Food was pretty good! They had a pretty serious fly problem indoors though which was definitely off-putting. If they dealt with that it'd be a cool spot.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 4
R G
I wanted to support this place, but it was disappointing to be treated so rudely by staff here.
Jorge Veluya
I had a family member's wedding reception here and overall it was a great experience. Place is about right for a small to medium gathering. Everyone loves their appetizers selection and service is excellent.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
S Dreem
incredible spot to get delicious vegan and gf food, they have great politics and everyone who works there is hot ? the food is beyond deliciousVegetarian options: always so many delicious vegan options !!Dietary restrictions: great for any dietary restrictions i am vegan and gluten free
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salads, Ube Waffle, Side Salad, Vegan
Suzan Boulad
One of Oakland's absolute treasures!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Aleks K
Literally never in my life have i said “compliments to the chef” but i said it here. The vegan sampler plate is soooo
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Aditi Satyajit
Came here for an event.Love that it's worker owned and all the causes they champion.I didn't get a chance to try the food but will be back :)
Atmosphere: 5
Giorgio M
Overall was disappointed considering the reviews we read. Maybe the restaurant was having an off night. There were very few choices on the menu (about three) and one entree (the cassava fries) was out. The food was good overall but the portions were small (smaller than photos we’d seen posted). Two of the three entrees were delivered a very long time after the other (20 minutes at least). For context, we had dinner on Saturday at 7 pm but there were only 3 other tables being served. I wish them well, but for the price and with so many other options in Oakland I would not rush back here, especially with guests.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Keasela R.
Ambiance & service GREAT - felt so welcoming I've been wanting to come here for a while & so happy we did! I'm an omnivore & my friend has food restrictions, but that was NOT an issue. I especially love the mission that is the foundation of Understory! Can't wait to return! Appetizers - Molete & Brussels sprouts were delicious & we killed them! Drinks - Jeepney & Smoke signals hit the spotEntrees- Kalderetang Kambing & Caribbean beef stew all tasted like HOME. Felt like I ate a home cooked meal! Thank you! We killed those too! Our waitress was so cute & accommodating since we weren't ready to order each time she checked on us...she said that's ok I know this table now :)
Dianna H.
My friends and I really liked the vibe here but we were underwhelmed by the food (the pancit malabon specifically).The party of 4 came here for a girls brunch on Saturday around noon and there was no wait. They have both indoor and outdoor seating, but we decided to sit indoors as the remaining outdoor tables were all in the sun.The inside of the restaurant is large and airy and looked beautiful with the colorful wallpaper and plants.They offer a variety of coffee and lattes as well as alcoholic beverages. The lattes and horchata come with beautiful latte art, which we appreciated. It's been a while since I've seen one so beautifully done!The menu is eclectic and offers dishes from different parts of the world. Rather than calling it a brunch menu, it's more like a multicultural lunch menu with a handful of brunch options.Three of us opted for the pancit malabon ($17), which is a Filipino rice noodle dish served with seafood annatto sauce, chicken chicharron, and a boiled egg. It was quite underwhelming, as the rice noodles are served with the sauce on top rather than everything being stir fried together like it should be. The noodles they used are also super thick and not the thin rice noodles usually used for pancit. It was okay and I still enjoyed it, but it wasn't what I was expecting.Portions for the pancit are also on the smaller side. Luckily I wasn't that hungry because I had some pastries earlier; otherwise it definitely wouldn't have been enough food.Luckily it wasn't too busy, and we were able to sit and chat until we were ready to leave around 2:30 pm. I appreciated that they let us stay there long after we finished eating!
How many reviews of Understory begin "I really wanted to like this place"?Well, I really wanted to like this place. Its a co-op! How cool is that?And Old Oakland has so much potential.But I was here on a Sunday afternoon for brunch and my car was broken into. In broad daylight! I know its not the restaurants fault, but still, it colors the overall experience. The mall food court mishmash of cuisines was an interesting idea, plenty of vegetarian and vegan options, but the execution...eh. And the glacially slow service...equally eh.The brunch menu was not a typical brunch menu. We had an ube waffle and a fava bean burger, both a bit pricey for what you get. Disappointing,and then coming out to the pile of shattered glass that was once my rear window.... The whole day made me think "Oakland, you can do better"
Miles Jordan
One of my favorite brunch places in Oakland! The food is incredible and the vibe is immaculate. I love the variety of dishes that never miss and it’s worker-owned!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ube Waffle
Justin K.
