TwistNHook: Let's take a moment to look at some rather disturbing events for Cal fans that stunningly didn't happen on a football field. Raleigh's and Cafe Intermezzo burned down:

On Telegraph Avenue between Haste Street and Channing Way, a row of traffic barricades and a sidewalk dusted with ash mark the site of two popular restaurants destroyed by a building fire that broke out this weekend.

Cafe Intermezzo and Raleigh’s Bar and Grill, the two eateries occupying the sidewalk storefronts of the fire-torn building, have been closed for the time being with no definite plans for reopening. Berkeley Fire Department officials have said that the building could collapse.

TwistNHook: I was always impressed by Raleigh's ability to block and any all light. It was like the reverse black hole: no light could enter. As soon as you walked in, no matter how sunny the day might be, it was a dank dungeon that only a Cal fan could love.

Kodiak: I'd have to second LeonPowe's amazement at the size of those Intermezzo salads. Not to mention, as a life-long carnivore I was somewhat shocked to find that the salads were actually pretty darn tasty. I also remember their house-made bread rather fondly. It was one of those places where you'd go with a girl because you trying to pretend that you were cooler or more sensitive than you really were. In retrospect, that never really worked. Darnit.

TwistNHook: Well, as they say, you don't make friends with salad!

Kodiak: Whoops. Forgot to add Raleigh's. I didn't spend much time there while I was at Cal. (MCB was giving me a beat-down) Oddly enough, I visited more times during my ortho residency. I rearranged my schedule to make all the home games and sometimes met up with friends before or after. There was one notable afternoon of mischief when my buddy and I blew off a really bad seminar at Highland and snuck over to spend the rest of the day playing shuffleboard at Raleigh's. Good times.

NorCalNick: I still haven't gotten over the idea that I will never again have an Intermezzo salad. My wife and I bonded while dating by eating those salads. We'd hang out on Telegraph, wander over to Intermezzo and spend just a few bucks each to share a salad that could probably feed three.

OhioBear: I have many more Intermezzo memories than Raleigh's ones. (This may surprise some of you, but I didn't spend a whole lot of time in bars when I was in college.) Intermezzo was a frequent lunch or dinner spot. My GF in college loved the big salads and I tagged along frequently. I wasn't a big salad person, but something about Intermezzo was different. Perhaps it was just the sheer size of the salad; maybe it was the delicious bread I remember them serving. Or maybe it was just because it was just a "Berkeley" kind of place. I liked it.