Garden House

Such a wonderful place to eat downtown for lunch.
The specialty is grilled chicken on salads and in delicious bowls with rice/​veggies.
Women owned locally owned, local, vegetarian alternatives.
Service is always quick and the people who work there are always genuinely kind and heartfelt in their discussions with customers.
Highly recommended.

Was looking for a good salad place close to work and found Garden House on Unilocal.Been there a few times in a row now. It’s woman-​owned and those ladies know what they’re doing. Service is fast and so, so friendly! Lots of veggie and vegan options, if that’s what you’re into. Try the sesame salad — the dressing is great!

The best salad spot in town! I always get the chicken Caesar salad with pasta. Very satisfied every time! The owner is always working hard and very nice!

These ladies know what they are doing! Their food is delicious and their portion sizes are amazing. It’s a woman owned and operated business. When I tell you you are received with a friendly smile right when you enter, A+++ service, they have vegetarian options as well, I am not so I usually eat a chicken caesar– the chicken is cooked to perfection with an awesome flavorful marinade.
If you haven’t stopped by for lunch you are probably the only person in Oakland that hasn’t. During their lunch time the line is out the door! They are affordable, quick, delicious,. I can go on!
Definitely a must try!

Amazing vegan «chicken» that is just far too delcious.
Salads are relatively well priced (I still don’t understand how salads can be $ 8+ but everyone is doing it…)
If you substitute spinach for lettuce, they give you a bit less :(I guess spinach weighs more.
SO DELICIOUS THOUGH!

This is a small place. The customer service is very good. It is always nice when the staff engage in conversation with the customers. I would like to have seen more art and a brighter setting. The art caught my eye as I walked through.
I ordered Cesar salads. I will have to try other menu items next time.

Great portion and delicious salad! The basil salad was terrific and the chicken was hot and fresh. Service was really friendly. The portion was large enough for at least 2 meals. Great bang for your buck.

I love this place! It’s hard to get a decent salad when you are a pescatarian, so this is one of the few place is DTOak that you can get soy chicken as a meat substitute. I ordered the taco salad but their caesar salad is my fav :) My co-​worker also loved their chx caesar wrap and another co-​worker (yes, I like to spread by word-​of-​mouth too) liked the spicy chx rice bowl, though there was a TON of rice that he ended up eating the next day.
I met the owners and their story is super sweet — they bought the place because their mom worked in the area for over 20 years in food service and they wanted to buy her a place of her own to work in. It’s women-​run, so just another reason to support this business!

Best salad place in the area! Mango salad with pasta my fav! Also, fresh and quick, during work week is a small Line but goes quickly. Also, peek that business is locally & female owned. The original owners sold business to their daughter and her friend. They also have partnered with another business owner who makes gluten free fried chicken in the evenings wed-​fri

My new lunch discovery in downtown Oakland. They have great salads, rice bowls, and sandwiches. Plus veggie & vegan options. Portions are big and the staff are some of the friendliest you can come by.

Nice!!! I got a plain tuna sandwich on sourdough and my cousin got the chicken mango salad…
We could have fed 2 other people with the amount of salad and tuna we had…
It was all good… The line moved fast and they are super friendly!!!

I love this place. I have been coming here since this place opened. Food is good and prices are reasonable. I highly recommend this place.

They have a vegetarian chicken on the menu, so I thought I’d give that a whilrl. The girl was helpful when I asked if it could be made vegan (yes, obviously) — just be aware of what you’re getting (no mayo, no cheese — and most importantly for me, no onion!)
This is a «one at a time» place, so don’t expect speedy subway-​style service. I had to wait a little while for other orders to be completed, although making my sandwich was pretty speedy.
There was nothing wrong with the sandwich, although it could have done with a bit more flavoring, and wasn’t that filling — it had polished it off by the time I got back to work. For my money, the vegan wrap at the nearby Brown Couch Café is a better deal for the same price, although both places only really have 1 – 2 practical vegan options.

The salad are amazing. I love the Chicken Cesar salad its

But the place itself is really old and needs to be remodel.

Ventured out a block from Oakland City Hall and found this excellent lunch spot. Tried the spicy chicken bowl — generous portion of chicken, sauteed veggies and hot sauce over rice. Very fresh ingredients, moist flavorful chicken and very fairly priced at $ 7.95. The salads looked beautiful — will go back and give those a try next time.
Really nice people behind the counter. Everything is made to order so it was a little backed up, but the payoff is that the food is so tasty, the wait is forgotten once you start eating.

Ordered the Basil Chicken Salad. It was $ 8 and had a generous amount of chicken. The Basil dressing was obviously homemade and very good. Employees are ultra nice. Large portions but still felt a bit over priced
I called it in but they didn’t even start making it till I arrived. Despite that, they were pretty quick and personable. All the salads here have a Romaine Lettuce Base –don’t have a «mixed greens» variety. Gave me a positive Berkeley vibe which I like.

Garden House was a convenient go to place for take out since the ethiopian place wasn’t open. standing sign tous: «women owners. local owners»
menu: salads, turkey sammies, chicken teriyali
eats: chicken teriyaki bowl w/​sauce (4.5)
–sauce light, not bottled
–grilled chicken ok, rice ok
good value 3.5 stars
take outs:
–if i had the time,
salads may have been a better option.

When I think about eating out in Oakland, my mind tends to imagine heavy foods like fried chicken and waffles, gravy loaded biscuits, any myriad of mac & cheese variations… What a relief to find a delicious lunch spot in Oakland that doesn’t make my arteries twinge with the anticipated overload!
I walked in a bit past noon on a weekday, and soon enough there was a line out the door behind me. Sounds like this place is definitely a local hit! Lucky for me, there wasn’t much of a wait for my salad. I went with the mango chicken (how could I not?) with lime dressing and was not disappointed. The price seemed a little steep at first, but when I saw the size of the salad AND the abundance of perfectly grilled chicken plus giant mango chunks, all was forgiven. Super fresh ingredients throughout the rest of the salad, plus the ladies behind the counter were all friendly and totally on top of everything! Great to hear they’re a women-​owned local family business, too!
I’m looking forward to trying out the rest of the menu! :)

So… I usually don’t believe in paying for salads but I was starving and their little signboard said ‘women-​owned, local business’. This is definitely the only salad place I’d give my money to.
Tasty salads, generous portions, and easily customizable. If you like chicken in your salads — their chicken pieces are fresh and not any of those dried/​overcooked stringy ones you find in most salads. Had the Asian Sesame Salad with chicken (or something like that) but I have my eye on the Mango Chicken Salad next!

Recently switched owners– don’t worry, Karen (aka Kim) is still there, welcoming everyone and making salads!
I was there for my second time yesterday, just sitting down eating my lunch watching all the regulars come in. Most of them looked around– saw the new look, got a funny/​nervous look on their face till they saw Karen, then they relaxed, ordered their lunch and chit chatted while it was being made. It was fun to be a part of that atmosphere!
They have an updated look, new bar seating by the windows and the same amazing salads and sandwiches! Service is excellent, quick and done with a smile!