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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 259362 times)

Offline Dan

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #280 on: October 23, 2014, 04:51:07 PM »
As mind boggling as it may be, theres better kosher food in MCI than SFO...so go to game 6 there ;)
« Last Edit: October 23, 2014, 04:56:08 PM by Dan »
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #281 on: October 23, 2014, 04:55:38 PM »
As mind boggking as it may be, theres better kosher food in MCI than SFO...so go to game 6 there ;)

If necessary :p

Offline ushdadude

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #282 on: October 23, 2014, 08:20:50 PM »
Really? Been to SFO many times, and that is one place that stands out. Thought the tour is so well done, you can go at your own pace, very informative and so interesting. Plus a nice ferry ride, and you have great views of the city from the island.

when planning my sfo trip many people told us it's not necessary so we skipped it. double decker tour bus is great because you get an overview of the entire city and can decide where to go afterwards.

Offline Yaalili

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #283 on: October 23, 2014, 08:36:50 PM »
when planning my sfo trip many people told us it's not necessary so we skipped it. double decker tour bus is great because you get an overview of the entire city and can decide where to go afterwards.

Yes the bus is good, there is so much to see in SFO, we were once in a car and followed around Mr. Toad's Tour Bus, but most of sights they went too, we've been already. Though you really do have to go to Alcatraz next time, before you say it's questionable.

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #284 on: October 23, 2014, 10:27:30 PM »
We did the Alcatraz tour at night during the winter. Added to the creepy factor even more

Offline ushdadude

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #285 on: October 23, 2014, 10:53:22 PM »
Yes the bus is good, there is so much to see in SFO, we were once in a car and followed around Mr. Toad's Tour Bus, but most of sights they went too, we've been already. Though you really do have to go to Alcatraz next time, before you say it's questionable.

fair enough. i was just questioning the "can't be missed" aspect

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #286 on: October 23, 2014, 11:31:31 PM »
That is just the plus i.e. the cherry on top, the tour itself is really worth going to, very interesting, and yes you do have to get in advance, we did a week before.
I did Alcatraz as well and really enjoyed, it was the first time I ever listened to every step of an audio tour.
Regarding tickets- I got in August (high season) just a few days in advance.  The way I did it was: being that they allow cancellations upto 3 days in advance (or even closer as long as they can sell it) I figured there would be cancellations. I don't remember the exact times but I believe they open every day at 7, EST is 3 hours later, so every day at 10 i went online and kept on refreshing the page. I found 10:45 to be the time that the most tickets went back on inventory. I booked basically any ticket that came up until I got the 4 I need at the same time, then canceled all the others. It took a few days to get it but it worked.
Just keep in mind the inventory changes from one second to the next, seriously with every refresh  the page during those hours the inventory was different. Tickets go out of inventory when they're added to the cart even before being purchased,  which is probably some of the reason why it switches so quickly.

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #287 on: October 24, 2014, 02:19:11 AM »
I did Alcatraz as well and really enjoyed, it was the first time I ever listened to every step of an audio tour.
Regarding tickets- I got in August (high season) just a few days in advance.  The way I did it was: being that they allow cancellations upto 3 days in advance (or even closer as long as they can sell it) I figured there would be cancellations. I don't remember the exact times but I believe they open every day at 7, EST is 3 hours later, so every day at 10 i went online and kept on refreshing the page. I found 10:45 to be the time that the most tickets went back on inventory. I booked basically any ticket that came up until I got the 4 I need at the same time, then canceled all the others. It took a few days to get it but it worked.
Just keep in mind the inventory changes from one second to the next, seriously with every refresh  the page during those hours the inventory was different. Tickets go out of inventory when they're added to the cart even before being purchased,  which is probably some of the reason why it switches so quickly.


Wow, you couldn't buy it any earlier and not go through the whole hassle? Amazing how they put thousands of people on each boat, and they still sell out. When we were there they were saying that the previous year had over 30 million visitors!

Offline Yaalili

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #288 on: October 24, 2014, 02:20:29 AM »
We did the Alcatraz tour at night during the winter. Added to the creepy factor even more

Cool, I would do it again for that too. They are having some special exhibit there this winter I think, the night tours are also more expensive.

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #289 on: October 24, 2014, 02:22:28 AM »

Wow, you couldn't buy it any earlier and not go through the whole hassle? Amazing how they put thousands of people on each boat, and they still sell out. When we were there they were saying that the previous year had over 30 million visitors!
Yup it is amazing how they have so many visitors.
The whole trip was kind of last minute, by the time we finalized that we were going they were sold out already.

Offline whYME

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #290 on: October 24, 2014, 02:55:54 AM »
ok, you guys inspired me. Next time I'm there I need to do Alcatraz.

Offline mochada

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #291 on: October 24, 2014, 12:08:28 PM »
ok, you guys inspired me. Next time I'm there I need to do Alcatraz.

Just catching up now.  Def worth it! I've done it 2x (once with friend, once with wife)

Offline whYME

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #292 on: October 31, 2014, 03:08:14 PM »
I also heard a few months back that a cholov yisroel bakery will be opening in SF in the summer, I'm not sure what's happening with that.
Looks like this just opened
CHOUX French cream puffs

Pas yisroel / cholov yisroel

http://www.chouxsf.com/

Offline Yaalili

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #293 on: October 31, 2014, 03:22:35 PM »
Looks like this just opened
CHOUX French cream puffs

Pas yisroel / cholov yisroel

http://www.chouxsf.com/


Nice. Wonder how long they can survive there just making cream puffs..

Offline whYME

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #294 on: October 31, 2014, 03:32:14 PM »
Wonder how long they can survive there just making cream puffs..
I was wondering the same thing.

Though I gotta say, cream puffs in SF? (and Haight-Ashbury in particular,) are they trying to be ironic?  :D

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #295 on: October 31, 2014, 03:43:34 PM »
Though I gotta say, cream puffs in SF? (and Haight-Ashbury in particular,) are they trying to be ironic?  :D
+1

Gotta be a lifestyle business though I hope there's enough demand so she doesn't feel stupid
״וזה כלל גדול: שישנא אדם כל דבר שקר. וכל מה שיוסיף שנאה לדרכי השקר – יוסיף אהבה לתורה.״ - אורחות צדיקים

Offline mochada

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #296 on: October 31, 2014, 04:05:08 PM »
+1

Gotta be a lifestyle business though I hope there's enough demand so she doesn't feel stupid

Wonder if theyll be around longer than the NY Deli

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #297 on: October 31, 2014, 04:08:53 PM »
She seems to get good reviews on Yelp, so I hope she'll manage. I can't imagine it's easy to keep such a specialty store profitable.
This review made me laugh:
Quote
was in the area and noticed it was CLOSED on a Saturday...hmmm...maybe they dont get a lot of foot traffic/business on that day? Seemed odd but ended up getting goodies at Cafe Soleil. Will try again another time...

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #298 on: October 31, 2014, 05:28:16 PM »
She seems to get good reviews on Yelp, so I hope she'll manage. I can't imagine it's easy to keep such a specialty store profitable.
This review made me laugh:

:) - They will have to brand more chic to cater to non Yidden too. Funny on their website they write, closed on Shabbos, but open on Friday till 7:30 pm..

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Re: San Francisco/No Cal Master Thread
« Reply #299 on: November 04, 2014, 12:16:56 PM »
Anywhere new to eat in San Francisco? Tonight between 4-8 for dinner.  How has Sabra been lately?