Disappointing This Time Around Our party of four universally felt that our experience was a solid 2.5 but because the anniversary couple were served an ice cream with a candle at the end of the meal, the star is bumped to 3. We've dined here before with great success so perhaps we hit an off night. Our waitress was efficient but dour, seeming completely unhappy with working this evening. When we asked for descriptions of various items, she exhibited zero enthusiasm for anything. It's quite fascinating how the server can make or break a meal and influence the overall experience. The menu didn't offer any great choices and items that we did want were already sold out. (Wanted calamari, but there was none). What we did order: 1. Oysters-the smallest oysters we've ever seen, about the size of a quarter. Way too expensive for that teeny tiny bite=1 2. Sardines-two nice size sardines over beans=3 3. Fried pizza dough with cheese and tomato sauce-our friend said that all the reviews raved about this pizza so we had to try it. BORING. It tasted like fried pizza dough with cheese and tomato sauce. Duh! Wish we had tried the pizza with tartufo!=1 4. Beef meatballs-okay, nothing exciting=2 5. Seafood dish with shrimp, mussels, and clams-by far the very best item on the menu with robust flavors and plenty of seafood. Interestingly when we asked our waitress about this dish she indicated it was meant for a small appetite. We found it to be very substantial and very delicious.=4. Corkage is a steep $25. The majority of wines on their list are Italian. They have a hopping bar and bartenders who know what they are doing. Noise level is loud, but not as loud as other hip restaurants. Parking on street. The nice touch was the acknowledgment of a special celebration with the candle on the ice cream. It earned A-16 a star bump, too. read more

See all

A16 was MVP of the night We were 6 and a baby on a Friday night and we had a reservation mixup, but they were very accommodating and made it work, and were true pros the whole night Food was great, funghi pizza and the fried cauliflower were the biggest hits. The wine list is a lot of fun...Southern Italian wines were fun to explore. read more

I'd been eager to try A16 ever since the Chronicle's Inside Scoop leaked the news of the project. The house has the ambiance of a "big city" restaurant -- not a surprise in view of its San Francisco connection. It feels swank and sophisticated and came off at first as the sort of place where you'd need to shout in order to be heard. The restaurant is definitely noisy, but Nopa it's not. My companion and I were able to communicate without raising our voices beyond mere loudness. The biggest surprise to me was the wine list, which was populated by names I didn't recognize. Obviously, the wine director has gone to great trouble to bring in Italian bottles that are not household names. We started with two whites by the glass, a Falanghina and a Greco di Tufo. These were recommended by our server after we named a few of our favorite wines to her. Both of them were excellent; I drank the Falanghina and was sorry when my glass became empty. For starters, we chose the whole roasted sardine and a green salad whose description I can't recall. I was pretty happy with the sardine, though its accompaniments (cauliflower, capers, raisins, bread crumbs) veered toward the bizarre, especially the raisins. The salad had been aggressively salted to the point where it was barely edible. While we were eating, we saw a number of heirloom tomato and melon salads come out of the kitchen and regretted not having ordered one of those instead. My main course was the bucatini with sea urchin, garlic, almond and bread crumbs, which I thought was fabulous -- I didn't even mind getting a second round of the bread crumbs. I ordered the larger version of this "primo" and was surprised at first by the small bowl in which it was served. After a few bites, I realized that the dish was incredibly rich and that it was perfectly well sized. Full disclosure here: I would have been happy to have been served more! We also got a margherita pizza, which seemed to us to be "merely OK". Better pies are served in Pizzaiolo and elsewhere. The amusing detail about A16's pizza service is that the pizzas are not pre-sliced: when you get a pizza, a pair of scissors are provided for your cutting pleasure. This was another surprise to me; my bad for not reading the Yelp reviews ahead of time. All in all, going to A16 was a positive experience. I'm glad that I came and suppose that I'll be back one day. The place is no bargain, however -- I can't imagine that I'll become a regular. read more

Very nice ambience, but foods were mediocre. Pasta was too salty, but pizza was good. Fried olives were okay snack, but wouldn't justify price. Staffs were friendly, but didn't seem to enjoy what they do. And it was very expensive for the overall experience we got. Compared to other Italians we love in oakland/Berkeley, this place didn't leave lasting impression on us. read more

