Amoeba San Fran vs Berkeley

I adore a good burger, so this is a solid vote for the Berkeley location!

From being raised in the Puget Sound, “Frisco” was the lingo of us who didn’t know any better. Now that I am 50, I am careful not to refer to the city that way.

 

San Francisco Amoeba and nearby tour from last December (part of a series)

 

Before you go to whichever branch you choose, make out a list of any particular artists and genres you like, then once you've checked out those, you can spend any remaining time browsing.

 

I don't know that I'd recommend Zona Rosa out of all of the eating establishments in that area, but I suppose that depends on the type of cuisine you most like. I'll also admit that it's been years since I went to Zona Rosa so my memory of their food isn't that great; I just know it never ranked among my favorite Mexican places. Also, I just checked Yelp and it appears to be closed anyway.

If you like Puerto Rican food (or if you've never tried it before but would like to), I cannot recommend Parada 22 enough. It's on the same block as Amoeba SF. Delicious Cubano sandwiches. Also great for mafongo and pastelon.

I seldom go to either Amoeba location any more. I used to go to the SF location weekly because it was easier for me to get to via public transportation. I have been to both locations recently and I'd actually say the SF location is probably better in terms of selection, something I don't think I would have said a decade ago.

 

Rasputin is a block away from the Berkeley Amoeba too!!
Fat Slice for a quick bite of pizza. Telegraph is a trip; you may even run into Wavy Gravy [tho be careful/he's 86].

To the North is the Cal Berkeley campus & too the South some good BBQ [like Smokin Woods]. The further South you go the more sketchy both Berkeley & Oakland get. Like all big cities, you have to be aware of you're surroundings. Plus parking is brutal around Telegraph in both cities. Almost expect to be ticketed; just part the cost of visiting.

The Fox Theater is on Telegraph, recently renovated, check for shows [parking lots are a lot more available D-Town O-Town/go for the structures]. The Art Deco Paramount theater is close by, check calendar as well [even if it's only for a movie].

Enjoy.

 

I love just taking my time to look what's on the wall before I do anything else. A couple of decades ago, I found my original pressings of Meet The Residents and Third Reich and Roll that way. But, then again, that was at the location in Hollywood.

 

Thats a shame though, the owner is famous for buying up properties and letting them fall into abject disarray. He also owns Blondies Pizza and the same thing with them. Sometimes they are open. Sometimes the property is completely shuttered.

 

Bummer about Zona Rosa, yeah like I said Its been a while and knowing SF there are probably far better options there currently.

 

I've been to both SF and Berkeley Amoeba many times. I always find stuff at Berkeley but I always find way more at SF. And I'd go to either Amoeba before Rasputin any day of the week if I only had one to choose from.

 

If you’re simply looking for selection and don’t care about eating, scenery, blah, blah, blah…SF.

 

I agree. There's better places to eat on or near Telegraph within walking distance than on Haight. I don't know whether Recycled Records is still on Haight.....If I was serious about looking for records, I'd definitely go to SF and then get back in my car and drive another 20 minutes to pay for exorbitant parking rates to find a terrific place to eat. SF restaurants have it all but the food on Haight SUCKS unless you like fast food or pizza. The pizza on Haight ain't Lamonicas.

 

I think the actual building is gone now. I sometimes find free parking on the street behind Amoeba but usually just go for the metered spaces on Stanyan, as there always seems to be a couple of empty spots. Then you're right there.

 

We will take public transportation to the store then likely just leave and head back down and hang out by the Exploratorium and Embarcadero… with hopefully a quick stop at the hotel to drop off my huge haul!

 

Sunday means free parking throughout the city!

 

I believe they only have five (5) locations still open these days: Rasputin Music

Stores are only open Thursday - Sunday. Was at the Pleasant Hill store today. While not my favorite store, I’m usually able to find a good bargain there. Sort of like going through a really big garage sale these days. I don’t predict a long-term future for them though based on their business model.

 

Recycled Records closed in November 2017. That was the place to find weird stuff; I have an LP by a musical saw player that I bought there.

 

As probably the only person here that can claim to have been to both Berkeley and SF on their first days of operation, I would say that for a long time, Berkeley was FAR better than SF. But these days, SF is probably better than Berkeley.

No one should be loitering in People's Park.

Golden Gate Park, on the other hand, has a lot of very nice areas (though I'd avoid it at night).

 

Run by the fairly horrible Ken Sarachan.

The Berkeley store is still open (they once had three stores--flagship, R&B/jazz, outlet--but I think there's only one left in Berkeley). They closed their Moutntain View, Stockton, Newark, Vallejo, San Lorenzo, and San Francisco stores. THey still have stores in Campbell, Pleasant Hill, Modesto and Fresno, in addition to Berkeley.

Ken also used to own Blondie's (sold to an employee and now called Abe's).

 

and much better than the LA one

 

Probably worse these days , was there April last year and Telegraph was Bad !

 

Has it ever not been bad, at least since the riots of the '60s that transformed Berkeley?

The homeless issues of Haight/Ashbury and Berkeley both started in the late '60s, when they became magnets to a certain type of counterculture that wasn't always healthy.

 

i meant that i saw more Homeless , trash and drugs and bad vibes in Berkeley compared with Haight

 

It's been a long time since I lived in the Inner Sunset and would walk to the Haight during lunchtime and visit Recycled and (later) Amoeba. Maybe get a slice at Escape from NY.

But back then, Recycled had endless racks of obscure records on the walls at reasonable prices. Their CD prices were not always great, but if you were into bin digging, they were great.

Of course, that was before the great resurgence of vinyl.