Venga Paella

Yes. Everything. YES! I had Venga Paella cater a dinner party for 8 people at my home last week. What a terrific experience. First of all, they were able to help me out in a pinch. We scheduled 3 days before the party. No ideal — but they really saved the day. Secondly, they serve it hot, ready to eat, at the time specified, in a beautiful big paella pan. They literally showed up 10 minutes before we were planning on sitting down to eat. Amazing presentation! And talk about easy for the host. All I had to do was make a big salad and buy some wine and dinner was DONE. I got to visit with my guests instead of working and cooking the entire time. And while the presentation is impressive, the flavor is even better! It was delicious. Everyone was raving! One of my guests is from Spain and has a very strong opinion of what paella should be and he was a fan. Everyone loved it and the dinner party was a success. I will absolutely call Venga Paella again and again.

I was excited to have time and be close by to come in and try their paella. but it didnt cure my paella craving. i was expecting alot more. and i dont mean quantity. but the quality was just okay… i seriously did not see a single piece of pork on my plate and i got 2 little itty bitty pieces of sausages the size of a dime… the shrimp were good size. and absolutely no fish at all… no scallops… all in all. it didnt have the seafood taste youd expect from rice bbeing cooked in fish stock… i think they might have used just regular water and seasoned it but it lacked in flavor…
The service was ok. we were the only ones there at the begining. food came out like 10 minutes after ordering and i think the plate itself without trying to sound cheap was worth maybe $ 10. id pay $ 30 – 40 for a real paella gladly. I feel bad for the $ 15 i paid here. lol. oh well… i might have to do it myself at home…
They do not serve any american sodas either. im not sure if thats good or bad. If the paella was trully authentic, the only spanish sodas thing would make sense. but the paella is not… so i wanted a coke with my yellow rice…

We stopped hers for Oakland week and really had a great time. We made a reservation and they reserved a table for us as the place filled up quick. The value is really there. $ 30 prix fixe for appetizer, paella and dessert… are you kidding me? That’s a deal. The sangria was delicious also. Great service and care. We love paella and we loved this place. We’ll definitely be back.

I’ve been making paella for years – on beaches, campouts, at home. I’ll even cook one in your bathroom if you ask me to. I’d heard good things about Venga and was overall pretty happy with the experience.
Highlights:
–Service: Really really really good. They put up with our lateness whereas other places would say, «we can’t seat you until the rest of your party shows up.» I hate that crap – but Venga was cool. (My flight was late).
–Wine. Their house wines are really good. The cava was also a hit. Spanish wine is very good but its also easy to serve the cheap swill. None of that here.
–Shrimp! The fixed price menu comes with two shrimp in sherry sauce. Mega wow.
–Desserts: Flan and manchego were good. Simple, but elegant.
–Price: Very reasonable. Love their «paella for the masses» philosophy and approach.
Where they can improve:
–Paella, while good, was a little bland. Overall, they had the ingredients and approach right – but I’d like to see more of the richness seafood/​chorizo find its way into the rice. My best personal paella is made with left over lobster or crab shells to give a distinct flavor. Here they used chicken broth – which is fine – but I’d like to see more of the pork/​chicken fat in the rice. Note that I only ordered the traditional. (They have a vegan and squid ink version as well. I dislike squid ink and think it makes stuff taste stale and old.)
–No socarrat. This word is the crust you get at the bottom of the paella pan which is full of flavor. Its also the hardest part of the paella to do (you cook the rice until its done and then blast it with heat in the closing minutes). Their portions don’t feature socarrat.
–Salad next to paella: Put some dressing on it! A simple sherry vinegar with olive oil is easy. I do it daily.
I’ve now been to all major paella places in Oakland plus Zarzuela in SF. My paella ranking:
1) Duende’s duck and fig fideua. Fideua isn’t a paella with rice, they use pasta. But this is insanely good. Sadly, it appears to no longer be on the menu. Walk in, scream and demand it.
2) Shakewell’s bacon/​chorizo bomba.
3) Venga’s «tradicionel».
4) Zarzuela.
Of course, this doesn’t include my bathroom paella.
Again, great place and I’d go back. This should be 3.5 stars…

