Sbrocco: Rustic breakfast delights in Danville.

Asmus: I wasn't sure what to expect, but it totally blew me out of the water.

Sbrocco: Tacos with a twist in Oakland.

Patel: It's just like amazing flavor combinations.

Sbrocco: And traditional East African cuisine in San Francisco.

Cabezas: The sauce that came with it was like amazing.

Sbrocco: Just ahead on "Check, Please!

Bay Area."

Phillips: Oh, my God!

That is so good.

Rodriguez: That's really good.

♪♪ Sbrocco: Hi, I'm Leslie Sbrocco.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Bay Area," the show where Bay Area residents review and talk about their favorite restaurants.

Now, we have three guests, and each one recommends one of their favorite spots and the other two go check them out to see what they think.

Joining me at the "Check, Please!"

table today are nonprofit manager Cathy Asmus, social worker Erin Cabezas, and software engineer Anand Patel.

Welcome, everyone.

Are you ready for a good time?

Patel: Yeah.

Let's go.

Sbrocco: Erin's rustic breakfast spot truly invites you to slow down and savor the moment.

Tucked inside a cozy house decorated with a hodgepodge of farmhouse tables and chairs, it feels more like you're spending Sunday morning at grandma's than at a restaurant.

Located in Danville, it's Sideboard.

♪♪ Andrews: Sideboard is community and neighborhood.

When we open the doors, it's like one big party.

When I was little, my grandmother used to have parties, and when she put all the food out, she put it on the sideboard.

I said, "Grandma, why do you put it on the sideboard?"

She says, "Because it makes everybody get up and talk to each other."

During the weekdays, our breakfast is straightforward simple.

Man: We have the avocado toast.

Andrews: The flavors, I think, are really unique and honest.

Man: Ceviche salad.

Andrews: Every ingredient is fresh.

We make everything from scratch.

I mean, the pastries are off the hook.

Woman: Oh, my gosh.

Andrews: On the weekends is where we kind of shine.

We do like three different kinds of Benedicts.

Most people would use a fork and a knife for this, I suppose, but I don't have to.

Now, that's the way to do it.

Mm.

Our English muffins -- Not a lot of places make them.

And I think they're exquisite.

Our fried chicken is amazing.

We use a pressure fryer, which is really different.

It's not oily, it's juicy.

Woman: Oh, my goodness.

I'm ready to dive in.

Andrews: When you get a bucket of chicken, we also have a little envelope in there that has the wishbone.

No cheating.

You got to hold it at the bottom, you guys.

At the -- Oh!

Well, you win.

[ Laughs ] One of my favorite things is when people order, you know, their burger, and they'll get a piece of cake and they'll sit there and eat their cake first.

And I'm like, "It's so great to be an adult, isn't it?

You can eat your cake first."

Man: The best.

Andrews: The vibe is cozy, comfortable.

How I feel when I walk in the door is home, and I think a lot of other people feel that way too.

It's just a warm, fun, odd little place.

Man: Yay!

Andrews: Yay, Sideboard!

Sbrocco: So, Erin, how did this become one of your favorite spots?

Cabezas: We discovered Sideboard about nine years ago, right around when my first son was born.

And we have been going ever since.

I am a vegetarian.

The rest of my family is not.

So there is a huge selection of vegetarian and vegan options and gluten-free because sometimes I play with that also.

My current obsession is their breakfast pudding.

Sbrocco: Okay.

Breakfast pudding?

Cabezas: Yes.

And it's not a pudding from what you would think of.

It's not a dessert at all.

It's an egg dish with eggs and cream and cheese with seasonal vegetables in it.

It does come with a side salad with some goat cheese and tomatoes and a balsamic dressing.

It's absolutely amazing.

Asmus: I also had the breakfast pudding and I wasn't sure what to expect.

I was thinking maybe like a bread pudding or something like that, but it was really incredible.

Like the most fluffy texture.

So light and airy somehow, but also, like, sweet and savory and dense.

I don't know how to explain it.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but it totally blew me out of the water.

I also got the vegan breakfast bowl.

All that's visible when it first arrives is this mountain of savory ingredients like scrambled tofu and beans and tortilla chip shreds.

And then underneath is a base of oatmeal.

