Cheap Eats in Oakland

Bake Sum

• ★ 4.8
• Bakery
• $
• Lake Merritt

Order Mochi muffin

Bake Sum on Grand Avenue near Lake Merritt runs an Asian American pastry program. Passionfruit tarts, ube cookies and Spam musubi croissants sell out daily.

Tacos Sinaloa

• ★ 4.8
• Street food
• $
• Fruitvale

Try Suadero and adobada tacos

Tacos Sinaloa runs the food truck dynasty Guadalupe Bueno started in 1999. International Boulevard at 22nd, suadero and adobada tacos to a 1 a.m. close.

Mariposa Baking Company

• ★ 4.7
• Bakery
• $
• Temescal

Order Gluten-free almond cake

Mariposa on Telegraph in Temescal is a dedicated gluten-free bakery. Croissants, almond cakes, bagels and bread from a dedicated kitchen for celiac safety.

Blue Bottle Coffee Old Oakland

• ★ 4.7
• Café
• $
• Old Oakland

Drink Single-origin pour over

Blue Bottle's Old Oakland cafe at 480 9th Street pours single-origins from the company that started in a Temescal potting shed in 2002, with espresso service.

Highwire Coffee Roasters

• ★ 4.7
• Café
• $
• Rockridge

Drink Single-origin espresso

Highwire's flagship cafe on Rockridge's College Avenue pours single-origin coffees sourced from Colombia, Rwanda, Peru, New Guinea and Ethiopia.

Tacos El Ultimo Baile

• ★ 4.7
• Street food
• $
• Fruitvale

Try Tacos al carbon

Tacos El Ultimo Baile in Fruitvale Public Market took its former taco truck queues into a brick-and-mortar. Tacos al carbon on house-made flour tortillas.

Banh Mi Ba Le

• ★ 4.7
• Vietnamese
• $
• San Antonio

Order Pork meatball banh mi with Vietnamese coffee.

Banh Mi Ba Le on International Boulevard runs the most-loved East Bay banh mi counter, weekends only. Two dozen sandwiches under eight dollars.

La Farine

• ★ 4.6
• Bakery
• $
• Rockridge

Order Morning bun

La Farine on College Avenue in Oakland's Rockridge is the French neighborhood bakery the East Bay leans on. Morning buns and palmiers anchor the counter.

Cafe Gabriela

• ★ 4.6
• Café
• $
• Old Oakland

Drink Small-batch espresso

Cafe Gabriela is the queer-owned Filipino coffee shop on Broadway in Old Oakland. Pulled pork adobo sandwiches and small-batch coffee since 2010.

Timeless Coffee

• ★ 4.6
• Café
• $
• Piedmont Avenue

Drink Vegan latte

Timeless Coffee on Piedmont Avenue is a vegan coffee roastery, bakery and chocolate shop. House-roasted beans, pastries and cakes daily until 6 pm.

Hawking Bird

• ★ 4.6
• Thai
• $
• Temescal

Order Kao mun gai for under fifteen dollars.

Hawking Bird in Oakland's Temescal is James Syhabout's fast-casual Thai fried chicken room. Kao mun gai and garlic-ginger fillets under fifteen dollars.

Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen

• ★ 4.5
• Bakery
• $
• Temescal

Order Everything bagel

Wise Sons on Telegraph in Temescal serves the East Bay's most-trusted everything bagels with cream cheese, rye breads and a strong matzo ball soup.

The Caffè by Mr. Espresso

• ★ 4.5
• Café
• $
• Downtown

Drink Oakwood-roasted Italian espresso

The Caffè by Mr. Espresso at 1120 Broadway in downtown Oakland serves oakwood-roasted Italian espresso from the Di Ruocco family's 45-year-old roastery.

Tacos Oscar

• ★ 4.5
• Street food
• $
• Temescal

Try Braised pork shoulder taco

Tacos Oscar in Oakland's Temescal serves Bib Gourmand tacos from a shipping-container courtyard. Chalkboard menu changes often; vegan and pork plates.

Shan Dong

• ★ 4.5
• Chinese
• $
• Chinatown

Order Sesame paste noodles and pork dumplings under twelve dollars.

Shan Dong in Oakland Chinatown pulls hand-made noodles for under twelve dollars a bowl. Dumplings, chive pancakes and sesame noodles round out the menu.

El Huarache Azteca

• ★ 4.4
• Mexican
• $
• Fruitvale

El Huarache Azteca on International Boulevard in Fruitvale runs a Mexico City counter from a mother-daughter team. Huaraches and tlacoyos are the line.

Poppy Bagels

• ★ 4.4
• Bakery
• $
• Temescal

Order Hand-rolled poppy bagel

Poppy Bagels on Telegraph in Temescal hand-rolls Montreal-Brooklyn hybrid bagels. Five days a week, lunchtime cutoff before the case sells out fast.

Timeless Coffee and Bakery

• ★ 4.4
• Bakery
• $
• Piedmont Avenue

Order Vegan chocolate chip cookie

Timeless Coffee on Piedmont Avenue runs a vegan bakery counter beside the in-house roaster. Pastries, cakes and chocolate, all plant-based, daily.

Im Moment Kaffee

• ★ 4.4
• Café
• $
• Rockridge

Drink Pour over

Im Moment Kaffee on Rockridge's College Avenue pours specialty coffee in a calm Scandinavian-style room. Hosts 18 Reasons cooking classes after hours.

The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab and Tasting Room

• ★ 4.4
• Café
• $
• Uptown

Drink Cupping flight

The Crown on Broadway is Royal Coffee's public lab and tasting room. Order a flight from the cupping bar and taste origin coffees from the importer.

