Unrated: This is a restaurant we want to re-visit before rating, or it’s a coffee shop, bar, or dessert shop. We only rate spots where you can eat a full meal.

The pies at June’s are the best you can get in Oakland, full stop. Each of the sourdough pizzas at this West Oakland restaurant is approximately the size of a car wheel, showered in a freshly grated parmesan snowfall, and has a crust that’s reached optimal levels of chew and char. There are only two pizzas on the menu at any given time—order one of each and spend the next hour or so admiring the dough-stretching going on behind the bar and licking cheese off your fingers.

There’s no shortage of exceptional taco spots in Oakland, whether you want to scarf down al pastor from a late-night truck like Tacos Mi Rancho or load up on crispy carnitas at Rico Rico Taco. El Paisa is the queen bee. The East Oakland spot—complete with picnic tables under a covered patio and a meat assembly line—is serving fall-apart lengua, perfect suadero, and juicy carnitas atop impossibly moist corn tortillas. Anticipation builds after you order as you watch staff chop and dress tacos a mile a minute in the kitchen behind the counter. Once you’re handed a steaming plate of tacos (with nopales and cebollitas, too), go feral at the salsa bar, which is loaded with options that range from mild to “send milk, now.” 

This Japanese restaurant is more peaceful than a casual jog in Mountain View Cemetery (yes, it’s a thing). The minimalist, counter-service space is covered with light wood, and a large glass window lets you look inside the room where buckwheat noodles—Soba Ichi’s specialty—are kneaded, rolled, and cut each morning. This spot is one of the only places in the country that makes soba by hand, and we’re lucky they do so here in West Oakland. The noodles are perfectly soft and chewy, and are served hot in a delicious dashi soup, or cold on a plate with a small cup of dipping broth. When you’re done, make sure you grab one of the incredible, seasonal mochi from the Mochi Koubou pop-up.  

When you’re in Oakland and want a sexy date night spot, all roads point to Friends And Family. The women- and queer-owned cocktail bar is perpetually bathed in a soft pink glow that makes everyone look (and feel) hot. Come here with someone you like and make eyes at each other over rose-infused cocktails, buttery yaki onigiri, and a slice of truly beautiful carrot cake. Even if you’re not here with a special someone, you might be after hitting up one of their queer speed dating events, vintage day markets, or bingo nights (keep an eye on their Instagram for details).  

A 20-ish block stretch along International Boulevard and East 12th is where you’ll find a concentration of Vietnamese phở houses, cafés, and bánh mì spots—like Banh Mi Ba Le. The counter-service place in Little Saigon is the answer when you need a not-so-sad lunch to power through (another) neverending week. There are 24 sandwiches on the menu, each generously loaded with the most flavorful fillings, from fall-apart grilled pork to meatballs, fish cakes, and sardines, and served still warm. The bánh mì mastery happening here isn’t exactly a secret, so prepare to exercise the ever-dying art of patience.

Lovely’s is the Uptown patio hangout (with a new location in SF's Cole Valley). The smashburger and fried chicken joint shares a string light-filled outdoor space with Two Pitchers Brewing, and it’s where to meet up before a show at the Fox—or any time you want to fill a picnic table and drink fruity radlers with a fantastic handheld meal. The caramelized patties pretty much melt in your mouth, and hot chicken sandwiches are served on squishy sesame buns that soak up the spicy juices. Hop in the inevitable line, order a cone of soft serve for later, and stay for an hour or three. 

Champa Garden is located on a residential corner in East Oakland’s Ivy Hill and is the spot for Lao, Thai, and Vietnamese specialties that are bright, flavorful, and just really damn good. The best move is coming here with people you like, and kicking off this casual lunch or dinner with the Champa Sampler (a name we’d get tattooed on our left rib). It’s served on a plate shaped like a boat, and shows off the restaurant’s greatest hits—Lao sausages, fried rice ball salad, crispy spring rolls, and lettuce wraps.

The intensely creamy chicken-based broth at Mensho sets the bar impossibly high for every other bowl of ramen, ever. The Piedmont Ave. ramen shop is the East Bay outpost of the legendary SF original. Coming here is a great excuse to give your space heater the night off and warm up with the toripaitan bowl instead. The noodles are boiled to a flawless chew, and slices of chashu fall apart with a nudge. And even better, the Oakland location has about three times the space as the one in the city, and much less of a line. 

This former pop-up is making hands-down the best bagels in Oakland. And if you aren’t already a regular, it’s time to get to know them. Golden-brown crusts are evenly covered in seasonings, and the inside of each one is both fluffy and stretchy. The open-faced bagels are the way to go: the toppings, like deep-red heirloom tomatoes or seasonal vegetables with salsa macha, are straight out of a farmers market. But we won't stop you from ordering a “freshie”—a.k.a. whatever bagel is hottest out of the oven—smeared with butter and salt. And don’t skip out on the housemade chocolate and cinnamon rugelach. 

Mama’s Boy is making some of Oakland’s best slices. The two-story spot (from the people behind Oakland and San Francisco Athletic Club) feels like it’s been around for years—like other Oakland pizza greats Zachary’s and Nick’s Pizza—and the combination of family photos, red stools, and Pac-Man give this place a nostalgic touch. This Uptown slice shop nails the New York style, including a bubbly crust that’s sturdy enough to hold the toppings. Be sure to get the pepperoni slice, but don’t overlook the behemoth heros on pillowy rolls.  

