Always had a great meal here. Visited there three times and enjoyed every moment.

Delicious sandwiches made with fresh ingredients! Enjoyed the grilled asparagus & burrata as well as the meatball sandwich. The bread was fantastic!

Epitome of small restaurant excellence. We had the B.L.A.T. and steak and taleggio. Both were delicious. We're now going to make Southie our new first meal when visiting Oakland

The mussels and fried chicken were delicious! Wine selection is amazing. Cute date spot!

William Card

One of my favorite ever meals was here, the 4 of us each brought a bottle, and worked through those and a sumptuous meal. There is a giant buzz in the room, the room is alive, warm and cozy, and elegant. The staff are experts and making it feel like a private experience for you and your guests, they are honest and when you ask what they would recommend, they review their favorites and treat you like a friend. The food is exceptional, they have a short list of favorite recipes, which they tweak through the year, plums show up in the fall version pork chop and fresh corn in the summer.the desert chef is where the most movement has occurred over the years, and right now has a cheese cake slice that is to die for. You cannot go wrong, but make sure you make reservations.

Sung Woo Kim

Wonderful dinner. Had to wait about 30min on Friday night(no res) which wasn’t too bad. I had a small cut on my thumb and needed a bandaid, and hostess kindly gave me one. Our waitress Gabi was extremely attentive and kind. We asked whether to go for ribeye or pork chop. She said both are good, but many people come for their pork chop. We got burrata crostini to start with, pork chop, and casarecce. They were all great. Burrata crostini was delightful. Pork chop was juicy and flavorful. I ordered bread to eat all the sauce, which was gooood. Casarecce exceeded our expectations as well. Look at the plates that we cleaned up! Will def come back in the future. Oh, the icecreams were really good too, a pleasant surprise. “Payday” icecream especially was amazing. *Special thanks to Gabi again! You were amazing. Thank you for taking care of us!

+2

Massimo Costetti

The seared ahi tuna salad was the best I ever had. Every other item on the menu looked creative and fresh. Very friendly and impeccable service. Will definitely be back for an elevated lunch (well priced too)!

Lamaine Kitchen

Warm Welcoming friendly staff and charm. Dishes were delicious full of comfortable flavors with genuine technics! Im visiting 1-2 weekly. Highly Recommend Wood Tavern for any dinning occasion!

Chris Flum

It was my Birthday gift to myself! and i brought my family cause we were at the Cal Game and they were in my car, I kinda had to bring them as they didn't fall for the I'll be right back.. Staff was awesome, waitress was awesome, only thing that was kinda bad was the lady at the table across the restaurant laughed obnoxiously super loud every time anyone at her table said anything, not sure what she was on but can WE ALL get some

Jake

I always get the ribeye... Never regret it. Wood Tavern had us all glowing this time. Still thinking about my steak and the potatoes were out of this world. The chicken was also super bomb. But honestly haven't had many other steaks in my life that were done as well as wood tavern does their ribeye..

S Dawkins

I love this place,been going there for years. I never had a bad dish. Good food good wine!!!

Juanita Carroll Young

Had a marvelous time celebrating my birthday at Wood Tavern. It's bustling in there, but the service and the quality of the food made it very special. I don't drink alcohol so I had a bit of a pout when I didn't see any mocktails on the drinks menu. Asking the server, he verbally listed off some very interesting options, and I asked for something citrusy, bubbly, not too sweet. It came to the table gorgeous with a little pansy flower in it, and was perfect for my tastes. Started with a seasonal salad of stone fruit, hazelnut and arugula, quite good! We had the ribeye steak mains. Amazing crunchy sear. Savory but not too salty. Although the horseradish potato side was a bit much on its own, it made for the perfect bite with the steak. Smoky seared asparagus alongside. Ample serving size that left me enough for two more meals at home. I begged off of ordering dessert because I had a gigantic homebaked chocolate cake waiting for me at home. The server kindly presented me with some free sorbet with a candle, calling it a palette cleanser. Somehow in researching affordable steak meals I happened upon a very old menu image that had the steak at around $35, so I'm providing a legible set of images of the current June 2025 menu for you. Also, I don't go to fancy meals often enough and I was unsettled when the busser took my leftovers and didn't bring them back boxed until we got the check. I'll know for next time. Outside of special occasions, I'd love to return for appetizers and mocktails or dessert and coffee on a weekday. I'm grateful for my experience at Wood Tavern.