And I thought, "This is so strange."

But after eating it, it was -- It worked.

Sbrocco: And, Anand, what did you get?

Patel: I got the shirred eggs.

Basically like baked eggs, but they come out in ham cups, so I don't know what feat of engineering they pulled off, but they made ham into like little cups where they put the eggs inside of and the eggs were like perfectly cooked.

It was the perfect flavor of smoky and that was like half the plate.

The other half the plate was greens.

So, like, you know, you didn't feel guilty eating both of those cups because there was two of them.

Really, really good, I enjoyed it.

Asmus: My mom had the breakfast burger, which was surprisingly huge, taking up almost the entire plate with like a rim of fries on the outside edge, and it had a big egg on top.

And so you could like really -- When you kind of pick it up and get in there, the egg kind of like cascades over the patty.

So it's a pretty scrumptious burger.

Sbrocco: Did you try a fry?

Asmus: Yeah.

[ Laughter ] They had a great aioli sauce on the side, so I was just dipping it in there.

Cabezas: That aioli also comes with their Brussels sprouts that are crisped perfectly and very light and charred and just delicious.

One of our go-to orders.

Sbrocco: Any other dishes you want to talk about?

Cabezas: They have an amazing case of baked goods that is like -- right when you order, it's staring at you, so you have to get at least a couple of items.

I'm a fan of their ginger molasses cookie.

It's large.

I mean, it's bigger than your palm and it's soft and it has chunks of ginger in it.

It's just amazing.

The outrageous brownie has almost a mocha taste to it.

It's very rich in flavor, but not overpowering.

I mean, you can absolutely eat the whole thing.

Sbrocco: I was going to say, do you share any of those?

Because I'm not so sure I would share that first one.

Cabezas: Yes.

Sbrocco: Did you get any baked goods?

Patel: I actually did get one muffin.

I think it was like cinnamon flavored and yeah, it was -- It was really delicious.

Sbrocco: Did you share it?

Patel: No, actually.

I actually accidentally ate the whole thing.

And my wife was like, "You didn't save a bite for me."

Sbrocco: Totally accidentally ate the whole thing.

Totally.

Asmus: Yeah, the baked-good case was overwhelming.

I didn't know what to pick.

So we got the lemon lavender teacake.

It was so fluffy and you could just tell it was baked fresh.

We also got the chocolate chip cookie, and then they had a ton of cakes in the refrigerated case that I just -- It was like there was not enough room in my stomach to try it all.

But I would love to go back and, like, try all of it.

Cabezas: And then they have a delicious peach sangria.

Again, the flavor changes based on the season.

Sbrocco: And they have wine on tap.

Cabezas: They have wine, they have beer, they have amazing coffee also.

Patel: I love their coffee.

It was really good.

Sbrocco: And what about service?

Patel: I thought service was really nice.

You know, it's one of those places where you go to the counter to order your food and they bring it out to you.

So that was cool.

They have their, like, cutlery inside of like a dresser, which is like, you know, basically like you go into your grandma's house.

Cabezas: And it's not a cabinet.

It's a sideboard.

Patel: Oh a side-- Oh, okay!

Now it all makes sense.

Now it all makes sense.

Sbrocco: Alright.

If you would like to go to Sideboard, it's located on Railroad Avenue in Danville, and the average multi-course tab per person without drinks is around $30.

Anand's up next with his pick.

Part street food stand, part art installation, it's a colorful spot that's turning heads and taste buds with creative takes on tacos.

Located in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood, it's Tacos Oscar.

Michel: Tacos Oscar is a neighborhood taqueria where you can come and laugh with your friends and feel like you're somewhere else for a minute.

I played music for many, many years and traveled all over the world.

I would just get to taste different things in different places, and that's when my love for food started.

My business partner, Jake, and I were both in bands for a long time before we started doing the pop-up.

It was very familiar to us loading a bunch of stuff into a vehicle, driving to the location, setting up and then performing.

In our case, it was making food and our set list was our menu.

There's something about like a freshly hand-pressed thick tortilla that is just amazing to the palate.

We've been sourcing our masa from La Finca in East Oakland.

They mill it and grind it and so it comes ready to roll.

It's just corn, water, lime, mineral salt.

That's it.

