We had a terrible experience here for Mother's Day. We ordered three pizzas, a salad, and a round of appetizers. The appetizers came out lightning-quick, but the pizzas took over an hour. While the food was good, the staff essentially forgot about us, as we were put in the "private dining area." We were the only table there for the majority of our meal, and it was apparent they were trying to close the area off. The staff came by our table once to give us water in the 50-plus minutes we waited to get our food. I actually had to get staff attention to order my father-in-law a glass of wine. We finished our pizzas and the server asked us if we wanted dessert. When I told him we didn't because we did not have time, he told us, verbatim, "maybe next time you shouldn't book the very last seating at the restaurant." I left a 5% tip, which in hindsight was too generous given the incredibly rude comment and tone from our server, as well as the overall terrible service we received. I understand Mother's Day is busy, but I don't think that's an excuse to be flippant with customers. We had been there at least ten times over the years. I hope never to go back. The only reason I would is because my wife likes the food. There's plenty of great places in the Rockridge/Berkeley area to spend your money. I'd recommend somewhere that actually wants your business. read more

My man friend Eddie Q came to town and we went out for dinner. I had passed this place many a time on my way home from school and my friend Dyna always raves about this place. EQ ordered a pizza and it came with scissors. We scoffed at them, and he almost didn't use them until I insisted he did. Apparently the oven is so hot, that in order to keep the sauces on their pizzas they use scissors to cut them. I ordered the pork chop with huckleberries and arugula. It was so good- one of those dishes where you have to eat every component together. I even ate the fat NOM. Another thing- my new favorite artist has her beautiful art adorning the walls. A bit pricey but was a good experience. read more

A16 - EQ after I insisted he use the scissors. - Italian Near Me - Oakland, California

Autumn is the freaking. GREATEST!!!! I very rarely have any positive interactions with waiters in general. But Autumn gave me the best experience I've had in a restaurant since I can remember. 10/10 and the food was absolutely amazing! (Greatest cocktails ever) read more

I met a friend after work here for dinner - had reservations at 6:00 p.m on a Friday night. We were promptly seated by the host and the server came over promptly to take our drink order. The restaurant got busier but it never got too loud. Our server was great - attentive and informed. We ordered drinks from the bar, shared an escarole salad and fried Castelvetrano olives. For the main course, I ordered the sublime heritage breed Berkshire pork chop with quince and she had the calamarata pasta with tuna and olives. We were so full that we didn't order dessert but the menu looked enticing. The whole experience was excellent and I'll definitely be going back. read more

Received a pizza from you that wasn't cut into slices. What type of pizza "restaurant" doesn't cut their pizzas prior to serving or delivering them? read more

Came here for a late night snack and drinks with friends. We ordered the Montanara (fried dough pizza) and the fungi pizzas. The food was at best just OK. I found the crust chewy but with no real flavor and the toppings were sparse - nothing to entice me with to want to come back. A16's best attribute is their bar. I found their drinks creative and delicious. But I need food when I drink and there are other places who do a better job at both. read more

Never again. My tiny pizza was over priced ($22 plus delivery for a single person sized portion), very late, and arrived cold. The crust was also under done. I've had disappointing food before but to pay nearly $30 after tax, tip and delivery charges for a small, cold, late and mediocre meal did not feel good at all. This place may be ok for dine in, but I won't be back to check for myself. Awful experience. Avoid! read more

Love this place! Food was super delicious and extremely fresh. I had the kohlrabi salad and calamari. Everything was well seasoned and full of flavor! My friend had a freshly baked pizza! Hang tossed, authentic Italian style! Ambiance is really cute as well. We sat right in front of the pizza chef and his fiery oven! You can tell he was serious about cooking his pizzas perfectly. The egg he placed on top was perfectly cooked, with the yolk bursting when you cut into it! Food, drinks, ambiance is amazing. Staff was attentive as well! Love, love, love this restaurant! read more

Great pizza but they overcharged my credit card by $50. I didn't catch it until later and called multiple times to get it fixed with no phone call back either line was busy or I left messages with no response. For two adults and two kids with 3 pizzas it was $200 plus tip. read more

Service is A+ at A16. Attentive but not too hovering. Nicely done. Our group of three had the arugula salad, the funghi (wild mushroom) pizza, the salsiccia pizza, the budino tart. Bevs included ginger beer, chinotto, and wine. All delicious, but especially recommend the funghi pizza. Amazing. I found the ganache on the budino a bit sweet, but the crust and the mousse were spot on. Overall, lovely. read more

