Lungomare

Great views, excellent service. Our shrimp & grits and frittata were superb. Fresh squeezed OJ — but the cappuccino needed an additional shot.

Lungomare… why? Your prices are so out of line and your menu/​purpose is confusing. Went here on Saturday as it was the only place in JLS with a good bar area to watch March Madness games (where you could actually hear the game and not country music (Overland) or Dave and Buster’s-like atmosphere (Plank)). Bar was empty for the most part and about ½ capacity as the night went on. Bartender was GREAT and the only reason why we stayed. Happy hour prices for drinks were okay, but very limited food menu with ripoff prices in the midday. Had the pork sliders and chicken wings (each $ 10). Both tasted like they were heated in the microwave and not at all worth $ 20. We were all starving by the time the dinner menu kicked in and decided that nothing sounded or looked appetizing. If you want good entrees for the prices, go to Haven. If you want good pizza for the price, go to Forge. The rest is just a hotel restaurant trying to be upscale Italian. It says something when the restaurant was empty for an entire Saturday night. Please do something better with this space. JLS needs your help!
Side note: We had some issues with one of the staff (possibly bar manager) in the bar, believe his name was TJ (?) Our table sat squarely under a screen and we had informed all of our servers that we were there to watch March Madness. TJ tried to change the channel to the Warriors game and was extremely condescending and rude about keeping our one TV to March Madness. He made it sound like the whole city of Oakland descends upon Lungomare to watch the Warriors games. Sorry guy, we had die hard Warriors fans in our group who could watch March Madness on one screen and the Warriors game on the 10 other screens you have. Learn how to talk to people, especially in a restaurant that is struggling to fill the seats.

I dined at Lungomare earlier this evening. Upon entering I was immediately transported to an oasis in Oakland of which I was never aware of.
I asked tons of questions about the ingredients, and the servers were extremely eager to break down the stories of each of their locally-​sourced providers. They serve super authentic northern Italian cuisine blended with local ingredients. If you want alfredo sauce in your pasta, go to Pasta Pomodoro! They are one of the only restaurants on the continent to have access to fresh water-​buffalo! I had the «Burrata,» which is a cheese similar to fresh mozzarella but super soft and creamy on the inside. It was served with a house cold smoked salmon and homemade fennel crackers and black sea salt (!?) with olive oil. Who does that?! CRAZY good. I will be back within the next few days if I can.

Excellent. Brandon provided great service
The food had great flavor. Everything (mostly eveverything was housemade). Cheese plate with red wine gelatin, fennel crackers and spiced candied walnuts. I had the octopus and fresh house made vegetable soup. Hubby had the prix fixe with burata and smoked salmon and bologna with house made noodle.
Kudos chef Difonzi, excellent

My boyfriend and I came here for brunch after walking around and not finding much places we wanted to eat at. We got seated pretty quickly. I was sat next to the window, and even though the shades were drawn, the sun was beating down my side. It took about 15 minutes before someone noticed us after we sat down. Then another 10 minutes before someone took our order. I ordered the French Toast and my boyfriend got the Chicken Hash. I was really craving something brunchy and sweet. I was extremely disappointed when I got my french toast. It was drizzled with overly sweet fruit syrup and it made the toast extremely soggy and inedible. When I tried to bite into it, it just more or less dissolved into a gooey mess in my mouth. My boyfriend ended up sharing half his chicken hash with me and scolded me for ordering fresh toast. BUT HOW DO YOU MESS UP FRENCH TOAST???
Pretty bad experience. Bad service. Meh food. (I say meh because the chicken hash was okay) I definitely wouldn’t come back again.

Went for a run along the pier at Jack London Square and stopped here for a quick breakfast. I had the berry filled ricotta pancakes which were delicious! The pancakes were fluffy and the fruit was nice & ripe. The plate came out with 3 HUGE pancakes– I could only manage to finish one and saved the others for later.

