Living in Berkeley Advice

jcach

jcach

75
10
Joined
May 22, 2005
So I'm going to Berkeley for law school next year, and I'm completely unfamiliar with the area. I heard that rent is crazy, even for a studio.Basically, I'm just looking for advice on potential places to live (relatively close to campus, preferably someplace near bars/clubs/restaurants), tips ongood food joints and attractions, public transportation, just general bits of knowledge about the area, etc...

Thanks guys
 
congrats on getting into berkeley law....my bro went there so i have a general idea....the north side of campus is "safer" than the south side so ifthat's a concern stick with the north side. there are a lot of nice restaurants there, from top dog, to other fancier restaurants. rent is prettyexpensive, but i dont know exactly how much it is.
 
Just graduated in May.

Rent: $1200+

If you're looking for a newer place to stay check out www.panoramicmanagement.com Most of their buildings are by downtown Berkeley and further down towardsthe Bay.

Transportation: AC Transit gets you everywhere. And it's about $45 every year for unlimited rides.

Food: Berkeley honestly has the best collection of restaurants in a town. College Ave has tons of restaurants.

Bars/Clubs: Nothing great. Don't know where you're moving from but not too many great bars in this town. SF is just across the bay so if you want to goclubbing that's where you want to be. Might want to try the Regional forum. LOTS of Bay Area people on NT.
 
Yeah, you don't want to be living on the south side near Oakland right now. I'm gonna be going there for Undergrad next year, but from what I'veheard there are a lot of great food spots near campus
 
Originally Posted by acidicality

congrats on getting into berkeley law....my bro went there so i have a general idea....the north side of campus is "safer" than the south side so if that's a concern stick with the north side. there are a lot of nice restaurants there, from top dog, to other fancier restaurants. rent is pretty expensive, but i dont know exactly how much it is.
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What area of Berkely is any kind of dangerous?
 
Lots of great places to eat in Berkeley. Two places off the top of my head. Definitely try Zachary's Chicago Pizza. A Zagat rated restaurant and just oneof the best pizza places in the entire Bay Area. There's also this Buddhist temple called Wat Mongkolratanaram that has Sunday brunch. Definitely aBerkeley experience. You exchange dollars for tokens (technically a donation) and exchange the tokens for food.

I'm not sure where you're from but you should check out Yelp. The Yelp community is pretty big in theBay Area and, although some of the reviewers are elitist pricks, you can generally get a sense of what to look out for through that site. I've found a tonof really good restaurants and specialty shops through it.
 
ppl at boalt are sort of lame-o but it's an awesome school and you get to shop at Bows & Arrows. awesome store!
hmmm what else....Blondies and Yogurt Park = wonderful but Zachary's takes the cake for sure....and fenton's ice cream is the best place in the worldto get fat. yum!
 
How could I forget about Fentons?
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I go to highschool in Berkeley so i'm really familiar with the area. as said above, DO NOT live in South Berkeley near Oakland.. instead live in northberkeley, like near the Albany area.. it's pretty safe there, talking from experience since my school's there.

In terms of shopping, there are alot of shops along Solano Avenue...go to Zachary's Pizza! stuff is GOAT
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. Places in the University Avenue &Telegraph Avenue area are great too in terms of shopping.
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for the commute, BART is real handy going to SF.. there's North Berkeley station & Ashby station.
 
Originally Posted by zube42

It's all about Blondies and Fat Slice
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Thanks for all the replies so far. Good look with yelp.com. Blondies and Fat Slice...care to elaborate?
 
Berkeley Law? Congrats.
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Telegraph in general is awesome. Plenty of great shops and places to eat. Other than what's been mentioned, Barney's has some of the illest burgersI've ever eaten. Definitely try it out.

And co-sign on the Yelp advice. I've learned about some great places in the Bay using Yelp.
 
Anyone done the Fenton's banana split thing? My bro said it was really good...gotta try it sometime
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I go to Sweethearts for tapioca, I think it's the best one around the area.
IDK why, but I usually like getting basil chicken from Thai Basil or Steve's Korean BBQ.
Also, Top Dog is great. Especially when you want a hot dog at 1 or 2 in the morning.
 
