Sbrocco: A honey of a fried chicken in Lafayette... Penrose: And I thought, "Bingo, right there."

Sbrocco: ...mouthwatering Mexican birria in San Jose... Bleep: Bring it on.

[ Laughs ] Sbrocco: ...and a build-your-own hot-pot spot in Oakland.

Holcombe: I have not stopped thinking about it.

Sbrocco: Just ahead on "Check, Please!

Bay Area."

It's all about the salsa!

Bleep: It's all about the salsa!

[ Laughter ] ♪♪ Sbrocco: Yeah.

[ Laughs ] Hi, I'm Leslie Sbrocco.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Bay Area," the show where Bay Area residents review and talk about their favorite restaurants.

We have three guests, and each one recommends one of their favorite spots, and the other two go check them out to see what they think.

Joining me at the "Check, Please!"

table today -- VP of sales Francis Penrose, tattoo artist and karaoke host Piña Bleep, and communications professional Sonya Holcombe.

Welcome, everyone.

Are you ready for a show?

Bleep: Yes.

Holcombe: So happy to be here.

Sbrocco: Whenever Sonya gets asked, "Let's do lunch" by her friends, she knows exactly where to meet up.

For more than a decade, she's found the perfect midday retreat at a warm and welcoming hometown hangout.

Located in Lafayette, it's The Hideout Kitchen and Café.

Balingit: What you drinking?

♪♪ The Hideout Kitchen is a place that feels familiar.

It's comfortable when you walk in, whether it be the first time or your 100th time, you'll find some familiarity with the people... Yeah, what are you having?

...the hospitality and the food, Woman #1: The texture, the pesto.

Woman #2: So good.

♪♪ Balingit: Our menu is a reflection of my culinary upbringing.

There's a lot of influence of my childhood.

Spanish Filipino-style cooking.

Lots of stewing, lots of braising, lots of grilling.

And a lot of seafood.

But it's also a reflection of my career in the Bay Area as a chef for the last 15 years.

I found my lane.

And I would call it California comfort food.

When we first opened, I really needed a signature dish, which was our waffle sandwich.

Two waffles with a country-fried steak, some cheese, an over-easy egg, country gravy...

Wish I could tell you what is in all this, but I won't.

...and some powdered sugar and a nugget of butter.

All right, brother, And we ask you to eat it with a little bit of syrup and Tabasco.

Woman: It's good.

Balingit: I'm having fun with some of our seasonal items, like our pork chop is delicious right now.

The tuna melt panini you can't go wrong with, Our porchetta on polenta is one of my favorites.

You know, people talk about the vibe a lot when they come into our restaurants, and I love music, it's my first love.

And I love a lot of independent artists, I love a lot of mainstream R&B.

And so the energy in the music plays a big part of the overall vibe.

Thank you, brother.

I hope that when you dine here, you feel the sense of community, because California comfort food encompasses so many different cultures.

And no matter what culture you belong to or what ethnicity you belong to, you'll find something that feels like home to you here.

Sbrocco: So you've been going to this place, Sonya, for over a decade.

Holcombe: Yes.

Sbrocco: And the reason why is... Holcombe: So one of the things that originally brought me into the restaurant was that I heard that the owner was from the Philippines, and although not a Filipino restaurant, my mom's from the Philippines, so I was intrigued by that.

And then the mixture of that with the ambiance, the atmosphere of it being just this elevated comfort-food vibe, it was just a home run for me.

Sbrocco: All right, so what do you start with?

Holcombe: My favorite starter is the kale and pancetta salad.

When it comes out, it has this fluffy, billowy pile of parmesan on top, crispy chickpeas, and it has apples and apricots that give it that sweet balance.

And fresh kale, broccoli.

Sbrocco: Is it a big salad or is it small?

Holcombe: it's very big, so you can definitely share it.

Bleep: I loved the mascarpone toast, and the French bread was toasted really nicely, so it was a nice texture of crunchy bread and buttery mascarpone with some almonds and the truffle honey.

Just so many flavors that were really nice.

And textures.

I'm a big textures person.

I love my textures.

So having that balance of both, absolutely delicious.

Penrose: I'm the type of guy that goes straight for the entrée.

So I didn't even go for an appetizer.

