Z Café & Bar

The food was tasty and the service was quite good. Extensive bar for those who like to partake. Food prices are quite reasonable. They also have a very good small happy hour menu.

Food is soooooo delicious. The owner is awesome. This is the type of restaurant where I eat everything off the menu.

Every time I come to town there’s one place that never disappoints… Z Café. The quality of the food and drinks are perfect each and every time. The owner Mehdi is the nicest owner I’ve ever met. Staff is always professional and smiling.

We hosted an office party last night with 15 guests who ate and drank all night long. What a perfect way to celebrate after Tax Day! Mehdi and his crew are the BEST! You will not find nicer more professional people anywhere. We had two servers and the bartender hopping from 6:30 — 10:00pm and they were attentive and cheerful throughout our entire meal.
It is hard to find a restaurant that does not require a set menu when the head count exceeds 10 people. We like to allow our guests to choose for themselves from the menu — especially when there are vegans/​vegetarians. Z Café & Bar allowed us this flexibility and managed our large group with ease and finesse.
The drink menu is vast and varied (one guest from New Orleans declared the Hurricane an authentic hit!) and the food, from appetizers to main dishes and dessert, is great. You MUST try the ribs; one guest from Kansas City was amazed by how delicious they are and she knows barbecue!
I think we have a new office «clubhouse» at Z Café & Bar. We will look forward to rolling down Broadway to whoop it up as often as we can!

I hardly make it over to this side of the Bay but I’m sure glad I did for my friend’s gala that she hosted at Z Café. The place is spacious and has a vintage feel to it. I got the ribs with the tasty BBQ sauce and Mac and cheese loaded with bacon, Panko crumbs and blue cheese. I sure was happy to find such a cool spot in front of auto row and look forward to coming back.

Great food. Tasty everything. My salad greens were fresh and clean. The dressing was so good. The meatballs were delicious. Meatloaf was outstanding. Great service. Yummy artisan drinks. Great bartender. We had an excellent experience. We will be back.

My go to restaurant with my dental office or for when I forget to pack food for lunch. The food is amazing and so as their lunch menu. Their portions are huge and their service is great as well. I love their crab melt sandwich and the chicken caprese sandwich with pesto! Definitely will be going there soon

This restaurant is in the middle of Oakland’s Auto Row. Not only does it share a wall with the Nissan dealership, but it literally has a window in the wall where you look right into the Nissan showroom. It’s a little strange, but doesn’t really detract from the nice ambience. Service was stellar and the food and drinks were very good. The cocktail list is quite long and happy hour lasts from 5−10pm on Saturdays –amazing! My friend had been searching everywhere for a place that had espresso martinis like she used to have in Australia, and she found them here. I had never had one before and thought they were fantastic. For food, we had the Eggplant Parmesan stacks and crab cakes. I found the crab cakes to be very light and delicate while the eggplant parm was actually «meaty.» I will definitely return to try more of their menu and enjoy that great service.

My new staff took me to Z for a welcome lunch. I had looked at the Unilocal and decided to order the meatloaf. The plate came with steamed veggies and mashed potatoes. It was pretty much like I-​Hop. Bland meatloaf and the veggie could have been a little more inspired. It wasn’t like I didn’t like it, more like I should have ordered something else, My colleagues had cheeseburgers, which might have been a better choice. Servers were nice and friendly, but I don’t think I’ll be back.

As far as happy hours go, Z Café is awesome! I mean, happy hour starts at 4pm and goes until 10pm. This is far from the norm, considering the fact that most comparable bars and restaurants only have happy hours from 5pm to 7pm. With that said, happy hour plates are only $ 6 (again, from 4pm to 10pm!) and specialty cocktails are also $ 6. I’d suggest the Obama Momma, which is a mixture of a couple of fruity-​flavored vodkas and lemonade. The house mac and cheese is also pretty decent.
Last time I was here my friend and I shared a plate of sweet potato fries, and I was not satisfied. The portion was generous but the flavor was severely lacking and the fries were too dry. I even added more salt to the fries but that did not help at all. Won’t be ordering sweet potato fries here again.
It’s a family-​friendly environment, so feel free to bring the kiddies along. Parking can be a challenge, though, especially around dinnertime.

Nice happy hour place. Kind of a bizarre location. Really nice bartender.
Wife and I hit the appetizers and split an entrée:
hamburger slider wins. really good, with pretzel bun
Fried green tomatoes — can’t go wrong there
meatballs — ok, nothing über-​fantastic
Pulled pork slider — heck’a dry pork
Had the apple/​walnut salad — was good, spiced walnuts for the win
Chicken Piccata — very good, would definitely get again.
Bar had MEGA vodka selection, pretty limited bourbon/​rye, looked to be a decent beer selection.
I’d go again if I was in the neighborhood, but wouldn’t seek it out. Was a nice little place though.

