The Arlington

This place is walking distance to my house so I used to go there all the time. Literally ⁹⁄₁₀ they completely butchered my order. The employees don’t pay much attention to your order so double check it before you leave. It’s a shame because when they actually get your order right the food is great!

The Arlington catered our wedding at The Brazilian Room this past September (2015) and was perfect in every way.
The Brazilian Room has a list of approved caterers and we were on a really tight budget because not everyone has 25K to drop on a wedding. Other caterers were extremely hard to get ahold of or would not consider our budget. One woman laughed when I told her our limit and others would only entertain the idea of a limited buffet, which is not what we wanted to do.
I actually met Trish at the open house and she was wonderful about going over options, hearing our budgetary concerns and was so flexible about trying to make our vision work despite our lack of cash. We wanted a cocktail reception with passed and stationed appetizers, and without trying to steer us away or dash our hopes, she made that happen for us. And as an LGBT couple, she made us feel totally at ease.
Trish also does the best tasting of any caterer we met, hands down, she will feed you. We picked many items straight from the tasting.
Anyhoo, we were totally lost on how to time and plan everything. Thankfully, Trish is a pro and helped us schedule with skill. On the day of the wedding when rain unexpectedly decided to pop in for the ceremony, Trish and her team quickly whisked everyone inside and set up a beautiful arrangement in front of the fireplace. There were no gaps in setting up the food and bar, and when the rain stopped, we were able to open up the patio like we’d planned it this way from the start.
If there were any logistic hiccups that happened, I didn’t notice anything and had no worries the whole day. They were also great at making sure we always had wine in hand. They thankfully built a plate for us because we were so busy talking, we almost didn’t eat! Every spread was beautifully placed and my guests raved about the food. I still have people talk to me about the meatballs, lamb patties and hummus plate. There was so much food, no guests were hungry and they made sure that all of our vegetarian/​vegan guests were able to eat. They also packed us the leftovers! I personally loved the asparagus with dipping sauces and the chicken satay. The fruit plate was beautiful and overflowing with fresh berries and watermelon.
Our menu included:
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Veggie Stuffed Mushrooms
Lamb Patties w/​Hot Sauce
Decorative Hummus Platter w/​Pita and Veggies
Chicken Skewers w/​peanut sauce
Veggie Skewers
Decorative Fruit Platter
Pulled pork and Caprese sliders
Poached Salmon w/​Crostini
Asparagus with Aioli and Chili Dipping Sauces
Thai Meatballs
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Spanicopita
This was a long-​winded way of saying that we chose the right caterer for us and I would highly recommend The Arlington to anyone. I really want to emphasize how highly I value good food and just how much The Arlington embodies that without costing you a semester at Cal. I didn’t have to worry about a logistic thing on my wedding day because of how skillfully the team handled everything and worked with our family. Go team.

The Arlington was wonderful for our recent event of 150 people. We truly couldn’t have asked for better caterers. They were super organized from the menu planning through the event set up and tear down. Trish and her team are very experienced and knew the right questions to ask to keep us on track throughout. They helped make sure everything ran smoothly and kept the stress to a minimum. Trish has a can-​do approach and is super calm, fun, and personable. I would highly recommend The Arlington for any occasion. We are still getting comments from our guests about how beautiful the event was and how great the food tasted!

I hoped this would be a good lunch spot as it is only a few miles from my house. The first two times I came in they got my order wrong, and it was, like a bagel the first time, and then a bowl of soup and a sandwich. It seems like the wait staff isn’t really listening-​they tuned into some other kind of frequency, not the taking order frequency – they seem distracted. I recently came in on a lunch break and ordered a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee. I waited 15 minutes for it, eating into my lunch break, and when I got it, it was lukewarm. I will add that it WAS NOT BUSY during any of these visits. As I was leaving I heard the server talking to someone in the kitchen in a loud voice about being «obstructive». it was a tense conversation– not a positive experience for this place-​Very disappointing. Maybe their emphasis is on catering – if so, they ought to just drop the café entirely.

Clean, convenient and cute. I had probably the best grilled chicken sandwich of my LIFE here. Way better than Semifreddi’s. My husband also raved about his hot pastrami sandwich. Good prices too. Lots of seating — inside & out. Nothing fancy, but worth the trip. Your taste buds will thank you!!!

This place has nice café style snacks, drinks and meals for pretty reasonable prices. They close at 3 though which sucks if you want to do after school studying there

Arrived 7 mins after their posted open time and not a single light was on. Oh well, guess I won’t be their newest local customer.

I was in the area with some time to kill, so I decided to stop in for breakfast. It was my first time here, and I had planned to dine-​in, but the staff wasn’t very welcoming, so I grabbed a breakfast burrito (the ideal portable food) and decided to go… The burrito was pretty good, but the service would prevent me from going out of my way to come back.

