The Speisekammer in Alameda is a delightful German restaurant that never fails to impress. I…read morerecently visited after a long break since the pandemic, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that their culinary expertise and friendly staff have remained unchanged. The food is still as delicious as ever, and the staff is more than happy to guide you through their extensive menu to find the perfect dish that suits your taste buds. One of the standout features of The Speisekammer is its large screen TVs, making it an ideal spot to watch the World Cup soccer matches. The cocktails are equally impressive, expertly crafted and bursting with flavor. During the fall, The Speisekammer truly comes alive with Oktoberfest celebrations. They throw an extravagant German party that is unlike any other in the East Bay. The outdoor patio is a great place to enjoy the beautiful weather and socialize with friends. I highly recommend The Speisekammer for anyone looking for a fun and delicious German dining experience. I plan to return soon to catch some soccer matches with friends and soak in the lively atmosphere.

4 stars Went with…read moresome friends. Appetizer: Reibekuchen/crispy potato "pancakes": more like croquettes but quite delicious with excellently subtle seasoning. Paired well with the apple sauce or alternatively the sour cream. Dinner: Weissekohl Rouladen/cabbage leaves stuffed with seasoning beef and mashed potato side. Really enjoyed it! Wasn't too heavy.

Brotzeit Lokal commands a beautiful view of the water from its cozy dining room and outdoor beer…read moregarden. The menu features traditional Bavarian fare, and we started with the Bier Snack Platter, an appetizer board that came with a warm pretzel, braunschweiger (venison pate), salami, obatzda (Brie, Pilsner, and cream cheese spread), spicy peanuts, and pickled egg/veggies. The soft pretzel wasn't particularly authentic and lacked a chewy texture, but I was a fan of the slightly funky, creamy venison braunschweiger. From the selection of sausages, we tried the weisswurst (a white veal and pork sausage), a duck with Vermont cheese sausage, and a smoked Montana venison sausage. My favorite was definitely the non-traditional duck with cheese, which had a nice meaty flavor and unctuousness from the cheese. Finally, we had the Jägerschnitzel, a pan-fried pork cutlet topped with a wild mushroom cream sauce, and served with sides of sauerkraut, rotkohl (sweet braised red cabbage), and spätzle (egg noodles). My favorite side was the spätzle, which had been lightly pan-fried and had a nice caramelized, crispy texture. Overall, the food here was all decent, though most of the items weren't particularly fresh tasting or authentic. The duck sausage was a highlight, but I wouldn't go out of my way for the food here.

I wanted to like Brotzeit. It was my first visit, and I was genuinely looking forward to trying the…read morefood. Unfortunately, the experience was frustrating from start to finish. I ordered food to go, including the meat and pickled vegetable selection, pretzels, and cheese sauce. When I got home, I realized the cheese sauce was missing. I tried calling the restaurant multiple times, but no one answered the phone, so I had to drive all the way back to retrieve an item that should have been included in the first place. That ate up about 40 minutes of my evening. When I returned, I received a small apology, but no meaningful attempt to make things right -- no comp, no offer of a dessert, no gesture of goodwill. For a first-time customer who had to make a second trip because of the restaurant's error, that felt pretty disappointing. The pretzel situation was also confusing and left a bad taste. The menu lists "add a pretzel" for $3 under the meat and pickled vegetable selection. When I ordered, the server told me the pretzel came with the meal. Based on that, I reasonably assumed that if I ordered an additional pretzel, the extra charge would be $3. Instead, I was charged both $3 and another $6.50 for the extra pretzel. When I asked about it later, I was told the pricing was structured that way for gluten-free customers, but that was not explained when I ordered. The menu and verbal explanation did not match the final charge, and it felt misleading. To make matters worse, the house-made pretzel itself was disappointing. There wasn't even any salt on it. At a German restaurant, a pretzel should be one of the easiest things to get right: salty, chewy, browned, and satisfying. This was not that. Between the missing cheese sauce, the unanswered phone, the extra drive, the confusing charges, the lack of a meaningful service recovery, and the underwhelming pretzel, this was not a good first impression. I left feeling taken advantage of rather than welcomed as a new customer. I understand mistakes happen. What matters is how a restaurant handles them. In this case, Brotzeit had a clear opportunity to turn an annoying mistake into a decent customer service moment, and they didn't. I'm actually pretty upset writing this review. I forked over a lot of money, I'm and I dont have a huge going out budget, I work caregiving and I sometimes want to give myself a treat, and this whole interaction really set my evening off poorly. I ate later than I intended which cuts into my sleep, which in turn does NOT set me up for having the energy and mental strength to do my job, and I actually feel MISLED by the menu and explanation by the waitstaff and the apology and nothing else, no acknowledgment for the time wasted, and not even a "what can I do, let's make it right." Total. Disappointment. Yeah I am NOT A HAPPY CUSTOMER!! I shall NOT be giving ONE THIN DIME MORE OF MY HARD EARNED MONEY to this business!! They haven't returned my voicemail regarding my bad experience. They obviously don't care. And the cheese spread I did get smelled spoiled the day after. Didnt want to eat it.

