What Do You Know About Bakesale Betty?

Bakesale Betty

Where can you get the best-fried chicken sandwich in Oakland?

Bakesale Betty!

Located in 5098 Telegraph Ave of Oakland’s Temescal neighbor hood, Bakesale Betty is on the corner of Telegraph Avenue and 51^st street. Hours are from 11:30-2 PM depending on when they sell out their famous chicken fried sandwich. With no shop sign or any publicity, anyone can walk or drive right by without noticing the shop. I remember my first time; it took me 3 rounds around the store to actually figure out that I had passed by it all along. Just to give you an idea of what I mean, right below is a picture of the shop.

Front of the Store

Owners, Alision Barakat and her husband Michael Camp opened the shop in 2005. After quitting as a line cook at Chez Panisse, Bakesale Betty launched in 2002 as a bakery stand in Danville famer’s market. This is also the place where she met her husband. Together they managed the bakery stand for 1o years eventually opening the shop together in 2005.

Huffington Post proclaimed Bakesale Betty of having the fifth best chicken sandwich in the United States. With that said, many people from around the world come just to try their famous chicken sandwich.

Therefore, it should not come as a surprise if there is always a line from outside the door to the end of the street everyday. I have been in line myself many times but I assure you that the queue goes by very quickly and is definitely worth the wait. Last summer while I was in line, Alision, who was wearing the famous blue wig, passed out samples of lemonade and cookies to the customers.

Barakat in Her Blue Wig

It was also during her bakery stand when she started wearing the renowned blue wig, which is now the store’s signature logo. Barakat stated, “I wanted to get dressed up go around the market and sell baked goods. I wasn’t thinking of it as a marketing tool or something people would remember.”

Keeping it simple, there are only four items on the menu. The legendary fried chicken sandwich ($8.20), egg salad ($6.84), lemon ice ($2.75), and cookies ($1.25). However, there are actually more baked goods than cookies that are being sold. There are also strawberry short cakes, banana bread, scones, brownies, and lemon bars. If I have to pick my favorite, it would have to be the strawberry short cakes, its genuinely delicious!

Menu

I could devour the fried chicken sandwich in seconds if it weren’t for it being so big. The fried chicken is stuffed in an Acme torpedo roll with a great amount of coleslaw topped with jalapenos. Every time I get my hands on this sandwich, it does not disappoint. The chicken is crispy yet soft and juicy in the inside while the jalapeno plus coleslaw adds a little spicy kick to every bite. After half an sandwich, I am content so after a whole sandwich, I am always in some sort of a food coma.

I cannot wait till you get to try Bakesale Betty and tell me what you think about their famous fried chicken sandwich! Or if you find any of the other deserts beside strawberry shortcake that is amazing and think I would like, please leave me a comment!

What Do You Know About Fentons?

Disney Pixar animated movie, UP

Ever wonder whether the iconic “Fentons” ice cream parlor in the Disney Pixar animated movie, UP, is real? Well, I am here to tell you that it is a real place and it is in Oakland, California. It is located on 4226 Piedmont Ave, between Glenwood Ave & Ridgeway Ave. The director of UP and his family are regular customers thus resulting in the feature of Fentons in the movie. I myself have been going to Fentons Creamery since I was in 6^th grade and I must say, the ice cream there is phenomenal.

Fentons Creamery is also a restaurant that serves food but is more known for their ice cream ever since they opened 118 years ago. For those of you that do not know, Fentons makes their own ice cream with fresh and high quality ingredients. It has been rumored that a worker in Fentons made a rocky road candy bar and blended it into an ice cream flavor. My friend once asked an employee and till this day the restaurant claims that they are the original creator of rocky road ice cream. As much as I love rocky road ice cream, my favorite is the coffee cookie dream, which is coffee flavored ice cream blended in with Oreos and cookie dough.

Fentons Creamery

Every time I want to go the Fentons, I make sure not to go during peak hours because there is always a line out the door. Through experience, I have once waited for more than 30 minutes. Do not let the wait persuade you to go somewhere else because it all will be worth it once you get your hands on their ice cream. Fentons is a family restaurant with customers that have been going for years so I always feel like there is a warm/nostalgic atmosphere whenever I am dining. The place is filled with excited little kids and sometimes the noise can get a little overwhelming. The staff there is friendly but most importantly they are quick on their toes and always seem to be ready to serve the customers and to clean up the tables.

Fentons makes it so difficult to choose with their plethora of ice cream flavors and sundaes. When I am with a few friends, I always go with a petite scoop of my favorite coffee cookie dream that costs around $4 dollars. However, when I am with a huge group of friends, we like to order the banana special, which is a huge plate filled with vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream in between a whole banana topped with pineapple, strawberry & chocolate fudge, almonds, whipped cream and cherry. All this for a total of $14. Do not let the price fool you because one scoop of ice cream here is 2-3 scoops somewhere else. It is totally worth it!

Banana Special

No one can resist Fentons ice cream; it makes my mouth watery just by thinking about it. The price is fair and consistent with their huge portion size. The ice cream is freshly made everyday with the finest of all ingredients. I have had many memories here in Fentons and hopefully in the future, my children will also create their own memories here. Fentons never ceases to amaze me and has always been one of my favorite places to go in Oakland.