Take-out Places
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Eateries that deliver to Walnut Creek - NOT PIZZA!
Sept. 2005
What restaurants/eateries other than pizzerias deliver in Walnut Creek? We are in the Heather Farm Park part of Walnut Creek if it matters. I would love to be able to call up someplace and have them bring us dinner once in a while. I'm not interested in all those fancy services where you pay and they bring gourmet meals. I'm just talking about restaurants which deliver like pizzerias deliver. would love to have some food brought to our door
Do you know about Takeout Taxi in Walnut Creek? It's a delivery company that delivers meals from a bunch of different restaurants in WC, Lafayette, etc. There is a delivery fee, so it's not free, as it would be with pizza, however. And if you order from them, do it early. They get busy and then you don't eat for hours! Wendy
BBQ Take-Out
Sept. 2004
Hi! I am planning a cowboy party for my son's 3rd birthday party. I am having a western bbq menu and would like to purchase take out. Any recommendations somewhat near San Leandro? Helena
KC Barbeque in Berkeley on San Pablo they also cater so maybe you won't have to come pick it up but I'm not sure how far out their service is but they're great! KC BBQ 2613 San Pablo Avenue Berkeley, Ca 94702 (510) 548-1140. moniz
BBQ is pretty expensive, but if you're willing to pay for it, the best BBQ in the area is at Everett & Jones in Hayward. If that's too far away, Old South BBQ on East 14th would be my 2nd choice. If you want something more local, Perry's at the Pelton Center is OK. It doesn't have the smokey flavor of the other ones, and the sauces are not as good, but it's acceptable. On the plus side, the owner is/was a caterer and their side orders are wonderful. anon
I *love* the St. Louis ribs and cole slaw from Emil Villa's. It's a chain, I know there's one in Hayward, and one in Oakland- they are both the same. I believ Emile Villas and the Hickory Pit were owned by brothers who had a falling out, and the Hickory Pit has essentially the same menu also. BBQ lover
Everett & Jones, Jack London Square. Yum. Almost as good as Alabama BBQ. Call ahead first - they do a lot of take-out.
Take-Out near Dimond district
May 2004
My husband and I are fairly new residents of the Dimond neighborhood in Oakland and, as parents of a toddler and a very young baby, we end up getting take-out meals much more often than I'd like to admit. So far, we've been relying pretty heavily on a few restaurants in Montclair (Rustica, Ferrari, the taqueria), but these are wearing thin. We'd appreciate recommendations for sources of tasty take-out in Oakland, preferably inexpensive and ideally within a ten or fifteen minute drive of Fruitvale and MacArthur (Grand is close enough; Rockridge is probably too far). I've looked at the website, but there isn't very much on this topic. Thanks for your help! Too Tired to Microwave
Hunan Yuan at Lincoln Square on Redwood Road is great -- nice people, good Chinese food, fast service, plenty of parking. Tel. 531-1415. Enjoy! Morris
We have been going to Ly Luck (Chinese Resturant) like forever. Its on Fruitvale Avenue near Safeway. Everything in there is GREAT and TASTEY!!! They do not deliver, but you can call for pick-up and they are real fast. Try them out. Ly Luck 3537 Fruitvale Avenue (510) 530-3232 Diamond District Neighbor
take out in oakland: on Grand Ave there's Connie's Cantina - Mexican just off Grand near the theater is Siam Cuisine - thai On Webster and about 20th or 21st is a great Indian place - Sabina's, I think Ok back to Grand for good burgers and great butterscotch milkshakes there Ahn's burgers Lakeshore has a Noahs bagels There are several good and cheap vietnamese places in downtown Oakland near grand and broadway drive around down there - not sure which are open for dinner hours. happy hunting! take out fan
Taqueria Los Comales at MacArthur & Fruitvale (across from Blockbuster) is the best Mexican food around (WAY better than the taqueria in Montclair!) and is cheap too! Elaine
Thanks the goddess for take out food. My husband and I would have starved without it when our son was an infant :)!
When we would get sick of the places you mentioned we would go to: The Purple Plum on Park Blvd., Italian Colors in Montclair or Giant Burgers on MacArthur Blvd. All of these places do take out and have great food. Purple Plumb and Italian Colors are on the pricier side, but you can eat creatively by splitting an entree and salad or side dish. And even though it looks a little scarey, Giant Burgers really is good! I've been eating there for the last 20 years and never had any problems. Hope this helps. Enjoy the food! Kristin
Welcome to the neighborhood! We live just a little further out -- in the Laurel district -- so we're very familiar with the ''challenges'' of take out in this area. Montclair IS an option (we use it too), but we do have a few other suggestions.
Before I give you those, I have to tout a few other joys of the neighborhood.