My inspiration originally was just doing, like, fried egg tacos and whatever we could make and put on a tortilla.

The charred broccoli was a total mistake that turned into probably our most popular taco.

I burned broccoli one day at a barbecue, and I still served it because I thought it, you know, had an interesting flavor with the charry-ness.

I was working on, like, a peanut salsa, and I kind of just plated it for some friends.

And everybody was like, "This is actually, like, a really crazy combination," and we put it on the menu.

It's been on ever since.

I want a table of people who have widely different diets to all be able to sit down together and have a meal together.

We have a lot of vegan stuff on the menu.

It's mostly gluten-free.

There's a little bit of something for everyone.

One of the most important things is serving our community and giving back.

Some portion of your money spent goes to help feed our houseless neighbors.

I will come in sometimes, and the first thing I hear when I'm approaching the restaurant is laughter and people talking and catching up, sharing stories.

That's what it's all about.

To have a space where people can, like, loosen up, but their plates are empty when they're done.

Sbrocco: Alright, Anand, this is not an easy spot to find.

How did you discover it?

Patel: Yeah.

So it was serendipitous.

Driving, we always see this line between these two buildings.

Like, there's nothing in between these two buildings.

So one day we just decided, "Hey, let's wait in line and see where see where this goes," and turned out to be a taco spot, which was delicious.

It was like one of the best decisions I made standing in that line.

Sbrocco: Because it could have been a sex shop.

Patel: Yeah, that's true, that's true.

Could have been anything.

Usually when we start, we get the chips and salsa.

Sbrocco: Okay.

Patel: It's not your typical salsa.

They have this really nice burnt orange colored sauce.

It has savory, a little bit of smoky and not too much spice, just like the right amount.

And the tortilla chips are crispy and homemade.

I couldn't find a chip that was, like, overdone or anything.

They were all great.

A great way to start the taco feast.

Sbrocco: Do you have a go-to taco or tacos?

My favorite is the broccoli taco.

It has broccoli, some peanut sauce, a little bit of pickled onions, and some cilantro.

It's just like amazing flavor combinations.

A little bit of Thai flavor with the peanut.

That's like one of my favorites.

Asmus: I really loved the taco de papa with the potatoes and it was like home fries style, so they were dry and just delicious crispy.

It had this like savory salsa on top and just on top of the most delicious tortilla I've ever had in my life.

Sbrocco: I think that is their signature their tortillas.

What about you?

Cabezas: So, we got one of everything on the menu because I'm the vegetarian, and then everybody else is not, so.

Patel: And they have tons of veggie options.

Cabezas: They do.

They do.

There's a really wide selection.

I didn't really know what to expect as far as flavor profiles.

And so it's definitely not your traditional taqueria.

Patel: Yeah.

Cabezas: And out of them, you know, the broccoli did have that Thai flavor.

That's what I would describe it as also.

Sbrocco: Any other kind of taco?

Cabezas: So I had a sweet potato taco.

I think it's the taco de camote.

It wasn't my favorite.

The one that I had was really dripping in oil, to the point I actually ended up with oil all over my chin, and nobody told me.

Sbrocco: Kids think it's funny.

Right?

Patel: That's surprising because that was my favorite part.

Like, you pick it up, the oily goodness is dripping out, and it's like, that's where all the flavor was for me.

Sbrocco: Mm-hmm.

Cabezas: Both of my boys really liked the meat ones.

I believe it was the barbacoa one until it started getting a little spicy for my younger one.

But they definitely enjoyed.

Sbrocco: They enjoyed it?

Cabezas: Yes.

Sbrocco: Okay.

Patel: So, I've gotten the tostada, which is like a mountain of greens on this big tostada, a bunch of nuts and seeds on top.

It is hard to eat.

Like, you're, like, there.

It's like falling off, but I go in.

I just start digging up everything.

So I also had the taco de hongos.

It had like three mushrooms on it.

They were cooked to perfection.

I think they had tomatillo sauce on it, which is like a nice green sauce.

And the way they cooked it, it just -- the flavors went good together.

The mushrooms were perfectly -- They had a bite to them as you ate to it and it was like really delicious.

Sbrocco: What about you, Cathy?

Anything else?

