À Côté Restaurant

I like the environment and food was great. Service is friendly and accommodating. I would eat there again.

My husband and I have been coming here for years and have always had a lovely experience… until last night.
We had reservations for 4 at 7:30 for a celebratory dinner. The manager Jeff greeted us and assured us our table would be ready in a few minutes. After waiting 30 minutes I approached Jeff asking when we would get seated. He curtly responded when he had a table he would seat us then walked away from me. My husband approach him and asked doesn’t a reservation mean anything? He bluntly responded no. I said I didn’t appreciate his tone and he got defensive and began yelling at me! My husband had to intervene! We were seated after standing 45 minutes.

I drove to Oakland from Fremont to meet a friend for dinner. She chose À Côté, and it seemed reasonable. It was a pleasant evening so we parked at her office and walked about 10 minutes to the restaurant.
We were a bit early, but there were no worries and we were seated in outside on the patio. Wine, mixed drink and food menus were left. We were a bit surprised that we didn’t recognize any of the wines on the menu, though, we favor big CA reds. The wine list is populated with European wines (though based on the name and the menu, that really should not have come as a surprise.) We tried a couple tastes of the reds, and then settled on champagne for my friend, and bourbon for me (The whisky list was populated with names I didn’t recognize, which was kinda fun).
We decided to share a few small plates for dinner. The soft-​shell crab was OK. Not bad, just not outstanding. The Lamb-​Stuffed Chard Dolmas were amazing. Great flavor with Dill Yogurt, Grapes & Apricots. My gluten intolerant friend was surprised to find that there was gluten in the grain used to make the filling. I guess we’re just used to places that are more complete with ingredients so we’ve stopped asking. We also had their scallops on a cheese risotto and beets. This was another amazing dish. Scallops done very nicely, brown outside, creamy inside.
We shared their Mousse Au Chocolate for dessert.
Good food, friendly server, nice atmosphere.

Great spot that I wish I’d had the opportunity to try earlier. The menu is seasonal but the mussels are a year round fixture for good reason. They’re great. You should definitely get them. In fact, if you want to grab a few drinks there with a friend instead of having an entire meal, the mussels are probably the ideal accompaniment.
Sadly, the fries were a letdown. A bit soggy and given the traditional combo of moules and frites, they sadly let their teammate down. Also we ordered one of the cheese plates which, for $ 10, was a bit overpriced considering the small amount of cheese given. It was paired with a generous amount of fixings (apples, nuts, etc) but there wasn’t enough of the cheese to really have a try with all the extras and you’ll excuse me for not wanting to have to try them all at once.
Anyways, our various entrees were good, though they’ll likely be different when you go. We had gnocchi with morel mushrooms, a nut crusted halibut and a chicken sausage. I think the gnocchi was the best of the three.

Went here the other night with a larger group from work (about 15 people). Service was a little slow initially, but the waiter was very attentive after that. Typical Bay area prices, but very impressive wine and liquor menu. Food was great; tapas/​family style and they recommend ordering 1.5−2 plates per person. We each ordered one large plate and one small plate per person, but it was a bit too much food. Waiter was kind enough to suggest cancelling a few plates as the meal progressed. Would definitely return again.

The ambiance is really great, but the service leaves a bit to be desired. Especially for the price. I don’t know if they were trying to gives us some space to be romantic or what but the food took forever.
They serve their food «family style» so you know what that means. Your basically paying for an entrée, some tiny plates, and splitting it up with whoever your with. I’m a big guy so I usually end up paying for at least two or three by the end of the night.
The duck confit was decent nothing out of this world. But the Flatbread was chewy. Cocktails were ok.
The low lighting, art, and décor were pretty awesome. Very romantic place.

It was my first time here. I took my husband for his 41^st birthday. I love the dark interior and dim, warm lights. The food wasn’t mind blowing nor surprising — just very delicious, well executed, and solid. My plate was oddly small — not the portion size mind you (the portions were quite large) but the plate itself — the food was almost spilling off the sides and looked kind of crowded in there! We had a cheese plate which was lovely, pommes frites (aioli was awesome) the halibut, saltimbocca, and the chocolate ice cream. The cocktails were lovely and the service was stellar.

