We dined here for Christmas Eve and had a nice lunch. They serve lunch from 11-2 but were accommodating in allowing our group of 12 to order at 215pm. They then switch to a Snack menu until Dinner hours. The restaurant is located in a hotel on the 10th floor and was nicely decorated for Christmas. The bathrooms were very nice down a hallway with meeting rooms. We parked on the street which was paid parking at $3 an hour. I ordered the Hot Smoked Chicken Club. It has lettuce, tomato, cucumber on a roll. I enjoyed it but would have loved some sort of sauce to add a bit more flavor. My husband had the Lamb Merguez which had more flavor and was a sandwich covered in French fries. The fries were a little hard in my opinion. We also ordered drinks but my husband was brought an Old Fashioned instead of a Manhattan. Unclear if it was the waitress or bartender with the mistake. He drank it anyways to not cause an issue. read more

See all

Beautiful views of Oakland area. I was in town for a few days and my nieces treated me to breakfast. Heather was our fabulous waitress and answered any questions we had. I had the buttermilk pancakes with fresh blueberries, so delicious! One niece had the breakfast sandwich with wedge potatoes which she really enjoyed and I tried her potatoes and they were cooked perfectly and flavorful. My other niece had the smoked salmon and she loved it! The ambiance is hotel bar with comfy chairs and I particularly loved the black and white bathroom! Everything was sparkling clean. read more

See all

We had a great waiter, the inside seemed clean, and the food was good (very good scallops) except it seemed as if the truffle fries lacked any truffle. No issues with bringing a baby & stroller inside either. We were there right when it opened for dinner so it wasn't very busy, which I prefer. read more

Spirits & Tales - Fruits De Mer Fettuccine - Lounges Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

This restaurant is on the tenth floor of a hotel in Oakland. You have to valet park ($12), or park on the street. The place was dark inside when I was there, but had a nice ambiance and floor to ceiling windows. Two of my friends had a really hard time reading the menu because of how dark it was. The service was a little slow and lacked personality. The charcuterie was pretty basic. I ordered a few raw oysters that were good and fresh but not the best I've had. The highlight of the meal was the French onion soup, it came in the perfect deep bowl and was delicious. The short rib meal was slightly dry and the "haricot verts" turned out to be undercooked, crunchy green beans with a tasty sauce. I'm picky about my Old Fashioned cocktails and they did a good job with the single square ice cube and maraschino cherry. I would not recommend the poached pear dessert unless you're trying to lose weight and want a pear with some crushed graham crackers with a smear of Nutella. My bill was outrageous and I will not be back. read more

Well, this was a bit of a mixed bag. My boyfriend and I have been excited to try this bar for a while. We finally decided to stop by for Happy Hour Friday for a pre-dinner drink. The bar is in the Oaklander Hotel, part of the Autograph Collection, so it is really nice. The bar is on a top floor, with beautiful views of Oakland. I really liked the atmosphere. We sat at the bar and started looking at the menu. The bartender didn't tell us it was Happy Hour, and we specifically had to ask for the Happy Hour menu. Ultimately my boyfriend decided on the Could You Be Loved, a perfect fall cocktail with apple cider, rum, and a cinnamon stick. I ordered the Pour Some Sugar On Me. The drink I received didn't match what I was expecting, but I took a sip. The drink was sweet and summery -- not at all matching the bourbon chai drink I ordered. I knew it was the wrong drink for sure then, and mentioned this to the bartender. She said she had the other drink on her mind (what I received, the Bartender Please) and laughed. She didn't offer to make me the correct drink which I ordered, and didn't apologize. It was awkward and I didn't know what to do, so I figured I wouldn't cause an issue and would drink it. Then, she charged me full price. As someone who loves bourbon and fall drinks, there were many drinks on the menu (their seasonal drinks all sounded amazing!) I would have rather had than a drink I didn't order for $15. Though the atmosphere is nice, and my boyfriend enjoyed his drink, this was a really disappointing experience for me. read more

