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Summary of kosher food options in the bay area:

Restaurants:
(all under hashgacha of the Sunrise Kosher / Vaad Hakashrus of Northern California unless otherwise stated)

San Francisco
Sabra Grill (Chinatown)
L'chaim Foods (not a restaurant, take out / delivery only) currently "Under Orthodox Certification of Rabbi Joel Landau."
Frena BakeryDairy and pareve sambusak, burekas, shakshuka, savory and sweet baked goods
Limonnana Middle Eastern dishes, principally Falafel, Shawarma, and Hummus, and of course, delicious limonnanas.
Hummus Bodega Hummus, Falafel, Middle Eastern in the Richmond district

East Bay
Amba Falafel (Oakland) (Fleishig as of 4/28/14). Pas Yisroel available by request CLOSED
Oakland Kosher (Oakland) Fleishigs. Check for certs on www.restaurant.com.
Cafe 3 at UC Berkeley
Touro Kitchen in Vallejo, CA - http://dining.tu.edu/menu.html

South Bay
Izzy's Bagels (Palo Alto) Pas Yisroel. Some Items Cholov Yisroel, Check the kashrus certificate, Open on Shabbos
Kosher Food Oasis at the OFJCC (Palo Alto) Holy Sushi requires ordering in advance. Walk-in orders are accepted for Caffe Mediterraneum and for many items at Malawach Bar. Please check vendor sites for individual holiday hours. All under the Vaad.
Jerusalem Grill (Palo Alto area)  not Kosher, no Kashrus certification, not Jewish owned (as of Nov.22, 2015)
Pars Kosher Market in San Jose, certified by the Vaad, now has a small eat in section (4 tables, first come first serve) with a short meat menu and ready made hot food. Also lots of kosher groceries.
Stanford University Cafeteria weekday lunches five days a week and dinners Monday - Thurs. General public can pay at Florence Moore Dorm and enjoy the Kosher section. Fleishig (meat) for both meals each day. Flo-Mo, as it is called, is on Mayfield Ave., across from the parking lot of Tressidor.  Finding the dining hall can be a challenge for outsiders but any student will direct you.




Groceries (etc):

San Francisco
CHOUX Bakery - French cream puffs (Haight-Ashbury) Pas yisroel, cholov yisroel. No longer certified kosher / open on Shabbos.

East Bay
Oakland Kosher.
Grand Bakery (Oakland) Pas Yisroel, Dairy items are NOT cholov yisroel. Closing 12/23/16
Berkeley Bowl (Berkeley) has some kosher items.
Costco (Definitely the one in Richmond. I believe this applies to others in the Bay Area, but this is what I know firsthand.) has cholov yisroel cheese and Jack's sausages. (As of August 2014)

South Bay
I believe Mollie Stone's in Palo Alto has a big Kosher selection. there are probably other options there as well.

« Last edited by ninjaleh on January 17, 2023, 12:38:15 PM »

Author Topic: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread  (Read 199958 times)

Offline shaulyaakov

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #620 on: May 22, 2018, 10:41:41 AM »
Frena unexpectedly was closed Memorial Day last year. I was there the day before and saw no signage, and tried to go on Memorial day and only then saw a sign that they were shut. Very much disrupted plans, and I would have stocked up the day before had I known... I had to scour around a Trader Joes to find kosher bagels and creme cheese/lox (not CY), as I did not have time to get over to Sabra for lunch that day.

Offline ungar17@yahoo.com

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #621 on: May 25, 2018, 03:38:06 PM »
Frena unexpectedly was closed Memorial Day last year. I was there the day before and saw no signage, and tried to go on Memorial day and only then saw a sign that they were shut. Very much disrupted plans, and I would have stocked up the day before had I known... I had to scour around a Trader Joes to find kosher bagels and creme cheese/lox (not CY), as I did not have time to get over to Sabra for lunch that day.
Thanks for that info. I will be there Memorial day this year so I called to ask and they are indeed closed this year as well.

Offline Proisrael

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #622 on: May 27, 2018, 01:00:05 AM »
Frena was amazing! Top notch food.

Frena by ProIsrael Israel, on Flickr

20171107_112211 by ProIsrael Israel, on Flickr

Offline Abey

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #623 on: May 27, 2018, 11:21:06 AM »
Thanks for that info. I will be there Memorial day this year so I called to ask and they are indeed closed this year as well.
Thanks I was actually thinking of eating there...you saved me a disappointment

Offline ungar17@yahoo.com

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #624 on: May 31, 2018, 12:39:58 PM »
After searching most of the Bay Area, found one KKD that still has hashgacha. Mountain View. Worth the effort.  Note also: they take GrubHub for pickup with no minimum. 

I was just in Fisherman's Wharf Krispy Kreme and they had a hashgacha

Offline tanipollak

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #625 on: June 26, 2018, 12:17:21 AM »
Planning on Going in 1st week of august. Any gluten free restaurants? Also if we're there for a week should we rent a car? We're staying at the Hyatt.

Also I have 2 free nights at the category 7 in Hyatt Carmel Highlands so we're gunna stop there for 2 nights. Is there anything near there to do and anything to eat?