Wow. I'm really surprised by the recent poor ratings. I hadn't been to A16 Rockridge for some time and recently (Dec 2017) went for a last minute dinner out with my husband, grateful that they had reservations available. The service was fantastic, including immediately going to double check whether any of the dishes we were considering were cooked with butter at all since my husband mentioned that he is lactose intolerant. The food we picked was all incredibly tasty and perfectly cooked (though I do like my pasta al dente). My husband even ate and enjoyed vegetables that he normally would avoid. Given our fantastic experience there we went there again in January for our next date night and it was equally fantastic. I do wonder if some of the complaints come from the fact that people are accustomed to paying a lot less for pizza. We don't eat pizza so my comparisons are to other restaurants around the East Bay that serve other similar entrees, salads, etc. I found that the food was both equally (or even less) expense and tastier than similar dishes at other similarly "high end" restaurants around. I'm here now writing this review because I was checking to see if A16 has lunch hours and I was surprised to see the poor experience others seem to have had. FWIW our experience on both our our recent visits, as well as our visits longer ago, couldn't have been better. read more

While seated I noticed the reviews complained about the service. Our young lady that was serving us Alisa was SUPER pleasant and provided excellent customer service. The food wasn't large portions but enough. Beautiful restaurant without the fussyness. read more

A16 - Bar area - Italian Near Me - Oakland, California

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I was looking for a good pizza that was not cheap. I found them on Caviar and ordered the order was prepared in a timely matter. when it arrived the pizza was not sliced and all soggy, when trying to cut it and made it even worse since it was all soggy not cut when it was hot out of the oven. I would not order from here again read more

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We were so excited to have a date night at A16, but unfortunately deeply regretted it. The service was rude and cold, to the point of our being afraid to complain about the awful meal we had, and they just coldly looked at everyone as people left, not even thanking people for coming by, saying goodnight, etc. It felt like they all either were miserable and hated working there, or were supposed to be snobby and too cool for any of us. My hubby is super social, and usually likes to chat up the manager to thank them at the end - he wanted to talk to them about how bad things went, but got such a cold shoulder when approaching them, that he gave up and left. The food, and even some of the drinks, were insanely salty. Each plate got progressively more salty, to the point that we couldn't even have more than a couple bites of the last one, and my tongue got messed up. My fingers were so swollen the next morning that my rings wouldn't fit. The oysters were alright, and the mushroom pizza was also okay (but salty) - the pepper oil helped a lot. I did like the burrata cheese, because cheese is awesome, but avoided the impressively burnt toast. I was hoping for a martini, but their alcohol selection is pretty lame. We tried a couple of their signature cocktails, but didn't really like them (I didn't even bother finishing mine). Pretty surprising when there is a lot of competition in the area. The seating was probably better for others, but our table was at a big seam in the bench cushion, so not comfortable at all. And they had to put out a floor space heater because it was so cold, but that really only helped the couple tables next to it. We weren't at all surprised to see the place clear out. A huge bummer and waste of a date night - frustrating when you have to pay a sitter to get out, and then have an experience like this. I hate having to leave bad reviews, but this was too awful not to. read more

Worst service ever! Ever!!!! It was our first and last time going to the A16 at this location. We went here with a group of 12 and they brought our foods out at different times- not a few minutes but at least 20 minutes! They would bring us wrong orders, food was given to wrong people at the table, and on top of all that, the manager was extremely rude and arrogant. He was not even listening to our complaint and was giving us an attitude. The food wasn't even all that! Obviously, our entire table had an awful experience and we would never go back. read more

Saturday date night - hip table and atmosphere, attentive and friendly service, good cocktails, and imaginative and delicious salad and pizza. However, the kitchen was slow (and not on a romantic European kind of way) and our seafood pasta dish was inedible (rubbery pasta, fishy seafood). Our server was super accommodating though, definitely saved the night. I'd give it another try, would stick to the "classics" though. read more

Over priced food and poor service can break a restaurant. A16 is broken, sadly. It used to be our got-to, but it's now slipped down the leaderboard to a distant non-podium finish. Soulless bar staff, rushed waiters and rude management has taken its toll. Their only savior recently was their maitre d' (Mary?), so welcoming. The rest of the team let her down. Try Marica restaurant down the street, you won't regret it. read more

