A16 Rockridge

I was here for dinner last Wednesday and had made reservations. I’m glad I did because the restaurant filled up quick.
I started off with the Eat Your Heart Out Charles Dickens (Campari, honey, rosemary, egg white). I’m not sure how the egg white came into play because the cocktail is served with ground up ice. It was a good cocktail nonetheless. For my meal, I got the Gnocchi alla Romana (beef sugo, tomato, garlic, fried rosemary, grana padano). This certainly is not the type of gnocchi you would expect. The gnocchi is large and you are given three, but wow! It was so delicious and a part of me was almost tempted to order another one! And to end off my meal, I got the Rosemary Panna Cotta (blood orange, olive oil cake, pine nut). It was so delicious and a nice way to end the meal. The rosemary in the panna cotta wasn’t overwhelming and added a nice touch.
I’ll certainly be coming back here again and plan on ordering the Montanara pizza!

I went for lunch one day with some colleagues and had a great time eating pizza, a couple tasty salads and drinking a couple glasses of yummy pink wine. Salads were also nice. Went back for dinner and was not so into it. The entrées were pretty bland and relatively overpriced. I brought my children who are both gluten-​free and they didn’t have much they could eat. They didn’t even have gluten-​free pasta. Kind of a bummer.

We just moved to Oakland from SF and this is the first restaurant we came to for dinner. We were apprehensive, but the staff was wonderful and attentive. They helped with our wine selection, even bringing us a complimentary glass of something fun. The food was fantastic, especially the Doppio Otto pizza with prosciutto. Yum!
Last note, we were seated at the table next to the Unilocaler (Brian C.) who spent his entire meal complaining that he and his companions should’ve gone to SF for better service. Our waitress was the lovely woman with pink hair as well, and she was nothing but friendly and helpful. We were embarrassed by the rudeness of the table next to us and I’m sure everyone hopes he and his friends do stay in SF next time they dine out!

Probably one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in the last couple of years. Service was terrible… waitress with pink hair was rude and did everything possible to ensure our evening was subpar at best. Food tasted good, but the staff left a bitter taste in all our mouths… we should have gone to dinner in SF. Shame on you A16 Rockridge.

Summary based on one dinner:
–good food with some inventive dishes
–ok prices considering the target market
–better than average, friendly service
–ok noise level
–ok street parking on weeknight (BART is a fairly long walk)
–can be cool in the winter, especially near the front windows, though they provide space heaters.
First experience with pay by phone through Opentable. Worked ok. The sociology of interacting with the staff after paying needs to be worked out (on the customers’ part; the staff seemed fine. It’s a bit weird to pay this way, though probably just because it’s somewhat new.)

I took my lady, and another couple to A-​16 during Restaurant Week. We really enjoyed the Italian wine we ordered. The Som was super helpful and knowledgeable. The pizza I got was decent, but very limp and hard to eat. The disappointing part was the Citrus Salad. Basically this was a few slices of fruit and some arugula with vinegrette on top. Nothing to write home about. Also, there was a LOT of people in there. I don’t like it when a restaurant packs people in, elbow to elbow. You could hardly walk in the place, the tables and chairs were so close. Also, there was a cold breeze coming in from the entrance near our table, so they had floor heaters setup nearby. A kind gesture, but a little odd. I would clasify this as a quaint restaurant, nowhere deserving of a fine-​dining environment. Not Michelin Star, and fortunately, relatively low-​priced.
It’s worth checking out. Once.

Yummy food, nice ambiance, attentive service. My boyfriend and I were here during the 2016 Oakland Restaurant Week for their $ 30 pre-​fixe dinner, which included: citrus salad (good), butternut squash lasagne (very tasty and filling)/polenta gnocchi (a lil salty, BF’s entrée), and a scoop of the buffalo fig gelato. We added some grilled octopus for starters (loved the rock salt, but please use sparingly next time), drinks, and tiramisu. Overall, an enjoyable experience. We’d definitely go back to try their pizza and I’ll have the buffalo fig gelato dessert again.

I can say that I’ve been there… I tried it. I was not super impressed and I don’t ever need to return. I like gourmet pizza, and I get the brick oven «specialness» of these pizzas– but this restaurant was nothing to rave about. I will say that the service is friendly and accommodating. It’s not terrible, it’s just a little bland. The descriptions sound intriguing, but the end results are bland. My pizza and my friend’s pizza were both average. Yes, they did give me a fancy pair of culinary scissors to eat my pizza– but big deal. For the price, it is definitely not worth it.

Great experience here for Restaurant week. Our server was very gracious, and made us feel personally welcome at the restaurant. Food came through quickly. There were a lot of people circulating to make sure we had our needs met, and they were not overbearing; we did not feel rushed at all. Gnocchi was really good with a fantastic beef ragu. The pizza topping were good but the crust was somewhat soggy. Excellent dessert of homemade vanilla ice cream, sea salt, and a faintly anise tasting cookie. We’ll be back.

