melty. I wasn’t sure how their night had gone up until then, but it seemed clear that they were ending it in the best possible way.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/baypocha/\">\u003ci>Bay Pocha\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 2642 Ocean Ave. in San Francisco. The restaurant is open Monday through Thursday from 5 p.m.–midnight, Friday and Saturday 5 p.m.–1 a.m. and Sunday 5–11:30 p.m.; it’s also open for lunch 11 a.m.–2 p.m. daily.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961332\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961332\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: One diner at a Korean restaurant shoves a lettuce wrap into his mouth while another eats noodles from a pot of stew.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bay Pocha sets itself apart from the crowd of Korean pubs by serving big, shareable, celebratory dishes like its bossam (pork belly wraps). The San Francisco restaurant is open until 1 a.m. on weekends. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in college, my friends and I would eat at the Fontainbleau Diner in Piscataway, New Jersey, every Thursday night after our weekly club meeting. This meant 10 or 20 of us, mostly Asian American, rolling in at 10 p.m. to commandeer a row of pushed-together two-tops. We were loud and giddy, reveling in our Monte Cristos, chicken fingers and root beer floats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, here in the Bay Area, a lot of the late-night restaurants aren’t built for that kind of large-group merrymaking — not when you’re squished up at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13957143/late-night-japanese-whisky-highball-karaage-sunnyvale-nokori\">tiny bar counter\u003c/a> or, in some cases, there \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959808/golden-boy-pizza-north-beach-sf-late-night\">isn’t any seating at all\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://baypocha.menu11.com/\">Bay Pocha\u003c/a>, a Korean pub on Ocean Avenue near Stonestown, is the exception that proves the rule. Even though it isn’t a particularly big restaurant, a long communal table, spacious enough to fit 20 people, runs down the center of the dining room, and the menu skews toward hearty, shareable dishes: bubbling stews and hot pots, and big platters piled high with braised and stir-fried meats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Named after Korea’s famed “pocha” (or \u003ca href=\"https://la.eater.com/2020/8/13/21366722/koreatown-pojangmacha-street-food-parking-look-outdoor-dining-los-angeles\">pojangmacha\u003c/a>) street carts and semi-outdoor food stalls, Bay Pocha has a similar aesthetic to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952823/zzan-korean-fried-chicken-late-night-san-francisco\">other Korean pubs in the Bay Area\u003c/a> with its cheery K-pop soundtrack and neon-lit signs advertising soju and Korean beer brands. On weekends, it’s open until 1 a.m. and, on a recent Friday night, it only seemed to get busier and more rambunctious as the night got later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The broad menu runs through the greatest hits of the kind of booze-friendly food you would find at your standard Bay Area soju bang: Korean fried chicken, cheese corn, tteokbokki. But where Bay Pocha sets itself apart is in its selection of big, celebratory dishes — the kind you’re surprised and delighted to be able to share with a group of friends at 11 o’clock at night. That includes harder-to-find dishes like spicy stir-fried chicken feet and jokbal, a.k.a. braised pig trotters, which Bay Pocha offers in both spicy and non-spicy versions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961334\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2.jpg\" alt='Illustration: Facade of a Korean restaurant; the sign reads, \"Bay Pocha.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Untitled_Artwork-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant is perfect for a late meal with a big group of friends. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But we had mainly come for the hidden star of the menu, the bossam, or braised pork belly wraps, which is probably the dish Bay Pocha is best known for, even though it isn’t listed on the menu — you have to know to ask for it. It’s a huge platter of tender, fatty meat, cut into thick slices and fanned out like a beautiful flower, with a salad of thinly slivered scallions piled in the center. Make sure you also order the ssam set — a plate of lettuce, raw and pickled jalapeños, raw garlic and spicy ssamjang sauce — so that you can eat the pork belly Korean-style, as lettuce wraps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>For each ssam, you’ll want a couple of slices of pork, a tangle of scallion salad, a smear of ssamjang, maybe some kimchi and, if you’re like me, an unconscionable amount of garlic. Build each wrap on your plate or do it “freestyle,” the way I learned from watching too many Korean dramas, holding the lettuce leaf in front of your mouth like you’re setting a trap, then \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@plumsoju/video/6799690626007977221?lang=en\">chopsticking all of the other ingredients into the leaf in one smooth motion\u003c/a>. Take it down in one bite if you can. Either way, the result is delicious — unctuous and meaty, spicy and sharp, with enough freshness from the lettuce that you don’t feel weighed down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other thing the restaurant does well is its ample selection of shareable stews and hot pots, the most striking of which is the army stew, or budae jjigae, a Korean pub staple whose use of American processed foods has its \u003ca href=\"https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/budae-jjigae-army-stew-spam\">roots in the U.S. post-war military occupation of South Korea\u003c/a>. At Bay Pocha, they light up a portable gas burner, then bring the big pot of bubbling red broth to your table to finish cooking. The soup comes loaded with spicy pork, Spam, sliced up hot dogs, onions, kimchi, tofu, two different kinds of rice cakes, and a big block of instant ramen topped with two slices of American cheese. It is \u003ci>a lot\u003c/i>. But for us, it was pure comfort food. The salty, spicy broth got more and more flavorful as the night went on, and with some white rice on the side to soak up the soup, we stretched the leftovers into two more meals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As if on cue, toward the end of the night, a boisterous, Cantonese-speaking adult volleyball or baseball team in matching red jackets came in and spread themselves out at the long communal table — the same kind of squad I’d go on those late-night diner runs with in college. They were celebrating, or consoling themselves, with a bubbling pot of galbijjim (short rib stew) that the server ceremoniously scorched with a blow torch until the cheese on top was brown-speckled and melty. I wasn’t sure how their night had gone up until then, but it seemed clear that they were ending it in the best possible way.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/baypocha/\">\u003ci>Bay Pocha\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 2642 Ocean Ave. in San Francisco. The restaurant is open Monday through Thursday from 5 p.m.–midnight, Friday and Saturday 5 p.m.–1 a.m. and Sunday 5–11:30 p.m.; it’s also open for lunch 11 a.m.–2 p.m. daily.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961061\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961061\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: two men eat sandwiches on Dutch Crunch bread while a hookah pipe lets off a wisp of smoke behind them.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Redwood City’s The Sandwich Spot is a combination deli and late-night hookah lounge. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m no \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/hookah/comments/4qc1zg/food_and_shisha_pairings/\">hookah food-pairing\u003c/a> expert, but I never would have guessed that a hot Dutch Crunch deli sandwich, dripping with garlic sauce, would be the perfect match for an hour-long session with the shisha pipe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that is the premise — and the genius — of \u003ca href=\"https://www.thesandwichspotrwc.com/\">The Sandwich Spot\u003c/a> in downtown Redwood City, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.thesandwichspot.com/about\">deli chain\u003c/a> outpost that stands apart from all of its sister locations in two important ways: 1) it’s open until at least midnight every night (1 a.m. on the weekend), and 2) the restaurant doubles as a vibey, slightly raucous hookah lounge in the evenings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When we walked in at around 10:30 on a Friday night, it felt a little bit like we were pulling up to the club. On the left was a regular old sandwich counter, and there was a full bar on the right. But most of the real action was happening on the restaurant’s spacious covered patio, where the sound system blasted Kendrick Lamar and a mix of upbeat, danceable Arabic pop music while colorful disco lights made the floor and walls sparkle. Here, and in the long spillover tent on the sidewalk outside, big groups of twenty- and thirtysomethings sat around just kicking it — gossiping, talking shit and, of course, chomping down on some enormous sandwiches. Every once in a while, someone would take a deep drag on their hookah pipe and blow out a thick plume of smoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The place was so packed and boisterous, it felt like every single young(ish) person in Redwood City was there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Truth be told, even just having the option to get a good, fresh sandwich — especially a hot one — at 11 o’clock at night feels nearly miraculous in the Bay Area. (Plenty of customers came through just to pick up takeout orders to bring home.) With \u003ca href=\"https://www.thesandwichspot.com/copy-of-menu-locations-1\">30 locations\u003c/a> mostly spread around California, The Sandwich Spot belongs in the Ike’s-like genre of uniquely Northern Californian deli chains, with its unusual ingredient combinations; quirky, localized names (the “Bumgarner,” the “Smokin’ Sequoia”); variously zesty, spicy and garlicky sauces; and excellent Dutch Crunch bread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961065\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961065\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Inside a bar, groups of friends chat. Hookah pipes with glowing red coals are placed next to the tables.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">It felt like every young(ish) person in Redwood City was there — especially young Arab Americans and South Asians. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A sandwich called The Hangover was like a slightly funkified Bay Area take on a club sandwich, with hot turkey, cream cheese, avocado, “Bomb” sauce (like a tangy hot sauce), garlicky Kassi sauce, and a lot of crispy bacon — extremely satisfying on warm Dutch Crunch. The equally tasty Purple Koosh, an original Redwood City creation available only on Fridays, was a smoky variation on a similarly saucy theme, featuring house-smoked chicken, fried onion strings and a tangle of purple coleslaw. To round out the meal, we had air-fried Cajun fries, which came out hot and crispy even if they didn’t seem particularly Cajun, with a side of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894684/toum-shawarmaji-jordanian-restaurant-oakland-garlic-sauce\">toum-like\u003c/a> garlic dipping sauce — a nod to the restaurant’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.thesandwichspotrwc.com/about\">Lebanese ownership\u003c/a>, perhaps — that made everything taste five times more delicious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13960432,arts_13958926,arts_13955884']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>All the while we fiddled, like the total amateurs we were, with the hookah pipe we’d ordered — trying and failing and then finally succeeding at getting a decent puff of the mango mint flavored tobacco that we’d chosen, the little cubes of charcoal on top of the bowl glowing bright red as we got deeper into the night. The truth was, we felt a little bit out of place at first in this crowd of mostly college kids and recent college grads. Call it “Portrait of Two Lonely Middle-Aged Men at the Hookah Bar.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even if we’d started out a bit dubious about the hookah/sandwich concept, it didn’t take long for us to get caught up in the mood. I’ll leave it to the medical experts to pontificate on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/tobacco_industry/hookahs/\">health risks\u003c/a> associated with long-term hookah use, but the water pipe’s efficacy as a social lubricant and builder of community and feel-good vibes seems self-evident — especially among the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/20/style/hookah-dearborn-michigan.html\">young Arab Americans\u003c/a> and South Asians who made up a large chunk of The Sandwich Spot’s late-night crowd.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting out on one of the sidewalk tables, with a cool breeze blowing through, we watched all those big groups of friends laughing and talking deep into the night, relaxed as can be, taking big bites of their sandwiches and blowing out even bigger puffs of smoke. Before long, we were already planning our return visit — because past 10 or 11 o’clock in Redwood City, what better way is there to pass a couple of pleasant hours with friends?\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thesandwichspotrwc.com/\">\u003ci>The Sandwich Spot\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.–midnight, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.–1 a.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.–midnight at 2420 Broadway in Redwood City. After 5 p.m., when the lounge starts serving hookah, it’s a 21-and-over-only venue, and the kitchen closes at 11 p.m. daily.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961061\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961061\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: two men eat sandwiches on Dutch Crunch bread while a hookah pipe lets off a wisp of smoke behind them.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Redwood City’s The Sandwich Spot is a combination deli and late-night hookah lounge. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m no \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/hookah/comments/4qc1zg/food_and_shisha_pairings/\">hookah food-pairing\u003c/a> expert, but I never would have guessed that a hot Dutch Crunch deli sandwich, dripping with garlic sauce, would be the perfect match for an hour-long session with the shisha pipe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that is the premise — and the genius — of \u003ca href=\"https://www.thesandwichspotrwc.com/\">The Sandwich Spot\u003c/a> in downtown Redwood City, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.thesandwichspot.com/about\">deli chain\u003c/a> outpost that stands apart from all of its sister locations in two important ways: 1) it’s open until at least midnight every night (1 a.m. on the weekend), and 2) the restaurant doubles as a vibey, slightly raucous hookah lounge in the evenings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When we walked in at around 10:30 on a Friday night, it felt a little bit like we were pulling up to the club. On the left was a regular old sandwich counter, and there was a full bar on the right. But most of the real action was happening on the restaurant’s spacious covered patio, where the sound system blasted Kendrick Lamar and a mix of upbeat, danceable Arabic pop music while colorful disco lights made the floor and walls sparkle. Here, and in the long spillover tent on the sidewalk outside, big groups of twenty- and thirtysomethings sat around just kicking it — gossiping, talking shit and, of course, chomping down on some enormous sandwiches. Every once in a while, someone would take a deep drag on their hookah pipe and blow out a thick plume of smoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The place was so packed and boisterous, it felt like every single young(ish) person in Redwood City was there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Truth be told, even just having the option to get a good, fresh sandwich — especially a hot one — at 11 o’clock at night feels nearly miraculous in the Bay Area. (Plenty of customers came through just to pick up takeout orders to bring home.) With \u003ca href=\"https://www.thesandwichspot.com/copy-of-menu-locations-1\">30 locations\u003c/a> mostly spread around California, The Sandwich Spot belongs in the Ike’s-like genre of uniquely Northern Californian deli chains, with its unusual ingredient combinations; quirky, localized names (the “Bumgarner,” the “Smokin’ Sequoia”); variously zesty, spicy and garlicky sauces; and excellent Dutch Crunch bread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13961065\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13961065\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Inside a bar, groups of friends chat. Hookah pipes with glowing red coals are placed next to the tables.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/SH2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">It felt like every young(ish) person in Redwood City was there — especially young Arab Americans and South Asians. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A sandwich called The Hangover was like a slightly funkified Bay Area take on a club sandwich, with hot turkey, cream cheese, avocado, “Bomb” sauce (like a tangy hot sauce), garlicky Kassi sauce, and a lot of crispy bacon — extremely satisfying on warm Dutch Crunch. The equally tasty Purple Koosh, an original Redwood City creation available only on Fridays, was a smoky variation on a similarly saucy theme, featuring house-smoked chicken, fried onion strings and a tangle of purple coleslaw. To round out the meal, we had air-fried Cajun fries, which came out hot and crispy even if they didn’t seem particularly Cajun, with a side of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894684/toum-shawarmaji-jordanian-restaurant-oakland-garlic-sauce\">toum-like\u003c/a> garlic dipping sauce — a nod to the restaurant’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.thesandwichspotrwc.com/about\">Lebanese ownership\u003c/a>, perhaps — that made everything taste five times more delicious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>All the while we fiddled, like the total amateurs we were, with the hookah pipe we’d ordered — trying and failing and then finally succeeding at getting a decent puff of the mango mint flavored tobacco that we’d chosen, the little cubes of charcoal on top of the bowl glowing bright red as we got deeper into the night. The truth was, we felt a little bit out of place at first in this crowd of mostly college kids and recent college grads. Call it “Portrait of Two Lonely Middle-Aged Men at the Hookah Bar.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even if we’d started out a bit dubious about the hookah/sandwich concept, it didn’t take long for us to get caught up in the mood. I’ll leave it to the medical experts to pontificate on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/tobacco_industry/hookahs/\">health risks\u003c/a> associated with long-term hookah use, but the water pipe’s efficacy as a social lubricant and builder of community and feel-good vibes seems self-evident — especially among the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/20/style/hookah-dearborn-michigan.html\">young Arab Americans\u003c/a> and South Asians who made up a large chunk of The Sandwich Spot’s late-night crowd.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting out on one of the sidewalk tables, with a cool breeze blowing through, we watched all those big groups of friends laughing and talking deep into the night, relaxed as can be, taking big bites of their sandwiches and blowing out even bigger puffs of smoke. Before long, we were already planning our return visit — because past 10 or 11 o’clock in Redwood City, what better way is there to pass a couple of pleasant hours with friends?\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thesandwichspotrwc.com/\">\u003ci>The Sandwich Spot\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.–midnight, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.–1 a.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.–midnight at 2420 Broadway in Redwood City. After 5 p.m., when the lounge starts serving hookah, it’s a 21-and-over-only venue, and the kitchen closes at 11 p.m. daily.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "San Jose’s Late-Night Boba Shop Is a One-of-a-Kind Experience",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960436\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960436\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: A gray-haired man proudly holds up two boba drinks while two customers scarf down a bowl of tiramisu.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose’s Sweet Gelato Tea Lounge one of the Bay Area’s priciest — and most unique — boba shops. The owner, Tony, runs the place by sheer force of his personality.