I am torn with this review since I have had so many previous positive experiences at A16 in the city. We went for Sunday brunch for my wife's birthday and had 12:00 reservations. We were seated at our table at 12:05 and we were not greeted by a server to take our drink orders until 12:30 and did not have drinks until about 15 minutes later, and they were not even busy. This really started things off on the wrong foot. We then got our buratta appetizer delivered, but they didn't brig any bread. We requested bread and it took another 10 minutes before they brought the bread. So I think I have pretty much painted the picture on how this meal went. The food was actually quite good, but the slow indifferent service really ruined the experience. read more

A really good dining experience overall in terms of flavors and service. The cocktails were very well crafted and worth the $13. Our server helped us pick a good wine at a decent price so that helped a lot. The food was also good, however it is overpriced even for this area. A $200 tab for pizza, ribs, veggie, 2 drinks and wine. read more

My boyfriend just took me to A16 for my birthday dinner and, from the moment we walked in, until the moment we left, everything was right on point. The experience started with tasteful seasonal decor, a warm and welcoming greeting, and a perfect bottle of wine that the sommelier was somehow able to choose with an admittedly loose description of my preferences. All of that, plus my amazing company, was already more than satisfying, but then I was blown away by the insanely incredible flavors I encountered in every single course, starting with the fried olives, followed by the fennel salad, and then a wood-fired pumpkin pizza. My boyfriend was also incredibly pleased with his half-chicken dish. No doubt we'll be back and will let all our friends know about this place as well! read more

Classy space with good bones, in a nice location. Feels fancy, nice for a dinner date. Went for an event with a pre-set menu. Service was on point. Had a few favorites out of the various dishes brought out. Overall very enjoyable experience and would like to come again and order from the menu. Dining the way this event was set up in a private back room meant one dish was shared between 4 people, so you got a smallish to medium portion of each item, depending how much everyone liked it. It definitely left me wanting more of a few things, especially since I couldn't eat some of the other items (from taste preference). For the dishes I did try, I was impressed with the nuanced flavors and interesting ingredients. The burrata with dragoncello, pistachios, sea salt, corona olive oil and crostini was tasty. The citrus salad was pleasantly fresh with castelvetrano olive, parsley, shallot, and orange agrumato. I felt like I should be in Cinque Terre overlooking the ocean with Bougainvillea framing the view. The Farro dish had a smoky flavor that really gave it a delightful edge. It had butternut squash, mustard greens, red wine vinaigrette and smoked ricotta salata. The funghi pizza laden with King trumpet mushroom, pecorino, Fior di latte, garlic, and chili melted in my mouth and left me longing for more. The cauliflower with pinenuts and yellow currants was a revelation. I have never had cauliflower prepared in such a fashion, and found it to be delectable. The Swiss chard was disappointingly bitter and off-putting. I had recently made some organic Rainbow Swiss chard from the farmer's market that tasted much better cooked simply at home. Whatever was going on with this dish didn't work. The desserts of tiramisu and Rosemary panna cotta were presented with the same dedication to expanding flavors, however, I didn't find either alluring. But if you like orange with chocolate, perhaps you'll enjoy the tiramisu. I had never had panna cotta so have nothing to compare it to. It may have been excellent, and panna cotta may just not be my cup of tea in the dessert world. All in all, the experience at A16 Rockridge was very enjoyable and I would like to dine here again on another occasion to try their gourmet and unique flavors and food presentations from the regular menu. read more

See all

I sent my review over to A16 to see what they had to say. You would think that they were AT&T by the tone of the reply: "As a matter of fairness-driven policy, we aim to be as up front and transparent as possible when approaching guests about our corkage allowances. Given the passion and energy invested in amassing our wine inventory and familiarizing ourselves with it, and the joy taken in sharing these gems with our guests, our 1:1 corkage waiver policy always strikes me as falling on the lenient side of fair. We are deeply disappointed that this policy struck you as being unhospitable, as we strive to keep sincere hospitality at the core of everything we do here at A16. Truly, the convivial warmth of Southern Italy, as much as its magnificent wines, serves as an inspiration to us every night." What they missed is this: This is not what they told us. They said a maximum of three bottles per table. We might have worked through a 1:1 situation, that was never offered. On to better things. read more

We've been here twice so far, and both times have been extremely pleased with the food and service. Although not much time had passed between visits, the menu had been altered significantly, so it seems they maintain a good variety in their offerings. So nice to find another go-to place here in Rockridge that you know is going to be great for entertaining friends. Note that service can be slow on the weekends, but the meal is definitely worth the wait. read more