Hostess needs to know it's not about her... With reservations and arriving 30 minutes early for a 7:15 reservation, we were escorted to the " private dining room " AKA kids table in the back rather than in the main dining room. Upon requesting a seat in the half empty main dining room, we were told "no, you made your RESERVATION today, it's this or nothing. I asked to speak to the manager and was dismissed. For the record, the Private Dining room had only ONE occupied table with Kids...we have 5 and were hoping for a nice date night. We were offered no solution and as we were deciding where to go and about to leave, we noticed the next unsuspecting couple had declined the same table. At that point that were we offered a table. So- in fairness food and service, outstanding, our compliments to chef Nicolette Manescalchi and to our server Noah... the front of the house is as important as the back of the house. read more

I've heard a bunch about this spot both in SF and Oakland. We decided to check it out and we're pleasantly surprised by the food and drinks. As always, I over ordered on the appetizers- a standard move for me ‍. I liked the lingua salad the most. I didn't tell others what it was until after- and they all enjoyed it... until I told them it was tongue. We also had a round of pizzas which were perfectly cooked in their massive pizza oven. The best part was, you get pizza scissors to cut your own slice! Brilliant! The lIghting was dark so no pics this time. read more

Love this place. It has a pretty limited menu but as far as what's on it- YUM! They've upgraded the secondi to add veggies which for me is too filling but I'm happy for more veggies! The drinks/ cocktails are awesome. My kids didn't love the mocktail just this past time.. Our service is generally almost always- lovely and attentive. The wait can sometimes be long for food- so if you have kiddos best to ask them to send it as it's ready. We've been coming for years.. but this past time- yesterday, we were shocked at the up charge in the kids pasta.. I'm quite sure it was never 16$ for a plain buttered kids pasta?!? Whoa! It's absurd. It's either saying "Please don't bring your children here" or "we love your children, but, you'll pay!" Hahahahah (evil laughter) You'll enjoy A16 Oakland for a 'fine' night out! read more

Appetizers and pizza are on point. Service is good. Pasta and risotto would benefit from additional seasoning and a bit more attention to cook times as both were past al dente. read more

For a restaurant so highly reviewed by the San Francisco chronicle critics I expected more. Our reservation was at 8:30pm, past the prime dinner rush. However, our actual waiter was too busy to take our order and a different person came to do the job. Then the sommelier woman came by to give suggestions. We took her suggestion but the wine was tepid and smelled like nail polish remover. She came by to ask how the wine was and I told her I wasn't pleased with it and she just said "okay" with a sour face and walked away. Then she kept on coming back with the same sour face to refill the wine I did not drink. Was she offended that I didn't appreciate her expertise? Well even if she was offended, she shouldn't have made it known to me. A simple "I'm sorry you are not enjoying the selection, is there something else I can get for you?" would have worked. So I have to admit the sommelier woman's attitude put me off and set a negative tone to the whole dinner. But I'm pretty sure I'm not over reacting when i say that it is not acceptable to make diners wait 40-50mins between courses. So all this would still have been somewhat overlooked if the food was memorable. NO. Food was so so and some dishes were outright over salted. I understand they only recently opened but hey they have a main restaurant in SF and its been 3 months! Besides, the sommelier with the attitude isn't really a new restaurant issue. read more

The pizza super yummy. Yes it is on the higher side of price but the crust is so addicted. I have to hold myself back before eating the whole pizza myself . We also ordered the frittata, it's just so so. They also have several choices of beer from honichiwa. read more

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So A16 Rockridge has been here for quite a while and I've visited a few times over the years though historically it's never really been a go-to of ours. There are SO many amazing spots in Rockridge that somehow we just didn't make it there often. Last night we were looking for a 6 top on short notice and were able to be seated at a beautiful table with a view literally inside of the gorgeous wood stove. The service was off the charts warm. Not stuffy and yet totally beyond the usual. They have a new GM and I think she's weaving some magic. Folks seemed happy to be working there. Not only was every single individual from the front door to the kitchen lovely, but then the chef overheard us from the kitchen (we were close by) and popped out to answer some burrata questions we were posing to one another at the table. I mean. So cool. Aside from that the cocktails were very good. I'm a classic cocktail drinker and tend to avoid the list so I'm always a bit nervous that my manhattan will suck. The cocktails were perfect. I'll be back to the bar on a night out with just my husband for sure. On from there, the meatballs, salads, calamari and hen of the woods shrooms were all great. The sauce on the mushrooms tasted like Thanksgiving and another server who walked by but wasn't stationed near us whispered in our ear that we should keep the sauce though we have already chowed down on the mushrooms. She brought us bread, unprompted. These are people who love food. So now I really love them. End of story! Go here. PS. the za was fab. love the scissors. read more

