Nice list LINK

calumnus;842453284 said:

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Nice list LINK

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Thanks. I took down the two places where they have tamales. I have been hurting since La Imperial in Hayward closed. I

GATC;842453345 said:

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Thanks. I took down the two places where they have tamales. I have been hurting since La Imperial in Hayward closed. I

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Tamales Unicos de Cuernavaca in Oakland is crazy good. At least it was when it opened in 2009. Hard to find but worth it.

Those carnitas look very good.

calumnus;842453284 said:

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Nice list LINK

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Oh sheet, they actually list my favorite Chinese restaurant (in Chinatown) that nobody knows about. I say, nobody, because it's a tiny hole in the wall with very few people.

But I go to Gum Wah every month...They always provide me with our Super Bowl food....Also, I like to go there on the way home from very early morning biking trips to Alameda. I love being able to buy chow mein at 8:30 in the morning.

I don't love that it takes so long to cook.

This list makes me sad. My neighborhood doesn't have a single good cheap spot.

MoragaBear;842453417 said:

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The tamales were the first thing to catch my eye, too. It's hard to find good tamales that aren't homemade, though our farmer's market has pretty good ones we get for Sunday lunch most every week.

If anyone checks out any of these places, please post a review.

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Moraga Bear, hit El Molina on Monument in Concord for tamales..

Cholita Linda's is great, awesome carnitas.

Really solid list of cheap ethnic eats.. Been to about 7 of them

I used to drive out to the Las Montanas in San Pablo for a dozen pork tamales every Christmas as they were very good for a market tamale. Will try the cuernavaca when I go up again soon.

brj1;842453438 said:

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Cholita Linda's is great, awesome carnitas.

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The fish tacos at the Cholita Linda farmer's market stand were a weekly Sunday obsession of mine. I'm glad they now have a brick and mortar to satisfy cravings on other days of the week.

The tamale place caught my eye as well - added it to my list.

socaliganbear;842453397 said:

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This list makes me sad. My neighborhood doesn't have a single good cheap spot.

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Move to a crappier neighborhood.

HuntingtonBear;842453444 said:

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Will try the cuernavaca when I go up again soon.

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If I made an East Bay version of the "Lazy Sunday" video, it would definitely include that place. Even though it's hard to rhyme "Tamales Unicos de Cuernavaca".

The Banh Mi place has a branch in El Cerrito too - I used to visit that one often.

NYCGOBEARS;842453494 said:

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Move to a crappier neighborhood.

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I was thinking the same thing. Pretty funny.

Looperbear;842453429 said:

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Moraga Bear, hit El Molina on Monument in Concord for tamales..

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Thanks for the tip on El Molina. Will try it out.

What about $5 milkshakes?

MoragaBear;842454741 said:

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Got takeout tamales and crunchy tacos the other night from El Molina.

The prices are incredible at $1.50 each. We liked the tamales but will still continue to search for the perfect ones. I didn't notice enchilladas on their menu. Do they have them, too?

Read on Yelp that their nachos are really good, with great chips that don't get soggy. That will be my next choice there.

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Don't think they do enchilidas. Yeah, chips are tasty there. Want to be there for chile relleno night. Good luck on the tamales, my MIL's homemade ones are so good I hardly ever order from restaurants.

NYCGOBEARS;842453494 said:

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Move to a crappier neighborhood.

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I laughed.

Wait are there NO cheap urban hole-in-the walls dive restaurants in Blackhawk ? Napa has a few.

MoragaBear;842454741 said:

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Got takeout tamales and crunchy tacos the other night from El Molina.

The prices are incredible at $1.50 each. We liked the tamales but will still continue to search for the perfect ones.

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I'm a tamale junkie. Junk truck, flea market, farmers market, roadside stand, restaurant; if my wife sees them advertised, she arches her eyebrow as a silent inquiry: "Are we pulling over?"

La Mexicana in Hayward

Disclosure:
Not ~quite~ sure this is the place - I knew it as the grocery store on A street - never paid attention to the name
I live in the South Bay now, and haven't been there since the late 80's / early 90's

BUT. If it is the place, I loved their tamales (20 years ago). In the 70's/80's, my mother worked with an East Side San Jose non-profit that helped the (mostly Latino) wives & kids of incarcerated men. La Mexicana's tamales (if that's the place) were like the tamales many of those ladies made for their families every year at Christmas time.

