MLK Café

this is my go to spot for something quick and healthy.
the tuna silsi is my favorite dish. the pineapple smoothie is the best in the whole bay!
basically, you can’t go wrong eating here.
great staff, great food.

Their pizza is SO good! The sauce is a bit spicy, and the toppings are generous for reasonable prices. I discovered this because my husband loves to hang out here to watch sports and have a few beers on his days off, he likes the unpretentious, diverse crowd. I don’t mind being a sports widow if there’s pizza in it for me.

I was here on ⁰¹⁄₁₆ for live music. The artist were amazing and the band was awesome. I had Ye Beg Tibs (Lamb) and Humus which were good.

This place is so great. A spot that’s not well known, but has amazing food and a great vibe. Seriously everything I’ve ever tried from here is so good. I always want to get the Ethiopian food because I rarely eat it otherwise, but the omelette and hash brown option is one of the best omelettes I’ve had in a restaurant. Come here to watch sports as they have big ass TV screens everywhere. Come here to do work (if you’re not easily distracted), as they have wifi. Come here for pizza, or Ethiopian food. Come here to dance ! Yes. They have dancing here on certain nights. The owner and staff are great as well. This is such a gem.

The best place for Eritrean/​Ethiopian/​American breakfast in the mornings, and crazy for a sport bar in the afternoons. I recommend you to visit and you will be hooked!

I love this place, and I’m so glad there’s a great restaurant and bar near my house. Friendly service, delicious food. Bonus points for the nice new parklet out front, funded largely by neighbors! It’s a great community spot.
Only one star off, because on game days, it’s so loud inside I can’t be there. The TVs go all the way up, it’s filled with people
screaming, and the room has no soundproofing so it echoes, badly. I sometimes still eat here on those days if I’m craving it, but I have to get my food to go.

First I’ll say that this place is great! They have amazing food, they’re generous with their drinks, friendly staff, and an awesome owner!
The «one star» is for one of their employees! She’s been there for awhile and even though she seemed out of place from the beginning it has definitely gotten worst! Lets just say hygiene is not a priority for her!!! so I’ve been trying to avoid going to the café just because I do not want her to be anywhere near my food. She is not friendly and there had been times that she seemed high! (I have no problem with drugs but not when one has to deal with customers and/​or handle food!!) I have seen her several times in shouting matches with people right outside the café (not even across the street) over drugs! (ex. 12÷11÷15 at 10pm arguing with two guys over a blunt!). I’m really hoping that something changes soon!

This place is pretty bad — it should be on kitchen nightmares. I ordered an omelette and frittata. The fritata was scrambled eggs in a bowl … aka not a frittata. The omelette was inedible. There was literally a puddle of oil on my plate. I could dip my finger in it about an inch. Scary. Sadly disappointing because it took way too entirely long for something so unappetizing. Move down the street and just go to another spot for breakfast. Not here.

I had some reservations about this place. only because it served breakfast, pizza, burgers, pasta AND ethiopian food, And had a full bar.
I got the ful medames, it might’ve been called something else on the menu, but it’s basically a bean paste, served with hardboiled eggs, onions, tomatoes, cheese and olive oil drizzled on top. it’s served with tasty fresh baked rolls of french bread. I thought I would be hungry afterwards because there was no meat, but i was surprisingly full.
My sister got the frittata, which wasn’t really a casserole dish, but more like a scramble with onions and peppers. It was really fresh tasting and flavorful.
The coffee was legit as well, strong, and well made.
Our server was the nicest lady, that had a mama-​bear quality about her. Would definitely come back. I think all of our breakfast dishes were 8 bucks.

We love this place! The food is tasty, both American and Ethiopian/​Eritrean. It is also a great place to watch sports. They have lots of TV’s at various angles, so you can always see. We watched the World Cup and nba finals there and the crowds were always excited and joyful. Most importantly, the staff are amazing! They are so kind and accommodating. We have a toddler and they go out of their way to be kind to her and make sure our family is well taken care of.

Ahem… This place is close to my neighborhood but just tried it for breakfast today because the line was too long at Beauty’s Bagels. Soe we went here for breakfast and it was excellent. We ordered Mesalah Foul, and A Fritatah. Instead of the French bread we substituted Injera. They gave us homemade hot sauce on the side. So delicious. They also have more traditional American breakfast choices like pancakes and omelettes. I’m reticent to talk about this special place hoping it won’t be overrun/​lose its quiet charm. But trust me. It’s a great alternative to long lined established places. We will also be back for dinner.

