Otto’s Uptown Kitchen Lobby Restaurant — Restaurant in Oakland

This was a complete disaster, especially the service.

We arrived at past 10am on a Sunday. There were only three tables with a total of fewer than 10 guests. There was a sign indicating the maximum capacity of the restaurant, which I recall is 100-200, so you would expect much better service given that the restaurant was far from full. Yet we waited 10-15 minutes for a table. In the end, we just sat ourselves down.

The menu has significantly shrunk since I visited a year ago. The popular chicken and waffles is no longer on the menu. What a shame.

It took really long for the two servers to come take our orders. But it took even longer for the food to come, despite the server saying that the food was coming. We waited close to half an hour until we couldn’t wait anymore, so I went up to the server to check. He went into the kitchen and immediately brought out our food. I asked if that meant our food was just sitting in the kitchen this whole time waiting for service, and the server could only apologize.

I noticed another table that arrived after us also struggling to get attention. Again, this was when the restaurant was almost empty. I can’t imagine what it would be like when full.

Never...

We sat down and asked for water and she pointed at the fountain on the bar and said we had to go get it ourselves. I've been to Kissel many times and this was not normal. But apparently it's new policy. I'm sitting here confused because I've never been to a sit down place that makes you get up and get your own water...do we have to get our own food too? We won't find out because we are leaving. There is a reason this place is always empty. Do...

The arugula salad is hands down the best item on the menu, followed by the goat cheese ravioli, though the ravioli is very rich with a lot of leeks. the servers Emily and Tami are so friendly and kind. I would not recommend the Cobb salad or the grilled chicken however. I only wished the continuity of the food was better, as it will vary each day depending on which chef is working and the prices were...