Southie — Restaurant in Oakland

Fabulous little spot serving sandwiches reminiscent of my East Coast days.

"The Balls" meatball sandwich - 4 stars. Niman ranch beef-pork meatballs topped with provolone and reggiano on la farine baguette. The meatballs were hearty and comforting, darker flavors than expected but the mix of beef and pork really came together. The cheese and sauce sank into the bread, which was awesome for eating the bread, but did cause some separation in flavors from meatballs to the rest of the sandwich. Warning: the sandwich was served STEAMING hot. Give it a few minutes to cool down!

Dungeness crab roll - 5 stars. Shredded crab meat with avocado, lime aioli, and meyer lemon vinaigrette topped with fried shallots on an acme torpedo roll. The pile of crab was humongous, the lime and lemon gave a great tang to the sandwich, and the fried shallots added some crunch. The roll was perfectly buttery and the contents of the sandwich held a good ratio against the bread.

One small thing - each sandwich is served with kettle chips, but it's literally just a small bag of Cape Cod kettle chips opened and dumped on the plate. I couldn't decide if this was depressing or endearing - not everything needs to be made in house but it was kinda funny that they didn't even try to hide what they were doing.

I'd definitely come back... the tuna sandwich looked incredible, the fried pork belly looked outrageous, even the salads had my mouth watering. I'd love to try a bite of everything on the menu! My only complaint is the price... at $14-20 a sandwich, this isn't an everyday kind...

Located in Rockridge/North Oakland📍, this neighborhood gem 💎 won't disappoint. It is also the little sister of Wood Tavern, which is located next door.

Before we get to the menu and the food, I need to mention how stylish this place is. Great spot for a mid-day lunch by yourself, with a date, or for a quick business meeting with a nice selection of beers on tap 🍺🍺 + a couple of wine options🍷🍷. You can sit at the bar, which gives you a high end diner "experience" w/o the price, the wall area is perfect for a solo lunch, or at the bar to ceiling window which opens directly to the street.

Sitting at the bar watching the orders being cooked reminded me of #WaffleHouse (those who know about WF will understand this next point), if WF had an A rating and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ a high casual vibe, Southie would be it.

Now to the food. You can rework anything on the menu to make it into your own remix or even make any of the sandwiches into salads. Either way if it's on the menu they'll make it your way. We got the Turkey panini and the fried chicken + romaine salad. Wow and and amazing can't even capture how good the food is here.

The salad I got wasn't the salad I had pictured in my mind (pre-order), but I was more than satisfied with the flavor of the salad that arrived. The fried chicken was amazing, almost reminded me of catfish nuggets.

The turkey panini was really good and comes on Acme bread, which I here is another Oakland must-have.

Overall would highly recommend checking this place out. You won't be...

One word: Leopoldo.

Leopoldo is an amazing host, that made my experience at Southie special. You can tell he loves his job and can friendly, gently entertain and take care of his guests. He also allowed us to stay late and gave great recommendations on food and drink.

Now, the rest: the food is excellent, freshly prepared in front of your eyes. I had the liver pate crostino and the tuna one, then a ragout pasta dish and, to conclude, a banana-chocolate cake. All was delicious but definitely the pate crostino and the ragout pasta stood out.

The ambiance is simple yet refined, well curated. Mostly high tables and bar seating, this place is perfect for a friendly catch up, solo dining or a date.

The menu is tiny, but you can tell they make few things for each category (crostini, salads, mains) but very well and extremely fresh.

The wine is on tap and, although limited, the selection is very enjoyable!

I wouldn't honestly change anything and I can hands down say this is a little hidden gem!

Thank you Leopoldo for the excellent food, the fantastic night and...