Jodie's Restaurant

Restaurant Information:
902 Masonic Avenue (just off Solano Avenue)
Albany, CA

Phone: 510-526-1109
Open Wednesday through Sunday
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mike: One of the first things one notices when entering Jodie's Restaurant, a small diner-style eatery, is that the wall plastered with photos of past patrons and fliers for cleverly-named dishes not found in the menu. (see below) While there is not much seating room in the actual building (just 6 seats), the staff and other patrons were happy to help accomodate our group and eventually we got to sit down. During a second visit, during which I got a ticket for parking on a street duing the two hours a month it's scheduled for a sweepcleaning (what are the odds?!), both Jodie and the waitress remembered us from our first visit, adding a touch of familiarity that was nice to find.
Rita: "It's better to serve one person 10 times than to serve ten people 1 time." is seen handwritten on an endearing poster right when you walk in. This place follows this mantra to the letter from the way they practice customer service to the quality of food. In fact, we were so impressed by Jodie's that we came back a week later. Now, this restaurant technically doesn't reside on Solano Ave, but we've decided to add this gem onto the blog because of the way it made us so attached to it.
Sam: Because of the unique interior decoration, entering the restaurant (which is more like a diner) felt like intruding someone's private space. I spent some time trying to decide on what to get because the wall menu was not particularly descriptive. I decided to get a "Bird of Paradise" (see below). Jodie and his assistant cooked the food behind the counter, so we got to see all the action. For the rest of the afternoon, my clothes smelled like food. From my brief experience, I can see why a loyal customer would keep coming back while new customers might feel claustrophobic.

Food Pictures

Wall O' Deliciousness

Jodie's Special

Humpho: I had Jodie's special the first time i went to this tiny restuarant. The sausage looked alittle bit over cooked but it was yummy! The pancake and the eggs were great! The customer service is excellent too. Way to go Jodie, keep it up! I will certainly eat at this place again.

Bird of Paradise

Sam: The Bird of Paradise is a grilled chicken sandwich with special sauce (delicious) and spiced fries (yummy, not greasy). Different condiments are available on the counter (jam, ketchup, hot sauce...).

The Nothing With Something

Mike: Any restaurant that has the sense to put a mystery dish on the menu is alright in my book, especially an item that turns out to be so tasty. With only the knowledge that our orders would be either vegetarian or of the carnivore variety, Rita and I took the leap of faith and chose the mystery dish that Jodie guarantees is never the same twice. What we got this time around were hash browns and eggs covered in a mix of Pork, mushroom, bell pepper and other veggies in a homemade BBQ sauce. An English muffin came on the side as well. While not a fan of the mushrooms myself, they were large enough to pick out (yes, I do that) with no problem. The vegetables were all fresh, and you could tell that Jodie was proud of the meal, talking to us afterward about some of the various components. A truly enjoyable meal.

Rita: Nothing with Something sounded like a dare to me. Luckily for me, this dare turned out to have a happier ending than any of my previous dare taking in my dare career. I wiped this plate clean. If I didn't care so much about appearances, I would have asked Jodie if I could lick the pans he used to cook this dish so that he wouldn't have to wash them. (Hey, I'm being eco-conscience here! Save water!) Also, try the plum jam - it is superb. Anyone who walks into this place must try the nothing with something. I triple dog dare you.

Geromino

Amy: The Geromino was a delicious meal with a spicy hot dog cut length-wise covered in Jodie's homemade chili, topped with fresh onions, and various peppers. I also loved the different sauces and jams tha Jodie has out for your meal. This cozy hole in the wall is a great place to get homemade breakfast with friendly service. The countless pictures of family and friends that adorn the walls, give you plenty to look at while you wait for your meal. On my second return, I felt even more welcomed since the server and Jodie remembered us. I felt like taking a chance and ordered the Nothing with Something, of course it was delicious. I plan on making many more trips to this place not only for the great food but the very friendly service.

