Delicious food. Great staff. Laid back yet vibrant Oakland atmosphere.
I love this place!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sam Jamison
We had a group of 10 and they easily accommodated. Food was fantastic (particularly recommend the jambalaya and the shrimp & grits). The staff showed southern charm. And who doesn’t like warm beignets at the end of a meal. Check them out!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Harry
How this place has got really good ratings is beyond me, good service, nice people but this food is overrated and way too expensive. 160 for 3 of us gumbo was average not much flavour,the one meat and three side was okay the sausage,beans and rice had little to no flavour,zero seasoning on the sausage or rice super plain, chicken gumbo as a side was bland barely any taste to it. Catfish was cooked well liked the batter but same thing dull, collard greens were also flavourless and the broth or water they was in was also flavour less . The mac and cheese is definitely not homemade, tastes exactly like the Costco one wouldn’t be surprised if it was. Overall good hospitality but bland food, anyone who thinks it’s amazing needs to go out of state or America and eat some nice food not worth the hype expensive and dull. None of my family even finished half the plate so disappointing plus for three of us it was nearly 200 dollars 160 and 20 percent tip. Go to a cheap fried chicken restaurant save yourself some money.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 5
Lamar Lester
Crispy chicken and the jams were INSANE!🤤
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Andrew Smith
EXCELLENT beignets, the best I’ve found in SF so far. Brought back fond memories of NOLA.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amanda S.
Ordered a beignet and got a hard mound of dough with a crust. Wish I would have known this is what their version of a beignet was. Disappointed!
Food: 1
Amarie
Ordered one breakfast sandwich to go at the counter. I waited about 20 minutes which seemed odd for one sandwich, especially since I saw people come in after me to get their food (I thought maybe they preordered). Then a man came and ordered in person and got multiple sandwiches minutes later. I asked about my food and it had been sitting in a bag on the shelf the whole time. At that point the sandwich was cold and soggy.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Sam Barrett
Dinner at Brenda's last night was Christmas come early. And did Santa Brenda deliver. Everything was brimming with taste. The Shrimp Pot Pie knocked me out of my chair. The hot jam and cornbread was fire. The chicken ... it had me speaking in tongues. My bugs devoured mash potatoes, chicken and biscuits and still had eyes for tasty beignets. The staff was sweet too. Thanks, Brenda. You're an amazing gift to Oakland.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Rose Marie
Usually when I order to go from other places its not as good as dining in and eating, but here!! Ordering to go taste just as good as dining in. 10/10 food places that I have fried in oakland!!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Raul Anthony (Xxenial Hair Studio)
I had a few doctors appointments at Kaiser in Oakland this morning on Wednesday, December 10. I had about two hours in between appointments and I was looking forward to checking out. Brenda‘s just down the street from Kaiser. I walked in was not greeted until one of the counter staff told me That the host/server would be with me shortly. It wasn’t that crowded. There is plenty of seating for one I noticed he was serving at a table that was right by the entrance and he was talking on one of the clients phone with someone apparently they knew each other so he was on that phone conversation with his back to the door For good six minutes. When he finally ended that phone call the counter person said you have One waiting for dine in. He looked at me. He put his menus away and walked to go get someone some water. He never acknowledged me. He never said I’ll be right with you. He completely ignored me. I was willing to tip at 30 or 40% like I always do so instead of putting up with that I cross the street and walked down to Mama‘s Royal Café always great service good classic breakfast foods and fresh hot food. I’ve been to Brenda‘s in San Francisco many many times.The food is always delicious. The service is on point every time. maybe the one in Oakland needs a little retraining on Customer Service.
Let me start with the positives. The gumbo was good, the fried oysters were prepared perfectly. Now the bad, the beignets were completely wrong and tasted like the oil they were fried in. I've been to Louisiana dozens of times and have had beignets every time. These were not beignets, they were dense and heavy. The biggest disappointment was they were a buy one get one free. I threw them out.
Food: 3
Tangiedon'tmindme
Well one My fish was soggy in my grits and I didn't get ask for a second cup of water although the waitress seen my glass empty. Then walked pass my table twice and refused to ask if I needed anything else like the other costumer that set next to me.
Service: 1
Ali Darvish
Great food and chill service. Especially love it for brunch. Beignets and banana foster french toast are favorites.
Zachariah Guilfoil
This is sad to do!!! I really enjoy the food here at Brenda’s. I have been going here for years and love everyone that works here I have been able to meet Brenda herself. It is an all around great experience…… up until a new manager was hired. We came in at 740pm and ordered. Note the restaurant doesn’t close until 9 at this time before the new hour change. And 830 pm comes and the manager comes up and tells us that they can’t close the registers until we pay. Note we just got our food less than 10 min before she came over. And continued to stare at us until, I was so uncomfortable we just paid and left. Leaving our food behind. It was such a disappointment in service. I’m sorry Brenda but while she still works there we will not return. I hope all the best.
