Brenda's Oakland — Restaurant in Oakland

I came to Brenda‘s about three times. The first time was on Fish Friday myself a retired school teacher to celebrate her retirement and we had great time food was great quantity was good portion and fresh , customer service was OK. The second time I went was the next weekend on a Sunday with two Church members and we had separate bills. I had ordered a fish plate for about $24.00 the Grandmother and her granddaughter they Oder a platter meal about $34.00 so the problem came in Ware the platter meal portion of food was decreased prior to the week that I have been there. So I ask the nice waitress about the quantity the young lady was very nice, but she went to talk to her Manager when we questioned her about the quantity of the platter. Somehow the Manager misunderstood the waitress and she assumed that we wanted her to cut the bill in half , which we never said that to the waitress the waitress say she was going to mention our concerns The floor manager just was really rude. She over talked us try to go back and forth . So we ask to pay our bill .She took it upon herself to go to the waitress and held our check while she talk with the waitress , only to find out that she was at fault the floor Manager.I had approach her and ask her again can we have our check so we can leave. She finally sent the waitress back and had the waitress to give us the Grandmother and her granddaughters complete payment of $40 so they didn’t charge her for her food ,just charged me for mine which was $24 the money wasn’t an issue. It was the rudeness and the disrespect from the floor manager. And then after she realized her unprofessional actions were notice by other customers she some what apologized on our way out the door.. After that I came back the next week because the food is good and I brought another church member. Her brother had just died. I was sever a cup of ice water. I ask for just a cup of ice , I drink vitamin water, The assistant manager told me that I couldn’t bring outside food ,I said OK. I never opened it, and then the young lady that I was with went to inquire about the policy which they never showed us the policy until afterwards. AnyWho, we were denied service to even sit in and eat and they only haved three customers in the whole dinner areas , this was a Friday!! we couldn’t believe that they were denied us service over a cup of ice .So we got up and left. This was so unprofessional the manager‘s supervisor of the night decided not to service us . We were like I would never go to Brenda’s again. I don’t care how good their food is their service is very poor, And that was with upper Management service. The quantity of food is decreasing and their changing their Quantity of food portions . Thank...

Maybe after working in the service industry for many years, I'm hyper-sensitive to people's emotional states or just quality of service in general, but this visit today was just wholly uncomfortable largely due to one person. A "manager" who's name I'll omit but, I'm quite certain is known to the staff for reasons that will become clear.

I walked in the front door and bumped into the door and dropped an item I was holding that ended up making an above average amount of noise. I looked up, immediately apologized and as i looked around everyone there had a sort of relieved and forgiving look on their faces except one person. The one in plan clothes in the expeditor position. She looked at me like I just kicked her dog. The hatred coming off that woman's face was palpable. "Oh well. Bad day on the line. Been there." I said. I got seated and ordered.

My water and coffee came out right away. My server was amazing through all of this by the way. About two minutes later, my angry friend came out with a second cup of coffee. She stood about six feet away from me, and as if asking the entire area, loudly said, "Did you already get your coffee?" Not initially realizing she was talking to me, I paused a beat, held up the coffee mug in my hand and said, "I already got mine!" and smiled at her. She litterally scowled, rolled her eyes, said "That's why I was asking!" and turned around and stormed off. It was surreal. Like her error was somehow my fault now?

Then the food. Not their best. I've eaten at Brenda's in SF many times and I've never been disappointed. I've eaten here three times now and I don't remember ever really being as satisfied as I was in SF. However today, the chicken was indible. The chicken breast was dry and the breading was so hard it litterally hurt my teeth. When I mentioned this to my server, she was very sympathetic and immediately took it away. Mrs AngryFace returned a few minutes later and said, "You want me to take the chicken off the bill?" No offers to fix it with ANY other options just the one sentance. Wow.

Now, that was the main issue but, I feel obliged to mention, when one works in food service, it is typically recommended to NOT drown out the smell of the food with your own over-powering musk. This woman smelled like she BATHED in her perfume before work. There was an odor cloud left behind after her last visit that was still there after I had paid my check and left a few minutes later.

With litterally FIVE better options on that block, I can't imagine I'll be back. Brenda, get over here and get your EastBay...

This place is a joke. It's being run down by hoodlums. So-called managers are unprofessional, and I guess they condone disrespect and rudeness from their staff toward customers, and of course, the managers are no exempt. Called to report my experience to the manager, letting them know how their staff treated me because i bought some food for a homeless man. I guess our society has forced so many people to forget what it feels like to show empathy and compassion for others.

On monday, i walked into this place to order some food for myself & this homeless man standing on the corner who had asked me for cash. I dont give cash, but i buy them food to eat. This African-American short/heavy set girl, with short hair, was mad disrespectful toward me. Telling me how, when, and whom I should or shouldn't spend my money on. This girl says ma'am, don't get food for that guy," he was rude to me, and he's banned from eating from our establishment." I was flabbergasted, I ignored her & went on to get him his food anyway. You don't starve strangers because you have an issue with them. How about you check your attitude because it projects how people respond to you too. She refused to provide me with silverware because she knew I was going to give the food to the young man. I was very upset. Oakland is a great city. We're known to care for one another during these tough times. This location should be friendly to locals, including the less privileged, especially the homeless people. I have seen the way some of the staff act toward customers, and it's not okay. This girl had the audacity to tell me that i'm also banned from visiting Brendas in Oakland. Girl, that's okay. Im good. I regret the many years i spent my money at this place not knowing they pick & choose who can and can't eat there. Girl, im happy to go elsewhere and spend my money, where the food is served with love and care, and have friendly staff, not power tripped servers. I guess they don't care about their reputation in Oakland nomore. They're running this place down for sure, i hope it closes for poor customer service and failure to serve the homeless and the community. They are...