Asmus: Yeah, I got the ham and egg taco, which was also really good and generous portions, I will say, across all the tacos that we got.

I'm a huge spice fan, and so I wish there was a salsa I could put on top that would kick it up a notch in the heat department, but otherwise it was really delicious.

My friend also got the bean and cheese taco, which was gorgeous.

I think they make the beans there.

They were so smooth.

The best refried beans ever.

Sbrocco: Ooh!

Asmus: Yeah, beans and cheese.

And you'd think, you know, it's basic, but it's so good.

Cabezas: You must have gone for breakfast because those options were not -- Like, a bean and cheese wasn't available when we were there.

Asmus: Oh, it was a Sunday at like noon.

Patel: The brunch menu.

Cabezas: Okay, yes.

Sbrocco: They have a brunch menu?

So there's a hidden pro tip right there.

Patel: Oh, yeah.

That's true.

Sbrocco: Yeah.

Okay.

Would you go back to it?

Asmus: Absolutely.

Yeah.

Just for the tortillas.

Sbrocco: Just for the tortillas alone.

They're so good.

How about you?

Would you go back?

Cabezas: I don't know that I would, but my husband might if he was in the area.

They are very friendly to dogs, which is important, and kids.

Another pro tip is you have to sit in the back because the tables in the front, the slats are so small that we lost three drinks.

They kept knocking over.

And so then we relocated and they brought us new drinks without even being asked.

Sbrocco: Service was attentive.

Cabezas: They were.

Yes.

They were very kind about all of that.

Sbrocco: Alright.

Cabezas: Yes.

Sbrocco: If you would like to try Tacos Oscar, it's located on 40th Street in Oakland, and the average multi-course tab per person without drinks is around $25.

Cathy's neighborhood go-to takes her on a flavor-packed journey through the Horn of Africa every time she steps through the doors.

A staple in San Francisco's Sunset District for more than 25 years, it's New Eritrea restaurant.

♪♪ Manna: When you dine in at New Eritrea restaurant, you dine with your senses.

Woman: Is this spicy?

Man: That's got a little kick on it, yeah.

Manna: And the end of the day, you never forget the experience.

Man: It's fire, it's fire.

Manna: My older brother started the business, and my mom and my aunties and my sister were cooking, so very much I grew up here working with my family, and this is our passion.

[ Bell rings ] Eritrean food is similar with Ethiopian food.

We use the same spices we call berbere.

Basically, it's the kind of jalapeños family and there's reddish colors.

We add a lot of ingredients like ginger, garlic.

You ground, you crush them together to make berbere.

Everything is fresh.

We have so many Vegetables.

Split peas, chickpea, collard greens, okra.

Tumtumo is made from red lentils.

We stir them.

We cook them slowly on the fire with spices, garlic, ginger.

It's very delicious.

Gored gored is one of the most tender beef.

We marinate it with spices and clarified butter.

It melts in your mouth.

Injera is bread made of teff, which is a grain from East Africa.

You can see that the bubble is coming out right now, so we're going to cover it for a few minutes.

We make injera around like 600 to 700 injeras every day.

So you can see that one.

Okay.

When you dine in here, use your hands.

Especially in our culture we use our right hand.

Our food is meant to share with friends and family.

When you eat together, it's kind of fun.

You make a little messy, but this is part of the culture.

Child: New Eritrea is the best restaurant.

Child #2: The best restaurant on Earth.

Manna: People in the kitchen, they are the backbone of the restaurant.

We've been working together with them for years.

Also, I have a big family, so everybody helping out here.

We've been here so far 27 years.

We have many, many customers.

They've been here.

We know them for a long time.

Woman: I love it.

Yeah.

We eat it every single Friday night.

Manna: When you see people enjoy the food, experience different kind of experience, and leaving happy, that does make me really happy.

Sbrocco: You know, Cathy, what's amazing about this restaurant is it's been in the city for years, which is pretty legendary.

Asmus: Yeah, I've been to every Eritrean and Ethiopian restaurant in the San Francisco area.

It's my favorite cuisine and they just knock it out of the park.

I don't know what they're doing.

It's magic.

It's my favorite place.

Sbrocco: What is your first order, let's say, when you go?

Asmus: Yeah.