Matthew Brown

What an incredible find. Mushroom soup was way better than expected, and the dressing on the pork loin sandwich made it a perfect, flavorful sand2och. Wes was awesome and provided professional, friendly service.

Cam W

Our first visit to Wood Tavern was INCREDIBLE! I leave quite a few five star reviews on Google, but I would probably give wood Tavern a 6 if I could. My rack of lamb was one of the greatest things I've ever eaten, and the potatoes underneath were delicious (they were au gratin potatoes and were incredibly cheesy and flavorful-- just thinking about them makes my mouth water). My girlfriend (who was celebrating her birthday the night we came in) also really loved the pork chop she ordered, and we both thought the pork belly appetizer was very unique and delicious. The lentils that came as part of the appetizer were such an unexpectedly tasty addition! All in all, we absolutely loved our visit to Wood Tavern and will be back again as soon as we find a reason to splurge and celebrate a little bit. We did notice that because we came in on such a busy night we didn't see our server a ton, but his suggestions at the outset of our meal were really helpful and he was very professional and nice. Would happily come back here again!

Thomas Murphy

We finally made it to Wood Tavern. We had a great experience. The food was fantastic and our server was wonderful. Highly recommend! We look forward to going back and also trying their sister smaller restaurant, Southie right next door.

+1

P Cook

Everything was 5stars! Especially Henry! He was patient, humorous, and very in tune to each of our levels of hunger and attentive to the table. We sat in the corner by the window and enjoyed the holiday ambience. I had the pork chop and it was perfectly cooked, presented beautifully, and lives up to its reputation. I can’t wait to take more friends back and ask for Henry, of course.

Jack Jones

Stop in weekly to grab a stool at the bar. Closest ambience in town to my days back Chicago. Fried chicken salad and a 1/2 French fry is my go to, but if the dinner menu is in front of me their pork chop may be the best in town. Staff is great, efficient, friendly, and work well as a team. Keep up the good work Wood!

Liza Lopez

Get ready for a outstanding service and amazing food. I'll tell you, it is not cheap but it is worth it! The duck was delicious and the steak perfectly cooked! I would say that the mash potatoes didn't meet my expectations, taste like regular mash potatoes, nothing special. The bar offers really tasteful drinks. Overall, it was a great place to have lunch or dinner.

Scott Wang

This is one of the better restaurants I’ve been to in a long time. The food was phenomenal. The prosciutto wrapped rabbit was a fantastic starter, as was the salmon tartare (which has a nice kick). The pork chop was one of the greatest pork chops I’ve ever eaten; I could’ve drank the gravy. The scallops were ok (but I may not care for scallops altogether). Brussels had a nice lemon mayo esque sauce and were fried well. Only complaint is it’s very difficult to get a reservation via phone.

The service was stellar. Haven't had such friendly and attentive service in quite awhile. The food was very good. We ordered Duck liver pate crostini and Roasted beet and goat cheese crostini. Seared ahi tuna salad, fried chicken cutlet, beef & pork meatballs, grana polenta and warm ginger cake with roasted pears, vanella-pear brandy anglaise to end a great meal.

Solid spot. Meatball sub was good, but should come with warning as to how hot it is. Burned the top of my mouth.

The food was pretty tasty (Meatball sandwich and Ahi Tuna Sandwich). About $25 for two people to eat, before tax and tip. Fair price overall. The venue is pretty small, so don't be surprised if there's no space. Nothing special about the service (nothing good or bad in particular).

