so while the state of california tries to legislate itself out of the worst governmental financial crisis in quite some time, i took some time to visit uc berkeley – or as we alumni/students call it: Cal.

sather tower from sproul plaza at night:

sather tower from next to south hall:

one of the joys of going back to california is the huge variety of food from all over the world available. authentic food.

but sometimes, sometimes, you are just craving some dumbed-down american version of that nation’s cuisine. me? i love cheesy, big plated mexican food – the type you get from chevy’s or el torito or similar family style tex-mex places.

the week after new year’s, i was in berkeley with my cousin and her husband to watch my university take on the stanford university cardinal in a game of basketball. after a super satisfying beatdown, we worked up an appetite. i had mentioned i wanted mexican food – actually i wanted a burrito – but my cousin was horrified when i said that i had never heard of juan’s, which has apprently been around forever.

so celia and joe’s explained juan’s as what a restaurant like chevy’s aspired to be. so, i readily agreed to the divergence away from burritos and we headed to juan’s.

first thing – it was crowded, which is a great sign. the faux-wood paneling and random decorations dating from the 70s and formica tables were reminiscent of the mexican food places i ate in growing up in la – where menus were in spanish first. and lots of sizzling plates – it spelled good things ahead.

i ordered the carnitas which is pork fried in lard (well, if done traditionally), my cousin got the enchiladas and my cousin in law got the taco plate.

i love mexican food, but sometimes, the presentation on tex mex food makes it look like a gigantic mess. here are my carnitas:

and the enchilada:

i’ll be honest. the carnitas were not a winner. they were expensive ($16 if i remember correctly), tough and stringy. and really, not great. but what was great was the atmosphere (loud and drunken), the chips (freshly fried flour AND corn tortilla chips with two types of salsa – a salsa roja – a cooked red salsa, and a pico de gallo – which is more raw tomatoes, onions and chilis. and of course, horchata, which is my favorite – it’s a drink made of ground rice and almonds.

horchata and TWO types of chips:

so yeah, juan’s place. great atmosphere, but only so-so follow through and expensive. but it’s apparently a berkeley institution.

941 Carleton Street
Berkeley, CA 94710-2636
(510) 845-6904

however, in berkeley, there is definately one place where the food is still good more than a decade after i graduated, and that’s top dog.

a tiny store on the southside of campus (there’s one on northside and the west side of campus now too) top dog was one of the go-to places for the dormitories and greek houses and apartment dwellers on southside – which consituted about 60% of the berkeley undergraduate population.

a one person staff, walls plastered with libertarian literature, and a menu of about 10 of the best sausages you could put between a hot dog bun ever. top dog continues to put out amazing sausages that still make me hungry – usually i order two bockwursts (1/3 veal, 2/3 pork, milk) but this time i went with a kielbasa and a garlic and a bockwurst. they have the best mustard (but be careful of the russian mustard – it’s FILLED with horseradish) – i like to make one dog up with stone ground mustard and sauerkraut and the other with russian mustard and onions.

however, when you come here, its a little bit like the “soup nazi” – not so strict, but its intimidating, once you walk in the grillman shouts at you “what do you want?” – and you should really have your order ready. most cal students/regulars will just return fire “two bocks” or “a hot and a kiel” or “a garlic and a brat” – order your dog first. then later when he comes back for money, you can ask for the drink or chips. don’t order the chili.

chris looks forward to her veggie dog:

libertarian propoganda:

two bockwursts ready for eating:

there’s 3 locations for top dog in berkeley, but i like the following one:

2534 durant avenue (near telegraph ave.)
berkeley, ca 94704-1715
(510) 843-5967

each dog is $3 (it was $1 when i was in school). the menu is here . i like the bocks, the keils, the tops and garlics and the calabreses, myself.