Berkeley is often referred to as the hipster capital of the Bay Area, but ironically, the city still holds many attractions that a mainstream audience can appreciate.
Berkeley is home some of the best thrift stores, the biggest record stores and the most diverse restaurants in the Bay Area. It is one of the few cities around that has record stores of such high caliber and size, it a must visit for people to add to their iTunes library.
The first and biggest is Rasputin, with its three floors. The first floor is for vinyl records, old and new. The second is for current music from different genres, such as rock, R&B and pop, as well as DVDs and posters. The third floor is dedicated to more esoteric music genres, such as international, classical and electropop.
Rasputin also contains a bargain area on the second floor where each CD costs 25 cents, and a buyer can get 100 CDs for $20. But the CD selection in this area is often old, flawed or obscure.
The second store is Amoeba Records, which holds a selection of music, movies and TV shows almost as expansive as Rasputin. The store has rows of CDs and records that span every genre imaginable, from roots music to electronica.
Amoeba also has a collection of bargain CDs, most with some imprefection, but the prices range from 99 cents to $1.29. But the store assures the buyers that there are no problems with the CD and if they find one, they can return it within a week for a full refund.
Both of these stores allow customers to sell their CDs, LPs, DVDs, vinyls or video games for cash or store credit.
For those more interested in fashion, the most commonly visited thrift stores include Mars Vintage, Buffalo Exchange, and Crossroads Trading Co.
These shops help accommodate Berkeley’s large college student population with the availability of cheaper prices for clothing as well as the ease of selling their old pieces for quick cash. The stores also offer store credit for gently used clothing.
These stores tend to be more expensive when compared to other thrift stores like Goodwill, but the quality of the clothes is often better and they are usually in season or trending.
In the end it is up to the buyer whether to choose between better quality and more relevant pieces or better prices when thrifting.
The main attraction of Crossroads and Buffalo is the assured quality of the clothing that they sell. Because the clothing being sold to them is inspected rigorously, not only for cleanliness and damage, but also for general quality, there are often no visible or obvious faults with the pieces.
While the pieces from Mars are more likely to contain flaws, they are also often vintage, meaning that they are made in a style that is usually no longer produced, which adds to the unique value of each piece.
But most of these stores, such as Crossroads, only accept clothing from those over the age of 18 or minors accompanied by an adult.
All three stores hold huge selections of clothing for women, as well as slightly smaller sections for men.
Thift store and music shopping might be atractions, but the most important thing in Berkeley is the food, ranging from vegan to Turkish to fast food.
Berkeley houses an area called the Gourmet Ghetto, which contains some of the best-reviewed and most innovative cuisine in Berkeley, all of which are situated in walking distance from one another and along the same street.
One of the most popular of these restaurants is Cheese Board Pizza, a pizzeria that features a daily pizza with a different combination of vegetables and cheese on top of a thin layer of sourdough bread.The restaurant not only accommodates Berkeley’s large vegan and vegetarian population, but embraces it, as none of their pizzas contain meat.
Cheese Board also sells nearly 400 types cheese and has a variety of pastries and other freshly baked goods, and features a musician or band to play during lunch or dinner times.
Another famous restaurant is Grégoire’s, a sandwich shop with high-end sandwiches, soups and dinner entrees that are cooked with classical French cooking techniques.
All of the ingredients are natural, organic and locally sourced, according to gregoiresrestaurant.com. Like most other Berkeley restaurants, Grégoire’s has an option for vegetarians and vegans, with sandwiches that contain only different kinds of vegetables, from Balsamic roasted eggplant to oven dried tomatoes to suit their eating habits. Grégoire’s also contains a popular side called Potato Puffs, which are balls of mashed potatoes that are fried and served with ranch.
For people who don’t want something solid, the Gourmet Ghetto is not only home to the first Peet’s – check out the photo exhibit relevant to the history of the coffee shop chain – but also Philz Coffee, a café with a half-sophisticated, half-hipster atmosphere.
Their menu features quirky names for different types of coffee, as well as a three adjective description for each drink.For example, the menu contains drinks such as Ambrosia Coffee of God and Sooo Good.Two of their famous drinks include the Iced Mint Mojito and the Iced Gingersnap coffees. Both drinks contain a variety of spices and herbs, mint and ginger.
