I dyed here last night for Oakland restaurant week. The ambience was incredible. The service was good, it could’ve benefited from a tad better attentiveness. We got our first course and waited a while for someone to come by to offer our second course. My date didn’t get his second drink for a long time. All the servers who came to our table were incredibly warm and friendly. The steak tartar felt like a bag of potato chips with ground beef that had been sprinkled with lemon juice. The brussels sprouts were my absolute favorite thing of the whole evening aside from my tequila drink. The pork meal was plated so nicely, but the pork itself was incredibly salty so I had to drown it in the broccolini and potatoes and we didn’t even finish half of it. Same goes for our seafood plate, we didn’t finish half of it. The bread that came with it was very buttery and soggy and the seafood itself was bland. We were so unimpressed and ready to go that we just turned down having our dessert altogether and didn’t even bother taking it home either. Perhaps I’ll come back in the distant future to try food again or maybe just for the ambience and a drink.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 4
Scott Sibley
A bit pricey but a good value. Large portions of tasty and nicely presented food, pleasant wait staff in a boisterous setting. Well done!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pork Shoulder
Charlene Abreu
The confit pork shoulder was to die for! Rich flavors and melted in my mouth Must try.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Pork Shoulder
Max Kay
It's a full bar and restaurant with serving brunch too. Has indoor and limited outdoor seatings. Inside is well decorated and clean. Tables are large and overall roomy place.Waiters are responsive and polite.Great for group, events, meetup, kids and accessible. Prices are reasonable wrt food quality. Will come back again.Wheelchair accessibility: Ramp to enter and room to easily maneuver
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Beignets, House-Made Burrata
Paula Negri
Absolutely hands-down the best dinner I’ve had in Oakland for a very long time.
Kristen C
We were in the area and looking for a place to eat. We came upon this restaurant and it was DELICIOUS!! I had the brunch hamburger, which was so good and the best pickles I have ever had. My husband had the Shrimp and Grits and he couldn’t stop raving about his dish. My teenager had the pork belly sandwich and I knew he liked it when he took a bite and his eye where closed. Delicious food and drinks. Sorry no photos.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jalen Wesley
I stopped by just on a Saturday stroll. The super nice host put me on the waitlist and then I was seated at the bar. The food, was awesome. I ordered the chive scrambled eggs and they were seasoned well, the price was reasonable, and the Saturday brunch customers are just in a good mood so this place definitely passed the vibe check. I look forward to coming back next time with friends.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joan Martinez
The price of the food and drinks was high considering their quality. The cost of a brunch dish was equivalent to the price of an entree in other prominent restaurants in Oakland and the Bay Area. Moreover, the flavors were too harsh instead of being delicate and well-balanced. The juices and coffees were also expensive when compared to the quality of the ingredients used. The service and atmosphere was great. Based on my experience, I will avoid visiting the restaurant again in the future.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Erica M.
Came on a Saturday morning for brunch w/ my husband. We had a reservation so we were promptly seated at one of their high top tables. They tend to get pretty busy so a reservation is highly recommended. There's street parking, but it's a busy street so keep that in mind too. I really love the space! Large windows and high ceilings make it feel really open and airy, with an industrial feel. The service was great and our food came out quickly.We ordered: - Shrimp & Grits: grits had a nice mouth feel, the shrimp was seasoned well and cooked just right, the gravy was flavorful.- Crab Cake Benedict: very unique crab cake, really herbaceous (it's literally green on the inside lol) w/ a creamy herb hollandaise to top it off. The slice of tomato paired nicely. The egg was perfectly poached. Everything tasted fresh and light.- Potatoes: larger serving than I was expecting so that was nice. You definitely get your money's worth. The potatoes are crispy and well seasoned and they taste great w/ a bit of ketchup and hot sauce!Give it a try if you're in the area. I'll definitely be back.
Jonathan N.
Top notch brunch spot and cute surroundings. I've enjoyed the steak sandwich and the Benedict. Everything tastes fresh.
Excellent food with amazing service in a great atmosphereKid-friendliness: Burger
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Josephine T.
