Best Restaurants for Outdoor Dining in Oakland

Dined at Bovanova for the first time on a rainy evening. It wasn’t too busy, and Nicole (our server) was wonderful. We shared the pork chops and lamb chops, and both were excellent, having started with fried cauliflower which was served with mayonnaise and very good. Their Brussels sprouts on the plated dish were excellent, so next time we’ll start with those an as appetizer! The holiday ambiance was tastefully done, and we really enjoyed our meal. No dessert that night, as were doing low carbs. 😃

Who knew vegan food could taste this good?! As a relative newcomer to the vegan world, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and tastiness of the food here. As appetizers, we had a red lentil soup and a breaded (but not fried) mushroom dish that reminded us of fried calamari. We had a mushroom main course and the Alfredo pasta, both of which were excellent, as were the Brussels sprouts (which used a tempeh sausage in lieu of the usual overly heavy bacon). The desserts too were better than expected, especially the chocolate pie. The service was friendly and attentive without being cloying. We had a reservation for the dining room, but they suggested we take patio seating instead. That proved to be a good recommendation. It was much quieter out there, and the heaters and available blankets offset a bit of chilliness. The dining room meanwhile, was pretty noisy. The meal was a bit pricey but definitely worth it for a special occasion. We will return.

The service was fantastic! Unfortunately the place was very very noisy And we strained to hear each other talk. They tell me that new management is coming in and we very much hope they will put in carpets and acoustical tile so that we can enjoy this place much more.

Food, service and ambiance were great for our group of four. We had no trouble hearing each other as we visited (we stayed for 3 hours!). We’ll be back!

Every Dish was DELICIOUS! It felt like I was in Santo Domingo! I can't wait to return for more of those Oxtails, the Plantains, and the shrimp criolla!