We had Trish and her folks cater our reception at the Lake Temescal Beach House and it was everything we hoped for. We had been having a lot of trouble finding someone on the EBRPD list that was willing to provide the type of food we were looking for (finger foods and snacks for a game night style event) rather than what they thought we should be serving (what my wife calls «rubber chicken») until we met with Trish. She listened, put together some samples that were exactly what we wanted, and then provided amazing service the night of the event. We will be back for any other events we need to cater.

Just moved to the area was looking for a local breakfast/​coffee place to go to regulary. This is definitely NOT the place! Really disappointed in the service. The hours on Unilocal show open at 730am showed up around 745 the door was open someone already sitting down waiting on there breakfast sandwich. After a waiting about 5 minutes she stated in a rude manner they were not open yet «but guess she can serve me» and would take my order in a few minutes. I apologized stated would gladly go somewhere else if problem. When she took my order I stated that Unilocal has open at 730am and that is reason why came in might want to see about changing that. She rolled her eyes and mummbled something to effect like she had any control over that or could correct it. Thought easy fix would she could pass that on to owners. She brought my sandwich out Told her to have a great day she dropped my sandwich on counter turned her back and walked away without saying anything. To bad they didn’t gain a regular customer all because the girl was RUDE!

Really good pastrami sandwich, and the cole-​slaw on the side was world-​class fancy. Great breakfast burrito.
A good place to study (though they are only open early morning til mid-​afternoon): quiet, good lighting, nice and chill, nice environment. Good food.

The Arlington is the best caterer in town! I have used them several times for work, and Trish also catered my husband’s fiftieth birthday party. Trish will work with you and your budget to give you exactly what you can afford, without cutting corners on taste. The food is consistently delicious. Trish and Marc are flawless professionals, super-​friendly and easy to work with. I always know that I am in good hands with them and there is nothing to worry about!

Now that the dust has settled and I can sleep again at night [(lol). just wanted to take a moment to thank you and Mark, and all of your staff for the great food and service.
You really helped to calm a nervous Dad and assisted us in so many ways.
We had plenty of food, I think we probably had 8 – 10 no shows. The food was great and I had a few people tell me how much they enjoyed the salmon and sauce. I am glad we did what we did with ordering the salmon. You provided us with good advice all the way through.
Your staff that I interacted with was so polite and considerate. The service was just wonderful.
I thought it was very considerate of you to pack a to-​go meal for the bride and groom, and to package up our leftovers to take home.

Brand new remodel looks awesome! New menu is great! Love the new look. Really great.

The café is in need of a major cleaning and organization. There is stuff every where! The floors looked like they haven’t been mopped in some time and if they have been it’s been mopped with dirty water. The staff does not wear gloves when handling food. They touch money and go straight to making your sandwich. That in itself is DISGUSTING! Money carries so many germs and with all the stuff that is out there now I’m shocked that Trish and Matt have not mandated their staff to wear gloves when handling and prepping food.
The café can be quite charming if they would put some thought into decorating it. However, first they MUST thoroughly clean and organize the place. Once they do this I think the café will get better ratings.

I really wanted to like the Arlington and was sorely disappointed. It appears that the 4-​star Unilocal rating is due to the excellence of their catering business, because the café is pretty disgusting. There were flies inside and the food was just not tasty. Hubs and I had the meat aram (seriously, costco does these turkey wraps better), shrimp gumbo (overcooked and not fresh-​tasting; I was totally expecting to get sick) and cold meatloaf sandwich (which made me keep thinking of cats for some reason). Staff was super friendly and nice though. Never coming back, sorry!

Basically, I would like this to be a love letter to Trish. I can’t sing her praises enough. We had our wedding reception at an East Bay Regional Parks venue (Temescal Beach House) which meant we had to choose from their decently long list of vendors who are also trained as building managers who set up and take down the entire event.
For some reason I had a good feeling about The Arlington even before we met them and tasted their food at the EBRP vendor night at the Brazil Room (samples galore… visit these!) I think it was to do with their website? Well the food was great when we sampled it, and also when we went into the restaurant for a tasting… and of course on the day of the wedding.
People went crazy for the meatballs (apps) and the polenta (main course) and the hummus, too. We had chicken tarragon and salmon (served cold) for the main course. People are still raving to me about the food at our wedding reception and it’s been almost 6 months.
The servers that Tish has working for her are outstanding. They were so attentive and on top of everything. There was one woman who was particularly attentive to me, which caught me off guard because I’m not used to being so well-​attended to. Lol. She was so kind and made me feel very special. I hope she reads this. Thanks, sweet lady!
I could go on, but I’m pretty sure The Arlington isn’t hurting for any catering business. Just know that they are outstanding and Eat Bay Regional Parks are very smart to have them on their list of vendors.

