Cocobreeze Caribbean Restaurant and Bakery — Restaurant in Oakland

I loved the food here, so so much! So it fills me with incredible sadness to have to leave this review.

This restaurant sells meals on the Too Good to Go app. Sometimes I call and ask if they have vegan meals left over, and they either tell me yes or no. Today they said yes, so I placed the order and went. When I walked up to the counter an older woman asked me what I ordered, and I told her, again reiterating that I needed it to be vegan. She said yes. I took the bag. I ran an errand and then came home to eat. The lights were dim, and I ate a few bites of beans and what I thought was seitan. That is until I bit into a piece of bone. I turned on my flashlight and realized it was chicken.

Real upsetting, but mistakes do happen. Given that I loved this restaurant, I called to try to sort it out. The same woman answered. I tried to explain that it's very important to not mix up orders for vegans, and she hung up on me. I called back immediately and she claimed I hung up on her. I know that's not true because my phone was on speaker and my fingers were not near the buttons, but fine, I tried to move past it. I repeated that I received the wrong thing and it's very important for that not to happen. She immediately began to shout at me that if I had asked for vegan I would have gotten vegan. Yup, gaslighting - well, I don't abide that. Domestic violence survivor, been there before, not doing it again. I continue to tell the truth: I walked in and asked for a vegan meal, and she confirmed that she had given me one. She continued to shout that I was not telling the truth and that she was the one working so she knows. I asked to speak to a manager. She said she was the manager. I asked if there was another manager on staff I could speak to, she said no. I asked her if she was the owner, she said yes. I repeated that I loved the food and I didn't want to have to stop going. She continued to shout that I had not asked for vegan food. I told her she was not a good person and hung up.

I've looked online and confirmed that this was the owner, Annabelle Goodridge. So yes, I'm going to say this now, with my name attached and with my whole chest: Annabelle Goodridge, you are not a good person. Not because you gave me the wrong dish, but because you shouted at me, tried to make me doubt my own sanity, and demonstrated that you don't care if you hurt your customers. I don't know your personal life, but I count myself blessed to not be in it. But it doesn't matter how good your food is, no one deserves to be treated the way you treated me. I genuinely hope that your carelessness and your pride doesn't get someone killed one day, because food allergies are a big deal and you obviously can't be trusted to respect them. Thank you for feeding me the times that you did, and goodbye. I know there's someone out there in this beautiful city who can genuinely honor Caribbean food with the empathy it requires, and I thank you for the opportunity to...

I was excited to see that there were more vegan options around nearby. However, I think operations need to be smoothed out because my order was supposed to be ready sooner than I got it. I overheard the kitchen staff saying something about skipping orders. I also think they need a better check-in procedure for customers. Because folks were just lining up and folks who have checked in on their order ware not asked to wait to the side so you’re just waiting for them to leave before you get to check in. No staff came out to ask who else was there to pick up or place an order. Nothing. Just waiting. I hope the food is worth it. I’ll update after I’ve tried it. For anyone ordering for delivery through any of the delivery services, it’s not your delivery person’s fault your order was late. A DoorDash driver waited 20 minutes for an order and was told only one item was ready and it would be another 15 minutes. It would probably accurately be 30 minutes on top of that 20. I really hope the food is worth the wait and order 1 hour in advance next time. So I tried the food. Order: Vegan Curry Chicken with Pelau Vegan Roti Wrap Vegan Jamaican Patty Spicy Doubles

Curry was good. Pelau was different. I think the peas threw me off. The coconut was nice, but I’m not sure it complemented the peas. The roti was a huge dough and there was a lot of folded dough underneath. You’re better off ordering a side of protein rather than adding into the wrap. The patty was just one for $6, good flavor. Size of an open hand with fingers together. I’m not sure if I can validate their price point. The Doubles, the size of your palm. Good flavor. Tasty. Also $6 and hard to validate the price point. The plantains taste more like bananas than plantains. They were sweeter and softer than plantains. I don’t recommend the pineapple vinaigrette. It was lackluster. At this point I’m on the fence about ordering again. I...

We had been meaning to try this new place, but with long lines being a usual occurrence, we waited. Driving by New Year's day we were pleased to find them open, no line. You enter this small storefront (1 family at a time) and were immediately greeted with a smile and offer of help. They were busy packing to-go orders, but answered our questions and took our order like we were the only people who mattered. When we left to wait for our food, the line had magically appeared. (We went at 5 pm.) Once we got the food (20 minutes later), the smells filled the car. We got the salt fish fritter appetizer and couldn't wait to get home before trying them...OMG!! I am super picky about my food, don't want to waste calories on food that doesn't taste great. These fritters were hot, crispy, well seasoned. We also got 2 entrees (Jerk chicken and ox tails). The amount of food was great (dinner plus left overs for lunch). The chicken was seasoned great with the kick in the back of your mouth. The ox tails were 2nd only to my own. The meals were each packaged nicely with an orchid in each. Each meal came with an individual salad, great dressing, fresh pineapple with seasoning, and a mint. I don't often find a restaurant where I am sure I will go again soon, but this is one. They were already sold out of their desserts and some of their fresh ingredients juices so order early, but...