All I gotta say is I am so sad this place closed down the oxtail and grits the hush puppies and oxtail hash man !!! The played great music and the mimosa were to die for. When this restaurant closed it really hurt my heart and I wish they'd bring it back.
Chidimma E.
The food here is so good definitely a nice spot to go to for brunch on the weekend staff is nice as well
Char H.
This place needs some major improvements. I attended a birthday brunch here and I must say the experience was terrible. First off this was a pre planned event so to be understaffed is unacceptable. Also the owner could have properly stocked the food and glassware. The food was decent however the portion sizes were inconsistent. One person got 3 lamb chops with their order while the other got 4 lamb chops. The server mentioned they were rationing them out to have enough to serve. Highly unacceptable. Also there wasn't adequate glassware. There is no reason why someone should have to wait to get a mimosa so they can rinse out another persons glass. The kitchen should be well stocked for the expected party. I would not recommend for a party or celebration. Yes it's about the food, however when finding out food is an experience.
Yolanda B.
I may not be Keith Lee, but I can certainly recognize good and bad service. Visited a Black-owned brunch spot in OAKLAND yesterday (reserved over a week ago) We sold out our reserved brunch time. Only to have two waitresses for a sold-out brunch, the experience was further marred by an understocked juice bar, lacking cranberry juice, no lemons for water, many items are limited to purchase, on menu, and a shortage of available glasses for the prepaid Champagne. It felt like we had to wait for others to finish so they could wash the glasses for reuse. My meal was satisfying and arrived piping hot, but it seemed they served tables one by one, causing delays for others who had already eaten. The apparent staffing issue might be to blame. Many mentioned that the overall taste of the food was lackluster. The DJ was fantastic. Despite that, my family enjoyed the time, but it wasn't due to the food or the overall restaurant experience. For the record, my daughter and I gave our waitress an additional tip beyond gratuity. She was excellent, and during a side conversation, she shared insights on brunch-related matters.
Mel G.
I went for the MLK Brunch today, and it wasn't awe-inspiring at all. The chef wasn't even there for her own hosted event and went live while I was at the restaurant to give a review of Keith Lee's short visit to the Bay. I wanted to love this place! I love supporting small businesses. The venue was not clean, the food was not up to par, and with a 20% mandatory gratuity, you would expect better, although our server was amiable and the highlight of our experience at this brunch. The food serving leaves much to be desired, especially for the price. The DJ was late ( I was expecting him to be there when we walked in) but did bring the tunes, and the oxtails were not ready upon opening for brunch at 11 am. There is room for improvement with the chefs, especially since I saw one walk in from outside with his regular jacket and just started chopping it up with members in the kitchen cooking. With a visible cooking area, it is essential to keep the area and folks in that area clean. I hope the experience for those who purchased tickets tomorrow is better than today's experience. Now for the food - The Lamb was so full of flavor, house potatoes were delish, and the eggs were cooked as ordered! The peach cobbler waffle mix had too much extract and they did not provide enough of the peach compote. The chicken serving was small but cooked well. Ox tail hash - where are the oxtails? I received barely any meat, a ton of potatoes, and some nice gravy. I waited for an hour and some for this and it was so disappointing to receive a bunch of potatoes and gravy for $26 or $30 bucks :/ Then HUSH PUPPIES, great flavor, fried to perfection! I wish there was a way to take these home with me!!
Tondaleaho Davis
The food was fresh and delicious. I had shrimp and grits and my Sister had fish and grits. Everything was wonderfully delicious. The shrimp and crab toast is to die for. Omg I was in Heaven. My kind of establishment.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Zora T.
Great food and service. Loved the vibe and music. The location was the least desirable of my experience. Would be a hit in a better spot.
Jay J.
Horrible customer service! Very rude people...if you work in the food industry and can't handle getting stressed out? Maybe you should find another business because taking it out on customers isn't the way...never again smh
Anie Ga
Okay they don’t answer the phone for one. Second thing I had to go in to see if I can eat there and I stood outside waiting to be seen or even talked to for about 30-40 mins just for a person to ask me do I have reservations. I told the lady no then she came back with we are full and she don’t think we should stay basically and that we should make reservations which was on a Sunday but like I said they don’t answer the phone.
Atmosphere: 2
Service: 1
Lakeiaha Lewis
I am so happy I got to experience this place before it shutdown food was excellent not a lot of parking really rough neighborhood overall service and food way excellent.