So I went straight to the honey fried chicken.

And in fact the plating was very nice.

That kale, I was a little hesitant because I'm not a kale person, right?

I always think it's going to be bitter or something like that, but it was braised.

I could have eaten a whole plate of it.

Seriously, I could have eaten a whole plate of that side.

Sbrocco: You are a kale believer.

Penrose: I am.

Absolutely.

Bleep: "Kale" yeah!

Penrose: Smashed potatoes were cold.

I was just a little surprised at that.

Right?

But then I cut into that chicken, just hearing the crisp, it was like, okay, here comes the test.

I took a bite.

The umami flavor of the truffle honey was really good.

Holcombe: I agree with everything you just said, other than the fact that the smashed potatoes were cold.

That's too bad, but they're amazing.

But the chicken, it's just that, like, salty, but with the sweet, totally moist.

I've had it dozens of times and it's never been a disappointment.

It's always delicious.

Sbrocco: Anything else?

Holcombe: The sweet potato fries are home run.

I am not a big sweet potato fry person.

I prefer the traditional potatoes.

And we actually got both.

The crunch on those sweet potato fries were just so perfect.

And then inside it's like this creamy potato.

They're really, really delicious.

Bleep: I had the baked rigatoni and cheese, which I love cheese.

Yeah, it was really good.

It was definitely a very homey mac and cheese.

And then that crispy breadcrumb on top was just a nice touch.

Holcombe: And they say "Spanish spices" in the menu.

And it's like adult mac and cheese.

Sbrocco: And what about something to drink alongside your meal?

Holcombe: I usually have a glass of wine.

They have a really nice wine list.

Penrose: I had an Arnold Palmer.

Sbrocco: Oh, nice.

Penrose: I take a sip of it and immediately I said, "Why is this Arnold Palmer so good?"

[ Laughter ] Then he laughed.

He says, "Because we make our own lemonade."

And I thought, "Bingo, right there."

So I took a second sip, and of course I finished it on the second sip.

Sbrocco: Did you have anything else?

Penrose: You know, I did, Leslie.

I ordered the dessert.

And when he mentioned to me that there was a pear tart, I was in the mood for fruit.

So I thought, "This will be perfect."

So when they brought it out, I was surprised 'cause it was a few pears on a puff pastry with a few black figs on there.

I'm not a fig person, okay?

Sbrocco: Ah.

Okay.

Penrose: But it had ice cream on there, it was warm, and it was good.

Actually, I want to mention that I went back the following week, and I will go back again because I love their menu, and it makes me want to try more of the stuff, especially the rigatoni that you talked about.

Sbrocco: Well, did you feel like you got good value?

Bleep: I think that the prices were quite fair.

I loved all the staff there because when I asked for my check, I went like this, and my partner was like, "That might not be very appropriate."

And so I was like, "Is that appropriate?"

I asked.

Holcombe: Yeah, that's cute.

Bleep: And then we were all laughing about it.

I did feel like it was more upscale, so I wouldn't necessarily, personally, go for lunch.

But if I'm balling on a budget, I will.

And if I'm in Lafayette, maybe so.

Sbrocco: Well, go with Francis and he'll pay.

Penrose: I'll take care of you.

Bleep: Okay, let's go.

[ Laughter ] Holcombe: I'm so happy you guys liked it and enjoyed it.

Sbrocco: That's great.

Well, if you would like to try The Hideout Kitchen and Café, it's located on Lafayette Circle in Lafayette, and the average lunch tab per person without drinks is around $45.

Francis's job takes him south of the border nearly every other week.

On all those travels, he's developed an appreciation for the regional cuisine of Tijuana and Guadalajara.

In between trips, when he's hoping to satisfy those cravings, there's just one spot he thinks is up to the task.

Located in San Jose's Midtown, it's Tostadas.

♪♪ Woman: Grab it, grab it.

♪♪ Victor: Tostadas is always a party.

Carla: Everybody says it's a vibe because people come and enjoy the moment they walk in.

Victor: [ Speaking Spanish ] We started our restaurant in 2019, me and Alex, the two brothers.

They call us the Tostadas Brothers.

And Carla is amazing.

She helps us with our Midtown location.

Carla: So we're family here.

