Steak Search 1 – The Alley
Once a Texan, you’re always a Texan.
Earlier last week I exchanged a few words with my friend about our food logging endeavour, and I got reminded of steak. (Yes, Sarah, you’re responsible ;-)). I thought it was gone. That evil desire of eating an innocent cow who just a few days ago was wandering the meadow with dreamy eyes. It has resurfaced. Granted I recently enjoy the occasional meatballs from Ikea, a Whopper at the Burger King on San Pablo, and various Top Dog‘s sausages, I haven’t had a chunky slab of steak for months. Now that’s serious. When I’m in Houston, we go to Potatoe Patch almost every other week. When I’m in College Station, I can always rely on Sodolak’s for a hearty fill. Where can I go in Berkeley?
Yelp reveals a gargantuan list of six “steak” locations in the area (for comparison, Humble (TX) has twelve, and Humble is half the area of Berkeley). So starting today I will eat at and blog about every steak house East of the Bay, alphabetically. First stop: The Alley.
It’s the shadiest little hole in the wall I’ve ever been to. The inside is dark and frumpy like the sluggish voice of old black men at the bar counter sharing stories about job and children. The walls are blackish wooden planks, covered in thousands of staples and business cards, like a flaky fish deep fried with scales on and forgotten until it turns ivory with mildew dots. How do they say it, this place got character.
Whatever, I just want my steak. The Alley Special comes with a small bundle of iceberg lettuce, a slice of cucumber, and one cherry tomato. The typical salad of guilt that always comes with cheap steaks and dressed in crocodile’s tears of vinaigrette. For 11.75 we get a 12 oz slab, some half cooked vegetable, garlic bread, and a baked potato.
We ask for no sour cream on our potato, but I’m not sure if that was necessary, as the potato comes simple and spare. No cheese, no chives, no bacon bits, two butter packets still wrapped and melting on the hot steak. We are also given one skimpy knife and one fork each, the knife blade is narrow like a snake’s tongue.
We slice and chew, industriously. This is steak that you can make into mattresses, springy and resilient, and taste like hard work. The steak juice flavors well the half cooked onion, broccoli, and carrots. The garlic bread feels hasty. The bare baked potato fits stupendously beautiful with butter and generous shakings of salt, as it should. Its burnt skin, soaked with steak juice, is something I’ve learned to eat and enjoy, but this time it easily peels off to reveal the tastiest part of a perfect baked potato: the dry, hard shell between the skin and the moist flesh. It’s like pie crust without gooey sugar mess.
So that’s it. The Alley lives true to its name: a dark hangout that only accepts cash in exchange for a recharge reeking of grill smoke, cigarette smoke, beer, old men’s stories, and our backstreet side.
Address: The Alley
3325 Grand Avenue (between Elwood and Lake Park)
Oakland, CA 94610
(510) 444-8505
(parking on the street)
Next on Steak Search: Buckhorn Grill (Emeryville)
Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your post seem to be running off the screen in Ie. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The style and design look great though! Hope you get the problem resolved soon. Cheers
1This internet site is my inhalation, rattling good design and style and perfect content material.
2Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
3Thanks for sharing superb informations. Your site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you’ve on this web site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for more articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found simply the info I already searched all over the place and just could not come across. What an ideal web site.
4Some times its a pain in the ass to read what people wrote but this website is rattling user pleasant! .
5Some truly good info , Gladiolus I observed this.
6Wow! This can be one particular of the most beneficial blogs We’ve ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Excellent. I’m also an expert in this topic therefore I can understand your hard work.
7Wow! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a completely different topic but it has pretty much the same page layout and design. Outstanding choice of colors!
8Thanks , I have just been looking for information about this topic for a long time and yours is the greatest I’ve came upon till now. But, what about the conclusion? Are you positive concerning the source?
9It is actually a nice and useful piece of info. I’m happy that you shared this useful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
10I truly appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again
11I have been browsing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be much more useful than ever before.
12This is a very good tips especially to those new to blogosphere, brief and accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article.
13I conceive this internet site has very good indited content material articles.
14I truly wanted to post a quick note so as to say thanks to you for all the remarkable pointers you are giving out at this site. My particularly long internet research has finally been recognized with excellent know-how to share with my great friends. I ‘d suppose that we readers actually are definitely endowed to be in a wonderful site with so many outstanding individuals with good techniques. I feel very lucky to have come across your entire web pages and look forward to so many more excellent times reading here. Thanks once again for a lot of things.
