Terrible customer service by city building official. Came in to pull simple over the counter…read morebuilding permit, but the permit technician was out for the day. The building official was at the counter helping a guy and asked where I drove from, after telling him I drove from Concord and would prefer not to have to come again because it's always a risk anytime you drive. He said he couldn't help me and I could not pull the permit, that I would need to drive back again tomorrow. Does the building official not know how to issue a permit?! Looks like time for some training at City of Pinole Building Dept.

Love it or leave it. Pinole. Suburban city in the middle of the East Bay. Fairly safe area…read more Mostly white middle class people and people who enjoy living around white middle class people. For some reason quite a few Phillipino folks in the area, but mostly in Hercules. Not as open-minded as San Francisco. If you dress like a San Franciscan and you come to Pinole they can tell you spend your time in SF. Pinole is pretty much full of people doing their own thing who don't care what anyone else is doing. There are some gay people living here and there, but not too many of them are out of the closet. In the evening people go jogging, bicycle riding, walk their dogs and can be found washing their cars in their driveways. You can get a good deal on a house here. Good schools, although not as good as they used to be. Good place for kids to grow up. A lot of cool people. A few rednecks. Watch out for speeding tickets. Pinole is near Berkeley, and 25 miles from SF. Pinole is normally 5 degrees warmer than SF year-round. Maybe more than that in the summer. It's not nearly as hot as Martinez or Antioch. It never snows in Pinole. Hail once or twice a year, nothing major. In a nutshell it's ok if you like to live in the suburbs. However some Black people I know are afraid to go to Pinole because they are afraid of the cops. I don't know how realistic they are being, but I thought it should be mentioned. If you are a city girl like me then you don't want to live in SF. It has more of small town feeling to it.

Do the people here return phone calls? After calling periodically for two weeks for non-emergency…read moreservices available to the public, I finally entered a time crunch and took my business elsewhere. The folks who work here had better be too busy responding to fire calls or providing emergency paramedic assistance.

I had the worse experience. They were so rude and unprofessional. I know people have bad nights but…read morewow, I am in shock that the fire department would ever have this type of attitude.

The San Pablo Library has been an incredible resource for my clients and our community. My clients…read moreabsolutely love coming here, we have taken advantage of so many of the wonderful opportunities the library offers. Over time, the staff has become like family to us! The variety of programs are amazing. They offer yoga, family story time, story time for little ones, ESL classes for parents, teen gaming, art therapy, bilingual meditation, chess club, IT (any technical questions) and after-school meals during the summer and more! The library also has a Wellness Team available on Wednesdays and Thursdays, Vicky, Andrea & Natalie are absolutely thee BEST and provides valuable services and support for unhoused community members. What truly sets this library apart is its welcoming atmosphere. The staff is always friendly, knowledgeable, and eager to help. The library is well-organized, AND security (Brittany & Nay) does an excellent job of ensuring everyone feels safe and comfortable. The San Pablo Library is so much more than a place to borrow books--it's a true community hub. We are grateful for everything they do and highly recommend it to anyone looking for resources, programs, and a sense of belonging!

They had a pop up sale here on a Saturday ! It was so fun and got some amazing stuff!…read more Staff in the library great too! Sketchy folk hanging inside though ...

Walking up a gentleman said food is ready. He was so kind. I came for the entertainment poetry,…read moredancers. Amazing. My daughter and cousin enjoyed themselves. The poetry about how far she came being Indian. Breath taking. The finale fashion show where this culture meets another one! Priceless! Everyone was laughing talking such a friendly event. Thanks IG.

Very polite, people comfortable environment very knowledgeable staff we will continue to visit the…read morePinole library

It's a nice cute small library but I'm not sure if libraries have changed since when I used to go…read morebut everyone including the libraries here are just talking at full volume, people are talking on their phones, some were even blasting music loudly on their headphones to the point where I could hear them 10 feet+ away. It's not a great place to study or focus but if you're just looking for a place to hang out it's great.

Lately I been coming to this library due to how the inside and outside of the building is…read morewonderful. You would not believe this library was caught on fire. Since the fire and re-opening the library still attracts people to come inside to check out books, studied, or nap (I seen someone catching up sleep but dare not to snore). The librarian was polite on informing what been going on with the library since it re-opening. I was informed about events the library are holding. I have one good question: why is this the only library that provides ear plugs?

