The "food near campus" thread reminded me of a nagging question that I bet someone here (probably a fellow oldster) can help me with.

I am trying to remember a place I used to go to as a student (early '80s). I think it was in Oakland. Old Italian dive. Very dark and dank. Main features were:
1) food dirt cheap
2) mixed drinks even dirtier cheap (singles $1, doubles $2?)
3) hundreds of pats of butter stuck to the ceiling

What was (is?) the name, location...? Killing me!

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Yes...I agree...and I remember two.

There was Bertola's on Tele @ the intersection with MLK (then Grove St). The house specialty was terrine of orzo soup, a platter of green salad, and a half roast chicken with a side of ravioli. At one time they had places in Richmond and Walnut Creek, too.

There was another place further south on Tele (east side of the street), just past the old Villa's Hickry' Pit. It wasn't Ravazza's, but I can't recall the name. Be patient...it will come to me later...

......Bellini's.

in Oakland near where College and upper Broadway meet

YES!!!! Bertola's is the place I was trying to remember. Thanks so much, was really killing me!!!

YamhillBear;708816 said:

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YES!!!! Bertola's is the place I was trying to remember. Thanks so much, was really killing me!!!

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Nothing about the menu? Bertola's failed after 20-years of doing business because they weren't "community friendly".

I remember eating there with family in the late 1950-60's when I was a youngster. The family lived on 63rd one half block east off Tele during WW-II thru the mid-50's.

The owners actively discouraged patronage by all members of the local multi-ethnic neighborhood. Eventually they were challenged by locals, Bertola's denied and refused to change (there were witnesses), and Bertola's went into a long spiral of demise.

i was at Cal late 70s-I think of that place often as well.....

Sounds like a branch or offshoot of the Oakland location. Anyway the customer reviews are hilarious. I don't remember the Oakland restaurant being this bad.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/louie-bertolas-martinez

oskihasahearton;708820 said:

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Nothing about the menu? Bertola's failed after 20-years of doing business because they weren't "community friendly".

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So, what does that mean?

oskihasahearton;708837 said:

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I remember eating there with family in the late 1950-60's when I was a youngster. The family lived on 63rd one half block east off Tele during WW-II thru the mid-50's.

The owners actively discouraged patronage by all members of the local multi-ethnic neighborhood. Eventually they were challenged by locals, Bertola's denied and refused to change (there were witnesses), and Bertola's went into a long spiral of demise.

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OK, got it. It's amazing that a business like this could be so closed minded.

FingeroftheBear;708744 said:

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Sounds like Bertola's. It use to be where Shattuck and Telegraph around 48th, at the funky triangle.

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Ah, yes --- when I was in high school (ahem) in the early sixties and continuing into my Cal daze, the drinks were 50/75/100 for singles, doubles and triples, respectively, with a large sign out front advertising same. We even ate there a couple of times, with red wine poured from communal carafes into small jelly jars, as noted elsewhere in this thread.

Don't forget the original Kasper's (with a "K") hot dogs in the tiny triangle between Shattuck and Telly -- home of the foot long. Good stuff.

Telegraph in North Oakland was quite an Italian eating area when I was growing up, with Bertola's, Bellini's, Bella Napoli, Beppo's (mainly a bar, I think), and of course, Genova Delicatessan.

Sadly(?), no burritos.

Bertola's was pretty much the worst restaurant I ever went to. The food was simply horrible. Much worse than anything the dinning commons cooked up. The drinks were only $.25, so that made up for it. This was in '86, and I lived fairly close. It was on 42nd, across from the old Kaspars (no - not the knock off Caspars which is a chain - this was the original, which closed down about 5 years ago). It shut down around 88 or 89.

Really just horrible.

There was a Bertola's in East Oakland back in the day (late 40's, early 50's). Our family didn't dine out often, but when we did, it was Bertola's. My first memory is dripping candles in the wine bottles and red checked table cloths. The minestrone was not hearty--more of a broth. Oski87 is probably correct--by the 80's, the minestrone was probably really bad. But the ravioli's, spaghetti with french bread were passable and it was fun family time.

Oski87;709229 said:

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Bertola's was pretty much the worst restaurant I ever went to. The food was simply horrible. Much worse than anything the dinning commons cooked up. The drinks were only $.25, so that made up for it. This was in '86, and I lived fairly close. It was on 42nd, across from the old Kaspars (no - not the knock off Caspars which is a chain - this was the original, which closed down about 5 years ago). It shut down around 88 or 89.
Really just horrible.

