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A Cote: Restaurant Reviews

5478 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618-1552
510-655-6469
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Ranked #18 of 514 restaurants in Oakland
Price range: $31 - $40
Cuisines: French, Mediterranean, Tapas
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Restaurant details
Good for: Large groups
Dining options: Reservations
Dining style: Casual Dining
Cross street: Lawton
Transit: Rockridge Bart station 3 blocks north of the restaurant
Description: A Cote is a small-plates restaurant in Oakland's charming Rockridge district. Cozy tables surround large communal tables in both the main dining room and on the sunny patio to create a festive atmosphere. Small plates reflecting the best of seasonal Mediterranean cuisine are served family-style by a friendly and knowledgeable staff. Menu items are paired with a carefully chosen selection of over 40 wines by the glass as well as a highly diverse bottled wine menu. Specialty drinks featuring fresh fruits, rare botaniques and fine liqueurs are featured at the bar.
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65 reviews from our community

75% Recommend
    34
    15
    14
    2
    0
Rating summary
    Food
    Service
    Value
    Atmosphere
Date Rating
There are newer reviews for A Cote
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Buffalo, New York
Top Contributor
56 reviews 56 reviews
34 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 20 cities Reviews in 20 cities
30 helpful votes 30 helpful votes
“Wonderful French restaurant in Oakland”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed November 21, 2012

A Cote is a wonderful French restaurant in Oakland. I went there with my adult daughter, a family friend, and her adult son. The restaurant appealed to both generations. We were impressed by the variety of food, the excellence of the cuisine, and the competence of the staff. The owner-chef came out of the kitchen to chat with us, and provided us with some tasty and creative desserts without charge. The restaurant is noisy, as many reviewers have noted. We were given a booth with a semicircular design. It was close to the kitchen, directly in front of the divider that separates the bar area from the seating area. This spot was relatively quiet. However, unless you're lucky enough to be seated at that location, you might find the noise level unpleasant.

The food is served "family style," which means that it's assumed that diners will share each dish, and the dishes are brought out in sequence. I've complained about this style of serving in earlier reviews. However, at A Cote it worked. That's probably because the server suggested six entrees for four people, and because they were brought out two at a time, so there wasn't too much "down time." Also, the portions were of a reasonable size, unlike some restaurants where they are tiny. Definitely a restaurant to which I'd return the next time I'm in the SF Bay area.

  • Visited November 2012
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Atmosphere
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
    • 5 of 5 stars Food
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Ask Herman M about A Cote
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
San Francisco, California
Senior Contributor
24 reviews 24 reviews
15 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 10 cities Reviews in 10 cities
6 helpful votes 6 helpful votes
“My Fav place in the East Bay”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed November 14, 2012

I know there are amazing traditional style restaurants in the East Bay... but A Cote has always been my favorite. Yes it's dark inside, but a wonderful atosphere, great people watching and people talking. It is impossible to sit at the bar, whether you are with someone or not, and not meet other people. Bar tenders are the best, the mixed drinks are top notch and they have a resale license so that they can sell any of the wines you taste for good prices! Also the food is excellent!! The pomme frittes and and mussels are always amazing, the steak, the flatbreads, varied menu entrees are always excellents. There salads and desserts and not the highlights.. but overall the quality of the food matches the quality of everything else and this wonderful, local hangup.

  • Visited November 2012
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Atmosphere
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
    • 4 of 5 stars Food
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Ask Docpm9913 about A Cote
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
fargo
Contributor
12 reviews 12 reviews
7 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 8 cities Reviews in 8 cities
5 helpful votes 5 helpful votes
“Yes Please”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed November 4, 2012

We were looking for a French place. We got it, The food was great, very attentive service, Menu has great French dishes, Food was hot and great, wine list has some different wines .

  • Visited October 2012
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Atmosphere
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
    • 5 of 5 stars Food
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Ask montecatini22 about A Cote
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Monterey, California
Top Contributor
63 reviews 63 reviews
31 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 19 cities Reviews in 19 cities
15 helpful votes 15 helpful votes
“Special occasions only!”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed September 30, 2012

I don't know if I would recommend this place. The food is very good, but the atmosphere was awful. It was definitely not worth the cost of the food. The lighting drove me crazy and there was a lot of noise, especially from the kitchen. It's very hard to enjoy delicious food in a very poorly lit, loud building! The service was good, however. They were very attentive and the food came in a timely manner.

  • Visited August 2012
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 1 of 5 stars Atmosphere
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
    • 5 of 5 stars Food
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See 12 more reviews by Jessamyn W for Oakland
Ask Jessamyn W about A Cote
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
San Francisco Bay Area
Top Contributor
68 reviews 68 reviews
41 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 37 cities Reviews in 37 cities
26 helpful votes 26 helpful votes
“Dissapointing food and service”
2 of 5 stars Reviewed September 10, 2012

This little place was a first choice for us when in this part of Oakland and so on Saturday night, when looking for a place in the Rockridge area, this was an immediate pick. This will not be the case again. We ordered the Lobster and Mushroom flat bread and could not get over the the level of grease, the lack of lobster and the overcooked, tough mushrooms. We each ate a piece and looked at each other to see if we both felt the same way. The waiter asked how our dinner was and we told him the grease level was too much. His solution was to return the other two pieces to the kitchen and have the chef sop up the grease. Really? So off he went and from that point on, we never saw him again. Our limp, slightly less greasy cold flat bread returned, we will not.

  • Visited September 2012
    • 2 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Atmosphere
    • 2 of 5 stars Service
    • 2 of 5 stars Food
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Ask CaliforniaFoodie about A Cote
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

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