We want you to feel like a family.

Victor: There we go.

We decided that you could do a lot with tostadas, from breakfast and lunch to dinner.

We do different colors, from a blue corn to a red tostada that's made out of tomato.

We always do double tostada to get the nice crunch.

One reason Tostadas got known for is we break the rules toward traditional Mexican food.

We try to innovate with our flavors, like our bacon birria burger.

You must try it.

Woman #1: Is that a pizza?

Woman #2: Yeah.

Carla: We do have our birria pizzadilla.

It's a quesadilla, but it has birria and it's formed like a pizza, so it's really, really good.

♪♪ My mom's name is Maria.

She comes by sometimes and makes sure everything's tasting the same.

We know that we're doing the right thing when she comes and enjoys everything.

Victor: Every cocktail that we created, it's only created at Tostadas.

♪♪ Carla: We have a drink called mega cantaro, which is more for big parties.

They have a whole bottle of tequila.

People enjoy seeing the big bottles going into the cantaro.

Victor: Shot on the house.

Woman: Holy moly.

Victor: We always say each guest is a family for us.

Child: It looks good already, but it's hot.

Carla: I just want everybody to leave happy from here and just make everybody feel welcome.

Sbrocco: So, Francis, you spend a lot of time in Mexico.

What is it about Tostadas that makes it so similar to your experiences in Mexico?

Penrose: The way the food looks, the presentation.

And they have such a wide menu.

I mean, I've had friends order the octopus.

It's beautiful when it comes out.

To me, that reminds me clearly of when I go to Guadalajara Sbrocco: There's such beautiful food around Guadalajara.

Penrose: Oh, Guadalajara is wonderful.

Sbrocco: Unbelievable.

Penrose: So I did not know what birria tacos were when I first got in there.

So it was a beautiful plate.

Three tacos.

I could see the beef just oozing out and the cheese, the way they sprinkled the onions and the cilantro on it.

And then there's this birria sauce.

And I thought, "Okay, this is kind of like a French dip."

And I bit into it and I was like, "What the heck?"

[ Laughs ] This thing was just so good.

Holcombe: I've always loved a beef au jus, and it's just that juicy dipping sauce, and it's amazing.

But I started with the guacamole.

Absolutely delicious.

It came in like, you know, pestle and mortar.

It had four giant homemade chips that were just delicious.

So you break them up and you eat the guacamole with them.

It had cotija cheese on top with sprouts, radishes.

They like radishes.

Penrose: They do.

Holcombe: And I love radishes, so that was fun for me.

It's a little spice in there and then limes for you to add yourself.

Bleep: I got these esquites, which is a childhood favorite of mine, which is corn, mayonnaise, cheese, chile.

And it was good.

It was a nice portion.

It was served in the molcajete, which I was like, "Oh!

Just like my childhood."

Holcombe: Is that what it's called?

The molcajete?

Bleep: Yeah.

And I loved that.

It really did take me back 'cause that's where I'm from.

I'm from Mexico.

So it was really nice to walk into this place and see all these icons like Selena and luchadores with me enjoying dinner.

And what I loved was that right when I sat down, they gave me chips and salsa, which, oh, my gosh, I asked for some to take home because it was so delicious.

And every time that the waiter came by, I was like, "Another one, please, another."

[ Laughs ] Penrose: I really like the Pacific catch tostada.

It's just so refreshing.

It has the shrimp, it has the crab, the pickled onions.

They put it on two tostada shells.

I'm the guy that will eat it with just one, and when the stuff falls off, it's like, okay, I can make a second tostada.

But then they have the birria tostadas.

It's that beef.

I just love the taste of the beef, and it's a great tostada.

Holcombe: Another thing that I ordered was the carne con su jugo, which was this unique, delicious dish which had pieces of beef, pinto beans on the side, and then it had the radishes, the limes, and there was bacon, and it gave you three cheese enchiladas on the side, which you sort of scooped up.

Oh!

Sbrocco: That's a big plate.

Holcombe: It was a big plate, and it was so unusual and delicious.

Bleep: I started off with the veggie poblano tacos, which had poblano, corn, mushrooms on two corn tortillas, and I wanted more flavor from them.

As a vegetarian, sometimes you just want that flavor that a meat plate would have as well.