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Bertola's was in demise...if not dead...in '86. The food was not elegent or even authentic Italian, but it was much better in post-war 1950's - 60's. It served decent Italian-American...minestrone and orzo soups, ravioli, spaghetti family style, w/ chicken and steak specialties, antipasto of peppers, sliced sausage and pickled vege, but nothing nothing special like the pasta's that we can find today.

I've seen worse in recent times...like an "Eye-talian" place I ate in Waynesboro, VA, in 2007. The owner was 2nd generation Italian from Naples. He just gave up trying to serve authentic stuff that didn't fit the locals palate for -- "spaghetti and meatballs".

One thing that Bertola's had that is hard to find today was a good spumoni ice cream w/ the candied fruits. The wines...mostly chianti's...were available.

BTW -- Once (1950's) saw a waitress accidentally dump a terrine of that orzo soup on the middle of a table for four. She handled it very well considering the mess and the chaos. I think they even $tipped her big.

I realize I was comparing to dorm food, but I remember it being a really good place to eat..

Hey, we used to go there in the 70's. Family style with soup, salad, etc., and I think you could also get prime rib. I seem to remember that it was around 3.95 or so for everything. I don't drink so the cheap bar didn't mean anything. I thought the food was okay, and definitely cheap and plentiful. It was always dark, probably so you couldn't see the conditions, and the bathrooms probably violated any number of health codes. But it was really popular and a major hangout. The neighborhood was pretty mariginal and there always seemed to be a number of friendly, scantily clad women in the area. Not sure what that was - possibly some sort of welcoming committee.

CalBear68;709218 said:

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Ah, yes --- when I was in high school (ahem) in the early sixties and continuing into my Cal daze, the drinks were 50/75/100 for singles, doubles and triples, respectively, with a large sign out front advertising same. We even ate there a couple of times, with red wine poured from communal carafes into small jelly jars, as noted elsewhere in this thread.

Don't forget the original Kasper's (with a "K") hot dogs in the tiny triangle between Shattuck and Telly -- home of the foot long. Good stuff.

Telegraph in North Oakland was quite an Italian eating area when I was growing up, with Bertola's, Bellini's, Bella Napoli, Beppo's (mainly a bar, I think), and of course, Genova Delicatessan.

Sadly(?), no burritos.

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In 1972, I had heard about Bertollas selling margaritas for 50 cents. A little while later, I heard it was up to 65, and then 75. I thought I better check it out before more increases.

Anyway, my girlfriend and I decided to go there and watch the World Series (the A's of course) and get some cheap margaritas. When we got there, I ordered margaritas. The bartender informed me they no longer sold them. I asked why and he said 'Too many people were buying them'.

ddc_Cal;709597 said:

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In 1972, I had heard about Bertollas selling margaritas for 50 cents. A little while later, I heard it was up to 65, and then 75. I thought I better check it out before more increases.

Anyway, my girlfriend and I decided to go there and watch the World Series (the A's of course) and get some cheap margaritas. When we got there, I ordered margaritas. The bartender informed me they no longer sold them. I asked why and he said 'Too many people were buying them'.

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Classic!

Bertola's was a classic, though I was unaware of the neighborhood issues that some are saying brought them down - that's really awful.

A couple of memories - in my days at Cal, I used to pride myself on being able to catch the bus to Bertola's with $10 in my pocket, and between that and the $$ I'd win playing Liar's Dice at the bar I could get there, eat, drink as much as I could, get back home, and still have change. It's a good thing I didn't drive!

Their bread was very good, and was served with those little butter pats. I remember the ceiling being covered with those butter pats - that was the challenge back in the day. If they ever turned up the heat in the restaurant the ceiling would have been dripping butter.

After Cal, I worked at the Chevron Research facility in Richmond and many of us would go after work or for lunch (dangerous) to the second Bertolas - in Richmond (I think there was one in Martinez as well). They did serve good prime rib, and there were a few "secret" menu items. I had a friend who inspired one of them - he was a big guy - not so much overweight as just really big, his nickname was "Orca". There was a menu item called the Orca special - an entire loaf of their french bread filled with prime rib - must have been about 3 of their large cuts. If you could finish it, it was free. If not, it was expensive (for Bertola's). They made a lot of money on that menu item

There were plans to build some great restaurants around campus, but Tosh took them with him or convincenced them not to build.