Nice cozy spot right by the Lake! They also offer outdoor dining with heaters so you can bring your pooch. The inside looks super cool and I'd definitely want to experience indoors as well.Came with two girlfriends for dinner (with two dogs). Our waitress was the absolute sweetest and brought out a water bowl and slice of thick cut bacon for each pup - unprompted! Really thoughtful and made this experience 5/5With regard to the food - we ordered the burrata as an app, and the ratatouille and burger to share as entrees, with the butter cake as dessert. All in all, I really enjoyed the ratatouille. I'll be honest and say I don't have a ton of experience with ratatouille so I can't speak to how ti compares but it was good! The burrata was good as well - our waitress even brought out some extra bread so we could thoroughly enjoy the accompaniments. Overall burger was okay to me (granted it is probably not their specialty item so that is fine) and the butter cake was denser than I expected; however, my friends really enjoyed the butter cake. All in all, it was a really lovely evening with stellar service and food was definitely above average. I think this would be a great brunch option especially if you are planning for a day at the lake.
Mia Klenk
The restaurant itself is well decorated/thought out and the wait staff are very nice and attentive. However, the food was a bit of a disappointment. I ordered the BLT and it was lack-luster. The pork belly was crispy, but the side salad somehow had more seasoning. The beignets are very tasty, so I do recommend those.For the price of the food, I hoped to have gotten more flavor. All that said, Almond & Oak is worth a try for a weekend brunch.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beignets
Renée J
TLDR: Great brunch & cocktails, great customer service, beautiful interior. No vegan options, limited vegetarian choices.A while back we came for my friend’s birthday and had his girlfriend, who lived across the country at the time, come halfway through brunch to surprise him. The staff were so wonderful about it!! They gave us a big enough table without it being obvious and were super accommodating with our food orders.Excellent customer service aside, this place has great food for both dinner & brunch, and some of the best diner-style drip coffee (I think it’s four barell or maybe verve?). The beignets are a must. I no longer eat meat so I don’t come as often because their vegetarian options are limited — it’s better for brunch than for dinner in that regard — but I do love places that rotate their menues seasonally. We always recommend this spot to out of town guests for a nicer dinner.
EM
Great spot for brunch, very bubbly atmosphere with great
I dyed here last night for Oakland restaurant week. The ambience was incredible. The service was good, it could’ve benefited from a tad better attentiveness. We got our first course and waited a while for someone to come by to offer our second course. My date didn’t get his second drink for a long time. All the servers who came to our table were incredibly warm and friendly. The steak tartar felt like a bag of potato chips with ground beef that had been sprinkled with lemon juice. The brussels sprouts were my absolute favorite thing of the whole evening aside from my tequila drink. The pork meal was plated so nicely, but the pork itself was incredibly salty so I had to drown it in the broccolini and potatoes and we didn’t even finish half of it. Same goes for our seafood plate, we didn’t finish half of it. The bread that came with it was very buttery and soggy and the seafood itself was bland. We were so unimpressed and ready to go that we just turned down having our dessert altogether and didn’t even bother taking it home either. Perhaps I’ll come back in the distant future to try food again or maybe just for the ambience and a drink.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 4
A bit pricey but a good value. Large portions of tasty and nicely presented food, pleasant wait staff in a boisterous setting. Well done!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pork Shoulder
The confit pork shoulder was to die for! Rich flavors and melted in my mouth Must try.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Pork Shoulder
It's a full bar and restaurant with serving brunch too. Has indoor and limited outdoor seatings. Inside is well decorated and clean. Tables are large and overall roomy place.Waiters are responsive and polite.Great for group, events, meetup, kids and accessible. Prices are reasonable wrt food quality. Will come back again.Wheelchair accessibility: Ramp to enter and room to easily maneuver
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Beignets, House-Made Burrata
Absolutely hands-down the best dinner I’ve had in Oakland for a very long time.