I really wanted to like this place. Cool concept, nice ambiance, unique menu items, and delicious food. The vegetarian chicken sandwich was nithing short of amazingThe staff is friendly. However, the service execution left a lot to be desired. We read the reviews and noted that the only bad reviews stated that the service was slow. We prepared for that, so no problem. However, we started seeing people who came in after us getting their food about an hour after we ordered. Before I could bring it up, a server said there was a problem and our order didn't get put in.She retook our order and left off without much apparent concern for the situation. It took another 20 mins to get our food, but apparently the server never put in my partner's dish (this brunch was to celebrate her birthday). Again, we waited. They gave us a discount, but not nearly enough to make up for the issue.The operation of this place is quite disorganized. I wouldn't come back here unless I have no plans after and Im not particularly hungry... but in that case I wouldnt go to a resuraunt, so
Michelle Vu
Stumbled upon this cool shop. We were intrigued by the mishmash of world cuisines labeled on Yelp.I liked the quirky design of the wallpaper. We were seated outside.We got the chef’s choice which came with lemongrass pork, lechon, coleslaw, garlic rice, fried sunny side up egg, pickled veggies, tocino, and ube waffles. It was $40 and fed two people well. The server recommended we get pancit to get us more stuffed but this amount of food was good enough.Our favorite thing was the lemongrass pork. It tastes Vietnamese, like something my mom would make. The lechon was dry; I wish it had a sauce. The tocino and rice was solid. The ube waffles were dry and crunchy; not sure if it was supposed to be like this?We checked in for an agua fresca of the day; sadly, there was a hair in our drink. ☹️ We also waited around 40 min for our food. We watched as several guests ate and left before we got the food. It came out just as we were about to inquire.All in all an interesting concept with cool Asian fusion choices.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Faithy Leong
Dined outside in their cute parklet with bar height tables. Loved the pandan cold brew, don't know of another place that has this! Got a tocino silog with an extra egg and side of rice which together was good enough for two... along with some ube waffles to try of course. Lovely staff. A place that's open on Sundays in Old Oakland is not to be taken for granted!
Food was pretty good! They had a pretty serious fly problem indoors though which was definitely off-putting. If they dealt with that it'd be a cool spot.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 4
I wanted to support this place, but it was disappointing to be treated so rudely by staff here.
I had a family member's wedding reception here and overall it was a great experience. Place is about right for a small to medium gathering. Everyone loves their appetizers selection and service is excellent.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
incredible spot to get delicious vegan and gf food, they have great politics and everyone who works there is hot ? the food is beyond deliciousVegetarian options: always so many delicious vegan options !!Dietary restrictions: great for any dietary restrictions i am vegan and gluten free
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salads, Ube Waffle, Side Salad, Vegan
One of Oakland's absolute treasures!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Literally never in my life have i said “compliments to the chef” but i said it here. The vegan sampler plate is soooo
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Came here for an event.Love that it's worker owned and all the causes they champion.I didn't get a chance to try the food but will be back :)
Atmosphere: 5
Overall was disappointed considering the reviews we read. Maybe the restaurant was having an off night. There were very few choices on the menu (about three) and one entree (the cassava fries) was out. The food was good overall but the portions were small (smaller than photos we’d seen posted). Two of the three entrees were delivered a very long time after the other (20 minutes at least). For context, we had dinner on Saturday at 7 pm but there were only 3 other tables being served. I wish them well, but for the price and with so many other options in Oakland I would not rush back here, especially with guests.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance & service GREAT - felt so welcoming I've been wanting to come here for a while & so happy we did! I'm an omnivore & my friend has food restrictions, but that was NOT an issue. I especially love the mission that is the foundation of Understory! Can't wait to return! Appetizers - Molete & Brussels sprouts were delicious & we killed them! Drinks - Jeepney & Smoke signals hit the spotEntrees- Kalderetang Kambing & Caribbean beef stew all tasted like HOME. Felt like I ate a home cooked meal! Thank you! We killed those too! Our waitress was so cute & accommodating since we weren't ready to order each time she checked on us...she said that's ok I know this table now :)
