The atmosphere is nice but everything else was a disappointment. The waitress we had was not interested in serving us or taking our order. The food was mediocre at best. We started with the bread service - bread was stale and olive oil tasted rancid. Next, the tuna crudo was fishy and very poor presentation (looked like a thin sheet of paper). The main dishes were very salty and small portions for price (40 plus a plate). The only thing I would recommend was the cocktail and wine list. Otherwise, overrated and overpriced with poor service. Would not recommend.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 1
Marc Cohen
I was looking forward to trying the chef's tasting menu at and had made a reservation specifically for that purpose. Unfortunately, on 2/28 we were disappointed to learn that the tasting menu was not available due to the chef being out sick.
While I understand that unforeseen circumstances can arise, I was surprised that we weren't notified in advance. The restaurant had my phone number and had sent multiple confirmation texts, so it would have been appreciated if they could have also sent a heads-up about the menu change.
Instead, we found out about the unavailable tasting menu only after we were seated and had already placed our drink order. Our waiter did apologize and offered alternative options, but it was a bit of a letdown after looking forward to the tasting menu.
Kevin McCormack
Had a great meal here. We tried 3 of the pasta dishes (beef cheek ravioli was my fave). A sneaky delicious starter was the biscuits with ham. Also appreciated that you could get wine by the glass, bottle or 500 mL serving size. Tim our waiter was terrific. Cute vibe tucked away in the corner of a shopping center. Will defo be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Rachel Germain
Really great food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Mehdi Shadmehr
Very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
J G
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sauce, Scallops
Mario Vittone
Sincerely, I'm considering moving to Chapel Hill so I can eat here more often.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Blair Nell
We visited Oakleaf to celebrate a visiting family member’s birthday and when making the reservation I mentioned the reason for our visit. Not only was the food and service absolutely amazing, the acknowledgment of the birthday guest was thoughtful and classy. My family left saying it was the best meal they’d ever had.
Nice restaurant ambience with friendly service. I tried the chef menu and it was delicious. The server would explain each dish that was served. Each course was well paired with wine. Will return to try other dishes.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Katie Chai
Such a cute American / pasta restaurant!! Definitely get the corn pasta if it’s available. Also the server team is incredible. A little price for the portion sizes, but I’ve been ~3 times and it’s always such a good experience. Their fish / seafood has been a little disappointing, but everything else is great!!
Oakleaf is consistently the best restaurant in this area. Chef Brendan is extraordinarily talented, and the staff are knowledgeable and always provide great service. It's a beautiful and comfortable space with an upbeat vibe. Great food, great cocktails, a well curated wine list all combine for an outstanding experience. We absolutely love Oakleaf and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful night out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
jhchnc
I had a lovely meal and was well accommodated with my food allergy. Delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
James Rosen
Oakleaf is consistently the best restaurant in this area. Chef Brendan is extraordinarily talented, and the staff are knowledgeable and always provide great service. It's a beautiful and comfortable space with an upbeat vibe. Great food, great cocktails, a well curated wine list all combine for an outstanding experience. We absolutely love Oakleaf and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful night out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
mona mcneil
Superb excellence, riot of flavor, food cooked perfectly! An infinity of cheers to Chef & kitchen staff for providing a compelling culinary experience!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Isabella Grandic
Fantastic, flavourful dinner in a low-light environment. Ambient and perfect for conversation.
Please get an order of focaccia for every two people. It is exceptional and elevates the rest of the dishes. The EVOO is a highlight, the focaccia is warm and moist yet has an impressive crisp. It has a subtle garlic flavour on top because they added slices of roasted garlic. It’s a gorgeous thing, really.
Appetizer highlights were Fois Gras (wow.), “Il toast” and farro. The fois gras had an incredible sauce (I think a red wine reduction ?) that was beautiful with the focaccia.
The summer salad was cold and it was awkwardly brought out during our second set of appetizers. In the future, I think it should be brought out first.
The mussels were good, but mostly because of the toast underneath and the sauces.
Dirt candy was nice and one of the best cost-for-volume deals on the menu. The pistachio pesto is lovely. It’s just missing some spice or a meaningful kick. Just tasted like roasted veg, not much more.