But I did love the presentation and the rest of the food was definitely true to my culture.

Sbrocco: What else did you try?

Bleep: I had the taquitos de papa, and those came with about four taquitos.

And that was delicious.

Again, the duality of the crispiness of the tortilla with the mashed potatoes inside was really nice.

With the salsa.

The salsa.

[ Laughter ] Talk about the salsa.

Sbrocco: It's all about the salsa!

Bleep: It's all about the salsa.

Penrose: The drink menu is amazing.

There are so many different drinks.

They had a non-alcoholic michelada.

It has all that spicy shrimp on there.

It has the tamarind stick.

That drink was a meal in itself.

Holcombe: I started with the mango margarita, and there was a tajin rim on it that had a flower.

It was just beautiful.

Very beautiful presentation.

I didn't feel like I was having lunch.

I felt like I was having dinner or a cocktail at a nightclub.

Sbrocco: Taking a little virtual vacation.

Holcombe: Exactly.

Bleep: I had the aguas frescas which are longtime favorite of mine because they blend lots of flavors.

I had the pineapple mango, which, Piña -- I love piña.

Sbrocco: Do you ever get dessert?

Penrose: I'll tell you, for the first time I ordered the churros.

They came out with ice cream on it and some chocolate drizzle on there.

Usually I'm too full to order dessert, but I did this because I had my niece and my nephew there.

It was very good.

I mean, they killed it.

They killed it.

Sbrocco: You got one bite.

Penrose: I got one bite out of it.

Victor: [ Speaking Spanish ] Bleep: The staff was amazing.

Everybody there was just so kind and so nice.

And I'm a sucker for good service.

I love when people are welcoming because it makes me feel like I'm supposed to be there.

Sbrocco: Makes a difference, doesn't it?

Penrose: It does.

Absolutely does.

Sbrocco: If you would like to try Tostadas, it's located on San Carlos Street in San Jose, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $35.

Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books we all read as kids?

Well, that's pretty much how you order off the menu at Piña's favorite place.

With dozens of ingredients to choose from, there's no end to the customizable hot pots that diners can dream up.

Located in Oakland, it's Pixiu Mala Hongtang.

♪♪ Min: The name is Pixiu Mala Hongtang comes from the Chinese mythical animals.

Pixiu brings wealth and good fortune.

Pixiu Mala Hongtang is a make-your-own-bowl-style restaurant.

We have two options -- soup and stir-fry.

♪♪ Both are really good.

Woman #1: Hello!

Woman #2: Hi!

Min: Our salad bar is really fresh.

When customer comes in, they pick the ingredients they want, and then we bring it to our kitchen and we cook it.

♪♪ We have about 40 ingredients.

So I'm not sure how many combinations that you can make, but it's a lot.

Some people come to the restaurant and then they ask me, "Is it spicy?"

Then I say, "If you don't like spicy, I suggest the mala tang."

You can choose the spicy to level four.

For the level four, it makes me sweat.

A lot.

If customer chooses spice level four, I always keep watching them.

Then I bring them like a banana milk.

Tanghulu is a Chinese dessert.

We have many types of tanghulu.

American doesn't think tomato is a fruit, but in Korea tomato is a fruit with the sugar.

So it's not shocking for us.

But please just come to try it because it's actually really good.

I hope everyone tries mala tang.

I hope they had fun when they pick the ingredients themselves.

Like customer feels more special because the food is only for them.

Sbrocco: All right, hot pots are a thing.

It is so much fun to go to a hot pot restaurant.

Bleep: My friends and I have a running joke of calling it Soup Palace because it is really the royalty of soup.

Penrose: Yeah.

It is.

Bleep: You get to choose what you want.

I'm kind of a picky eater, so having that opportunity to choose everything and know what's going into it and being cooked so perfectly all into one beautiful pot of soup or stir-fry, it's amazing.

Sbrocco: So with all those ways to customize it, do you tend to stick with one sort of set of ingredients, or do you mix it up?

I do mix it up because they definitely have different vegetarian options, but I do definitely go with my all-stars, which are the lotus root, the broccoli, pumpkin slices, cheese rice cakes.

I love to garnish it with cilantro.

