Restaurants near the 2016 Pacific Sociological Association Meetings, OaklandCurated by Bob Saltz, Prevention Resource Center, PIRE

There is an abundance of choices of inexpensive restaurants for lunch or dinner in the immediate few blocks surrounding the Oakland Convention Center/conference hotel. You can also conduct your own search using the local East Bay Express’ dining guide, where many of the descriptions below were found. Just filter as you wish, starting with Oakland Central neighborhood. http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/LocationSearch?locationSection=1093320

An alternative is to look at a list provided by TripAdvisor for the surrounding area: http://www.tripadvisor.com/RestaurantsNear-g32810-d80433-Marriott_Oakland_City_Center-Oakland_California.html

Here are a few options, loosely grouped into a couple of categories. A couple of maps are included at the end to help you get a feel for how close these places are, and in what direction to go. First, one can find a few options clustered together just across 10th street from the Marriott in…

Swan's MarketCop-out alert: Old Oakland’s Swan's Market is actually MULTIPLE destination-worthy restaurants in one. It’s what a food court should be but never is -- it’s more of a food incubator. Cosecha got things started, serving up bright and innovative Mexican fare that shines even among Oakland’s many great Mexican restaurants, both old and new. Popular izakaya restaurant B-Dama recently moved from Piedmont Ave and brought with it homey Japanese food. And then there’s The Cook and Her Farmer, Hen House, Taylor’s Sausages, Miss Ollie’s, Rosamunde Sausage Grill, and probably more on the way.

Cosecha Mexican CosechaCafe.comServing breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a weekend brunch.Call it Mexican farm-to-table, this rambling restaurant stall in Swan’s Market overseen by Dominica Rice, an alum of Chez Panisse and Eccolo who has cooked in Mexico City. The best dishes here seem to glow from the inside, thanks to a combination of careful ingredient sourcing and the kitchen’s skill. Featuring tortillas made on-site, tacos filled with pork belly or achiote-flavored chicken are fantastic, and Cosecha’s salads and salsas show off Rice’s deftness with seasonal produce. Saturday brunch has inventive touches like house-made “Spam” embedded in the pancakes, while the fixed-price Saturday dinners allow Rice the chance to stretch out with slightly more complex dishes.— John Birdsall Miss Ollie's RealMissOlliesOakland.comChef Sarah Kirnon came to prominence at Front Porch, in the Mission in San Francisco, and more recently at Uptown Oakland’s Hibiscus, where she got raves for her brand of refined, Caribbean-inspired cooking — “California-Caribbean,” at least one critic called it. At her new solo venture, Miss Ollie’s, Kirnon eschews white linens and fussy plating to serve food that’s more soulful — and more affordable — than ever. Highlights on the menu, which changes daily, include ackee and salt fish — the classic Jamaican breakfast — and Barbados-style fish soup (served over a rich, creamy corn porridge). But the headliner is still Kirnon’s legendary fried chicken, which is skillet-fried to a perfectly crisp deep bronze, each piece a succinct and succulent testament to the power of brining and fresh herbs. — Luke Tsai The Cook and Her Farmer TheCookandHerFarmer.comThe Cook and Her Farmer, a cafe and oyster bar in Old Oakland, makes straightforward California cuisine with personal touches. Get the mussels or clams if you’re a shellfish aficionado. They are high-quality, tender, and sweet, and served in a garlic and herb beer broth that’s creamy and full of oceanic perfume. If you’re not fond of shellfish, you can’t go wrong with the grilled cheese — an earthy combination of gruyère and jack cheese spilling out the sides and through the pores of the rustic, whole-grain bread, with even more cheese grated on top. It’s epic. Kennebec French fries are another can’t–miss. The service is warm and at times disarmingly friendly. With such a well-considered menu, its intimacy, and its casual Swan’s Market environment, it’s sure to secure a place for itself amongst the top-notch restaurants in Oakland.

Rosamunde Sausage Grill rosamundesausagegrill.com/downtown-oakland/ Part of their menu: Grilled sausage on a french roll – 8./8.5 choose two toppings: sauerkraut, gri l led onions, sweet peppers, hot peppers, spicy beef chil icheddar brat – savory pork & white cheddar beer sausage – smoked, spicy pork & beefknockwurst – al l-beef nuernberger bratwurst – savory porkhungarian – smoked pork w/ garl ic weisswurst – veal, & pork, leeks & herbshot ital ian – spicy pork chicken habanero – spicy & smoked w/ tequi laandouille – cajun smoked spicy pork vegan apple sage – smoked w/ potato & gingervegan italian – red wine, garl ic & fennel vegan kielbasa – polish-style sausage

More restaurants within a couple of blocks of the Convention Center:

LeCheval Vietnamese Cuisine 1007 Clay St (at 10th) LeCheval.comA very popular and large restaurant just “behind” the convention center on Clay Street.