So I'm there basically every other week.

Cabezas: What?

Asmus: And I always -- Sbrocco: "Here she is again."

[ Laughter ] Asmus: And I always get their vegetarian combo platter which has kind of a great selection of their vegetarian dishes.

They bring it out to you on this beautiful circle platter on top of a injera piece of bread on the bottom of the plate that's like soaking up all of the goodness while you're eating.

And so it's like kind of the treat that you save for last.

Their spicy lentil dish that comes in The vegetarian combo platter is just so good.

The split pea, the lighter yellow dish, is like almost its counterpart.

It's like sweet and savory, spicy.

Cabezas: So we did the exact same.

There was a chickpea dish, and then there was a potato that was almost like a curry.

So it was potato and carrots.

And then a collard green was amazing.

And, like, just so comforting.

And then we got some yogurt on the side to add a little dollop.

It was all so good.

All of them were amazing, and it was really nice to have all of the tastes because you didn't need to commit to anything.

Sbrocco: You've been shaking your head a lot.

Did you like it?

Patel: I loved it.

Sbrocco: You loved it?

Patel: Yeah.

Sbrocco: Okay.

Patel: It was really good.

Sbrocco: Tell me what you had.

Patel: The only thing I had different was I subbed one of those in for a mushroom dish.

Sbrocco: Okay.

Patel: Because I love mushrooms.

Sbrocco: Yeah.

Patel: You know, that kind of food is actually very similar to Indian food, which is kind of my own native food.

They use the same spices.

So it was, like, very comforting.

All the dishes reminded me of home.

Just the act of, like, tearing the injera bread, picking what you want.

Asmus: I cannot give enough praise to their injera bread.

It's just so perfect.

It's the perfect thickness, the perfect tartness, the perfect softness.

And they're very generous with it.

One piece usually comes with your platter meal, and they'll keep it coming.

Cabezas: And the platter was half the size of this table.

There were seven of us.

We only ordered a vegetarian platter for three plus then two meat options.

Gored gored beef and then New Eritrea special that had chicken and mushrooms in it.

They loved them.

My brother-in-law is a big meat eater though, and he said he could have gone without the meat.

He loved the vegetarian option so much.

Sbrocco: He loved the vegetarian option?

Cabezas: So it was all devoured and we were all very satisfied when we left.

Asmus: Another thing I love to get there are the sambusas.

They have both meat and vegetarian options.

The wrapper is crispy and then the inside is smooth.

And there's a lentil option which I always get.

And then they also have a mixed vegetable option, which has all kinds of vegetables inside -- Lima beans, corn, peas -- and it's so fresh.

It's not like you're, you know, frozen mixed vegetable stuff.

Cabezas: The sauce that came with it was, like, amazing.

It was almost like a harissa, paprika.

It was -- I mean, it was spicy, but you had to keep going back for more.

Sbrocco: So talk a little bit about the place itself.

Asmus: It is so comfortable.

It's so lived in.

It feels like you're almost in like a family's living room.

The service is so generous and gracious.

I think every time I've been there, they're always hosting this huge event in their little space in the back.

And despite it being completely full to capacity, they'll always come and check on you.

Like, "Do you have enough injera bread?"

Like, everything is taken care of.

And so yeah, service is amazing.

And I really like the wrap-around, like, cozy bar.

It's almost like the set of "Cheers" or something.

Cabezas: Yeah, yes.

[ Laughter ] Sbrocco: And what about value?

What do you think about the price?

Patel: Oh, I think it was definitely worth it.

You get so much food and, like, pretty much unlimited injera coming through.

Definitely worth it.

Sbrocco: Yeah?

Asmus: Yeah.

Affordable enough to go twice or more a month.

[ Laughter ] Sbrocco: Alright.

If you would like to try New Eritrea, it's located on Irving Street in San Francisco, and the average multi-course tab per person without drinks is around $30.

And now reporter Cecilia Phillips has more Bay Area bites you've just got to try.

She's sampling a world of Latin treats and beats at San Jose's G Spot Happy Tastebuds.

♪♪ Phillips: G Spot Happy Tastebuds.

What does that mean?

Gonzalez: It's fun.

It's a play on words.

My last name is Gonzalez, so I named it -- It was the Gonzalez Spot -- G Spot.