The interior is comfortable and elegant.
The first time we came here it was for a dinner and it was scrumptious. Great cocktails and delicious and balanced food. Over favorite was the buratta with smoked salmon which become our staple every time we come here. Our server described it as fat infused with more far and it’s delicious!
However, after coming back for a brunch two different times we were quit disappointed. The food was blend and heavy and not too original. If you want a good brunch and amazing Bloody Mary’s go to the sister restaurant Chop Bar which is about five minute walk.
We came here two more times after that– for Cinco de Mayo and Oakland Restaurant week. At the Cinco de Mayo event they served delicious margaritas and cocktail called «Helios» that we never tried before and we liked so much that we learned how to make it at home.
We were both excited for the restaurant week prix fixe menu but it was a huge disappointment! Portions way to small, the taste wasn’t too interesting and the wine served with the dinner wasn’t tasty at all. It was only $ 30 but I would rather pay full price for the meal and get what I was expecting to be eating at Lungomare.
Overall– go there for a dinner and make sure that there are no events happening.

Review for their coffee, breakfast and scones.
The best scones I’ve ever had, hands down. That is all.

We’ve been a regular for this restaurant when the weather is nice, but we will never come back!
The service here is BAD and Lungomare prides themselves on it!
First off, when I walked in i asked for a table for 2. The manager said, it will be 5 mins. That was fine, but he didn’t even say, please have a seat or anything while we wait. A little confused i asked if I need to write my name down, and he annoyingly said, «you can if you want, but I can remember you.»
I let that one go, when we got seated we waited at least 15 mins to get water, and I had to ask twice from a bus boy if we can get our orders taken. After 20 minutes they were SO kind to finally let us order.
The waitress even had the nerve to say, «there goes my tip!» Cause it was obvious that we were annoyed.
We didn’t want to pay for such crappy service so we got up and left. As I left, I told the male and female hostess that we were leaving and they can cancel our orders! No apology or anything but the sassy bearded guy just snapped back and said «well, where did you sit??!» He accused me of lying like I just walked in!
Please do not waste your money on a place that prides themselves on bad service! The food isn’t even that good, and this is one of those easiest restaurants to get a reservation!

This place is OK. The food was good, the service was OK. Although it’s not good for business, I was glad for it to be almost empty around 2pm on a Friday. The views are relaxing and they are child friendly. My son enjoyed sitting by the window watching the boats. The chicken, in general, tasted «fake» on the pizza. The child’s pizza was very generous, like a medium size adult pizza. It was fresh from the brick oven (?). A bit salty. But very good. My chicken panini was ok, the portion was good, the bread was fresh. My husband tried one of their «new» plates. The name eludes me, it was a white fish served with potatoes and clams. Very tasty!
Not a place I would bookmark. I wasn’t impressed by their menu. I expected more pasta dishes with fresh fish options.
Also, I’d like to see better appetizers.
However, I might consider trying the breakfast: brunch.

This review is for the little coffee stand, not the bar or restaurant. I stopped in here around 8 a.m. to get a scone or a croissant on my way to work. Mistake. Everyone in front of me had ordered. However, it took about 10 minutes before one of the women working here to notice me. I told her what I wanted and she charged me $ 4.38 for a scone. Really?
I won’t be back.

My friends and I picked this place during restaurant week because of the enticing offer of an endless glass of wine with a 3 course meal for $ 30.
The service was bad — I made reservations in advance, got there early to check in, was told my table was being set up… 20 minutes later and after they seated two groups that arrived after us, we were finally seated. After 30 minutes of sitting around, our waitress finally took our order. Our entrees came out before our appetizers — the servers were just as confused as we were so… dinner was out of order.
Appetizer selection: polenta and mushrooms. Entrée: pan roasted true cod. Dessert: Budino. The polenta was thick and creamy, surprisingly very tasty. The cod was small but cooked nicely — light and flaky. The dessert was disappointing — just looked like chocolate pudding but tasted a bit richer.
We were not happy about the bad service but a few glasses of wine into dinner, we felt better. The wine selection was really good — I got the Sangiovese-​Cabernet, Rock Wall, «Super Oakland», Alexander Valley ’14. Cabernets are usually too dry for me but this wine was very drinkable!