We were in the area and looking for a place to eat. We came upon this restaurant and it was DELICIOUS!! I had the brunch hamburger, which was so good and the best pickles I have ever had. My husband had the Shrimp and Grits and he couldn’t stop raving about his dish. My teenager had the pork belly sandwich and I knew he liked it when he took a bite and his eye where closed. Delicious food and drinks. Sorry no photos.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I stopped by just on a Saturday stroll. The super nice host put me on the waitlist and then I was seated at the bar. The food, was awesome. I ordered the chive scrambled eggs and they were seasoned well, the price was reasonable, and the Saturday brunch customers are just in a good mood so this place definitely passed the vibe check. I look forward to coming back next time with friends.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The price of the food and drinks was high considering their quality. The cost of a brunch dish was equivalent to the price of an entree in other prominent restaurants in Oakland and the Bay Area. Moreover, the flavors were too harsh instead of being delicate and well-balanced. The juices and coffees were also expensive when compared to the quality of the ingredients used. The service and atmosphere was great. Based on my experience, I will avoid visiting the restaurant again in the future.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Came on a Saturday morning for brunch w/ my husband. We had a reservation so we were promptly seated at one of their high top tables. They tend to get pretty busy so a reservation is highly recommended. There's street parking, but it's a busy street so keep that in mind too. I really love the space! Large windows and high ceilings make it feel really open and airy, with an industrial feel. The service was great and our food came out quickly.We ordered: - Shrimp & Grits: grits had a nice mouth feel, the shrimp was seasoned well and cooked just right, the gravy was flavorful.- Crab Cake Benedict: very unique crab cake, really herbaceous (it's literally green on the inside lol) w/ a creamy herb hollandaise to top it off. The slice of tomato paired nicely. The egg was perfectly poached. Everything tasted fresh and light.- Potatoes: larger serving than I was expecting so that was nice. You definitely get your money's worth. The potatoes are crispy and well seasoned and they taste great w/ a bit of ketchup and hot sauce!Give it a try if you're in the area. I'll definitely be back.
Top notch brunch spot and cute surroundings. I've enjoyed the steak sandwich and the Benedict. Everything tastes fresh.
Restaurantji Recommends
Excellent food with amazing service in a great atmosphereKid-friendliness: Burger
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nice cozy spot right by the Lake! They also offer outdoor dining with heaters so you can bring your pooch. The inside looks super cool and I'd definitely want to experience indoors as well.Came with two girlfriends for dinner (with two dogs). Our waitress was the absolute sweetest and brought out a water bowl and slice of thick cut bacon for each pup - unprompted! Really thoughtful and made this experience 5/5With regard to the food - we ordered the burrata as an app, and the ratatouille and burger to share as entrees, with the butter cake as dessert. All in all, I really enjoyed the ratatouille. I'll be honest and say I don't have a ton of experience with ratatouille so I can't speak to how ti compares but it was good! The burrata was good as well - our waitress even brought out some extra bread so we could thoroughly enjoy the accompaniments. Overall burger was okay to me (granted it is probably not their specialty item so that is fine) and the butter cake was denser than I expected; however, my friends really enjoyed the butter cake. All in all, it was a really lovely evening with stellar service and food was definitely above average. I think this would be a great brunch option especially if you are planning for a day at the lake.
The restaurant itself is well decorated/thought out and the wait staff are very nice and attentive. However, the food was a bit of a disappointment. I ordered the BLT and it was lack-luster. The pork belly was crispy, but the side salad somehow had more seasoning. The beignets are very tasty, so I do recommend those.For the price of the food, I hoped to have gotten more flavor. All that said, Almond & Oak is worth a try for a weekend brunch.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beignets
TLDR: Great brunch & cocktails, great customer service, beautiful interior. No vegan options, limited vegetarian choices.A while back we came for my friend’s birthday and had his girlfriend, who lived across the country at the time, come halfway through brunch to surprise him. The staff were so wonderful about it!! They gave us a big enough table without it being obvious and were super accommodating with our food orders.Excellent customer service aside, this place has great food for both dinner & brunch, and some of the best diner-style drip coffee (I think it’s four barell or maybe verve?). The beignets are a must. I no longer eat meat so I don’t come as often because their vegetarian options are limited — it’s better for brunch than for dinner in that regard — but I do love places that rotate their menues seasonally. We always recommend this spot to out of town guests for a nicer dinner.
Great spot for brunch, very bubbly atmosphere with great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Benedict