Why Cook?

Oh GREAT! Yet ANOTHER locally-​owned business driven out-​of-​business at The Landing. Maybe things really did go downhill and some of the Haters on Unilocal were right, but «Why Cook?‘s» space is now empty like the nice former gift shop space next door. Enrico’s died a long painful death and now that prime real estate over the water has been sitting empty for months. Another former neighbor, Moa Moa Gelato, closed its doors months back and now it’s going to be replaced by a guess what: a SUBWAY!
Let’s just hope: La Val’s doesn’t eventually get replaced by a Pizza Hut, Angelfish doesn’t get replaced by a Benihana, Harbor View doesn’t get replaced by a Panda Express, and La Piñata doesn’t get replaced by Taco Bell. Because the way things have been going for local businesses in this shopping center, things aren’t looking up. Maybe the landlord should consider lowering the exorbitant rents. I don’t know, but it’s all very sad to see.
Constructive Criticism, people, not Destructive Criticism! Go easy on the little guys unless you want to continue to see generic corporate chains replacing them!

For a business park that has no food choices, Why Cook, too isn’t the worst choice. For something quick to grab at lunch time, this place has a variety of choices from sandwiches to burgers, burritos to pastas. If I have more time in my day, though, I would definitely go somewhere else farther away.

Sorry guys… couple things wrong.
1) you are never open
2) Troy is a few minutes away
Please improve!

This place has been open for twenty years… why??? I dunno. Ordered a Grilled Chicken Gyro here. The price was pretty pricey for one gyro but if the taste was good I wouldn’t have minded.
First off, the yogurt on the cucumbers in the gyro was watered down… it tasted like pure water… seriously wtf. Alright… well let’s see how the chicken taste… WTF it’s not chicken! They goofed my order and gave me beef instead! But here’s the thing… instead of beef from a gyro it was beef in the form of a patty! I AM DEAD SERIOUS! The beef patty was the same kind you find in a sausage eggmcmuffin! So fucking gross. The pita bread was good tho…
The restaurant name is so ironic… so why cook? Cause it’ll taste ten times better than whatever you could get there.

It’s fast and in a good location. The only thing I don’t recommend is the salad bar because every time we go, order and wait for the food, we see flies hovering in that salad bar… everything else seems pretty good

We tried out Why Cook? because they were one of the only restaurants available in the posh area of Alameda on a Sunday afternoon. The weather was beautiful, the water serene, all was well except for an empty belly… so we gave Why Cook? a try.
The food was pretty good. I really enjoyed the gyro that I had and appreciated the broad selection of items — everything from pancakes to sandwiches with ingredients that I couldn’t pronounce.
While the food was okay, the service was abysmal. We ordered two items. One we sent back because it had cheese after we explicitly asked to not have cheese. The other item we ordered was a chicken gyro and Why Cook? brought back a beef gyro. It was good… but not what we ordered. We also ordered coffee and then went over to fill up our cup only to find out that they only had enough to fill the cup half-​way. When we let them know about the coffee situation, they didn’t bother to make another thermos full or bring us a quick-cup…nothing.
In summary: food — good, service — horrible, location — excellent. Overall, the poor service and okay food bring the score down to 2 stars.

If I could I would give this place 0 stars, but it doesn’t let you. :(
Dirty restaurant, poor food quality, horrible service, you can tell the manager makes the food at his house and reheats it the next day (leftovers) for the customers… DON’T EAT HERE! You can get much better food for much LESS anywhere else… Not to mention the prices are WAY too high/​expensive. When I went Some middle eastern guy (I think the owner) was abrasive and rude taking my order. I decided to eat inside being as it was too windy out and I was disgusted by the table and overall lack of cleanliness of the place. There were crumbs everywhere and the table was sticky and dirty. I saw some kind of bug (maybe a ROACH???) on the wall behind the counter, and that was it — I was out of there. YUCK! I didnt even wait for my food!!!