The Arlington. .. I remember when this was Shai’s Deli. It was quite a bit of sad news when Mr. & Mrs. Shai decided to move to the Big Island of Hawaii to own and operate a bed & breakfast inn. This space was unoccupied for quite sometime. I was pleased to hear a business called The Arlington was finally going to occupy this empty space.
It took me quite some time to come to The Arlington. The first time I walked in, I walked right out. The staff behind the till did not seem alert and aware of comings and goings. I was hesitant about giving this place a chance after reading some of the Unilocal!reviews on the quality of the food and the service here. Though I do remember the brownies were quite tasty at The Arlington. I did sneak in once to get a brownie to go – quite moist and chewy!
One of my former film studies instructors suggested we meet at The Arlington so he could autograph for me a few books he either edited or wrote on German Cinema. Great, an opportunity to spend some quality time with one of my film studies heroes at The Arlington. (And for those of you who have read my Unilocal,this is the one who lives with his family one street over from me. (Awkward!) I will refer to him as «Il Professore» in this review.)
I got there early to secure a spot and to scope The Arlington out. Oh good, they have the brownies! I looked at the menu. Hmmm, many of the items were taped over. Eh, I will just have the brownie. The young woman assisting me asked if I went to Cal as she saw my Oski shirt. I told her I had been admitted and would be starting in Spring 2014. She would be pursuing her masters in art history in 2014 spring. Ooh, we must talk, I thought. We had a quick chinwag about our future golden bear lair – after all this is bear territory – Go Bears! I was surprised by the size of the brownie she gave me – almost a 3″ x 5″ index card. I needed a fork, forget about eating this with my hands. I had to ask for a fork as the canister was empty. Oh, and while you are at it, please refill the water jug. (After all, the Duchess is in da hizz-​zay!)
I played musical chairs a bit, should I hide in the back or find a space in front? Decided to sit in front when a spot near the door opened up. The brownie «index card» was very moist and chewy! I munched on my brownie while perusing my philosophy textbook and waiting for Il Professore to show up.
I was on my third or fourth brownie bite when Il Professore arrived, NY Times in hand. .. still quite the scholarly intellectual. Il Professore saw my brownie and asked me if that was all I was going to have as he headed to get something to drink. Oh, all right, I guess I will have something to drink with him besides iced water. I had to ask where the drinks were as it has been quite a awhile. I got a San Pellegrino Limonata since I was driving — it was way too early for wine. (Kidding!) I asked how much I owed him, he told me that it was all right, he’s got this. (Gratzie Professore!)
Il Professore and I had a chinwag about film, my admission to Cal, German Cinema, Pacific Film Archive Library, and mutual people we knew/​acquainted with in common, among other topics of conversation. I will say out of respect for Il Professore, I will keep a lot of the deets between us. I was pleased and delighted to learn he enjoyed presiding over the film class at BCC we were in. (Wow, despite mon faire les quatre cents coups – my hell raising – on him during that time?! Kidding!) Before he had to leave, he personally signed the books for and to me. I will say I have more respect for him now – the awkwardness is gone. I will definitely be looking forward to seeing him and his family around the neighbourhood with Dolce.
I hung out a little while longer to peruse my textbook, to have a quick chat with my newfound future fellow Cal alumna, and take in The Arlington more before bidding adieu, au revoir. From my perspective, The Arlington has the feel of a café, a family room, a den, and a community meeting place. There is a play area for the children while the adults are able to keep a watchful eye while having coffee and talking amongst themselves. I hear The Arlington holds family-​friendly, casual events in the evenings, such as family movie night and live music.
I see The Arlington does do catering as well, I saw lots of food trays being carried out while I was there with Il Professore. I think I saw one of the owners carrying out trays with some of the servers there. I hope to attend an event they will be the caterers at so I can sample their food and other wares.
A-​OK!!! I shall return. .. oh – they have free wi-​fi!!! I will be back!!!
Per Il Professore:
Fresh Review #45 of 100 Unilocal for 2013

They could use some branding help … I have lived near here for almost a year and always thought it was only for catering. But once I took the plunge and brought my laptop here to get some work done, I was pleasantly surprised. Got a bagel and coffee.
Seems this place has event nights too, like «Chick Flicks Night» and some kind of trivia thing.
Best thing about it is that they serve Due Torri coffee, an undiscovered gem of an artisanal roastery.

The Arlington was a wonderful choice for catering. Trish and her staff catered our wedding at the Lake Temescal Beach House, and the event turned out simply amazing. We were blown away by their staff’s hospitality and helpfulness.
It was very easy to work with Trish and we were pleasantly surprised that she was able to pull off our wedding within a week and a half notice. In our opinion, Trish has a lot of experience with weddings and knew just what to do in regards to the small details.
Our wedding could not have been better and we are thankful that the Arlington worked with us to help the event run smoothly.