Caffe 817 817 Washington St. Caffe817.comLocated along a stretch of Washington Street in Old Oakland, Caffe 817 — under the ownership of Scott and Emily Goldenberg — offers a European cafe experience with meals worth the relatively high prices. Loyal customers come back for the delicious Italian flourishes in breakfast and lunch offerings, with daily specials that appeal to the palette. The service, though sometimes slow, is solicitous, and the baristas make impressive coffee art, as worthy of display as the latest art show on the walls. On a sunny day, sidewalk seating under umbrellas perfects the experience. Bottled beer and wine selections vary with the season.

Pacific Coast Brewing Co. 906 Washington St. PacificCoastBrewing.comPacific Coast Brewing is located in an elegantly restored historic building in Old Oakland that harks back to the Gold Rush era. The microbrewery hosts free blues and jazz acts about once a month, but it’s known for its large selection of beers -- 24 on tap -- as well as its tasty selection of common bar food, including burgers, pizzas, and other deep-fried snacks. On weekend nights, especially in the summer months, Pacific Coast Brewing can become a crowded, lively place, especially because of its large, heated, outdoor patio.

Chinatown There are dozens of restaurants of all types in Oakland’s nearby Chinatown. Here are just a few among the less expensive, but there are many more.

Beef and Carrot Dumplings at Tian Jin Dumplings 989 Franklin St., Ste. B This humble takeout window serves some of the best dumplings you'll find in the Bay Area, and while the standard fillings (pork with cabbage or Chinese chives) are great, some of the special options, available via advance order, are truly sublime. My favorite is filled with ground beef and finely diced carrots, which may not sound amazing — but once you bite in, and the dumpling's meaty, sesame-oil-tinged juices squirt into your mouth, you'll see what I mean.

Guilin Rice Noodles at Classic Guilin Rice Noodles 261A 10th St.This was my most obscure discovery of the year — a regional noodle dish that isn't served at more than a handful of restaurants in the entire United States. More importantly, though, Guilin rice noodles are delicious, a combination of intriguing components — slippery noodles, pickled longbeans, roasted peanuts, minced raw garlic, and assorted sliced meats — that combine to form a pleasing whole. Wash the whole thing down with rich beef broth; you won't find a finer $6.50 lunch in Chinatown.

Hot Pot House 370 12th StA communal hot pot meal transcends regional barriers. Get the "red and white" pot, which will allow you to experience both the restaurant's signature Sichuan-style mala (numbingly spicy) broth and the more wholesome clear pork-bone broth.

Shan Dong Restaurant 328 10th St.Carb lovers flock here for dumplings, hand-cut noodles, oversized (and bargain-priced) pork and vegetable buns, and other dishes traditional to the dough-centric northern province of Shandong.

Dragon Gate 300 Broadway, We can debate whether Dragon Gate, a Taiwanese restaurant, ought to be included in a roundup of regional Chinese dishes, given Taiwan's status as an autonomously ruled island nation. What isn't up for debate, however, is the deliciousness of Dragon Gate's rendition of Taiwan's national dish: Taiwanese beef noodle soup. I love everything about this dish: the low-burning, fermented-bean-paste heat of the beef broth; the tenderness and gelatinous richness of the slow-cooked beef shank and tendon; the chewiness and infinite slurpability of the noodles themselves. Pickled mustard greens add just the right tangy counterpoint to the hearty, spicy soup.

Cam Huong Deli 920 Webster St CamHuong.comDepart from your normal turkey and Swiss with a banh mi. You may have to brave the crowds to shout out your order in this microscopic, bustling cafe, but one taste of these Vietnamese sandwiches on crispy, heated French rolls — each for a couple of crisp

sawbills — will help you shoulder your way in. The meatball and curry chicken are particularly good, but vegetarians won’t leave unsatisfied.

Golden Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant 1301 Franklin St.Though you’ll find a lot of meat on the menu at Golden Lotus, every nugget of flesh is actually a skillful gluten facsimile. This Vietnamese and Chinese restaurant serves brightly flavored, fresh, inexpensive vegetarian fare. Many order the grilled "chicken," the Vietnamese noodle dishes, and the hot pot, or come at lunch for quick to-go combo plates. Golden Lotus is run by followers of Supreme Master Chiang Hai, a Buddhist spiritual master and fashion designer.