The building is cute and trendy, but the food was horrible. I got the rabbit crepe and it was literally just unseasoned meat and ricotta. The worst crepe I've ever had. My boyfriend ordered a hangar steak which was chewy and also unseasoned. There is no salt and pepper on the tables and the wait staff purposefully avoids eye contact, while they walk around looking lost. It took 20-30 minutes before anyone even acknowledged us and then they gave us "free" fried cheese balls for the wait which were awful. Oh yeah, and they CHARGED US for them. Then, the waitress saw that I didn't eat my crepes and offered us free stracciatella, which was somehow completely flavorless. I'm pretty sure they used powdered, skim milk or something. Worst restaurant experience I've had in a long time.... read more

Congrats, A16, that was the worst restaurant wait (WITH a reservation) that I've had to undergo in a very long time. Remind me never to do it again. Sure, they gave us free appetizers to try to make up for it and served up decent food for the rest of the night. Our waiter bent over backwards trying to make amends. But from the looks of the other one- or two-star reviews, it looks like it's a regular bad habit/standard practice here--A16 simply doesn't seem to know how to move tables along or seat people in a timely manner. I blame the hostess, who was didn't seem very distressed at all that she was making our twosome (as well as two other couples) twiddle our thumbs for more than a 30 minutes (45 minutes, to be exact). Several bar seats and chefs counter seats were open for most of that time, but not a peep from her until we started to ask how much longer the wait would go on. Lousy planning, poor organization and a real lack of consideration--who needs it when there are so many other good restaurants in Oakland, Berkeley, and SF? Lame-osity. read more

The service was one star and the food was just okay. For a higher end restaurant the service was appalling. The servers were not engaged, it took almost two hours to get our entrees and they forgot one whole order. The management did attempt to make good at the end, but by then I was done. My issue was the server(s). They had no interest in communicating the issues or seeing if they could do anything for our party for over an hour. No attempt to keep our cocktail glasses full. Simply it was just bad. So bad, I almost got up to grab a burrito across the street. I found the food okay but nothing special, I have eaten at better in Oakland. Will not not go back. read more

I was very excited to have dinner at this restaurant which is just down the street from my house in Rockridge. We arrived for our dinner reservation at 7:30 pm. Our table wasn't ready yet so we took a seat at the bar. The first thing I noticed about the new decor was a very large skylight above the bar. This skylight brought in a nice amount of natural light, but it was stained and dirty (not very appetizing in a brand new restaurant) A couple seated that bar next to us said that they noticed the same thing. Come on owners, be a little more aware of things like this. We started with the A16 bread and olive oil along with an order of the fried olives. The order of bread costs $2. Really, paying for bread? I don't care if they made the bread on site, you shouldn't have to pay for bread before a meal. Also, the portion of olive oil they provided appeared to be less than a tablespoon. The fried olives were very nicely done and the chili oil brought out the flavors in the olives. We asked for more olive oil and it never came. For my main course I had the braised pork shoulder with baby artichokes, gaeta olives and parsley . The pork shoulder was delicious and incredibly tender. The flavors in the dish all complimented each other; it was fantastic. I also had the side of fried potato and ceci, senise pepper vinaigrette. Wonderful. My girlfriend had the California king salmon -- radish agrodolce, pine nut with the side of roasted fennel. Also, very delicious and wonderful. We brought our own bottle of wine for this meal which took a longer than usual amount of time to decanter. The server apologized and said it "was in the process of being decanted." The real shocker though was when I saw the $25.00 corkage fee on the bill. For dessert we split the wood-oven cherry gratinata lemon zabaglione The cherries were nice and sour but overall this dessert was just so so. The service was ok, not spectacular. We ordered coffee with our dessert and it didn't arrive until after we were finished with our dessert. There were alot of apologizes from our server (sorry you didn't get your off olive oil, sorry it took so long to get your coffee) What I also noticed was that the restaurant was very noisy. The former restaurants on that sight were never that noisy. Overall, the food was exceptional, the service need a bit of tweaking and they need to lower that corkage fee or I won't be going back any time soon. read more