I was deeply disappointed about everything and I’m typically easy to please. But I expect that when you’re paying over $ 20 per dish, that the quality of the dish is somewhat top notch. That service is attentive. Neither of which was the case:
Paella that was cooked and tasted as well as rice-​a-​roni; tasteless quail wrapped in lukewarm bacon (who screws up bacon?) on top of something akin to polenta, which was a bit soggy (or overcooked); unimpressed with the octopus salad. I did like the mussels, so I just dipped a lot of bread.

Plates have gotten somewhat bigger and more expensive. Seems like you used to be able to choose from among 10 – 12 dollar small portions, but now, there seems to be a main dish at 22 dollars and more with sides. The original idea, at least my impression of it, has been changed and not for the better.
Food was okay to good, but seemed overpriced. We enjoyed our server and had some really fun interaction with her.

I ordered the bacon wrapped quail with braised figs, crispy polenta and browned radicchio, and it okay, but not the best. The quail was not moist at all, they should have probably allowed it to rest covered for a bit before serving, however the fig, polenta and radicchio were a pretty tasty combination. I put together a bite of those last three items, the fig was a great pairing with a taste of bitter radicchio — and polenta added the perfect texture to the bite. My friend ordered a ravioli (I think) with a walnut sauce, which was perfectly rich and full of flavour. Really enjoyed that!

«Hello? Is anyone here?»
When we walked into A Cote on a weekday evening, there was no one at the host/​ess station directly next to the door. We stood a bit forward, so staff could see us, but the staff working at the bar did not acknowledge us, nor did the staff waiting tables. We stood in a high-​visibility area of the entrance for about 10 minutes, feeling quite ignored and unimportant. Staff didn’t even appear to be telling each other that someone was waiting by the door.
Another customer walked in and asked us if we were waiting to get seated. She shared that she had called earlier in the day to inquire about the outdoor patio seating and found that the person she spoke with was rude and noncommittal about being able to seat them. Surprise, surprise.
When we were finally seated, through the loud front dining area and bar, we had to walk through a dark hallway with steps down and doors to kitchens and bathrooms, along with a niche in the wall for the computer. It was like playing Frogger, where you had to kind of pause before every opening so you wouldn’t collide with a busy staff person carrying hot soup.
The back patio, which sounded nice in concept, was actually dark with vampire-​house looking curtains creating a tent of sorts, with openings here and there overlooking a dirt and plant garden with a shovel. There was also a fair sized bug flying around, but luckily not in our personal space.
Our actual servers were very friendly and checked on us often. One gave me a plate with a bit of dirt on it but took it away right away when she noticed it.
I ordered an iced tea (Mighty Leaf black tea) with Splenda, but they didn’t bring it with the tea. When I asked, they brought two splendas and a couple sugar cubes to the table. The iced tea itself was fine — not notably better than a Lipton, surprisingly.
My boyfriend’s gin cocktail was good and tasted exactly as advertised.
Pecorino Rosso (senise pepper rubbed sheep milk from Campania) and Domaine du Vallage (triple cream cow milk from Burgundy) with poached figs, toasted almonds, apple, candied walnuts, and walnut levain —
One nut fell out when the tray was placed on the table. The waiter apologized and said to let him know if we needed more. We didn’t need more nuts, but we were pleasantly surprised that the waiter offered us a refill on the walnut levain bread. I would recommend getting the cheese plates here; they don’t give too much cheese, but are generous with the accoutrements. ⁴⁄₅
Crispy artichokes with saffron aioli —
Texture was not pleasant except for the bottom part of the artichoke. It was like eating plastic that kind of melted down in your mouth into a not too edible film. It’s unfortunate because the flavors were there. ²⁄₅
Bacon wrapped quail with crispy polenta, grilled radicchio and Saba poached figs —
This was very flavorful and the quail was perfectly cooked. Figs were a bit redundant after our cheese course, and the grilled radicchio was so bitter I didn’t eat it. Polenta had a great texture and was balanced in cheese flavor. ⁴⁄₅
Panotti stuffed with spinach and ricotta with walnut sauce —
A bit bland and flavorless. Pasta was a nice green color and well cooked. ³⁄₅
Everything is served on white plates, but they were kind of diner style plates and scratched from previous diners. I would expect fancier plating, better food, classier atmosphere, and more professionalism from a place as expensive as A Cote. We skipped dessert, and our whole meal was $ 120 including a 20% tip.