Solano Grill & Bar

Restaurant Information

1133 Solano Avenue
Albany, CA, 94706
(510) 525-8686
http://www.solanogrillandbar.com/welcome.html

Food Pictures

Peach Bellini

Rita: This literally was a mixture of one pint sparkling water to one shot Kern's peach juice. I can't believe I paid $7 for a sparkling water and Kern's peach juice. I wasn't a big fan of it either because it wasn't sweet enough for me. In the end, I gave the drink to Mike, who downed that thing like an Irish car bomb. Apparently, he likes unsweetened peach sparkling water. The warmed sourdough bread they supplied plus a generous dab of butter equaled bliss on a winter day.

Mike: If you order this drink expecting a sweet beverage, you've got the wrong idea and the menu is somewhat misleading. Rather than a powerful peach flavor, the syrup just adds a small hint of flavor to the sparkling water, which is something I would normally never order at a restaurant. Still, this was free since Rita didn't want it and therefore was still pretty tasty.

Grilled Ahi Tuna Sandwich

Rita: Memo to Solano Grill & Bar: Searing is a grilling technique where only the surface of the food is cooked, not half of the tuna fillet. I was extremely disappointed to find only half of the ahi tuna was seared correctly, the other portion was cooked too long. There was also too much onion in the sandwich. My first two bites had filled my mouth with the pugent taste of red onion and I couldn't taste the avacado, tomato, or wasabi. After taking out the offending culprit, I was able to actually distinguish the different ingredients. The avocado was fresh and the foccocia bread complemented the tuna. However, the wasabi was lacking - there was only a hint of it. From the menu, the fries are said to be "shoe string". I was expecting long, skinny strips of fried potato but given regular Burger King style fries instead. The fries weren't bad tasting at all, in fact they were quite delicious and cripsy, but please correctly advertise what you are serving.

Fish and Chips

kitzie: The Solano Bar and Grill seems like the kind of place my great-grandma would hang out, and, uhhh, I still think she would, but I would hope she would bring me along and pay for me to eat their expensive, but really-freaking-tasty, fish and chips. Now, I suppose I'm not really in the habit of ordering such a plebeian dish when I'm at nice places, so maybe all fancy places use fish that's not chewy and give you - get this - TWO sauces, but this is the best place I've been. The fish was very tender with just the right amount of fall-apartyness. The fries were average. Don't pay $7 for the drink Rita ordered, and you'll be happy.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Mike: This was a pretty good meal, as the portions were of decent size and had the right amount of ingredients to raise this standard sandwich to a new level. First of all, the cheese was melted, and I was given a good portion of what I believe was spinach, with pesto olive oil on top of that. The bread had a nice and crunchy crust, the kind that just adds more texture to the meal without being rock-hard. The only complaint that I have with this dish is that it also had sun-dried tomatoes, which unfortunately stuck to my teeth like the inside of a Butterfinger candy bar does, making the actual eating part a bit difficult to enjoy. My tip on how to make this better: fresh tomatoes instead, or you can just pick them out like I did. The french fries were pretty good, but nothing earth-shattering. I've since returned to this faux-pretentious restaurant for "brunch" at 1 p.m. and was treated to french toast with - and wait for it - cinnamon butter!? I felt like I was royalty, but my wallet didn't really notice the difference between this and a meal at Denny's.

Sophia Cafe

Restaurant Information
1247 Solano Ave (between Evelyn Ave & Masonic Ave)
Albany, CA 94706
(510) 526-8663

Waiting Time

Rita: I was impressed by how many people could fit in this smallish restaurant - and it was packed during lunch hour. This place was designed so that the 10 or so 2-person tables were organized in the front, and an open view of the kitchen in the back. It was very refreshing to be able to watch the chefs/cooks prepare the food in plain sight so there wouldn't be any concern for shady back-kitchen shenanigans. We were lucky in that we didn't have to wait very long for a table, but people who came later than us had to wait ~15 minutes. Some people even opted to order take out because there were no tables available. Even though the waitress of the restaurant (there was only one) was clearly swamped, she was able to serve our entrees out right when they were ready. We did have to refill our own water a couple of times though. There were three people who were working in the kitchen and it seemed like they did an adequate job in cooking their orders in a timely and presentable manner.