Nice ambiance. Great handmade, woodfired pizza. The sampler was nice to get to try a few things. The liquor selection at the bar is very eclectic and you may not find your usual preferred libation. Parking can be a challenge. read more

As a business-owner myself, I am hesitant to give 1-star reviews. Based on my experience alone, A16 deserves one but I have only had one experience there so take it with a grain of very expensive salt. Our 4-person reservation was scheduled a couple days in advance for 8pm on a Saturday night. We arrived five minutes early and the place was packed. The hostess explained that they were clearly busy but that they would call us when our table was ready. 15 minutes went by and waiting became awkward as there is really no place comfortable for a party of four in an already packed space to stand. We were constantly shuffling around as more diners inquired on their own wait times. This was our first clue that waiting even with a reservation was par for the course. After 20 minutes I approached the bar for a round of drinks. The drink menu was appropriately interesting so I ordered one from the cocktail menu and a call rocks for my wife. I was surprised when the bartender returned in under 10 seconds with my mixed cocktail already in a glass. Me: "Wow, that was fast. Are the cocktails pre-made?" Bartender: No, this one was a wrong order but I just made it a minute ago. Me: (Aloud) Thank you. (To myself) How tacky! Someone else's-wrong-but-still-high-priced cocktail? Lame. While at the bar, I noticed a couple who was so visibly aggravated that it was uncomfortable to watch. They were seated at the bar, with no food in front of them, and had run out of things to talk about. They were literally starving in front of my eyes. One of them asked the bartender how much longer their meal would be. The bartender's response was a very polite - "I'm not sure. I know the kitchen is really busy tonight." I'm pretty sure that made it worse. At 25 minutes the hostess found us huddled in the corner and apologized for the wait. I was about to thank her for checking on us when she announced with a big smile that she "brought us a little something on the house to get us started." It had a fancy name but her offering was literally a small handful of crackers. Yes, I am sure they were home made, but they were crackers. At 40 minutes -and after one more half-baked apology by the hostess - I suggested we leave. This is the only time they spent any time attempting to earn our business and proceeded to chase us out the door with false pleasantries. We walked across the street to Soi Four, which was full as usual, but without a wait, and had a terrific and very pleasant 4-star meal. I love that place. read more

Very disappointing service here! Our waitress was super nice, but not on top of her job! We were a party 12 celebrating my sister! Unfortunately we didn't get the opportunity to eat together, since everyone got their dish at different times. This was so frustrating! Loved the food, but will definitely not be going back here with my party! Too bad!!!! read more

Hey A-16, You're gorgeous and fun and your staff surprised us with exceptional service and east bay warmth...but please don't tempt me with sea urchin bucatini only to give me fancy pants aglio-oglio. I'd hoped a sophisticated joint would be beyond such north beach-style garlic worship. At least I like aglio/oglio, but I can't say as much for burnt bread or pizza. In Italy, a wood burning oven doesn't give a pizzaiolo license to fill our bites with carbon. Thank you for giving us memorable cocktails to cleanse our palates. We welcome you to the area and wish you well, but we hope there will be substance with all that skylit beauty. read more