Chilli Padi 366 8th St.This modern-looking restaurant in the heart of Chinatown boasts no roast ducks hanging in the window or dim sum carts clattering away. Instead, Chilli Padi specializes in dishes made famous by the street hawkers of Malaysia and Singapore. Must-orders include the roti canai (aka “Indian bread,” served with a curry dipping sauce), laksa mee (thick egg noodles in a flavorful coconut curry broth), Hainanese chicken, and any dish that features belachan, or Malaysian fermented shrimp paste — we especially loved a plate of water spinach that had been tossed in the stuff. To wash it all down, try the teh tarik, or hot pulled tea — a drink that’s more potent and less cloyingly sweet than most of the Thai milk teas you’ll find around town.— Luke Tsai

Peony Seafood Restaurant 388 9th St., Ste. 288The flavors of Hong Kong are served with panache at this Oakland Chinatown purveyor of abalone soup, Muslim lamb with scallions and cardamom, chicken with double-fried vermicelli, tableside-skinned duck, steamed seafood fresh from the fish tank, and other delicacies. Lunchtime dim sum is on the perfunctory side, but it’s very popular. Large, elegant setting; service ranges from overbearing to nonexistent.

Spices 3 369 12th St. Spices3Oakland.com A Hong Kong action film of a restaurant, Spices 3 promises thrills on its Sichuan-Taiwanese menu, with items like “Spicy Eel Strips with Flaming RED Oil.” Not to worry, the spiciness never reaches the nuclear-meltdown levels of Sichuan food, but dishes like fish fillet in explosive chile pepper, spicy numbing kidney, and cumin lamb may rock your world. The room is as red as the food on your plate, and thronged with young diners and hip waitresses. Order the STiNKy! tofu if you dare.

Anula's Cafe 1319 Franklin St. AnulasCafe.comThis Chinatown breakfast and lunch counter serves “organic bicycle-pedaled roasted coffee” and Sri Lankan homemade Chai tea. There’s also an array of tropical smoothies, and a lunch menu full of Caribbean and Sri Lankan flavors that rotates daily and often sells out. (You can order a day in advance.) The muffins and breads all come from Semifreddi’s bakery. Prices are very reasonable, seating is limited, and catering options are available.This tiny takeout lunch counter in the heart of downtown Oakland looks like just another generic deli. But there’s more than meets the eye at Anula’s. Anula Edirisinche, the eponymous chef-owner, is Sri Lankan; her husband is Jamaican. Many of the most interesting food items come off the daily specials menu, which is an amalgam of those two cultural influences — one meat option and one vegetarian option, both priced at $7, available starting at around 11:30 a.m. The best of these, a plate of jerk chicken (falling-off-the-bone tender, with enough heat to clear the sinuses) over Caribbean-style peas and rice, is only served on Tuesdays, but you’ll always find something of interest: rotis on Wednesdays, lamb curry on Thursdays, and coconut fish on Fridays. Also not to be missed: an excellent roasted-eggplant sandwich, Sri Lankan patties, and a different homemade cake, sold by the slice, Monday through Friday.— Luke Tsai

Here are a couple of places that are a bit more expensive than the others that you may want to consider.

Liege 481 9th St. LiegeOakland.com

This cocktail lounge/hipster hangout/sports bar serves a menu of ambitious global cuisine that changes countries every eight weeks. The cocktails are complex and carefully crafted; the setting is an attractive mix of brick, dark wood, objets d'art, and firelight; and the Old Oakland setting can't be beat.This cocktail lounge/hipster hangout/sports bar serves a menu of ambitious global cuisine that changes countries every eight weeks. Fondue or hotpot is an ongoing presence, though, and features organic meats and vegetables for communal dipping and saucing. The cocktails are complex and carefully crafted; the setting is an attractive mix of brick, dark wood, objets d'art, and firelight; and the Old Oakland setting can't be beat. Friendly, informed service.

Tamarindo Antojeria Mexicana 468 8th St. TamarindoAntojeria.comAn antojeria is a restaurant specializing in antojitos, those “little whims” that all Mexico noshes on throughout the day. Chef Gloria Dominguez has traveled around the country, gathering regional specialties and treating them like alta cocina. Her tostaditas, sopecitos, mulitas, and even flan are delicate and soulful, reverent of tradition but internationally chic. So is the room, all exposed brick and windows.