After a long debate and researching the places to try during Oakland Restaurant week I was looking forward to trying Venga Paella. They have been hanging out on my bookmark list since they opened.
I made reservations for Thursday at 5:15. Since the twins were coming I made it early before the dinner rush so we don’t disturb anyone in case one or both babes decide to have a melt down.
We were greeted and sat immediately. The place is large with enough seating at tables and bar. It was dimly lit with candles. Not an over kill of décor, on the quiet side and quaint.
The prix meal was 3 courses ($ 30) that included a glass of sangria or wine. The appetizer was an assortment of small tapas, all of which were great. I especially liked the stuffed pepper and potato. For the paella I chose the chicken. It was a generous portion of chicken and vegetables with a small salad. The flavor was good, rice was moist. The server brought chili oil to add a little spice. For dessert I tried the mousse with blackberry sauce. This was one of the best desserts I have had in awhile. It was a dark chocolate so not too sweet and paired nice with the blackberry. I tried the red and white sangria. I liked the red so much I drank two ($ 8) it wasn’t too sweet.
Service was great once our orders was taken which took a little awhile after we were seated. The courses came out at a good pace, waters were filled and plates were taken away throughout the dinner.
Overall a great dinner. I like that they take reservations. Parking was easy to find.

Great place! Came here for restaurant week and what a great deal – $ 30 for a drink, tapas sampler, paella, and dessert. All food was excellent. Loved each of the tapas, Mohican included shrimp sautéed in sherry, goat cheese and olive stuffed pepper, crostini topped with tomato-​olive oil goodness, and tortilla espanola (last item was a touch cold). Hubby had paella tradicional and I the chicken paella. Both had the same delicious rice base. They also provided us with chili oil to give it a little more of a kick. Dessert was yum. Delicious tres leches cake! Husband loved the flan. Ambience is casual, friendly, industrial type decode typical of the neighborhood. Service was good but seemed a bit slow with bringing out food, presumably because they were so busy.
What a bargain for a more than solid meal. We will be back for sure.

Located in an industrial zone, with gloomy-​looking factories and lack of people walking around, it is easy to overlook Venga Paella. But once you walk inside, it transforms into a cozy atmosphere, perfect for a great time with friends while partaking in some Spanish eats.
A group of friends and I came to this place for Restaurant Week, where for $ 30, we had the following:
— For beverages, a choice among red or white sangria, craft soda, and wine.
— A sampler of tapas, which consisted of two prawns in a garlic sherry reduction, a potato, egg & onion Spanish-​style Fritatta with aioli, toasted bread with a tomato & light garlic & olive oil rub, and a goat cheese, caramelized onion and green olives combination stuffed in a bellpepper
— A choice among 4 paellas: Traditional, squid ink, chicken, and fideua (the noodle version)
— Dessert, with the following choices: flan, chocolate mousse cake with raspberry syrup, and manchego con membrillo (manchego cheese with quince paste).
BEVERAGES: I had a white sangria, which honestly tasted like straight-​out-​of-​the-​bottle-​into-​a-​glass-​with-​ice white wine to me, but I wasn’t complaining. Some of my companions who tried the red one thought it was a little strong. Still a decent drink to start off with.
TAPAS SAMPLER: While each item was solid in their own right, I think the best out of the four items on the sampler was the potato/​egg/​onion frittata combo, as it had the most optimal point of balance in terms of flavor. The bread with tomato sauce was a little bland, the prawns didn’t have a hint of the garlic flavor, and the stuffed bellpepper had too much olive flavoring.
PAELLAS: The prize of the night had to go to the paellas! I had the traditional paella, which consisted of prawns, calamari, mussels, clams & pork chorizo, with a side of a greens along with a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette. Every bite of the rice had a nice, vibrant, spicy kick to it, and the chili oil that was provided to us definitely helped add to the party that was going on in my mouth. The pork chorizo definitely was a great addition to the paella, as well as the calamari. One little drawback was the mussels, which were tiny! But overall, my first time eating paella was a great experience.
DESSERT: The chocolate mousse had a little too much chocolate flavoring. The flan was optimally sweet, with great texture to it. However, I LOVED the manchego con membrillo. The savoriness of the manchego in contrast to the sweetness of the quince made for an excellent war of flavors in my mouth, which worked out quite well from start to finish. You can’t go wrong with the manchego or the flan!
In all, this place is absolutely perfect to bring friends or a date while eating some delicious Spanish food. Gotta love those hole-​in-​a-​wall discoveries!