Delicious food. Great staff. Laid back yet vibrant Oakland atmosphere. I love this place!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had a group of 10 and they easily accommodated. Food was fantastic (particularly recommend the jambalaya and the shrimp & grits). The staff showed southern charm. And who doesn’t like warm beignets at the end of a meal. Check them out!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
How this place has got really good ratings is beyond me, good service, nice people but this food is overrated and way too expensive. 160 for 3 of us gumbo was average not much flavour,the one meat and three side was okay the sausage,beans and rice had little to no flavour,zero seasoning on the sausage or rice super plain, chicken gumbo as a side was bland barely any taste to it. Catfish was cooked well liked the batter but same thing dull, collard greens were also flavourless and the broth or water they was in was also flavour less . The mac and cheese is definitely not homemade, tastes exactly like the Costco one wouldn’t be surprised if it was. Overall good hospitality but bland food, anyone who thinks it’s amazing needs to go out of state or America and eat some nice food not worth the hype expensive and dull. None of my family even finished half the plate so disappointing plus for three of us it was nearly 200 dollars 160 and 20 percent tip. Go to a cheap fried chicken restaurant save yourself some money.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 5
Crispy chicken and the jams were INSANE!🤤
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
EXCELLENT beignets, the best I’ve found in SF so far. Brought back fond memories of NOLA.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ordered a beignet and got a hard mound of dough with a crust. Wish I would have known this is what their version of a beignet was. Disappointed!
Food: 1
Ordered one breakfast sandwich to go at the counter. I waited about 20 minutes which seemed odd for one sandwich, especially since I saw people come in after me to get their food (I thought maybe they preordered). Then a man came and ordered in person and got multiple sandwiches minutes later. I asked about my food and it had been sitting in a bag on the shelf the whole time. At that point the sandwich was cold and soggy.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Dinner at Brenda's last night was Christmas come early. And did Santa Brenda deliver. Everything was brimming with taste. The Shrimp Pot Pie knocked me out of my chair. The hot jam and cornbread was fire. The chicken ... it had me speaking in tongues. My bugs devoured mash potatoes, chicken and biscuits and still had eyes for tasty beignets. The staff was sweet too. Thanks, Brenda. You're an amazing gift to Oakland.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Usually when I order to go from other places its not as good as dining in and eating, but here!! Ordering to go taste just as good as dining in. 10/10 food places that I have fried in oakland!!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I had a few doctors appointments at Kaiser in Oakland this morning on Wednesday, December 10. I had about two hours in between appointments and I was looking forward to checking out. Brenda‘s just down the street from Kaiser. I walked in was not greeted until one of the counter staff told me That the host/server would be with me shortly. It wasn’t that crowded. There is plenty of seating for one I noticed he was serving at a table that was right by the entrance and he was talking on one of the clients phone with someone apparently they knew each other so he was on that phone conversation with his back to the door For good six minutes. When he finally ended that phone call the counter person said you have One waiting for dine in. He looked at me. He put his menus away and walked to go get someone some water. He never acknowledged me. He never said I’ll be right with you. He completely ignored me. I was willing to tip at 30 or 40% like I always do so instead of putting up with that I cross the street and walked down to Mama‘s Royal Café always great service good classic breakfast foods and fresh hot food. I’ve been to Brenda‘s in San Francisco many many times.The food is always delicious. The service is on point every time.
maybe the one in Oakland needs a little retraining on Customer Service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
Let me start with the positives. The gumbo was good, the fried oysters were prepared perfectly. Now the bad, the beignets were completely wrong and tasted like the oil they were fried in. I've been to Louisiana dozens of times and have had beignets every time. These were not beignets, they were dense and heavy. The biggest disappointment was they were a buy one get one free. I threw them out.
Food: 3
Well one My fish was soggy in my grits and I didn't get ask for a second cup of water although the waitress seen my glass empty. Then walked pass my table twice and refused to ask if I needed anything else like the other costumer that set next to me.
Service: 1
Great food and chill service. Especially love it for brunch. Beignets and banana foster french toast are favorites.
This is sad to do!!! I really enjoy the food here at Brenda’s. I have been going here for years and love everyone that works here I have been able to meet Brenda herself. It is an all around great experience…… up until a new manager was hired. We came in at 740pm and ordered. Note the restaurant doesn’t close until 9 at this time before the new hour change. And 830 pm comes and the manager comes up and tells us that they can’t close the registers until we pay. Note we just got our food less than 10 min before she came over. And continued to stare at us until, I was so uncomfortable we just paid and left. Leaving our food behind. It was such a disappointment in service. I’m sorry Brenda but while she still works there we will not return. I hope all the best.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 1
Best breakfast I've had all year.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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