📍 Added in April: Like the combination Pizza Hut/KFC from your wildest dreams, this double storefront comes courtesy of the folks behind Oakland’s Ohgane and an upstart chicken chain from L.A. On one side of the menu: crispy and lacy-edged smash burgers with a Korean twist, including a bulgogi burger whose smoky sauce amplifies the charred flavor of the beef. On the other side: the crispiest, juiciest Korean fried chicken in the East Bay right now. (The honey butter flavor is my fave.)

📍 Added in April: Ever since Saigon Harbor closed, I’ve been looking for a go-to everyday dim sum house in the East Bay—one that nails the standards without the hourlong waits (and steep prices) of the most famous options. Enter Creek House, a family-run spot that hits it out of the park with tender rice rolls, sugar-crusted roast pork buns, and plump, bouncy har gow. No pushcart service, but fun chef’s specials like the addicting salt-and-pepper fried eggplant more than make up the difference.

📍Added in April: Michelin-starred tasting menus are fine and all, but what I really love is the deliciousness you stumble upon at the liquor store at 11 p.m.—say, the soul food plates at this joint in a corner store. Come for the succulent, well-seasoned wings and pork chops smothered in brown gravy so savory it makes you want to scarf down a boatload of rice. Stay for the even better sides: golden-brown mac ’n’ cheese; potent, potlikker-soaked greens; and gloriously liver-flecked dirty rice.

📍 Added in April: West Contra Costa has never had this kind of Korean hotspot that slings trendy dishes like cheese-topped galbijjim and creamy rosé tteokbokki. No wonder the lines are out the door. But what surprised me is how wholesome the food is—the rustic flavors of the kimchis and other banchan; the invigorating, bone-rich broth of the seolleongtang. A nice bonus: The excellent soups and stews can come as combo sets, adding a sizzling plate of KBBQ with all the fixins for just $15 more.

📍 Added in April: A San Francisco classic since 1962, this retro burger shack is as good as ever—better, actually, since a menu revamp a decade ago. First-timers can follow the lead of the swarms of teens who hang out in the parking lot at all hours of the night, going to town on the juicy, well-charred cheeseburgers (one of the city’s best in the no-nonsense fast-food style) and thick chocolate shakes. But it’s all good here: Even the chicken nuggets are fried to an immaculate crunch.

If you rated Bay Area restaurants on the ratio between culinary ambition and effort put into self-marketing, one of the top spots would have to go to this little takeout lunch spot with no signage and nearly no social media presence — even its name is just the street address. But the quality of 2207’s fried chicken, patty melt, and yakiniku-inspired ribeye donburi speaks for itself. My go-to order? An impeccably fresh grain salad topped with crisp-skinned harissa chicken.

What’s not to love about a friendly, family-run Thai Chinese spot that cranks out solid renditions of at least three different cuisines and stays open until 1 a.m. to boot? Located across the street from a casino and just minutes away from the airport, A One is the ideal late-night restaurant, known for flavorful Thai curries and stir-fries spiked with Malaysian shrimp paste. Mostly, I come for one of the most addictingly savory, decadent versions of garlic-butter crab around.

A thousand times tastier than a sad desk salad, the bento boxes from this little fermented foods shop are the most wholesome lunch option within walking distance of my office. I love the colorful array: the raw, cooked, and pickled veggies; the fluffy rolled omelet; the sweet bite to finish. Marinated in shio koji, the protein options (I love the salmon) are extra tender and savory. And the cup of homestyle miso soup on the side? The best part of the whole meal.

My favorite Eritrean breakfast spot is this humble coffee shop locally famous for its shihan ful, a garlicky, olive oil–slicked fava bean dip that you scoop up with hunks of warm, crusty French bread. It’s a rich dish, spiked with enough berbere and fresh jalapeño heat to leave your tongue tingling. In fact, Alem’s dominates the entire category of foods you can mop up with crusty bread: The Eritrean-style egg scramble and the fata (a spicy bread salad) are also outstanding.

The family that runs Antojitos Guatemaltecos got their start selling tamales from the trunk of their car, so it’s no surprise that exquisitely tender, banana leaf–wrapped renditions of this Central American staple are the star of their new restaurant. This is a rare destination for homestyle Guatemalan cooking in the Bay Area: seared steak and plantains over rice, hot mugs of atole de elote, and perfectly seasoned Pollo Campero–style fried chicken.