See all

Came for brunch on a Saturday. Atmosphere is nice with great view of Oakland. It's on the 10th floor of the hotel. Bloody Mary was average (make sure you get the bacon in the drink, it was really good!) but the omelet was delicious. Bloody Mary and omelet was $30. I would come again. read more

Spirits & Tales - Omelet that came with side salad $18 - Lounges Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

See all

Went for Sunday brunch with a dear friend and can say the food was absolutely delicious. I had the French breakfast and later ordered a country ham melt. I was hungry y'all! I loved the presentation of the food as well as the general atmosphere. I went around 10:30 on a Sunday and was shocked to see there were still plenty of tables available, but that is not to say there was no one there. There was a live band playing very lovely jazz music while we dined. It was not very loud and perfect for conversation with a close friend. I was not up to drinking that day but the drinks on the menu and bar area looked spectacular. I would have no qualms about ordering a drink here. Service was very average despite the food. My coffee kept arriving lukewarm and the food took forever despite it not being at full capacity. Hence why I knocked two stars from this review. The real silver lining here is the view of the Cathedral of Learning from the balcony area. read more

Really overpriced bad food. Burnt woody asparagus, lebnah under flavored, patatas bravos over salted with blobs of bland mayo. Also- one vegetarian option was out when we arrived so we ordered the other only option and were told after a while that was out too. Changing the menu and just don't care to see the old one through. We were told that tomorrow though, we could be the first to try out the new menu. Great. No. read more

A nice hotel in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh houses a small restaurant on the 10th floor. Spirits & Tales is a pretty standard American place, with good breakfast choices and just okay dinner options. The breakfast has your standard options -- waffles, french toast, eggs. There are lots of egg options, which helps show the chef's expertise in working with egg dishes. Service can be slow, especially during lunch hours. Overall, the place isn't anything special, and doesn't have a whole lot of options to make it a very complete restaurant. read more

I'd been here for lunch, which was fairly good with a spectacular view. We came for dinner before a lecture at the Carnegie Library with high expectations. Let me also preface to say that I eat out quite a bit and have explored many great restaurants in Pittsburgh and elsewhere. Maybe this is a nice place for cocktails - hard for me to say. For dinner, it's a definite "no," to the point that we discussed walking out to grab something at The Porch instead. (My wife and I are now at home eating more food as I write this.) When we sat down, we mentioned that we were trying to catch a lecture - with about an hour and a half. The waitress kind of chuckled. (She knew what we didn't - service was *exceedingly* slow.) I'll start with food. It was just okay. We tried a few small plates and I ordered the gnocchi entree. - The cheese plate had 3 unidentified cheeses - no one bothered to tell us about it. I could probably pick these up at Trader Joe's - the sizes were maybe for an elf. - The roasted carrot dish was a strange combination of flavors -- it was also tiny. - The gnocchi entree was pitifully small - maybe it should have been put under the small plates? (I attach a photo). Overall, it was overcooked and extremely salty. I'm sure you're thinking that old joke about someone complaining about the food - and that there wasn't much of it. It's true here - made worse because the service was so slow that we joked about eating the cheese board. Service was bad. Sorry, it was. - One waitress came to take our small plates. She didn't bother to ask if we were finished (we weren't - we were starving) - she just started to take the plates. - Staff disappeared for long stretches - we tried several times to flag people to ask for our plates and then we'd see no one for 10 minutes or more. This happened several times. - No one ever came to ask how the food was - they'd just drop things off and disappear. If you want to get a beer and a burger - those looked pretty good at the next table. Otherwise, go someplace else. read more

Spirits & Tales - Tiny 'entree' of gnocchi - Lounges Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

