Berkeley’s Best
Fourth Street

Fourth Street

1800 block. 
For a city of the size and income level of Berkeley, it is surprising that it has no department stores or traditional shopping malls.  This trendy block featuring a 1920s industrial style of architecture is as close to one as the city comes.  It is a shopping mall done Berkeley-style.  Designed, built, and owned by a Berkeley developer/architectural firm, the street’s buildings are kept at 2 stories.  The owner controls leasing of the entire block and hand picks the unusual stores.  A variety of restaurants offers delicious fare and spectacular people-watching.  The shops and restaurants do radiate out several blocks, though this one block started things and is still the center of this universe. 

Fourth Street shops

Builders Booksource  
1817 Fourth St.. 
Books here center on architecture and design, but “nesting” books on interior design and gardening are also on the shelves.

Castle in the Air 
1805 Fourth St. 
In this one-of-a-kind shop for the creative artist-craftsperson you’ll discover rarities—everything from fine pens and lovely journals to mouse dolls and paper models.  Upstairs is a studio where regularly scheduled classes are conducted–make a paper bird,  carousel, or a santos folk art figure.  

Earthsake  
1722 Fourth St. 
The first manufacturer of organic mattresses in the U.S., this flagship shop also includes eco-friendly organic cotton bedding and bath items.

The Gardener 
1836 Fourth St. 
This attractive shop specializes in elegant accessories for the garden and home and is a premier spot for finding the perfect gift.

George  
1824 Fourth St. 
Set back from the street, down a driveway and through a parking lot, this little shop stocks everything tempting for cats and dogs, including fresh-baked treats. 

Market Hall Foods  
1786 Fourth St. 
This is a spacious branch of the mother ship in Oakland . 

Outback  
1799 Fourth St. 
Here you’ll find stylish designer clothing in delicious fabrics at outlet prices, plus accessories and gifts.

Sur La Table  
1806. Fourth St 
This kitchen specialty shop purveys fine equipment at fair prices. 

nearby

East Bay Vivarium  
1827 5th St.  Free.
This is the oldest retail herpetological store in the nation.  A pet shop, it has the largest selection of reptiles, amphibians, and arachnids in the country.  Rumor has it actor Nicolas Cage shops here for giant monitor lizards and ball player Jose Canseco checks out the tortoises.  Others come to purchase Mexican red-legged tarantulas, mouse-sized Madagascar hissing cockroaches, and Burmese pythons.  Yet others view it as a sort of living museum. 

Takara Sake USA Tasting Room and Sake Museum  
708 Addison St./4th St.  Tasting fee; museum free. 
Sample several kinds of sake and plum wine in the spacious tasting room of this nation’s largest sake brewery.  A raised tatami room invites removing shoes and relaxing for a bit.  Upon request, an informative video can be viewed that tells about the history and making of sake, and the country’s only sake museum displays artifacts related to this subtle beverage.

Fourth Street restaurants

Tacubaya 
1782 Fourth St.
This popular fast-service spot has added a full bar offering a selection of mezcals and Tequilas.  In a vibrant spot featuring a high tin ceiling and bright walls in shades of red, pink, and mango, diners step up to the counter at Tacubaya to order Mexican-style fast food.  Among the delicious options:  a sope de chorizo y papas (a fat masa cake topped with spicy Mexican sausage and potatoes); a vegetarian tamal de verduras (a vegetarian tamale topped with tangy tomatillo sauce); a shredded pork tamale topped with a complex mole; a chile relleno stuffed with cheese; chilaquiles (tortilla chips topped with chili, scrambled eggs, and cheese); a hearty sopa de tortilla; elote (grilled corn on the cob).  Conclude with a trio of churros (long, thin Mexican doughnuts).  Everything is made in house, including handmade corn tortillas, and Niman Ranch meats are used in beef and pork dishes.  A listtle patio by the entrance offers often sunny outdoor dining. 

Pollara Pizzeria 
1788 Fourth St.
This spacious shop makes rectangular pizza slices just like those found on the streets of Rome.  More description and images.

Zut! 
1820 Fourth St./Hearst St. 
Sporting a name that is a play on the French expression “Zut alors!,” which refers to a surprise, this well-located restaurant is the perfect after-shopping rest-and-refresh stop.  Regional Mediterranean dishes change regularly on the short menu and are prepared with fresh, locally sourced ingredients—perhaps crispy smelts or braised white beans with roasted peppers and goat cheese to start.  A surprisingly tasty seasonal salad of arugula, pluots, and fennel goes well with one of the pizzas.  A semi-exhibition kitchen with wood-fired grill and rotisserie produces entrees that might include a pasta, a generous portion of rotisserie chicken with warm fingerling potato salad, a hefty hamburger topped with an heirloom tomato slice and served with crispy frites, and a New York steak with chimichurri sauce.  Cocktails are unusual—the Maltese is an especially tasty mix of vodka, grapefruit, lemon, mint, and ouzo—and desserts are both familiar (a hot fudge sundae) and obscure (a divine muscovado pot de crème plus whole wheat-hazelnut sable cookies).  Some tables and the bar have a zinc surface, and seating is available outside as well as inside in front of windows that slide open to fresh air and a passing parade of envious pedestrians.