some of the best food in oakland, highly recommend
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
cheritoney
The very interesting and engaging staff seemed to be in a trance, unfocused on diners' needs. Specifically ordered no onions and got them nonetheless. The food was okay. The waiter suggested rhe pinto beans as opposed to refried or black. Pintos were bland. Best dish was the potato sopes. The grilled shrimp was also prepared well. The fried shrimp, not. Delicious aioli and slaw in the fish tacos. More of both would have been good. The bartender was sick on the night we visited. Some cocktails and mocktails were unavailable.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Steve Gonzales
Home-style Mexican cooking with top flight cocktails. There is love in everything they serve, tonight we had the pozole verde and enchiladas; todo perfecto
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mario Ornelas
The food. The cocktails. The people. All are absolutely perfecto!!! The dishes are authentic to the max (tacos dorados and carnitas are AMAZING) RUN don't walk there, you will not regret it. Make sure you say hola to Alain at the front, you will be treated like royalty; oh, and be sure to make a reservation! Salúd!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Miguel Martinez
Authentic spices & flavors, you can tell run by a lovely Mexican family. Cocktails are refreshing & well blended. Really enjoyed the contemporary warm decor that pays homage to Mexican desert palate. Will definitely go back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Erin Leigh Pribyl
Obelisco has been mine and my besties GO TO restaurant!! Whether it be just a ladies night, Who celebrating friends of ours, this is where we like to go. The food is stellar. The ambience is on point. The service is fabulous. We feel right at home at Obelisco! 13/10 recommend ❤️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Richard Sikorski
We love this cute little authentic Mexican restaurant.
Obelisco is a cozy-feeling family-run place, with friendly attentive staff, (Thank you Zack!), bright new-looking decor, indoor seating for around 50, and outdoor seating for around 10. We were seated quickly in the evening (Oct 2025).
We started with rich fresh quacamole enlivened with onion, cilantro, and lime, and a nice bite of serrano. The freshly made chips are thin and crispy, with nicely lightly spicy red pico sauce and green salsa. We loved our strong balanced bite-y mango margaritas, a smooth rich non-alcoholic lightly cinnamon horchata made with house-made rice milk, and a wonderful refreshing house-crafted lime&tequila horchata!
We had terrific perfectly-tender juicy halibut tacos, a sweet lightly flavored fish, served with black beans and rice and thin sliced radish circles. We had rich robust intricately-seasoned pollo mole, with dense flavoring and tender a juicy chicken-quarter. The chicken chile verde was a treat i hadn’t tasted before, chunks of tender chicken with some lasting heat from the tangy green tomatillo sauce. These two were presented rather simply, sneaking up on us with their bold authentic flavors. We happily stayed to enjoy their house-made silky creamy flan under caramel sauce for the lingering sweetness that matches our experiences here. Experience”s”? Yep. We visited three times during a seven-day trip here!
Obelisco made us feel like welcome family. They are open during dinner hours, and promise lunch service soon. We got one of several parking spots out front, and there’s street parking to the east and north, with some competition from nearby places. This is great place for a casual meal or for an occasion.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kevin Wilson
Adriana was the best. Actually all the servers were we just learned her name. As a long time lover of all Mexican food, I’m unfortunately watching calories (sad) but we needed to celebrate. The food was outstanding. I had crispy tacos. Yummy! My wife had quesadilla and I stole a bite. Yummy too. Drinks were uniquely great. A new favorite for sure!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Angela Bean
I enjoyed a special Day of the Dead menu on Halloween. Gorgeous pork with verde sauce Lovely ambience. Great service and a generous wine pour. Decently priced. I live in the neighborhood. This was my first visit to this recently opened Restaurant. I will return.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alfredo A.
The new location on Lakeshore is a great reimagining of the prior location. The cocktail program is a huge upgrade. And the pozole is still the best in town. Staff is friendly and helpful, service is great. Will be returning often.
Hands down the best wet mole burrito I've ever had. The mole sauce was perfectly balanced - rich, complex, with just the right amount of sweetness and depth. You can tell they're not cutting corners on ingredients or technique.
The cocktail was beyond amazing - clearly made with care and quality liquor. And the horchata hit that perfect balance of creamy and refreshing.
This is the kind of place where you can taste the difference that careful sourcing makes. Fresh tortillas, quality meats and vegetables, and execution that shows real respect for the food.
