Pickles n' smoke showed up at the Kensington Farmers Market last Sunday. The market's weekly email…read moremessage explained two days before that openings can occur in the market due to family emergencies or vacations, or for other reasons. When that happens, the market will introduce its clientele to "a start-up vendor, or someone who's too small to commit to a weekly gig, or someone who wants to try out a cool new product." The market manager, Chris, cited Pickles n' Smoke as an example of the new surprises we can look forward to. When I showed up last Sunday at noon, there was a short line to order. Customers were curious about the new vendor; perhaps many had showed up expecting Fat Daddy's, which is the usual operation at this corner. During my short walk down the market to the Pickles tent, someone whispered in my ear that the brisket from PnS was delicious. As a result, I ordered the brisket sammi, a relatively small sweet roll piled high with brisket, slaw and sauce. The sandwich cost $19, which was somewhat more than I expected to pay; the price, however, did not strike me as outrageous. I paid in cash and was pleased that there was no tip bucket begging for the dollar bill that I received in change. The sandwich was quite excellent. All the flavors blended together very well, and I wasn't terribly bothered by the sweetness of the roll. If PnS comes back to the market, I'll try buying some barbecued meat in bulk or composing a "plate," which can include multiple meats and sides.

Spent some time talking with the woman behind the screen @ the Kensington Farmers Market January…read more11, 2026. Pickles n Smoke had a booth there. She assured me it would be really good~~NOT! At least 70% pure fat. How disappointing! And I ordered baked beans side--underdone! Gross! I did go back to let her know: she said she would tell the chef. $22 down the tubes. How very disappointing

Best Japanese food I've had in awhile! This little secret popup in Berkeley across the North Face…read moreoutlet has the kindest Japanese couple and homiest of food. The must get and their most popular is the sukiyaki onigiri. I've had nothing like it before. They put an egg yolk wrapped around the rice and wrap that with sliced beef, perfectly grilled. The sweet potato burrata was also amazing. Just the combination of sweet potatoes and burrata cheese. Dan dan mochi was also good, I wish i could take the sauce home. Probably will skip the eggplant next time but it's a unique sweet taste! We wanted to try the Wagyu katsu but they sold out. :( The couple working the popup were really nice and polite even when i accidentally said "konichiwa" to say thank you. Ample seating outside as well!

Standout items were Takoyaki and the matcha soba salad…read more Takoyaki had nice big chewy piece of taco Bonito flakes and kewpie mayo were delicious toppings. Matcha soba salad was refreshing on a sunny day. Also had the beef curry onigiri and salted egg onigiri to-go. Catch them during a pop-up if you can!

I showed up for today's pop-up a few minutes before the opening bell at noon. I got "one to go" in…read morethe lexicon of Bakesale Betty's -- a chicken sandwich wrapped in foil, all ready for off-site consumption. Wow, that was great! Seriously, announce another one and I'll be like Pavlov's dog. The pop-up was selling chips, Thai ice tea and the famous CB Pizza buffalo milk soft serve ice cream. Sadly, I got none of those, but there's always next time. I hope that there will be a next time!!

Neat atmosphere. Casks of wine all over. Nice music and food was good. Nice place to take out of…read moretown guests. We went early before it got crowded.

Whoo hoo!! FINALLY got to try their burgers and now I'm obsessed and they are definitely my go to…read morefor my smashed burger craving. I went to a place in OC which I thought was the best and Smash'd definitely represents for NorCal!! We got there to the Blue Oak Brewing Company a bit early thinking they started at 1 but found out that they actually started at 2. No worries, Blue Oak is a nice place for drinks and to hang around!! At 2 they start to take orders. Keep in mind because they make everything fresh it does take a bit for preparation but it is SO WORTH IT!! Got the double usual with caramelized onions and it's perfection. Crunchy, juicy, so much flavor and not greasy at all. And the bun they use is soft and pillowy. We had gotten some ketchup packets but it was perfect without it!! When I first looked at it I thought it was too much food and I would save some of it. BUT my mouth and brain had other thoughts .... I couldn't stop eating it and devoured it.... Even though my tummy said I was getting full it was worth feeling stuffed! Can't wait to get my next one but I definitely need to pace myself!!

They moved location recently (call to check for new address), it's down the street…read more We came mid day and waited about 30 minutes (we were told of the wait time prior to ordering). We didn't mind waiting, love the transparency. Burgers overall were just okay. Theres no unique taste or seasoning to it besides salt and pepper (which is great, if it were steaks). The jalapeños tasted like jarred ones from the store. No sauce was given Besides ketchup. The fries were frozen fries and reheated, nothing special whatsoever.