Great food, affordable for SF! Will definitely return when back on west Coast…read more Ambiance was like an indoor bierhalle in floor to ceiling windows. Good food for the price.

One of my friends is a server at Wursthall, and she said it's closing! I had to try it and wanted…read moreto be there for her last shift before they permanently closed. Ordered two sausages, two burgers, one salad, and one of each side. Also tried the chicken schnitzel. My only regret is not coming here sooner! It's a very laid back, yet charming spot with high ceilings, beers, bench-tables, and an upstairs! They even played the Giants game on their screens. Everything tasted well-thought out, and the price point was fair. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, but I'm glad I tried it before it's gone.

Quality/Quantity - We almost did NOT come today. After circling for parking 3+ times, I told my…read morefamily if we don't find a space this last drive by, we will go to a different brewery and/or a different place for dinner tonight! Got lucky and parked two blocks away. 10 of their beers on tap; the rest are guest taps. So of course, I had to try their $3 signature Lager - Too light for me, basically you get what you pay for. Next... Pale Ale - $7, now that's more like it! No IPA today, so I had to settle. My daughter got the Yard Bird, Strawberry Lemonade Beer. Suits her. Ready for my 3rd beer, when my daughter said she wanted to go home and party some more?!?! So I abided. Lovely's restaurant is also here on the premises. See pictures and other 5 star Yelp review. Ambiance - Cool space. Lots of semi private spaces that you can rent. See pictures or their website. Very kid and dog friendly! Unisex restrooms with outside sinks, thank you! NO parking! So bad on a Saturday evening that we almost did not come. Open 6 days a week - see picture or their website. Closed on Mondays. Service - Counters service. For both the bar and Lovely's. The outdoor bar has WAY faster service than the inside bar, just an FYI. Price - Affordable, especially for the Bay Area. Just left South Lake Tahoe and paid $9 - $10 + tip a beer there, but you know that because you are following. Owner Comment - Congrats to the building since 1919. Congrats on your success since 2021; glad we were able to visit.

Love coming to this brewery for any occasion! Birthdays, catch-ups, study sessions, you name it -…read morethey have the space for it. Their indoor space is actually quite large if it's a rainy day too. The outside is super lively on a sunny weekend, and you'll see a ton of doggies and some kids. I enjoyed all the brews I've tried here, and there's one I'm still on the hunt to find again from here -- it was simply salt and lime light beer?? Still won't stop talking about it. Anyways, I'll be here again!

We were waking around the area and popped into The Rake at Admiral Maltings…read more The staff was very friendly and helpful in explaining their offerings. They even poured me a sample of their Nitro Horchata Cream Ale. Wow, smooth, creamy and deadly (for me). As I am a lightweight, and could drink several of these and get totally plastered without knowing it until it was too late. A good selection spirits, beer, wine, & crafted food. Come check them out!

Popped in for a Saturday flight with a buddy. Great atmosphere, very fair pricing, fantastic beer…read moreselection. Since Admiral Maltings supplies many local breweries with their malts, they have some awesome beers on tap. The beertenders knew the product profiles and make some spot on suggestions for us to sample. Great attitudes and service with a laugh! We will definitely be coming back!

Really good food. Jaegerschnizel was a real highlight. Large portion but still very flavorful, not…read moredry or over cooked at all, for sure a menu standout. Friendly staff and fairly sure modt.of the patrons are regulars. Don't let the location of sharing a parking lot with a Safeway turn you away from a great meal.

Everything about E.J. Phair is what you expect from a local dive bar…read more The people are friendly and bristly honest. It's fun. Good is slow and honest. Large selection of beer. No one tries to rush you out. It's the perfect place to have a beer or food and just chill. I ordered some drinks and I recommend the schnitzels

What an amazing outside space. The inside is nice as well!…read more I was craving chicken wings and decided to stop by Arthur Mac's. I enjoyed a slice of their daily meat special pizza called Three's Company & their Pizza Port Chronic Amber Ale while listening to an awesome band called Tip of the Iceberg Quartet @tipoftheicebergq. I got some veggie & dip, cauliflower, and lemon pepper wings to go. Everything was delicious.