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before my first visit to San Jose’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sweetgelatotealounge/\">Sweet Gelato Tea Lounge\u003c/a>, I had never gone out for boba past 11 o’clock — never even knew that was an option, really, when even boba shops in Taipei mostly call it a night by 8 p.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when I walked into this little storefront in the Vietnam Town shopping complex on a recent Friday night, I had to take a minute to let it all soak in. The vibey lights bathing the shop in a dim neon purple. The groups of Asian Zoomers and younger Millennials lounging in leather booths. The pastel-hued digital menu board with its vaguely (and not-so-vaguely) inappropriate drink names: the Pop Her Cherry, the PMS (Please Make Sweet), the Don’t Be a Hater and, unbelievably, the Lil Pee Pee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shop is open until 2 a.m. every night, and yes, I do believe that was a red Porsche parked right out front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When all was said and done, we’d paid $50 (!) for a dessert and two drinks, including one called the “Boba Virgin.” Was it worth it? Your mileage may vary, but at the end of a very, very long night, we couldn’t stop laughing at the ballsiness of the place, and how we’d just taken part in a truly only-in-San-Jose experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, few people embody the Vietnam Town mall’s boot-strappy, go-big-or-go-home ethic better than Sweet Gelato’s owner, who introduces himself as Tony. A trim, energetic older Vietnamese man with salt-and-pepper hair, Tony runs the shop by sheer force of his personality. As soon as we walk in, he pulls us over, gesturing toward the menu, and says, “Forget about this. It doesn’t matter. If you don’t like your drink, you don’t pay. Simple as that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Never mind that we’re already willing customers standing in line to order drinks. Tony holds up his phone to show us an article listing Sweet Gelato Tea Lounge as one of the top boba shops in San Jose. He pulls up the shop’s Yelp page. “Look at how many reviews,” he says. (There are \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/sweet-gelato-tea-lounge-san-jose\">more than 2,000\u003c/a>, for what it’s worth.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960437\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960437\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: The brightly lit exterior of a boba shop called Sweet Gelato.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The shop is open until 2 a.m. every night. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What Tony likes to do, it seems, is to play boba sommelier, insisting that we not waste our time perusing the menu and instead just let him pick out something we’ll like based on our preferences. Do we like smoothies? Milk teas? Something fruity? How do we feel about strawberries? What about dragon fruit?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For someone like me, who’s prone to analyzing a menu for upwards of 10 minutes to engineer the ideal order, giving up control in this way feels more than a little bit stressful. But Tony seems so fired up about the dragon fruit that I warm up to the idea. And that’s how I wind up ordering the Boba Virgin, a vaguely tropical concoction of dragon fruit, pomegranate, basil seeds and both popping boba and the regular tapioca-based variety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tony decides to narrate my first sip. “Look at his face,” he says with palpable excitement. “Look at his face!” The drink is a bit sweet for my taste and doesn’t have any \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13957666/best-boba-shops-bay-area-berkeley-cupertino-sf\">discernible tea flavor\u003c/a>, but I feel too bad about letting Tony down to do anything but nod enthusiastically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also order a durian smoothie with boba, which costs $18 all by itself, and I’ve never seen anyone make a smoothie with as much vigor as Tony, putting his whole back and shoulders into it as he stirs with a spatula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13959808,arts_13958466,arts_13957666']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>My biggest piece of advice? Don’t come to Sweet Gelato unprepared, or you’ll be steamrolled by the force of Tony’s charisma and salesmanship. This man could sell me any car in the used car lot. If he sold vacation packages, I’d wind up letting him send me anywhere in the world, via a mode of transportation of his own choosing. We asked one tentative question about the shop’s gelato and other dessert offerings, and before we knew what was happening, he’d taken out two spoons, offered us a taste of tiramisu, and closed the sale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Were the drinks amazing enough to merit the highest prices I’ve ever encountered in a boba shop? I suppose that’s in the eye of the beholder. The durian smoothie was delicious, rich and super-buttery, and loaded with the fruit’s characteristically bold, pungent flavor. Like Tony promised, it was made with 100% \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925835/durian-bay-area-love-letter-singaporean-culture\">real durian\u003c/a>, and it showed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Really, though, I think the reason the shop has garnered such a cult following (and \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/sweet-gelato-tea-lounge-san-jose\">near-perfect Yelp rating\u003c/a>) has more to do with the shop’s odd quirks and Tony’s unique style of hospitality. A piece of paper taped to the display case previews not new drinks but simply new drink \u003ci>names \u003c/i>that he’s planning to release in the future. (A sample: LIFE (Living It Fiercely Everyday)”) And, in its own way, the entire process of ordering a drink and watching Tony make it (and then watching him watch you drink it!) is a kind of show in and of itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I haven’t encountered anything else like it in 30-plus years of boba drinking.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sweetgelatotealounge/\">\u003ci>Sweet Gelato Tea Lounge\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open 5 p.m.–2 a.m. daily at 972 Green St. Unit 7084 in San Jose. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960436\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960436\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: A gray-haired man proudly holds up two boba drinks while two customers scarf down a bowl of tiramisu.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEET-GELATO-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose’s Sweet Gelato Tea Lounge one of the Bay Area’s priciest — and most unique — boba shops. The owner, Tony, runs the place by sheer force of his personality.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before my first visit to San Jose’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sweetgelatotealounge/\">Sweet Gelato Tea Lounge\u003c/a>, I had never gone out for boba past 11 o’clock — never even knew that was an option, really, when even boba shops in Taipei mostly call it a night by 8 p.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when I walked into this little storefront in the Vietnam Town shopping complex on a recent Friday night, I had to take a minute to let it all soak in. The vibey lights bathing the shop in a dim neon purple. The groups of Asian Zoomers and younger Millennials lounging in leather booths. The pastel-hued digital menu board with its vaguely (and not-so-vaguely) inappropriate drink names: the Pop Her Cherry, the PMS (Please Make Sweet), the Don’t Be a Hater and, unbelievably, the Lil Pee Pee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shop is open until 2 a.m. every night, and yes, I do believe that was a red Porsche parked right out front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When all was said and done, we’d paid $50 (!) for a dessert and two drinks, including one called the “Boba Virgin.” Was it worth it? Your mileage may vary, but at the end of a very, very long night, we couldn’t stop laughing at the ballsiness of the place, and how we’d just taken part in a truly only-in-San-Jose experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, few people embody the Vietnam Town mall’s boot-strappy, go-big-or-go-home ethic better than Sweet Gelato’s owner, who introduces himself as Tony. A trim, energetic older Vietnamese man with salt-and-pepper hair, Tony runs the shop by sheer force of his personality. As soon as we walk in, he pulls us over, gesturing toward the menu, and says, “Forget about this. It doesn’t matter. If you don’t like your drink, you don’t pay. Simple as that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Never mind that we’re already willing customers standing in line to order drinks. Tony holds up his phone to show us an article listing Sweet Gelato Tea Lounge as one of the top boba shops in San Jose. He pulls up the shop’s Yelp page. “Look at how many reviews,” he says. (There are \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/sweet-gelato-tea-lounge-san-jose\">more than 2,000\u003c/a>, for what it’s worth.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960437\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960437\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: The brightly lit exterior of a boba shop called Sweet Gelato.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/SWEEY-GELATO-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The shop is open until 2 a.m. every night. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What Tony likes to do, it seems, is to play boba sommelier, insisting that we not waste our time perusing the menu and instead just let him pick out something we’ll like based on our preferences. Do we like smoothies? Milk teas? Something fruity? How do we feel about strawberries? What about dragon fruit?