Many San Franciscans (myself included) are transplants from somewhere else. I grew up on the East Coast — just outside of Philadelphia, to be specific — and there are tons of others hailing from other coastlines living here in the Bay Area.
That said: I’m continually blown away by the quality and variety of the Bay Area’s farm-to-table food, as well as the incredible diversity of cuisines from all over the world. There are some foods, though, that I miss from back East, and which are extremely hard to find in the Bay Area.
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After living here for 7 years, I’ve learned some of the best Bay Area places to get authentic East Coast-style food. And here they are.
LIke… actually good bagels
For years, the Bay Area had no good bagels. Then, Boichik Bagels exploded onto the scene. The Berkeley, California bagel joint produces bagels which aren’t just good by Bay Area standards — the New York Times recently said that they have the best bagels in the country, besting even New York itself.
If you’d like a Boichik Bagel, be prepared to either wait a few weeks for delivery or a pickup order or to stand in a 30-plus minute line if you walk up. You can also find frozen Boichik Bagels at Diablo Foods in Lafayette and other fancy grocers around the Bay Area.
Real-deal delis
New York has a large Jewish population, which is also geographically concentrated. With that comes fantastic Jewish food specialities, including myriad excellent delis. I’m Jewish, and so I often miss good deli food out West.
Luckily, there are now several great options for a good deli here by the Bay. Check out Wise Sons for all kinds of deli items and other Jewish specialties, including excellent latkes available year-round. Pyro’s Pastrami has an amazing pastrami sandwich, too.
Because lobster rolls
If you hail from (or like to visit) New England, you probably miss a proper lobster roll. Served on a brioche bun (though New Englanders would never be so hoity-toity as to use the word “brioche”) and swimming in either butter or mayo, lobster rolls are a dime a dozen in New England, but a fancy specialty food out here.
My favorite lobster rolls in the Bay Area at Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay, and at the Cousins Maine Lobster food truck, which makes regular stops around the East Bay and in Marin. Eat your Sam’s rolls on the restaurant’s beach for an authentic experience.
Big sub (or hoagie) energy
Hoagies, or Italian deli sandwiches, are a staple of East Coast life. Simple sandwiches served on chewy sandwich rolls, they’re basic food, but are hard to duplicate. Sadly, there’s no Wawa out here. But another authentic East Coast sandwich chain has made its way out West: Capriotti’s.
The Delaware chain has locations in Concord and in the Silicon Valley, where it serves authentic East Coast-style hoagies and subs. For a truly Delaware experience, try the Bobbie sandwich, which combines real roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, mayo, and stuffing. It’s the perfect way to connect to the East Coast, and also to celebrate our nation’s new Delawarian president.
Thicc AF custard
There’s ice cream, and then there’s custard. The West Coast has a wide variety of amazing and innovative ice cream places, but if you grew up eating Carvel, its exact style of soft-serve ice cream (which East Coasters call “custard”) is tough to find near the Bay.
The absolutely best place for custard locally is the snack bar, Parkside Cafe, at Stinson Beach. Get a cone and cover it with rainbow sprinkles, and enjoy the impossible challenge of eating it before it melts all over you as you walk back to the beach.
Pizza things
Pizza is probably the single food which East Coasters miss the most when they move out west. The Bay Area has some awesome pizza places (I like Delarosa in San Ramon’s City Center), but most of our pizza is fancy and Naples-style, not the traditional pizza you find in New York.
A real slice of New York pizza should be unreasonably big, so that one slice makes a full meal. It should also drip and ooze in exactly the right way, and should have a stretchy, glutinous crust. Ideally it should be crafted by being thrown into the air by a gloveless man with hairy arms. That exact combo is hard to find in California, but the most authentic New York pizza I’ve found here is at Slice House.
I visit their Walnut Creek location a lot. Their pizza ticks all the boxes — a single slice will satisfy you for lunch and possibly dinner, too, and their pizza drips and makes a perfect mess as you eat it. You can douse it with parmesan or pepper flakes, and there’s no attempt to make it high brow — just a focus on great quality and a reasonable price. Check it out if you’re missing New York.
Oh, and cheesesteaks
A sacred respect for the sanctity of the cheesesteak is one of the few Philadelphian foodways that I’ve kept after moving out West. Here’s the bad news: I’ve yet to find a good cheesesteak in the Bay Area. They’re usually covered with ketchup, peppers, fancy cheese, and other atrocities.
Where’s the best cheesesteak out west? Burger Barn in Dunsmuir, California. Dunsmuir is a tiny town of just 1,600 people located off Interstate 5 near the Oregon border. I stopped there for lunch one time in 2014 while driving from the Bay Area to Ashland, Oregon (and right after nearly being caught in a tornado).
Burger Barn is a family-owned restaurant that has been serving travelers and locals since 1970. It’s a friendly, small-town place with a few booths inside and a dog-friendly patio outdoors. I took a look at the menu, and their top item was a “Philadelphia Cheesesteak.” Not a “Cheesesteak”. Not a “Philly-style Cheesesteak.” Just a “Philadelphia Cheesesteak.”
“Blasphemy!”, I thought. Serving a cheesesteak outside Philly is one thing, but to have the chutzpah to call it a “Philadelphia Cheesesteak” is quite another. I ordered it, not expecting much. And it was amazing — truly the most authentic cheesesteak I’ve had outside the Philly area.
It turns out the current owner of the restaurant is a Philly transplant and knows what. If you’re ever headed up North and want to know what a real cheesesteak is, check out Burger Barn.
Good East Coast food can be tough to find in California. But if you’re missing the East, check these places out. And if you know of a real cheesesteak that doesn’t require driving 200 miles, let me know about it.
