Burdell — Restaurant in Oakland

My GF wanted to take her mom out to "Food & Wine’s Restaurant of the Year”. She thought that meant the "best restaurant in the nation". So I was enlisted along too. I do not identify as a "foodie", but was willing to go along for the ride. Since I am retired and old, I have had a few experiences in the long ago past with eating out: like a friend from Venezuela had insisted we go to Burma Superstar nearby on the other side of Telegraph over a decade ago, and some disabled students I knew from Cal Berkeley had chosen Pizzaioli for their end-of-term dinner. Also there is a farmers market at Claremont DMV parking lot on weekends. At 51st and Telegraph there used to be a muffin cafe where people would be outside using old ironing boards for cafe tables. So the location is in a kind of a quirky "Gourmet Ghetto" in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood. It seems similar to Berkeley's Shattuck Ave "Gourmet Ghetto" centered around Chez Panisse, Saul's, and Walnut Square's Peet's Coffee and Tea. So ok maybe worth going to at least once.

Parking: We parked at a meter nearby across Telegraph and arrived on time for a 5pm reservation. We were seated promptly.

Music: started out with Atlantic Starr "ALWAYS" a smooth, romantic R&B ballad of devotion. Nice song! But that is the last song I recall. The noise level gradually increased as people arrived to populate the dining room. Eventually we couldn't hear each other well.

We ordered a la carte. (The 4 course price fixe dinner was $90/per person. We did not get that. However we ended up at $200+ for a party of 3 with 1 cup of coffee, delicious filtered water, and no booze).

Our food: The arugula (a.k.a. "rocket") with pecans was good! (Tasty) The 3 cornbreads with butter was good, and not burned, the top crust was darkened (temperature? Or some glaze?) I was offered a small taste of the lamb from mom's serving. I am not a lamb expert. It seemed good. The split pea stew was good. It had some "fat back"(?) pork(?) for flavor. The chicken and waffles was chicken liver (paté? Sauté or fried?) and half a waffle, or half moon shaped waffle. There was some dish that had fried onions which I had difficulty recognizing was onion (maybe it was something else? It was breaded, so it looked like french fries) One dish had some kind of wild rice on it which I recall as being very good. Portions were not large, but we managed to eat enough to feel reasonably full. The coffee was not on the initial menu, but was on the dessert menu. $6 with refill.

Salt: We agreed things seemed to be on the salty side. One thing about salt is you can always add more, but once it is cooked in, you cannot get it out. I do not recall a salt and pepper shaker on the table. Suggestion: Maybe "salt to taste" by the diner (as an alternative to the several other reviews who mentioned elevated salinity levels). Just a suggestion. I had no problem with it, but we did notice salt levels were a bit on the generous side.

Genre: The food was some kind of haute cuisine Cordon Bleu NorCal version of soul food, and thus unique and not what one might expect. Looking thru other reviews you will notice the owner rebuts critics by explaining that Burdell is not a southern-style restaurant.

We ate everything and did not send anything back, and the tab was $200+ for a party of three.

Service: was very good.

Ambiance: it was not a place for quiet conversation given the noise level on the evening we went May 22, 2025. Some like the lively, convivial noise, though, as part of the experience of going out.

Seating: There were long hardwood church pews lining each opposite wall of the dining room, with one small round cushion for our table's section of the room-long bench (with back support). There were also 2 padded chairs at our table. The ladies sat on the chairs. I sat on the bench...

There’s a lot I could say about our recent visit to Burdell, but I’ll focus on what I hope is constructive for future guests. I rarely write restaurant reviews, but after this experience, it felt like the only outlet I had to reflect what happened.

This was an 8-person reservation made six weeks in advance for a joint birthday celebration. Unfortunately, we waited 45 minutes past our reservation time to be seated. When we arrived, no one greeted us. After about 15 minutes, we were told to wait at the bar and reassured the table would be ready shortly. Burdell is not a large space, and it's not set up to accommodate large parties lingering for extended periods.

Eventually, a staff member explained that the party at our assigned table was “ignoring their bill,” and we were again told it would only be a few more minutes. After more waiting, we were offered complimentary champagne as a gesture—though the pours were modest and felt more like an attempt to pacify than a genuine apology.

When we were finally seated, it was disheartening to be asked again what we were celebrating and if we had any allergies—details I had clearly provided in the reservation. It made the whole experience feel impersonal and poorly coordinated.

At the end of the meal, which included a mandatory gratuity, I asked the manager if the service charge could be adjusted to account for the extended delay and lack of communication. Rather than a discussion, I was met with a defensive explanation about her years in the industry and the unpredictability of table turnover. She cited the complimentary champagne as compensation.

While I understand delays can happen, the lack of proactive communication, the extended wait with no clear updates, and the refusal to make even a small gesture beyond the champagne left a bad taste. Waiving the gratuity—or offering a gift card or partial comp—would have gone a long way toward making us feel heard and valued. Unfortunately, this mismanagement resulted in us having to cancel/adjust our evening’s plans and added unnecessary stress to what should have been a joyful celebration.

The food was decent, but even that experience was impacted by poor pacing. Sides arrived 10 minutes before the mains, with no heads-up from the server, and were nearly finished by the time the main dishes arrived. We were also especially hungry after such a long delay.

In short, if you’re planning a special occasion or dining with a larger group, I’d recommend looking elsewhere. Maybe you’ll have better luck with a smaller party—but for us, Burdell fell far short of...

We came in very excited, having read about the recent national awards and genuinely interested in the concept. When I stepped in, I immediately loved the lighting and decor. We had called earlier to see if we could add a 5th person to our reservation of 4 and the person who helped us on the phone was outstandingly helpful. It was a busy Saturday night at prime time. We showed up a bit early, intending to check in and see how much time we would have to grab a drink elsewhere before our table got ready. After standing at the host desk for an unusually long time and not being acknowledged, one of us asked the bartender if anyone was available to speak to us. One of the waiters reprimanded her for doing that, asked her to stay at the host desk, not speak to the bartender and wait for a host, and went back to serving his tables. After a few more minutes, the host addressed us. Even if my friend had done something actually out of line, she should have never been treated like that. This staff member was way out of line and I don’t wish to ever witness such behavior, especially in a hospitality setting. He never apologized to my friend. This episode clearly tainted my whole experience. We ordered lots of items from the à la carte menu. They were all good and nicely plated. My favorite was the BBQ shrimp and bread. My table mates loved the corn bread. Nothing was outstanding. Dishes came out slow. We often waited over 15 minutes between finishing one dish and getting the next. Our server was friendly. The wine list was interesting. Value was fine overall and I appreciate the service charge being included in the menu prices. Our table was next to the open kitchen. I love being able to look at the kitchen, but unfortunately in this case it was not a fun scene to observe: nobody looked like they were having a good time. We ordered the lamb and most of our party thought it was unappetizingly undercooked. It was also largely fat: there were three bites of actual meat on it at most. When we let our server know, asking if it could be cooked a bit more, they said that this is how it needs to be. I’m used to the places where I dine to ask about my preferences for meat cooking and at least try to satisfy my taste. Here, the sensation was that we had to adapt our taste to theirs. We ended up eating the lamb, but we would not order it again. Overall, I felt like management of this restaurant has a very well defined idea of what their guests should and should not do and like, and you better comply. That’s not what I expect from a place where I...