Come to Sfizio for the $10 spaghetti, and stay for the rest of the rotating Italian dishes that all fall under $20 apiece. The casual Italian spot on Claremont serves pasta that’ll run you less than an ad-free Netflix plan, like that headliner spaghetti (always add the extra beefy meatballs) and seasonal starters like grilled shrimp and melon covered in a tangy dressing. This isn’t the place for your entire kickball team, but it’s perfect for strolling in for a last-minute date.

World Famous HotBoys should be synonymous with greatness—or, at the very least, their Nashville hot sandwiches should be. The former pop-up’s brick-and-mortar spot in Uptown Oakland (they also have an outpost in Sacramento and Walnut Creek), and their perfect, crispy sandwich is what we order when we want to feel spice, heat, and joy. You can choose from various heat levels that range from no spice to training wheels to painfully spicy. At one point, the Hot Hot sandwich required you to fill out a spice-tolerance questionnaire when you ordered. Serious sandwich stuff.

Because this is the Bay Area, we’ll always embrace any place serving excellent lunch specials with BBQ chicken or curries with a side of rice for under $13. Enter Vientian Cafe—the standout Lao, Thai, and Vietnamese spot in East Oakland. But also come here for the flavorful deep-fried rice with fermented pork ($12.95), the perfectly spicy, fresh papaya salad ($12.95), and the sweet-tangy angel wings ($10.95). You’ll also want to ask for the separate menu of Lao specials, which includes a tangy fermented sausage.

Going to Mama in Adams Point is like scooting into your friend’s breakfast nook and recovering from a hangover over eggs and coffee—but instead of breakfast, you’re getting a delicious Italian dinner. Mama does a three-course prix fixe dinner for only $39.95 that changes weekly. And on any given night, you can get things like a salad with roasted delicata, pomegranate, and pear, beet ravioli with spaghetti squash and ricotta, and polenta cake with baked apples for dessert (they’ll also serve gluten-free and vegetarian sets). If you’re looking for more of a classic, the spaghetti with Mama’s tomato sugo, beef, and pork is amazing and never leaves the menu.

Vegetarian and vegan tacos are why you’re at Tacos Oscar, a casual Mexican place operating out of a Temescal shipping container. Yes, a couple of solid meat options exist—like the sauce-laden picadillo, and beef and lamb barbacoa—but the ones full of vegetables are more interesting and complex in flavor. The taco de papa is a salty, fried, potato-y dream loaded with chile morita mayo and a handful of scallions. And the charred broccoli taco is smoky, dressed up with crunchy peanut-arbol salsa and pickled onions. Order off the frequently changing menu at the sidewalk window, head to the cozy back patio with the other diners in thrifted graphic tees, and strike up a conversation about roller skating at the lake while you wait. 

There are Ethiopian spots in abundance in Oakland—from the Lake Merritt mainstay Enssaro to the casual cafe Alem’s Coffee. Cafe Colucci in North Oakland is one of the city’s most dynamic. This fun, casual all-day spot doubles as a spice shop (for Cafe Colucci’s Brundo Spice Company) that's stocked with berbere, hop leaves, alicha kimem, and more. You’ll watch workers make spongy injera at the bar counter. And the serene patio is ideal for drinking ginger-lemon kombuchas or anything from their menu of housemade drinks. The crispy, beef-stuffed sambusas, garlicky buticha, and satisfying meat and vegetarian samplers with heaps of deeply spiced mitten shiro and gomen are the must-orders.

Aman Cafe in Temescal, by the people behind Teni East Kitchen, is a vegetarian and vegan spot specializing in Malaysian roti canai. If you’re in need of a vegetable-forward lunch that isn’t an overpriced salad, get here. Flaky, chewy, and perfectly crispy, the roti can be topped with everything from fruit and condensed milk to plant-based sausage with fried eggs. Each of these flatbreads is super filling, under $15, and is more effective at powering us through the rest of the day than a carton of chocolate-covered coffee beans. Our go-to is the roti comfort: a generous and saucy mix of tofu, potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, bok choy, and even more veggies.

You can find good Chinese food all over Oakland. But if you want great, like 2014-2019 Golden State Warriors great, head to Shan Dong in Chinatown. The big draw at this institution is the thick, chewy hand-pulled noodles that are made fresh behind a glassed-in counter at the front of the restaurant. The best decision you can make is to order the saucy sesame paste noodles, and the Shan Dong dumplings with chicken and dry-braised green beans. Just prepare to wait outside in a line longer than the DMV.

We always feel like we’re hanging out at home with our aunts and uncles and our fifth cousin’s cousin whenever we go to Lucky Three Seven. This casual Filipino takeout spot on Fruitvale Ave. is a family-run operation, which means friendly service and classic adobo, pork and chicken tocino served with a fried egg over rice, garlicky chicken wings, and the longest lumpia we’ve ever seen. Walk up to the outside window to order (it’s cash-only), and grab a stool on the patio. All dishes are made-to-go, but you should absolutely stay awhile.

Incredible house-nixtamalized masa is the name of the game at this Dimond District spot. Located in a former firehouse (hence the name), Bombera is where to go for a nice meal of homestyle Mexican dishes starring said housemade masa. Tamales are impossibly fluffy and stuffed with chicken. Tetelas are smoky on tender blue corn tortillas, and gooey Oaxacan cheese spills out of the ever-so-charred quesadillas. Equally awe-inducing are the heartier entrées, like fall-off-the-bone duck confit over mole verde or carne asada topped with crispy cheese. If this is also a “f*ck-it, let’s get tipsy” night, they also have a ton of agave spirits and cocktails.