Devora Z.'s Profile

Service: excellent. Adorable servers, efficient & unobtrusive service.

Food: aw hell yeah!! Focaccia with red pepper hummus is a steal, bruschetta was grand (eggplant, mm!), rick's pizza ( w/ potatoes, fontina, goat chs, arugula, pancetta, olives). Tip: get a side of their tomato sauce to dip the pizza in.

Libations: house wine! Sweet, cheap & satisfying.

Decor/atmosphere: not too full for a sat night, which was refreshing! Cool fences outside, with old bike parts welded into the metal. Also bustling but not noisy.

Overall: slam-dunk! So coming back here.

I've never had to replace a tire before, and as such was totally clueless about where to go to get a new tire after I blew out one of my rear tires on the freeway yesterday.

Rouse gets GREAT reviews on both Berkeley Parents Network, which is an invaluable source of advice, AND Yelp. And not only that, but they were literally three blocks from my apartment! What luck!

I called, told the woman (Susan, I'm guessing) who answered what kind of car I had and the brand of the tire, she knew exactly what kind of tire I needed for the make & year of my car (older Prius). I was worried about whether any place would have the tires in stock, since I'd heard that the tires are fairly rare for my car. But Rouse had the right kind of tire in stock! Woo!

Now, I knew to trust this place's advice based on the various reviews, and knew that they wouldn't be trying to get more money out of me for money's sake - as soon as I got in there, Susan looked at my tires, told me that the front two were in good shape and would last for a while, but that the other back tire was also in need of replacement. Trusting her judgment plsu a great explanation from her, I replaced that one as well.

So, the generally awesome things about Rouse:

- I called at 3, was there by 3:15, out by 3:30 on a Friday afternoon.
- Susan took the time to talk to me, tell me all about tires, when I should get my tires rotated (only $9 at Rouse!), and how often I should check the air in my tires.
- The guys changing my tires were quick, efficient, and absolutely knew what they were doing - I've heard horror stories about people taking their cars to Firestone to get new wheels and having their tires fly off in the middle of the street - these guys were so pro and my tires are on so well that I have no doubts at all.
- The tires I bought were on sale! Woo!
- Super close to my house :)
- And everyone was really nice and smiling!

What a great experience, considering the bad luck that brought me there in the first place. I'm definitely gonna be back (although hopefully not before my 5,000 mile rotation check!)

Thanks Rouse Tire!!

Totally my kind of place - hundreds of beer taps hanging from the ceiling,  probably about 25-30 taps, most of which were interested microbrews from all over the country that I had never tried before (and I love beer).

Friendly bartenders and bouncers, dogs are apparently allowed in which is really cool. Even on a Wednesday the place was pleasantly crowded, with a very un-douchey and down-to-earth crowd.

Also a good jukebox, which is always a plus. Pool & shuffleboard too, plus food from the little place next door although we didn't order any food. Looked decent though, general pub stuff like burgers.

Generally, a place I could see myself hanging out all the time. Too bad I don't live in SD :(

Delicious tortilla soup with fresh avocado chunks!

Accommodated me even though I arrived and ordered a good 30-45 minutes after my friends.

Funky decor, decent prices.

We had some complex requirements for how to split our check, and the lady behind the counter took care of it in about 5 seconds flat. Have never seen more efficient handling of a split check! Bravo!

Tara's is my favorite gourmet ice cream shop in Berkeley/Oakland. When I want creamy, fatty, over-the-top, stuffed with toppings ice cream, I of course go to Fenton's. But when I want a scoop of ice cream that is totally focused on perfecting the flavor and is a less-is-more sort of thing, I go to Tara's.

Tara's is open til ten most if not all days, and their flavors are simply amazing. Yesterday, for example, I sampled black sesame and a beet balsamic ice cream. Of course, they have the usual chocolate, vanilla and berry ice creams, often with interesting variations, but Tara really shines for its innovation and charm. They also sweeten their sorbets with agave, which is a total winner for me. One of my house favorites is the AVOCADO ice cream!! Yeah, you read that right. It's tart and light and a little bit earthy, and just really excellent.

