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Comfort Food Done Right in Oakland

Simple pleasures are worth traveling great distances.

Let's go ahead and lump Oakland into the great distances category...

Introducing SR24, a new temple of hearty, all-American fare here to satisfy your deepest comfort-food cravings, opening Friday in Oakland.

We're not talking deep in the heart of Oakland, either—head over on State Route 24 (hence the name), and you can breeze in for some mac and cheese and fried chicken, then hightail it back to the city to comfortably revel in your comfort-food coma.

When you walk in, you'll see that they designed the place like they designed the food—simple and comfortable, with no vintage roadside signs, no memorabilia from olden soda pop brands and no tiny jukebox at your booth. Just a long line of tables leading to some booths and red walls decked with glass light fixtures made from Coke bottles (they're allowed one vintage touch...).

As for the food, you'll do best to focus on the huge list of sides like mashers, potato gratin and buttermilk-battered, deep-fried pumpkin jojos. So feel free to order down the list before moving on to plates of shepherd's pie, pot roast and fried chicken.

And if you get there before 6:30pm, there's a daily happy hour with food specials and $2 pints of PBR.

Adding to the list of simple pleasures.