Leilani is such a sweetheart. And the FOOD simply amazing. My 3 daughters and I really enjoyed the lambchops. Smothered chicken. Everything was amazing . Watermelon mimosa it's the Zaza for me. Thank you we enjoyed
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hush Puppies, Lamb Chops and Grits, Oxtail Hash
Cynthia C.
We had the opportunity to visit Magnolia Street Lounge this weekend. We really just stumbled upon this place. We like the idea of having brunch before we headed to our events.We noticed they recommend reservations, unfortunately we did not make the reservation as we just learned of the place about an hour before they opened. The good news is the owner let us in as we arrived as soon as they opened, and it was just two of us. I do recommend reservations as this is a smaller place. We ordered the chicken and waffles and hot honey chicken sandwich. We also ordered some honey biscuits and received hushpuppies. Last but not least, we ordered a couple of strawberry lemonade mimosas. I enjoyed each item.The setting was quaint. I loved they had televisions so you could watch sports. I hear they have a DJ, I wish I could have experienced that. Parking can be tricky, so you need to arrive early and look carefully for parking.
Naima C.
Food and customer service was amazing! The DJ came in and really set the mood by playing all the rnb classics! We also had some mimosas with mango juice and it was delicious! I love coming here for brunch and bringing all my out of town friends!
CW P.
First is all this is not in the California Hotel, the entrance is in San Pablo. It may take a minute to find a parking spot. However when you do, IT IS ALL WORTH IT! The owner is a jewel a gracious and kind woman from Oakland who like a true Oaklander shows her Town Pride and I am a huge fan of hers (even though she went it O-High). I saw her on a famous national cooking show and she beat the host! The food is astonishing! I don't eat collards I ate hers! I don't eat Mac n cheese I ate hers! I don't eat yams I ate hers! The food was delicious! I had the turkey wings and boy they were tender! The portions were very nice I should have taken food home but shucks I ate it all!The restaurant is a very nice place the atmosphere is warm and welcoming!Finally a real soul food spot in Oakland! This place is the truth! 5 stars aren't enough! The only bad thing is I left my peach cobbler
Sean George
This place is outstanding! The atmosphere, music, food, the people...on point! My new & favorite local spot!???
All I gotta say is I am so sad this place closed down the oxtail and grits the hush puppies and oxtail hash man !!! The played great music and the mimosa were to die for. When this restaurant closed it really hurt my heart and I wish they'd bring it back.
The food here is so good definitely a nice spot to go to for brunch on the weekend staff is nice as well
This place needs some major improvements. I attended a birthday brunch here and I must say the experience was terrible. First off this was a pre planned event so to be understaffed is unacceptable. Also the owner could have properly stocked the food and glassware. The food was decent however the portion sizes were inconsistent. One person got 3 lamb chops with their order while the other got 4 lamb chops. The server mentioned they were rationing them out to have enough to serve. Highly unacceptable. Also there wasn't adequate glassware. There is no reason why someone should have to wait to get a mimosa so they can rinse out another persons glass. The kitchen should be well stocked for the expected party. I would not recommend for a party or celebration. Yes it's about the food, however when finding out food is an experience.
I may not be Keith Lee, but I can certainly recognize good and bad service. Visited a Black-owned brunch spot in OAKLAND yesterday (reserved over a week ago) We sold out our reserved brunch time. Only to have two waitresses for a sold-out brunch, the experience was further marred by an understocked juice bar, lacking cranberry juice, no lemons for water, many items are limited to purchase, on menu, and a shortage of available glasses for the prepaid Champagne. It felt like we had to wait for others to finish so they could wash the glasses for reuse. My meal was satisfying and arrived piping hot, but it seemed they served tables one by one, causing delays for others who had already eaten. The apparent staffing issue might be to blame. Many mentioned that the overall taste of the food was lackluster. The DJ was fantastic. Despite that, my family enjoyed the time, but it wasn't due to the food or the overall restaurant experience. For the record, my daughter and I gave our waitress an additional tip beyond gratuity. She was excellent, and during a side conversation, she shared insights on brunch-related matters.