This is a really solid place! Unfortunately, due to my seafood allergies, I was advised by the waiter that pizza was the safest option for me to order. I liked the pizza a lot, but I wish I could try something else! The cute little scissors they give for the pizza are a nice touch and make it MUCH easier to eat. They have the most amazing wine selection, and homemade gelato. I almost want to go back just for wine and gelato.

Decent Italian fare served in a beautiful, airy, naturally lit dining room anchored by a wood-​fired brick oven. Some of the appetizers are quite scrumptious, if a bit skimpy on portions, like the arancini. The skimpiness relative to the price extends to the pizza as well; while the whole thing was of good quality and tasted great, there was quite a bit of crust and a noticeable dearth of toppings relative to the price.
The service was actually pretty good, but given the overall price/​value proposition compared to many other upscale, Italian-​themed eateries in both the immediate and greater area, I’m sadly not quite tempted to take what would otherwise be a 3.5 star review and round it upwards.

Recently had an outstanding dinner at A16 Rockridge. Kohlrabi Salad, who knew? It was delightful, refreshing and substantial without being super filling. Mushroom pizza was heavenly. That awesome pizza dough they make was topped with hen of the woods mushrooms and let’s just say that pizza was consumed pretty quick!
Also had Triccolo pasta with chanterelles, really flavorful and succulent. Kudos to the kitchen! Great meal!

What do you do when you have been on the road for business all week and get back late on Friday with no Halloween costume for Saturday night??? Treat yourself and a good friend to a nice dinner out of course! Left a bowl of candy on the front porch for the trick or treaters and biked over to A16 in Rockridge. I have been here a couple of times for cocktails, but this was the first time for dinner.
The space is very nice, open, chic ambiance, gracious and friendly front of house staff with excellent advice on food and wine.
We started with a house specialty cocktail for me and a bottle of Italian wine for my friend. Well, she had a glass — saved the rest for dinner! Our server made excellent recommendations for both — very nice that their staff is so knowledgeable about both the menu and the wine list.
We shared the the roasted calamari with deep fried corona beans — very nice flavor combination and delicious. We couldn’t help ourselves and also shared the salt cod polpettini — a fritter flavor bomb with the spicy aioli.
Our server suggested we split the troccoli pasta with chanterelles prior to the main, and yum yum yum it was perfect. Just the right amount for two prior to sharing the Berkshire pork roast — cooked medium rare which for some people locked into the past adage about overcooking pork until it is dry might be off-​putting, but seriously, get with the program this was tender juicy and fabulous!
Dessert — a shared glass of tawny port. Yes.
Creative menu and a wine list that offers many options to explore from Italian regions that I am not familiar with but will become more so after a few more visits.
Ciao bella…

Somehow, the stars aligned, and hubby and I got out of work early (relatively) and had a babysitter on a Thursday night. Too tired to make the trek to our usual hangouts in SF, we opted for a relaxed but no-​less-​fancy evening at A16 Rockridge. And we absolutely loved it.
Location:
The Rockridge location is casual yet chic. It’s amazing how they transformed the building into a modern space that works double time — it’s a cozy café in the morning, then turns into a romantic dinner spot at night.
Service:
Professional and knowledgeable staff. We were seated promptly, and our server was very attentive without being intrusive. We brought our own wine, but couldn’t resist her recommendation of the popular Lettere blend, which worked perfectly with our appetizers. Oh, and they waive corkage fees if you buy a bottle from their excellent and reasonably priced wine list.
Food:
We had a mix of antipasti, fritto and dal forno — and were very satisfied with our choices. Corn was the special ingredient of the day, and we loved both the roasted corn starter and the corn panna cotta dessert.
I’m a big fan of ox tongue and the fried ox tongue with pickled onion didn’t disappoint. The Devil’s Gulch rabbit cotoletta with fava bean was interesting, but we both preferred the light and refreshing San Francisco anchovies with roasted fennel as well as the Hawaiian ahi crudo with watermelon radish.
Overall:
This is a solid dinner spot, and I’m glad we don’t have to travel all the way to the city to enjoy it! Highly recommended — we’ll definitely be back!

Bartenders, host, and waitress was friendly. Food was pretty good: pizza, corn, and chocolate trifle were excellent! But for some items, there was a bit of a wait.
It was a little busy and noisy but you can hear your guest’s conversation.
Good overall though. Pricey but good.

