Emeryville for Business

Emeryville is one of those "I can’t believe how much things have changed" places. Formerly a wide swath of polluted waste dumps, emptied industrial buildings, and general squalor, it is now a classic example of new meets old. New condos and offices are made to look old and industrial. Old industrial spaces are turned into modern buildings for high-tech companies. New firms that nobody used to know now have household names, names like Pixar, Chiron, Peet’s Coffee, Bayer, Leapfrog, Whole Foods, and Andronico’s. They all have headquarters or major offices right here.

Amenity-wise, there are some large hotels (a big Courtyard, Sheraton Four Points, Holiday Inn, and Woodfin Suites). There are large national (PF Chang’s) and small local (Ruby’s) places to eat worth trying and plenty of shopping at Bay Street (Apple, Gap, and Barnes & Noble) or heading towards Oakland (IKEA and Best Buy).

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

BART is the easiest to get to at the MacArthur station. You can get there by cab, or EVEN BETTER, use the Emery-go-Round. It's a free, regular public shuttle bus that runs in two cycles around Emeryville every half-hour. It's clean and can get you anywhere.

A fantastic hotel in Emeryville, the Woodfin offers travelers a range of amenities with only the smallest number of drawbacks.

After you exit Powell Street to head into Emeryville, you’ll spot the Woodfin on your left. That’s because it’s very centrally located, across the street from Emery Public Market, and a short walk to many businesses.

The Woodfin offers a newish hotel with kitchens in the rooms; morning and evening food and a drink for free; a decent gym; and a friendly staff. There’s high-speed access and friendly service.

The only drawbacks are a not-so-cheap price (but not bad relatively speaking) and the lack of affiliation with a rewards points program. For many travelers, this is a minor concern. But when you stay in a hotel over 100 nights a year, it’s nice to be rewarded.

Situated just west of the highway on a spit of land dominated by marinas, the Holiday Inn Emeryville is a sort of mixed bag in today’s world of hotels. It’s centrally located in the Bay Area, has good interstate access, is conveniently located to the Emeryville area, and is nice to start a walk out for a nice view. It also has a decent gym, and some rooms have okay views. The rates are very competitive for the Emeryville area, and the hotel is part of the Bass Hotels Priority Club points plan.

On the bad side, the restaurant is awful. The bar is way too small and limited. And the service, generally indifferent, tends to make one focus on all the nickel-and-dime charges (for breakfast, an extra newspaper, etc.).

I like to stay here despite the restaurant, because it’s a great place to start a jog from, is close enough to the Bay St. Marketplace to walk, and the price is right (plus Priority Club points). Just plan on never eating here and you’ll be in good shape.

A veritable smorgasbord of choice, it’s essentially a mall-like food court on speed, as the Emeryville Public Market offers two dozen mom-and-pop food options.

Located just north of Powell Street and east of I-580 in Emeryville, the Market is attached to a Borders Books and some office space. There is plenty of parking to the east side by the railroad tracks (and a foot bridge to the other side of the tracks).

The market offers options such as Thai, Indian, Mediterranean, Mexican, mixed Asian, and coffee/pastry. Add in options like Italian, crepes, burgers, Afghan, and Vietnamese, and nearly anyone can be satisfied.

The only downsides are that many places don’t take credit cards and the food can go from incredible to mediocre across the booths and even in same booth/different day. But it’s always an adventure!

Ruby's is located on a small-ish street in a part of a town that not many folks live near in a town where not many people live. But it gets a good crowd for breakfast and lunch for three reasons, all the ones you hope to hear: good food, good people, and a great little place.

Stop in during the morning and get a pastry or scone and any kind of coffee you can think of. It's fast, friendly, and comfortable (they even have a few dozen mags you can peruse while you munch).

Stop during lunch (it can get busy) and get a special sandwich or salad. It's all good at Ruby's. And there is enough variety, even in a smallish menu.

The service is always helpful, and the room is nice and cool.

