Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Weekend Eats & Drinks 2/23

If the possibility of snow this weekend doesn't deter you, here's highlights for the weekend.

As part of Yelp Culture Club, JC Cellars near Oakland's Jack London Square is offering free tastings with a free ticket found here. Sip on JC Cellars Rhone varietals from Thursday through Sunday only. The printed Yelp ticket also offers discount museum, symphony, ballet and theater tickets.

For Friday, Modern Coffee in downtown Oakland hosts its weekly free public cupping at 12:30. Learn how to smell and work on your flavor profiles with different roasts from De La Paz roastery.

Also Friday, celebrate National Clam Chowder day at Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto at Fourth Street in Berkeley. Purchase an entree and receive a cup of clam chowder for $1.21., for the restaurant's 121st Anniversary.

Lastly, catch R&B Cellars pouring wine flights and playing jazz at Angela's Bistro in Alameda. Friday Flights are $10 with proceeds going to a local charity from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., 2301 Central Ave, Alameda 510-522-5822

Also for the rest of the month, catch the following specials at Jack London Square.

Scott's Seafood: Mention the password "Square Savings" to your server for a free appetizer for parties of two or more til the end of the month.

Ben & Jerry's: Say the magic passphrase, "Peace, Love, and Ice Cream, Please" in order to receive any of the specials below.

Monday Sundae: Buy one, get one half price on any sundae of equal or lesser value.

Twofer Tuesday: All products (excluding pints, quarts, and cakes) are buy one, get one of equal or lesser value for half price. The item must be of the same product type (smoothies, shakes, cones, sundaes, etc.)

Thermal Thursday: All hot drinks, excluding coffee drinks, are buy one, get one for $1.

JC Cellars
55 4th St., Oakland
(510) 465-5900

Modern Coffee
411 13th St., Oakland
(510) 835-8000

Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto
1919 4th St., Berkeley
(510) 845-7771

Angela's Bistro
2301 Central Ave., Alameda
(510) 522-5822

Scott's Seafood Grill & Bar
2 Broadway, Oakland
(510) 444-3456

Ben & Jerry's
505 Embarcadero West, Oakland
(510) 663-3477

Friday, February 18, 2011

Weekend Eats & Drinks 2/18

It's been a while, but things are starting to pick up again.

New to me is the East Bay Vintner's Alliance weekly tasting series at Miss Pearl's Jam House, 1 Broadway in Oakland. Stop by every Friday for complimentary tastigs and appetizers from 5 to 6 p.m. Today's pourer is Cerruti Cellars/Tudal Family Winery. See here for the full schedule.

This weekend also closes out SF Beer Week. For a full list of Beer Week festivities, see here, but these are my highlights.

Netherlands' only Trappist brewery - Brewery de Koningshoeven - brings Belgium brews made by monks to you today from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Trappist, 460 8th St., Oakland.

Triple Rock's white chocolate milk stout gets dry hopped with De La Paz specialty coffee, or the nondry hopped version from 4:30 p.m. to closing tonight at Triple Rock Brewery, 1920 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley.

The 2nd Annual Beer Festival Fundraiser combines beer and chocolate tastings. The $28 ticket covers 2 beer and 4 chocolate tastings per person Saturday 2 to 6 p.m. at Craneway Pavilion 1414 Harbour Way South, Richmond.

Get a BBQ dinner and sample 30+ breweries at Celebrator's anniversary party Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Trumer Brauerei, 1404 4th St., Berkeley. $45 tickets advance celebrator.com or $60 cash at the door.

Try the beer of Portland without venturing north when Upright Brewing brings some kegs and bottles to Beer Revolution, 464 3rd St., Oakland, Sunday 3 to 9 p.m.

For food, Montclair Bistro in Oakland offers a Monday night $20 Dungeness crab dinner with coleslaw and corn on the cob.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Is That the Best Deal?

Each morning I eagerly check my e-mail for the day's restaurant deals from Groupon, Yelp, Livingsocial, Townhog and others. Most of the time, the promotion is the best I've seen, but a few times, I know other deals can be had at Restaurant.com.

Take, for example, today's sold-out Yelp Deal for Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe in Emeryville. $20 will get you $35 worth of food and drinks at the late-night spot for a 43% discount. But, doing some research on Restaurant.com, you could save 72% and get a $25 credit for $7 using this week's code MENU, good til the end of today.

From a percentage savings, Restaurant.com wins. The trade-off is that there are more restrictions. While the Yelp deal only has to be used within one visit by 2/18/2012, Restaurant.com can be used only for a dine-in dinner with a minimum purchase of $45 and an automatic 18% gratuity will be added to the bill.

So, depending on your dining preferences, one discount may be better than the other. Just be sure to check the fine print.

To find the latest Restaurant.com code (and they come out almost every week), go to the deal site Fatwallet.com and search for Restaurant.com. On top of the code discount, if you become a free Fatwallet.com member, you earn cash back. Current cash back for Restaurant.com is 24%, which brings the certificate cost down to $5.32.

A few sites also offer cash back on Groupon purchases. If you are a Discover credit card holder, you can earn cash back by shopping on discovercard.com. Last time I checked, cash back was a decent 15%. Or, make your Groupon purchases through Fatwallet for 6% cash back, or Ebates for 3% cashback.

Photo: wellheeledblog.com

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Valentine's Day prix fixes

Out of dining ideas for Valentine’s weekend? Take note of a few prix fixe specials around Berkeley and Oakland. Call for reservations, as these places may already be booked.


Friday through Monday


Cioccolata Di Vino
1801 Shattuck Ave., Suite C, Berkeley
510) 898-1392
4-course Italian prix fixe for $35/person


Scott’s
2 Broadway, Oakland
510) 444-3456
3-course seafood prix fixe with a glass of Brut for $75/person.


Saturday


Local 123 (reservations required)
2049 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley
(510) 647-5270
Seasonal 4-course meal with drinks for $45/person


Monday, Valentine’s Day


Lalime's
1329 Gilman St., Albany
(510) 527-9838
4-course prix fixe for $55/person

Chop Bar
247 4th St # 111, Oakland
(510) 834-2467
3-course dinner with glass of wine for $30/person.

Gather
2200 Oxford St., Berkeley
(510) 809-0400
4-course local, organic and sustainable prix fixe for $70/erson.

Italian Colors
2220 Mountain Boulevard, Oakland (Montclair Village)
(510) 482-8094
4-course prix fixe for $39/person with complimentary chocolate for every table.

Ozumo
2251 Broadway, Oakland (Uptown)
(510) 286-9866
7-course prix fixe for $150/couple featuring grilled Dungeness crab with miso sauce, Yellow Fin tuna sashimi with apple garlic soy and quail egg & more.

Zut! on Fourth
1820 Fourth St., Berkeley
(510) 644-0444
3-course prix fixe for $45/person with a complimentary amuse bouche and a mid course Moscato d'Asti sorbet palate cleanser. Wine pairing an additional $25/person.

Bocanova
55 Webster St., Oakland
(510) 444-1233
4-course Argentinean prix fixe for $48/person with tango dancers.

Miss Pearl’s Jam House
1 Broadway, Oakland
(510) 444-7171
3-course Southern prix fixe for $45/person. Drink pairings $8 per course.