I have been staying at the Oaklander Hotel since it opened. And before Covid, I always looked forward to eating at Spirits & Tales. But since Covid, the quality and actual preparation of the food has declined to a disappointing degree. I understand that there was a change in chef which has been for the worse. The menus promise good quality ingredients and interesting though sometimes strange combinations of ingredients and preparations. Last night I ordered a duck confit salad. I was served a CHICKEN LEG, not a duck leg! They actually tried to pass a chicken leg off as duck! I asked to speak to the manager. He was professional and took it back. But he said that the chef in duty said it was duck. As Food and Breakfast Manager, he should know the difference. They offered me a "wagyu" beef burger instead because it would take 25 minutes to prepare a new "duck" and it was almost 10 pm. (I had already waited a very long time for the CHICKEN LEG.) I ordered the burger rare. After over 30 minutes, it came very WELL DONE! At that point, I was starving and ate it but did not enjoy it, it was ruined. The manager came back to check on the burger and I showed him that it was well done. He apologized and told me he would cover the cost of my meal and "email the chef." I told him he needs to find a. new chef. What I don't understand is he was not troubled in the least by the fact that his restaurant is deceiving their customers by serving chicken and calling it duck! Maybe most people wouldn't know the difference but there is a huge difference and as someone who is very involved in the food and wine world, who is an accomplished French cook at home, I was not fooled. The waitress was sweet and handled the situation well. The ambience was lively, much too loud for my taste but it is a bar and a restaurant. Another interesting thing is that one of the only French wines on their list is Whispering Angel Rose. They list it as from Washington State, not France on their wine list! But at least it is available by the glass, though they offer a very short pour by the glass. It's a shame to see a once very good restaurant deteriorate as it has and I am not sure the management knows the difference nor cares. read more

A few of us got together here for a work lunch meeting and all expectations were certainly met . I had the tuna crudo and it was fresh from the fish to the greens it had been served beside. Others received the rivendale salad with salmon , arugula cucumber salad with chicken and the spinach Caesar - they looked phenomenal and the feedback was great . The only thing that was odd was , when I called the day prior to see if they could fit 5 of us at 12pm, they could not . The hostess mentioned that they could seat us at 12:15 but that there were parties before us. We arrived at 12 and there was only 2 tables sat - so I'm not sure what other "parties" they were referring to or why they almost gave up a party of 5 for what looked like no reason at all. Regardless , the food was amazing and the atmosphere was very nice being at the top of the hotel . We would go back . read more

Romantic setting on the 10th floor of The Oaklander Hotel. The view was good, service attentive and food hit the spot. Start with dessert - the chocolate crème brûlée to be sure. It will feed 4. It's a cross between a mousse and crème brûlée. The vegan bolognese was good; so was the labne. Cocktails were clever, but a bit light on the spirit. Enjoyable meal. Unexpectedly nice setting. read more

Spirits & Tales - Chocolate Crème Brulee - Lounges Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

See all

I'm a frequent guest at this hotel. My colleagues and I decided to eat at Spirit & Tales this past Tuesday night. One of my colleagues and I decided to order the Waygu burger. We both asked for our burgers to be medium-cooked. We received our orders, and both our burgers were well done and cooked. The order also came with fries. The fries were rubbery and not crispy. My colleague couldn't finish his meal, and I powered through to finish my burger. read more