The people who work there are always smiling and nice, and willing to tell you about a flavor you might not recognize, or give you an opinion about ice cream pairings. I also love that they offer an extra-small size, because sometimes I really just want a little bit of ice cream.

And Tara's is all about the organic, environmentally friendly and local! They use compostable cups/spoons for serving ice cream, and much of the produce that they use comes from local farms. The ice cream is also relatively low-fat compared to a lot of other places (which I could guess from there not being chunks of candy weighing down the ice cream).

One of the most important things, as many folks who have patronized other gourmet Berkeley/Oakland ice cream shops might agree, is that at Tara's there is rarely a wait, if ever. The staff is extremely efficient, which only adds to the stellar quality of the place for me.

Thanks, Tara's, for being one of the best things about my neighborhood!

Decent bar, strong drinks, really friendly/chill bouncers.

We went on a dance night where they were spinning an awesome mix of 80s fabulous and Lady GaGa.

Good for dancing and not too crowded on a Saturday - good place to get a little air and still get decent tunes to dance to if the Press Club is too crowded across the street.

Stopped in here a few days before Christmas for a solo dinner. I was pleased with how friendly the owner/chef were, but a little disappointed that my food was so salty. And when I mentioned this to one of the people there, the response was defensive rather than accommodating.

I get the idea that since this place is pretty new, they still have some kinks to work out; since I didn't try any of the desserts, I'd probably be willing to give it another try in a few months.

This place is AMAZING for a number of reasons.

1. The people who run it are the nicest people I've met in my life. $2 beers, always really attentive to us (even when we take over their back patio with 12 people), and make sure we have lots of delicious libations to last us til after sunset. We've stayed later than their listed hours a few times by accident and they have never rushed us out.

2. It's an oasis on this part of San Pablo - yellow-painted back patio with sunflowers, good music, tucked away from the street.

3. The food is awesome and not greasy at all. Enchiladas were ok, but the street tacos and the chicken quesadillas are all amazing. I've been a bunch of times now with people who got all different things, and no one's had any complaints at all, except that we can't fit any more in our stomachs!

4. Happy hour Thurs and Fri 5-7! $2 beers, til they run out pretty much.

Hands down, my favorite place to go hang out on a sunny afternoon. They also have inside space for when it's cold.

I love Noodle Theory so much! Excellent assortment of both appetizers and entrees, everything feels very fusion-y without losing the Asian ethos.

My favorites are hand-down the herbed goat cheese wontons, and the sweet potato fries with curry aoli are also extremely good. The cold soba noodles are also quite wonderful, with an interesting texture. The beef udon with coconut-lime broth is amazing as well, the beef is very fresh and magnificently cooked.

The only problem I have is that there aren't more vegetarian entree options; my boyfriend is a vegetarian and often ends up getting the exact same thing (tofu and garlic noodles, delicious but still) while I get to sample the rest of the menu. Also the wine seems to be pretty overpriced, although the mango black iced tea is wonderful and not too sweet.

The staff are very attentive and helpful - they were willing to substitute ramen for ginger noodles with the chicken when I told the waitress I didn't really like ginger too much. An perhaps unimportant note but essential for presentation: the plates are incredible shapes and hold a SERIOUS amount of food! I always go home with leftovers.

I went to Olive with a friend and my boyfriend for happy hour after work - GREAT happy hour deals, for five drinks and two pizzas between us, we paid $40 (not including tip).

The happy hour includes $5 cocktails and $8 pizzas - the bartender makes a mean mojito, for sure. The margherita pizza was delicious, as was the chicken pesto pizza. The staff were super-friendly, especially considering as there weren't that many people in there.

All in all I would say that the place itself doesn't have a lot of individuality, but the food is really good (which is unusual to find at a bar) and the happy hour is certainly happy.