Saul's Restaurant & Delicatessen — Restaurant in Berkeley

UPDATE: MAY 17TH 2025: A special debt and acknowledgement to the two workers at Saul's FEDERICO AND FITO for launching an effort to return my neighbor's wallet with her many cards and cash, and I saw them in the neighborhood looking for her house diligently, (The exact address is hard to find), before leading them to her door, where they refused any kind to compensation. This is typical of Saul's employees who are a great asset to the community, and this above and beyond effort deserved special recognition! Thank you FEDERICO AND FITO. you rock! thank you Saul's!

Update, sat December 3rd, 2022. Walking in the rain I decided to stop here and have a hot toddy outside, and I was greeted like a family member by some of the kindest wait staff I've ever encountered. Thoroughly enjoying sitting in the rain next to a flame heater drinking a hot toddy, I'm reminded of one of the things that makes Berkeley special, and that is a Saul's delicatessen. As a long time resident, and critically hailed reviewer, (Toot toot!), I have to say that for foodies looking for authenticity and great food, on one level or another this place always satisfies.

UPDATE JUNE 29th 2022. Went in tonight and enjoyed a bagel with the works, which is one of the most reliable things on the West Coast. I got to remember to get rid of the cucumber, because I like my bagel with a bit more spice and bite, but it was really perfect. Lox, tomato, cream cheese, onion, perfect. Backed it up with a bloody Mary. Did not know they had on the menu, now I remember why there is something to be said for doing simple things. Excellently. Now, on to my regular review

This super reliable Berkeley holdout, has been serving delicious kosher for over 5 decades, and is still one of the few places that make beef borscht soup, and has a glass counter selection of many different kinds of locks, schmears, and sides. To know a Sal's bagel with a cream cheese smear, lox, onion and tomato, is to know heaven. To know it with a little bit of beef borscht soup, used to be in another dimension entirely. As usual the staff was supremely kind and engaging, and they always have a host who's a great conversationalist. Enjoy Berkeley's last real old style kosher deli while you can, because one look around will tell you that times are a'...

Saul's is one of our favorite restaurants in Berkeley's "gourmet ghetto" district. My wife and I go there often, as the food is consistently delicious, service/management are very good and the vibe is great for both indoor and outdoor seating.

Their espresso coffee has also remarkably improved -from good to excellent- and Saul's is now at the same level with the third-wave cafes in downtown Berkeley (such as Caffenated, Blue Bottle, etc). Plus, they have a great outdoor setting to sip coffee while enjoying the sun, and they are open til much later than those "fancy" cafes who close rather early (especially in the summer). So Saul's is now our favorite cafe as well.

As far as food, my favorite dishes are the Eggplant Ottolenghi, the Grilled Trout and the Shakshouka. Their pickle appetizer is great, as well as the latkes, the smoked fish, and many other menu items we've tried over time.

A wish: It'd be awesome if Saul's could add a Fieldwork Hazy IPA to their beer menu, which is already quite good.

A couple of details Saul's could improve: Restore the in-person waiters, since it makes a huge difference to be able to ask for advise and interact in real time, as opposed to the robotic QR codes which lower the quality of the experience. Stop requiring waiters and bussers to wear a face mask. I know this is controversial, but there's an unethical implication of inferiority/supremacy between workers (presumed contagious) and customers (presumed healthy) that is hard to swallow. Plus, it's detrimental to the health of the workers, who need to breathe freely to be healthy, just as the customers do. If customers don't wear masks, then workers shouldn't wear them either, since we...

Came here for breakfast, I will say that I asked the server a lot of questions however, I believe I was extremely funny and made a joke of it. Our bill came to $80 so we definitely ordered. Service was horrendous. Our server never did one check back of the table, we had to flag down several associates just to get service. We asked for refills on the coffee only to find out that this is probably the only restaurant in town that doesn’t give refills on cups of coffee when you dine in. for $20 an entrée you can afford a dollar refill on a cup of coffee. Even Starbucks refills your coffee if you bring in the cup. We then ordered dessert which never came. The floor manager was super sweet and offered to comp our dessert and take it to go when honestly we were so uncomfortable. We just wanted to pay our check and leave. the floor manager was very sweet and understanding however, the service was horrendous. The young lady that took our order kept looking at us, but it was like we were an inconvenience for her to come over. I’ve been here a few times and the food is amazing but I probably won’t recommend this to anybody in the area. It’s just not the same it used to be, service being one. And to add insult to injury the server, who had helped us originally was standing by the cashier and host stand and thanked us for coming as we left. Seems a little odd, since you didn’t come to the table once after the food...