TIA

Offline shaulyaakov

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #626 on: June 26, 2018, 07:37:21 AM »
Planning on Going in 1st week of august. Any gluten free restaurants? Also if we're there for a week should we rent a car? We're staying at the Hyatt.

Also I have 2 free nights at the category 7 in Hyatt Carmel Highlands so we're gunna stop there for 2 nights. Is there anything near there to do and anything to eat?

TIA
Don't rent a car just for going around SF city. It's very much a transit city. For other areas, a car will help.

Sabra is Israeli grill, so I'm sure any thing is GF if you order without bread. I don't recall if frena has GF options.

Offline BCL

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #627 on: July 08, 2018, 02:41:45 PM »
Driving from Vancouver to LA over 4-5 days. With kids ages 5-10. I would like to drive 5-6 hours a day with 1 or 2 attractions or activities.

Is this reasonable?

Some possibilities:

Boeing Factory
Cannon Beach
Crater Lake
Oregon Dunes Nat'l Rec Area
Redwood Nat'l Park
Glass Beach
Golden Gate Bridge
Big Sur
Monterey - Kayaking
Jelly Belly Factory
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - Mcway Falls
Point Lobos

Which ones are kid friendly?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Offline E R K

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #628 on: July 08, 2018, 05:15:28 PM »
 Exploratorium children’s museum in San Francisco was a lot of fun. I don’t usually like museums and I went with my adult daughter. See Dan’s SF report. He took his son and had a blast.  Not sure how great the jelly belly factory is  but if it’s between the two I think I do Exploratorium .

Offline Yaalili

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #629 on: July 08, 2018, 08:45:47 PM »
JB factory is cool but it’s not hands on whatsoever. The tour is about 30 minutes long and you walk a floor above the factory with windows showing the work floor. Free bag of jelly bellies and unlimited samples at the end.

Offline tanipollak

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #630 on: July 08, 2018, 11:27:27 PM »
Looking for a shul that has friday night and shabbos minyans that are near a hotel in SF(downtown or within 20 min drive of union sq) and must be in eiruv. ANything available?

Offline BCL

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #631 on: July 09, 2018, 06:02:53 AM »
Driving from Vancouver to LA over 4-5 days. With kids ages 5-10. I would like to drive 5-6 hours a day with 1 or 2 attractions or activities.

Likely stops:

Oregon Dunes Nat'l Rec Area
Redwood Nat'l Park
Golden Gate Bridge
Monterey
Big Sur
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - Mcway Falls

This already adds 7 hours of driving time.

Only driving on HWY 1 between Santa Cruz and Lucia. (Can't go further south because of road closures.)
Should I get on HWY 1 earlier? (north of SF/at SF)

Offline chevron

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #632 on: July 09, 2018, 09:31:20 AM »
Looking for a shul that has friday night and shabbos minyans that are near a hotel in SF(downtown or within 20 min drive of union sq) and must be in eiruv. ANything available?

Chabad Soma but no eruv

Offline BCL

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #633 on: July 09, 2018, 11:51:40 AM »
Which Redwood Park/Forest would you recommend for kids?
Any specific trail or hike?

Offline tanipollak

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #634 on: July 11, 2018, 01:56:37 AM »
Decided to stay in Palo Alto for shabbos. Trying to pick the hotel. Final 4 are the zen hotel, Dinah's Garden hotel,creek side inn, and Hilton garden. Anyone stay in any and have any recommendations? Since we'll be getting food Friday we would like to get some sort of kitchen and needs to have lots of room for 15 month old child to run around.

Offline tanipollak

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #635 on: July 22, 2018, 09:38:23 PM »
Does anyone know if I can borrow someones Chase Private Client arts and culture card or does it have to be in your name? Asking as we're going to SF next week and lots of things are free with the card :) TIA

Offline tanipollak

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #636 on: July 22, 2018, 10:10:57 PM »
Also is there an attraction card/pass we can purchase before to make everything cheaper instead of paying for everything at gate or entrance?

Offline lubaby

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #637 on: July 22, 2018, 10:43:22 PM »
Also is there an attraction card/pass we can purchase before to make everything cheaper instead of paying for everything at gate or entrance?
Check Groupon for San Francisco Go Pass (multiple types available), and find current 20% off coupons to bring price down even more.

Offline lubaby

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« Last Edit: August 01, 2018, 03:22:30 PM by lubaby »

Offline thaber

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #639 on: August 16, 2018, 02:40:53 AM »
tentative planning a trip for myself and 4 kids 7-12. 2 days 1 night
here's what I have so far

landing 9:30
drop off bags at Holiday Inn Express and suites (using free annual night, confirmed upgrade to family suite)
Alcatraz is sold out, so assuming it doesn't open we'll do the  blue and gold escape from the rock 11:15 or 1:45
lunch?
pier 39 / Fishermans wharf/ exploratorioum
sabra for supper

monday - rent car (have a one way from fishermans wharf to SFO)
drive to Frena, buy lunch etc.
golden gate bridge
the marine mammal center
 Muir woods
SFO for 8pm flight back

thoughts?