Mariscos La Costa

• ★ 4.4
• Street food
• $
• Fruitvale

Try Shrimp and octopus tostadas

Mariscos La Costa on International Boulevard in Fruitvale runs a glorified food truck for ceviche, shrimp and octopus tostadas. Five hot sauces on the table.

Friday Nights at OMCA with Off the Grid

• ★ 4.4
• Street food
• $
• Lake Merritt

Try Rotating food truck plates

Off the Grid sets a rotating food truck row outside the Oakland Museum of California every Friday night. DJs and a community block party run all summer.

Vien Huong

• ★ 4.4
• Chinese
• $
• Chinatown

Order Hu tieu noodle soup or congee under ten dollars.

Vien Huong on Franklin in Oakland Chinatown cooks Chiu Chow Cantonese-Vietnamese plates under ten dollars. Hu tieu, congee, and a sub-three-dollar tea.

Vientian Cafe

• ★ 4.3
• Lao
• $
• Fruitvale

Vientian Cafe in Oakland's Allendale neighborhood runs a Lao-Thai-Vietnamese counter that locals have voted into a regional Lao standard for two decades.

Pho Ao Sen

• ★ 4.3
• Vietnamese
• $
• Eastlake

Pho Ao Sen on East 12th in Oakland's Eastlake neighborhood runs the city's standard for pho, a Sunday-morning regular for two decades on the corridor.

Town Biscuits

• ★ 4.3
• Soul Food
• $
• Uptown

Town Biscuits runs a Thursday-to-Sunday biscuit breakfast in Oakland's Uptown. Fried chicken and bacon-egg sandwiches on flaky buttermilk biscuits.

Curbside Creamery

• ★ 4.3
• Bakery
• $
• Temescal

Order Brown butter chocolate chip ice cream sandwich

Curbside Creamery in Temescal Alley scoops dairy and cashew ice cream into house-baked cookies. LGBTQ-owned, women-owned and plastic-free since 2014.

Modern Coffee

• ★ 4.3
• Café
• $
• Uptown

Drink Espresso

Modern Coffee on 19th Street in Oakland's Uptown is a women-owned downtown coffee bar. Two locations across downtown, with a calm sit-down vibe.

Cenaduria Elvira

• ★ 4.3
• Mexican
• $
• Jack London District

Order Jalisco tostadas with shredded pork.

Cenaduria Elvira in Oakland's Jack London Square cooks Jalisco-style tostadas, tacos dorados and Mexican plates under fifteen dollars per person.

Daytrip Counter

• ★ 4.2
• Californian
• $
• Temescal

Daytrip Counter on Telegraph in Temescal is chef Finn Stern's fast-fine rotisserie chicken counter. Cafeteria-style, dine-in or takeout, daily.

Grand Bakery

• ★ 4.2
• Bakery
• $
• Dimond

Order Challah

Grand Bakery on MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland's Dimond has baked kosher pareve goods since 1959. Wholesale-first; challah at Bay Area grocers.

Awaken Cafe and Roasting

• ★ 4.2
• Café
• $
• Downtown

Drink Pour over

Awaken Cafe at 1429 Broadway in downtown Oakland roasts in-house and serves all-day coffee with a community gathering room. Open until 5 every day.

Equator Coffees Lake Merritt

• ★ 4.2
• Café
• $
• Lake Merritt

Drink Single-origin pour over

Equator Coffees Lake Merritt at 175 Bay Place pours the Marin County roaster's beans in a calm downtown Oakland room one block from the lake itself.

Puerto Rican Street Cuisine

• ★ 4.1
• Latin American
• $
• San Antonio

Puerto Rican Street Cuisine on Oakland's 23rd Avenue runs takeout pollo encebollado and fall-apart pernil with sweet plantain stuffed with ground beef.

Sweet Bar Bakery

• ★ 4.1
• Bakery
• $
• Uptown

Order Bacon-gorgonzola scone

Sweet Bar Bakery on Broadway in Uptown Oakland was the first artisan bakery in the neighborhood. Bacon-gorgonzola scones, gluten-free cupcakes.

Cafenated Coffee Co.

• ★ 4.1
• Café
• $
• Uptown

Drink Direct-trade espresso

Cafenated Coffee on Broadway in Uptown Oakland took over the former Red Bay Box shipping-container cafe. Direct-trade beans from women-led farms.

Bicycle Coffee

• ★ 4.1
• Café
• $
• Jack London District

Drink Cold brew

Bicycle Coffee on 2nd Street in Oakland's Jack London Square delivers all its Oakland coffee by bike. Cafe, roastery and headquarters since 2009.

Tay Ho Restaurant and Bar

• ★ 4.1
• Vietnamese
• $
• Chinatown

Order Bun cha Hanoi for thirteen dollars at lunch.

Tay Ho's 12th Street lunch hour runs Northern Vietnamese plates for under fifteen dollars. Bun cha Hanoi, banh xeo and rice bowls at the door.

Donut Savant

• ★ 4.0
• Bakery
• $
• Uptown

Order Maple bacon donut

Donut Savant on Broadway above 19th Street BART runs daily flavors plus cron'ts, apple fritters and cinnamon rolls. Tuesday to Saturday for breakfast.

Telegraph

• ★ 4.0
• Café
• $
• Uptown

Drink Drip coffee

Telegraph on Telegraph in Uptown Oakland runs an all-day coffee cafe by morning and a beer garden by night. Bagels, sandwiches and a big patio.