Fenton’s is a classic diner/ice cream shop that has withstood the test of time and is still chugging along. Parking is a nightmare and unless you wait for one of their 8 or 9 spots, you’ll be circling around the block and up and down the street looking for a spot, especially if it’s a warm night out when everyone and their mother wants a scoop of ice cream.

We usually sit at the counter because it is faster and our friend goes there so often that she knows all of the cooks by name so she likes to chat it up… It does not surprise me that every time we go there I eat way more than I planned. This time I thought I was under control by agreeing to share an appetizer sampler and eat only the smallest sundae, but I ended up eating half of an deviled egg sandwich which was ordered by mistake, ate a handful of onion rings, the jalapeno poppers and 2 chicken fingers from the appetizer sampler and a small cup of mocha almond fudge ice cream.

This egg salad sandwich was good. I can’t remember ever ordering an egg salad sandwich anywhere ever in my lifetime, and I’m not really a huge egg salad person, but this sandwich was good. I credit most of it to the bread – perfectly toasted sourdough. Leave out the olives next time, too many!!

These are some killer onion rings. You know, the regular frozen kind in a bag – so good… cooked perfectly golden brown and comes with ranch dipping sauce. YUM!! I also like how the onion inside is soft enough so that you don’t have to really gnaw on it when you take your bite… don’t you hate when the whole onion slice comes out of the breading?

Alas, the appetizer sampler for $8.99. Included are mozzarella sticks (the fat kind), zucchini sticks, jalapeno poppers (with cream cheese), chicken fingers and 3 dipping sauces. When I come to Fenton’s I’m notorious for ordering poppers and chicken fingers, so this platter is good for sharing the other stuff (and cheaper than ordering each item individually). Can’t complain here, it’s fried and FRIED = GOOD.

Lastly, my dessert. A “petite” scoop of the Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream. All of the ice cream is hand made in small batches right at Fenton’s. It’s all very good. I think I prefer this flavor over the Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch because the almonds are chopped up in small pieces whereas the peanuts in the CPBC are whole, and it’s just too much peanut!

Fenton’s is a classic and I’m sure I’ll be back there soon.

Fenton’s Creamery
4226 Piedmont Ave
Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 658-7000
www.fentonscreamery.com

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I used to work at a restaurant in Pennsylvania before I move to San Francisco. When I walked into T-Rex Berkeley I felt like I was entering a hipper, cooler, more modern version of my old restaurant/bar… it smelled the same (kind of like an old tavern meets cleaning products meets smoking meat) and the menu layout was identical and used the same font (only the nerdy graphic designer in me would notice this).

T-Rex was definitely off to a great start once I saw the Hoegaarden on the beer list. They brought it back with an orange though (oops!)… oranges are for Franziskaner, lemons are for Hoe… most people don’t know that though (just like how you never drink Guinness from a can!) Anyway, we ordered alot of food, check it out:

These ribs were AWESOME. They were very flavorful and seasoned perfectly with just the right amount of spices. They came with both a sweet and a hot bbq sauce, both of which were really different from one another. I prefered a mix of the two – the sweet one was very sweet and tangy and the hot one had a more smokey peppery flavor. I haven’t had ribs in a long time so these really hit the spot. I didn’t eat the toast and I wasn’t so wild about the potato salad either, just wanted the meat…

Growing up, my stepdad grilled ribs and other goodies during the summer, so I have become a seasoned rib eater, and I’m not just saying this because he’s my stepdad – but alot of these bbq people have alot to live up to. I don’t know what he does to them, but they are so good that I can’t really order ribs anywhere else because they’re never as good as his. T-Rex ribs get an A.

Ooh, now onto the single side dish that I measure many of my favorite restaurant’s upon – the french fry. As you can see, these are thicker cut fries with skins ON. I’m no potato expert but I’m guessing they were freshly cut yukon gold potatoes? They were much starchier than normal russet potatoes and you could tell that the oil they were fried in was fairly new since they didn’t have the “fried”, “buttery” grease, it was “cleaner” grease if you know what I mean… This was the first of 2 fry orders. The first round came out a bit dry (but good enough that I ate most of them) – I think they were under a heatlamp too long… the second batch was much fresher but by then I was too full to eat anything else. The ketchup was also homemade and it had a nice kick to it. Good ketchup.