I came on a Thursday for Oakland Restaurant Week which Lungomare was a participant in. I love these types of weeks because they give you a great sample of what a restaurant’s menu looks like on any given night. While I found my dinner at Lungomare a decent if somewhat unspectacular treat for only thirty dollars for their pre-​fixe menu, some parts of the dishes weren’t as sensational as I thought would be.
I have always wanted to try Lungomare ever since it replaced Miss Pearl’s Jam House in the Waterfront Hotel. The place just sounded sexy and inside it lived up to that hype. We just wished we got to sit down by the waterfront view, but alas we sat by a wall far away from the estuary. My friend and I got there at 5:30pm and the place was already jumping with people who made similar reservations at that time, no doubt with an eye towards the pre-​fixe menu Lungomare was providing this week. I of course did a little research before I headed to there for their menu, and although their pizzas and pastas looked and sounded delicious. I knew I was going for the pork shoulder or the cod. A real meal for a right price, right?
But first it was the appetizers, as there were a lot of great choices on the Primi menu, but I was intrigued by the Fried Cardoons and Shishito Peppers, once I found out what cardoons were. Our server explained that cardoons are the stems from which artichokes bloom from, so the dish was sort of like a Frito Misto with a side of Lemon Aioli. The cardoons were nicely prepared, the peppers however lacked a punch that I was expecting. Our appetizers came out really fast, which leads me to believe a lot of the first courses were ready to go as they were expecting a lot of Oakland Restaurant Week-​goers coming tonight. My friend got the Polenta and Mushrooms, he thought it was okay, he was not expecting it to be as creamy as it turned out. I knew I was getting it with my pork shoulder so I knew not to get it this time around.
For our Secondi dishes, I went with the Smoked Pork Shoulder because I’m always down for a good pork dish. Served with the polenta that was offered for an appetizer as well as broccolini and sour cherries, I knew you couldn’t go wrong with this selection. Unfortunately, the pork shoulder was a little overcooked for my taste, but what was nice was there was actually five pieces of meat on the dish so I was quite overwhelmed with the protein. The accompanying polenta and broccolini tasted quite adequate with the pork. My dining mate’s cod was great he actually wished for more because it only came with braised winter greens and I knew it wasn’t enough for him.
Finally it was dessert time. My friend got the Tiramisu and I got the Budino, which was more like a chocolate pudding topped with Chantilly cream and chocolate pearls. Portions were small but they tasted fine. Perhaps what was most telling was the bottomless pours of the wine that Lungomare was serving for Oakland Restaurant Week, Pinot Grigio from Tiamo, Veneto, Italy ’14 and Sangiovese-​Cabernet, from Rock Wall «Super Wall» Alexander Valley ’14. The Pinot was so strong it actually made me looped after a few sips, it tasted like juice so it went down very well!
I like Lungomare, I feel that Restaurant Week did the place no favors because business was booming and the quality of the dishes presented seemed to be lacking. Still, the dishes had so much potential that I feel inclined to look optimistically toward a future when Lungomare becomes the kind of destination restaurant that it aspires to be in the center of Jack London Square. The menu shows it has a lot of great potential, so I’m just gonna have to come back and confirm the hope I had for it when they opened back in 2013.

Went here with group of 8 on restaurant week. We had the pre set menu. Everyone at table thought the good was great. Our server was very friendly and quick. I’d rate quality of food at 5 stars and service at 5 stars. The reason why I only gave it 4 stars was serving size. I had appetizer, main course, and dessert and was still hungry. I’m not a big guy so it’s unusual for me to leave hungry from a restaurant