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For someone like me, who’s prone to analyzing a menu for upwards of 10 minutes to engineer the ideal order, giving up control in this way feels more than a little bit stressful. But Tony seems so fired up about the dragon fruit that I warm up to the idea. And that’s how I wind up ordering the Boba Virgin, a vaguely tropical concoction of dragon fruit, pomegranate, basil seeds and both popping boba and the regular tapioca-based variety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tony decides to narrate my first sip. “Look at his face,” he says with palpable excitement. “Look at his face!” The drink is a bit sweet for my taste and doesn’t have any \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13957666/best-boba-shops-bay-area-berkeley-cupertino-sf\">discernible tea flavor\u003c/a>, but I feel too bad about letting Tony down to do anything but nod enthusiastically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also order a durian smoothie with boba, which costs $18 all by itself, and I’ve never seen anyone make a smoothie with as much vigor as Tony, putting his whole back and shoulders into it as he stirs with a spatula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>My biggest piece of advice? Don’t come to Sweet Gelato unprepared, or you’ll be steamrolled by the force of Tony’s charisma and salesmanship. This man could sell me any car in the used car lot. If he sold vacation packages, I’d wind up letting him send me anywhere in the world, via a mode of transportation of his own choosing. We asked one tentative question about the shop’s gelato and other dessert offerings, and before we knew what was happening, he’d taken out two spoons, offered us a taste of tiramisu, and closed the sale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Were the drinks amazing enough to merit the highest prices I’ve ever encountered in a boba shop? I suppose that’s in the eye of the beholder. The durian smoothie was delicious, rich and super-buttery, and loaded with the fruit’s characteristically bold, pungent flavor. Like Tony promised, it was made with 100% \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925835/durian-bay-area-love-letter-singaporean-culture\">real durian\u003c/a>, and it showed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Really, though, I think the reason the shop has garnered such a cult following (and \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/sweet-gelato-tea-lounge-san-jose\">near-perfect Yelp rating\u003c/a>) has more to do with the shop’s odd quirks and Tony’s unique style of hospitality. A piece of paper taped to the display case previews not new drinks but simply new drink \u003ci>names \u003c/i>that he’s planning to release in the future. (A sample: LIFE (Living It Fiercely Everyday)”) And, in its own way, the entire process of ordering a drink and watching Tony make it (and then watching him watch you drink it!) is a kind of show in and of itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I haven’t encountered anything else like it in 30-plus years of boba drinking.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sweetgelatotealounge/\">\u003ci>Sweet Gelato Tea Lounge\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open 5 p.m.–2 a.m. daily at 972 Green St. Unit 7084 in San Jose. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Golden Boy Pizza Is Where You Want To End Your Night",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13959812\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13959812\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy.jpg\" alt=\"Two men devour a pizza straight out of the box while standing in a crowd of other customers.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eating a Golden Boy slice while standing on the sidewalk late at night is an indelible San Francisco experience. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re a lifelong San Franciscan, chances are you’ve grabbed a slice at \u003ca href=\"https://goldenboypizza.com/\">Golden Boy Pizza\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or to be more specific: If your misspent youth involved hanging around the vicinity of North Beach late at night, you’ve probably burned the roof of your mouth scarfing down a Golden Boy clam-and-garlic slice while standing on the sidewalk well past midnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever since Golden Boy’s original Green Street location opened in 1978, the pizzeria has been an indelible fixture of San Francisco’s late-night scene. Pre-pandemic, and for the bulk of its 40-plus-year heyday as an after-hours hangout, Golden Boy was open past 2 a.m. on the weekend, making it the ideal place to hit up after a punk show or a reckless night of bar-hopping. Back then, the restaurant itself doubled as a neighborhood dive bar of sorts, with pizza eaters squeezing shoulder-to-shoulder at the counter to enjoy pitchers of cold Stella and a thrash metal–heavy playlist with their meal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Times change, of course. These days, Golden Boy is strictly takeout only. It now closes at 9 p.m. on weekdays, and 11 p.m. on weekends. But even in its streamlined form, the restaurant remains one of the best spots in the city to grab a bite late at night. At a little before 10 o’clock on a recent Friday night, you could still spot the pizzeria’s iconic neon sign (an enormous hand, lit up in red and green, its index finger pointing the way) from several blocks away. The line outside seemed as long as it had ever been, maybe nine or 10 customers deep — an ethnically diverse crowd, mostly in their 20s or 30s. Because there isn’t any dine-in option, some took off in their cars as they’d gotten their pizzas. A few took their slices into the cocktail bar next door; a few more, like us, found a spot on the sidewalk where they could lean against a wall and eat their pizza standing up, like a proper street food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13959811\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13959811\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: A line of customers waiting outside of Golden Boy Pizza.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even though it’s no longer open past 2 a.m. on the weekend, Golden Boy Pizza remains a popular late-night destination in North Beach. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What I love about Golden Boy is its commitment to selling just pizza, nothing else — no perfunctory salad or chicken wings. (If you want a balanced, multicourse meal, there are plenty of other places in North Beach that’ll do the job.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pizza, meanwhile, is uniquely and idiosyncratically Bay Area. A Golden Boy pie’s thick crust and rectangular shape predate the region’s recent wave of trendy, right-angled Detroit-style pizzas by about 40 years — though no one would confuse the two styles. According to its official backstory, a Golden Boy “San Francilian” pie is basically “\u003ca href=\"https://www.goldenboypizza.com/sanfrancisco.php\">focaccia with pizza topping\u003c/a>.” That description might lead you to imagine a pizza with a spongy or bready texture, but the most remarkable thing about a Golden Boy slice is how light and airy it is once you’ve bitten into its golden-brown, impeccably crunchy bottom. Though I’ve never tested the theory, I \u003ci>feel\u003c/i> like I could eat 100 slices without feeling uncomfortably full.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13958926,arts_13958466,arts_13954597']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>It’s a tempting prospect, too, because the pizza’s components are so well-balanced and delicious — the juicy, thick red sauce (hands-down one of the best in the Bay); the generous amount of stretchy cheese; the charred, squared-off edges on each coveted corner slice. The toppings list is short and sweet, not veering far beyond pepperoni, sausage and a few simple vegetables. The clam-and-garlic pie is the cult favorite of the bunch, topped with chewy baby clams, enough garlic to bowl you over and linger on your breath, and a flurry of chopped parsley to act as a fresh counterpoint. How good is it? If we were sculpting a Mount Rushmore of Bay Area pizzas, it would easily snag one of the four spots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golden Boy also does a more standard combination pizza, as well as a tasty vegetarian pie that subs in pesto for the red sauce. During our recent visit, however, we found ourselves gravitating toward the simplest pizzas — the plain cheese slice and the classic, no-frills pepperoni. Without any fussy toppings to distract, we marinated in that perfect union of cheese, sauce and ethereal crust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know if this is the best slice in San Francisco, but it sure \u003ci>felt\u003c/i> like it was. Standing there hunched over outside in the lamplight, balancing the pizza box in one hand and a can of soda in the other while we ate. Cars whizzed past. A saxophone guy on the opposite street corner was playing something plaintive and jazzy. In that moment, it was hard to imagine anything better.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://goldenboypizza.com/\">\u003ci>Golden Boy Pizza’s\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> original North Beach location is open Sunday through Thursday 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m. and Friday to Saturday 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m. at 542 Green St. in San Francisco. There’s also a San Mateo location and a forthcoming location at 1447 Taraval St., in the Parkside neighborhood of SF.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13959812\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13959812\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy.jpg\" alt=\"Two men devour a pizza straight out of the box while standing in a crowd of other customers.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eating a Golden Boy slice while standing on the sidewalk late at night is an indelible San Francisco experience. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re a lifelong San Franciscan, chances are you’ve grabbed a slice at \u003ca href=\"https://goldenboypizza.com/\">Golden Boy Pizza\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or to be more specific: If your misspent youth involved hanging around the vicinity of North Beach late at night, you’ve probably burned the roof of your mouth scarfing down a Golden Boy clam-and-garlic slice while standing on the sidewalk well past midnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever since Golden Boy’s original Green Street location opened in 1978, the pizzeria has been an indelible fixture of San Francisco’s late-night scene. Pre-pandemic, and for the bulk of its 40-plus-year heyday as an after-hours hangout, Golden Boy was open past 2 a.m. on the weekend, making it the ideal place to hit up after a punk show or a reckless night of bar-hopping. Back then, the restaurant itself doubled as a neighborhood dive bar of sorts, with pizza eaters squeezing shoulder-to-shoulder at the counter to enjoy pitchers of cold Stella and a thrash metal–heavy playlist with their meal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Times change, of course. These days, Golden Boy is strictly takeout only. It now closes at 9 p.m. on weekdays, and 11 p.m. on weekends. But even in its streamlined form, the restaurant remains one of the best spots in the city to grab a bite late at night. At a little before 10 o’clock on a recent Friday night, you could still spot the pizzeria’s iconic neon sign (an enormous hand, lit up in red and green, its index finger pointing the way) from several blocks away. The line outside seemed as long as it had ever been, maybe nine or 10 customers deep — an ethnically diverse crowd, mostly in their 20s or 30s. Because there isn’t any dine-in option, some took off in their cars as they’d gotten their pizzas. A few took their slices into the cocktail bar next door; a few more, like us, found a spot on the sidewalk where they could lean against a wall and eat their pizza standing up, like a proper street food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13959811\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13959811\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: A line of customers waiting outside of Golden Boy Pizza.