Bears2thDoc;842091657 said:

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Wasn't Big Art's on Durant?
Downstairs LaValle's was a folk music/poetry venue......as I recall, The Subterranean.

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Moved to Durant after Euclid. Might have closed for awhile before moving.

StillNoStanfurdium;842091687 said:

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So has anyone actually tried the pizza here?

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Based on this, it looks like the pizza (errr, "pizzahhh") might be good.

It also looks like this is a "salami, goat cheese, and arugula"-type pizzahhh place. Which I like, but I'm sure lots of people will complain: "Give me pepperoni and cheese dripping with oil for $1 a slice!"

LaVal's northside pizza is so-so to OK, but for some reason they do the hawaiian pizza really well, whereas at most other places it's usually a bad option.

EchoOfSilence;842091608 said:

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North side has changed considerably. The little sandwich shop where I met my gf is no longer there

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Stuffed Inn? If so, bummer. That place was tasty. Nice, simple sandwiches.

Boot;842091690 said:

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Moved to Durant after Euclid. Might have closed for awhile before moving.

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http://theatrebayarea.org/editorial/Theatre-Histories-La-Vals-Subterranean.cfm
Pretty interesting history. Didn't know about the Fogerty and Spenger connection....Berkeley family icons.

Bears2thDoc;842091810 said:

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http://theatrebayarea.org/editorial/Theatre-Histories-La-Vals-Subterranean.cfm
Pretty interesting history. Didn't know about the Fogerty and Spenger connection....Berkeley family icons.

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I think hard times was run by Art. I remember seeing his drunk froggy throated ass there every weekend. Eddie money played downstairs also.

510Bear;842091709 said:

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Based on this, it looks like the pizza (errr, "pizzahhh") might be good.

It also looks like this is a "salami, goat cheese, and arugula"-type pizzahhh place. Which I like, but I'm sure lots of people will complain: "Give me pepperoni and cheese dripping with oil for $1 a slice!"

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normal stuff too

Cal88;842091756 said:

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LaVal's northside pizza is so-so to OK, but for some reason they do the hawaiian pizza really well, whereas at most other places it's usually a bad option.

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The pizza served at La Val's (both the northside and RIP southside locations) blows fist-sized chunks.

Look, I get that La Val's is a great backdrop for Drunken Good Times. We all appreciate Drunken Good Times. It's that place where you had that late-night conversation that defined your Cal experience. But let's not let that cause us to confuse this for good pizza, the kind you get at other places in Berkeley, Cheeseboard, Gioia, Pie in the Sky (RIP), Sliver, etc.

The same goes for Blondie's, Fat Slice, and (if we're moving beyond pizza) La Burrita. Sorry y'all.

grandmastapoop;842091798 said:

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Stuffed Inn? If so, bummer. That place was tasty. Nice, simple sandwiches.

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I'm pretty sure Stuffed Inn is still there.

I had the same experience, the usual mild indifference toward customers is OK at the other places but she (or a different server with sh!tty attitude) was too much.

Went there a lot as an engineering student. Used to make the walk across campus before football games a few years ago if we had enough time, but the last couple times I went with my kids even they noticed. Sorry to see it go, even more reason to support the other two locations.

There must be a tradition or legacy of hiring be-otchy co-eds at that TD because I had a friend back in the day who worked there and fit the description except she was also hilarious...and she'd give us freebiesy. Also maybe she got tired of getting hit on by engineering students.

Bears2thDoc;842091810 said:

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http://theatrebayarea.org/editorial/Theatre-Histories-La-Vals-Subterranean.cfm
...

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I remember the Subterranean for it's house rock band in the mid 60s AKA The Horse **** Band for a regular prominent refrain.

The advent of the band focused local attention on what was important in life and instigated the theory weekends started on Thursday nights, and later a modest expansion to starting on Wednesdays.

I enjoyed the band as guest of honor at my 21 birthday in 1965, with plenty of the house' wretched beer. Evening ended with me heaving on a buddy's Band Letterman Jacket and me being carried home to Cloyne. (Coincidently I just was visiting that same buddy not an hour ago. True.)

Youth was marvelous; Advance Youth is also marvelous. Enjoy, but DAMN it's about time for a Rose Bowl.

Boot;842091126 said:

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The Northside theatre was the best, Big Arts downstairs, Northside la Val's and the Cheshire Cat on a Friday or Saturday night packed and hammered. Rather ripped records,giant burger,Berkeley high kids and cal kids early 70s,PARTY ON!

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Holy Jesus, did you ever go to the Cheshire Cat's $1/pitcher (Pabst) nights (Thursday?)?

The guy's bathroom was VERY dark... and, from the smell, you were glad it was.

But that Top Dog (and Northside in general) is not just frequented by engineering students. Two of the biggest co-ops and a dorm are up there, too. I lived on Northside and Southside both, but I have to say that I only went to Top Dog on Durant. Northside was crepes at Three C's Cafe (RIP).

Sorry to hear this. I practically lived off this little shopping center (there was a Thai place at the end of the that little hole that I loved) back in the early eighties. And I (honestly) thought that you HAD to have some kind of 'attitude' to work at TD. Even the one on Durant always had some smart-ass cook when I frequented as an engineering student.

In more recent years, we'd hit the TD on Center on our way up the hill before FB games; but I still have fond memories of the Northside TD.

there were many a days where i would have classes at evans and head to top dog or bongo burger on northside. if theres any students on here you guys should start a petition and maybe the owners will decide to bring it back. this is how things get done at berkeley.

gobears725;842092957 said:

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there were many a days where i would have classes at evans and head to top dog or bongo burger on northside. if theres any students on here you guys should start a petition and maybe the owners will decide to bring it back. this is how things get done at berkeley.

