Where to Find Authentic East Coast Food in the Bay Area

Slice House pizzaThomas Smith/Gado Images

Many San Franciscans (myself included) are transplants from somewhere else. I grew up outside Philadelphia on the East Coast, and there are tons of other East Coasters living here in the Bay Area, too.

I’m continually blown away by the quality and variety of the Bay Area’s farm-to-table food, as well as the incredible diversity of cuisines one can find here. There are some foods, though, that I miss from back East, which are extremely hard to find in the Bay Area.

After living here for 7 years, I’ve learned some of the best Bay Area places to get authentic East Coast style food. Here they are.

Bagels

For years, the Bay Area had no good bagels. Then, Boichik Bagels exploded onto the scene. The Berkeley, California bagel joint produces bagels which aren’t just good by Bay Area standards — the New York Times recently said that they have the best bagels in the country, besting even New York itself.

If you’d like a Boichik Bagel, be prepared to either wait a few weeks for delivery or for a pickup order, or to stand in a 30+ minute walk-up line. You can also find frozen Boichik Bagels at Diablo Foods in Lafayette, and at other fancy grocers around the Bay Area.

Deli

New York has a large Jewish population which is also geographically concentrated. With that cultural presence comes fantastic Jewish food specialities, including myriad excellent delis. I’m Jewish, and so I often miss good deli food out West.

Luckily, there are now several great options for good deli food here by the Bay. Check out Wise Sons for all kinds of deli items and other Jewish specialities, including excellent latkes which are available year round. Pyro’s Pastrami has an amazing pastrami sandwich, too.

Lobster Rolls

If you hail from New England, you probably miss a proper lobster roll. Served on a brioche bun and swimming in either butter or mayo, lobster rolls are a dime a dozen in New England. But they're a fancy speciality food out here.

My favorite lobster rolls in the Bay are at Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay, and at the Cousins Maine Lobster food truck, which makes regular stops around the East Bay and in Marin. Eat your Sam’s rolls on the restaurant’s beach for an authentic experience.

Hoagie/Sub Sandwiches

Hoagies, or Italian deli sandwiches, are a staple of East Coast life. They’re a basic food, but are hard to duplicate. Sadly, there’s no Wawa out here. But another authentic East Coast sandwich chain has made its way out West: Capriotti’s.

The Delaware chain has locations in Concord and in the Silicon Valley, where it serves authentic East-Coast-style hoagies and subs. For a truly Delaware experience, try the Bobbie sandwich, which combines real roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, mayo and stuffing. It’s the perfect way to connect to the East Coast, and also to celebrate our nation’s new Delawarian president.

Custard

There’s ice cream, and then there’s custard. The West Coast has a wide variety of amazing and innovative ice cream places. But if you grew up eating Carvel, the popular New York chain's exact style of soft serve ice cream (which East Coasters call “custard”) is tough to find near the Bay.

The absolute best place for custard locally is the snack bar at Stinson Beach, which is called Parkside Cafe. Get a cone and cover it with rainbow sprinkles, and enjoy the impossible challenge of eating it before it melts all over you as you walk back to the beach.

Pizza

Pizza is probably the single food which East Coasters miss the most when they move out west. The Bay Area has some awesome pizza places (I like Delarosa in San Ramon’s City Center), but most of our pizza is fancy and is not the traditional pizza you find in New York.

A real slice of New York pizza should be unreasonably big, so that one slice makes a full meal. It should also drip and ooze in exactly the right way, and should have a stretchy, glutinous crust. That exact combo is hard to find in California, but the most authentic New York pizza I’ve found here is at Slice House.

I visit their Walnut Creek location a lot. Their pizza ticks all the boxes — a single slice will satisfy you for lunch and possibly dinner, too, and their pizza drips and makes a perfect mess as you eat it. You can douse it with parmesan or pepper flakes, and there’s no attempt to make it high brow — just a focus on great quality and a reasonable price. Check it out if you’re missing New York.

Bonus: Cheesesteaks

Here’s the bad news: I’ve yet to find a good cheesesteak in the Bay Area. They’re usually covered with ketchup, peppers, fancy cheese, and other atrocities.

Where’s the best cheesesteak out West? Burger Barn in Dunsmuir, California. Dunsmuir is a tiny town of just 1,600 people located off Interstate 5 near the Oregon border. I stopped there for lunch one time in 2014 while driving from the Bay Area to Ashland, Oregon (and right after nearly being caught in a tornado).

Burger Barn is a family-owned restaurant which has been serving travelers and locals since 1970. It’s a friendly, small-town place with a few booths inside and a dog-friendly patio outdoors. I ordered their Philadelphia Cheesesteak, and it was amazing — truly the most authentic cheesesteak I’ve had outside the Philly area.

It turns out the current owner of the restaurant is a Philly transplant, and knows how to make a true cheesesteak sandwich. If you’re ever headed up North and want to know what a real cheesesteak is, check out Burger Barn.

It can be hard to find good East Coast foods out here in California. But if you're missing the East Coast, check out these places for authentic eats.

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