For eating OUT, you MUST try Full House, and yes, they are child friendly. Open for breakfast and lunch every day except Monday, on MacArthur about 1.5 blocks east of 35th ave. We are lucky to have this excellent restaurant in the neighborhood -- better than Mama's Royal (though similar in flavor).
For cafes, across the street from Full House, you should try World Grounds. This is a real community center, good coffee, tea, smoothies, salads, and more. Also very child friendly.
For shopping, have you discovered Farmer Joe's (35th and MacArthur) and the Food Mill? Just try them. They sell themselves.
NOW, on to your requests. Here are some take out suggestions (after 5 years out here):
For Chinese: Ly Luck -- next to the Dimond library. Very inexpensive, pretty traditional (not too westernized) and decent to very good.
Hunan Yuan -- in the Redwood Shopping Center on Redwood Rd (take 13 to Redwood rd and turn LEFT). This is a little pricier (though not expensive) and the clientele is mostly non-Chinese. BUT the food is really really wonderful -- they use superior incredients, and they know how to cook.
There are a number of other corn-starchy Chinese restaurants on MacArthur -- most of them kinda scary. Daniel's is pretty good (or at least not bad) -- AND THEY DELIVER. Corner of MacArthur and High Street.
Mexican: Los Comales -- on MacArthur one block west of Fruitvale. Not bad! Actually, pretty good! (But if you want REAL DELICIOUS Mexican food, go down to International. Los Comales and all others pale in comparison).
Pizza Try Razzo's 2 minute pizza -- VERY DELICIOUS!!!!! Corner of High and MacArthur. Worth the extra several block drive. They also have large salads and homemade Tiramisu -- and a little parking lot out front. This is NOT your standard bad pizza.
Happy eating! Hungry in the Laurel
A couple of more places to try:
Pastino's pizza on Park Blvd-good, basic pizza; they also have pasta which we haven't tried
Arizmendi on Lakeshore-one daily veggie pizza cooked there or take home half-baked
Kasper's hotdogs on Macarthur towards Laurel-plus a little farther along is Loard's ice cream which looks kind of scary but has great mango ice cream
Everett & Jones BBQ on Fruitvale-yum
Also, there are lots of places to get stuff like good papusas (basically a quesadilla, from El Salvador) down Fruitvale
None of these is too healthy but good... glenview eater
Shandong Restaurant in Chinatown (328-10th St. near Webster)is one of the best northern Chinese restaurants I've found in the entire Bay Area, this from someone who lived in Northern China for two years! You can call ahead with an order to pick up or have it delivered, though only within a small radius. Absolute must try: their freshly-made dumplings and handmade noodles! Call 839-2299. They're closed Mondays. keaiwen
Take-out near Montclair?
2001
Any recommendations for those too busy to cook? When we lived in the city we had decent delivery Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Mexican, BBQ, etc. How about in Oakland (Montclair) area? I have tried Home on the Range which was pretty good, but I would like to know about other possibilities. Or if they don't deliver is there good take-out in my area?
When in need of a quick meal I either use: Rustica on LaSalle - take out or delivery of Roti-chicken, pizzas and lots of hot or cold side dishes. Pretty timely delivery. Right across the street is the old Lucca deli which I don't remember the name. Take out for great sandwiches, salads, re-heatable foodsetc. A little further out of the Oakland way is Whole Foods in Berkeley that has great ready to eat foods. Just my 2 cents. Eva
We live in Montclair and get our Chinese delivery from Szechuan (839-8988) and our Japanese food from Ichibon (268-8688). They are owned by the same people and we've been very happy with the food quality and delivery service. Pastino's Pasta and Pizza on Park (482-4701) also used to deliver, although we haven't done that in awhile, so I don't know if they still do. Cathy
Delivery is definitely a challenge in the East Bay. However, in Montclair there is Rustica on La Salle, you can take-out or they deliver. They have many types of Pizza - if you have it delivered I would recommend half baked, then you finish it in your oven - keeps it from becoming soggy. They also deliver roast chicken, potatoes etc. A.G. Ferrari in Montclair also has a good selection of take-out, both prepared food and frozen pasta and soups. A little further away, but good is Market Hall in Rockridge for prepared food - the menu and selection changes weekly, but they always have standards like roast chicken, Shepherds pie, macaroni & cheese etc. Kristi
Try Golden Lotus, an unassuming, almost hole in the wall kind of Chinese vegetarian restaurant, with great food. Our favorites are the Pan Fried Veg Chowfun and the green beans with tofu dish. I also have to mention that their Vegan Mocha Cake is the best I have ever eaten. They also do fake meat, fish etc. and I have heard friends complement their Caramelized Chicken. I do not know if they deliver but we have taken out from there several times. The address is: Golden Lotus 1301 Franklin Street Oakland, CA 94612
The phone number is: 510-893-0383
Richa
This is not hard to fulfill in the East Bay! In El Cerrito, there's Yao-ya San on San Pablo Ave on Moeser which is a small Japanese grocery with lots of packaged meals & frozen meals. There's also 99 Ranch on the El Cerrito/Richmond border, and a large Korean market in Oakland on Telegraph. Berkeley Bowl West also has fresh sushi to go & an Asian food aisle.