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Goldenboy2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even though it’s no longer open past 2 a.m. on the weekend, Golden Boy Pizza remains a popular late-night destination in North Beach. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What I love about Golden Boy is its commitment to selling just pizza, nothing else — no perfunctory salad or chicken wings. (If you want a balanced, multicourse meal, there are plenty of other places in North Beach that’ll do the job.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pizza, meanwhile, is uniquely and idiosyncratically Bay Area. A Golden Boy pie’s thick crust and rectangular shape predate the region’s recent wave of trendy, right-angled Detroit-style pizzas by about 40 years — though no one would confuse the two styles. According to its official backstory, a Golden Boy “San Francilian” pie is basically “\u003ca href=\"https://www.goldenboypizza.com/sanfrancisco.php\">focaccia with pizza topping\u003c/a>.” That description might lead you to imagine a pizza with a spongy or bready texture, but the most remarkable thing about a Golden Boy slice is how light and airy it is once you’ve bitten into its golden-brown, impeccably crunchy bottom. Though I’ve never tested the theory, I \u003ci>feel\u003c/i> like I could eat 100 slices without feeling uncomfortably full.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>It’s a tempting prospect, too, because the pizza’s components are so well-balanced and delicious — the juicy, thick red sauce (hands-down one of the best in the Bay); the generous amount of stretchy cheese; the charred, squared-off edges on each coveted corner slice. The toppings list is short and sweet, not veering far beyond pepperoni, sausage and a few simple vegetables. The clam-and-garlic pie is the cult favorite of the bunch, topped with chewy baby clams, enough garlic to bowl you over and linger on your breath, and a flurry of chopped parsley to act as a fresh counterpoint. How good is it? If we were sculpting a Mount Rushmore of Bay Area pizzas, it would easily snag one of the four spots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golden Boy also does a more standard combination pizza, as well as a tasty vegetarian pie that subs in pesto for the red sauce. During our recent visit, however, we found ourselves gravitating toward the simplest pizzas — the plain cheese slice and the classic, no-frills pepperoni. Without any fussy toppings to distract, we marinated in that perfect union of cheese, sauce and ethereal crust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know if this is the best slice in San Francisco, but it sure \u003ci>felt\u003c/i> like it was. Standing there hunched over outside in the lamplight, balancing the pizza box in one hand and a can of soda in the other while we ate. Cars whizzed past. A saxophone guy on the opposite street corner was playing something plaintive and jazzy. In that moment, it was hard to imagine anything better.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://goldenboypizza.com/\">\u003ci>Golden Boy Pizza’s\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> original North Beach location is open Sunday through Thursday 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m. and Friday to Saturday 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m. at 542 Green St. in San Francisco. There’s also a San Mateo location and a forthcoming location at 1447 Taraval St., in the Parkside neighborhood of SF.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Kinda Is Bringing the Fun Back to Bay Area Izakaya",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13959437\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13959437\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men eating noodles and sushi hand rolls at a bar counter.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berkeley’s Kinda Izakaya stands apart from the masses of expensive and overly precious izakayas in the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Based on vibes alone, I knew \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kinda.izakaya/\">Kinda Izakaya\u003c/a> was going to be my kind of spot the moment I walked in. The walls were papered over with manga panels and vintage-y beer posters featuring sumo wrestlers and lucky cats. Yellow Asahi beer crates had been flipped upside down to use as stools. Strings of paper lanterns and colorful little flags gave the feeling of dining outdoors in an alleyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I took one whiff of the smoke coming off the charcoal grill, and all of the pleasure receptors in my brain started firing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Open since last summer, Kinda is Berkeley’s newest izakaya — which, broadly defined, is a kind of Japanese pub that serves food that goes well with beer and sake. It’s one of my favorite restaurant genres. But with a few notable \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/review-abura-ya-a-punk-rock-fried-chicken-pop-up-1/\">exceptions\u003c/a>, Bay Area restaurateurs have tended to reinterpret the izakaya to mean an upscale bar that traffics in $15 meat skewers and stingily-portioned $25 plates of raw fish — and closes well before 10 p.m., as if to add insult to injury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Kinda seems to understand on a molecular level is that izakaya culture is meant to be fun, a little bit boisterous and very, very casual. The restaurant is open until midnight on weekends, and at a little past 9 o’clock on a recent Friday night, the place was packed — a mix of middle-aged couples seated shoulder to shoulder at the bar and groups of twenty- and thirtysomethings chatting happily as they split a big spread of dishes. The dining room thrummed with upbeat J-pop that made you want to dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13959438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13959438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: View of a Japanese izakaya from outside the front window. Paper lanterns and flags are hung up both inside and out.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">On weekends, Kinda is open — and lively — until midnight. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kinda has the fun and casual part down, even if it isn’t exactly a cheap restaurant; it’d still be a splurge for most college students schlepping over from Cal’s campus, which is a few blocks away. That said, you can buy a big-ass pitcher of cold beer for $24. And the menu is broad and varied enough to make it just as easy to piece together a tasty meal for about $30 a person as it is to ball out and drop a couple hundred bucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most importantly, the menu runs the gamut of typical izakaya food categories — raw seafood, salads, skewers, fried things, skewers, rice bowls, noodles and more — with enough verve and creativity to keep things interesting. If anything, the menu is so long, and everything sounds so fun, that you might be hit with decision-making panic. “Golden spoons” with ikura, uni and Hokkaido scallops? Grilled beef tongue with ponzu, egg yolk and fresh wasabi? That same tongue served on a curry plate? With sufficient stomach space and a more robust budget, we would have ordered it all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13958926,arts_13957599,arts_13955884']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Most everything we did order hit the spot. There was a block of cold tofu topped with sweet seaweed and salmon roe, equal parts briny and refreshing. There was a big bowl of fried chicken skin (at $10, the deal of the night), as immaculately crunchy as the wonton strips they serve at Americanized Chinese restaurants, which was the ideal match for cold beer. There were hand rolls piled high with grilled eel and ponzu-kissed raw yellowtail. Our favorite was a bowl of udon carbonara topped with bonito flakes and spicy, bright-orange cod roe — a creamy, buttery taste of the sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We finished with a grilled rice ball that had been brushed with a sweet soy sauce glaze and cooked over hot charcoal until it was smoky and crunchy and perfectly golden-brown: an elite-tier final bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kinda is also the rare Bay Area restaurant that feels tailor-made for a solo (midnight) diner — where you can swing by after work, grab a seat at the bar, order a couple of cold appetizers and a plate of mentaiko pasta, and feel completely comfortable and unhurried. I think we can all toast to that.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://kindaizakaya.com/\">\u003ci>Kinda Izakaya\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Thursday 5:30–11 p.m. and Friday to Saturday 5:30 p.m.–midnight at 1941 University Ave. in Berkeley.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13959437\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13959437\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men eating noodles and sushi hand rolls at a bar counter.