I was warned by a friend who had a bad experience here a few years ago, but I thought things would be different now that some time has passed… DON’T support this overpriced restaurant with racist staff. And, if you want to spend money on dinner and not be hungry or offended afterwards, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. My husband and I will NEVER eat at Lungomare again, which is probably great for them because they didn’t want us there anyway. I should have already known when we walked in, and everybody was white except for 2 other guests and the servers and kitchen staff.
So my husband and I showed up maybe 5 minutes before our reservation and immediately got seated (awesome) but at a booth with no windows (not awesome). My husband saw an empty table overlooking the water and asked the hostess if we could move. Her response was: «No, that table is reserved.» Interesting, since there was no signage on that able. We didn’t say more, but my husband was confused as to how our reservation didn’t qualify for us to have a window seat.
After 1 hour, that table still sat empty. A group of 4 white people showed up and were seated nearby BUT they asked if they could sit at the empty table near the window and VOILA — they were moved to the table we had asked about. This really stumped us, as we had asked to move to that very table and were denied.
Now for the food: As a reference, we ordered from the Oakland Restaurant Week Menu. Our meal cost $ 30 per person and included bottomless wine. We had a total of 4 glasses of wine.
EVERYTHING we ordered was tasty but VERY small. My husband ordered the polenta with hen of the woods mushrooms. There was half a mushroom, sliced in half and placed in the center of his plate which was only brushed with polenta. I didn’t even know what was on his plate; I had to ask him, to which he responded: «A mushroom.» My appetizer had 3 fennel crackers and 4 slices of salmon. Three crackers? I could have brought along a box of crackers.
My husband ordered a pasta dish and finished it within minutes. I ordered the grouper. It was maybe 3in long and 2in tall. Tiny! I am petite and 5-​feet tall, and those meals seemed like appetizers.
For dessert we had tiramisu, and something that was chocolate and pudding-​like. The dessert, again, was tasty like everything else we had for dinner.
I paid the bill, then visited the restroom. Upon my return, my husband told me one of the servers asked us to leave if we were done because there was a line of customers waiting to be seated. WOW. WOW. There were several tables around us who had drank wine the entire time we were there and they didn’t order any food, but they weren’t asked to leave. Had I known how ridiculously they were going to treat us, I never would have left a tip!
I finished my wine and walked out, and on my way out, I even saw a couple of empty tables. Also, at the door there were TWO guests waiting to be seated. THIS was their long line of customers? TWO PEOPLE?! And at least 3 empty tables?!
After tax and tip, we spent almost $ 80 on dinner, and were still hungry. We walked directory to our car that was parked 2 blocks away, and immediately went to grab pizza. Thank goodness for Rotten City Pizza!

Attentive waiter, who took the time to make astute recommendations about the menu, in spite of a busy night, and good appetizers and main courses. And with Restaurant Week, the everlasting wine glass, which is usually only on Sunday. The portions are not huge, but they pack a punch of elegant and discerning taste. I would not plan my schedule around it, but if I was in the Jack London Square area, I would without realizing it find myself walking through those doors, with a sense of confident anticipation…

Went during Oakland Restaurant Week and it is definitely a deal – especially because of the bottomless wine! Generally the my experience felt more like a tasting menu than a full meal. For example, the burrata appetizer had literally a tablespoon of burrata on the plate, while the other appetizers were normal sized. Pizzas and pastas were proper size, while the salmon seemed really small. Might just be their way of making a $ 30 menu affordable for the restaurant.
Quality ingredients! Well prepared food! But nothing super crazy or innovative flavor-​wise.
It was nice having a lot of different options for ORW compared to set menus at other restaurants.
I would come back to Lungomare on a Sunday night where they have a similar pre-​fixe $ 30 menu – it’s a deal compared to regular pricing!

I need to stop coming here.
Oakland restaurant week for redemption. Redeem you will not.
Short review: the menu in the restaurant didn’t match the on line menu. I’ve attached a photo.
The barrata was small portioned but the crackers were delightful.
The torchio? Lukewarm. Not extremely flavorful.
The chitarra? I’ve never had such terrible squid ink pasta. It tasted like it was refrigerated prior to this and reheated but the shellfish that accompanied it was perfect.
Omg. Lungomare. I tried. Why are you so terrible.
Side note: service was wonderful.

Oakland Food Week $ 30 special was nothing special. Even our server told us «what do you expect for $ 30».
Appetizers was a joke. Literally one scallop, over seasoned with salt. The pasta for the main course tasted like cardboard, some TV dinners are tastier.
The limitless $ 30 wine are okay, they don’t come by enough to pour you refill.
I’m not even going to waste too much more time writing this review… don’t go there.

Food was good, but it was hard to get past the experience of when I first walked in. I had reservations for my friends and I for my birthday. Unfortunately the host had no idea of how to simply greet customers, and when I let him know my name, for a party of four, he just just asked me again «if I had a reservation». Why would I state my name and my party size of I didn’t have a reservation? Competence was certainly lacking along with manners of saying «hi», and as a person coming from waiting experience myself, it was inexcusable.
It’s restaurant week in Oakland, so I get it. None of us are going to pay full price but if you want people to come back, teach the prick at the front desk to have some manners.