Just north of downtown Berkeley, in a string of restaurants and trendy shops, is a fantastic little tapas restaurant, Cesar. Cesar is just about the ideal classic tapas place, with some shared tables, a great bar, and almost perfect food. Cesar is open to the world, with a wide-open set of windows leading to a narrow porch. From there, the narrow, small dining room shares most of the space with the long bar.

The bar offers a HUGE range of drinks and a nice little sampling of wines and beers by the glass. The service was perfect the night we went, despite all the servers being full of tables. The tapas are of all kinds, but each is tasty and perfectly sized for sharing a few bites with your companions.

I'll be going back for sure, despite the other nearby options.

On a busy street in the marina area of San Franciso, Bistro Aix offers a quality alternative to the mix of lower-end fare and high-end snobbish places in the area.

Bistro Aix has two rooms. The up-front one, with views and the bar, has some smaller, quiet tables. In the back are some larger, louder tables. Sit in the front.

The service was just right. The waiter knew everything about the menu and offered quality wine pairings. The food was solid, with great presentation and an excellent quality to the ingredients. The tastes were all just unique enough for each bite to be an experience, even if none of the individual dishes were outstanding.

The only criticism would be the portion size. It was just a bit too small, so that after an appetizer and entrée each, my dining partner and I were only barely full. I don't need to gorge, but feed me a tad more! Overall, it was a good place. I'll probably hit a few others around the area, but would try Bistro Aix again anytime.

Set in a very nondescript building next to some random retail stores on a fairly busy street, Kirala's exterior appearance is deceiving. The restaurant the night we ate there was packed with locals of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities. We knew we'd hit the jackpot when we perused the menu and saw the variety and depth of the menu.

The sushi nigiri and rolls were all of the finest quality and of nearly every variety I've seen anywhere. The sashimi was succulent. But the highlight for me was the great small grills. It was great. The drink menu was quite limited and the service a tad rushed. But with the line that was forming, I wasn't surprised.

I now have a sushi place on the East Bay.

Definitely more than what you expect. From the outside, you don't expect much. It's not quite a hole-in-the-wall, but it still doesn't mesh with the quality you get inside. The restaurant on the inside has a mix of nice, cool bars, quality restaurants, and nice, open outside space. The service was just right--knowledgeable and timely. The menu is a solid variety of American/continental, with a bit more emphasis on seafood on the day I ate there. They also feature a good variety of appetizers and a good wine/beer selection. The quality of all of it was very good. Overall, it's worth a visit--check it out!

This is one of the better places I've eaten Vietnamese anywhere, and one of the better places I've eaten any food in the Bay area. The service and the decor were just fine, but nothing compared to the food. Between my companion and me, we tried a satay, a pot dish, a summer roll, and a regular meal. All were FANTASTIC. Each was a classic Vietnamese dish, but with a nice, unique twist. Try something--anything--and it'll be good.

Asqew Grill is a Bay Area chain of unique fast food. Asqew offers kabobs with sides of starch or salad and various side dishes. All are quite good.

The kabobs at Asqew include beef, chicken, seafood, and veggie combinations with various marinades or rubs. Each tasty kabob comes with a starch (rice, polenta, etc.) or one of about a dozen salads. Various side dishes, desserts, and other morsels are also available.

Asqew doesn't offer much in decor, but the service (order at the counter, brought to you) is quite good. While not high cuisine, it's VERY good for fast food.

We stumbled across Venus on an evening when we decided to wander the main drags of Berkeley looking for something new. What we found was a delightful, small place with the best of everything.

Set in amongst the many storefronts of Shattuck Avenue, Venus is about as small as you can get without being one of those "we only seat 10, so we're cool" places. But it's ambience, with exposed walls and nice art, make up for it. The service was impeccable as well.

The night we went was part of a fifth-anniversary celebration, $50 prix-fixe with six courses and $25 for wine pairings. No other menu was available, but it wasn't necessary. The variety and depth of quality of the ingredients and preparations was outstanding. Each course was almost perfect. The seafood (a little over half the menu) was first-rate.

We went fairly early in the day, but it might get a tad noisy in the small space. Other than that, it would be ideal for a date or any other function.