I hadn't given this place any thought, and I'm pleased that they might still be there. I'll make an A street detour the next time I head up to Berkeley.

Anybody have thoughts on Nick's? SeriousEats has some pretty good thoughts on Bay Area pizza but I've had a friend give a poor review to Nick's itself.

tokuno;842454824 said:

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I'm a tamale junkie. Junk truck, flea market, farmers market, roadside stand, restaurant; if my wife sees them advertised, she arches her eyebrow as a silent inquiry: "Are we pulling over?"

La Mexicana in Hayward

Disclosure:
Not ~quite~ sure this is the place - I knew it as the grocery store on A street - never paid attention to the name
I live in the South Bay now, and haven't been there since the late 80's / early 90's

BUT. If it is the place, I loved their tamales (20 years ago). In the 70's/80's, my mother worked with an East Side San Jose non-profit that helped the (mostly Latino) wives & kids of incarcerated men. La Mexicana's tamales (if that's the place) were like the tamales many of those ladies made for their families every year at Christmas time.

I hadn't given this place any thought, and I'm pleased that they might still be there. I'll make an A street detour the next time I head up to Berkeley.

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I think you are talking about La Imperial on D Street, Hayward. Used to be a grocery store up front and restaurant behind. Then they made it all restaurant about 15 years ago. Been going there for at least 30 years. Always go on the way to or back from Oakland Airport. They closed 2 years ago. I bought 2 dozen tamales and kept them in the freezer to survive on. I have been trying to find a replacement and even trying making my own. I realized that it is the sauce that is the hardest to replicate. I found that by buying canned enchilada sauce, dried peppers (that I grind in the Cuisinart) and adding a pound of pork butt, I can get close.

Growing up in Fresno, our neighbor used to give us tamales every Christmas - loved them. My mother thought the wife was Italian (the husband was German). I was pretty young then but it did not register getting home made tamales from an Italian. Later I found out that she was Hispanic and told my mother. She was shocked.

Inconvenient, yes, but you might try this place in downtown Oaktown.
Enchiladas, yes, dinner menu, and it's outside the $5 zone.
Antojeria Mexicana El Chilar, 365 17th Street.

http://www.chilaroakland.com/

I've lunched there several times in the last 6 mos and it's very good. Don't mind the line-up for tables at lunch.

StillNoStanfurdium;842454946 said:

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Anybody have thoughts on Nick's? SeriousEats has some pretty good thoughts on Bay Area pizza but I've had a friend give a poor review to Nick's itself.

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Nick's has legit pizza. They're actually planning to open a 2nd location nearby in Temescal. I'm still an Arinell's guy though (Downtown on Shattuck).

MoragaBear;842455116 said:

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Yelp's pretty rough on that place: http://www.yelp.com/biz/antojeria-mexicana-el-chilar-oakland

Was going to check out La Borinquea before a movie tonight but found out they have no dinner. The other place on the list for tamales (Taqueria Sinaloa) are just taco trucks. We I called to see if they're open at night, the person anwering the phone said, "Bueno?" I asked how late they were open and she just hung up.

My quest continues...

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My quest for the perfect tamales continues. I guess I like it with the sauce which is not as common as I thought since I've been getting my tamales at La Imperial. El Molina is a good recommendation and the prices for the tamales is great, but tomatillo salsa is not my favorite. The taco salad was good.

During my years at Cal (early 80's) we used to eat at a BBQ joint named "Flints", hole in the wall type, in Oakland. I remember going straight on Shattuck to this place. It was amazing - haven't had the same BBQ anywhere else. Does anyone know about this place? Is it still around? Or moved somewhere?

HungryCalBear;842456677 said:

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During my years at Cal (early 80's) we used to eat at a BBQ joint named "Flints", hole in the wall type, in Oakland. I remember going straight on Shattuck to this place. It was amazing - haven't had the same BBQ anywhere else. Does anyone know about this place? Is it still around? Or moved somewhere?

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It closed down about a dozen years ago after the founder, Mr. Flintroy, passed away. It re-opened a few years later but it wasn't the same, specifically the sauce. Something was missing. I think it finally closed for good in 2006? I had good memories of that place. Nothing quite like party fun and ending the night with Flints. I think they were open until 2 or 3 a.m.?