Food Pictures

Menu

Mini Mezza Plate with Chicken Shwarma

Rita: OMG. YUM. I don't even know where to start praising this dish. Every flavor of each creamy delight was carefully prepared and concocted well. The chicken was tender and spiced/grilled to perfection. Ok- before I get any further with this glorification schpel, I have a confession to make. As a Middle Eastern cuisine noob, I didn't (and still don't) know which dish was which. Even with the menu sitting in front of me, I couldn't distinguish between the babaganoush, tahini, and grilled eggplant. I did, however, immediately know which one was the hummus. Just know that I loved each dollop equally, from the smokey fusion of one whatchamacallit to the well spiced thingamajig. Even though we were given one huge pita bread per dish, we quickly ran out of the nicely toasted fluffy goodness. 60 more cents for another pita? Bring it! By the way, the pitas pictured below are only 1/2 portions of the whole thing. The hummus was deliciously garlicky, and I had to resort to chewing two pieces of gum in a vain attempt to get rid of the bad breath. Oh well- totally worth it.

kitzie: I appear not to have a picture, but that's okay, 'cuz I had almost the same thing as Rita, just with lamb. And, I have to say, I can't agree with her more here. Awesome food! These were especially good dishes for lunch because of the "appetizer sampler" feel to them. Go to Sophia's and enjoy their delicious food!

Humus with Chicken Shwarma

Mike : This dish was nice because it provided a good meat to humus ratio that was also pretty filling. The humus was a nice blend of spices, with plenty of garlic, so it gets an A. The chicken was a little greasy, but not enough to really detract from my enjoyment of the meal. And since I was feeling especially daring that day, I even tried the super spicy, make-you-want-to-cry-if-you-can't-handle-hot-foods sauce, which had a great kick. Thankfully, we were seated near the water jug so I could easily get more as needed without waiting for the waitress to come back- especially since that would have been an eternity given the amount of patrons. The only real issue I took with the meal was that one pita bread was really not enough for this amount of food, but that was quickly solved with a second order, for jus 60 cents. All in all, a pretty satisfying Mediterranean dish.

Bua Luang Thai Cuisine

Restaurant Info

1166 Solano Ave
(between Cornell Ave & Stannage Ave)

Albany, CA, 94706

(510) 527-8288

Waiting Time

The restaurant wasn't full when we came in, there were about 3 other tables of patrons. We were quickly seated, given menus and served water. The waitress seemed very friendly with her regular cliente as she was chatting with a mom and her baby like they were friends. The food didn't take long to come out when we ordered, and the waitress would come over to our table a few times to ask if everything was ok.

Food Pictures

Menu

Lunch Specials (not listed in menu)

Thai Iced Tea and Salad

Rita: Eh. I've had better Thai Iced Tea. This one wasn't very sweet and didn't have a lot of tea flavor. The salad was just a dish with vegetables and a thousand islandish type dressing.

Mango Red Curry (bottom right) and Tom Yum Kai(top left) Lunch Combo

Rita: As you can see, this restaurant excels in food presentation. However, this lunch special didn't taste very...well, special. The Tom Yum Kai soup was average and it had these weird leftover specs of something in the bottom of the bowl. I had ordered the Mango Red Curry because I've never heard of a thai dish with mango in curry. Now I know why. The combination of this fruit and the spices of the curry didn't mesh well at all. Also, the chicken was tasteless and dry. I got to take the leftovers home and ate this the next day. I don't know if I was especially hungry, or because the curry and basil spices had soaked into the chicken and vegetables, but the curry definitely tasted better as a leftover - minus the mangos of course. Bleh. Note to future thai food enthusiasts: microwaved mangos, not good.

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Curry Dumplings*

kitzie says:
*It's been a long time since I ate here, so I'm not entirely sure what their names were, but that's what the food was. I stand by my memory so don't worry. I retain many, many very useless bits of info, so have confidence in my impressions of this dish!

This place had very pretty dishes, but the taste was mediocre. Just look above, what a feast for the eyes! My food was okay. I had very high hopes for the dumplings, but they were kind of bland. Okay, and I'll admit that it was a mistake to order sweet and sour anything from a Thai restaurant, but that too was only eh. (I can only defend myself by saying: What? I'm white! I can't help myself when I see a new sweet and sour dish.) I'd go to a less fancy, better tasting Thai restaurant in the future. (Like Ruen Pair, I LOVE that place!)