If you had told me that I'd ever utter the phrase "Oakland looks so beautiful!" I would've thought you were lying. Yes, THAT Oakland: concrete jungle where educational dreams are made of. Well, joke's on me, because those were the first words out of my mouth as I entered the open, light-filled space on the 10th floor of The Oaklander Hotel that is occupied by Spirits & Tales. Seriously... who knew the neighborhood looked so pretty from above street level?! The menu is varied, whether you're here for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. You'll find anything from sandwiches and salads to full entrees of fish and chicken. They also offer oysters and small plates and a gorgeous, fully-stocked bar to wash it all down. For my brunch order I elected to get the Jambon-Buerre sandwich, which consisted of a generous helping of serrano ham, topped with cheese, a rosemary apple mustard and a fresh cabbage slaw for the perfect crunch. The bread was toasted just right and I felt that the sandwich, which is accompanied by dressed greens or fries, was a fair portion for the price. My brunch buddy Shannon ordered the Dutch Baby Pancake and found her meal to be a delight as well. I've also had the fortune of trying the horseradish gnocchi, which was one of the first dishes to catch my eye when I got a glimpse of the full restaurant menu. I love horseradish and I love gnocchi, so combining them into one tasty little pillow of perfection? *chef's kiss* The horseradish is actually incorporated into the gnocchi, and it's served with oyster mushrooms, sauteed kale, and a delightful spread of black pepper ricotta that is worthy of its own spot on the menu. Overall, the food and atmosphere were excellent. Service was also top notch, as our waitress kept our coffee full and was attentive enough while still allowing us to enjoy a leisurely, chatty brunch. I look forward to coming back soon to try more of the menu, sip on a cocktail, and enjoy the view that you'll just have to see for yourself! read more

Spirits & Tales - Horseradish gnocchi with black pepper ricotta. Yum! - Lounges Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

See all

Beautiful hotel restaurant with great views and fun food. In detail ... The vibe: Great hotel restaurant and bar! We stayed here for a wedding and loved this spot for both dining and room service. It's super cute and chic, full bar, has a great views of the city. Room service was also easy, efficient, and respectful. What we ordered: We ate a *lot* on the menu and most enjoyed the french onion soup (delicious!!! had it twice), the wild mushroom ravioli, the breakfast sandwich (sub the potato hash for a side of maple sausage), the whipped ricotta, olive starter, the beet salad, the lobster and corn bisque, and the frittata. (We also got the burgers which were perfectly fine.) Cocktails are great too: we especially enjoyed the S&T Bloody Mary's, their Derby Mule, and the rotating Cocktail for a Cause. Good for: I'm sure this restaurant would be a good fit for anyone with a business meeting to impress or someone looking for an upscale feeling date, and it's certainly a wonderful choice for wedding groups. Server and bar staff were respectful and efficient. Kind and helpful manager Andy who can help with big group reservations. read more

Extremely disappointed with the quality of the food along side the service. Given the price of the menu items the food tasted very bland, stale and old. We order truffle Parmesan frites and there was hardly anything on it. It was more or less just plain old fries. Furthermore, we were treated very poorly by our server to a point where we were pretty much chased out of the restaurant. They were so rude and showed no courtesy towards us. Extremely disappointed given the expectation we had towards this restaurant. read more

Spirits & Tales - Truffle Parmesan Frites - Lounges Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

This place is amazing! Was very impressed by the ambiance and the setup of the restaurant. I only had cocktails and french fries, but I was impressed by both. Others at my table had full plates and raved about the taste. This place will be amazing for brunch in the summertime given the open concept and amount of windows. The handcrafted cocktails were delicious and packed a nice punch. A word to the wise try their take on ginger juice its absolutely delicious. I recommend trying this place immediately. read more

We came here for a group brunch on a sunny Sunday. Located on the 10th floor of The Oaklander Hotel, the view is expansive across Oakland. Count yourself lucky if you find street parking and if not there is a parking garage across the street under the Sailors and Soldiers Museum and also valet. Our 10-person party comfortably fit in a private room to the side of the bar. The service was excellent. The drinks and food were excellent. It's stellar brunch seems to still be a secret as the restaurant was not crowded. The ambiance and industrial chic decor reminds me of another hotel restaurant I adore so the more of these the merrier. I definitely plan to return for another group brunch because I enjoyed it so much. I ordered the spinach scramble hash. Next time maybe the Avocado Toast. read more

See all

Fantastic new spot! Amazing cocktails (I would highly suggest the Andies Drink and the Butterfly Effect)! Fernando was amazing in his service. And Derrick is here from Needle and Pin so I expect the cocktail program to always be on point. We had a few snacks. The Cheese plate was wonderful. Can't wait to come back for dinner and try more of Chef Jessica Lewis's menu! read more