If you're in Oakland and haven't been to Obelisco yet, fix that. The wet mole burrito alone is worth the trip.
Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nandita Bhargava
This is such a gem of a spot! We had the verde enchiladas and the mole chicken plate and both were excellent. Staff was SO nice and made great recommendations. We’ll definitely be back
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Dan Grout
This is for the Lakeshore location. The ceviche was fantastic. The interior space and accoustics are great. The cocktaiI was just right. Prices fine. We enjoyed our meal and everything was tasty. I realize they recently opened and are hopefully still working the kinks out, but it's also true that pretty much everything was indifferently-timed and otherwise felt a bit off. And it's not just the service being friendly without being very great, or that one of our apps was forgotten in the kitchen and came out too late, or that one of our mains also was apparently forgotten because when they finally arrived one was bone cold, or that they should not have bothered to ask what kind of beans, or the bowlful of fingernail-sized broken bits of chips and lame watery salsas that came mismatched with the otherwise actually very fresh and good guac, or that our server put the bill down and then went on break with the rest of the front staff so we were left sitting there with our card on the table. It's not like they were in the weeds, it was more that they organizationally do not seem to the point of caring or coping with such details at this point, hopefully they can turn that around because there is a lot of potential here. I feel a little bad about the rating, because really we had a nice meal overall notwithstanding the many whoopsies, and we will go back.
Robert Dickinson
We had a great time as a family for dinner everyone there was so friendly and the food was very delicious. We will definitely be coming back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Martie Santos
It was with mixed emotions that I decided to orient myself to Obelisco given that their new location on Lakeshore previously housed one of my favorite dining establishments: Shakewell/The Well! Obelisco's reviews had been consistently positive/favorable so why not, eh?!! Imagine my surprise when the mixologist, Ashley, previously of Shakewell, was at the bar helm!! She suggested a cocktail and accommodated my proclivities perfectly.....and likewise with my appetizer, Sopes! EVERYTHING was perfect and delicious. I even chatted up a couple of diners seated at the bar who echoed my sentiments. Wait Staff Julianna's service with menu explanation further elevated my experience. I hear tell brunch will be served within the ensuing weeks...looking forward to it especially when I learned chilaquiles MAY be on the menu! I shall be returning to cultivate new memories, albeit with heightened and superlative Mexican fare.
some of the best food in oakland, highly recommend
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The very interesting and engaging staff seemed to be in a trance, unfocused on diners' needs. Specifically ordered no onions and got them nonetheless.
The food was okay. The waiter suggested rhe pinto beans as opposed to refried or black. Pintos were bland. Best dish was the potato sopes. The grilled shrimp was also prepared well. The fried shrimp, not. Delicious aioli and slaw in the fish tacos. More of both would have been good. The bartender was sick on the night we visited. Some cocktails and mocktails were unavailable.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Home-style Mexican cooking with top flight cocktails. There is love in everything they serve, tonight we had the pozole verde and enchiladas; todo perfecto
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The food. The cocktails. The people. All are absolutely perfecto!!!
The dishes are authentic to the max (tacos dorados and carnitas are AMAZING) RUN don't walk there, you will not regret it. Make sure you say hola to Alain at the front, you will be treated like royalty; oh, and be sure to make a reservation! Salúd!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Authentic spices & flavors, you can tell run by a lovely Mexican family. Cocktails are refreshing & well blended. Really enjoyed the contemporary warm decor that pays homage to Mexican desert palate. Will definitely go back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Obelisco has been mine and my besties GO TO restaurant!! Whether it be just a ladies night, Who celebrating friends of ours, this is where we like to go. The food is stellar. The ambience is on point. The service is fabulous. We feel right at home at Obelisco! 13/10 recommend ❤️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We love this cute little authentic Mexican restaurant.
Obelisco is a cozy-feeling family-run place, with friendly attentive staff, (Thank you Zack!), bright new-looking decor, indoor seating for around 50, and outdoor seating for around 10. We were seated quickly in the evening (Oct 2025).
We started with rich fresh quacamole enlivened with onion, cilantro, and lime, and a nice bite of serrano. The freshly made chips are thin and crispy, with nicely lightly spicy red pico sauce and green salsa. We loved our strong balanced bite-y mango margaritas, a smooth rich non-alcoholic lightly cinnamon horchata made with house-made rice milk, and a wonderful refreshing house-crafted lime&tequila horchata!