Really disappointed so far. And yes I mean so far. I'm actually sitting down at dinner with my 3 closest friends as I type this. Yes it's very rude to be on my phone but I am unhappy. We had 830 reservations and came about 10 minutes early. It's was packed and had a good vibe. Checked in and the host said our table is finishing up and we should be seated shortly. 30 minutes go by and nothing. So we then ask the hostess when our table will be ready. She replies, "you are next". She then seats 2 tables of similar size in front of us. I thought next actually meant next. We eventually are seated 30 minutes later, at 9pm. We order our food. Then we are promptly told that the 2 steaks we ordered are actually sold out. Then we alter those to the pork chop and lamb dish upon recommendation. We are then told that they are out of the pork chop as well. Doh! A 16, this is not looking good and I am not impressed. And I haven't even had a bite yet. I asked my group if they wanted to leave, but they are much more patient than I am. ****************** Just finished up dinner. Pizzas were great, I also enjoyed the gnocchi. We had three sides which were decent. Since we ended up with only one entree because everything was sold out, it all rested on the lamb. Not a good outcome. I've included a picture which will show that the lamb was raw. We called the manager over and we provided an overview of our night. She looked at the lamb and comped our meal. Would have preferred to pay for an awesome meal but we appreciated the gesture. We paid for our bottle of wine and cocktails and called it a day. read more

It is so-so for a San Francisco restaurant. But because its in Oakland, it gets 5 *'s. Lets see, is there another member of the True Neapolitan Pizza Association within a 20-click radius? Nope. Pizza here will always be good because the ingredients and oven specifications for their members are strict. Everything else in here was a notch below. But again, they are in Oakland. read more

I'm so happy to have A16 in the East Bay. Although the space is more cavernous than the intimate spot in the city, a bigger space means the chances of getting in without a reservation is better. The smoked pizza is not to be missed. Try it and you'll be in carb heaven. read more

This was a fantastic experience. We got there around 6:30ish, no reservations, so we had to wait about an hour. Which was not a problem so we decided to hang out and get some beverages at the bar. The staff were incredibly attentive and extremely welcoming. From the hostesses to the bar waitress, everyone made us feel very welcome. The BF got the Seventh Circle which was spicy and delicious! (Seriously, it had quite the kick.) We were sat at the pizza bar as soon as the seats were available, which ended up being very entertaining. Front row seats to the making of all those glorious pizzas and that gorgeous (and huge) pizza oven. We started off with the Fried Olives (sooooo mouthwatering-ly good!) Those come with spicy chile oil to dip (use sparingly, it's no joke.) Then we had the Roasted Calamari with Corona Beans. Yummmm. The textures weren't too chewy, cooked to perfection. The squid and beans complemented each other wonderfully. Then came the big guns. Which pizza to choose?? We had been watching pizzas being made for about 30-40 minutes at this point, and let me tell you, the longer you watch, the harder the decision is. Let me help you out, if it's your first time at A16, get the Rachetta. You will not be disappointed. Literally, you can't be. The pizza is rolled out and then stretched at the end to make room for the calzone-ish part of the pizza (looks sort of like a handle.) It's filled with artichoke and cheese and it is. To. Die. For. We had an egg cooked on top of ours (because when the BF saw this magic happen on another pizza, I thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head, so we went for it.) No regrets. This place is a fantastic experience. The staff are very friendly. The drinks have character. And the food. The FOOD! Is amazing. read more

This is restaurant week and we didn't have reservations. Lucked out on seats at the chefs bar. The drinks are potent I had the greyhound. Everything was and we'll definitely be back. read more

See all

Food quality - 4 stars Ambience- 5 stars Service - 2 stars The hostess could have smiled. The bartender was bland and could have smiled as well. I would have been satisfied even with a little grin. Server was an order taker, dry, and could care less. Oh, not a smile from her, either. She didn't greet us until 10 minutes after we sat down. Zero descriptive abilities, just an order taker. The table next to us arrived later than we did and completely finished their entrees before we even got ours. Slow service, and poor attention to detail. The server had an attitude about it when I asked her where the food was. Perhaps this is more of a management issue than an isolated issue. Seems to be the culture of the restaurant. read more

Service was amazing, drinks are really great. Food all around looks amazing but the taste is very off everything from the texture to the flavor content is just very different. Cannot say i loved anything on the food menu from fried olives, fried artichokes, roasted calamari to the ribeye and snap peas. Even the desserts were different in texture that made them somewhat unpleasing. Great atmosphere but as for the food not a fan. read more