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berkeley’s Kinda Izakaya stands apart from the masses of expensive and overly precious izakayas in the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Based on vibes alone, I knew \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kinda.izakaya/\">Kinda Izakaya\u003c/a> was going to be my kind of spot the moment I walked in. The walls were papered over with manga panels and vintage-y beer posters featuring sumo wrestlers and lucky cats. Yellow Asahi beer crates had been flipped upside down to use as stools. Strings of paper lanterns and colorful little flags gave the feeling of dining outdoors in an alleyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I took one whiff of the smoke coming off the charcoal grill, and all of the pleasure receptors in my brain started firing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Open since last summer, Kinda is Berkeley’s newest izakaya — which, broadly defined, is a kind of Japanese pub that serves food that goes well with beer and sake. It’s one of my favorite restaurant genres. But with a few notable \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/review-abura-ya-a-punk-rock-fried-chicken-pop-up-1/\">exceptions\u003c/a>, Bay Area restaurateurs have tended to reinterpret the izakaya to mean an upscale bar that traffics in $15 meat skewers and stingily-portioned $25 plates of raw fish — and closes well before 10 p.m., as if to add insult to injury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Kinda seems to understand on a molecular level is that izakaya culture is meant to be fun, a little bit boisterous and very, very casual. The restaurant is open until midnight on weekends, and at a little past 9 o’clock on a recent Friday night, the place was packed — a mix of middle-aged couples seated shoulder to shoulder at the bar and groups of twenty- and thirtysomethings chatting happily as they split a big spread of dishes. The dining room thrummed with upbeat J-pop that made you want to dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13959438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13959438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: View of a Japanese izakaya from outside the front window. Paper lanterns and flags are hung up both inside and out.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/kinda-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">On weekends, Kinda is open — and lively — until midnight. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kinda has the fun and casual part down, even if it isn’t exactly a cheap restaurant; it’d still be a splurge for most college students schlepping over from Cal’s campus, which is a few blocks away. That said, you can buy a big-ass pitcher of cold beer for $24. And the menu is broad and varied enough to make it just as easy to piece together a tasty meal for about $30 a person as it is to ball out and drop a couple hundred bucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most importantly, the menu runs the gamut of typical izakaya food categories — raw seafood, salads, skewers, fried things, skewers, rice bowls, noodles and more — with enough verve and creativity to keep things interesting. If anything, the menu is so long, and everything sounds so fun, that you might be hit with decision-making panic. “Golden spoons” with ikura, uni and Hokkaido scallops? Grilled beef tongue with ponzu, egg yolk and fresh wasabi? That same tongue served on a curry plate? With sufficient stomach space and a more robust budget, we would have ordered it all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Most everything we did order hit the spot. There was a block of cold tofu topped with sweet seaweed and salmon roe, equal parts briny and refreshing. There was a big bowl of fried chicken skin (at $10, the deal of the night), as immaculately crunchy as the wonton strips they serve at Americanized Chinese restaurants, which was the ideal match for cold beer. There were hand rolls piled high with grilled eel and ponzu-kissed raw yellowtail. Our favorite was a bowl of udon carbonara topped with bonito flakes and spicy, bright-orange cod roe — a creamy, buttery taste of the sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We finished with a grilled rice ball that had been brushed with a sweet soy sauce glaze and cooked over hot charcoal until it was smoky and crunchy and perfectly golden-brown: an elite-tier final bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kinda is also the rare Bay Area restaurant that feels tailor-made for a solo (midnight) diner — where you can swing by after work, grab a seat at the bar, order a couple of cold appetizers and a plate of mentaiko pasta, and feel completely comfortable and unhurried. I think we can all toast to that.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://kindaizakaya.com/\">\u003ci>Kinda Izakaya\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Thursday 5:30–11 p.m. and Friday to Saturday 5:30 p.m.–midnight at 1941 University Ave. in Berkeley.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958934\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958934\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men eating a spread of diner food (burger, onion rings, bacon, strawberry pie) while a woman approaches the table carrying more food on a tray.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nation’s hefty cheeseburgers and glistening strawberry pies are classic Bay Area diner food. \u003ccite>(Briana Loewinsohn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. This week, they were joined by guest artist — and longtime Nation’s enthusiast — Briana Loewinsohn. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://nationsrestaurants.com\">Nation’s Giant Hamburgers and Great Pies\u003c/a> probably doesn’t need much of an introduction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Particularly if you grew up in the East Bay, chances are there was one of these fast food diners in or near your hometown. Maybe it was where your family went to grab a quick dinner when no one felt like cooking, or where the Little League coach would bring the team for post-game burgers and shakes. In high school, you might have spent hours there after school, multiple times a week, just shooting the shit with friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for a wide swath of the Bay, the local Nation’s was almost certainly one of the only places in town where you could order a slice of pie or a full breakfast plate at 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when we saw that the chain’s original location in San Pablo is still open 24/7, we knew we had to pay a visit. The restaurant opened in 1952 as a tiny, \u003ca href=\"https://nationsrestaurants.com/our-story\">six-stool hot dog counter\u003c/a> (originally called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Nations-Giant-Hamburgers-East-Bay-16211282.php\">Harvey’s\u003c/a>”). The current, and much larger, iteration of the building sits across the street from the (also 24-hour) San Pablo Lytton Casino, and when you pull up after dark, it looks very much like the image of the quintessential diner that I hold in my mind’s eye: a squat, brick-faced beacon in the night, all aglow with red and white neon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958936\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958936\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: The exterior of a Nation's fast food burger restaurant, lit up in neon at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The original San Pablo location of Nation’s is still open 24/7. \u003ccite>(Briana Loewinsohn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a recent Thursday night, the crowd inside was about 40% young families out late with their kids, 40% chatty high schoolers and 20% very hungry middle-aged men (salute to my people), with their diner breakfast plates \u003ci>and\u003c/i> chili con carne \u003ci>and\u003c/i> banana cream pie spread out on the table like some midcentury still life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than anything, it seemed to be a strictly locals kind of place – Nation’s, as a rule, is not much of a destination restaurant. “I guess you guys are from out of town,” the woman next to us in line said, laughing, not unkindly, when she saw us taking photos of the pie case and gawking at the menu with a little bit too much excitement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If in doubt, you’ll probably just want to order a cheeseburger. So many Bay Area people talk up In-N-Out, our most celebrated SoCal import, that it’s easy to forget that Nation’s is the Bay’s own homegrown — and arguably superior — fast food burger chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Nation’s cheeseburger has its own particular architecture. It has a surprising heft, mostly attributable to the thick, 5-ounce patty, but the main points of distinction are 1) the massive dollop of mayonnaise slathered underneath the patty and 2) the thick rounds of crunchy raw onion that provide a sharp counterpoint to the salty, fatty beef and cheese. (Ignore the wrongheaded people who try to convince you that it’s “too much onion.”) It’s a tasty, well-constructed burger — and if you’re feeling decadent, the fried egg and the uncommonly crispy bacon are both excellent add-ons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13958466,arts_13954597,arts_13956683']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>We found the rest of the menu to be a little bit hit or miss. The fries were mediocre. The onion rings, while piping hot, were crumbly and underseasoned, and fell apart when we tried to eat them. The Oreo milkshake, on the other hand, was fantastic, with the ideal, slurpable thickness. And the classic breakfast plates — available in One-Egger, Two-Egger and Three-Egger permutations — are as solid as they come for an after-midnight breakfast option, with properly runny fried eggs and more of that good bacon (even if the hash browns were a bit pale and limp).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our apologies, though, that we’ve gone this far without talking about Nation’s second biggest claim to fame: its pies.To be more specific, the strawberry pies, which the chain sells each spring and early summer as part of a big seasonal promotion that also features strawberry pancakes, strawberry French toast, strawberry cheesecake and straight-up bowls of strawberries (the quaintest, and most Bay Area, option).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stunner, though, is the individual-size strawberry tart: a fairly standard pie shell with a mound of whole, fresh strawberries piled probably six inches high, ringed with spray-can whipped cream and coated in goopy red glaze — a pleasing juxtaposition in the way it’s both natural \u003ci>and \u003c/i>unnatural. Despite the glop, the luxuriousness of this Nation’s pie is that you’re essentially just eating a whole pint’s worth of surprisingly sweet, ripe strawberries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I suppose that’s Bay Area diner culture, in a nutshell. And to be able to eat such a pie, and such a burger, at 3 o’clock in the morning? It’s what makes Nation’s a Bay Area classic.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://nationsrestaurants.com/\">\u003ci>Nation’s\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> has 28 locations in Northern California, mostly concentrated in the East Bay (plus two in Texas). The original San Pablo location at 13296 San Pablo Dam Rd. is open 24/7.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Nation’s Giant Hamburgers has been a classic after-hours hangout spot for more than 70 years.",