I had dinner at Lungomare last night as part of Oakland Restaurant Week, and it was a three course pre-​fixe menu, which had several options to choose from for each course, and bottomless wine all for $ 30 per person. Lungomare definitely has one of the better deals for Oakland Restaurant Week, so I’d recommend checking it out!
The food itself was just ok, however. For my first course, I ordered the burrata which is a dish that comes with smoked salmon, creamy cheese, and fennel crackers. This dish was underwhelming, not only in size, but in taste and texture as well. It takes up a really small proportion of the plate, as it only comes with three crackers, three pieces of salmon, and a dollop of the cheese. I did not enjoy the crackers, and I don’t think they were the right pairing with the salmon and cheese. I would have preferred thin slices of toasted bread which would have still provided that needed crunch, but would also have some softness in texture to bring balance to the dish. The cheese was oddly congealed in some areas, which took away from its creaminess and made it hard to spread on the cracker.
For my second course, I ordered the forest mushroom pizza, which more than made up for the appetizer in size. This came as a medium sized thin crust pizza, and the taste of the pizza was slightly sweet (from the caramelized onions, I suspect). The pizza tasted good, but it wasn’t anything unique or spectacular.
The last course was dessert, and I ordered the budino, which is a chocolate pudding with chantilly cream and chocolate pearls. This was my favorite course of the meal as the pudding was creamy and smooth and had a semi-​sweetness flavor from the chocolate. This is the only dish I would recommend from my three course menu.
For wines, we could choose between Pinot Grigio (white wine) and Sangiovese-​Cabernet (red wine) and our server would refill as we needed. I chose the Sangiovese-​Cabernet as I was in the mood for a red wine, and I was pleasantly surprised by how crisp and light it was. Red wines tend to be very strong in alcohol content and have a bitter taste to them which can overpower the food, but this Cabernet had all the characteristics of a white wine with the slight bitterness from a red wine. I also tried a bit of the Pinot Grigio which was very crisp and smooth, and I think this is the better option of the two for dinner.
The ambiance of the restaurant is really lovely, with its mood lighting throughout the restaurant and cool artwork throughout — when you first enter the restaurant, you are greeted by a large glass encased waterfall that has the Lungamore logo on it, and it gives the restaurant a very classy vibe.
Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Lungamore, and the Oakland Restaurant Week deal of $ 30 for a three course meal with bottomless wine is a heck of a deal, but the food was just ok, and the service wasn’t the best either. We felt like we were being rushed through our meal as our server would clear away our plates as soon as one of us finished, taking away the cutlery as well so the one person could not taste the other person’s food, and she had constantly asked if I wanted my food to be boxed as I was eating instead of allowing me to finish my food at my own pace. I like to take my time when I eat, ok? I would recommend Lungamore for Oakland Restaurant Week, but not as a regular restaurant must.

Visited Lungomare during restaurant week and I have to say, I was impressed. Tables were full but it was easy to get a seat in the lounge area. Food was a bit salty but for $ 30 you get endless wine and a 3 course meal.
Prompt service but 3.5 stars is more accurate.

Service was fast and friendly, which is a huge deal!
A cousin and I attended for Oakland Restaurant Week, which included a prix fixe menu featuring 3 courses and unlimited wine for just $ 30.
We started with the house salad and steamed muscles (awesome sauce! literally lol)
For our entrees, we shared a cod dish and a pasta dish. The pasta was decent but the cod was absolutely delicious!
For desert we shared the Budino and the Myers lemon cheesecake. Both of which were amazing, not too sweet, but just right to end our meals.
For the unlimited wine, you can choose between a Pinot Grigio for white and a sangiovese for red. With reds typically being my first choice, I chose the sangiovese, which was not bad for the price. The wine seemed to taste better with every glass :-). I will definitely return!

What a really fun place for happy hour. Headed here after a work holiday party with our department during the 2015 holiday season and it was really fun. The drinks were amazing and the scotch sour that the bartender made me was phenomenal.
Our group was a bit rowdy, but the staff was polite and didn’t get too annoyed with us. So, kudos to them for keeping their cool.
A few of the team stayed behind to have dinner there, however, I was unable to do so due to another commitment I had for the evening. But I would love to come back another evening and sit by the pier and have dinner there. The menu looked amazingly delicious as well.