Live on south side if you want to be near the bars - Raleigh's, Blakes, Henry's, I'm not sure if they still serve beer in the International HouseCafe. The south side is also closer to the downtown berkeley bars - Beckett's, Thalassa.

Some of my favorite restaurants that are walking distance from campus
Pizza - Cheeseboard, Fat Slice
Japanese - Kirala
Thai - Thai Basil
Fast Food - Top Dog, IB Hoagies
Indian - Naan n' Curry
Italian - Gypsy's
Burgers - People say Oscar's is good, but they use plain costco brand patties, I like Bongo Burger
Mexican - Cancun, Gordo

I'm sure you'll get to try all of these places once you arrive, these are some of my recommendations.

Congrats! go bears
 
props on getting in

Rent is really expensive, my cousin who attends there now is renting a 2 bedroom for like 1300 a month

dude above me basically mentioned the food spots, there also a place called Asian Ghetto thats supposed to be good

transportation wise, AC transit should get you around the city and Bart is good for going to SF on weekends or whatever
 
Get some good headphones because people pester the hell out of you when you are on campus, trying to get you to sign up or join some %%%$%!%$ Whenever I go oncampus I put my headphones on and look straight ahead
 
norcalballgirl23 wrote:and fenton's ice cream is the best place in the world to get fat. yum!


LOL my cousin works there .... lets go baby . Ice cream on him ....LOL
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Originally Posted by eight2one

man how you gonna leave good old Ann Arbor?
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haha take a look outside - first week in april and it looks like the dead of winter! i'm gonna miss a2, and the law quad is nothing short of amazing...butit's time to move on. hopefully i'll be able to make it back for a couple of football games next year though. thanks for the replies and adviceeverybody.
 
You could live in the east bay and commute via bart or otherwise if you want to save on rent...a bit.

Depends your class schedule and study habits.
 
stay in richmond or El cerrito..rent is much cheaper and you can take bart or AC transit. Or you can try emeryville, but I'm not sure what the average rentis around there. Over all the city of berkeley is pretty safe even where it borders oakland.
 
Good stuff.

I grew up in Berkeley, but I currently live in SF. Berkeley is a great city if you can used to the homeless and dirty folks on telegraph. For someone whoisn't familiar to the area, it should be pretty darn novel culturally and aesthetically.

Be prepared for LIBERAL OVERLOAD!!!

If you want someone to kick it with. Just hit me up. I used to manage a restaurant on Berkeley. I have a ton of food connects and could show you the ropes ofgood places to eat in the area.

I'd recommend Jimmy Bean's on sixth and Gilman. American style breakfast and Mediterranean style lunch. Everything is fresh and organic! And it isrelatively inexpensive.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/jimmy-beans-berkeley

If you like BBQ, I'd check out t-rex up the street. It's a little pricier but they have a nice bar.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/t-rex-barbeque-berkeley

If you like japanese food, there is a place in Albany (city next to Berkeley) that is relatively cheap and pretty authentic. My buddy owns it.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/sugata-japanese-restaurant-albany

If you want an awesome fried chicken sandwich for cheap. Check out bakesale betty's!!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bakesale-betty-oakland

If you want a cheap sandwich and are in Albany, I'd check out this place.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/zarris-delicatessen-albany

If you like Mexican, I'd recommend cactus taqueria. they have really yummy tacos!!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/cactus-taqueria-oakland

Gordo's is a popular place, but I find their ingredients aren't as fresh but more tastey!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/gordo-taqueria-berkeley#hrid:qzzrSC7UwfaBGEx4N4QYnw/src:search/query:gordos


The rent is a little ridiculous, but you are paying for the cost of living in a cool area. If you have a roommate you could get away with spending a 1000 amonth and live pretty comfortably. I'd just stay away from living closer to Oakland. There are parts of Berkeley that can be pretty 'cutty' orghetto at night.
 
i just came in here to say i wish you the best my man, i always get this good feeling inside when NTrs are making good moves.

i prefer these over depressed threads all day.
 
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