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"title": "Nation's 24-Hour Burger Restaurant Is a Late-Night East Bay Landmark | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958934\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958934\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men eating a spread of diner food (burger, onion rings, bacon, strawberry pie) while a woman approaches the table carrying more food on a tray.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_1-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nation’s hefty cheeseburgers and glistening strawberry pies are classic Bay Area diner food. \u003ccite>(Briana Loewinsohn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. This week, they were joined by guest artist — and longtime Nation’s enthusiast — Briana Loewinsohn. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://nationsrestaurants.com\">Nation’s Giant Hamburgers and Great Pies\u003c/a> probably doesn’t need much of an introduction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Particularly if you grew up in the East Bay, chances are there was one of these fast food diners in or near your hometown. Maybe it was where your family went to grab a quick dinner when no one felt like cooking, or where the Little League coach would bring the team for post-game burgers and shakes. In high school, you might have spent hours there after school, multiple times a week, just shooting the shit with friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for a wide swath of the Bay, the local Nation’s was almost certainly one of the only places in town where you could order a slice of pie or a full breakfast plate at 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when we saw that the chain’s original location in San Pablo is still open 24/7, we knew we had to pay a visit. The restaurant opened in 1952 as a tiny, \u003ca href=\"https://nationsrestaurants.com/our-story\">six-stool hot dog counter\u003c/a> (originally called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Nations-Giant-Hamburgers-East-Bay-16211282.php\">Harvey’s\u003c/a>”). The current, and much larger, iteration of the building sits across the street from the (also 24-hour) San Pablo Lytton Casino, and when you pull up after dark, it looks very much like the image of the quintessential diner that I hold in my mind’s eye: a squat, brick-faced beacon in the night, all aglow with red and white neon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958936\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958936\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: The exterior of a Nation's fast food burger restaurant, lit up in neon at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Nations_2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The original San Pablo location of Nation’s is still open 24/7. \u003ccite>(Briana Loewinsohn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a recent Thursday night, the crowd inside was about 40% young families out late with their kids, 40% chatty high schoolers and 20% very hungry middle-aged men (salute to my people), with their diner breakfast plates \u003ci>and\u003c/i> chili con carne \u003ci>and\u003c/i> banana cream pie spread out on the table like some midcentury still life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than anything, it seemed to be a strictly locals kind of place – Nation’s, as a rule, is not much of a destination restaurant. “I guess you guys are from out of town,” the woman next to us in line said, laughing, not unkindly, when she saw us taking photos of the pie case and gawking at the menu with a little bit too much excitement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If in doubt, you’ll probably just want to order a cheeseburger. So many Bay Area people talk up In-N-Out, our most celebrated SoCal import, that it’s easy to forget that Nation’s is the Bay’s own homegrown — and arguably superior — fast food burger chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Nation’s cheeseburger has its own particular architecture. It has a surprising heft, mostly attributable to the thick, 5-ounce patty, but the main points of distinction are 1) the massive dollop of mayonnaise slathered underneath the patty and 2) the thick rounds of crunchy raw onion that provide a sharp counterpoint to the salty, fatty beef and cheese. (Ignore the wrongheaded people who try to convince you that it’s “too much onion.”) It’s a tasty, well-constructed burger — and if you’re feeling decadent, the fried egg and the uncommonly crispy bacon are both excellent add-ons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>We found the rest of the menu to be a little bit hit or miss. The fries were mediocre. The onion rings, while piping hot, were crumbly and underseasoned, and fell apart when we tried to eat them. The Oreo milkshake, on the other hand, was fantastic, with the ideal, slurpable thickness. And the classic breakfast plates — available in One-Egger, Two-Egger and Three-Egger permutations — are as solid as they come for an after-midnight breakfast option, with properly runny fried eggs and more of that good bacon (even if the hash browns were a bit pale and limp).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our apologies, though, that we’ve gone this far without talking about Nation’s second biggest claim to fame: its pies.To be more specific, the strawberry pies, which the chain sells each spring and early summer as part of a big seasonal promotion that also features strawberry pancakes, strawberry French toast, strawberry cheesecake and straight-up bowls of strawberries (the quaintest, and most Bay Area, option).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stunner, though, is the individual-size strawberry tart: a fairly standard pie shell with a mound of whole, fresh strawberries piled probably six inches high, ringed with spray-can whipped cream and coated in goopy red glaze — a pleasing juxtaposition in the way it’s both natural \u003ci>and \u003c/i>unnatural. Despite the glop, the luxuriousness of this Nation’s pie is that you’re essentially just eating a whole pint’s worth of surprisingly sweet, ripe strawberries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I suppose that’s Bay Area diner culture, in a nutshell. And to be able to eat such a pie, and such a burger, at 3 o’clock in the morning? It’s what makes Nation’s a Bay Area classic.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://nationsrestaurants.com/\">\u003ci>Nation’s\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> has 28 locations in Northern California, mostly concentrated in the East Bay (plus two in Texas). The original San Pablo location at 13296 San Pablo Dam Rd. is open 24/7.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "la-vics-orange-sauce-la-victoria-taqueria-late-night-san-jose",
"title": "Taquerias Come and Go, but La Vic’s Orange Sauce Is Forever",
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"headTitle": "Taquerias Come and Go, but La Vic’s Orange Sauce Is Forever | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958470\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958470\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devour tacos and burritos while pouring hot sauce from squeeze bottles directly into their mouths.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose’s La Victoria Taqueria (aka La Vic’s), is famous for its orange sauce — and for feeding hungry college students until 3 a.m. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve never stumbled into \u003ca href=\"https://www.lavicsj.com/\">La Victoria Taqueria\u003c/a> at 2 o’clock in the morning, bleary-eyed and half-starving midway through a six-hour cram session during finals week at San Jose State. Never crushed a plate of carne asada fries, half-drunk, after a night of dancing at Agenda or SJ Live back in the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So my devotion to La Vic’s legendary orange sauce — the creamy, chile-flecked condiment that spawned a hundred imitators — is merely practical rather than religious. I just think it’s one of the most delicious hot sauces in the Bay Area. Almost certainly the most delicious you can get your hands on at 3 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And after our recent late-night visit, I think I understand the hype.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Open since 1998, the original San Carlos Street location of La Vic’s sits kitty-corner to SJSU’s main campus, inside a cheery, slightly ramshackle old house — like a cartoon Victorian where a child detective goes mystery hunting. The family-owned taqueria offers a very standard college town burrito shop menu: enormously overstuffed tacos and burritos, quesadillas and loaded nachos and fries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only difference is that everywhere you look, there’s orange sauce. Twelve-ounce squeeze bottles on every table, and lined up in the fridge case behind the counter. Multiple orange sauce posters on the walls. College kids — so many college kids, in gym shorts or decked out for a night at the club — ordering extra tubs of orange sauce to go with their takeout burritos. Even the cup for our agua fresca was decorated with a picture of a bottle of orange sauce. (“Orange you glad you tried,” reads the tagline.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958473\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958473\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Exterior of La Victoria Taqueria, in an old Victorian house, lit up at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The original La Vic’s is located in downtown San Jose, right across the street from San Jose State University. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Look, if we’re being strictly honest, there are plenty of taquerias in San Jose — and all around the Bay — where you can get a tastier, more well-constructed burrito than the ones La Vic’s is rolling out these days. You can find more flavorful carnitas and juicier, less gristly carne asada. There are other restaurants that do a better job of piling meat and cheese on top of French fries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But man does that orange sauce paper over a thousand sins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like any well-guarded family recipe, the actual contents of the sauce are shrouded in secrecy and wild speculation. In \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/07/san-jose-orange-sauce-taco-burrito-la-victoria-recipe/\">public interviews\u003c/a>, La Vic’s owners have only revealed a handful of obvious ingredients: garlic, onions, tomatoes, dried red chiles. Meanwhile, orange-sauce conspiracy theorists have long debated the source of the sauce’s telltale creaminess, which has been rumored to come from crushed-up crackers, mayonnaise and even leftover chorizo grease (!). The restaurant, for its part, stresses that the sauce has always been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/La-Victoria-orange-sauce-is-secret-17081821.php\">100% vegan\u003c/a>. (I, and most \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/SalsaSnobs/comments/191wyaw/update_la_victorias_orange_sauce_aka_san_jose/\">copycat recipes\u003c/a>, suspect the creaminess just comes from emulsified vegetable oil.