taste of adams roundup

we were pretty impressed with the taste of adams avenue event last sunday. starting toward the west end of the street and working our way east, we were too early for jayne's gastropub, who had a sign up saying they wouldn't be ready until 10:30. so we went down 30th to senior mango's, where they were laying out smoothies and cups full of yogurt or acai, with fruits and granola. it was a refreshing start to the day, and now i've got a smoothie place to hit before work.


back to jaynes, where they quickly ran out of the seared halibut and israeli couscous dish they served up, which was a highlight of the entire festival. we dropped in later and took advantage of their $2 draft special, cooling off with trumer pils and green flash ipa.



we crossed 30th and were impressed by the spread at antique row cafe, which had fallen off our list of neighborhood favorites after several disappointing breakfasts. sausage, a beef hash and biscuits were served up, along with free water, which came in handy as the heat set in later.



next was casa adams, where we enjoyed our ample-sized chicken enchilada. i had to skip the offerings at cheesecake company just past the 805 bridge, but everyone raved about them.



the heart of the event seemed to be around the normal heights sign, with lestats (tiny iced coffee and a brownie), starbucks (tiny iced coffee and a cookie), and casa sanchez (beef taco with some tasty salsa) just west of the event ticket area. flavors italian ice cooled us off with their usual refreshing choices there.




moving east, we were treated to cheese/mushrooms and crackers at proprietors wine reserve, rolled tacos at luz's kitchen, and a variety of beer-infused mustards at rosie o'grady's. a few doors down, a la francaise pulled off the biggest disappointment of the event with a couple of trays of quiche, of all the things they could have offered.



we were hitting some big crowds now, which made us skip mariposa ice cream and the gigantic line at di milles italian restaurant, although the patio looked like a fun place to hang out. instead we walked on to cafe cabaret and california-antilles trading consortium, which has hot sauces galore and served up some spicy salsa and chips.



we crossed the bridge and finished up with an excellent banana french toast dish at kensington grill (another highlight), french onion soup and chocolate mousse at bleu boheme, and various drinks at kensington starbucks. but it was the near full-size burgers at burger lounge, wrapped and ready to go, that made the latter part of our walk, since we were able to toss these in the fridge for dinner before heading back to get the car.






on the way back we hit zia's pizza, which had been incredibly hot when we stood in line earlier (where's the ceiling fans, guys?) only to hear they had run out of pizza. there was plenty on our return, and the crust was especially good. we knocked out the last two spots, cafe 2121 and the new twigg's bakery location, where they'll be opening in august. it was great chatting with the owners, who were very friendly, and this only added to the real community feel we came away with.




kudos to the event organizers for providing lots of trolleys. we employed a tandem car approach, but it was a good feeling to live in a neighborhood where you could enjoy such a wide variety of restaurants on foot.