Epicurious Garden

Nice place to grab a bite, hang out, and relax. They offer a variety of take-​out food options– vegan, soup, sushi, ice cream, chocolate, etc. I’ve tried most of these places at one point or another.
I like grabbing some food and sitting in the outside garden by the Imperial Tea Court. The garden landscape is nice– with a stream, lots of plants, and plenty of seating. It invites you to hang out there. If you want to sit in a shaded as area, go to the benches inside the covered walkway.
Come here to relax and enjoy yourself. A quiet little garden tucked inside a Berkeley block.

What a fun little place! You wouldn’t even know it existed from the outside except for the sign. Had no idea that several mini restaurants existed on the inside along with a beautiful little garden area until we walked in.
Unfortunately, this place really works only as a takeout unless you have a very small group. The tables in the garden are tiny (for two at most) and there aren’t very many of them. Source does have some counter top stools which we ended up perched on. Not so ideal for young children though.
The mini restaurants are definitely way above your average food court places though.

Quiet and sunny spot to enjoy your (take away) meal or drinks on the roof terrace.

A great food court that houses Kirala 2, Alegio Chocolate, and Lush Gelato, in addition to a taqueria and a soup shop. The seating in the back is beautiful and has never been that crowded when I’ve been at night. I actually didn’t realize there was a garden in the back until my fifth time at Kirala 2, since it’s a bit hidden.
If only more of the eateries had disposable plates and bowls… Eating your Kirala 2 sushi and udon out of plastic containers kind of cheapens the experience.

Gourmet take out in the heart of the Gourmet Ghetto.
From sushi to soup, Epicurious Garden has a good variety of it all, including:
FOOD ON THE GO
Kirala 2* — sushi
Soop — soup
Picoso Taqueria — Mexican food
Lush Gelato* — ice cream
Alegio Chocolate* — luxury chocolate
BEST FOR SIT DOWN
Mint Leaf Indian Bistro & Wine Bar — Indian food
Imperial Tea Court* - (Authentic) Northern Chinese
AND MORE!
Kitchen on Fire — cooking school
Far East — art & culture
There are a few tables at the very front of the building, but Mint Leaf and Imperial Tea Court have the largest sit-​down spaces. I highly recommend going to the Imperial Tea court for lunch or dinner, and getting dessert at Lush Gelato. Eat your ice cream in the «secret garden.» Cesar Berkeley* is also right next door – a tapas bar that offers wine, coffee, and beer.
Street parking available.
* = favorite spots
Tip: Secret garden through the «moon gate» next to Mint Leaf Indian Bistro.

After walking past Epicurious Garden for months now, I finally stopped in for dinner tonight. I was looking for a place to grab food that would get both quick and delicious, and Epicurious Garden was the perfect spot. We started at Kirala for sushi. The fish was incredibly fresh. We got the roll sampler with 3 separate roles: salmon, tuna, and yellowtail with shiso. I love shiso with anything, so I was sold pretty much immediately. We also got the Fukomaki (read: HUGE) roll with different kinds of vegetables, cucumber, and eel. It was fun to try, but probably wont be getting that one again. Another great thing about Kirala is that you can get your sushi on either white or brown rice! We went for brown in an attempt to be somewhat healthy, but I’m still a fan of white rice. It is a bit expensive tho — these two dishes cost about $ 20.
My boyfriend didn’t feel like this would be enough food for us to split, so we continued on to Picola for a burrito. He got the shrimp super burrito, which I would give a 3 if I was rating it separately. It was good, but lacked that wow factor that I’ve come to expect after living in California my whole life. It was fast though!
We ate out back in the zen garden, which was a great spot.
Ill definitely be back… I want to try the gelato!

Great food in here! Home of my fave soup stop, Soop. And the flan at the mexican place is creamy and delicious. Lush Gelato is a great treat too. Parking is crappy on Shattuck though :(

Epicurious Garden offers a wide variety of food eateries: Soop, Lush Gelato, Kirala (to go), Zen Garden, a chocolate store, a mexican restaurant, etc! I LOVE the garden seating/​eating area in the back! If you go to the tables at the top of the stairs, you might be able to catch some free wi-​fi too :) .
I always make a stop if I’m in the general area. If you’re at cheeseboard and there’s no space to sit inside or at the median, go to the area at the back of Epicurious Garden and you can get some sun there too :)

I’m not sure who designed the concept for this, but I don’t think the result is what they envisioned, and if it is, that’s quite disturbing. Everything from the basement feel, to the pretentiousness of the place, to the overpriced food. None of it is very good, except Lush. That’s really the only place that seems to fit the neighborhood. It’s unassuming, tasty, and reasonably priced. The taqueria is mediocre, the sushi overpriced, the soup place is ok I guess, and that chocolate place seems a little funny, too. The garden in back doesn’t seem to fit the gourmet ghetto’s aesthetic very well, but the food at Imperial Tea is actually tasty. Sorry to be so critical, but this is the gourmet ghetto. It’s hard to compete with Gregoire, Chez Panisse, and Cheeseboard.

This place is like an upscale Food Court right across from Cheeseboard. I like going here for Kirala and Lush Gelato and sitting outside in the garden when the weather’s nice. I hope to try the other places too!