See all

Excellent !! The atmosphere was electric . Charles and The team that served our party of nine were world class. Will return soon to try the new menu offers and of course enjoy the best cocktail in the city! read more

Service could be a bit slow at times but the food is worth the wait! For the first evening I had duck, and it was so good I had it for the second evening too! For breakfast the first morning I had the avocado toast on gluten free bread, and the second morning I had the oatmeal. For an appetizer the first night, I had the sweet potato beignet. They were warm, soft, puffy and just plain delicious. For dessert the first night I also had the almond cake and it was delicious. They were unfortunately out the second night. read more

See all

Cool ambience, and great views of Oakland. If I was staying at the hotel, I'd be relatively pleased at the option of having Spirit and Tales above me. I do think they desperately need a roof/outdoor bar though. The food/drink was so/so. For drinks, the menu is rather pedestrian and it feels like a better effort could go into it. Beer list is a lot of "micro" (read macro) beers: Lagunitas, Cigar City, Founders. Nothing bad, but nothing you can't find in any bar these days. Wine options are satisfactory, and cocktails the same. We started with the smoked trout and horseradish dip, and the whipped ricotta. The fish aspect was decent, albeit it a bit dry. The horseradish must have skipped town. The ricotta was pretty good. It was after all...ricotta. There's no bread service. For meals. I had the pork chop, with harissa and asparagus, cooked at the recommend medium-rare. My wife had the mussels and fries, and my in laws had the mahi and branzino. The branzino got better remarks than the mahi, though I tried neither. Both look appealing and were nice portions. The pork was overcooked and it was served with a butter knife. Either oversight or overconfidence but presuming the former. The harissa sauce was decent, but the dish came with no sides. I thought there would be an asparagus side, but it was actually just a few thinly sliced asparagus incorporated into the chop as a garnish. A little underwhelming and it looked very naked on the plate. My wife's mussels were ok, although the white wine sauce was heavy dill..good if that's your thing. The fries she got were quite good and the garlic aioli was surpsingly better than one would expect for just a condiment. All in all, hard for me to imagine coming back, but it's not the worst option, in a pinch. I say check it out once and see for yourself, but don't get too excited. read more

Arrived for a 6:15pm reservation on a Thursday night and found that they were overwhelmed due to having a cocktail hour private event. They were clearly understaffed, with only two bartenders to handle that whole event plus the restaurant. Dirty dishes sat for 30+ minutes with no one to bus them. The thing that staff did best was total avoidance of eye contact or acknowledgement when trying to order a drink while waiting. We gave up and left. I received a phone call at 7:15pm when a table was finally ready but declined. read more

Food was mediocre at best. I Expect much more from A Marriott property. The octopus was overcooked and mushy w and didn't taste fresh. Breakfast croissant was microwaved. read more

Now I don't give 3 stars lightly. I'll admit my dinner experience was solid, but I saw first had how the pandemic had really shattered the service industry at this place. Breakfast service is a tragedy. Cold oatmeal. No utensils and items missing from my order on day 1. Day 2, no water offered, no spoon for coffee, didn't even ask me if I wanted coffee at first Look. At 250$ a night and 20$ for breakfast, you have an expectation. That expectation was not even close to met. It may seem like I'm being nitpicky, but there is a standard of service and it's gonna be an up hill climb to get there. read more

Happy Birthday to my wife ! The staff is amazing and so professional ! Thanks Charles and team ! The cocktails were superb! Will be back for a Sunday Funday! I had the short ribs poutine and it was out of this world good My wife had the scallops . She will leave her review but she said They were fabulous and perfectly done Kudos to the Chef !! Make your plans to celebrate with this team soon They are first rate ! Kudos All Desiree you are great ! We felt so welcome and enjoyed our moments with you ! Pittsburgh's finest! Gratitude ! Thanks read more

