Cenzino — Restaurant in Oakland

Our multiple visits to Cenzinos have been a series of disappointments, leaving us baffled by its continued reputation. From service to atmosphere, each visit seemed to surpass the last in frustration and poor performance.

On our first visit, a server who appeared to be napping greeted us. This lack of attention continued throughout the meal, with the server mostly on his phone despite the restaurant being only mildly busy. The food and service were far below expectations, leaving us disheartened from the start.

The second visit was similarly problematic. A different older male server displayed poor hygiene, which was difficult to ignore. He spent most of his time chatting with regulars at the bar, showing little interest in his actual duties. His lack of responsibility and poor communication with other staff members were evident when he delivered the wrong drinks to two tables, only to blame the bartender for his mistakes.

On our third visit, we were served by a red-headed, heavyset woman who displayed shocking rudeness and incompetence. She showed no interest in helping with the menu and responded to our questions with snark and eye rolls. Additionally, her violet-colored hair ended up in our food, and we overheard her and another server criticizing the owner while neglecting their duties. My daughter even found her sitting on her phone in the bathroom, reflecting the toxic work environment at Cenzinos.

By the fourth visit, we chose to sit at the bar, where we witnessed chaos. The female bartender struggled to manage the demands from servers, some of whom were openly disrespectful. An underage busser was also seen drinking on the job, further highlighting the dysfunction and lack of professionalism among the staff. The overwhelmed bartender had no time for interaction with bar guests due to the high demands from the staff.

Management, or rather the lack of it, was equally troubling. The female owner seemed unaware of the ongoing issues, while the manager spent his time drinking and smoking at the bar rather than overseeing operations. His failure to handle basic tasks emphasized the mismanagement that plagued the restaurant.

Our fifth and final visit confirmed that things had not improved. The same red-headed woman was dismissive and uninterested, and the overall negative energy from the staff’s lack of professionalism led us to leave after only a drink and appetizer. We ended up dining at a nearby restaurant, realizing that Cenzinos had shown us enough to make it clear that returning was no longer an option.

In addition to these service issues, there was a time when a female server set off the fire alarms, causing fire trucks and police to arrive. While minor compared to other issues, it further underscored the lack of attention to detail and responsibility.

It’s disheartening to see a place with potential hindered by uninterested staff and ineffective management. After these repeated negative experiences, we’ve decided to take our business elsewhere. Until significant changes are made, we cannot recommend Cenzinos. The lack of leadership, poor staff ethics, and consistently disappointing experiences make it clear this restaurant is no longer worth our...

I am not a big reviewer- nor am I a foodie of any sort. I'm super easy to please and reluctant to ever complain about food. But I am still devastated every time I think about the amount of money my family spent there last Friday (April 12th) night. We can't afford this luxury as often as we'd like, so it's v exciting for us. We got completely different entries, and each was shockingly bad. The shrimp scampi (typically a fav dish of mine elsewhere), was incredibly bland. Totally flavorless. Not even fishy. All textures were mediocre too.. maybe mushy is the word. Weird. Regardless, it was bad enough where I ate one shrimp and politely said I was full. My husband, who had the ossobuco, was equally as grossed out and also called it a day almost immediately. Bland "dishwater", he said later. I could see him trying to keep a pleasant expression on, but was obv to me that he hated it. We threw it all directly out when we got home. Insane for what we spent. I understand things happen and people have diff opinions. But when both insanly easy going/easy to please parties are so disgusted that they considered the food inedible/garbage, SOMETHING is wrong. I wish I could add to the positive reviews, but instead I'm STUNNED and a bit annoyed they had such a different experience. Confusing. Maybe things were affected by the HUGE 70 person party party I overheard was being catered the next day, but that's no excuse for those prices/that dismal quality, so unfair, and frankly, not our problem. Wait staff was TERRIFIC, and the only highlight of the night. It's bothered me so badly for days until I NEEDED to share this review. We won't be able to eat out like again soon (especially without tipping well- which we believe in), and I'm livid we spent that amount on meals a grade possibly EVEN BELOW cafeteria food. I can't stress enough that this is not a mere matter of taste, that food was TERRIBLE by anyone's standards. So uset bc I feel BLATANTLY ripped off, especially seeing the glowing reviews. We're like the world's easiest to please ppl if things are even half decent. We could never risk stepping foot...

We came here on a Saturday night after realizing reservations were needed at Harvest & Ale across the street and there was no tables available and we needed a quick other option.

I was surprised at the pricing for the wine list but again, we did not do our research before coming here and the taste of the food made up for the wine list price anyway.

Starting from the bread, it was delicious and seemed home made. Not that typical italian bread at some places. Butter I think was homemade which is fine but it lacked the taste you would get from regular butter. Bruschetta served with the bread was very good and tasty. Fried calamari was good and so was the cold antipasto with meats and cheeses. The olives on this were salty though.

I got the gnocchi with tomato basil sauce. The sauce was perfectly salted and was not bland at all. The gnocchi were a little too soft for my liking (some were almost creamy inside but harder on the outside) which goes to show they are home made but I think would benefit from maybe adding more flour in the initial dough mixture used to make them. Other than that, I really enjoyed them.

My dad got the Risotto futti di bosco which essentially was a mushroom risotto. He loved it. Our other guest got Tartufo ravioli. The sauce was delicious but we could not tell 'where' the Tartufo in the dish was. Maybe inside the sauce? I have seen it grated or shaved onto pasta dishes before.

For dessert, the Tiramisu and Italian Cheesecake I would 10/10 recommend.

I would definitely come back to try the rest...