More brunch appetizers… the Maple Sugar Beignets with Espresso Custard (topped with fresh whipped cream). The beignets were to DIE for. I’m not really the queen of sweet tooth but I definitely could’ve eaten this whole order if I wasn’t sharing it with 2 other people. It was amazing and if you ever go to T-Rex you need to try them. Beignets are great – if you don’t know what they are, they’re a light fluffy dough, usually stuffed with something (chocolate, fruit, etc), but these were just the dough and you put the espresso custard on top (or just dip it). Definitely A++ on the beignets.

Finally the main dishes. My friend and I decided to split 2 entrees. I ordered the “Tart of T-rex ham and gruyere cheese, carmelized onions and two over easy eggs and toast.” She ordered the “Pulled pork sandwich with bbq potato chips and cole slaw”

When I got my dish, I didn’t recognize it – I thought I was getting a tart? I was definitely expecting a puff pastry or some elaborate ham and cheese croissant-like dish… what I got was a flat disc of pastry, on top of the pastry was some ham, cheese, then the 2 eggs over easy. They forgot to give me toast, and I felt bad asking for it since the waiter already made a mistake and he was trying really hard to make up for it. So, the arugula salad made up for the missing toast. I don’t think I would order this dish again – it wasn’t bad but it didn’t blow me away like I thought it would. My suggestion – add something to give it a little crunch, or maybe put the entire thing inside a pastry? I know it’s supposed to be a tart but there was just something missing, sorry.

Holy KRAY-berries (my word for OMG OMG!!!) look at that Pork BBQ Sandie! I think out of all of the pork bbq I’ve ever eaten, this was probably the BEST. My friend said the sauce was too vinegar-y for her, but I thought it was perfect – the perfect amount of sweet and tangy without losing the flavor of the pork itself. And the bun was nice and soft and wasn’t one of those annoying crumbly ones that fall apart (or get really soggy). The chips were amazing too, nice light, sweet bbq flavor and they were thick-cut with alot of crunch, just the way I like ’em. By this point I was way too full to try the coleslaw.

As you can see from the above pics, T-Rex is a colorful, laid back place. It’s really nice, and they have a nice outdoor seating area upstairs as well as a little section upstairs with sofa’s/armchairs where you can eat and watch “the game” from one of their flatscreen tv’s. I will definitely return to T-Rex.

T-Rex BBQ
1300 Tenth Street (Cross St. Gilman)
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 527- 0099

http://www.t-rex-bbq.com

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When you walk into Bette’s there is a giant piece of cherry pie hanging from the ceiling. I am not kidding. It’s an old 50 styles diner with a couner and stools, and booths… white and silver decor. The ambiance is easy going, friendly and casual.

I ended up ordering the classic 2 eggs any style breakfast with homefries and bacon.

I like dippy eggs but I don’t like them all runny like over easy so I ordered them over medium. I have to say they were still a bit too runny for what I consider medium (lots of clear liquid, not cooked through), but nonetheless I ate them.

The homefries were interesting… not really what I was expecting from an old school diner. They were made with red potatoes and were cooked with sauteed onions. I was kind of just expecting simple, chopped up potatoes tossed around with some salt and butter on the griddle, you know, the usual. The homefries were good, I ate all of them, but I would probably skip the onions, and add some butter.

Products made from pigs are some of my favorite things to eat, and I have to say – the bacon at Bette’s Dinner was AWESOME. I got 4 big thick slices cooked perfectly with the perfect ratio of fat/meat/grease… a little crunch near the ends but not enough to crumble. It was awesome.

Lastly, fresh squeezed orange juice is always A+ in my book. I can’t stand over pasturized OJ that is all creamy and thick – gross! The orange juice was definitely fresh, sweet and perfect.

Would I return? Most likely.

Bette’s Ocean View Diner

1807 4th St
(between Hearst Ave & Virginia St)
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 644-3230

(510) 644-3230

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