Home of Chicken & Waffles — Restaurant in Oakland

Interesting place. Black owned it seems as the owner was lingering around at 5pm. Was pretty dead on a Monday evening. menu's are qr code only. Which is all fine.

No substitions so be aware. They were out of barbecue sauce when we dined. Food came fairly quickly since we were really the only patrons at that time. Server was very kind and attentive again given the above we would hope so.

Unfortunately there seem to be a manager who was leaving for the day and proceeded to reprimand the 2 servers on the restaurant floor, not discreetly. Sometimes you dont wanna know how the sausage is made and the same goes for the behind the scenes issues of a restaurant. Im all for accountability and improvement but could have done with out having to witness or over hear that. Thats what breakrooms, back rooms, offices, and kitchens are for.

It changed the tone of our time there.

Once the food came it all looked great. Mac and cheese was good and so was the yams. Baked garlic drumsticks were really good and fresh. The cornbread was kind of dry and the grits and gravy a lil bland. But nothing a lil hot sauce cant help. Catfish was tender and juicy.

Biggest issue was the flies and why i gave 3 stars. We could not enjoy our food because knats and flies were all over us. My 4 year old did what most kids do and could not stop swatting at them and saying aloud why are there so many bugs. We tried to get to go boxes so that we could atleast cover our food in between bites. But they were already on us so they weren't leaving.

If you get to go: they use clear plastic containers. Not sure if hot things are supposed to go in them. But something to know if you care about that kind of thing.

Our serve readily got us to-go cups for our beverages. We ultimately decided to close out and take our food home to enjoy. I realized they had to go orders happening while we were there and if we order again thats prolly how we will do it.

Beautiful environment and music. Could be a great date night spot if the above critics weren't a thing.

When craving souls food, ill...

This is a long time legendary location for me. I have loved this place since I have first discovered it but my last experience was non forgettable. First off I sit in the left bar area and I come for a quick bite. I am not even addressed when I arrive and what look like the staff is Mr. Derreck Johnson I later find out. He we so rude to me. From across the room he tells me to sit there and he points. When I sit there he comes back to fuss and say there's not enough staff here and your in the wrong section. I have never be talked to so rudely and insulted so bad. I can follow simple instructions but when I'm a paying customer I should not be man handled and treated so aggressive. I love the originators of this company but Derreck made my experience so bad that I will not be returning. I also found out that he is running for an office which makes me even more concerned. Although I love this place I will not return to avoid running into Derreck Johnson he is a rude man and I hope to never meet again. There is no excuse for rude wait staff and when going to vote for state representative you should really consider the truth of those running, including their integrity. I observed how frustrated Mr. Johnson would get with mostly the people of color and he would not give them the time of day, he served them really quick, yet I observed Mr. Johnson's integration with lighter skinned individuals who were Caucasian he made the priority, took the time to personalize their orders, he remembered what they like, he gave eye contact and made them feel special. But when it came to the people of color he was harsh and rude. This hurts me and this hurts our community... pay attention to the other one star reviews… it’s noticeable that the majority of bad reviews come from people of color. This is no longer a safe space for people of color and the reviews here are evidence… be prepare not to receive the best treatment here, Everytime I come here I have to prepare...

The food is delicious and great comfort food. The staff on the evening shift do not always have the best customer service skills. I have observed and noticed their interactions with other people. However, for people that are LGBT status the treatment of service is different. I've been there several times and 3x I've been there the service wasn't up to par. I had to ask another worker (in Spanish as I speak it) to get something to drink and utensils since the server was remembering to cater to other people.

While the person that helped me did an fabulous job, the 3 servers I've had really need to work on their customer service skills with people especially LGBT. It appears in my eyes that type of treatment is no different than Waffle House treatment towards people of color. I'm very sadden and disappointed as I've left notes 3x hoping management follows up with their staff about evening/night shifts behavior. As a person of color and multiple ethnicities, many of the staff needs to work on their attitudes, personalities, and maintain professionalism. If LGBT customers are NOT welcomed, make it be known because we are people too. Being treated differently isn't any better than the racism and hordes of problems America already has. It starts with looking in the mirror and remembering we are all people with feelings. Do not make people feel they're unwanted because that is not the human thing to do to...