We ordered 3 pastas for 4 people and I think that was 1 too many. They called them “half sized” but I really think they were regular upscale dining pasta sized ! Maybe 80% size? Anyway, the Pappardelle is a must. Especially, and I repeat for emphasis, with the focaccia.
I thought the tagliatelle had too much lemon (it was unbalanced). And then that the agnolotti was lacking some acidity and spice… however, the pasta itself is clearly crafted with care and the ingredients feel delicious and fresh.
For the mains we split the scallops and the duck. Both were nice! Scallops etc were very fresh, but again, lacking a little kick or depth of flavour (maybe some lemon?). The duck was great. My one picky thing is they mayo sauce was too strong in that it distracted from the other flavours.
For dessert we went with the cheesecake (highlight), chocolate - tart - type - thing (good, would be better with dark / richer chocolates), peanut butter gelato (meh) and coffee (honestly it tasted like a not good Americano…). I was still happy with how we ended the meal! It was delish and a perfect quench to my sweet tooth.
Overall, in terms of food, this restaurant shines in the small plates. Order more of those and less of the pasta/mains. We also had wine throughout and it was really nice.
Despite the food being a great success (many 10/10 dishes and several 9/10 with some 7/10’s), I was disappointed with our server. She did not seem interested in serving us at all, she forgot to bring sparkling water but did bring wine, she recorded the wrong pasta order, and took our desert order without specifying which gelato we wanted, so she essentially chose the flavour for us. It felt a little dismissive and rushed and judgemental. She made us feel pressed to order more wine. And finally, it felt a little bit difficult to get her attention. She was nice, and it was fine service (especially given how busy the restaurant was), but it did feel like she didn’t like us and was choosing to be less attentive. Not warm and welcoming like the food or ethos.
Nonetheless, don’t let that discourage you. This is a wonderful spot for a memorable, wholesome meal. I had a great evening.
Vegetarian options: Not clearly labelled but there are options
The atmosphere is nice but everything else was a disappointment. The waitress we had was not interested in serving us or taking our order. The food was mediocre at best. We started with the bread service - bread was stale and olive oil tasted rancid. Next, the tuna crudo was fishy and very poor presentation (looked like a thin sheet of paper). The main dishes were very salty and small portions for price (40 plus a plate). The only thing I would recommend was the cocktail and wine list. Otherwise, overrated and overpriced with poor service. Would not recommend.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 1
I was looking forward to trying the chef's tasting menu at and had made a reservation specifically for that purpose. Unfortunately, on 2/28 we were disappointed to learn that the tasting menu was not available due to the chef being out sick.
While I understand that unforeseen circumstances can arise, I was surprised that we weren't notified in advance. The restaurant had my phone number and had sent multiple confirmation texts, so it would have been appreciated if they could have also sent a heads-up about the menu change.
Instead, we found out about the unavailable tasting menu only after we were seated and had already placed our drink order. Our waiter did apologize and offered alternative options, but it was a bit of a letdown after looking forward to the tasting menu.
Had a great meal here. We tried 3 of the pasta dishes (beef cheek ravioli was my fave). A sneaky delicious starter was the biscuits with ham. Also appreciated that you could get wine by the glass, bottle or 500 mL serving size. Tim our waiter was terrific. Cute vibe tucked away in the corner of a shopping center. Will defo be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Really great food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sauce, Scallops
Sincerely, I'm considering moving to Chapel Hill so I can eat here more often.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We visited Oakleaf to celebrate a visiting family member’s birthday and when making the reservation I mentioned the reason for our visit. Not only was the food and service absolutely amazing, the acknowledgment of the birthday guest was thoughtful and classy. My family left saying it was the best meal they’d ever had.