The farmers market in moraga on Sunday has a vendor that sells excellent baos and pot stickers.
For frozen food I would try Grocery Outlet (inconsistent stock, but if they have them it's amazing value and you buy a bunch), or online/delivery ordering with Weee (which I prefer to 99 Ranch because you get warehouse prices without the storefront costs). For sushi there's a lot of grab & go places within Japanese restaurants, but where do you live? Also sushi is super expensive per meal, in my experience. Honestly those foods are just not very nutrient-dense by nature, even when home-cooked (which I grew up doing). We usually eat these during holidays as a treat. There's just not much vegetables either. Probably dumplings are your best bet, although I find the non-homecooked varieties usually skimps out on protein. Very fun though!
Don't know how healthy they are, but New Dumpling in El Cerrito (on San Pablo) sells frozen dumplings. I can't remember if they are precooked and then frozen or if you have to cook them yourself. Caveat the we have had trouble cooking these without having them stick to each other and/or breaking, but that may well be user error. They also sell non-frozen cooked dumplings for dine in or takeout. https://newdumplingfood.smartonlineorder.com/
I'll preface with I'm not sure what you'd consider highly processed from a big box store. My Asian family didn't really look at nutrition facts growing up, so I'm mentioning things based more on my personal taste (I think I eat pretty healthy) and what my family thought was good enough to buy instead of make ourselves. That being said, Costco and Trader Joe's probably have the best options. I list some options below, and linked to a non-Costco site when possible since I know not everyone has a membership. You might be able to buy directly or find these at other places too.
Costco: chicken + cilantro dumplings (Korean) and MiLa soup dumplings (Chinese). I almost always have these in my freezer for a quick meal. I've also heard good things about their new vegetarian kimbap (Korean - looks kinda like sushi) but I haven't tried it personally. A little less healthy, I have gotten their Tonkatsu Ramen (Japanese) or Pulmuone's Udon (Japanese) but I don't buy these regularly. To make healthier, I add veggies (American veggies like broccoli, corn, cabbage are fine) and curb how much of the spice packet I add. Makes it feel homemade without all the effort
Trader Joe's: Gyoza (these are potstickers and come in chicken or pork). I haven't tried but have also heard good things about their Kimbap (Korean), soup dumplings (Chinese), and fried rice
Good luck!
Berkeley Bowl!
Tokyo Fish Market on San Pablo in N. Berkeley has a good selection from brands that seem more regional/not big box. Also Korean Superette and Kyoto Sushi, both on Solano Ave, have refrigerator cases with pre-made, grab-and-go options. No delivery, though; not sure about pre-order. Good luck.
Tao Yuen in Oakland (816 Franklin St in Chinatown) is really good, though parking can be challenging (there's an affordable garage). The other place we go to for dim sum is The Best Dim Sum and Pastry (that's the name and while it's good it's not as good as Tao Yuen) at 723 E 12th St in Oakland. Easy parking in a neighborhood you might regard as slightly seedy. Trader Joe's sells frozen potstickers (pork and I think chicken) that are pretty good and very convenient. Berkeley Bowl's sushi is quite good.
Your kids might enjoy making fresh spring rolls. Start with rice paper wrappers--you can order these from Amazon, but are easily found in most Asian Markets (I go to Sun Hop Fat at 5th Ave and E 12th in Oakland, or one of the many Chinatown markets). They come feeling like plastic, but get them wet and lay them on a plate and they soften up quickly. You can put pretty much anything in them as long as it can be cut to dimensions that work in something the size and shape of a spring roll. Cilantro, mint, shredded cabbage or lettuce, julienned carrots or cucumber, meat cut into thin slices. Add some sauce inside the wrapper or use it to dip (I'll do vinegar, chili sauce, & soy sauce, or sub lime juice but you can google spring roll dipping sauces for lots of easy options). Roll the spring roll up like a burrito (more or less). My daughter loved taking these for her school lunch. Easy-peasy, really healthy. FWIW, we would sometimes do fusion spring rolls with Tex-Mex fillings (beans, avocado, corn, tomato).
A lot of Asian use Wee (its an asian grocery app).
If not, Yao-ya San, Tokyo Fish market, 99 Ranch/Ranch 99 or even H Mart or Nijiya if you want to go further.
I dont know what you consider healthy