Check, Please! Bay Area Celebrates 20 Years With the Warriors and Bay Area Storytellers

Check, Please! Bay Area officially turns 20 this fall! The beloved KQED James Beard and Emmy Award-winning series continues its 20th season with a pair of celebrity episodes featuring guest spots by current and former Golden State Warriors and prominent Bay Area storytellers, as well as an anniversary episode that gives a behind-the-scenes look at the program with highlights from the show’s history.

On October 30, Check, Please! welcomes former Golden State Warriors Festus Ezeli and Adonal Foyle, along with current player Trayce Jackson-Davis. They’ll share some of their favorite spots where players and the team like to unwind and to celebrate. On November 6, the show will break from its traditional panel-style format with a documentary that looks back at 20 years. From casting to studio tapings to filming on location, the show’s producers spill the tea on what it takes to pull each episode together. Host Leslie Sbrocco and former guests, including Liam Mayclem, Lyrics Born and Sister Roma, share thoughts on the show’s most memorable moments, both controversial and hilarious. And on November 13, Check, Please! will gather three very different Bay Area storytellers at the dinner table — Adam Savage, former Mythbusters host and current editor-in-chief of Adam Savage’s Tested on YouTube; Ruby Ibarra, local rapper, producer and recent NPR Tiny Desk contest winner; and Glynn Washington, co-creator and host of the radio and podcast series Snap Judgment, and its spinoff podcast series, Spooked.

KQED launched Check, Please! Bay Area on November 3, 2005 with a simple premise: to welcome local diners — not professional food critics — to share about their favorite restaurants. Each episode Leslie Sbrocco joins three Bay Area residents who recommend their “can’t miss” dining destinations. After anonymously visiting each other’s restaurant recommendations, the guests come on the show to champion, celebrate and critique their experiences with humor, enthusiasm and sincerity. Over the course of two decades, Check, Please! has introduced viewers to more than 800 restaurants across more than 300 episodes.

This fall, we’re leaving it all on the court: from cheesy Salvadoran pupusas at a beloved neighborhood spot, to pizza crafted by a three-time World Pizza Champion, to a look back over the two decades of KQED’s iconic show. Don’t miss the premiere of four new episodes, Thursdays at 7:30 PM on KQED 9, starting on October 30.

Hungry for a preview? Here’s what’s on our plate this season:

October 30 – Golden State Warriors Special Episode featuring Festus Ezeli, Adonal Foyle, Trayce Jackson-Davis

• North Beach Restaurant, a historic Italian restaurant with vintage elegance, features housemade pastas and other standouts including hearty, creamy lasagna bolognese and classic chicken al mattone.
• House of Nanking in Chinatown, a beloved institution since the 1980s, dishes out Chinese-American favorites including the house sizzling fried rice and Nanking’s sesame chicken, both longtime fan favorites.
• Bon Délire on the Embarcadero delivers French bistro fare with a modern twist, from buttery steak frites to their rich and tender duck confit, a tribute to owner Kais Boudizi’s Parisian roots.
• In Cecilia Tries It, reporter Cecilia Phillips heads to the Chase Center where she digs into what Dub Nation is eating and soaks up the vibrant community energy.

November 6 – 20th Anniversary Special

• In a first-of-its-kind episode, Check, Please! Bay Area celebrates twenty years on air with a look back at the moments that made it a local food institution. In this special documentary we’ll hear from dozens of former guests and restaurateurs, host Leslie Sbrocco and the Check, Please! producers as they spill the tea on everything from fiery debates to the program’s decades-long evolution.

November 13 – Bay Area Storytellers featuring Adam Savage, Ruby Ibarra, Glynn Washington

• At Panchita’s Pupusería & Restaurant in San Francisco‘s Mission District, the beloved Salvadoran pupusa with curtido and salsa takes center stage in a late-night neighborhood staple since 1989.
• Known for fun but familiar twists like their halo-halo milk tea and lechon sisig carbonara mac, it’s no surprise that The Sarap Shop is located at the heart of the Pilipinas Cultural District in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood.
• A carefully crafted prix fixe menu maps out Italian-American flavors at MAMA Oakland, where pork-and-beef meatballs, housemade sugo, and chocolate budino, are highlights for both savory and sweet lovers.

November 20

• DACHA, in San Francisco’s Lower Nob Hill, pairs comforting Eastern European dishes with California flair like syrniki brulee and sweet or savory blinchiki, alongside an elaborate mixology program, in a sleek, modern setting.
• In downtown Berkeley, Pizzeria da Laura serves up something for every pizza lover — from New York to Detroit, Sicilian to grandma style — by Chef Laura Meyer, a three-time World Pizza Champion and the first woman and first American to win Italy’s teglia category.
• In Petaluma, Brigitte Bistro channels the flavors of Southern France through Chef Nick Ronan’s childhood memories — think soupe à l’oignon, steak tartare, and île flottante, all infused with a spirit of love and joie de vivre.

Have a restaurant you think deserves the spotlight? Nominate your favorite spots and apply to be a guest at kqed.org/checkplease/apply!