See all

My husband and I went to the bar for a cocktail and the view. The bartender was tied up with a large party so who I believe who was the GM offered to take our drink order, which was thoughtful at the time. I ordered a sangria, my husband a glass of wine. What we were given was no more than 3 oz of wine and what tasted and looked like lemon seltzer water for the sangria. It was disappointing and underwhelming when you're going strictly for cocktails. Make sure the bartender is making your drinks. read more

Stopped in before a Pitt BB game for dinner with some friends that enjoy S&T. The room is very nice with a great view of Oakland with a large bar and nice area for cocktails. Our waitress was helped out by food runners and other waitresses. Even with the assistance, the service seemed a bit disjointed. The place was busy and our waitress seemed to have quite a few tables. We ordered some drinks and wine by the glass. The pours of wine were very different even though the same wine was in the glasses. One glass was filled properly and the other had about half as much. So then they asked for a second glass and it happened again??? Maybe the staff at the bar should have a glass behind the bar with a making on it to tell them how much goes in a glass! Later on a different waitress come to check on us and someone asked for an other drink. That drink was forgotten until we asked our waitress who promptly filled the order. As for the food. It was really good. Spilt the Short Rib Poutine and the Vegan Bolonese which was outstanding. The homemade pasta with some Brussel leaves and mushrooms was a real hit. The poutine was very good too. Others really enjoyed there meals too. read more

Spirits & Tales is an elegant top-floor bar in the classy Oaklander Hotel. They feature a long cocktail list and an expansive menu, with a healthy selection of small plates and entrees. I ordered a local beer and the duck entree. The duck itself was acceptable. The meat was cooked to the perfect medium rare, as requested, though the meat wasn't the freshest or most tender. The dish was served with lentils and puréed carrots. The carrots were fine, but the lentils were undercooked and difficult to eat. The staff was friendly, but they took a long time to greet and serve me. I was seated at the bar for a good 15 minutes before I was even acknowledged. The place was empty and the staff seemed to be having difficulty with the soda dispenser. Overall an okay spot, but at true prices they charge, one can expect more. read more

We'd gone for our anniversary and had been placed in a more private area of the restaurant without needing to request it. The food and view were amazing, made all the more awesome because of our waiter, Christopher. He was so, so kind and attentive the entire night. Fun and personable and made our evening that much more special. Would recommend this restaurant if only because of him and what he added to an already terrific experience. read more

I'll keep it short and simple: I wouldn't come back for dinner. I would consider returning for a couple drinks for a date night. I think you pay for the view, which is pretty cool. I went to Pitt and now work at Pitt, so it wasn't anything life changing, but campus is pretty so we enjoyed it. Our food really wasn't great. I got the wagyu burger. It was nothing special. For some reason it didn't have any toppings on it, but I was so hungry I didn't even ask for them to take it back. The bacon was good but squishy. The fries were incredibly underwhelming--cold and dry. My mom got the halibut; the fish was mild and tender and it was cooked well, but it had little to no seasoning--not even salted. The coconut curry was tasty but didn't have the blast of flavor you hope for when you get coconut curry at a Thai place, for example. The cocktails were nice--overpriced--but pretty good. Mine had a decent amount of booze in it so I was satisfied by that. The service was great. Our waitress was super nice. The decor is cool. That's... about it. read more

Spirits & Tales - The view from a table for two - Lounges Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

See all

The food is decent, but the service is extremely slow. Dinner took more than an hour to get our food. Lamb chop was overcooked. Breakfast took more than 30 minutes for an omelette and salmon on toast. Omelette came with cheese when we ordered it without. read more