I went for the MLK Brunch today, and it wasn't awe-inspiring at all. The chef wasn't even there for her own hosted event and went live while I was at the restaurant to give a review of Keith Lee's short visit to the Bay. I wanted to love this place! I love supporting small businesses. The venue was not clean, the food was not up to par, and with a 20% mandatory gratuity, you would expect better, although our server was amiable and the highlight of our experience at this brunch. The food serving leaves much to be desired, especially for the price. The DJ was late ( I was expecting him to be there when we walked in) but did bring the tunes, and the oxtails were not ready upon opening for brunch at 11 am. There is room for improvement with the chefs, especially since I saw one walk in from outside with his regular jacket and just started chopping it up with members in the kitchen cooking. With a visible cooking area, it is essential to keep the area and folks in that area clean. I hope the experience for those who purchased tickets tomorrow is better than today's experience. Now for the food - The Lamb was so full of flavor, house potatoes were delish, and the eggs were cooked as ordered! The peach cobbler waffle mix had too much extract and they did not provide enough of the peach compote. The chicken serving was small but cooked well. Ox tail hash - where are the oxtails? I received barely any meat, a ton of potatoes, and some nice gravy. I waited for an hour and some for this and it was so disappointing to receive a bunch of potatoes and gravy for $26 or $30 bucks :/ Then HUSH PUPPIES, great flavor, fried to perfection! I wish there was a way to take these home with me!!
The food was fresh and delicious. I had shrimp and grits and my Sister had fish and grits. Everything was wonderfully delicious. The shrimp and crab toast is to die for. Omg I was in Heaven. My kind of establishment.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great food and service. Loved the vibe and music. The location was the least desirable of my experience. Would be a hit in a better spot.
Horrible customer service! Very rude people...if you work in the food industry and can't handle getting stressed out? Maybe you should find another business because taking it out on customers isn't the way...never again smh
Okay they don’t answer the phone for one. Second thing I had to go in to see if I can eat there and I stood outside waiting to be seen or even talked to for about 30-40 mins just for a person to ask me do I have reservations. I told the lady no then she came back with we are full and she don’t think we should stay basically and that we should make reservations which was on a Sunday but like I said they don’t answer the phone.
Atmosphere: 2
Service: 1
I am so happy I got to experience this place before it shutdown food was excellent not a lot of parking really rough neighborhood overall service and food way excellent.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Leilani is such a sweetheart. And the FOOD simply amazing. My 3 daughters and I really enjoyed the lambchops. Smothered chicken. Everything was amazing . Watermelon mimosa it's the Zaza for me. Thank you we enjoyed
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hush Puppies, Lamb Chops and Grits, Oxtail Hash
We had the opportunity to visit Magnolia Street Lounge this weekend. We really just stumbled upon this place. We like the idea of having brunch before we headed to our events.We noticed they recommend reservations, unfortunately we did not make the reservation as we just learned of the place about an hour before they opened. The good news is the owner let us in as we arrived as soon as they opened, and it was just two of us. I do recommend reservations as this is a smaller place. We ordered the chicken and waffles and hot honey chicken sandwich. We also ordered some honey biscuits and received hushpuppies. Last but not least, we ordered a couple of strawberry lemonade mimosas. I enjoyed each item.The setting was quaint. I loved they had televisions so you could watch sports. I hear they have a DJ, I wish I could have experienced that. Parking can be tricky, so you need to arrive early and look carefully for parking.
Food and customer service was amazing! The DJ came in and really set the mood by playing all the rnb classics! We also had some mimosas with mango juice and it was delicious! I love coming here for brunch and bringing all my out of town friends!
First is all this is not in the California Hotel, the entrance is in San Pablo. It may take a minute to find a parking spot. However when you do, IT IS ALL WORTH IT! The owner is a jewel a gracious and kind woman from Oakland who like a true Oaklander shows her Town Pride and I am a huge fan of hers (even though she went it O-High). I saw her on a famous national cooking show and she beat the host! The food is astonishing! I don't eat collards I ate hers! I don't eat Mac n cheese I ate hers! I don't eat yams I ate hers! The food was delicious! I had the turkey wings and boy they were tender! The portions were very nice I should have taken food home but shucks I ate it all!The restaurant is a very nice place the atmosphere is warm and welcoming!Finally a real soul food spot in Oakland! This place is the truth! 5 stars aren't enough! The only bad thing is I left my peach cobbler
This place is outstanding! The atmosphere, music, food, the people...on point! My new & favorite local spot!???