A16 Rockridge is swanky and chic with traces of hip, modern elegance. The restaurant is massive with a full bar and a private dining room for banquette-style gatherings. I had my company holiday dinner in their private room, and it was fabulous! We were welcomed by a huge and beautifully lit wreath. The room can accommodate up to 40 guests. We wined and dined at a long wooden table. The staff was friendly and not overbearing. Whenever someone's wine glass was empty, they would stealthily swoop in and refill it without us even noticing. I do wish that they paced the serving of the dishes better. At first we were all starving for some food to show up. The appetizers finally came all at once along with the pizzas. However, there was a long period of time when no new dishes were brought out. Then the entrees arrived like an avalanche. Onto the food! Overall, everyone was extremely pleased with our menu. The ingredients were fresh and high quality, the flavors were exquisite, presentation was excellent, and the portions were sufficient for our family-style dinner. Antipasti: *Grapefruit + avocado salad - light and refreshing but a bit on the bland side. *Roasted beet salad - a big hit! Everyone loved this salad! The beets were sweet and a brilliant red, such a surprise that there was so much flavor packed in this simple dish. Pizzas: *Funghi (chanterelle and king trumpet mushrooms) - I'm not fond of cheese so I thought this was waaay too cheesy. Didn't taste all that unique and I wish there were more mushrooms. *Montanara (tomato sauce, burrata, basil) - my favorite pizza out of the two! It was delicious and the lightly fried dough was the perfect touch to top off this smoked pizza. Pastas: *Potato gnocchi (boar sugo, dandelion greens, grana padano) - too heavy and dense for me, a very rich and buttery pasta. *Troccoli (chanterelles, pan di zucchero, grana padano) - I enjoyed this pasta. The noodles were just right, al dente. Main course: *Trout (meyer lemon, fennel, grapes) - the skin was cooked to a light crisp while the flaky meat melted in my mouth. The fish was well paired with a tangy and zesty sauce. *Lamb (senise pepper, red wine, olives, arugula) - wow. The lamb was medium rare with a hint of red in the center. The pepper and red wine combination left a very tamed spicy kick. It was not too gamey, although I would have preferred the lamb to be cooked a bit more. Still amazing! Sweets: *Trio of chocolate (dark chocolate mousse, milk chocolate-chili pudding, white chocolate cream) - 3 types of chocolate, need I say more? *Apple + date upside down cake (nocino gelato, toasted walnuts, apple-date butter) - loved the sweet walnut gelato and the cake was infused with cinnamon and apple goodness. I know this is a lot of food AND we had some small bites (fried olives, fried potatoes). I don't even know how to pronounce or know what some of these ingredients are...but I do know that the food was tasty and exceptional. A16 is one of those restaurants that can rock a cool and relaxing meal or a fancy special occasion. read more

Hubris as a marketing style...The wait staff tried. But it wasn't enough. We only carry local Vodka, Hanger one ok, But the Cosmo was syrupy when I asked for no sugar. My daughters margarita was mediocre at best. Oysters were fine, fried olives were fine. The Pizza took almost 90 minutes!! Shaped life a frying pan with cheese in the handle. Like some pizza chain? The waiter was very apologetic.and took it off the bill. As far as the pizza is concerned they can't carry the cheese boards lunch pail. The kitchen is overwhelmed and poorly run. The bar has an attitude that is unnecessary. At Marica, across the street. The food is better at half the price. The drinks are generous. And they operate with a humility that A16 could learn from... read more

I could spend much more time in writing this but I seriously doubt that I can write about something when that "something "can not compare to the actual personal experience! I challenge anyone reading this review to do what I did. Go to the place and order a pizza If you find yourself thinking that I'm on point maybe it's time to make it known! read more

Extremely disappointed in A16. Slow and disorganized service (our waitress left the floor to tend bar, without submitting our order), and small portions of premium entrees buried under mountains of garnish. Roasted calamari, citrus salad (8 lateral-cut sections of orange and grapefruit in a vinaigrette), pasta, and trout came to $85. How is that possible? The decor is very nice and tables are comfortable, but there are much better dining options available within a few blocks. We won't be returning. read more

