Café Colucci — Restaurant in Oakland

I try to avoid dramatic reviews because I feel like they can be hard to take seriously. But genuinely, this place deserves it. Without being hyperbolic this was the worst restaurant experience I've had, it was borderline comical.

We bought my partner a gift card for his birthday. When we first arrived there were only a few other tables but they all had their food by then, we were the only new table. Even so - it took them about a half an hour to take our order. They took our order at about 11:30am. At noon, the waitress came back to tell us that they stopped serving breakfast at 12 o'clock and we needed to choose something else off the lunch menu. That is, they held on to our order for half an hour until they closed breakfast and then made us reorder.

We waited a good hour for the food to show up. Those who came in after us all got their food. Seemed like they'd forgotten our order. When the food came they only brought my partner's meal and not mine but we were fed up and starving and decided to share. It wasn't until a few bites into it that I realized it was the wrong order and it was lamb, which neither of us eat.

We sat around for another 20 minutes trying to get the check. We kept getting blown off by the staff who said they were busy and would be right with us. I finally went up to the counter to pay and the refused to take the gift certificate. They made us wait while they helped several other customers/brought out food/wrapped up to go orders and attempted unsuccessfully to contact the owner. We waited another 45 minutes or so before we put our foot down and told them we expected a resolution. They tried to tell me they didn't accept gift cards (when the one we bought was from their site and had their name on it) and tried to make us give them more money.

It took all morning, we left hungry and frustrated. I don't know what happened to this place but it seems to have rocketed downhill. Several of the other patrons had gathered for similar complaints and we all agreed there was something seriously wrong about how Cafe Colucci is being run.

Don't let the the high stars fool you, things have...

I have two problems with this place:

The first is the bathroom. There are two separate doors to communal bathrooms. The signs that used to say “men” and “women” have been removed. There’s a paper sign over them now that says “anyone.” The urinal in the formerly men’s bathroom is right by the door, and positioned strangely so that when you stand there to use it, a woman who enters now has full view of you going to the bathroom, private parts and all. Making matters worse, the stall has wide, roughly two inch gaps allowing you to look inside without much effort. Conceivably if you’re a man, you can watch a woman going to the bathroom, and vice versa, even if unintended.

I brought this to the attention of staff. Their response was they are “gender neutral bathrooms” now. Wow, that’s great, so now a woman can see a man’s private parts and a man can see, even if they don’t intend to, a woman’s since the gaps in the stalls are so wide. How is this supposed to be more accommodating and make anyone feel safer and welcome? I wouldn’t be surprised if they remove the urinal and put duct tape over the stalls. Just utterly ridiculous nonsense that has nothing to do with inclusivity and fairness, and everything to do with pushing an agenda that has eliminated common sense and made everyone worse off.

The second issue is the food. It was was okay. I’ve had much better Ethiopian cuisine. I think the issue is this place has a hipster vibe and every other Ethiopian restaurant I’ve ever been to is mom and pop. Not to say non-Ethiopians can’t make Ethiopian food, but unless they were in the back somewhere unseen, all the staff, except one (owner perhaps), wasn’t Ethiopian and they were the ones appearing to prepare the food. The vegan sampler I got was missing a certain flavor and flair to it that I’ve had at other Ethiopian restaurants. Some of the flavors just didn’t work for me and there was some unusual stuff on top, almost like hummus but a different flavor profile, that I’ve never had that also...

I have given this restaurant 3 chances. First time: I went with two other friends and was assured that the veggie combo plus another dish would be enough for 3 people. It was not, as the portions were really small!!!. We had to order another dish because we were that hungry. We paid full size price and got a small meal. Also we ordered gluten free bread which they charge way too much for and again, small portions so you have to buy more. Our bill was high and the food was tasty, but not excellent. Our waiter messed up our bill and overcharged us as well. Second time, I went with one other friend and eat took 15 minutes just to be seated( mind you, the restaurant was NOT crowded)another 15 minutes for the waitress to come over and take our order only after I flagged her down, and then 20 minutes to get our food. Poor service. Third and final time, The restaurant closes at 10:00 PM I came in at 9:45, and wanted to order to go. I was quickly set down as the waitress last cashier told me that the kitchen is closed already, and that they always close the kitchen down at 9:40. Yeah right!! I will never patronize this restaurant again. Overrated, overpriced...