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13958041,arts_13955884,arts_13954983']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Whatever the secret, La Vic’s orange sauce is delicious. It has a bright, garlicky heat that immediately perks up the palate and a tanginess that keeps it from being overly heavy, making it a natural foil to salty grilled meats. And we loved how the sauce’s slightly dense, creamy texture allows it to cling to surfaces instead of making the food soggy like your typical watery salsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also figured out how, if you order smartly, you can put together a legitimately solid meal at La Vic’s, even apart from squirting orange sauce onto every bite. First pro tip: It’s the super tacos, not the burritos, that are the star of the menu, especially if you order them with lengua, which is the tastiest and most tender of the meat options. The super tacos feature thick, double-stacked tortillas that the taqueros will crisp up on request, and they’re loaded with guacamole and sour cream, which provide a refreshing tang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second tip: Don’t sleep on the zippy and criminally underrated green sauce, which some La Vic’s loyalists like even better than the orange sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third: It’s true that the carne asada fries, which come loaded with steak, nacho cheese, sour cream and guac, are the ideal drunk food. But the fries here aren’t especially crispy, and it’s only a matter of minutes before the whole thing turns into a soggy mess. Consider instead the nachos. They have a much more resilient crunch and are, in my view, the perfect vessel for orange sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unless you count my own cooking, that is. Like so many other La Vic’s initiates, I dropped $8 on a bottle of the sauce to bring home — to test if it does, in fact, taste amazing on everything, like so many of the glowing reviews I’d read. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been putting it on scrambled eggs and homemade carnitas, stirring it into bowls of rice and beans. And it really is true: I haven’t been disappointed yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.lavicsj.com/\">\u003ci>La Victoria Taqueria\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> has six Bay Area locations, mostly in San Jose. The original location at 140 E. San Carlos St. is open from 7 a.m.–3 a.m. daily.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958470\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958470\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devour tacos and burritos while pouring hot sauce from squeeze bottles directly into their mouths.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose’s La Victoria Taqueria (aka La Vic’s), is famous for its orange sauce — and for feeding hungry college students until 3 a.m. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve never stumbled into \u003ca href=\"https://www.lavicsj.com/\">La Victoria Taqueria\u003c/a> at 2 o’clock in the morning, bleary-eyed and half-starving midway through a six-hour cram session during finals week at San Jose State. Never crushed a plate of carne asada fries, half-drunk, after a night of dancing at Agenda or SJ Live back in the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So my devotion to La Vic’s legendary orange sauce — the creamy, chile-flecked condiment that spawned a hundred imitators — is merely practical rather than religious. I just think it’s one of the most delicious hot sauces in the Bay Area. Almost certainly the most delicious you can get your hands on at 3 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And after our recent late-night visit, I think I understand the hype.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Open since 1998, the original San Carlos Street location of La Vic’s sits kitty-corner to SJSU’s main campus, inside a cheery, slightly ramshackle old house — like a cartoon Victorian where a child detective goes mystery hunting. The family-owned taqueria offers a very standard college town burrito shop menu: enormously overstuffed tacos and burritos, quesadillas and loaded nachos and fries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only difference is that everywhere you look, there’s orange sauce. Twelve-ounce squeeze bottles on every table, and lined up in the fridge case behind the counter. Multiple orange sauce posters on the walls. College kids — so many college kids, in gym shorts or decked out for a night at the club — ordering extra tubs of orange sauce to go with their takeout burritos. Even the cup for our agua fresca was decorated with a picture of a bottle of orange sauce. (“Orange you glad you tried,” reads the tagline.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958473\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958473\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Exterior of La Victoria Taqueria, in an old Victorian house, lit up at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The original La Vic’s is located in downtown San Jose, right across the street from San Jose State University. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Look, if we’re being strictly honest, there are plenty of taquerias in San Jose — and all around the Bay — where you can get a tastier, more well-constructed burrito than the ones La Vic’s is rolling out these days. You can find more flavorful carnitas and juicier, less gristly carne asada. There are other restaurants that do a better job of piling meat and cheese on top of French fries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But man does that orange sauce paper over a thousand sins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like any well-guarded family recipe, the actual contents of the sauce are shrouded in secrecy and wild speculation. In \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/07/san-jose-orange-sauce-taco-burrito-la-victoria-recipe/\">public interviews\u003c/a>, La Vic’s owners have only revealed a handful of obvious ingredients: garlic, onions, tomatoes, dried red chiles. Meanwhile, orange-sauce conspiracy theorists have long debated the source of the sauce’s telltale creaminess, which has been rumored to come from crushed-up crackers, mayonnaise and even leftover chorizo grease (!). The restaurant, for its part, stresses that the sauce has always been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/La-Victoria-orange-sauce-is-secret-17081821.php\">100% vegan\u003c/a>. (I, and most \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/SalsaSnobs/comments/191wyaw/update_la_victorias_orange_sauce_aka_san_jose/\">copycat recipes\u003c/a>, suspect the creaminess just comes from emulsified vegetable oil.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Whatever the secret, La Vic’s orange sauce is delicious. It has a bright, garlicky heat that immediately perks up the palate and a tanginess that keeps it from being overly heavy, making it a natural foil to salty grilled meats. And we loved how the sauce’s slightly dense, creamy texture allows it to cling to surfaces instead of making the food soggy like your typical watery salsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also figured out how, if you order smartly, you can put together a legitimately solid meal at La Vic’s, even apart from squirting orange sauce onto every bite. First pro tip: It’s the super tacos, not the burritos, that are the star of the menu, especially if you order them with lengua, which is the tastiest and most tender of the meat options. The super tacos feature thick, double-stacked tortillas that the taqueros will crisp up on request, and they’re loaded with guacamole and sour cream, which provide a refreshing tang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second tip: Don’t sleep on the zippy and criminally underrated green sauce, which some La Vic’s loyalists like even better than the orange sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third: It’s true that the carne asada fries, which come loaded with steak, nacho cheese, sour cream and guac, are the ideal drunk food. But the fries here aren’t especially crispy, and it’s only a matter of minutes before the whole thing turns into a soggy mess. Consider instead the nachos. They have a much more resilient crunch and are, in my view, the perfect vessel for orange sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unless you count my own cooking, that is. Like so many other La Vic’s initiates, I dropped $8 on a bottle of the sauce to bring home — to test if it does, in fact, taste amazing on everything, like so many of the glowing reviews I’d read. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been putting it on scrambled eggs and homemade carnitas, stirring it into bowls of rice and beans. And it really is true: I haven’t been disappointed yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.lavicsj.com/\">\u003ci>La Victoria Taqueria\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> has six Bay Area locations, mostly in San Jose. The original location at 140 E. San Carlos St. is open from 7 a.m.–3 a.m. daily.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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},
"closealltabs": {
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
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"order": 9
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"source": "NPR"
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"hyphenacion": {
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"order": 15
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"jerrybrown": {
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"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
},
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},
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"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
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},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
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"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
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"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
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