Hungry For Lunch Girl (Me), wondered around the shopping center until she found this place. I think I’m going to eat at every restaurant in this shopping center at least once in my life.
I wanted a sandwich badly. They had quite a few really good looking choices of sandwich’s to pick from. I got the Alameda Sub. It was like a club sandwich on a croissant.
The croissant was so creamy and greasy (in a good way). I asked for onion on it also.
It came with a side of half a giant pickle, which I wasn’t expecting. Which I loved by the way.
The only down side to my lunch was the tea I chose. It was green tea with pomegranate. I love green tea but with pomegranate its disgusting. I wished I’d had some Splenda in my car to sweet’n the crap up.
Their refrigerator case that the drinks were in wasn’t very cold either. A swill of NyQuil would have been more refreshing than this tea.
It was pretty dang expensive for just a sandwich and a tea. Like $ 12.00.
The sandwich was delicious though. Which made me temporarily forget how much it cost. Still, I may reconsider coming back when I can get a $ 7.00 sandwich at Safeway just a few steps away.
I don’t like the name of the place. The signage is confusing and they should really come up with a better name. If you glanced at the sign you wouldn’t know it was a restaurant of any kind. Just an idea?

Rude personnel, ok food, two stars. Why exist?

why cook? specializes in sandwiches, salads, burger, gyros, some pastries, and plate lunches to go.
samplings: (these items only)
–roast chicken & corn soup (3.00/cup) many pieces of tender chicken with pices of nibbled corn in a tangy broth. «homemade”-pretty good. not much msg.
–black angus burger w/​fries & soda/​water special (6.95)came well done (forgot to specify med rare) with lettuce, tomatoe, mayo. fries soggy on inside. not totally crisp.
to go:
–ymmv, cherry picked specials.
–maybe an anomaly, so a 3, maybe a 4
–skipped «motherlode» coffee
–didn’t see anyone here, too early?
–tables inside or tables outside.
–did not buy anything «off the shelf»
–didn’t see flying feathered friends looking for a nibble.

Two stars for being over priced on everything including drinks.

Please stop eating the delicious blueberry scones. By the time I get to Why Cook they are gone. Man I love those things. the raisin scones are good, but the blueberry are great.
Oh yes, where was I… Why Cook… a very pleasent neighborhood sandwich shop that has good salads, new soups every day, warm lunch selections and a friendly staff.
Did I mention the blueberry scones, oh well. I eat lunch there at least once a week and stop for blueberry scones daily. On Friday evenings we pick up stuff for Saturday breakfast.
Take your time, ignore the rude self absorbed people who sometimes drop in, and try anything other than the blueberry scones.

I wanted to give this place four stars for one reason — The Alameda sandwich. I love croissants, avocado, turkey and bacon — delicious. Unfortunately, my wife and I have had some other sandwiches and soups and they are just okay. We really like the staff there, we’ve talked to the owner and chef on a number of occasions and they are very friendly. I will continue to go back, maybe someday I’ll try something new on the menu…

I ordered a meatball sandwich because it was on special. It was delicious. really. the only thing i longed for was some mayo but hey. it was good anyway.

why cook? why even go there??? that should be the name of it. the coffee is so so, and then I totally agree with all the previous reviews about the owner’s attitude… he needs to change his attitude toward his customers, after all, the «paying» customers are the one make him survive there.

Please do not order a coffee here. Even though they use illy (a brand of Italian roasted coffee), the owner has no idea how to brew it.
He pulled pitcher of espresso (can it even be called that?) and then poured it into 2 drinks. Of course, it tasted watery and burnt. What a waste of 2.50. It also gives Illy a bad name.

I agree with the review below… good food, rude owner. In my opinion, the energy put into the preparation of food is very important. Food was good (not great), but not worth it. I don’t think I’ll go back.

Good food but the owner is rude… why do you cook sir if it makes you so mean and grouchy?

Okay smarty pants this place is called why cook? cause you can buy already prepared dinners to take home and be lazy and not cook or do dishes. pretty smart eh?
So this is how it works… you go in and on display are like 15 different main and side dishes. Its nothing fancy just like stuff your mom would cook for dinner only you don’t have to conveniently show up at mom’s house right around dinner time. They even have a Thanksgiving menu, turkey and all. So you go up to the counter and say «I want, I want, I want.» And then you run home, hide the containers and impress your friends with how good you cook and how clean your kitchen is.
I get my coffee there cause they use Illys coffee from Italy and its 1 million times better than the coffee shop next door, plus there is almost never a line cause I don’t think people know they have an espresso machine. (i swear if I have to wait next time I’m gonna be pissed and pull my Unilocal.) And If I’m running late (and usually I am) I get a scone, but if I have time they will make you an omelet or you can pick a pre-​made breakfast. My co-​worker and I had their bread pudding two weeks ago and he said he wanted to bore a hole in it and live there so its safe to safe he thinks pretty highly of it.
I don’t like their ready made salads. They are gross. Don’t eat them. They also have sandwiches, naked chips, and a variety of drinks.