Solid choice for paella and other authentic Spanish dishes in an otherwise quiet location frequented mainly by trucks heading in and out of the nearby Port of Oakland. The menu is short and sweet — several tapas and a handful of paellas — and the setting is intimate and home-​like, seating about 50 people at most.
I’ve tried several paella dishes and liked the fact that they were individually sized and prepared. I wasn’t necessarily overwhelmed with the taste (a bit salty) and price (ever so slightly steep for the serving size), but there wasn’t anything bad about the dishes either. Quite authentic experience overall, in fact.
Service is personal and attentive — they’ll even let you taste a draft beer or a wine offering before you commit to it. There’s also live music from time to time, lately on Thursday nights. Overall, a solid 3.5 star establishment that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend trying at least once.

I started my 4 Day Birthday Weekend Staycation at Venga Paella and I’m glad I did .
First plenty of free street parking. Score .
I then rolled in to Venga Paella which is a really nice place. The outside is quite deceiving .
I chose to sit at the Bar. This is where I met the Bartender Noël she was quite Enchanting and she really knows the Menu very well.
I ordered their House Sangria which was quite tasty.
I then ordered the Bacon Wrapped Dates and the Stuffed Piquillo Peppers .
They were Both very Good. I liked the Bacon Wrapped Dates so much to the amusement of Noël I ordered Seconds. LOL
I then ordered the Paella de arroz negro– Squid Ink Paella which was very Good its was quite Filling. Noël even gave me an empty plate to put the Mussel shells on.
I ordered the Flan and it was Heavenly !!! So Good !!!
I then ordered a second Sangria LOL.
I was so curious about the Manchego Cheese dessert that I ordered it. I was glad that I did. It was really tasty .
Vanga Paella would be a Great place to take a Date. They have a nice seating arrangement from Couple Seating to Communal Seating.
I first ran into Vanga Paella at a Unilocal Elite Event they were Catering. I’m glad they have a Brick and Mortar location where I can get my Paella Fix at a Reasonable price .
I paid by Credit Card and rolled out,
Ill be Back.

3.5 stars, please.
Great ambiance. Super friendly staff. Easy parking.
I love a place that will let you sip a few wines before making your decision and Venga is one of those places. Ultimately I settled on the Reserva Rioja and could not have been happier with it. It is a fantastic stand alone wine that complimented dinner perfectly.
For me, patatas bravas are a cornerstone dish in a place like this and theirs were only so-​so (and a big reason I only give them 3.5 stars). The flavoring was almost powerful enough and while many of the potatoes were crispy outside, not all of them were. Worse yet, the insides were mushy — almost as if they had chosen the wrong variety of potato to use. Normally I ask for extra aioli but at Venga, it was a bit watery.
The octopus was cooked perfectly and had a wonderful flavor but it was served on a mushy, tasteless slice of potato.
Hands down and out of this world amazing was the chicken paella. The rice was cooked to perfection with a flavor that kept the spoonfuls headed to my mouth; the chicken was moist, tender and delicious; and the combination of squash, artichoke hearts and figs was a most pleasant surprise.
Be sure to ask for the hot chili oil to add to your paella — it has a wonderful smokey flavor with a huge chili bite.