My friends and I really liked the vibe here but we were underwhelmed by the food (the pancit malabon specifically).The party of 4 came here for a girls brunch on Saturday around noon and there was no wait. They have both indoor and outdoor seating, but we decided to sit indoors as the remaining outdoor tables were all in the sun.The inside of the restaurant is large and airy and looked beautiful with the colorful wallpaper and plants.They offer a variety of coffee and lattes as well as alcoholic beverages. The lattes and horchata come with beautiful latte art, which we appreciated. It's been a while since I've seen one so beautifully done!The menu is eclectic and offers dishes from different parts of the world. Rather than calling it a brunch menu, it's more like a multicultural lunch menu with a handful of brunch options.Three of us opted for the pancit malabon ($17), which is a Filipino rice noodle dish served with seafood annatto sauce, chicken chicharron, and a boiled egg. It was quite underwhelming, as the rice noodles are served with the sauce on top rather than everything being stir fried together like it should be. The noodles they used are also super thick and not the thin rice noodles usually used for pancit. It was okay and I still enjoyed it, but it wasn't what I was expecting.Portions for the pancit are also on the smaller side. Luckily I wasn't that hungry because I had some pastries earlier; otherwise it definitely wouldn't have been enough food.Luckily it wasn't too busy, and we were able to sit and chat until we were ready to leave around 2:30 pm. I appreciated that they let us stay there long after we finished eating!
Restaurantji Recommends
How many reviews of Understory begin "I really wanted to like this place"?Well, I really wanted to like this place. Its a co-op! How cool is that?And Old Oakland has so much potential.But I was here on a Sunday afternoon for brunch and my car was broken into. In broad daylight! I know its not the restaurants fault, but still, it colors the overall experience. The mall food court mishmash of cuisines was an interesting idea, plenty of vegetarian and vegan options, but the execution...eh. And the glacially slow service...equally eh.The brunch menu was not a typical brunch menu. We had an ube waffle and a fava bean burger, both a bit pricey for what you get. Disappointing,and then coming out to the pile of shattered glass that was once my rear window.... The whole day made me think "Oakland, you can do better"
One of my favorite brunch places in Oakland! The food is incredible and the vibe is immaculate. I love the variety of dishes that never miss and it’s worker-owned!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ube Waffle
I really wanted to like this place. Cool concept, nice ambiance, unique menu items, and delicious food. The vegetarian chicken sandwich was nithing short of amazingThe staff is friendly. However, the service execution left a lot to be desired. We read the reviews and noted that the only bad reviews stated that the service was slow. We prepared for that, so no problem. However, we started seeing people who came in after us getting their food about an hour after we ordered. Before I could bring it up, a server said there was a problem and our order didn't get put in.She retook our order and left off without much apparent concern for the situation. It took another 20 mins to get our food, but apparently the server never put in my partner's dish (this brunch was to celebrate her birthday). Again, we waited. They gave us a discount, but not nearly enough to make up for the issue.The operation of this place is quite disorganized. I wouldn't come back here unless I have no plans after and Im not particularly hungry... but in that case I wouldnt go to a resuraunt, so
Stumbled upon this cool shop. We were intrigued by the mishmash of world cuisines labeled on Yelp.I liked the quirky design of the wallpaper. We were seated outside.We got the chef’s choice which came with lemongrass pork, lechon, coleslaw, garlic rice, fried sunny side up egg, pickled veggies, tocino, and ube waffles. It was $40 and fed two people well. The server recommended we get pancit to get us more stuffed but this amount of food was good enough.Our favorite thing was the lemongrass pork. It tastes Vietnamese, like something my mom would make. The lechon was dry; I wish it had a sauce. The tocino and rice was solid. The ube waffles were dry and crunchy; not sure if it was supposed to be like this?We checked in for an agua fresca of the day; sadly, there was a hair in our drink. ☹️ We also waited around 40 min for our food. We watched as several guests ate and left before we got the food. It came out just as we were about to inquire.All in all an interesting concept with cool Asian fusion choices.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Dined outside in their cute parklet with bar height tables. Loved the pandan cold brew, don't know of another place that has this! Got a tocino silog with an extra egg and side of rice which together was good enough for two... along with some ube waffles to try of course. Lovely staff. A place that's open on Sundays in Old Oakland is not to be taken for granted!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5