15Greetings! Very helpful advice on this article! It is the little changes that make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
16Merely wanna comment on few general things, The website design and style is perfect, the subject matter is rattling good : D.
17When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks a lot!
18I needed to draft you one bit of word to be able to say thanks the moment again with your incredible advice you’ve discussed on this site. It’s so incredibly open-handed of you to grant unhampered exactly what many of us might have supplied for an ebook to make some bucks on their own, primarily given that you might well have tried it if you ever wanted. Those techniques as well acted to be the great way to understand that some people have the same interest just as my personal own to know good deal more with reference to this condition. I am certain there are some more pleasant opportunities in the future for many who see your site.
19I am not really wonderful with English but I line up this real leisurely to interpret.
20It’s really a nice and helpful piece of info. I’m glad that you shared this useful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
21Great post. I am facing a couple of these problems.
22After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.
23Outstanding post however , I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Thank you!
24As soon as I noticed this website I went on reddit to share some of the love with them.
25I was more than happy to search out this net-site.I needed to thanks for your time for this excellent learn!! I undoubtedly enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you weblog post.
26I went over this web site and I conceive you have a lot of wonderful information, saved to bookmarks (:.
27Great write-up, I am regular visitor of one’s website, maintain up the nice operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
28Thank you for another informative web site. Where else could I get that kind of information written in such an ideal way? I’ve a project that I am just now working on, and I’ve been on the look out for such information.
29Pretty! This was a really wonderful post. Thank you for your provided information.
30Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it is truly informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll appreciate if you continue this in future. Many people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
31I truly enjoy reading on this internet site, it has fantastic blog posts. “Don’t put too fine a point to your wit for fear it should get blunted.” by Miguel de Cervantes.
32hey there and thank you for your info – I’ve certainly picked up something new from right here. I did however expertise a few technical issues using this site, since I experienced to reload the web site lots of times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your web host is OK? Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and could damage your high-quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Well I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for much more of your respective exciting content. Ensure that you update this again soon..
33Amazing! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a entirely different subject but it has pretty much the same page layout and design. Outstanding choice of colors!
34I’m impressed, I need to say. Really rarely do I encounter a blog that’s each educative and entertaining, and let me let you know, you might have hit the nail on the head. Your thought is outstanding; the issue is something that not sufficient individuals are talking intelligently about. I’m very glad that I stumbled across this in my seek for something regarding this.
35There is perceptibly a bunch to realize about this. I consider you made some good points in features also.
36I’ve been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thank you, I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your web site?
37Hey, you used to write wonderful, but the last few posts have been kinda boring?K I miss your tremendous writings. Past few posts are just a little out of track! come on!
38As I web-site possessor I believe the content material here is rattling magnificent , appreciate it for your hard work. You should keep it up forever! Best of luck.
39Hey! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I really enjoy reading through your posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same subjects? Thanks!
40With havin so much content and articles do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My blog has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either authored myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my authorization. Do you know any ways to help reduce content from being ripped off? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
41Howdy very cool website!! Man .. Excellent .. Superb .. I will bookmark your website and take the feeds additionallyKI am happy to seek out numerous helpful info here in the put up, we want develop more strategies in this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
42I think other website proprietors should take this website as an model, very clean and wonderful user genial style and design, as well as the content. You are an expert in this topic!
43I precisely wanted to thank you very much yet again. I’m not certain the things that I would’ve undertaken without those creative ideas shared by you on my industry. Previously it was a very intimidating difficulty in my position, but discovering your expert avenue you solved that made me to jump over contentment. I’m just happy for your support and as well , pray you really know what a powerful job your are putting in instructing some other people via your websites. Most probably you haven’t met any of us.
44I’ve learn a few just right stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how so much attempt you set to create this kind of fantastic informative web site.
45The following time I read a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I imply, I do know it was my choice to learn, however I truly thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could possibly fix when you werent too busy looking for attention.
46Betrupi official giriş platformu ve resmi adresi
47I consider something really special in this web site.
48You need to participate in a contest for among the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this website!
49I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was curious what all is required to get setup? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very internet savvy so I’m not 100 sure. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks
50