I used to come here a lot when it was Hudsons. I really miss that place. Anyways, we came here for my gfs moms bday. The place looks great, very open and bright. The food was fairly pricey but yummy. The fungi pizza was good if you like mushrooms, the margherita was basic, but the real winner was the montanara! Now that was delicious. I could have eaten a whole one to myself. I ordered the salmon for myself and it came with no skin, very little veggies, and the veggies it came with was burned. The service was nice, however VERY slow. Very very slow. The cheesecake is also very delicious

My family and I came in on a Saturday evening with a reservation for a small engagement dinner for my sister and her fiancé. From the second we walked through the door, we were amazed by the ambiance of the place. The beautiful décor, the quirky «big eye» type paintings on the walls, the authentic fire pit pizza oven with handsome pizza makers working hard, and the sweet greeting from the hostess upon entering.
We ordered the patata pizza to start which had potatoes on top. The kicker was the little tiny jar of housemade chili oil that came with the pizza. We also ordered the clams and the cucumber salad. I didn’t have any of the clams but the fried fava beans that came on the plate were so good. They were crunchy little bursts of salty rich flavor. The cucumber salad was also fresh, tangy, citrusy, and so much more.
For my dinner I had the marinara pizza since it was the only dish on the menu that didn’t have cheese. I added arugula on top and some of the chili oil from the previous pizza. The crust was perfectly salty, chewy, and crispy. The tomato sauce and garlic slices on top were perfect. Definitely a pizza I will be dreaming about until next time.
For dessert I had the cherry rhubarb sorbetto and it was okay. But I did steal a poached cherry from my stepdad’s rice pudding and that was amazing. The best part of our meal here at A16 wasn’t the food though. It was the fact that we didn’t feel rushed at all during our meal. We were there for a couple hours, talking and catching up and not once did they push us to leave or order the next round of food or drinks. And they were great with checking up on us just enough without being pushy which is really rare with the hot spots in Oakland.
All in all, we had a great time here and look forward to coming back.

Spot on!
Simple lunch excursion with colleagues — solid flavors, no fuss/​no muss service & an excellent menu choice!
I wouldn’t think of sending anyone here without insisting they try the Burrata! Covered in sea salt & pistachios, it’s the perfect compliment to the creamy mozzarella!
I rounded out my meal with the seasonal salad — the other guests had pizzas: funghi & margherita — raves all around.
Cost for 3 w/​o any liquor/​wine — after all, this was midday
Making the trip across the Bay Bridge? Live in Oakland? Taking friends out on the town?
Whatever your mission, make #A16 part of your itinerary.

Have been here a few times now and love the food. Menu changes and its nice to try new things.
On my last visit used the travel zoo deal which included 2 cocktails, an app, and two entrees. App was crude sea urchin. You could still taste a bit of the urchin but the true flavors were enhanced by lemon and other spices. Very good in my book.
Then had the pork chop (very large) and fried potato. These were whole small potatoes deep fried and served with crispy garbanzo beans. Also very good.
Then we also had the Friday night special: a bowl of seafood in a tomato sauce. Included a small bit of cod, two shrimp, some mussels and clams. It was also very good.
The somm suggested a wine which I did not like. She exchanged it with another wine which was very good. I really appreciated that. Guess Im getting very picky these days.
Passed on the deserts because I was too full. They did have a nice long list though along with after dinner drinks.
On the minus side is that it does get loud inside. Also, my ATT and Verizon signals are lousy at this location. Makes checking in on Unilocal and pulling up the travel zoo deal a challenge. But cant pin that on the restaurant. Maybe they could install wifi :-)

Duality can be a tricky quality. If you’ve ever dated a Gemini you know. But when it comes to restaurants, I appreciate the ability to swing from one personality by day, and transform to something completely different by night. A16 is one of those places that embraces it’s split-​personality with a mellow morning coffee and pastry bar, and their sultry nightime dinner scene. No matter your mood, they can match it depending on the time of day.
When I heard about their weekday morning coffee service, complete with strong espesso, free wifi, and pastries you’ve only seen in Italy, I had to explore. For the moment, it’s a secret sanctuary where a handful of locals come to ease into the day, Euro-​style. With a book, newspaper, or for the less fortunate (like me): a laptop. All are welcome and accepted. And the coffee drinks come in the most adorable hand-​painted cups, adding to the old-​world charm. When it comes to the bar covered in sweet & savory pastries, order with your eyes. You won’t be deceived.
The dinner-​time scene morphs into a comfortably chic dining room with upscale-​authentic Italian cooking from their wood oven (the menu is a «trip» along A16, the autoroute that runs through Italy). I’ve only come for wine & appetizers, but it’s enough to have me sold on their legit Italian wine list and addicting small plates like the cheese-​filled arancini.
For an upscale girls night at the bar, or a splurgey date, A16 hits the spot. Don’t let their big city cache intimidate you — the Rockridge outposts aims to please the East Bay appetite with a decidedly hip but refreshingly laid-​back experience, day or night.