Over the past few years, I grew fond of Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood. From up the street to down the street, I have tried so many delicious restaurants in this neighborhood.
A Cote caught my eyes one day as I was walking around and somehow the sign got me curious as heck. And of course, when I want something, I will definitely get it. The Bestest took me here one night for dinner. We decided to order many dishes to share since this place is all about small plates, serving Mediterranean cuisine. I did not find the food to be spectacular, but it was still good (especially the duck liver crostini).
The service was friendly and attentive. The atmosphere was quaint and cozy. I hope you give this place a try. Cheers!

First time trying this place out when my girlfriend brought me here. First impression was that it was a very casual and nice atmosphere for a dinner, though a bit loud for any date. It was very difficult to talk to my girlfriend with the loud noises. The servers at A Cote were very nice and friendly and full of recommendation on drinks to pair with our meals (very appreciated).
The menu wasn’t very long but it still gave us a bit to contemplate on. The food was pretty good but I think the portions can be slightly bigger. Never had I ever had such a small portion of a paella for the price of $ 20+. If it weren’t for the noise level and the food proportions, this place would pretty much be perfect. I guess I was expecting something larger for it being Spanish but neglected the fact that its a French Fusion Restaurant.
Tips:
#1) Make a reservation, It might be tough to grab a table on a walk in.
#2) Huge drink menu and cocktails are delicious!
#3) Order Appetizers!

We were really excited to try this place based off of the almost 1200 reviews with 4 stars!
Unfortunately, we were extremely disappointment. First: our flights of wine were less than mediocre, the server didn’t take time explain (before we ordered) that these are not your typical wines, and all have an old world taste. She did however explain once we tasted them and told her we thought the wines were turned!
Second: I love Coq Au Vin chicken and was pumped to order it here. It came out cold and covered in Bar-​b-​que sauce. The chicken also tasted like it had been sitting around for a week, and they threw it in the microwave to reheat it.
We were all extremely disappointed with this place and will not come back.

SUMMARY OF MY SENTIMENTS: Meh. Just Meh. Ooooooh, absinthe! Oh, food. Food is meh. 1 hour later, I’m still hungry.
My impression of this place is that it’s one of those expensive restaurants with tiny portions. The waitress who served us was kind, and the only good thing I can say about this place is that they serve absinthe. Unfortunately, they can’t bring the absinthe fountain to the table, which has been a highlight of my experience with absinthe in restaurants (such as Bistro Liaison in Berkeley), so you just made do with channeling your inner college chemistry student and slowly pour the flask of water over your sugar cube when you prepare your absinthe.
I guess the dim lighting is supposed to be romantic, but it’s still kind of noisy. Probably the fact that I wasn’t enamored with my date didn’t help either.

Amazing food! We LOVED all dishes we ordered. Got cheese platter, red beet risotto, squash gnocchi and bittersweet chocolate ice cream. Lovely, cozy ambiance and very good service. Would highly recommend this place and definitely visit again!

I’m going to keep this short and sweet. I’ve been here several times and the food is always great. Unfortunately the service here is consistently a miss. The servers aren’t attentive and seem to forget that you exist. There are plenty of great restaurants in Oakland with good service, so I’d rather take my business and money elsewhere.