Always on the lookout for good eats and this place did not disappoint. The staff is AWESOME — our waitress was very welcoming and even offered a sample of the white sangria since I’d never tried (I surprised myself and chose it because it was wonderfully refreshing on the hot day we’d went) and the cooks prepared the shrimp perfect in the Gambas al ajillo

This was such a little gem in the pebbles! The owner was seating patrons, quite a pleasant man. Service was wonderful. Jackie did a fantastic job all around. Answered all my questions without getting irritated! Lol. When she was busy the other server basically tagged teamed to make sure we received our Food & extras. The food was very, VERY GOOD.
I highly recommend this little Paella place & will definitely find a way to come back.

Not a bad place, and I’m sure a very welcome addition to the neighborhood. 3.5 stars overall…
Let me just say, though, that the service here is super friendly. Our server was smiling constantly and truly infectious in her appreciation of the food and what they serve. Awesome.
The parking out front was easy too, industrial and not overcrowded. No far from West Oakland Bart either (though I wouldn’t recommend walking from there, even with gentrification; not after dark anyway.
The food was so so thought. We ordered patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo, stuffed peppers, and traditional paella. The potatos were a little salty but delicious with a side of beer. The shrimp were good too, clean and sweet, but needed a little more garlic in my opinion. The peppers could have been different — the cheese was only in the tip of the pepper and the olive tapenade was on the upper portion. Too big to be one bite, and not balanced enough to cut in half and get even bites. Meh. The paella was alright too, but I missed the deep flavor profiles from the mixing of the seafood and chorizo while cooking. It feels as of the rice was a base and the rest was mixed in after… Not cooked together? Who knows… Still tasty but not what I I’m gone.
Will definitely give this place another go probably on a weekend. Cute little gem, great atmosphere, and service is genuinely friendly.

The paella here is really good, but not necessarily the best I have had. I have tried a few different Paella’s while in Barcelona, it was by far the best paella experiences I have had. With that said, I am very picky with my paella. I like to taste the saffron, and with theirs I didn’t taste it at all. However, it was still really tasty and all the shellfish was cooked to perfection. The sangria was yummy, but it didn’t have any chunks of fruit, which I typically prefer. For an appetizer, we tried the Piccadilo peppers stuffed with goat cheese and chopped olives, it was a beautiful combination of favors.

if you live locally, stop by for a drink and appetizers but if you want quality and delicious meals take your money somewhere else .
The place was nice, simple and had a nice ambience. Right when we walked in there was a sign «Please seat yourself». Our waitress, Jackie, was very helpful and attentive and made us feel welcome. She did remind us several times that the restaurant closes by 9:30 pm. The menu was very limited.
Jackie, our waitress, let us sample both the red and white sangria. The white sangria was bland and tasted like cheap white wine. On the other hand, the red sangria was cool and delicious with hints of fruits. We also noted that the bartender was too busy chatting with other workers and our waitress had to get the sangria from the bar.
We started off with appetizers and red sangria. For appetizers, we ordered Pulpos con patatas (octopus with potatoes) & Morcilla (blood sausage) grilled onions served with French bread. The appetizers were delicious and could have served up to 4 people. The octopus cooked in olive oil served with potatoes, were tender and delicious with hints of smoked paprika. The Morcilla were savory. Both appetizers reminded me of home cooked meal. We asked our waitress to pack half of the leftover appetizer since we were anticipating that the Paella would be large enough up to feed up to 4 – 8 people depending on the size of the pan which they cook in and it normally takes 30 – 45 minutes to cook from the time they take your order.
The Paella tradicional (Spanish rice cooked with shrimp, mussels, clams, and pork chorizo. The Paella was served on a very small plate with a side of green salad with vinaigrette dressing. We were both very disappointed with the Paella. It tasted like fried rice cooked in an instant seafood broth. Both the shrimp and mussels did not taste fresh and we had to squeeze lemon and spoon some olive oil infused with chili pepper into the dish to mask the fishy flavor. We couldn’t even find any clams in the dish even with the use of the candle. The chorizo, in the dish, was tough and disgusting.
We just decided to finish off the red sangria. Whatever will be will be!
We chose not to have dessert since dinner was very disappointing and It didn’t help that we saw the chefs leaving for the night by 9:15 p.m.
Summary: The restaurant is small and unpretentious. If you live nearby, come to this restaurant to sample the delicious appetizers with red Sangria but go somewhere else if you want quality and amazing dinner. Average dinner price for 2 people was $ 85 which included 2 appetizers, 1 entrée & 1 pitcher of red Sangria and tip.