This is a bit overdue, but Mehdi and the rest of the staff made sure my graduation celebration was perfect. After looking at a few other extremely overpriced restaurants around Oakland, I remembered Z Café and how good the food always is.
Over the course of a few weeks of emails and phone calls, which were seamless and replied to promptly, I had my dinner spot confirmed, my custom menu done. Three courses (brought my own dessert) for up to 30 people at a very affordable price. I also like how you can choose from the whole menu in order to create your set menu. Unlike many other places, non-​alcoholic drinks are included in the price.
The day before the dinner, Mehdi confirmed everything with me and even cleared out space in the refrigerator for my cake that I brought in. The whole night and the planning leading up to it was seamless and I recommend everyone have an event here; you won’t be disappointed in planning, service, price, or food quality. Everything is top notch!

This review is about 4 weeks late. Lol we had our company Holiday party here. Drinks were good. Bartenders were nice and accommodating. Food was delicious!!! Did I mention they had a WIDE variety of Vodka!

i was waiting for my car to get done so although I’m full from a late lunch and not supposed to be drinking, I went in anyway.
got me seated outside since the weather was pretty cool.
ordered a crab cake, beer and later their cocktails. server gave me bread which was nice.
crab cake was pretty good. actually got a lot of crab not just fillers.
cocktails were good too. decently priced.
service was great.
love that it wasn’t crowded.

This place is relatively close to my school so I drop by whenever there is a cause for a celebration.
The first time I was there I came in for lunch and got a burger that was a bit too well done even though I wanted it rare, but it’s ok because I discovered their happy hour drinks!

Came in for the first time for a business meeting. Food was good, but awful service. Our waitress gave us a lot of attitude when we asked questions about the menu. She sounded really annoyed and even sighed out loud. I felt like I was trying to appease the waitress, versus the other way around. The food isn’t that great enough for me to come back and endure that kind of service.

Never a disappointment when dining here. Consistently consistent, why bother wondering when you can come see Mehdi and his delightful staff.
Burgers cooked to perfection, Crab Cakes perfectly crisp and with over 75 vodkas how can you go wrong.
#OaklandLove #townbizness #foodiefun #eatplay #eatgoodfood

Let me start by saying that our hostess this eve Danielle (female) was the greatest and more gracious handling 8 tables herself and remaining thoroughly involved and attentive somehow with ease.

On to the rest… the honey dijon glazed salmon along with the garlic fries and ranch sauce was a bestfriend to my taste buds! This was my second time coming (the first time it was a private event and it was closed to the public), the inside is a clean almost very chic, but with a touch of urban coolness. The staff was pretty cool, especially the hostess as I said named Danielle. I came for my birthday meal with a few friends and Danielle, along with the great food, environment, and location made this a really nice saturday.
I will most certainly return, and can say I consider this a good place for both drinks and food. I will reccomend this place to others and bring visiting friends and family by for the experience.
Cheers to Z Café!!!

I have now eaten at their restaurant over 4 times. I work within a stones throw away & is extremely conveniently located.
I’ve tried the Blackened Chicken Pasta, Chicken Panini & Crab sandwich. Everything has been good & thus the 4 stars.
Overall the service & food is good but not great & thus it misses 1 star.

Day of visit: 11÷29÷14
Z Café & Bar is kind of a diamond in the rough. Somewhat hidden from the street, part of a car dealer is this little dining established with a bar and a tastefully appointed dining room. We came here on the day after Thanksgiving and were glad they were open.
They have a wonderful and very big bar menu, boasting over 100 different kinds of liquors. All cocktails and martinis are available happy hour prices until later 7. Both Moscow Mule and Cosmo hit the spot, and they were unbelievably cheap at $ 5.60. The Cosmo has the perfect ratio of cranberry, triple-​sec, and fresh lime. It’s perfect!
Being ravenous after getting off the plane, we shared three courses for the evening.
*Lobster Ravioli ($ 16) not heavy at all even served in cream wine sauce. It compares to ravioli dishes we have at Italian restaurant.
*Topless Burger ($ 9) is a gluten-​free option, with no bread, just a flame grilled beef patty on top of a house salad with fries. The patty is a medium rare half-​pounder.
*Pan Seared Tilapia ($ 15) is the special du jour. Two fillets of tilapia seasoned with shallots seared to a tenderness. Served with steamed vegetables and savory basmati rice. I really like the butter-​lemon sauce that gently coats the fish.
About a week later we returned for their happy hour, just sitting up at the bar, sipping the delicious cocktails. I’m very happy to have found a more upscale/​classy place to which I can go on a regular basis in Oakland. Food is consistent, very simple and honest. I wish they are open on Sunday though.