Love this store. Like the new location even if parking can be a pain. Got a new vinegar mother and…read moresome sour dough starters for a friend on my last visit.

This shop has a good selection of fermentation-related supplies, some of them hand-crafted. They…read moreare not cheap, but often not too expensive. You can also buy plastic lids for Ball mason jars here, which I could only find on Amazon before. I use variously sized mason jars a lot for fermenting and they always come with metal lids which corrode and smell awful, so it's nice to be able to buy plastic lids locally. This store also sells fermentation weights which I use in the jars. Unfortunately the "100% cotton twine" ("NORPRO" brand, "QUALITY FOR THE COOK") sold here is not 100% cotton but has some plastic in it, which is not good if you were planning to use it with food. If you light the end of some of this string on fire and blow it out, it smells like burnt plastic. "Made in China" of course. It seems fairly common for Bay Area retailers to sell items that they don't quite know the provenance of, which may just be a sign of the times. I think most consumers do not know about this easy flame test for the purity of natural fiber products. I found a "REGENCY NATURALS" "100% natural cotton" "cooking twine" product at Ace Hardware which seems slightly cleaner. The best cotton twine in my collection came from Target I think, but the cardboard spool just says "blade included" on it, I don't see a brand name. It is only 10 yards or so. Also, the "Yelp!" website seems to be hacking my computer, so everyone should be grateful that I took the risk of helping inform my community via this medium.

this place is sooo cute. i wish we had more local food halls like this in the bay area. the food…read morewas good too and the staff was nice :)

This market sells all kinds of things- produce, spices, fresh meat/ seafood, a wine shop, cheese,…read morerefrigerated already made food, and a bakery. Pretty pricey though. Bought some sausages from the butcher and it was $13 for a little package of 4. At the bakery, we bought a slice of chocolate mousse cake, a slice of princess cake, a slice of lemon cheesecake, mini fruit tart, a loaf of sourdough bread, and challah bread- total was a little over $50+. The service was amazing. My husband was inquiring about how an almond cookie tasted like and they took one out of the case and cut it so we could taste it. Everything else we ordered though was delicious. Cheesecake was rich and creamy, the princess cake was moist, the mini fruit tart was fresh, and the chocolate mousse was rich. The challah bread was soft and you can't taste the good quality olive oil that was used. Added bonus is there is a free parking lot in the back. Free parking in Oakland?!? Heck yea!

I LOVED the Berkeley location! But they closed :( this location seems a bit larger and in a more…read moretransit area next to bart. Still offers same high end food and snacks. A variety of groceries and prepared food are both found here and you can't go wrong. No pets allowed either. Fun place to buy Christmas gifts. The Berkeley staff was super friendly, I can't say I know the Oakland staff but I'm assuming some of the same people transferred over which means same friendly staff as always.

I Love going here for their hot foods and their bakerey!…read more They have a small parkinglot that has security but you can park on the street. It can get packed at times but think the food here is solid and such a great place to shop. It can be a bit pricey but it better than whole foods!

Who doesn't want to eat meat?…read more Except for maybe Vegans and Vegeterians. Anyway, my point being there's nothing like fresh organic meat. Came here looking for some rib eye and wound up buying their special sausage, lamb, and some short ribs. There was just so much fresh meat in stock, and of course, you're supporting a local business too, so it's definitely a win-win!

Shopped here for years. Top notch in quality, service and reasonable…read more Staff are knowledgeable, friendly, and very friendly. Parking is available in the Safeway lot directly across the street which allows you to do your regular grocery shopping before or after shopping at Ver Brugge.

Love love love this establishment. It's a teeny tiny cafe, so seating is quite limited. My friend…read moreand I stopped by on a cold evening and we tried the salted caramel hot chocolate and the hot chocolate chai. Both drinks were really good. Big plus for the cute art! The salted caramel was super sweet for me, but chocolate chai was a perfect blend of spicy chai and sweet chocolate. I think you can customize your drinks based on preference as well which is really amazing. I especially loved browsing their expansive collection of artisan chocolate from around the world. Their staff are so knowledgeable and helpful, both with ordering drinks, and with picking out chocolate. 100/10 would come again.

Rude received dirty looks while waiting for my coffee felt like I was going to still steal…read moresomething from them Coffee ok Never go again

My wife and I stopped by Amphora Nueva after grabbing lunch at The Station nearby to replenish our…read moredwindling supply of aged dark balsamic. Like most artisanal olive oil and vinegar stores, this one allowed for sampling of nearly all their products. There are so many interesting oil blends and flavored balsamic vinegars, I would encourage you to take your time to try out anything that piques your curiosity before making a purchase. We ultimately picked up a bottle of their 25 year old aged, Denissimo balsamic. This balsamic had a wonderful sweetness to it and was beautifully viscous. I can't wait to drizzle this on top of a tomato burrata appetizer when summer comes around, or on some vanilla ice cream. Another balsamic I really enjoyed trying out -- that would also go lovely with vanilla ice cream, was the espresso flavored balsamic. I would definitely recommend checking out Amphora Nueva for all our olive oil and balsamic needs.