Lungomare occupies a prime spot in Jack London Square, featuring a patio that fronts the main palm tree-​lined JLS plaza while also offering a picture view of the Port of Oakland and the San Francisco skyline from its waterfront windows at the rear of the establishment.
I want to like this place more because of the beautiful venue, perfect location, and decent service, but I’m afraid to say that I find it a better venue for drinks and cocktails than it necessarily is for food. While the food is dependable, whether for brunch or for some evening nibbles, it’s not necessarily memorable or mind-​blowing.
All this having been said, the incredible location makes it worth a drink or two or more, and for me, service has never disappointed. Overall, a decent option.

Synopsis: It was all good till I found a hair in my food.
Dets.: Ordered the arugula salad. Innocently chomping away when I discovered an inch long black hair — root «bud» and all. Pretty grossed out.

We recently had brunch at Lungomare. This place is a mixed bag, seems like they do a few dishes really well but others can be off. We had the frittata and pork shoulder with duck eggs. The frittata was a real hit. The pork shoulder with duck eggs was good but was lacking something. The consistency of the polenta was very watery and the pork shoulder though tasty had not been cooked long enough so it was excessively chewy. Their coffee is the bomb but on the other hand I received a mimosa which was unmixed. The champagne was on the top just floating. It was served as a cocktail and had a similar price.
I’d say for the cost the restaurant does not do their food justice. I know this is likely in some part due to their location.
Service was fine. We probably won’t go back.

What started off as a pretty good experience became horrible towards the end. We chose to surprise a friend for her birthday here. A quick little Sunday brunch (yes I gave up Sunday football to be here). They seated us and took a cake we wanted to surprise her with.
When the birthday girl came they took her around back in order to keep her from seeing us too early. This was so thoughtful of them. We screened SURPRISE, ordered food, and enjoyed a beautiful morning.
I got the egg breakfast and the potatoes were amazing. I also asked for grilled tomatoes and onions and they were willing to do that for me. Super nice and convenient. Everyone loved their food and the they super accommodating.
Then came time fire the cake. They let us know there was a birthday dessert on the house. But a waiter just and and placed it on the table with letting us know. We didn’t get a cue to sing or anything. And they didn’t bring eating utensils. If it wasn’t for our flowers and cards you wouldn’t have even know it was all for her birthday. And they took more than 30 mins to bring the check afterwards. We had to just walk up to the front to pay. Once the food came I think they said forget the service. I probably won’t be going back…

This review is for their brunch only. I was really hoping for a good brunch experience because I know that this restaurant is a venture from the owners at Chop Bar, which has a delicious brunch menu. I was so disappointed with the food that it kind of makes me sad to think about it. But I’ll suffer for you, Unilocalers.
First off, the brunch menu was very limited. I ordered the poached eggs ($ 16) and my mom ordered the smoked pork shoulder with polenta and duck eggs ($ 17). As you can see, both dishes came with a very hefty price tag and let me tell you that it’s not worth it. The poached egg dish was a take on the traditional eggs benedict but lacked any flavor. However, at least it looked edible. I can’t say as much for the polenta and duck eggs, which without being too graphic I will describe as something you would find on the side of the street on Telegraph and 19^th at 3am on a Saturday. Yeah, it was that bad.
We also ordered two lattes, which literally tasted like water. Apparently the manager had crafted these truly inedible coffees himself. He should just stick to managing. We replaced the coffees with two mimosas ($ 11/​each). In the end we paid close to $ 70 for a truly terrible brunch.
I have to say though that the only thing going for this place, and the reason I gave them two stars instead of one is their service. Our server was incredibly nice and accommodating, as was the manager. However, I would never come back here for brunch.

I love what Chris Pastena has been doing in Oakland. In addition to Chop Bar, Tribune Tavern (formerly), and an upcoming space at Oakland’s Hive, Lungomare is a great place for casual dining in JLS. In addition to lunch and dinner, you can also get breakfast! I’ve held some nice remote office days in their lounge where there are electrical outlets, wi-​fi, and friendly servers to help keep you supplied with coffee and food,
I prefer the pizza here to their neighbor Forge, as the competitor’s pizza leans towards sogginess. But I usually get the bucatini. What can I say? I’m a sucker for Bolognese sauce.
There is also a banquet room here, which can be used for special events. We actually had our rehearsal dinner here with a mob of family members, which was super interesting. Our servers made sure to keep the vino flowing so that a good time could be had by all.
Lungomare is unpretentious, and serves casual Italian food with great service.