Grand Lake Kitchen - Lake Merritt — Restaurant in Oakland

Upon entering I was impressed by the cleanliness of the establishment. Before I was seated I received a few glares from the staff as I unzipped my coat and let my dreadlocks down. Then a nice hostess approached me and gave me a choice on where I’d like to be seated, I chose to sit in the center between a couple with an infant and what seemed to be two friends enjoying brunch together a few feet away from the bar. I was given water in a cool unusual metal cup and was asked if I’d like to order a beverage, which I declined because I wasn’t ready to order yet. She handed me a menu and went about. As I stares at the menu I started to think about the lamb chops that drew my attention to the restaurant in the first place on the menu portion of the their website. After a couple minutes the waitress comes to my table and asked me if I was ready to order but I replied with a question “I was looking at the menu on your website and I seen lamb chops but I don’t see them here. Are you still serving that?”. “No, that’s on the menu of the other restaurant. And that on the dinner menu” She answered. As she’s saying this I look at the dinner section of the menu that says 5:00pm and it’s only 11:45am. Unaware of a second restaurant as I realized they are only serving brunch right now without hesitation I ordered my go to French toast. I wasn’t sure what they had to drink to I asked the waitress if the served juice then she told me they had orange, grapefruit, and apple juice. I turned the page and saw the juice but I also saw lemonade and iced tea. I chose the ice tea. She then takes my menu and leaves. Immediately the bartender comes around and serves me the ice tea with a lemon wedge and a paper straw. I took a sip out the black paper straw to find it was unsweetened which isn’t a big deal because the have sugar I thought it myself. The sugar was raw organic cane sugar which I also didn’t know doesn’t dissolve. I learned this after making a small mess trying to stir it. Maybe 7 to 8 minutes later a silver hair gentleman comes with a Lonely plate of French toast that was garnished with sliced strawberries, blueberries, and power sugar. The syrup came in an instresting miniature vase style metal pouring pitcher with what I guessing was maple syrup. My next thought was “this doesn’t come with any sides” as I look the left and right of me and see multiple plates with breakfast sides. Since I was hungry I decided to start eating. One bite in I noticed something was off about this French toast, it wasn’t up to par with any other cheap diner or restaurant I ever been too. Seeing how French toast is hard to mess up I should have got the check and left. But I stayed and looked around for my waitress who was paying me no attention so I can order more food for a couple of minutes until I see the elderly man who served me the plate. At this point I’ve becomes annoyed and slightly insulted not because she didn’t immediately notice I was looking for her help but for the simple fact she never asked if wanted any sides or anything with this single entree that did not say a la Carte, as if because I walked in wearing dirty construction clothes she assumed I was poor or I had no money. He hands me a menu then waits for me to choose an item, I chose cut potatoes and scrambled eggs. Now I should add the old man seemed very polite so I offered him the same courtesy. After a few minutes he come out with the potatoes and eggs. I regret ordering because it wasn’t much better than the French toast but again because I was hungry I still ate it all. Even after finding a tiny white hair in syrup on a blueberry that I’m sure was from the server. My last gripe was how the old man server came to the table next to me and asked them if they were ready for the check yet but comes to my table with check without asking once more reminding me of the way I may look to them. I rate the food 5/10 and the service 3/10. That being said although I will not be returning to this restaurant I will the other one a chance only because those lamb chops on the website...

I'm not a "bad review" warrior (my review history will show). I can have a normal or even not-so-good experience at a place and be willing to give it a second shot. This place, I won't be returning to.

I can't eat carbs cause they give me nasty migraines, so I was pleased to learn that they had charred broccoli on the menu as a side. Or even collard greens. Except, they're out of the broccoli. No problem, I order $30 steak with the greens.

Steak comes out. With fries, as stated on the menu. And greens. I politely explain that I can't eat the fries. (The fries remain uneaten.) The server asks her manager, who informs us that they only exchange "starches for starches," none of which at all can I eat without risking basically a mini-seizure and 10 hours of pain.

My boyfriend's chicken is borderline raw, and he'd know because that's the only protein he eats and he's great at cooking it. I call him The Chicken Whisperer.

After dinner, I ask if they have decaf espresso (as in, the beans). I was going to order an Americano if they did, but the request was received as "I'd like a decaf espresso, please." Server checks if they have it (they do), and comes back. During this time, we've decided that the extra $7 for collard greens doesn't warrant our staying around for dessert. I inform her of this, and she politely tells me she'll remove the coffee for our check. I haven't ordered anything yet, but OK. We wait.

We're annoyed. I tipped $15 on a $90 bill because I was pissed (so mean!), and left intent on not returning.

What's sad is that the steak was delicious and they clearly put some thought into their food offerings. But if switching collard greens for potatoes is eating into your $90-per-check margins more than a mediocre Google review and two people who won't be coming back, you might reconsider your priorities.

Our service was fine, btw. The young lady who helped us was kind and attentive. Not her fault anyway.

To the restaurant manager: be more accommodating. It's good...

Oh it's Grand all right. I've eaten here way too many times, and I'm finally writing a review. This place gets crazy busy on the weekends, and like most bay area breakfast/brunch spots, they do not take reservations. So get there early, or do what I do. Put your name in and go drink Mimosas while you wait. They will take down your number and text you when to return to the front. They offer indoor and outdoor seating. I love this place because it's part restaurant/part deli. The decor is amazing inside and I love their soundtrack. I've ordered a variety of things here and everything has been delicious. For starters I've had their cinnamon sugar donuts....get them. As well as the smoked fish tower. You can't help but feel all eyes on you as they set the tower down. The tower consists of smoked salmon, trout dip, bagel chips, capers, onions, chives, lemon, smoked sturgeon. This is a great appetizer to share with the table. A $25 appetizer, but worth it.

My absolute favorite dish is the Pork Belly Polenta, gosh my mouth just salivates thinking about it. Full of flavor, creamy, and the pork belly is just succulent. I've also had the savory french toast which consists of poached eggs, mushrooms, Parmesan, arugula, and herbs. The french toast with fresh fruit of the day is also delicious. The breakfast sandwich is also noteworthy! The only thing left on the menu I need/want to try is the Avocado toast. They offer bloody Mary's and Mimosas, no unlimited unfortunately. Oh, did I mention they pickle the vegetables and they are to die for. I always order extra.

Overall cute decor, awesome soundtrack, good service and...