Erik H

We went to Wood Tavern for a special dinner again last night and had the same excellent experience! What follows is from last year if, anything the Double Cut Pork Chop main course flavors have my mouth watering for the meal! The food and service here were amazing last night! The Appetizers, Beet Salad and best of all the Grilled Double Cut Pork Chop was the best I've had! The Chop was cooked perfectly, sauce and sides outstanding!

+7

Max Kay

This is one of local boutique bar & restaurants in Oakland. This restaurant offers a tantalizing array of delicious dishes that are sure to satisfy any taste. The food quality is consistently great, with each dish bursting with flavor and made with fresh ingredients. While the food is outstanding, the same cannot be said for the service. Unfortunately, the service lacks warmth and friendliness, which can detract from the overall dining experience. Despite this drawback, the servers are generally efficient in taking orders and delivering food promptly. Consider this place pricy like $20 cocktails ($16+tip&tax!) and you'll be charged $2 per portion if you'd like to share a soup or salad for instance! You'd better just order the item and share within yourselves 😉 Overall, this restaurant is a great choice for those seeking delectable cuisine, but don’t expect the staff to go above and beyond in terms of friendliness. If you’re willing to overlook the average service for the sake of enjoying fantastic food, this place is worth a visit. Parking might be difficult with paid street parking though a Safeway parking lot close by. It has accessible entrance with accessible table. Could be kids friendly but not good for groups / meetups as indoor is relatively small.

+7

Lucas G

We went there for lunch and sat the bar. We had the pastrami sandwich, the portobello mushroom sandwich and they were both super tasty and delicious. My only two comments are that the pastrami had quite a bit of fat in it (and I am one of those who removes any fat from ham, and other cuts); and the coleslaw salad has cilantro, which I hate, so I could not enjoy it. Other than that, cool place, great, friendly staff and great experience all-around. We will return, although it’s an expensive place, so we might not come back as often as we would’ve liked.

It's a casual small local cafe with limited seating around the cafe and bar. Has good sandwiches but breakfast items are very limited despite it's brunch vibe! This is just based on our experience: Cafe latte was cold, we literally saw when made and took like 5 min to pick up and deliver. This just made the service very slow. Chau's are very uncomfortable more of high bar stool type to just accommodate small area and perhaps made customers leave ASAP! Again, fair under more of a bar type cafe! Food was just OK nothing to highlight but sandwiches looked delicious. Not sure if try this place again though. No kids friendly.

We usually love Southie but the last few times we've picked up our order the main hostess has been especially rude as soon as we walk in the door. On a street busy with restaurants, we will be taking our business elsewhere.

Peter Connolly

The menu is pretty limited. I tried the Hot Pastrami sandwich. It was too fatty for me. I couldn't finish it. Their bar didn't handle sangrias, so I ordered the spritzer which was made with a pinot. Not bad, but not great either, and not cheap by any stretch. Four of us at lunch had two drinks and 4 entrees and the bill was around $170. That seems pretty steep for a very limited menu and bar. Our waiter was great. Very personable and helpful. He was the highlight of our lunch. We were there mid-week at opening and the restaurant was VERY loud. I found myself yelling into my brother's ear, who was sitting right next to me, so that he could hear me.

JOEL M

Mediocre at best. It’s your quaint neighborhood eatery serving decent foods. Prices are decent. I had the pastrami which was good. My wife had the burger which was average. The fries were a tad too salty and in little bits.

Terrible breakfast burritos where they cheat you on eggs, chorizo, but which contain so many poblano peppers and onions that they take over the flavor profile of the burrito. So wet from the veggies that there was a pool of liquid by the time I finished the burrito at the bottom of my plate. The burrito could be so much better, but they quite literally, water it down. Very nice gentleman at the counter. I'm surprised you guys are recommended so favorably on the internet for your burritos.