About two weeks ago was my first time eating at Arthur Macs. It's only outside seating but they…read morehave a bunch of heaters and a nice shack to protect you from the rain. The area is pretty and I love the feel of an outdoor tavern since the tables and chairs are mostly wooden. Our service was ok. It was not bad but there was only one waiter serving the restaurant and I happened to go at a very busy day. One of our friends got a wrong order but they were very quick to apologize and replaced the pizza. They also let us keep the wrong order so we tried that. It was a small pepperoni pizza which was phenomenal!! The bread was the right texture and the pizza was not too oily. Absolutely loved it and it made me anticipate my order. I got mango habanero wings along with my pizza. Did not take a pic of the wings because I was so hungry and they were TOO GOOD! The wings are actually spicy and slightly sweet which is missing in a lot of mango habanero wings. The Who's the boss pizza was amazing. It was extremely meaty and the medium portion was huge enough to share among 4 people. The hot honey really complements the savoriness of the toppings and the cheese in the pizza. 9/10 experience for sure. My only complaint is we asked for a fresh mozzarella add-on with our pizza but did not receive that. Unfortunately, I realized that after the fact because our order took about 20 mins and I was so hungry I just ate the delicious pizza without realizing the mistake. Again, I believe it is because it was a particularly busy day for them and not anything reflective of their service. I just wish I realized while we were at the restaurant. Our server was nice though, and brought us more hot honey when we asked for it. In any case, this is definitely the best pizza I've had in Oakland. Will definitely be coming back. Keep up the good work guys!

Laguna Garden Bakery sells it's bakes at farmers market in Berkeley, Sacramento & San Francisco…read more speciality is German pastries according to the owner. locale: Berkeley Farmers Market offerings: baked goods: croissant, pizzetas, milk rolls, etc. eats: spinach & cheese/garlic pizzeta (3.25), chocolate milk roll?(4) -coffee milk roll? (4) unsure of name, not labeled, melt in mouth soft bread with sweet milk chocolate filling, bread semi-sweet -spinach & cheese/garlice pizzeta (3.25) flaky, yummy pastry, tastier than a quiche, similar texture 4.5 stars, yummy, addictive, natural tasting, tastes sugary take outs: -bakery goods a mix of german & danish type bakes.

I tried their pretzel today from a farmer's market in Sacramento. I regret buying just one, as well…read moreas not trying them sooner! I will definitely be a regular customer from here forward.

This review is for the upstairs deck - food was decent, had a Racer NA IPA, which was perfectly ok…read more The deck was very comfortable for outdoor seating, but loud - but not remotely as loud as the main area downstairs, which was mobbed with soccer fans. Ordering via QR code and getting the food was easy. Fries were ok, I tried the Brussels sprouts, they were also ok. Prices are very reasonable for the serving sizes. I had the slider special, which came with three sliders: one smash burger, one impossible burger (I think?) and one fried chicken slider. A word of warning - the fried chicken sandwich is SPICY. Too hot for me, and I wasn't expecting that.

They get a 5 for service & experience (food is good with beers/can't complain!)…read more Came here twice this week as we were attending concerts at the greek. Two suggestions to maximize your experience: 1- if you can come any day and are here at 5:10 pm, make sure you have a couple dimes for a special daily happy hour (iykyk) 2- if you can get here on a thursday nite (we did) make sure you order. A Monkeyhead to share (or enjoy solo assuming you can walk/take bart/or uber) - finally!! Food is reasonably priced and yummy with beers. Recommend the nachos as they come or smash burgers....pairs well with beers. And staff is very attentive as this bar has tons of regulars that are NOT students!

Rotten city is a great slice! I always try to make a pit stop if I'm in the neighborhood…read more Grab a slice to-go and enjoy a beer @ Wondrous! Not drinking beer? Rotten City has a patio! Cant go wrong either way. 5 stars

Heading back on the freeway through Emeryville and wanted to stop by a familiar place to grab a…read morequick bite with the family ~ it's been SO long since heading to Rotten City last, but had to give it a-go. Unfortunately there is currently no upstairs seating still, but if you're looking for grab & go slices and pies, they still gotcha! There is the outdoor seating area still, FYI! We wanted to have a minute before heading into traffic, so sitting outdoors with our warm slices was perfect. We may have came at a shift change time because slices were limited, but we went with the classic cheese and a pesto/chicken. They threw the slices in the oven to get em' nice and crispy, and they even threw in a meatball they were making fresh for the baby. Such a generous and nice surprise. He was more than happy! Slices are big! They're quarter pie slices (2 in an order) for around $15. Other cool things to mention..I noticed you can order Rotten City at Wondrous Brewery in Emeryville as well. Miss the upstairs, but happy Rotten City is still in biz and slingin' dough!