Broccoli & Chocolate

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Review: The Ranch

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Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 4/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  One   ♦   Will I Return?:  Possibly
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The Ranch signHoly moly, I’ve finally done it. I’ve been to The Ranch. How is it that I’m a born and bred Hayward-ian and I’ve never been to The Ranch? If you’re a local you’ve surely seen and/or been to this place—the huge cow head on the sign (which, incidentally, I didn’t get a picture of) along Mission Boulevard at the corner of Jackson is hard to miss.

The Ranch has been around since 1948 and—prepare for history lesson—much of the random farm equipment and gold-rush-looking junk that adorns the walls was apparently donated by local farmers and ranchers of the day. This made me a good deal more excited to gaze at the seemingly-dangerous-in-an-earthquake decorations. This isn’t Applebee’s, folks, this is Hayward history…. 

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Review: Spettro

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Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 3/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  One   ♦   Will I Return?:  Yes, please
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SpettroSpettro can be found at 3355 Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland and is one of a huge many awesome restaurants which I’m only just finding out about in this area. Seriously, Oakland is pretty awesome. Our friends described this place as Mexican/Italian fusion, but after seeing the menu, it pretty much looked like Italian to me.

A variety of delicious-sounding salads; entrees including chicken marsala, chicken or eggplant parmesan, oven braised lamb and chicken risotto along with pastas and pizzas will start any mouth watering. Seriously, it was super hard to choose between the salads and the pizzas…so Friend #1 and I split one of each. This was a fabulous choice…. 

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Review: Shashamane

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Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 3/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  One   ♦   Will I Return?:  Happily
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Named after a town in Ethiopia, this Oakland restaurant at Broadway and 25th is one of the nicer Ethiopian venues I’ve been to. Shashamane is easy to miss from the front but has a clean, nice interior with hundreds of flags from around the world circling the rim of the large, open dining room and connected bar. I have to admit, these flags provide a lot of entertainment and trivia; I can identify far fewer world flags than I would have imagined.

shashamane restaurant

Bar area with world flags at Shashamane in Oakland.

… 

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Review: Mijori

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Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 3/5   ♦   Food Quality: 5/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  One   ♦   Will I Return?:  Yes, please!
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MijoriMijori is a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar just north of 580 on Grand Avenue. There’s actually a whole strip of good stuff right there on Grand that I’ve really never explored but looks fun. And, I don’t entirely fear for my safety right there, so that’s always good.

We hit up Mijori with friends on a Friday night at about 8pm. We found ourselves fighting through a mass of people just to get within arms reach of the tiny whiteboard posted just inside the front door where we could write our names on the wait list. This place has some serious followers, and we waited with them for the better part of an hour to get our chance at a table…. 

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Review: Tandoor

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Atmosphere: 2/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  One   ♦   Will I Return?:  Probably not.
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Tandoor HaywardTandoor is just across the street from Moreau on Mission Boulevard in Hayward…between Harder and Tennyson if you’re not familiar with my high school’s location. It’s the one that used to be Thai, then Indian, then Thai, then Indian, then Thai…

You get the idea. Now it’s Tandoor, another Indian Restaurant. Let’s dive right in. There are a few problems with this place that have probably affected each tenant. First, the location isn’t great. It’s on a run-down, industrial/commercial strip of Mission Boulevard and people don’t really go to that area for a nice dinner. That said, there is a ton of traffic that passes right by, so if the place were awesome, I bet the customers would come. … 

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Review: Los Dos Hermanos

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Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 3/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  One   ♦   Will I Return?:  Wouldn’t be opposed but not likely.
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Los Dos HermanosEver drive down Mission Boulevard (in Hayward) and see the the droves of Mexican restaurants that line the street? There are a great many of them, it’s true. Los Dos Hermanos is one of the many choices on this lonesome, long strip of road and resides on the west side of the street between Tennyson and Harder…. 

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Review: Wakamatsu

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Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 4/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  One   ♦   Will I Return?:  Yes!
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WakamatsuGood Japanese in Hayward, what, what?!  We just went to Wakamatsu Japanese Restaurant on Foothill Boulevard between C and D Streets.  Where is that place, you ask?  Yeah, it’s, like, the definition of a hole in the wall and totally just blends into the background of crap on Foothill.  But it’s good!… 

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Review: Pancho Villa

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Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 4/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  One   ♦   Will I Return?:  Sure
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Pancho VillaPancho Villa is a Taqueria on B Street in San Mateo that I reviewed for my Examiner.com webpage. I’m not sure if any of my b&c readers have been following my Examiner page, but Pancho’s was so good that I think it should cross over.

Plus, then I can just point you to something I’ve already written instead of write something new.  Lazy?  Maybe.  It’s been a busy week, what do you want from me?… 

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Review: Claim Jumper

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Atmosphere: 4/5   ♦   Service: 4/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  One   ♦   Will I Return?:  Sure
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Claim Jumper FremontAh, American cuisine.  Gotta love it sometimes, even when it threatens to clog your arteries and send you keeling over into your full rack of ribs.  Claim Jumper is a large chain restaurant, which doesn’t usually qualify for the old B&C treatment.  I thought I’d take the time, however, to just say a few words about CJ, since it’s a bit of a special place…. 

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Review: Red Chili

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Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  One   ♦   Will I Return?:  Maybe
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Red ChiliThis Thai and Vietnamese restaurant has been sitting in wait at the corner of Mission and Industrial in Hayward.  It sees us every few days as we pass by and watches intently as we frequent the gyro place next door.  It finally caught us; we gave the Red Chili a try.

The inside is very nice and totally isn’t what I expected seeing the outside (just like the gyro place).  It’s spacious and nicely decorated and has a nice feel to it.  And, surprisingly, it seems to draw a crowd, which is refreshing and reassuring at the same time…. 

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