Authentic pizza. Truly delicious and brings me back to Italy. Not cheap but very good. They do craft cocktails and you can get the pizza delivered! Worth trying for pizza fans. read more

Amazing food! Pizza crust was tender and toppings were delicious. Salad was perfectly dressed and the lettuce was fresh and crisp. Steak entree was perfectly cooked and delicious on a bed of arugula. Service was very slow but the servers were polite. There seemed to be a long wait between courses. Overall a pleasant experience but the prices were quite high. read more

It was my first time there. We ordered miyagi oyster and hen egg bruschetta for appetizer. The oysters are fresh and crisp and both dishes have wonderful flavors. We ordered capriciosa pizza as our main dish, it was great but I was already blown by their appetizers. Wonderful service there, will go back to try different dishes. read more

A16 - Marin miyagi oysters - Italian Near Me - Oakland, California

See all

Had a great first experience at the new A16. The space seems larger than the original and more open with the increased bar area and chef's counter. The menu is different as well (the trippe for instance is not available at this location). But not to worry, the new additions were delicious. Among my favorites were the fried olives, burrata, roasted asparagus with egg, fennel, and the salmon. In addition, the uni might have been the smallest of the plates but also the best (served with some type of citrus and/or oil). Another surprise was the new drink menu which included a perfect take on a manhattan. To finish we had the superb cherry gratinata(sp) which reminded me of a creamy creme brule with juicy cherries. Overall a great new restaurant which I can't wait to come back to and have some of the new pizza variations and lots and lots of uni... read more

Too many good things on the menu and too much fun. Atmosphere: see prior review for detailed info Service: the place was very busy when we walked in. The hostess was busy with something so we waited, but while waiting another person came right over and explained the host would be with us quickly, and she was. We waited a few minutes for them to prep our table and during that time another person, the manager, came over to make sure we'd been taken care or, so we never felt like we were ignored. After taking our seats, we waited a bit for our server to come. We don't mind waiting but this might be irritating to others. Eventually we got our water and discussed the cocktails with Stephanie. She was very well informed about the flavors of each item in the cocktails as well as the overall profile, and we asked lots of questions. We consider ourselves fairly well versed in cocktails but almost every single one had ingredients we'd never heard of. She was even telling us the history of grappa. Throughout the meal, she was incredibly well informed. We like to have advice for. Our servers because here they know the food so well. We also asked a couple other servers for their advice. Stephanie knew the wines as well and we didn't need to call over the sommelier b Our service was outstanding in friendliness and just making us feel very welcome. We didn't want to leave! And ended up staying four hours. Food: we wanted to try things we hadn't ordered last time. We started with the fried frater deli, which we looked up online and it said an Italian leaf but it was small green peppers instead which we love. They are lightly blistered, tossed with salt and really crunchy bread crumbs and some olive oil. I could have and almost did lick the bowl. They are not spicy. Then we tried the calamari salad. The calamari is roasted in the pizza oven and then tossed with lemon and large buter beans and then thin layers of house made pecorino are shaved over the top. The pecorino itself was fantastic. Unfortunately, the calamari was a mixed bag, some pieces tough and chewy, others nicely roasted and tender. It was served with an amazing amount of olive oil which I love but it seemed like too much for the salad. After being advised by two servers to try the clam and sausage pizza we did so, even though we do not like clams. The pizza crust is thin but not super thin, with bubbles of burnt crust (I would say its dryer and thicker then the city a16). It came with red sauce and incredibly flavorful sausage and clams in the shell which made them easy to remove when we confirmed that we still did not like them. But I would get the pizza again just for the sausage. We ended with the rabbit meatballs which were fantastic. Unlike the chicken ones they usually have, these were much richer and more moist but still with the good flavors of spice and herbs inside. It was served with arugula and just a little sauce. We also tried their melon salad with chunks of juices watermelon, thin slices of shallot, some kind of orange melon and grape to atones, every bite was a burst of flavor. Finally we had dessert. We tend not to order dessert finding that restaurant desserts tend not to live to the savory dishes. We asked the server which dessert was best and took her advice for the stone fruit crostata served with ricotta gelato. It was great with a cream cheese like crust so not flaky as much as chewy but it wasn't heavy. Lots of fruit inside and complimented by the cool, slightly tangy gelato which also had little crystals in it which I liked. We were also served the cheese plate, which i can't say enough good about. There were three cheese, each unique but my favorite was a local san Joaquin gold which was dry and tangy and excellent. They are served with honey comb (which was to die for), jam and something else, which I forgot because I was busily gobbling the honey. Very thin crackers are served with it. I would definitely order the cheese again. Wish they offered it as an appetizer. Drinks: We tried three of the six or seven cocktails and they were fantastic, well balanced with no heavy, pronounced flavors. The grappa drink comes with a roasted orange slice which was beautiful. The limoncello drink was not sweet but refreshing and cool and dry served with club soda and orange amaro i think. As always the wines were stellar. We asked for advice for each course and pretty much stuck with the half glasses so we could try a wide variety. Put the wines in the servers hands Final comments: we rarely return to the same restaurants because we are always looking to try new things. The exception to this is A16, which we've been coming too for about ten years, and I can say we've never been disappointed (in probably 30 visits or so) and many times our expectations are far exceeded. It is truly a treat to dine here. I don't write reviews for all our visits because it would be repetitive but this experience was so stellar I felt I had to note it. read more