Was in town in SF for the weekend for a family friend's funeral . Knew it will be a hectic day for…read moreus.I Communicated with Sitha a few weeks before my arrival . I really don't have any special requests, just left it to sitha to create a menu for me and my family based on what's in season and for her to surprise me. Sitha delivered some food to our Airbnb in time for dinner . The menu: - kaw Trey saht chrouk beh Choun (braised fish and pork belly) -stuffed chicken wings kreung ( lemongrass paste ) -stir fry clams -haal Leah (Cambodian sun dried clams ) -raw bloody clams with prohoak ( fermented fish dip) -steamed rice I never had raw bloody clams before, it was a nice touch with the Cambodian prohoak sauce . The braised fish and pork belly was delicious , sweet/ salty and savory . With the crunchy cucumbers was the family favorite dish. Of course the stuffed wings continues to be our family must order when we have a chance .

Ordered garlic noodles + 2 beef skewers today at Prescott market event. $27.45…read more Presentation- pretty. Initially what made me order Garlic noodles lacks any garlic flavor. Noodles were greasy. Beef skewers are fatty Disappointed The orange sauce added flavor to the bland garlic noodles and beef skewers. Venmo Zelle accepted at the event. No credit cards

Tried their chicken parm sandos at a popup downtown and they were fantastic! The chicken parms are…read moreserved on fluffy milk bread and the chicken was nicely fried and crispy. I tried both the Classic parm and the K parm, and loved both! The tomato sauce on the classic parm was bright and delicious. The gochujang sauce on the K parm was a cool twist on a classic, I really enjoyed the spiciness it added. Both were great sandwiches. I would definitely come back to have them again! Also they occasionally do different twists on chicken parms which is cool. They've done butter chicken parms, chicken cesar parms, I have tried it but I would have if they were closer to me! I follow them on Instagram so I can stay updated lol

Bette's was a fun little pop up! Sad to see it go! They opened only after work which was a touch…read moreless than ideal and I will say they were not the fastest but can't really expect too much with the space they have. We luckily got in line pretty early and were toward the front when they opened. The sandwiches were delicious. The bread was just soft enough but offering decent structural integrity and their different flavors were quite fun. I will say the vodka sauce one and Korean ones were my favorite. Just wish had something to make it a bit spicier. The chicken was crispy and juicy. Like I said sad to see them go.

jimena was amazing and loved the food definitely worth trying and wilk come back eventuallyread more

It's awesome to see this pop up turn into a full-blown restaurant. You can tell some of the decor…read moreis stil l unfinished but it doesn't take away from the experience. We had the chicken wings and pork ribs with fries and Mac as our sides. The Mac was ok. But everything else was amazing. They do run out of brisket quickly so get there early if you want some of that. We finished our meal with the amazing banana pudding. I'd come back just for that. Owner/ executive chef, Bob, came by at the end of our meal to see how things went. We gave him high praise and continued to have a lovely conversation with him. I look forward to coming back and trying the beef cheek as he recommends. Good luck Bob on your new restaurant! We'll be back soon!

My friends and I checked out Xulo's popup at Morrell's Bread in Berkeley on March 21 after seeing…read moreit being advertised on San Francisco Chronicle's Instagram page. The pop-up operated from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and we showed up at 9:45 a.m., the line was already down the block. There were three burrito options on the pop-up menu: - Chx colorado: mild chile CA red sauce, mayocoba, jack cheese - Huitlacoche: shiitakes and oyster mush, jack cheese, black beans - Bean & cheese: frijoles negros, cheddar, red + green sauce Of the three options, my wife and I ordered a huitlacoche and bean & cheese burrito. Our friend ordered one of the chicken burritos so I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to try all three. Of the three burritos, it was honestly hard to choose a favorite because each one was so different in taste. I will have to say though, the bean & cheese burrito, despite being the most "normal" one of the bunch, seemed to be the one that everyone would order again out of the three. The star of the show for me though was the tortillas. The tortillas were toothsome and were grilled to perfection. I'll definitely have to pick up a pack next time I'm shopping down the street at Berkeley Bowl. If you're able to catch Xulo at a pop-up, I would definitely make room in your schedule to do so. The burritos here are delicious.

