<!> *IF YOU HAVE PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS OF PLACES TO EAT NEAR OAKLAND PLEASE ADD THEM* (!)

A recent local newspaper article discussed several new hotspots within Oakland.

Oakland (Walking Distance Of Hotel)

Le Cheval http://www.lecheval.com/ is great for groups. Good French-influenced Vietnamese food served fast at low prices (one of my favorites is the watercress salad). There's often a wait on Friday/Saturday night, but it's a large (and sometimes noisy) place, and they turn the tables over pretty fast. Good drink selection (solid beer and wine list backed by a full bar).

Levende East http://www.levendeeast.com/, a swanky restaurant and bar best for smaller parties.

Tamarindo http://www.tamarindoantojeria.com/, a small restaurant with elegant decor and friendly staff serving upscale Latin American-style food and aguas frescas.

Breads of India http://www.breadsofindia.com/ opened a large location in downtown a couple years back. I've only been to their Berkeley location, which puts out excellent food at only slightly higher than market price.

For breakfast, check out the Cockadoodle Cafe http://www.cockadoodlecafe.com/ (+wireless), or Cafe 817 http://www.cafe817.com/ (best espresso in town, flaky wireless can sometimes be picked up near the door from the brew pub).

For a pub feel, you might consider Pacific Coast Brewing Co. http://www.pacificcoastbrewing.com/ for okay beer and terrible food, and flaky wireless.

Or, if you just want excellent beer, try The Trappist http://thetrappist.com/ with over 160 beers, 20 on tap.

Oakland/Berkeley/Emeryville (Bart-able / short drive)

Camino http://www.caminorestaurant.com/ would be good for a larger group, serving up food and cocktails you just won't find anywhere else. However, it's a bit too far to walk on foot (over to Lake Merritt and up Grand Ave.).

Yoshi's http://www.yoshis.com/ sushi restaurant and jazz club can make for a fun night out (could end up on the pricier side).

But better might be Luka's tap room & lounge http://www.lukasoakland.com/, which well less pub-y has surprisingly excellent food. And I hear dancing in the evenings too, if you're into that sort of thing.

Take a very short drive (or a medium walk from the MacArthur Bart station) to the Piedmont area for a real pub (Cato's, with solid wireless and soccer on the TV) or some high end dining (Bay Wolf)

You can take the BART (local mass trainsit train, 12th St. stop right near the hotel) for even better food and bars to nearby College Ave. The Rockridge area of North Oakland features several excellent pubs and restaurants, and its only a short BART ride away (since the conference hotel is sitting on top of a BART stop. Some favorites include Somerset http://www.somersetrestaurant.com/ on College Avenue for lunch and dinner and weekend brunch, tiny but great tiki bar the Conga Lounge http://congalounge.com/ open evenings and weekends, and Zachary's Chicago Pizza http://www.zacharys.com/ open when pizza places should be open...Barclay's Pub on College Avenue http://www.barclayspub.com/ is another with excellent local microbrewed beer on tap (30 varieties at a time on tap) but pretty crummy food. Nick's Bar & Grill nearby http://www.yelp.com/biz/ben-and-nicks-bar-and-grill-oakland/ has great food but not such a good selection of beers (sigh).

Greater East Bay (Bart-able / medium drive)

Berkeley is the home of one of the greatest restaurants in the United States (some say in the world). Chez Panisse http://www.chezpanisse.com/ was started in the late 1960s by Alice Waters and is considered to be the home of "California Cuisine" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chez_Panisse/ . Dinner in the downstairs restaurant is a reservations-only affair (and you probably can't get reservations...they are snapped up months in advance)...but you can go to the upstairs cafe with a little advanced planning. Call ahead at least 24 hours most days. Accessible by North Berkeley BART (its a 15-block walk) or car.

There are several other restaurants on the same block as Chez Panisse that take advantage of their overflow. Next door is a tapas place called Cesar that's pretty good. Across the street is the CheeseBoard Collective http://cheeseboardcollective.coop/ and a little further down you'll find the mecca for vegan and raw food fans, Cafe Gratitude http://www.cafegratitude.com/, which is far enough down Shattuck that its actually closer to the University BART station.

San Francisco

Of course San Francisco is also just a short BART ride away from the Oakland Marriott. The first City-side stop on BART (all lines) is Embarcadero. The building with the quaint clock-tower along the waterfront at Embarcadero is called the Ferry Building http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/ and its just full of shops and eateries including The Slanted Door (Vietnamese http://www.slanteddoor.com/, you'll need reservations) and Taylor's Refreshers (old fashioned hamburgers http://taylorsautomaticrefresher.com/) just to name two. Open-air Farmer's Markets complete with tent restaurants open Saturday and Thursday mornings.