It’s a fancy food court complete with Zen Garden!
Great spot to spend your lunch hour. Especially on days you need some serenity.
Try to come during non-​peak lunch hour (before or after the lunch rush).

Thank goodness for this place. When I’m not at home, school, or Camille’s – haha – then I’m probably here. It’s one of the easier, no-​effort places in the North Berkeley area. Soop is awesome for soup (?!) and pre-​packaged Thai dishes like curries, rice, and noodles. There’s also a semi-«decent» taco place (whatever, I just came home from San Diego, I can hate), a gelato stand, a fancy chocolatier, and some of the cleanest public bathrooms I’ve ever seen. My favorite is Kirala 2. It’s good for quick to-​go items such as sushi rolls (pre-​packaged, but you can also order fresh stuff off a separate menu), noodles, bento boxes, and salads. I like the chicken vegetable donburi and the miso salmon bento box. It’s not the cheapest ($ 9 – 10) but the quality is superb, and it always feels nice, light, and healthy.

I am writing a review!
Wow, this is exciting. Saul is hanging out in his doorway jumper and letting me do stuff I want to do, like be a good Unilocaler.
Epicurious Garden is super. It’s a great place for me to take Saul because he loves being outside, and sometimes he’ll actually let me eat in Epicurious’ lovely garden seating area while he tries to eat plants and enjoys the sound of falling water in the fountain. There is space for strollers and all the baby junk I now need to be carrying around. There are some relatively private areas for breastfeeding, but Saul is way too distracted by all the goings on to pay any attention to my breasts. He prefers to touch flowers and suck on his mesh feeder full of ‘nana.
I love Soop, not only because it’s the best soup I’ve ever had, but because I can drink it one-​handed while lovin’ on my baby.
I also love quesadillas from Picoso for the same one-​handed eating reason. The picoso chicken one is spicy and satisfying, and comes with great salsa, guacamole, and chips.
The gelato place in there is great, too. I don’t remember the name of it because I have Mom brain. The Blackberry Cabernet flavor almost makes me forget I even have a baby. Take me away, Cabernet!

It’s a glorified food court … frequented by Berkeley yuppies, college students and everything in between.
Decent assortment of food options — Lush Gelato, Soop, Picoso, etc to cover any spectrum of foods you might crave … I was just happy to not have to see any «Hot Dog on a Stick» or «Sorrento’s Pizza».
Epicurious is located in the heart of the gourmet ghetto, so if you don’t find something here — eats that have made Berkeley famous are just a hop and skip away.

Likes: the variety of food you can get there! I like walking by the chocolate and gelato section haha. I’ve only eaten at Soop but I plan to return to try the others!
Dislikes:

I love this place! It’s all I could ask for. I can get a new, tasty lunch for work everyday. I love the way it is laid out and the little garden seating area in the back is adorable.
So far I have only tried Kirala 2. I had the Udon soup which was delicious! It was freshly made, I had to wait ten minutes for it. It was well worth it.
I can’t wait to try Soop, thai, and the taqueria.
And don’t get me started on the gelato…

This reminds me of Emeryville’s Public Market in a smaller scale but more gourmet to boost. I came across this space before dining at Cesar next door. Loved the set-​up and I wished I worked in the area so that I can visit this place daily.
There’s a zen-​style bamboo teak garden in the patio area where you can take your to-​go orders and sit peacefully.

This building located in Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto area, houses several upscale retailers and a small Zen-​style garden. But for me it’s a tranquil spot to take a break. There’s plenty of seating space to eat your lunch purchased from any of the various food vendors around this area. There’s also a neat artistic video (a la Rube Goldberg) playing in an LCD screen above the entry way, on the right side hallway entrance.
Retailers inside:
–Soop — wide variety of tasty soups.
–Kirala 2 — to go menu from the popular Kirala Japanese restaurant.
–Picoso — Mexican cuisine: tacos, burritos, tostadas, aguas frescas, etc.
–Ciao Bella Gelato — a branch of the popular SF gelateria, specially good on sunny days.
–Chocolate Alegio — fancy chocolates.
–Imperial tea Garden — tea service and snacks, located in the 2^nd floor.
–Kitchen on Fire — a fun cooking school located in the top floor.
–Mint Leaf — new place, Indian cuisine. Haven’t tried it yet.
If you find that the shops are pricey or not to your liking, then don’t buy anything. It’s still a nice place to relax and take a break.

Gee, I can’t remember what I disliked more about my first and last visit here — was it the benches in the hot burning sun? The overpriced food?
No, now I remember. It was the old lady who asked me if my baby boy was my «grandson.»
Fond memories …

Though I have yet to try the cuisine, I am familiar with the planned selections and their respective chefs and all have excellent reputations.
Plus, I love the tasteful choice of architecture along Berkeley’s shattuck gourmet ghetto. A few poor planning choices could have made the building, crammed in between two buildings of extremely different architectural styles, quite the eye sore.
Yea for a modern, but not overdone aesthetics!
I can’t wait until the opening this Friday, March 17^th! Hopefully the weather will hold up so I can take my gourmet take out to the grassy picnic area across the street (also known as the center divide) frequented on the more pleasant days.