And then where I get adventurous is the spice level because sometimes I'm like, "No, I'm good on spice."

And sometimes I'm like, "Bring it on."

Sbrocco: Have you done hot pot?

Holcombe: I had never done it before.

Sbrocco: A hot-pot spot.

Holcombe: A hot-pot spot.

Never been to a hot-pot spot.

And I love customizing, so I was in my element.

I had the bok choy, broccoli, spinach, tons of different mushrooms.

All these mushrooms I had never even heard of before, and I threw a bunch of those in.

And then, because I'm not a vegetarian, I added the bacon.

Turned it into a soup, which is called the mala tang, with the clear glass noodles.

And I had it sort of medium spicy, which I think I might go down a little bit because it was still very spicy.

But it was delicious.

Really, really good.

Sbrocco: Okay, and Francis, what about you?

Penrose: Well, I'll tell you, any place you can construct your own meal I love.

And they were very kind and explaining how everything was.

I should have listened when they said they charge by the pound because I didn't even think about it, right?

Sbrocco: Two pounds later.

Penrose: So I came there with a friend, and her and I just pretty much just put everything in there.

On the stir-fry, In terms of the proteins, I put the shrimp.

They even had the imitation crab.

I love an imitation crab, I'll admit that.

Holcombe: I do too.

Penrose: I'll admit that.

And I added beef.

I love a glass noodle.

I added the ramen, and I actually added the udon too as well.

We sat down and when the food came out, this enormous bowl came out and I was like, "Oh, my God, this will feed a family of four or five."

The spicy level -- I used to love to cry when I eat, okay?

This, at the medium, it was spicy.

Holcombe: Yeah.

It's spicy.

Sbrocco: How many times did it take you to figure out not to overload it?

Bleep: Oh, well, that's another thing that my friends and I always do.

"How much did you spend?

How much did you spend?"

And whoever gets the lowest, you know, has to buy a round of drinks.

Sbrocco: [ Laughs ] Holcombe: Cute.

Bleep: But that's what I love the most about this place, is that I've had friends go and spend $8 and get a good amount of soup.

So the range of prices and the flexibility is so necessary for people living in the Bay Area.

Sbrocco: Absolutely.

Holcombe: And it's so healthy.

You can add so many vegetables in there.

And then the savory broth that they add to the soup is just so delicious.

We also had the gyoza as a side.

They were so crispy, deep-fried with a beautiful soy sauce.

I will definitely be going back.

Penrose: Oh, yeah.

Sbrocco: What about drinks?

Bleep: So for drinks they have soju.

And it's really cute because they have the soju mascot everywhere.

It's a little frog/ But they also have this very interesting drink called Sac Sac, which is orange juice pulp as a drink.

Sbrocco: Is it very thick?

Bleep: It's a bit thick, yeah.

But it's just very refreshing.

And you have many different options for dessert.

The tanghulu is viral sensation.

Penrose: It's beautiful.

Bleep: It's candied fruit on a stick.

And the crunch you get when you bite into that, and then the juice that comes out from the fruit is... Holcombe: I can't describe how delicious it was.

I have not stopped thinking about it.

Penrose: Those blueberries popped in my mouth.

And the sugar wasn't as sweet as I thought.

It's a hard shell, but it breaks nicely in there.

Holcombe: I had grapes and strawberries.

Bleep: I love the grapes one.

Holcombe: Were just so delicious.

And the gentleman there was saying that they make it every few hours fresh.

Penrose: That dessert, it's picture-perfect.

Holcombe: It's like artwork.

Penrose: Yeah.

Yeah.

Bleep: Edible art.

[ Laughs ] Sbrocco: Well, speaking of art, I have to have you tell us, Piña, about your shoes.

Bleep: I call these shoes my "chee-toes" 'cause there's cheese and there's toes.

[ Laughter ] One of my favorite memories is I took a bunch of friends for Halloween, and that was so much fun, and I wore these shoes.

A little homage to one of my favorite memories there.

Sbrocco: All right, if you would like to try Pixiu Mala Hongtang, it's located on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $30.

And now reporter Cecilia Phillips heads to Alameda for some peculiar sights and gothic bites.

♪♪ Garcia: The Menagerie Oddities Market, it's a place for people to come together in all things odd.