We've dined at A16 Rockridge 10 times since they opened on College. Last nite we sat at the bar * in front of Pizza Chef Nick, who was very entertaining * and ably served by Anne and her team But when we ordered dessert, Dana appeared with complimentary tastes of an after-dinner wine just added to the menu --- all because CHRISTINA saw us and remembered us from other times serving us and wanted us recognized. Thanks to your Oakland team for a lovely evening!!! read more

Our waitress was very nice and we were seated right away despite the crowd. All in all though, I'd say the food was ok, but very expensive. I had calamari which would have been really good except they "padded" the dish with more fava beans than shell fish. Also had lasagna. It was good--but $30?? Restaurant was still very popular and crowded (read VERY loud). Three course meal lasted over two hours, so we were kinda itching to go towards the end. Also, the bathroom was pretty nasty. Not necessarily the restaurant's fault--how hard is it to pee INTO the urinal??! The floor definitely needed a cleaning. read more

Will not go here again. The service was terrible. The food and drinks were just okay and they kept bringing out the incorrect drink orders for our table of 6. For the $500 we paid, the service should've been excellent. Very disappointed. read more

The bosco pizza was delicious but make sure you don't get seated in the back room. It feels like a second class Italian restaurant, a completely different feel when compared to the main seating area of the restaurant. read more

Having been long time fans of A16 in San Francisco, it was exciting to learn that A16 is now at Rockridge. The interior feels much airier and roomier than the SF location yet it still has the four noise bombs. Once people get booze and pizza in them the noise level cranks up. The food was spot on. Everything tasted great and was cooked well. The dishes are consistently tasty. The pizza comes with an extra dough handle that turns out to be a gourmet hot pocket. Excellent! You cut your own pizza with the help of some scissors. This is nice if you just want specific parts of the pizza. The cod was buttery and flakey. Not a huge fan of the side of fried potato and ceci. Too much ceci, not enough potato. My family wasn't a huge fan of the bread pudding (too thick) but I thought it was just fine. All in all I really enjoyed everything that was brought out. Service and front of house needs improvement. The front of house was not that friendly. It felt like they were totally flabbergasted with many other tasks and reservations. Our server was fine but the entire staff felt overextended. At one point during service there was a gigantic crash of plates. It was funny to see a place come to a complete standstill for a place this loud. ____ Wednesday night and totally packed. People were waiting outside. This is the busiest joint on the block, and for good reason. read more

This review is just for Oakland Restaurant Week in January 2014. We love eating out (and have eaten at A16 in the city) and thought it would be fun to try A16 Rockridge during Restaurant Week. If we liked it, we would have made it a regular dining spot in the east bay. Well, to our disappointment, the Restaurant Week menu was inadequately prepared and just lacked of thought, flavor and quality. - The starter was fried olives, which were incredibly salty and perhaps should have been served as a smaller portion of olives alongside a complementing item (to offset the salt). I eat savory foods with strong flavors all the time and for me to think this dish was too salty says something. - My entree was orechiette pasta, which was cooked al dente and served with pancetta and cauliflower. The flavors were ok...minor complaint is there was a bunch of olive oil sitting at the bottom of the dish and looked somewhat unappetizing...and made the last bites of pasta pretty greasy to eat. - The dessert was cannoli. Maybe I'm not a big cannoli fan, but the fry on them felt overdone and it was hard to bit into (I was afraid by chomping down too hard the pieces would fly across the room). Also the filling didn't have much flavor. I left a whole one uneaten. Our general take away from this experience was that restaurants should pay more attention to their special event menus (e.g. Restaurant Week, Dining About Town) if their goal is to lure diners and hopefully make them regulars. These menus shouldn't be prepared with the assumption that those participating would either be on a budget (and therefore thankful for the seemingly good deal) or be inexperienced diners (and therefore not be discerning about their food). Sadly this place just lost a couple of potential new regulars. read more