Food enjoyed: focaccia bread, fried oysters, sweet potatoes, Caesar salad, gnocchi, agnolotti, tagliatelle, cheesecake, lemon cake, coffee gelato
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gnocchi, Angnolloti, Lemon Cake, Caesar Salad, Crispy Fried Oysters
Nice restaurant ambience with friendly service. I tried the chef menu and it was delicious. The server would explain each dish that was served. Each course was well paired with wine. Will return to try other dishes.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Such a cute American / pasta restaurant!! Definitely get the corn pasta if it’s available. Also the server team is incredible. A little price for the portion sizes, but I’ve been ~3 times and it’s always such a good experience. Their fish / seafood has been a little disappointing, but everything else is great!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Oakleaf is consistently the best restaurant in this area. Chef Brendan is extraordinarily talented, and the staff are knowledgeable and always provide great service. It's a beautiful and comfortable space with an upbeat vibe. Great food, great cocktails, a well curated wine list all combine for an outstanding experience. We absolutely love Oakleaf and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful night out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I had a lovely meal and was well accommodated with my food allergy. Delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Oakleaf is consistently the best restaurant in this area. Chef Brendan is extraordinarily talented, and the staff are knowledgeable and always provide great service. It's a beautiful and comfortable space with an upbeat vibe. Great food, great cocktails, a well curated wine list all combine for an outstanding experience. We absolutely love Oakleaf and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful night out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Superb excellence, riot of flavor, food cooked perfectly! An infinity of cheers to Chef & kitchen staff for providing a compelling culinary experience!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fantastic, flavourful dinner in a low-light environment. Ambient and perfect for conversation.
Please get an order of focaccia for every two people. It is exceptional and elevates the rest of the dishes. The EVOO is a highlight, the focaccia is warm and moist yet has an impressive crisp. It has a subtle garlic flavour on top because they added slices of roasted garlic. It’s a gorgeous thing, really.
Appetizer highlights were Fois Gras (wow.), “Il toast” and farro. The fois gras had an incredible sauce (I think a red wine reduction ?) that was beautiful with the focaccia.
The summer salad was cold and it was awkwardly brought out during our second set of appetizers. In the future, I think it should be brought out first.
The mussels were good, but mostly because of the toast underneath and the sauces.
Dirt candy was nice and one of the best cost-for-volume deals on the menu. The pistachio pesto is lovely. It’s just missing some spice or a meaningful kick. Just tasted like roasted veg, not much more.
We ordered 3 pastas for 4 people and I think that was 1 too many. They called them “half sized” but I really think they were regular upscale dining pasta sized ! Maybe 80% size? Anyway, the Pappardelle is a must. Especially, and I repeat for emphasis, with the focaccia.
I thought the tagliatelle had too much lemon (it was unbalanced). And then that the agnolotti was lacking some acidity and spice… however, the pasta itself is clearly crafted with care and the ingredients feel delicious and fresh.
For the mains we split the scallops and the duck. Both were nice! Scallops etc were very fresh, but again, lacking a little kick or depth of flavour (maybe some lemon?). The duck was great. My one picky thing is they mayo sauce was too strong in that it distracted from the other flavours.
For dessert we went with the cheesecake (highlight), chocolate - tart - type - thing (good, would be better with dark / richer chocolates), peanut butter gelato (meh) and coffee (honestly it tasted like a not good Americano…). I was still happy with how we ended the meal! It was delish and a perfect quench to my sweet tooth.
Overall, in terms of food, this restaurant shines in the small plates. Order more of those and less of the pasta/mains. We also had wine throughout and it was really nice.
Despite the food being a great success (many 10/10 dishes and several 9/10 with some 7/10’s), I was disappointed with our server. She did not seem interested in serving us at all, she forgot to bring sparkling water but did bring wine, she recorded the wrong pasta order, and took our desert order without specifying which gelato we wanted, so she essentially chose the flavour for us. It felt a little dismissive and rushed and judgemental. She made us feel pressed to order more wine. And finally, it felt a little bit difficult to get her attention. She was nice, and it was fine service (especially given how busy the restaurant was), but it did feel like she didn’t like us and was choosing to be less attentive. Not warm and welcoming like the food or ethos.
Nonetheless, don’t let that discourage you. This is a wonderful spot for a memorable, wholesome meal. I had a great evening.
Vegetarian options: Not clearly labelled but there are options
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Seared Duck Breast
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