We like to call it an ODDventure.

Man: You want to play air hockey?

Garcia: Today we're celebrating World Goth Day, and we're on the USS Hornet in Alameda.

Phillips: Why the USS Hornet?

This spot has some history.

Garcia: It's supposed to be haunted.

Phillips: What is goth?

Garcia: Goth was born out of the post-punk era.

We bond over music.

Woman: Whoo!

Garcia: We bond over fashion, art, and community.

Woman: 30 altogether.

Garcia: Everything here is handmade by goth artists.

You'll find taxidermy, skulls, tarot readers.

So everything that you want to find that's goth, you can find it here.

Phillips: And goth food.

Garcia: Goth food.

Woman: That's really good.

Bechkoff: In a coffin?

Okay.

I sell coffee in a coffin and I donate to bat conservation.

So because, you know, bats are a keystone species and they're being threatened right now.

Chapman: Hi, ladies.

I'm Big Top Sweet Shop, and I do hand-painted, responsibly sourced chocolates.

Phillips: I heard you both have a collaboration today, though.

Are you working together?

Chapman: Coffee and chocolate are a natural thing to go together.

And so I do have an anatomically correct heart.

And I actually use that all the time.

It's one of my regular shapes, 'cause creepy.

Phillips: All right.

Chapman: Cheers, everybody.

Phillips: Oh, my gosh.

It, like, exploded with coffee inside.

It's, like, liquidy.

Chapman: Surprise.

Phillips: It's an amazing collaboration.

Woman: There you go, my love.

Man: Thank you.

Woman: That's the raven's eye.

Phillips: What goes into it?

Woman: Vodka, some Malibu rum, blue curacao, also raspberry liqueur.

And then there's a gummy eyeball.

Phillips: Mm!

Woman: That's the raven.

[ Woman laughs ] Senour: We're Phileas Fogg's Fabulous Confections.

For the goth event we did goth black donuts and we did a black ice cream with a red sauce on top of it.

Phillips: Well, I'm going to try this.

I've seen that this is going to make my teeth gothified.

All right.

Senour: Here we go.

Phillips: Is it goth?

Senour: Oh, absolutely.

Woman: Yeah.

Phillips: Is there any foods that you would love to see get the goth treatment?

Garcia: I love tacos, so I would like to see a black taco.

All-black taco.

Man: I'd love to see a squid-ink bread used within a pizza.

Therefore dark pizza.

Woman: A multitude of, like, grays and blacks, frozen yogurt, all different flavors.

Woman #2: I need black cake to go with my black ice cream and my black icing.

And I want the cake to be red velvet on the inside so it looks like it's bleeding.

Woman #3: Would people want to eat a bowl of black cereal?

Phillips: 50 shades of black.

Woman #2: 50 shades of black.

Woman: #3: You would call them... Phillips: Fruit Loops, maybe?

Woman #3: Sad Loops, I guess?

Or [Laughs] Garcia: You'd be surprised who is a closet goth.

We have moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, teachers, lawyers, doctors.

Phillips: Goth is for everyone.

Garcia: Goth is for everyone.

Phillips: Alive or dead.

[ Laughter ] Sbrocco: I have to thank my terrific guests on this week's show.

Frances Penrose, who always says sí to the birria tacos at Tostadas in San Jose.

Piña Bleep, who likes to mix it up at Pixiu Mala Hongtang in Oakland.

And Sonya Holcombe, whose happy place is The Hideout Kitchen and Café in Lafayette.

Join us next time when three more guests will recommend their favorite spots right here on "Check, Please!

Bay Area."

I'm Leslie Sbrocco, and I'll see you then.

Cheers.

Together: Cheers!

Sbrocco: Whoo!

Awesome!

Holcombe: Cheers.

So fun.

Man: I like things shaped obscure.

Freaky things like bats.

Hearts.

Phillips: Gothified.

Man: Gothify it, yeah.

Phillips: Mozzeria not only supports the deaf community, but they also have fantastic pizzas.

They specialize in wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas that you can get right off the truck.

Sign language.

and Neapolitan pizza is their language of love.

Look at this.

So you eat everything?

Man: Yeah.

My creature.

Dead or alive.

Phillips: Oh, my God.