Berkeley, CA

Alice Waters's 1971 restaurant in a Gourmet Ghetto Craftsman home — the birthplace of California cuisine, with a fixed daily menu downstairs and an à la carte café above. The most historically important table in the country's farm-to-table movement.

A worker-owned cooperative in the Gourmet Ghetto serving one vegetarian pizza a day plus a famous cheese-and-bakery counter, with live jazz and a line out the door. A only-in-Berkeley institution.

A Gourmet Ghetto Jewish deli doing house-cured pastrami, matzo-ball soup and proper egg creams, with a thoughtful, sustainable twist on the classics. The Bay Area's best deli, full stop.

A buzzy downtown Oaxacan-leaning restaurant with wood-fired regional Mexican plates, a deep mezcal list and a heated back patio. The city's go-to for a lively, grown-up Mexican dinner.

A downtown Chinese restaurant revered for its Peking duck and a wine list that draws serious oenophiles to a Cal-adjacent dining room. A only-in-Berkeley pairing of duck and grand cru.

A rustic Provençal café downtown doing one of the Bay Area's great breakfasts — lavender-honey lattes, oatmeal with house granola, big brunch plates — in a sunny courtyard. A long-lingering morning institution.

A downtown farm-to-table restaurant near campus with a vegetable-forward Californian menu and a famous 'vegan charcuterie' board, in a reclaimed-material room. Berkeley's ethos on a plate, done well.

A West Berkeley warehouse turning out some of the best Indian street-food chaat in the country — crisp dosas, cholle bhature, pani puri — to a cafeteria-style crowd. Cheap, fresh and beloved across the Bay.

A refined Japanese restaurant on Fourth Street doing seasonal, California-inflected Japanese cooking and a quiet patio. The dressier, more contemporary counterpart to the city's casual Asian spots.

A Fourth Street breakfast-and-lunch diner (no ocean view, despite the name) that took over the longtime Bette's Oceanview Diner space in 2022 and carries on its four-decade tradition of classic American diner cooking. Now employee-owned, with a to-go counter alongside.

A College Avenue institution for stuffed Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, with a cornmeal crust and a top layer of tomato that locals have lined up for since 1983. A messy, satisfying East Bay rite.

A no-frills University Avenue spot near campus doing punchy, properly spicy Thai street food at student prices. The reliable, flavorful fix that fuels the university crowd.

A tiny Telegraph counter grilling sausages and hot dogs — from kielbasa to the spicy 'Calabrese' — slung fast to students late into the night since 1966. A cheap, no-nonsense Berkeley ritual.

A Berkeley-born sweets counter two blocks south of campus on Telegraph, known for warm-cookie ice cream sandwiches pressed to order, plus brownies and shakes. A cheap, indulgent student ritual.

A nonprofit specialty-coffee cafe near campus on Channing Way that trains and employs refugees, pouring careful espresso drinks in a bright, mission-driven room. Good coffee with a purpose.

The sprawling hill park above town, with paved Nimitz Way along the ridge for big Bay views and a web of dirt trails through meadow and forest. The East Bay's backyard wilderness.

A steep climb up Stonewall-Panoramic from the canyon to a ridge with sweeping views over the campus, the Bay and the Golden Gate. A short but serious leg-burner with an outsized payoff.

The wide dirt fire roads winding through the eucalyptus hills above the stadium, popular with runners and walkers for steady climbs and Bay views. The everyday hill workout for Cal students and locals.

A breezy waterfront park on a grassy hill at the Berkeley Marina, with a flat perimeter loop and a panorama of the Golden Gate, San Francisco and the whole Bay. The city's best easy sunset walk.

A short, flat, shaded loop through riparian woods to a small lake in Tilden Park, with boardwalks and frequent bird and turtle sightings. The gentlest nature walk in the hills, ideal with young kids.

A quick urban scramble up carved steps and bouldering routes on volcanic outcrops in a North Berkeley neighborhood, ending at a sunset view over the Bay. Big reward for almost no effort.

The university's art museum and Pacific Film Archive in a striking stainless-steel downtown building, pairing ambitious contemporary art shows with one of the country's great repertory cinemas. Culture by day, classic film by night.

A hilltop hands-on science museum above campus with interactive exhibits, a planetarium and a sweeping Bay view from the terrace by the giant whale sculpture. The top family stop in town.

A Tony Award-winning regional theater downtown known for launching shows that go on to Broadway, with bold, ambitious productions across two stages. The Bay Area's most adventurous playhouse.

A 1903 open-air amphitheater on campus modeled on classical Greek theaters, hosting major touring concerts under the sky with the hills as a backdrop. A magical place to see live music.

A legendary nonprofit folk-and-acoustic music club downtown, intimate and listening-room quiet, hosting bluegrass, folk, world and roots musicians nightly. A Berkeley institution since 1968.

The original cavernous Telegraph Avenue record store, a temple of new and used vinyl, CDs and ephemera with knowledgeable clerks and frequent free in-store shows. A pilgrimage for music lovers.

A West Berkeley sake brewery with a tasting bar and a small museum of traditional brewing tools, pouring flights of its house sakes and plum wines. An unexpected, grown-up tasting stop.

A wonderfully anarchic city-run playground at the Berkeley Marina where kids build, hammer and paint their own forts and zip down a homemade slide. A hands-on throwback unlike any standard play structure.

The 1914 Campanile at the heart of UC Berkeley — a 307-foot Italian-Gothic bell tower you can ride up for a panorama from the Bay to the hills, with carillon recitals daily. The campus's defining landmark.

The university's main plaza and the birthplace of the 1960s Free Speech Movement, still the campus's soapbox stage of buskers, activists and student life, entered through the landmark Sather Gate. The living center of Cal.

A 34-acre hillside garden above campus with one of the most diverse plant collections in the country, organized by world region, plus Bay views from the slopes. A serene, scholarly escape.

A terraced 1930s amphitheater of roses stepping down a hillside toward a framed Golden Gate view, free and often near-empty. A romantic, under-visited pocket of North Berkeley.

The student strip running south from campus, a chaotic, countercultural run of street vendors, cheap eats, Moe's Books and record shops. Scruffy, vital and pure Berkeley.

A cluster of giant volcanic outcrops in a residential North Berkeley neighborhood, with carved steps to the top for one of the best free sunset views over the Bay and Golden Gate. A local secret hiding in plain sight.

A polished West Berkeley shopping district of indie boutiques, design shops and beloved breakfast spots, more upscale and calm than Telegraph. The place to browse and brunch.