Restaurants in Berkeley

Weekly samba performances complement authentic Brazilian fare at Canto Do Brasil Restaurant, one of San Francisco's longest-standing Brazilian restaurants and subject of a Check, Please! feature. To commence meals, chefs can sauté black mussels with red wine and garlic or grill up a sausage that intimidates foot-long hot dogs with its 16-inch length and muscular entourage of bread. For the main dish, forks can tap dance over the galinha na cerveja, a half chicken marinated in dark beer and Brazilian-style spices; or hide away inside the seafood tropical’s pineapple shell, in which a sauce made with orange, apple, and coconut festoons a medley of seafood. Finally, a selection of Brazilian and Portuguese beers or the signature caipirinha’s mix of sugar, lime, and rum's bad-boy cousin cachaça can wash down meals with authentic South American flavors.

Patrons can pluck their daily serving of fruit from piled-high headdresses on Friday and Saturday nights, when Canto Do Brasil hosts live samba performances. Dancers decked out in feathered plumes and sparkly costumes shimmy and shake their way between rustic wooden chairs and bright blue walls, entertaining customers and competing to see whose headdress can attract the most parrots.

The chefs of San Buena Taco Truck grill asada and carnitas inside roaming kitchens, delighting taste buds across the city with four trucks and a bustling catering department. Each truck totes a station for dousing spicy tacos, quesadillas, and burritos with salsa verde and guacamole, and stocks a refrigerator with beverages from south of the border, including tamarindo and Mexican Coca-Cola. Caterers travel to special occasions, such as weddings and discoveries of lost remotes, dishing fare en masse. They count Whole Foods Market, Lucasfilm, and Genentech among their satisfied, sated clientele.

Local artwork, bright pink and teal hues, and incredibly intricate architectural accents welcome guests to the Red Victorian. For more than a century, the historic bed-and-breakfast has offered travelers a home away from home with an inviting café and 18 themed rooms including the Japanese Tea Garden room and the Summer of Love room decorated with authentic '60s posters, a lava lamp, and a tie-dye canopy. At the Peaceful World Café, guests can enjoy vegan, vegetarian, and organic fare such as warm pastries, elaborate sandwiches, and robust coffee drinks. In addition, the café hosts regular events including musical performances, and snack seminars led by 6-foot scones.

The patty-flipping artisans at Burger House, a casual eatery in Union Square, crown half-pound burgers with traditional and gourmet ingredients. The Cable Car burger, Burger House's most popular menu item, charges into mouths bearing thousand island dressing, melted swiss cheese, two pieces of bacon, and slices of avocado. Classic burger pairings include generous helpings of fries, colossal onion rings, and lonely takeout boxes.

Breaking Bread's owners, Patrick and Jimmy Totah, founded the artisan sandwich shop in 2010 in order to bring back what they deemed the "lost art of sandwich making." The comestible craftsmen stock their menu with more than 20 made-to-order specialty sandwiches, assembled from locally sourced Golden Gate Meat Company meats and freshly baked Acme Bread Company bread, as well as house-made soups and hand-tossed seasonal salads. In addition to shunning sandwiches made with gunpowder, the duo shuns "sandwiches that just filled you up, rather than nourishing you and making you happy," and thus they slather their edible stacks with 12 house-made spreads, such as citrus mayo, and ingredients such as crisp Hobbs bacon, albacore tuna, and Haas avocados. The Totahs' menu also features a lineup of foamy lattes and a leafy potpourri of teas.

The brainchild of two native San Franciscan chefs, Dell'Uva sprung from a joint love of food and wine, inspired by travels around the world. After finishing culinary school, Juri McCorkle set off on a journey that carried his palate from Vietnamese markets to Swedish harvests, learning new cooking techniques and ways of saying "These are onion tears" along the way. Returning to the states with a renewed sense of epicurean adventurism, Juri teamed up with chef Jason Marcucci. Together, the two dreamed up a food and wine venue reminiscent of cozy cafés found abroad. The result was Dell'Uva, where an extensive selection of domestic and imported varietals transports palates across the globe, from Napa Valley to Argentina. Diners tuck into tapas from a menu focused on locally sourced ingredients, along with artisan cheeses and charcuterie-cured meats. Dishes pair with themed wine flights composed of vintages from Bordeaux, bubbly wines from France, Italy, and Napa, and dessert wines. Reclining on the outdoor patio or inside amidst the warm tones of the bar and dining room, guests snack on house-cured rosemary balsamic olives, rustic pizzas, and rich desserts.