But since it has the food trucks and all kinds of things that people can come and enjoy, your taste buds are happy.

♪♪ Phillips: What kind of food can people find at the G Spot Happy Tastebuds?

Gonzalez: Oh, wow.

You can find all kinds of food.

Mexican from different states -- Veracruz, Michoacán, Jalisco.

And then there's also Colombian.

There's Guatemalan, Venezuelan.

There's so many trucks that it's impossible almost to just come in and stick to one.

Phillips: Sounds great.

I can't wait to try it.

[ Singing in Spanish ] So why do you call your business Birria El Vaquerito?

Rodriguez: Because my son is like a little cowboy.

Phillips: What do you have here?

What is this called?

Rodriguez: Birria Hot Cheetos Bomb.

It's like a mixed birria, onion, cilantro, and rice and cheese.

Phillips: And what's on the outside?

Rodriguez: The Hot Cheeto.

Phillips: And then the little balls, they're smiling.

Rodriguez: [ Laughs ] Yeah.

Phillips: [ Gasps ] Oh, my gosh!

Open it up, dip it in the consommé, and just take a bite.

Yeah.

[ Speaking Spanish ] Oh, my God!

That is so good.

Rodriguez: That's really good.

♪♪ ♪♪ Lopez: It's called Shaddai.

It means "God almighty."

And we serve Guatemalan cuisine.

Phillips: Guatemalan food -- Very different from anything I've ever had.

You have a very special dish here.

Lopez: Yes, it's the garnachas.

It comes with eight small handmade tortillas and pork meat.

We cook it, we shred it, and then we add salsa.

We add dried cheese and then our escabeche, which is fermented cabbage.

Phillips: Any sort of, like, special spices that make this garnacha very, like, specific to Guatemala?

Lopez: It would be our salsa.

So, the salsa, we add more things to it, which give it a little kick to it.

♪♪ Phillips: The salsa is so good.

I could eat like four plates of these.

They're so good.

Lopez: They are.

They're dangerous, I'm telling you.

♪♪ Phillips: I got to tell you, I was so excited to visit your truck.

I had to wear a little bit of pink to go with the truck.

Arambulo: Thank you so much.

We decided to call it Las Cherry's because I feel like after you have a nice meal, you know, you need a cherry on top.

So we have mocktails, we have milkshakes, and we kind of try to go over the top.

The s'mores is one of the most popular ones.

And then for mocktails, it will be the Colombian hips.

Phillips: So in the Colombian hips, tell me what's inside.

Arambulo: We have orange juice, pineapple juice, pomegranate, a little bit of Red Bull just to give you some energy.

And then we topped it off with blue Powerade.

Very fruity, very refreshing.

Phillips: Mmm.

So that is a milkshake, a dessert, and an entire like camping trip in one cup.

Arambulo: Well, yes.

♪♪ Phillips: I'm assuming that when people come here you want them to leave with their taste buds happy, right?

Gonzalez: Yeah.

I want them to have fun, enjoy their meal.

Come and dance and have the kids play around.

This is the place to be.

Yeah.

♪♪ Sbrocco: Thanks, Cecilia.

And I want to thank my guests on this week's show -- Cathy Asmus, who dreams of the sambusas at New Eritrea in San Francisco.

Erin Cabezas, who starts her day with the breakfast pudding at Sideboard in Danville.

And Anand Patel, who can't get enough of the homemade tacos at Tacos Oscar in Oakland.

Join us next time when three more guests will recommend their favorite spots right here on "Check, Please!

Bay Area."

I'm Leslie Sbrocco and I'll see you then.

Cheers, everyone.

Whoo-hoo!

Cheers.

Cheers.

Cheers.

♪♪ Arambulo: We try to create the craziest milkshakes around.

People are going to see it and be like, "Whoa, what is that?"

Phillips: It's a giant milkshake.

I've never seen anything like this.

Arambulo: This one is our milkshake called s'mores.

What we have inside of that is graham crackers.

We have marshmallows, chocolate.

We have whipped cream.

Phillips: That is thick.

You can taste graham cracker, marshmallow, chocolate all in one drink.

Mmm, mmm.

I'm chewing this.

This is like another meal.