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A meal at Rick and Ann's could help you embark on a journey back to childhood, and that's exactly why the Lauers decided to open this little restaurant way back in 1989. The focus is on comfort food, minus the frills, and now Berkeley's residents can relish those waffles and pancakes they grew up eating. The scarcity of tables and snaking queues underlines their popularity.

If cooking breakfast is the last thing on your mind at the weekend, then here's Rick and Ann's to your rescue, with buttermilk pancakes, red flannel hash and tofu scramble amongst others. For dinner start with a vegetarian chilli plate of cheese quesadilla, tossed green salad, sour cream and salsa or Maryland crab cakes with Tabasco butter. Mains include chicken pot pie with root vegetables and peas, and the classic meatloaf with mashed potatoes, gravy and sautéed broccoli with green beans.

Make an intimate evening more special with a visit to Rivoli, located in the Solano Avenue in Berkeley, and you'll be pleasantly surprised with everything, from the sophisticated decor to the delicious and flavorful fare. Tucked away on one side of the restaurant is a hidden garden, all verdant and blossoming with flowers, creating a lovely effect and along with discreet service and a delightful ambiance, helps fashion a complete dining experience.

Keywords that describe the menu would be seasonal, fresh, local, organic and sustainable but there's more; appetizers of smoked trout napoleon with avocado and mascarpone mousse, baby beets, cucumber and chive cream make an apt beginning. Follow up with roast rack of lamb with red wine jus, parsley, garlic new potatoes and buttered asparagus and end with a warm chocolate and caramel pecan tart. Wines come from California and Europe and the vast range has something for everyone.

Extreme Pizzas maybe be solely held responsible for elevating the status of pizzas from occasional junk food to a way of life. Their many outlets across the nation have left no stone unturned when it comes to making sure that the pizzas they provide are delicious, healthy and extremely fresh. Life is too short for mediocrity, they say, and once you get to sample a slice, you will not settle for anything less than the best.

Holy cow, a pizza with gorgonzola, fontina, Swiss and mozzarella cheese with roasted walnuts and fresh sage, is an interesting option while railroad grade, with Italian sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and red onions is just the thing if you are heavily into Italian meats. Peace in the Middle East is another intriguingly named version with homemade hummus, olives and feta cheese. With calzones, submarine sandwiches, salads and wings you are not likely to go hungry in the unlikely event that you are not fond of pizzas.