Writing this after suffering through dinner here. Wow, nothing at all good to say about this place. We stopped here because it was packed when we checked in to the hotel, so it seemed quite popular. The service is a new low. The restaurant is empty but the waitress sat us at a table next to the service area, which was noisy. The view was not great. The waitress came twice quickly while we were reading the menu, then disappeared in the back to chat with the other servers. We could hear her talking in the kitchen but it took some effort to flag her down. She took the order, went to check on the availability of one item, but had to be reminded to take my wine order. Where to begin about the food? The soup tasted liked it came from a bottle of coriander mint sauce from an Indian restaurant. Just a few rood vegetables in there. The duck was miserable. Way overcooked, not pink at all. The skin was not crispy, rather just wet. I was hungry and ate it, otherwise would have returned it. Reheated olives were over-priced and not tasty. My friend is throwing up the soup as I write this review. Unbelievable to have such a restaurant in a nice and trendy hotel. No idea why there are any reviews more than one star. read more

Great place for drinks and food and the view of Oakland is awesome. Thanks for reading my Yelp review have a good one.

Came here for brunch on the weekend! This is a nice addition to Oakland as there are not a lot of nicer sit down options around here. The restaurant is on the 10th floor and overlooks all of Oakland. The decor is very trendy. We started with the pain perdu to share. The food did take quite a bit of time to come, so if you are in a hurry be aware of that. The french toast presentation was excellent, but it also tasted delicious. I then had the dutch baby, which was unique as it had a fried egg on top of this pancake soufflé. My friends had the avocado toast and were very pleased as well. Overall, an excellent brunch in Oakland. Glad to see some not fast casual restaurants open in the area. read more

This place is definitely worth checking out and a great addition to the Oakland brunch scene! The avo toast was delicious and filling. Also tried the Pain Perdu-- not your ordinary French toast but an interesting twist and worth a try! The portions were all really large, the only negative was the service was a bit slow. Enjoyed the views from the restaurant as well as the outdoor terrace but wish there were tables for outdoor seating read more

Spirits & Tales - Pain Perdu French toast - Lounges Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

See all

I had the most fabulous brunch with friends here this past weekend! The food, service, atmosphere, and views left nothing to be desired. Oakland has long catered to inebriated college students with its restaurant scene, so it's wonderful finally having a classy establishment where I can envision having post-work drinks or dinner. We started with cocktails for the group, followed by raw oysters. My negroni was strong and perfectly executed. (I can't stand an overly sweet negroni.) Our East Coast/West Coast oyster tasting was light but fresh and served as the perfect transition between drinks and heavier fare. I had the spicy chicken hash with poblano peppers, sweet potatoes, and regular potatoes. Topped with a fried egg it was zesty and filling without being overly heavy or greasy. Others in my group had the baked eggs with toast, the salmon crepe, and the cornmeal waffle topped with berries. Everyone enjoyed their meals, although I think my boyfriend was jealous of my hash since he ended up with the salmon crepe and wanted something heartier. Of note, I like how the chef has incorporated greens or veggies into so many of the dishes. I feel like anything beyond eggs, meat, starch, or dessert for breakfast is a rarity with brunch. Overall we left feeling satisfied and thoroughly relaxed, and I'm certain we'll be back in the very near future! read more

I was anxiously awaiting the opening of this hotel and restaurant as Oakland has a great need for an upscale eatery and bar. From the second we walked in none of us in our group felt welcome. My one friend was early and it was ten minutes before the bartender even greeted her. It took awhile for us to be seated and then another ten minutes to get our coffee. It was about an hour for our group of six to get our meals. I had an "appetizer" of a tiny bobka, which was delicious. My entree, a ham sandwich, was so oversalted I couldn't eat the other half. The fries came cold. I will give props to the space - it is gorgeous. The bathrooms were immaculate. The view is probably one of the best in Oakland. Let's hope things improve, especially in regards to the attitudes of the staff. read more

Cool atmosphere but bad service and unimpressive menu. It took a 20+ min to get my first drink and upon noticing that, I kept an eye out and most others waited equally as long. They also forgot to bring out my soup and after 30 min when asking about it, then it magically showed up 5min later. As a guest at the hotel, it's certainly worth the walk elsewhere read more