Venga Paella was good, but did not exactly meet my high expectations.
The paella itself was good, had great flavor. I was disappointed to see it served on half a plate with greens tossed on the other side. I’m no paella expert, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the presentation. Wish it was still in a pan!
The tapas were good. A bit pricey, and the serving was skimpy, so I’d likely skip. The sangria was good/​average as well (but cheap!).
The staff was very friendly and sweet. Very personable. But maybe it was because we came on a Friday night, the service was a bit slow. Waited about 10 – 20 minutes in between ordering, receiving tapas, and then receiving our food.
Overall, a good experience but not one that was too memorable for me personally. Really wanted to just LOVE this place, but I found myself a bit disappointed. However I do think their paella ifself is definitely worth a try.

Having had their paella at the San Rafael Sunday farmers’ market, many times, a few years ago, I have been having a hankering for their raison d’etre for quite a while; more so since I had not seen them around the last few times I went to the farmers’ market.
I was so glad to find out that I now don’t have to seek them out from one farmer’s market to the other, since they had decided to open a restaurant, albeit only from Wed to Sat.
We were sat pretty quickly and proceeded to go for the ‘Tortilla de patatas’ and the ‘Gambas al ajillo’. The tortillas were layered with chunks of boiled potatoes, cheese, and egg, finished off with an aioli. It was delicious but I wished the portions were larger until I realised a tapas plate is exactly that. The shrimp was pretty tasty but it didn’t really impress me; it was something anyone could have made at home. It was plainly seared on a pan, served on a little spread of herbed olive oil which didn’t go all that far on enhancing the flavour of the dish. It’s counterpart at Barlata was much better.
For the entrees, I went for the Tradicional while K went for the Arroz Negro (with black squid ink). As expected they didn’t let me down. It was every bit as good as I remember, and expected it to be. Her rice was well done while mine had a little bit of «give» — somewhere between ‘al dente’ and ‘well done’. I am not sure if it was the socarrat. The shrimp were juicy and plump, as were the clams, mussels, and calamari. Her arroz negro had a lovely taste of the sea that I really took a shine to (I will have that on my next visit). The side of greens tossed in an extra-​virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar was a welcome variant to the meal.
If you like to spice it up a bit, do not miss the red pepper infused oil. It’s a bit on the hotter side but it made the awesome paella fantastic! Don’t forget to try it! Remember the trick is to drizzle it on the rice and not pour it on, unless you want a volcano in your mouth … or eat ghost chillies for breakfast every day.
The portion sizes of the entrees weren’t huge, nor were they measly. I would say they were ‘right-​sized’; just enough to satiate you without feeling bloated or, worse, leaving hungry.
And that left us enough room to want to try desserts! We decided on the Chocolate mousse and the Flan. The flan was pretty standard, and as delicious as expected. The chocolate mousse was better and encased a small dome of chocolate cake within. The dark chocolate was definitely working it, and left me wishing I had the mousse all to myself instead of splitting both desserts.
I wonder why it took me so long to visit this restaurant after knowing about it’s existence — oh wait, that’s because they’re open only Wednesdays to Saturdays, their main business being the catering side of it.
I love it. I will return. And I hope to have them cater at some event in the future.