We had terrific perfectly-tender juicy halibut tacos, a sweet lightly flavored fish, served with black beans and rice and thin sliced radish circles. We had rich robust intricately-seasoned pollo mole, with dense flavoring and tender a juicy chicken-quarter. The chicken chile verde was a treat i hadn’t tasted before, chunks of tender chicken with some lasting heat from the tangy green tomatillo sauce. These two were presented rather simply, sneaking up on us with their bold authentic flavors. We happily stayed to enjoy their house-made silky creamy flan under caramel sauce for the lingering sweetness that matches our experiences here. Experience”s”? Yep. We visited three times during a seven-day trip here!
Obelisco made us feel like welcome family. They are open during dinner hours, and promise lunch service soon. We got one of several parking spots out front, and there’s street parking to the east and north, with some competition from nearby places. This is great place for a casual meal or for an occasion.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Adriana was the best. Actually all the servers were we just learned her name. As a long time lover of all Mexican food, I’m unfortunately watching calories (sad) but we needed to celebrate. The food was outstanding. I had crispy tacos. Yummy! My wife had quesadilla and I stole a bite. Yummy too. Drinks were uniquely great. A new favorite for sure!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I enjoyed a special Day of the Dead menu on Halloween. Gorgeous pork with verde sauce Lovely ambience. Great service and a generous wine pour. Decently priced. I live in the neighborhood. This was my first visit to this recently opened Restaurant. I will return.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The new location on Lakeshore is a great reimagining of the prior location. The cocktail program is a huge upgrade. And the pozole is still the best in town. Staff is friendly and helpful, service is great. Will be returning often.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Hands down the best wet mole burrito I've ever had. The mole sauce was perfectly balanced - rich, complex, with just the right amount of sweetness and depth. You can tell they're not cutting corners on ingredients or technique.
The cocktail was beyond amazing - clearly made with care and quality liquor. And the horchata hit that perfect balance of creamy and refreshing.
This is the kind of place where you can taste the difference that careful sourcing makes. Fresh tortillas, quality meats and vegetables, and execution that shows real respect for the food.
If you're in Oakland and haven't been to Obelisco yet, fix that. The wet mole burrito alone is worth the trip.
Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is such a gem of a spot! We had the verde enchiladas and the mole chicken plate and both were excellent. Staff was SO nice and made great recommendations. We’ll definitely be back
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is for the Lakeshore location. The ceviche was fantastic. The interior space and accoustics are great. The cocktaiI was just right. Prices fine. We enjoyed our meal and everything was tasty. I realize they recently opened and are hopefully still working the kinks out, but it's also true that pretty much everything was indifferently-timed and otherwise felt a bit off. And it's not just the service being friendly without being very great, or that one of our apps was forgotten in the kitchen and came out too late, or that one of our mains also was apparently forgotten because when they finally arrived one was bone cold, or that they should not have bothered to ask what kind of beans, or the bowlful of fingernail-sized broken bits of chips and lame watery salsas that came mismatched with the otherwise actually very fresh and good guac, or that our server put the bill down and then went on break with the rest of the front staff so we were left sitting there with our card on the table. It's not like they were in the weeds, it was more that they organizationally do not seem to the point of caring or coping with such details at this point, hopefully they can turn that around because there is a lot of potential here. I feel a little bad about the rating, because really we had a nice meal overall notwithstanding the many whoopsies, and we will go back.
We had a great time as a family for dinner everyone there was so friendly and the food was very delicious. We will definitely be coming back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
It was with mixed emotions that I decided to orient myself to Obelisco given that their new location on Lakeshore previously housed one of my favorite dining establishments: Shakewell/The Well! Obelisco's reviews had been consistently positive/favorable so why not, eh?!! Imagine my surprise when the mixologist, Ashley, previously of Shakewell, was at the bar helm!! She suggested a cocktail and accommodated my proclivities perfectly.....and likewise with my appetizer, Sopes! EVERYTHING was perfect and delicious. I even chatted up a couple of diners seated at the bar who echoed my sentiments. Wait Staff Julianna's service with menu explanation further elevated my experience. I hear tell brunch will be served within the ensuing weeks...looking forward to it especially when I learned chilaquiles MAY be on the menu! I shall be returning to cultivate new memories, albeit with heightened and superlative Mexican fare.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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