El Cerrito

Fat Apples is a local tradition, serving typical breakfast staple items, such as waffles, buttermilk pancakes, and home fries, as well as few unusual ones (the pumpkin pancakes are delicious). The lunch and dinner menus are full of homey family fare, such as cheese burgers, onion rings, spaghetti, tuna melts, and salads. But the main attraction is the baked goods and desserts. The on-site bakery, which supplies the Berkeley Fat Apples restaurant, serves up delicious pies, cakes, cookies, cheese puffs, and all sorts of other baked items fresh from the oven. The El Cerrito Fat Apples is in a converted grocery store space, which won a prize for its deconstructed interior, and the focal point of the restaurant is the huge, red bakery oven sitting in the center of an open kitchen.

El Cerrito is the headquarters of the famous Northern California hamburger chain. Nation's is often voted "best burger" in local newspaper polls. The flagship store on the corner of Central and San Pablo serves up monster burgers, fries, and shakes, as well as breakfast all day (and night), and fresh pies. Vegetarians can gobble "Harvester" meatless burgers and scarf down excellent hashbrowns.

One of the most well-respected local Japanese restaurants in the East Bay north of Oakland. Well-decorated without being flashy or overwhelming inside. The tonkatsu, gyoza, and various nigiri sushi are deserved favorites here.

Small family-run restaurant serving excellent, authentic Chinese dumplings and an array of sides.

The brewery features six beers that are crafted on site and a rotating selection of guest taps from other California microbreweries. With twelve beers available at all times at the brewery, the portfolio of beers should be broad enough to satisfy almost all preferences of style.

Standard American outdoor shopping mall, including Marshalls, Ross, Barnes and Noble, Trader Joe's, Lucky, CVS, the Japanese dollar store Daiso, and a handful of restaurants.