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Except the pizza place is getting good reviews and there are two other Top Dog locations within a block from campus.

gobears725;842092957 said:

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there were many a days where i would have classes at evans and head to top dog or bongo burger on northside. if theres any students on here you guys should start a petition and maybe the owners will decide to bring it back. this is how things get done at berkeley.

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Are you kidding me? TD is not a government thing man. It's a MONEY thing -- it's just a business. If someone feels strongly enough about it, just have them put their money where their mouth is, and open another TD on North-side. Berkeley has an essentially unlimited number of girls with reasonable intelligence and plenty of attitude to work there.

GMP: In my junior year, I lived in the dorms; and hitting the Durant TD was easy. In my senior year, I lived in the hills and most of my classes were in Cory or Evans; so I hardly ever walked clear over to South-side. Having a North-side TD was a real boon.

petitions can be good for not only government policies but also private sector decisions. in this case a small, what is top dog, family owned? never knew the complete history on in. but if you gave the petition to the owner with sufficient signatures itd be worth a shot. itd certainly be more worth it, in my opinion than the occupy protests. but yea if poop says that pizza place has a good chance of doing well, then i guess its likely not going to work.

gobears725;842092990 said:

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petitions can be good for not only government policies but also private sector decisions. in this case a small, what is top dog, family owned? never knew the complete history on in. but if you gave the petition to the owner with sufficient signatures itd be worth a shot. itd certainly be more worth it, in my opinion than the occupy protests. but yea if poop says that pizza place has a good chance of doing well, then i guess its likely not going to work.

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For serious......the owners aren't just going to change it back if some number of people sign a petition, no matter how badly those people want TD back or think this a horrible abomination or disrespect to a sacred Berkeley icon or whatever. Restaurants change all the time and there are always people who want the old version back.

It only gets changed back if Pizzahhhhhhhhh flops.

510Bear;842093007 said:

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For serious......the owners aren't just going to change it back if some number of people sign a petition, no matter how badly those people want TD back or think this a horrible abomination or disrespect to a sacred Berkeley icon or whatever. Restaurants change all the time and there are always people who want the old version back.

It only gets changed back if Pizzahhhhhhhhh flops.

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even the name of the new place is an eye sore

BearGeorge;842092985 said:

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Are you kidding me? TD is not a government thing man. It's a MONEY thing -- it's just a business. If someone feels strongly enough about it, just have them put their money where their mouth is, and open another TD on North-side. Berkeley has an essentially unlimited number of girls with reasonable intelligence and plenty of attitude to work there.

GMP: In my junior year, I lived in the dorms; and hitting the Durant TD was easy. In my senior year, I lived in the hills and most of my classes were in Cory or Evans; so I hardly ever walked clear over to South-side. Having a North-side TD was a real boon.

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I lived on Euclid just 3 blocks from campus. I'm not saying I didn't like having Top Dog there. I'm just saying that the owners probably closed the Northside TD for a reason - presumably business was not good; indeed it hardly ever seemed to be busy when I was there, even on game days, when I lived there just *gulp* ten years ago*.

So business presumably was not good and they've changed to a pizza place that is getting good reviews, and someone thinks a petition is going to get the owners to change their minds when they own two other Top Dogs a short distance away? It's not going to happen, that's all.

grandmastapoop;842093022 said:

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I lived on Euclid just 3 blocks from campus. I'm not saying I didn't like having Top Dog there. I'm just saying that the owners probably closed the Northside TD for a reason - presumably business was not good; indeed it hardly ever seemed to be busy when I was there, even on game days, when I lived there just *gulp* ten years ago*.

So business presumably was not good and they've changed to a pizza place that is getting good reviews, and someone thinks a petition is going to get the owners to change their minds when they own two other Top Dogs a short distance away? It's not going to happen, that's all.

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well thats assuming that you know the reason why they closed the original place. lots of people open and close businesses for different reasons, not every reason is entirely about money. just as long as the place turns a profit, which im fairly certain that a place like top dog would. the reason why i say a petition is because it would give the owner an outlook of what his customer base is and to what his potential customers would want. The pizza may be good, but i dont see it doing as well as top dog in the same location.

gobears725;842093033 said:

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well thats assuming that you know the reason why they closed the original place. lots of people open and close businesses for different reasons, not every reason is entirely about money. just as long as the place turns a profit, which im fairly certain that a place like top dog would. the reason why i say a petition is because it would give the owner an outlook of what his customer base is and to what his potential customers would want. The pizza may be good, but i dont see it doing as well as top dog in the same location.

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I agree with GMP. I've seen lots of signatures on petitions, but at the end of the day, if people don't vote with their wallets, those signatures are worthless.

If the TD owners choose wrong, well that is their choice, right?

buster99;842093041 said:

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I agree with GMP. I've seen lots of signatures on petitions, but at the end of the day, if people don't vote with their wallets, those signatures are worthless.

If the TD owners choose wrong, well that is their choice, right?

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yep, im not saying that they dont have the right to do it. maybe the wife is makes an excellent pizza and they wanted to give it a shot. who really knows? but the good luck following top dog.

gobears725;842093046 said:

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yep, im not saying that they dont have the right to do it. maybe the wife is makes an excellent pizza and they wanted to give it a shot. who really knows? but the good luck following top dog.

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who knows the economic situation. But I've seen cases where neighborhoods lament the demise of a longtime institution, e.g. bookstore, yet get everything from Amazon. Damn NIMBYs :p

Some of you may be overestimating the uproar caused by the departure of the northside Top Dog.

Imagine if a Chick-fil-A or a Jack-in-the-Box replaced the Durant Top Dog, though. THEN you'd see uproar.