I have a tank set up using the "real reef" live rock. Some from online. Some from Ceasars on Piner Rd. I have some sitting outside in a 5 gal bucket that you can have for free. The liveness of it is questionable at this point seeing how its been in a bucket of water outside for the last 2 weeks after I redid my nano tank.
In my smaller tank now I have "cerameco" fake ceramic rock. It comes in some pretty neat shapes and is pest free. So far I really like it. It also comes pre colored for that coralline look without the hassle.
As far as local shops I used to exclusively go to Ceasars, but they lost a few employees that I had a good relationship with and hired a lot of new people who's knowledge is questionable. Everyone there is super helpful, and if they are unsure on an answer they will team conference with the other employees. The livestock usually seem to be in great shape, just make sure you ask when coral day and fish day are so you can get first picks on new stuff. Good stuff goes fast.
Fishpros in Cotati has gotten better and better every time I've gone in there. Everyone is super friendly and they have been getting more and more corals. The downside of the shop is the fish really seem to suffer. There are usually multiple dying fish in the tanks

I was in there 2 weeks ago and they had 4 orangespotted filefish! I wanted to rescue them, but they are way above my care ability and I would think the care ability of most people who are local. I didn't even want to ask an employee what to feed them. I'm sure the response would have been "oh they eat anything".
JoFish in Petaluma is another friendly shop. They seem to have the least selection of corals and fish, but are very good about giving store credit for frags which ceasars wont do.