We've found another go-to place! What great food. We started off with something all the Yelpers have been raving about, the Fried Olives. They're addictive. As good as they are, they've even better drizzled with the accompanying chili oil and with a squeeze of the accompanying lemon. I also tried the non-alcoholic Mocktail, made with watermelon juice and spicy chili. Amazing how well it worked. For main courses, I had the Watson Farm Mixed Roast, which combined a lamb chop, some sliced leg of lamb and some lamb sweetbreads. My wife had the California King Salmon. Both were perfectly seasoned. That salmon (she gave me _just_ a taste) was the most intense salmon, the most "salmon" salmon, I've ever tasted. My dish was savory deliciousness from first bite to last. You don't find sweetbreads that many places and these were exceptionally good. For a side, I had the Sugar Snap Peas with mint. They were cooked crisp-tender and the mint flavor was a perfect complement. The service was friendly, the ambiance was trendy but not obnoxiously so. We will definitely be back. read more

Absolutely love A16 Rockridge! We go there first for the wine!, and then the food. You are transported to Italy through the wine and food. It's a special dining experience every time! The menu is always amazing and always the best place for Pizza! read more

Went with a group of friends for Oakland Restaurant Week but the $30 prix fixe dinner was just a break-even deal. Instead we ordered a number of dishes and every single one was delicious. We started with the arancini that were delightfully crispy with a warm & gooey center. Then, we had the roasted calamari that were perfectly cooked with a delicious sauce & lightly fried beans, at our waiter's suggestion. I'd never had burrata before but it was really light and served with olive oil & sea salt, which really enhanced the creaminess of the cheese. For our second course we split the montanara and salsiccia pizzas, served with chili oil and pizza shears (the only way to cut your pizza). I liked the salsiccia with the homemade sausage and mushrooms. By the time the lamb chops & roasted root veggies came out, we were all on our way to being full. But we couldn't let that get in our way. I liked the potato gnocchi's creamy sauce but seemed to be the only one at the table that enjoyed the geoduck in the bucatini. I would definitely come back to try the rest of the dishes. Splitting a bunch of dishes was definitely the way to go over the prix fixe. read more

The food at A16 is delicious. The burrata and antipasti starters are wonderful, but a bit pricey. The pizzas are excellent -- the montanara with arugula is my favorite. However, the service is uneven and often quite slow. My waitress the other night had an unacceptable attitude and I was there for nearly two hours all together -- extremely slow and the restaurant wasn't even full. I will likely eat elsewhere next time I feel like pizza. read more

Pizza barely had any toppings and the Branzino fish was very small and tasted gamy and fishy. Would definitely not recommend this place. Small portions with high prices for mediocre quality. The service was subpar. read more

A very nice space. Appetizers were delicious (calamari in particular was outstanding). Appetizers were... not delicious. I had a pasta that was salty to the point of being inedible. The service was... indifferent (and that's being generous). Just a general sense of annoyance and clear desire to be anywhere else but there. Would go back for appetizers and a glass of wine at the bar -- not for dinner. Too many other good choices. read more

My husband and I had been wanting to try A16 for a long time -- we've only heard good things. Let me start by saying that the food and drinks were outstanding. I had a pizza and my husband had the trout, both of which were delicious. Food came out quickly: even better. I also had a mocktail and it was better than any real cocktail I've ever had!! The service, however, completely marred our experience. We love to make conversation with the waiters and get tips, but our waiter just would not stop talking to us. He explained, in extreme detail, about 90% of the individual items on the menu. Everything from when he likes to eat it, what makes the best leftovers, how many times he's had the item, how big it is, stories about his experience with it, etc.He was easily at our table for 8-10 minutes just talking at rapid speed. I wish I was exaggerating. We kept trying to order (when he mentioned how great the trout was my husband said yes, I'll have the trout) but he just ignored us and kept talking. For a moment, we thought we must be on a hidden camera show, but we weren't. The rest of the dinner was spent nervous he was coming back to our table, our eyes darting around the restaurant and making sure there were no lulls/opportunities in our conversation. Someone at management, please teach him proper etiquette!!! As badly as I want to, I cannot recommend this place knowing someone else could have this experience. read more