Came here on a Saturday night with dinner reservations for a group of 4. The food was excellent, the atmosphere is romantic (but not quiet), and I had been waiting to try this place for quite some time. However, they seated our group in the very back of the restaurant past the kitchen with tent covering and heat lamps (I never knew the restaurant extended that far back).
Our server was forgetful and seemed somewhat inexperienced — that really put a damper on our double date dinner. They also kept trying to fill the tables around us where the heat lamps were not strategically placed — they were all either too cold or too hot to sit at. We watched at least 3 parties get seated and immediately request to get moved or just left.
Overall, the experience we had here was less than desirable but the food was very good and they have a great wine list.

My husband and I ate at A Cote Saturday night. We both chose the Oakland Resturant Week menu and split all the dishes. It has been a few years since we ate here and it did not disappoint. The service was friendly. The food was excellent. I know we will be back again. Loved the carrot turnip soup, and the
scallops.

Had high hopes, especially since it was Oakland’s Restaurant Week. Food was disappointing. No sear on our scallops, flavorless soup, overdressed salad, and I could go on. Not planning to go back.

I dined here right before Thanksgiving 2015 with friends. Our waitress seemed inexperienced and told me in not so polite terms that they don’t give tastes of expensive wines by the glass. Our pastas were average, but the portions small and prices high. I left feeling like I needed to get a burrito on the way home. About two weeks after I dined here, I noticed Michael Bauer gave them a downgraded review. While I don’t always agree with Bauer, this time we align.

I have never dined at this resturant before. I took the plunge and made a reservation for our 10 year anniversary based on all of the reviews from my Google search. The team at ACote are really amazing. They made our anniversary such a special occasion, I can’t begin to thank them enough. Whether you are celebrating an anniversary or just hungry, I’m sure you will be amazed by this restaurant.
The food from the appetizers to entrée to desert were really good. The staff is also excellent. All in all if you have not tried this place, I would highly recommend it. We will be back for our next date night!

Came in tonight with my boyfriend’s family for my birthday dinner and we received super accomodating and warm service :) I loved the dim lighting and intimate atmosphere.
Our food was perfect — we ordered and shared the carror & turnip soup, the gnocchi, the duck dish and the pork and polenta. The were all delicious! For desert we had the upsidedown pear cake and the bread pudding.

I fell in love with A Cote on the first day of Restaurant Week Oakland. Eating here was the perfect welcoming to the week of restaurant heaven.
The plates are family style so my friend and I got to try a little bit of everything we ordered (or you can be greedy and not share). I tried the seared scallops with beet risotto and squash gnocchi. I preferred the scallops, which were surprisingly refreshing and complimented the sweet gnocchi very well. The desserts were incredible, especially the brownie, ice cream sundae.
The ambiance was also very mar and the staff friendly. FYI this is the perfect date spot if you want to impress someone. You’re welcome.
Next time I will definitely also order the French Onion Soup, the couple next to us were devouring it as I looked enviously at them. I hope I wasn’t creepy.

I love their food but horrible music choice and so loud. Can’t enjoy the conversation over a great meal. So irritating! Bring earplugs and don’t talk so you’ll enjoy their meal.

This is a solid neighborhood joint that never disappoints. I have probably been 6 times over the last 1.5 years.
The service is great. Servers are super engaged and knowledgable about the menu and wine list.
The cocktails are excellent and the wine list is focused on European wines and there are a lot of rare wines I don’t see at other restaurants.
The menu changes often but they always have the Mussels. These are some of the best mussels I have ever had. I want to bathe in the broth and soak a loaf of bread in it. Damn.
They also almost always have a gnocchi dish and a scallop dish that are bomb. It’s not crazy inventive or unique — but it’s just a solid favorite.

Have enjoyed consistently good service and experience. A dimly lit, old country vibe to it, but friendly and not overly formal… very comfortable, in fact. The small plates never dissappoint and a really excellent wine menu.

