ACRE Kitchen and Bar — Restaurant in Oakland

We decided to try Acre, a fairly new restaurant in Rockridge. I would give the restaurant 2.5 stars.

First, the restaurants menu online did not match the menu we got given which was minorly frustrating, as someone who liked to plan ahead. The service was largely good and the food and drinks were prompt. We ordered the following:

Drinks: Off menu bartender made cocktail - my partner enjoyed this drink

The Thyme has come - pleasant mocktail, really appreciate the several mocktail options

Oaklands Own - This felt like it was missing something sweet to cut it, it was a bit too lime forward for my partners taste.

Dinner: Delicata Squash “Rings” - These lightly battered rings were okay with the sauce, but it quickly became apparent that they were severely under seasoned, and did not seem to have an even cook through (some parts were hard, almost not cooked at all, other parts were a more palatable texture), we did not eat all of them.

Lamb Sugo - My partner enjoyed this dish, although the portion size felt a bit small for $38

Rotisserie Chicken - This dish felt a bit confusing and was not great. There was bread on the bottom, covered with some wilted greens which were very under seasoned, and the chicken on top. The whole dish seemed to be doused by a chicken broth. The chicken was dry and not really seasoned, the greens were not enjoyable but then the bread was perplexing, it ended up just being a soggy mound at the bottom of the plate. Is it supposed to be eaten (it was bland) or just there to absorb juices? I didn’t finish the whole dish.

Dessert Budino - my partner enjoyed this mousse desert.

All in all we had a few things we liked, but a lot that we didn’t. It felt a bit more than an off night in the kitchen as there was some conceptual flaws to some of the dishes. It was about $160 before tip which felt more similar to SF prices, will I be back? I think there’s better options in the area. The space is really nice and service was good, I’m mainly writing this review in the hopes they make some improvements...

Acre aims to be a place where everyone feels welcome and supported, a place for memory making. They definitely do that very well. Plus, their menu is so fun with lots of love. The space is beautiful!

I've been there for both lunch and dinner. Lunch was fabulous. My friend and I had the slightly boozy drinks were delicious, we split a salad and pizza which were both incredible and delicious, the service was great. A+++ experience.

So good I went back for wedding anniversary with my husband. That experience was not great. We left hungry exactly an hour later.

The courses were served so quick I wasn't done with my salad before the entree came, and no room on the table for all of it. They took away my plate with my fork still in my mouth. Uggg.

Also ugg: They bill you for things with out warning you. Want still or sparkling water? Still isn't charged, but sparkling is! Delicious apple tart is on the menu without ice cream. ok, thats fine if you want to serve it that way. But they will ask you if you want ala mode and when you say yes they add a charge. I am happy to pay for all these things. But they should be on the menu and priced so I know exactly what I am agreeing to.

Dinner these days is a paycheck and I want to be able to budget. Its easy to put dessert on there with its price, and add the ala mode price too. Otherwise we are just playing games - I don't like those kind of games. I am not sure I will go back for dinner unless someone else invites me. But I recommend that everyone go over and check out Acre if you can afford it. It is a lovely...

Although the entirety of my dining experiences (service, hospitality, cuisine) at Acre Kitchen and Bar had been consistently superlative, what compelled me to pen a review was an exchange with the General Manager, Calvin Young. Said exchange initially started with a Staff member who contacted me to discuss my reservations/my associated seating expectations for their resoundingly successful $1 Oysters Happy Hour special on Tuesdays (all summer long). NOTE: The venue is bifurcated with upstairs/downstairs/patio seating, and my question had to do with seating. The call culminated with pending questions on my end which I was told would be answered by the General Manager who would be contacting me imminently. Mr. Young indeed contacted me shortly thereafter, AND, impressively, spent an inordinate amount of time ensuring that he not only understood my expectations but that MY questions were appropriately addressed to my satisfaction. NOTE: Given the upstairs/downstairs/patio bifurcation AND associated protocol, and although I can fervently attest that said hospitality, service and cuisine remain exemplary what truly captured/exemplified my attestations was a customer who gleefully/joyfully clapped her hands when the server placed her dish before her! ...