How is this the first time I'm try Xulo! I've seen the name and heard about their tortillas for…read morequite some time now, and wow! They are heavenly. Similar to my previous review for Year of the Snake, Xulo was the Saturday pop up off 8th Street in Berkeley with a few different burrito menu options for the day including their notable bean & cheese, a meat option, and veggie option. Omg, what a treat! Everyone was so incredibly nice, and you could tell they have a really special thing going. They were selling their hot sauce too, and that was fire! I would love to try more items, but it's so hard to say no to the classic bean and cheese. It's just such a classic and when done correctly, chef's kiss! I'll have my eye out for their next pop-up in the area, and will most def be purchasing those tortillas. On their website it lists markets that sell the packaged tortillas like Picnic in Albany and Berkeley Bowl..nice!

The food here was great good portions and service must try again…read more Very very nice not gonna lie

Giving this 5 stars because it looks amazing. Never tried it. Looked for it twice when I've been in…read moretown. This place is impossible to find. Says open on a Saturday and drove around for 15min on top of the location within yelp and it's nowhere to be found.

OK, OK, so I initially rated at 3 stars because of the prepared sandwiches I received, and the way…read morethey packaged my order, but after having the bagels I upped my rating to 5 stars because, well, they are fantastic. They are a little smaller than some of the other bagels in the area, but that isn't a problem for me. Why? Because they are so delicious. The exterior has some chew and is on the edge of crispy and the interior is dense with a good bite but not dry or hard. The combo of the exterior and the interior is better than any other bagel I've had in my 31 years of living in California. When my husband came home from work and had one of these bagels, he couldn't believe how good it was. This was yesterday, and we already put in an order for a dozen bagels, which we are hoping turns out to be a baker's dozen, to be picked up today. The exterior of these bagels, which are boiled, as any authentic bagel should be, is a little craggy, and the toppings are not afterthoughts, they are GOOD. I never liked everything bagels, but the everything bagels here made me a believer. The salt bagels are special, too. They are not loaded with salt on the exterior, but they seem to have little salty bits inside the bagel, or just inside the exterior. I'm not sure exactly how they do this, but there's a little salt in each bite, If I ever order from them again, in terms of delivery, I personally would not get the sandwiches that involve heat, because when they're wrapped, the texture of the bagel is altered. They more or less steam in their wrapping. And I'd probably not get delivery of cold sandwiches because the wrapping and the time it takes to deliver them result in changed bagel texture, too. They offer home delivery, and I'll take advantage of that, or just order and pick up, because that's just better for the business, financially, and it's easier on my wallet, too. They have some interesting spreads there, different from many of the other places, so I'll try a few of those, but I always have cream cheese at home, ditto lox, and all kinds of toppings, so most of the time I am going to just lay in a bunch of their bagels! Below is my first review. -------- I consider three stars average, and they are specifically for the sandwiches, the bacon, egg and cheese, and the lox and cream cheese. So I ordered both extra toasted, and neither had any crispiness when they arrived. Although the lox bagel was open face and had no heat to it, that sandwich, too, was on a bagel that seemed like it hadn't been toasted, that's how soft it was. I had to check to see that it was toasted at all, and I could see that it was. For the price, there was little lox on there, and it looks like more because they put the tomato slice under the lox and the sandwich was kind of wet, so the lox got washed out. The bacon, egg and cheese was good. The egg was well done, more like a patty instead of fluffy, but that was OK. I prefer the eggs being fluffy, but the whole sandwich was nice, the bacon was generous. I think it only had one egg, the cheese was good, and I got it with chili crisp cream cheese, which was interesting. I also got six bagels, which was $19, very steep, and the bagels are not huge. The thing that annoyed me was that the bag that came had the two sandwiches on the bottom, and the six bagels right on top of the two sandwiches, not in a separate bag, so when I tore open the top of the stapled bag, the bagels and all the toppings on the bagels went all over the place and made a mess. They should put these bagels in a separate bag for you. The bagels were for this evening, and I don't have another paper bag to put them in, and you don't want to put them in anything else. I think I'm going stick to just bagels from this place, and get the spreads on the side, if I get the spreads from them. They have whitefish salad and some interesting cream cheeses.

The platonic ideal of a New York bagel. When your East Coast family comes to town and wants a…read morebagel, bring them here. These bagels check all the boxes and make it look easy. The crust is crisp and crackles as you break into a fresh one. The flavor is deep and malty. The crumb is very chewy and provides enough structure to support a sandwich. One tasting note: the crust in today's batch was had caramel notes that started to recall pizza crust. Less time in the oven would dial that back -- but it gives the bagel character so maybe you want to keep it! But that's the level we're on here. I'm giving subtle tasting notes in a Yelp review. Hella has unlocked the New York bagel for us on the West Coast.