Mua
Mua things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
Description
Renovated, industrial warehouse offering eclectic small plates, cocktails & songs spun by a DJ.
attractions: Paramount Theatre Oakland, KP Asian Market, Children's Fairyland, Snow Park, The Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland Ice Center, Peoples Barber & Shop, G. Circle Barber Lounge, Moxy Oakland Uptown, Smash Kingdom, restaurants: Drake's Dealership, Trueburger, Gogi Time, Xolo Taqueria, Acapella, Cafe Van Kleef, Agave Uptown, Hopscotch Catering & Takeout, Enssaro Ethiopian Restaurant, Beeryland
Ratings
Description
Renovated, industrial warehouse offering eclectic small plates, cocktails & songs spun by a DJ.
Posts
We love Mua. Their cheeseless butternut squash mac and cheese is reason enough for me to want to come every week! Almost all the appetizers and share plates are excellent (they change the ahi tuna appetizer a little and it's no longer as amazing, but still fun) and the entrees are consistently well prepared. Our favorites include the twice cooked kale, any seasonal veggie salad like asparagus and grapefruit, or nectarine, the chicken liver pate, the aforementioned mac and cheese, the gougeres, shiitake mushroom crostini, and Brussels sprouts. The Berkshire pork jowl lettuce wraps were actually disappointing this visit- very greasy, fatty hunks of deep fried pork haphazardly thrown onto wet butter lettuce leaves dripping with what felt like soggy stewed pears and inconsistently drizzled sriracha. After i was done picking the deep fried fat chunks out, I was left with half the amount if pork- good thing I wasn't starving! Husband's steak was sufficiently red, and when we usually order burgers here they are typically cooked the way we request them (a bit on the rare side) with fun shoestring fries. Our pineapple upside down cake with coconut ice cream was a match made in heaven- not too dense, and the cool creamy coconut married well with the warm fluffy cake and juicy pineapple. They have excellent cocktails and a good beer selection to round out the menu, and very lively if somewhat loud music being spun by a live DJ upstairs. Definitely a great place for drinks and dinner. Lots of fresh young trendy faces were spotted here.
Mortiche WongMortiche Wong
00
My mother and I visited MUA on 5/23/23 for their happy hour as we attend weekly. We sat there and ordered food and drinks as usual. My mother felt her drink was extremely watered down. She made the mistake of bringing a small $3 bottled shot into the bar and our bartender immediately noticed. He quickly addressed the issue and mother was very apologetic about the mistake and explained calmly that she did not know it was a bar rule breaker but never became disrespectful to the bartender for doing his job. He explained we could get kicked out of a bar, he could get in trouble or it could mess with their liquor license which we listened to and completely understood. He explained that we all make mistakes and to never do such a thing again as it could be seen as rude to the staff. We agreed. We apologized multiple times. He said he forgave us but though he said this, his energy completely changed. He began giving us dirty looks. We heard him telling all the other staff about what we had done and kept shaking his head as all the staff stared at us. We became extremely uncomfortable. Before this mistake, we sent back our blackened catfish because it was not properly cooked. It took a while for them to remake this dish, so we ended up getting it to go as it came when we were getting ready to go. The next morning, I grabbed the food to take to work for lunch and my food box was open. As I went to close the box, I noticed a bandage laying in my rice. The bandage was brand new. There was no fluid on it and the edges that stick to the skin were clean with only traces of paper from the packaging on it. It seemed they were upset with us and decided to mess with our food. My mother and I came back the following day to report the food. We asked for a supervisor or manager. The tall blonde haired bar back said that neither one was on site. We didn't believe that. Then he said HE was the supervisor and that his wife was the manager but she didn't come in today (we knew he was lying but proceed with our complaint because we didn't want to argue). We explained to him 100% what happened, even where we went wrong. He looked in our faces with a mug the entire time and didn't say anything. He never asked which bartender, when it happened and never showed any concern about finding a disgusting bandage in our food. He knew all of what we told him before we told him because he was in the restaurant the day it happened. He said little to nothing. I said I at least want my mother to get back her money for the fish. He said OK! Gave her the money and as he turned away he sarcastically said, "See you at the next happy hour!". She should've got her tip money back as well because she tipped the bartender very well (we always tip) but she tipped more because she felt so bad the bartender was upset! We won't be back to spend another penny and I will urge everyone I know to not eat there since they think they can do horrible things to peoples food! I've been coming to MUA for 6+ years. I have brought many family members, friends, co workers, my significant others etc. who all love MUA because of my recommendation. I have NEVER had a bad experience at this restaurant until this day. Because of a small mistake, they crucified us. And that leads me to believe they've always felt a way about us because one mistake will not make you completely SWITCH on your regular customers. I will say within the last few months the food has been hit or miss. The drinks are all of a sudden watery with no flavor or liquor. I will finish this saying karma is real! They are lucky we respect ourselves enough not to become irate because messing with peoples food is LOW!!! SIDE NOTE: They deleted my review from 5/23/23 and I'm now reposting it and will continue to repost it. It was my personal experience with the restaurant, and they WILL NOT silence me.