Came here for the 3-​course prix fix during restaurant week. The food was definitely on point.
Course 1: carrot and squash soup
Rich filling creamy and delicious. Hearty. ⁴⁄₅
Course 2:
Seared scallops and beet risotto.
So yum! Scallops were cooked perfectly. Refreshing and savory dish. ⁵⁄₅
Pumpkin gnocchi. Rich, creamy and the gnocchi was nicely chewy. The green veggies were so good in the cream sauce. ⁵⁄₅
Dessert: ³⁄₅ for both
Dessert is the only place I felt underwhelmed. The Sunday and poached pear cake were good, but not great.
Fruli Strawberry Beer ⁵⁄₅
The perfect summer supper if you like sweet and fruity beer.
Ambiance: ⁵⁄₅
So adorable, cute, inviting and intimate. Dimly lit by candle light it’s the perfect date spot. The communal table was nice and had ample seating during the time we were there from 6−8p. All the reservations were filled for the night when we called at 530p on a Thursday.

Loved the food, and local tap beer. Huge wine selection but hardly any were local… Why… Also I thought it was a tapas place — small plates but nope! We shared the mussels and the short rib.
I felt the place was too dark… Couldn’t really see even my food clearly which is a shame… Thus –1 star.

A Coté should be saluted as a pioneer in Bay Area food culture. Where seemingly every new restaurant popping up is a trendy bistro serving small plates, A Coté was the first, and made its name with unparalleled food a unique ambiance.
A recent visit assured that the restaurant has not lost a step over the past decade. The mussels, croque, and frites are still the best around. This particular night the menu offered a duck confit that was crisp and delicious, as well as braised short ribs and a wild boar sausage that were excellent.

Stopped in here for a date night a week ago on a Friday night. We didn’t have any reservations so it would have taken awhile to get our own table, but they said a spot at the communal table would open up soon if we wanted. We said why not and got seated quickly at a spot on the end. It was a good choice — basically like our own table and no waiting!
The waiter was very helpful in describing things, giving opinions and being helpful. He chose a wine flight based on what I said I liked, and I ended up liking it! My date got a whiskey drink which he said was good.
After asking some of his personal favorites, we ordered 2 small plates and 2 entrée size plates. The pommes frites came out first and were thin cut fries with aioli sauce. They were great! Wish it was a bit more like patatas bravas from Spain which has spicy sauce. Then came a plate that I was confused about. We had ordered arancini (because I thought we’d like them) and a cold meat and bread thing came out. It didn’t look right, but my date didn’t know what arancini was so I thought I was just mistaken about what I had ordered. It was, eh, not bad but not what we wanted so we asked what it was. Ended up it was the pâté and the waiter had put it in wrong. He was really nice about it and immediately got our arancini out (which to my content was a much better choice)
The waiter helped me pick another flight which was pretty good. All eastern reds which I’d never had before. We then got the braised short ribs and my suggestion of spaetzle, Brussels sprouts and bacon. Both were very yummy!
We’d definitely come back and were happy we wandered in here off of college Ave. it has a nice ambiance for a date night, and it’s definitely worth sitting at the communal table for a shorter wait!

Bartender has great wine recommendations — I am having a Spanish varietal — yum. Full body and Jammy finish. Jazz playing.

I’m always within the vicinity of this restaurant but never actually had a chance to try it until recently. I’m always in the mood for French or Italian food and this place seems to be a fusion of them. Anyhoo, I heard their pomme frites (french fries) and their mussels were Legendary. Well, I can say with first hand experience that they lived up to their hype. The mussels were cooked in this delicious and tasty light colored soup /​sauce /​broth. I had to ask the waitress for more bread so I can soak up the sauce on the bread slices and swallow it. If only I can install an IV tube and have the broth flow directly to my arteries.
The menu changes periodically so what may be said in the many reviews may not always be present. Every item on the menu is tapas size but the entrees seem to sized slightly larger. Our group of 4 opted for a balance of appetizers and entrees. As mentioned earlier the pomme frites and mussels were great appetizers. Entrees I would like to recommend are the seared sea bass and lobster mushroom flatbread. The seared sea bass felt like I was eating butter. It just melted in your mouth. For the lobster mushroom flatbread, it’s like eating a pizza full of lobster. BUT, there’s no lobster on it. It’s all a species of mushroom called lobster mushroom but if no one said anything, you would have thought it was lobster instead.
Items sampled by four hungry patrons. All delicious.
— Lollo Rosso Salad (aka salad with figs)
— Pomme Frites (aka french fries with aioli)
— Mussels
— Spaghettini (aka spaghetti)
— Polpette in Sugo (aka meat balls)
— lobster mushroom flatbread (aka mushroom pizza)
— Seared sea bass (aka heaven)
— Panne cotta
— Strawberry Shortcake