Thank goodness, a new chef has made a difference. Our first lunch 2 yrs ago was a disaster, but this dinner with friends had some very good dishes. Kohlrabi/arugula salad. Mild vinaigrette, fried capers, paper-thin kohlrabi combined with fine quality baby arugula for an excellent salad. Mixed chicories with lemon/colatura dressing was also very good. If croutons had been more neatly cut instead of big sloppy dice, would be easily 4.5 star. Little details matter! Pizzas Neapolitan style, something we don't admire. Bosco was too starchy altho housemade ricotta was very tasty. Salsiccia was okay: needed less stringy onions, enough oregano/chile to be actually noticeable, and maybe an upgrade to a fior di bufalo mozzarella for more flavor. Potato gnocchi. Very well executed, best dish of the group. Coulotte steak. Good, but requested medium-rare came medium. A16 grills European style, so if you want medium-rare (an American custom), ask for rare here. Also, not an especially tasty steak, probably needed to be pre-salted to develop more flavor. Yogurt panna cotta was good altho I could have done w/o the granola, which I considered a silly garnish and distracting. Cappuccino was executed properly, unlike 98% of restaurants who make it Starbucks latte-style. So: not great, but not bad either. If you can't get into Desco or Boot and Shoe, A16 Rockridge isn't a bad back-up. read more

Had ourselves a lazy Saturday afternoon on this one block in Oakland. A16 was the star of the show. We came in just as they opened the dinner service without a reservation. We started at the bar with a tasty appetizer and a couple of very nice glasses of wine at happy hour prices. We were shown to a table and festivities continued with a couple of great hanger steaks. Service was spot-on as were wine suggestions. There was a couple with a child and said child was roaming around inside and out which got distracting but that's not A16's fault. I love Rockridge but I wouldn't get lost in liquor and let my kids roam the neighborhood. But that's just me I guess. read more

I went to A16 after reading about how it was one of the "Best Pizzas in America" according to a CNN.com article about a week back. I'll keep this short: The two pizzas that we ordered were phenomenal. We tried the Rockridge pizza, the one with the lightly fried dough. It kinda tasted like the pizza was made on Indian Fry Bread. The sauce was kind of smokey and had a bit of a BBQ flavor to it. Fantastic.Also went well with the chili oil they bring to the table. We also ordered the pizza with the Ricotta in the handle and the green olives. Again, this pizza was amazing. Nothing bad to say about it at all. The pizza shears were also a fun touch (which we used to divide the pizza however we liked). This is not a place to go if you are really hungry and want a classic pizza (See: Emilia's). However, I think that it will fit in perfectly to the area where trendy pizzas are the norm (see: Pizzaiolo). Would definitely go back! read more

A16 - Montanara Rockridge - Italian Near Me - Oakland, California

See all

We decided to make a trek to Oakland instead of driving across the bridge into the city. What a great alternative. We tried the Smoked Burrata and it was fantastic. The Margarita Pizza Perfect, Restaurant has a cool looking vibe that is a cross between Industrial chic meets Italian wine country. Service was great the reason for the four stars is that our waitress had a tag along trainee. I prefer to have one experienced person waiting on us it takes away from the mood when the waiter is looking over to make sure the trainee is understanding. Yes we will be back. read more

Cheers for the El Pepe, a very very tasty way to ease into a day, when even the thought of caffeine jangles the nerve endings. The room was empty for a Sunday lunch, just three other tables were occupied; so, the midday light, high ceilings, and comfortable bench seating made for a very pleasant atmosphere. With a crowd, the room could become raucous. The salsiccia pizza was delivered atop scissors, with only the mysterious curlique of a handle peeking out. The toppings were delicious, although the thin crust seemed a little bread-y and underdone. This was a cut-and-fold-to-eat sort of crust. The nectarine ice cream was wonderful. I put down my reading in order to savor each spoonful. Service was a bit odd. The staff would all disappear periodically, and then reappear en masse, like waves on a beach. read more