MakaylaMakayla
00
I haven't been back since my last review (8 years ago). And my experience was just as great, maybe even better this time around with service improvement! I was in town for my birthday and chose to celebrate at Mua with some good friends. We made a reservation for 7 people in advance and had no problem getting our table and night started. This time around, we ordered to share: Padron Peppers | sea salt Brussels Sprouts | brown butter No Cheese "Mac n' Cheese"| butternut squash, cream Chicken Wings | citrus, chili, fish sauce, mint Fried Calamari | chili, shallot Beef Bone Marrow | cornichon, toast Ahi Tuna Sashimi | nori, tempura fried, miso sauce Mussels | roasted tomato broth, fries, aïoli Duck Confit | bacon-braised cabbage, golden raisin, spinach, almond, aioli We had to send the mussels back. They tasted abnormally fishy and just "off". Otherwise, everything was delicious and we were all stuffed for days. My Top 3: Beef Bone Marrow Ahi Tuna Sashimi No Cheese "Mac n' Cheese" The server was great in taking the mussels back and removing it from our bill. Service was excellent this time around. We all also had cocktails all night, and they were all done right! Definitely a favorite of mine when in Oakland!
Natasha ShokouhiNatasha Shokouhi
10
Went here for dinner with the hubby. The service was great. We liked the ambience. Some of the art was a bit creepy for ME but I get why it's attractive to some. It has the hip vibe. The music is pretty loud so I'd say It's great for big or small group of friends and for fun date night but definitely not a romantic spot. The best dishes IMO were the pork ribs (fell off the bone), the chicken liver (great contrasting flavors) and the hamburger (we added provolone, avocado which they weren't stringy about, blue cheese). Only thing with the hamburger is we asked for medium pink in the middle but was more medium rare but I didn't send it back because flavor was good and didn't want to make a fuss. Next time I would make sure though. Pork ribs were delicious, must try! The pecan tart was yummy, a little too sweet but what pecan pie/tart isn't. And the bone marrow was ok. It was what my husband most wanted to try but was what we liked the least. Probably because we've had better bone marrow so we had high expectations. All in all good experience. Would recommend and would return for the ribs and chicken liver patê.
brenday dbrenday d
10
What an interesting spot. I'm giving 4 stars since I just can't get to the price to quality ratio (not bad, but definitely not great for the cost), but you'd be hard pressed to find a quirkier spot for a date night. Ambiance: Eclectic mix of music from house, chill hop, lofi, even some flute action that came out of nowhere. Art and art-adjacent (e.g. is particle board with a stick figure painted on it really art?) things adorn the wall. Plenty of seating in a very open-air dining area connected to a bar alley. Food: Small plates and medium plates ranging from new American to southern to Asian influence to other assorted cuisine. The menu directly reflects the ambiance in that it has no idea what it really is trying to be, but it just works. The bone marrow was -chef's kiss- as was the cornbread that came with the fried chicken. Everything else was so-so to good. Verdict: Nope, this won't get you going like Sally faking an O in front of Harry in that scene at the diner, though you will walk out thinking you've had far worse meals in your life.
Jonathan ClarkJonathan Clark
20
Southern comfort food in industrial setting with an urban flair. Came here for dinner with 4 other friends on a Friday evening around 8 and there was no wait. Reservations can be made in advance with Yelp. The area is spacious and good for big groups, but the seating upstairs may be too loud if there’s a DJ. Credit cards accepted. Street parking available. There are some vegetarian options. We ordered the vegan mac and cheese and the fried tofu for appetizers to split. As a non-vegan, the max and cheese still had a nice creaminess and good flavor. The tofu came with a sweet chili sauce that can be made spicier if you eat the peppers it comes with. For my entree, I had the fried chicken which came with a generous helping of coleslaw and a toasty cornbread. There were three pieces of chicken and it was juicy with good breading. Overall it was a good spot for eating a filling dinner before going out in Oakland.
Shanelle SShanelle S
00
Nearby Attractions Of Mua
Paramount Theatre Oakland
KP Asian Market
Children's Fairyland
Snow Park
The Cathedral of Christ the Light
Oakland Ice Center
Peoples Barber & Shop
G. Circle Barber Lounge
Moxy Oakland Uptown
Smash Kingdom

Paramount Theatre Oakland
4.6
(1.2K)Click for details

KP Asian Market
4.4
(1.1K)Click for details

Children's Fairyland
4.5
(741)Click for details

Snow Park
4.4
(468)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of Mua
Drake's Dealership
Trueburger
Gogi Time
Xolo Taqueria
Acapella
Cafe Van Kleef
Agave Uptown
Hopscotch Catering & Takeout
Enssaro Ethiopian Restaurant
Beeryland

Drake's Dealership
4.6
(2K)$$
Click for details

Trueburger
4.5
(657)$$
Click for details

Gogi Time
4.3
(684)$$
Click for details

Xolo Taqueria
4.3
(539)$
Click for details
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