Not sure if it’s pronounced AH-​CO-​TAY or AHKU-​TAY. Anyways me and my future baby’s mother was walkin around Oakland on a beautiful Sunday night and were looking in Unilocal and this place had good reviews so we decided to stop by. Glad we did! It was very tasty and romantic!
I started with a wine flight and I think it was $ 13 for two 2 ½ pours. Good size and great wines. They have a very wide unique selections of wine. When I say unique I mean like I didn’t recognize even one wine on that menu. So I told our server Ana I like full bodied wines and she selected a couple good ones!
Then we got a cheese plate. I chose the three cream and it was so creamy and delish and Ana recommended a blue cheese that would pair well with my wine. Me and my girlfriend don’t like blue cheese like at all but this one however was smooth soft creamy and very tasty. We were pleasantly surprised.
For our main courses we split the bucatini carbonara. It’s a seasonal dish and it was very tasty but would probably get something different next time. I thought it was delicious however the smokiness from the bacon and the black pepper was too strong and overwhelming. Then we split the skirt steak with garlic chive butter. This seems to be a popular item and it was very very yummy. It’s served with tasty sautéed greens and extremely delicious creamy cheesy potatoes gratin.
For desert we had their famous ricotta fritters with trio of dippins! Not sure what clouds taste like but pretty sure it’s similar to these fritters…
We were big fans of this cute dinner spot and can’t wait to come back!

We had planned to direct our focus of this trip to the Bay Area to explore some of the food scenes in Oakland. Our first choice of cuisine is European with French, Italian and Spanish influences. Based on the reviews of a zillion fellow Unilocalers and the recommendation from my East Bay foodie Unilocal buddy Judy H, we decided to check out À Côté.
This is a smaller restaurant which, on a Saturday night, shows off its vibrance with a touch of coziness. The ambience is European, and it actually looks and feels like some of the bistros in Paris.
CHICORY SALAD: Very fresh chicory leaves were tossed with other fresh greens and almonds in an absolutely delicious pomegranate vinaigrette. The chicory has a very distinct taste, slightly bitter and slightly sweet. Late October and early November is the season for pomegranate and the seeds were sweet and juicy, and they complemented the salad perfectly.
PAPPARDELLE: Braised beef with Tokyo turnips, red kale leaves and pecorino (an Italian cheese made from sheep’s milk) were served over a perfectly al dente pasta. The beef was melt-​in-​your-​mouth tender and the sauce had a strong beefy flavor with a rich red wine aroma and taste. You can tell it’s been slowed cooked for hours and the sauce reduction process was done perfectly.
BABY KALE FLARBREAD: Flatbread made with the perfect dough and a perfect blend of cheeses topped with fresh baby kale leaves and yellow squash. Slightly on the greasy side, but it was good.
They had a good selection of craft beers as well as European wines. There were several wine flight options and we ordered the Reds from Savoie, French Alps, which was a very good value.
Service was top-​notch. Our entire setting of plates and silverwares were changed, and the tablecloth was brushed clean after each course. Our server Brian has been on top of everything and checked back with us often. Brian and his assistants were all super cool and friendly and they made our dining experience truly enjoyable.
The pace of the meal was perfect — timely but not rushed. There were about a 5-​minute or so break between courses, which for me, is perfect. It gives you time to engage in a conversation and also taste the wine and rinse off the palate for the next course.
Comparing this place with 2 other top-​notch tapa restaurants in San Francisco that I’ve been to, I’ll say that À Côté beats 1760 hands down and is on par with NOPA as far as the quality of the food is concerned. Highly recommend.