After taking out lunch at a nearby restaurant which didn't have tables outside, we needed a place…read moreto enjoy our food. A friend suggested a nearby park so the three of us headed there. The Canyon Trail Park is a neighborhood park located at the end of a residential street. In the main section of the park, there's a large grassy area with a playground, two tennis courts and a couple of picnic tables. There were some parents and their kids in the park and a couple playing tennis. The empty picnic tables were perfect for the three of us to eat our lunch. The park has some mini hiking trails that I will need to check out in a future visit. There was a restroom next the clubhouse, but it was locked. But our object was met, finding this park to enjoy our lunch.

If you are looking for a nice path to walk in the neighborhoods-Canyon Trail is a very good places…read moreto go for，it has 3 designated parking space in front of the Art Center, and street Parking's too, a restroom was located next to the Art center, but please be aware, KEY was requested, and you can apply key from El Cerrito Community Center with a small deposit fee. Sometimes groups of parents and kids get together there for games, classes, birthday parties too, it has a large field of green green grass area, tennis court and a play structures good for little kids too. Canyon Trail is load with squirrels, birds, dragonflies...sometimes group of deers and turkeys will show up walked up and down. this trails supposed requires all dogs on leashes, but many people do let free their dogs, so watch out those aggressive ones. years ago we were be able to enjoy the little water pond down at the lower position of trail where the wooden sign was located, this tiny pond used to has lots of lives, tiny fishes, tadpoles, now seems not any more, pond now over growth with Cattails with some other water plants make it muddy muddy and no more clear waters. Near the pond it has three aged cherry blossom trees in about 2 months hopefully they'll be blooming and beautiful again. I truly hope those cattail in the pond that now damaged water quality and completely changed the living condition of this pod can be quickly clean out, we have not seen any tadpole this year so as other small fishes, sad lost of tadpoles lost of frogs singing around too.

Pinole Library can be crowded while class is in session. Thankfully students are not allowed to…read morepark at the library. Why am I giving Pinole Library a 5 star review...the librarians are helpful when I needed help. I been going here since the 1990s. When I was a student at Pinole Valley I tend to hang out at the library while waiting for my mom to pick me up. Since Hercules Library open the Pinole Library still gets people to come inside. Keep up the good work Pinole Library

Beautiful Library and helpful, friendly Staff. Our granddaughter loves this library, has her…read morelibrary card, and has fun searching the Library.

Port Costa is one of those places that doesn't feel like it exists in today's hyper-modern…read moretechno-world. Descending into the old valley ('Bull Valley') feels like you've entered another time. It's as if somebody preserved a scruffy, gritty Gold Rush port town and the next 150 years just passed it by. Back in the day it was a major ferry crossing for the transcontinental railroad, and you can still feel that history hanging around, everywhere. The whole town is basically one charming street - Old buildings. Interesting people. Artists. Motorcycles. Dogs. Oozing character. The Warehouse Cafe is reason enough to visit. California bikers figured that out a long time ago. Part saloon, part museum, part collection of wonderful and weird stuff, it's packed with old signs, railroad relics, taxidermy, local history, and enough oddities to keep you looking around between beers. Do yourself a big favor and grab a cold one and take it out on the patio - overlooking the strait - that's when Port Costa really gets its hooks in. You stop checking the time, your phone may not even have reception, and you could not care less. One beer becomes two. An hour becomes three. If you're planning ahead, stay at the Burlington Hotel. It's old, creaky, charming, and exactly what you hope it will be (great for a pleasant stay, after a night of revelry at the saloon). And you can walk right over to Bull Valley Roadhouse, which serves some of my favorite roadhouse-style food anywhere. Great food, great atmosphere, and it truly works because it's in Port Costa. This town is not polished. It's not trendy. And it's become one of my favorite places on Earth.

** The following review reflects my experience prior to the shelter-in-place order currently in…read moreeffect. ** For some unjustified reason, I thought this would be a quaint village that would reek of seaside charm, but I was disappointed to discover the commercial area of this one-street community consisted of just a block of buildings dominated by a big tavern appropriately named The Warehouse, a popular gathering place for bikers and tourists. The town was honestly no more than a ten-minute stop when I first drove here with Jamie W. on a weekend whim. The high point was a stop at an overstuffed antique store that had one of the legendary Doggie Diner heads (photo: https://bit.ly/2W754Wu). I came back several months later by way of a long walk on the George Miller Trail in the Carquinez Regional Shoreline. There's a scenic detour you can take on a barely marked trail over the cattle-grazing hills. You eventually amble into Port Costa and in a more leisurely way that better matches the slow pace of the village. That was a preferable experience, and this time I found a place to get coffee and a slice of honey cornbread at the Honey House Cafe in the Burlington Hotel (photo: https://bit.ly/2VMG3B2). The bikers had not arrived yet, so it was actually pleasant. I may have actually stayed a half-hour. RELATED - Exploring this part of Contra Costa County? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2VyCP18