Pirate's Booty Carrot Snacks: These orange-colored puffs are, at the very least, misleading, and at its worst, a cruel trick I imagine health-conscious parents might play on their children. Designed to look exactly like cheese puffs, the carrot snacks have no cheese flavor, instead tasting vaguely sweet and distinctly vegetal. They are by no means a replacement for cheese puffs, as they lack the satisfying fat content and sharp flavor you might expect. It's hard to overcome this fact, yet I will give Pirate's Booty cre... (read more) 3.0/5.0
carrots piratesbooty carrot 3.0
Juice Bar Collective Peanut butter banana shake: Juice Bar Collective is probably my favorite food spot in The Gourmet Ghetto in Berkeley. It's a small worker-owned collective that offers a variety of veggie (and a few meat) entrees like polenta, lasagne, and bahn mi. This may be surprising given the name Juice Bar, but they also had some fantastic beverage options to accompany your meal. The peanut butter and banana shake I had with soy milk had just the right amount of peanut butter without affecting its smooth, creamy consistency. Much ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended drinks shakes berkeley juicebarcollective peanut butter banana shake 3.5
I Heart Keenwah Sweet chili puffs : Perfectly spherical quinoa-based balls that have a denser, crunchier texture than regular corn puffs. The sweet chili leaves a pleasantly light spice and builds pretty quickly. If you're looking for a slightly healthier cheese-puff alternative, you could do much worse than I Heart Keenwah, though the serving size is surprisingly small. 3.0/5.0
iheartkeenwah sweet chili puffs 3.0
Sweetheart Cafe Avocado Slush with Boba: A creamy drink that tasted more like milk than avocado. The standout component was still the boba, which remains singular in its chewy consistency. Overall, though, I would recommend another beverage at this Berkeley favorite just a block away from Sather Gate. 2.5/5.0
drinks boba berkeley shake sweetheartcafe avocado slush 2.5
San Pellegrino Pomegranate and orange spda: Though I generally find San Pellegrino fruit sodas to be too sweet, this pomegranate and orange flavor combo is unique, with a tangy, slightly bitter taste and good citrus zing. I had it to accompany a duck bahn mi from New Silverstar Deli (in my opinion, one of the best places to get a bahn mi in San Francisco, where we are lucky enough to have many quality bahn mi options), and it cut through the richness in a satisfying and cleansing way. 3.0/5.0
drinks soda sanpellegrino pomegranate orange spda 3.0
Blue Bunny Big Vanilla Sandwich: It's 100 degrees in San Francisco this weekend, a rare heatwave that still feels very muggy despite the lack of humidity. My co-workers that work in the downtown SF office of my company are lucky enough to have free access to a freezer of ice cream, including this large ice cream sandwich from Blue Bunny. It tastes exactly the same as the ice cream sandwiches you had growing up - two chocolate "cookies" that have a sponge-like texture that sandwich vanilla ice cream that somehow manages to... (read more) 2.5/5.0
icecream desserts frozen bluebunny big vanilla sandwich 2.5