Tonight, along with Julia Peterson I finally decided to check out one of the highly regarded Oakland restaurant newcomers, A 16, in the Rockridge District of Oakland. A 16 has been open for about 5 months now and is a sister restaurant to the popular restaurant with the same name in San Francisco's Marina district. The restaurant took over the old Hudsons/Garibaldi's space on College Avenue. Like their Marina counterpart, the restaurant focuses on Southern Italian Campania region food. A 16 is a highway in Italy that runs from Naples in Campania to Canosa in Puglia. Unlike their Marina relative, A 16 Rockridge has a liquor license allowing it a full bar and cocktail service to go along with their menu. Chef Rocky Maselli has put together a wonderful menu that focuses on pasta and gourmet pizzas, with lots of little extras worth exploring on the menu. Everything we had tonight was absolutely first rate. No dish disappointed. The fresh handmade pasta was the highlight. Before beginning our meal we started out with two cocktails from A 16′s creative cocktail menu. I had the Hemingway Negroni, which was served over a couple of giant ice cubes in an attractive oversized tumbler. It was made with papa pilar rum and was delicious. After cocktails we ordered the roasted beets and heirloom tomato salad. The salad was complemented with ricotta and generously dressed with olive oil. The beets, tomatoes and cheese, went well together and it was a refreshing end of a Bay Area summer salad. After we finished the salad, our main dishes arrived. For our main dishes we decided to share the capunti -- pancetta, chanterelles, cherry tomato, smoked caciocavallo pasta and the montanara rockridge pizza. All three of these dishes tonight were recommendations of the very knowledgeable bartenders who took care of us at the bar. Mrsth and I always prefer sitting at the bar over a table and find that the bartenders frequently are the most knowledgable of a restaurant's service staff. Tonight, especially, they did not disappoint. The capunti pasta was my favorite dish of the evening. The taste of the caciocavallo cheese in the pasta gave it a wonderful smokey taste. It was a rich, full flavored rewarding dish. The montanara pizza, named for the local neighborhood, was also splendid. We added prosciutto and arugula to the burrata (again at the bartender's recommendation) on the pizza and it complemented it perfectly. Finally for dessert we decided on the fried apple turnovers which came alongside a rich caramel honey type sauce. Before serving us our turnovers, the staff brought us over a complementary plate of Italian cookies to enjoy. The three turnovers were the perfect amount of sweet to end our evening. We didn't have any wine with our meal, choosing to stick to more cocktails and a beer with the pizza. The restaurant does have a wonderfully full wine list though. You can also bring your own bottle (with corkage charge). The menu said that they would waive corkage charge per bottle brought with each bottle bought from their list. They offered both tastes and full pours of wines by the glass. The ambience of the restaurant was very nice. The bar is large and oversized with plenty of room on a large marble slab. The restaurant is open and airy, and once the sun went down and they opened the shades, a rich, warm evening sunset sunlight filled the restaurant. The service for our meal could not have been better. Two bartenders managed the bar, and even with a full restaurant, were able to give us the highest quality of service. The recommendations of our bartenders were all absolutely spot on. Meals were promptly delivered and dishes quickly removed. They allowed us to sample taste some of the liquors used in the cocktails when deciding on which drinks to order. I usually find that I get better service at the bar, which is one of the reasons why I prefer the bar over a table, and it was especially true tonight. We were both delighted tonight with our A 16 experience and definitely will be back to this neighborhood gem to try even more dishes. The only downside to tonight was that they didn't have a television set at the bar and so we had to rely on our cell phones to keep track of the A's/Tigers American League Divisional Series deciding game. The restaurant also doesn't have wifi service and cell service in the restaurant was spotty. Lack of a TV and good cell service, however, are probably a bonus for many. :) More photos of A 16 here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/sets/72157636415325006/ read more

Beautiful interior decoration and ambiance. This place is just okay-- nothing to call home about. I would make this a regular go to spot but it's just too expensive for moderate food. $16 for a glass of wine and $16 for a salad. It's slightly out of touch with itself and what it has to offer. I'm down to pay for a meal that's worth it but this just isn't it. read more

What a shame -- this place has some great food and an amazing wine list. Unfortunately, it also has some serious holes in the service. Showed up for a 5 pm reservation. They seat us in a table that is getting punished by the late-afternoon sunlight. (Seriously, can't you spend a few hundred bucks on some shades??) After first ordering some expensive wine, we ask for another table not in the sunlight. There were many empty, well-shaded tables. Nope, can't move us -- even though the other tables remained empty throughout our meal. After our main course, they put on our table two dishes we didn't order. We thought maybe they were comping us, but when we pointed out that we didn't order them, the couple next to us said "Um... Those are ours." So the waitress picked them up and promptly put them at the other couple's table. LOL. Then, to top it off, they brought us the other couple's check... This kind of service is a total joke. Some of the food is really great. We had the lamb meatballs -- they were $27 -- but they were amazing. I would order them again, if I went back. But I won't. As for the pizza, it was soggy. You can get better at Pizzaiolo or Boot & Shoe, and the service there is far superior. We won't be back. read more

After my one bad experience with A16 in the city, I decided to give the Rockridge outpost a try. Unfortunately, I came away from my dinner feeling like A16 just doesn't care that much about providing good service to its clientele. Our server was snotty, the orders took forever, and what's worse, the couple sitting next to us who had ordered the exact same thing as us, from the same server, got their food way earlier than we did. The food was okay, nothing spectacular or memorable. The one distinctly awful thing was the basil cucumber soda recommended by our server - it was so bad we had to return it to the bar. I would definitely not recommend A16 Rockridge to anyone looking for a nice meal in Oakland. There are so many other better choices with much better service. read more