Northbrae

The two main blocks that form the main commercial hub for the neighborhood are filled with fresh produce and breads to the point where you might simply consider it to be a permanent farmer’s market. At the corner of the mall (its too attractive to call a strip mall without qualification) there is an Espresso Roma which is a perfect study hall for local PhD students, of which the neighborhood boasts a number. There is also a New York style Goia Pizza right around the corner on Gilman and there is also a strong Chinese food place, Lilly’s. Magnani’s, the Monterrey Fish Market, and Country Cheese Coffee Market also make this the best place to go when you are planning to entertain at home—nowhere is the food fresher.

This is, like all of North Berkeley, a family neighborhood. On sign of this is All of this is the well loved St. Mary’s University High School which has its home in Northbrae.

One of the attractions of the neighborhood is the North Berkeley Library, whose dark Mission Style was designed by Julia Morgan. So attractive is the building that it is easy to not recognize it as a library at all.