Old Town Oakland Find

Pipi and I had almost forgotten how much we liked a restaurant we’d been to once before: Tamarindo, in the Old Town neighborhood of Oakland. This is a neighborhood, which, as you might guess, has lots of nice Victorian buildings. Developers seem to have found it, which is good, in this case, because there wasn’t much going on before—it was mostly boarded up like too much of the downtown still is. So I don’t regard Old Town as some kind of heavy-handed gentrification project. (I’m not saying that never happens in Oakland; I just don’t think that’s what’s going on here.)

The restaurant bills itself as an “Antojeria,” which is translated from Spanish to mean “place of little cravings.” They usually serve a few special entrees each night, but most of the menu is small plates. I guess you could call it Mexican tapas.

Pipi and I went again last Saturday night and it was as good if not better than the first time. We had crispy little shrimp tacos, a beef torta, and plantains. For dessert, there was a dulce de leche crepe. I had sparkling pomegranate juice to drink. (Mexican restaurants always seem to have interesting drinks, so I usually try something I’m not positive I’m going to like. I almost always do.)

Here’s a link to the menu so you can see what I’m talking about.