For a last minute pre-Valentine’s Day dinner, the beau and I were actually able to get reservations at 6pm. I’m glad we did that because it started to get busy not long after we arrived.
We started off with the Patatas Bravas and Gambas Al Ajillo (prawns). The patatas were good, but I enjoyed the prawns more. We both ordered the Paella Tradicional (prawns, calamari, mussels, clams and chorizo), which they give you a good portion. I ate it all up! I also decided to go with their Sangria, which was very good.
I’ll be back here when I need a paella fix.

Solid, accessible tapas in Oakland!
This place is fairly new, and participated in Oakland’s restaurant week. Their restaurant week was the most promising – it includes a drink (!!), several appetizers (the beauty of tapas), paella, and a dessert, all for $ 30. My roomie and I made reservations for a Wednesday evening and left very satisfied with our meal.
First, it is in the middle of nowhere. The bright side? Hella parking. Hella free parking.
When we came in for a 6 o clock reservation, it was pretty empty. Literally 15 minutes after we sat down, the place completely filled up! Our server was very sweet and apologized several times for the wait, which wasn’t necessary, but was such a nice gesture on her part. We both received the tapas sampler, ordered one paella tradicional, and one paella con arroz negro, and both opted for the flan for dessert. Since there are several dishes, we’ll run through all of them:
Tortilla de papa: This was my least favorite dish. It was served kind of lukewarm, and I could hardly taste or find the garlic aioli. Not bad, but definitely not that great.
Pa amb tomaquet: Toasted bread with a garlic/​tomato/​olive oil sauce. Super simple, but the sauce was very tasty.
Stuffed piquillo peppers: My roomie isn’t a fan of olives, so this was her least favorite, but I loved this dish. The pepper is stuffed with goat cheese and olive tapenade – the goat cheese is mostly at the bottom, so I’d advise to cut the pepper lengthwise to get a bit of everything in each bite.
Gambas al ajilo: Shrimp sautéed in a yummy garlic sauce. Shrimp was cooked perfectly and you honestly cannot go wrong with the flavoring of this dish.
Paella tradicional: Surprisingly came with mixed greens! As others have noted, the paella is not served in pans here, but on a plate. But that’s probably also why it’s much cheaper than other places. Ours had a good amount of seafood, and I was pleased that none of the seafood was overcooked.
Paella de arroz negro: Paella made with squid ink, served with mussels, clams, and squid. The squid was kind of sparse in this dish, and as others have mentioned, there wasn’t a huge discernible difference between this one and the traditional paella. Still, the texture of both paella dishes was perfect, and the flavoring was also on point.
Flan: Not overly sweet, which I appreciated. The texture was a litttttttttttle off, only meaning I’ve had flan much smoother in texture before.
Overall, this is a nice «quick fix» tapas place, especially compared to others that have recently opened in Oakland (I’m looking at you, Duende. Y U so expensive?!)

Take note: paella served on plates.
I was quite excited when I encountered their Unilocal page while I was in dire search of a great paella place in the Bay to satisfy my paella craving. The place is smack dapped in the middle of the industrial heart of West Oakland. Cool, but eerie environment. However, after walking inside, it doesn’t feel like it anymore. Place was well furnished with modern design. Not too many people on the Friday night we came.
We ordered the Paella traditional and the Paella de arroz negro. Once the dishes came to our table, I was utterly disappointed. My first reaction was, where is the pan? Then followed by, where’s the prized soccarat I get to scrape off? (Soccarat = the caramelized crust of rice that forms on the bottom of the paella pan) Full experience stolen. The rice wasn’t the right texture either. It was a bit mushy without the right crisp. However, the flavors were definitely present and the ingredients fresh. And the prices are low relative to other paella places.
The dinner basically went on without the great finale of the soccarat. Still searching!
Until I see a paella pan placed smacked down in the middle of the table, I will satisfy my cravings elsewhere. (What a great center-​piece it would be, no?)