We first tried their product at a party--just a splash over sparkling water--and it was delicious…read more From that moment, we were hooked. Now it's in regular rotation at our house as we work our way through all the new flavors in the store. BB

This is our family go-to place for special birthday gifts for our friends no matter their age…read more Their bon-bons are delicious and display beautiful artistry. But hands down, we fully recommend their chocolates cake, El Rey. It is the BEST chocolate cake on earth, to die for, and also my husband's birthday cake year after year. Children and adults both gobble it up completely. The folks that work there are also very kind and always enticing me with samples of their bars.

My wife has mentioned this place multiple times to the point that she insisted on us going to…read moreBerkeley and getting chocolate drinks from here. I love chocolate, but I always found chocolate drinks to be too sweet for me, until this place. From the flavor of the chocolate drink alone, they're chocolate-centric to the point you can taste the coating of it still on your tongue. My wife got the hot drink while I got the cold one, and either way you take it, you won't regret your decision! Unfortunately we didn't give any to our dog for obvious reasons, but they were kind enough to provide water to our girl when they found out we were seated outside with her. Thank you very much!

Totally stumbled upon this place by accident, and what a serendipitous find! We saw that they had…read morethe viral Dubai chocolates (this was back in October). For those who don't know what the Dubai chocolates are, they are milk chocolates filled with shredded phyllo dough and pistachio cream. My first impression was whether or not I had walked into an art gallery or a confectionary shop. Uh...turns out both! According to their website, the owner and her partner were originally artists prior to becoming chocolatiers. This place just screams creativity and their chocolates are ethically-sourced and almost too pretty to eat. They even have a backroom gallery to showcase local artists' confectionary-inspired works. We couldn't find the Dubai chocolates, but one of the employees approached us and asked if we needed any assistance. Turns out they were in the back and they had just received a shipment! The Dubai chocolates were nutty, crunchy, flaky, and velvety all in one! Pricey, but worth trying. Also, might I just take a moment to say I absolutely adore the shop's name! It almost looks like "XO Chocolate" as in kisses and hugs, bu also reminded me of the language of the ancient Latin American civilizations and - fun fact - Xocolatl (you see the play on words?) means chocolate (literally means "bitter water") back when they would mix purely cocoa and water as a drink. If I'm not mistaken, this business is Latina-owned, so perhaps that was intention? So clever and, either way, kudos to them!

Came here after a big meal. Wanted to get something sweet and happed upon Xocolate & confections…read more My family and I were amazed. Packed inside this small space was an amazing array of candies. Felt like museum; candy store and art gallery mixed into one. Amazing displays. Great local sweets. Friendly staff. We spent more time than we expected. And to be honest, we probably could have spent more. Delightful place to explore and indulge in your sweet tooth.

Great place if you need something specific, especially for cooking recipes. Specialty sandwiches…read moreare expensive, but epically delicious. Isles of specialty foods and deliciousness. This historic neighborhood grocery store is expensive, but charming. Employees are rad.

I have been going to Star Market since I was a little kid and I am 70 now. My aunt, my cousins, my…read moreMom and my grandparents all shopped here for years, this was our destination, our neighborhood, this was our happy place. Now there are surly, entitled awful "checkers " who are unpleasant and unfriendly. They have no idea or are aware of the legacy of this place. No hello, no smile m, no acknowledgement. No nothing. Im done, so sad. Hope the guy with the " white" hair and the oh so edgy persona holds on to his job.

A cute gem! Came across this spot after having dinner in the area. I loved looking at all the…read moreceramic pieces and trinkets, it reminded me of being in Japan! There's a sake bar at the end of the store, and my friend and I had such a good time trying the sake flight and cocktails. They had a variety of sake, cocktail, and whiskey choices. There's limited seating, but we were able to grab a seat at the bar around 7pm. I'd love to come here again!

An excellent selection of sakes: fancy ones like kirinsan, Dasai, Den Sake (local and awesome),…read morecanned sakes in seasonal metals or porcelain and fun and random impressive tengu shapes. This is also a place to get Japanese condiments, new year ceremonial items (decorative wooden arrows), cocktail bar ware (brass, glass), even pine wood mats and tea pots. They also regularly hosts festival mini markets, sake shoju tasting, especially for their sake gumi members. They get to meet famous chefs and local sake makers. They can also learn and taste from the bar.