In a word; perfect. There menu is varied, but everything I have had is exactly what I expected when I ordered it (which is becoming a rare quality in hipster infested Oakland). The french fries are superb, and might seem to take a while to get to the table, but this is only because they make each batch fresh for each order. The burgers are exactly what a burger should be; tasty, fluffy bun, thin slices (but perfectly proportioned) of onion, fresh tomato, served with free ranch dressing. Not gourmet, no kimchi on top, no «special house sauce», nothing but a excellent burger. The embogotito is delicious and their Ethiopian dishes have always surprised and satisfied me.
The staff is nice, quite, helpful and seem happy to be there (another quality increasingly hard to find). The ambiance is pleasantly quite And laid back, except on soccer nights, when the bar is the hippest place to be if you’re a true fan.

Hung out here while Big-​O, around the corner, was fixing a flat tire (
).
Varied menu with Ethiopian, pizza, burgers, pasta, etc. Unilocal listing says «Beer & Wine Only», but they do have a full bar (
).
Decent sized crowd mid-​afternoon (on a Tuesday!) watching Manchester United spank Cambridge United in the 4^th round of the FA Cup (
).
$ 5 for a pint of Guiness
Flat tire turned out to be a cracked rim. D@mn you Oakland potholes! :(

I was visiting from Texas and happened to get a hotel down the street from MLK Café. They were the only place open relatively late ( Unilocal says they close at 10:00 on weekdays, but I think I went in there around 10:15 or 10:30??), so I decided to walk down there and get some food.
I was a little confused as to where to order upon first walking in, as there were people hanging out all around the bar and restaurant but no one behind the counter. Eventually I figured it out — they have menus at one of the counters and as I was looking one over, a man came up and asked what I would like. I decided to keep it simple and just ordered a small cheese pizza to go. It wasn’t anything mindblowing, but it definitely hit the spot (and for a good price too).
The next night I find myself in the same late-​ish night predicament, so I walked back over there and decided I’d try one of their Ethiopian dishes. I had only eaten Ethiopian once before and I thought it was great, but nothing to write home about. I ordered beef kelwa and boyyyyyy was it fucking good! It blew my first Ethiopian experience out of the water.
Atmosphere is super laid back. Second night I was in there everyone was watching the Warriors game, cheering, and what not. The guys cooking your food and taking your orders are very friendly. Highly recommended spot. I will definitely be back next time I’m in Oakland!

Service is always warm and prompt. Great for grabbing a quick beer with friends. Outdoor seating if you don’t like watching sports. Perfect neighborhood joint.

I’m a big fan of foul/​fuul, which is basically east african bean mush with lots of onions, chili, yogurt and eggs, served with bread. It’s a really savory start to your day and though your breath would blow a crowd away, any potential hangover you might bring with you wouldn’t survive the meal either.

Loved it loved it. One waitress we went at around 7pm. It was all guys no women on this Sunday they where just watching the game. It was nice a good amount of space and it smelled like fresh air. Everything was clean. Also you might have to seat your self. Only one waitress she was working the bar and the tables. But that just might be a Sunday night. But it was so good and beautiful. Such a nice break from California and American food. You know burgers and Mexican food. I just wanted something different and this hit the spot!!! I will be back!

Cute café with nice, relaxing atmosphere. Came here to have a cold drink while I waited for my car to be looked at. Everyone was pleasant and because one wall was totally open, it was nice and airy. Kinda reminded me of European cafes and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. Nice spot to chill for a bit!

Went here for World Cup watching after passing this almost daily since it’s opened! It was dark and cavernous to accommodate for maximum dramatic tv watching (with plenty of tvs for easy viewing) and ordering food was as simple as walking up to the counter.
We ordered a coffee and fava bean foul mudammas (or whatever they call it on the menu) from the African breakfast menu and it was DELICIOUS. The fresh jalapeño provided nice spikes of heat and the french rolls they give you are PERFECTLY crunchy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside. I’m ready to go back for more now!
One thing I noticed was that the server was really busy catering to all the WC watchers and eaters and drinkers but never seemed frazzled. She was really friendly, too. She noticed that one of the boys in our party didn’t really eat his pancakes and she checked in w/​his dad about it — did he not eat them because he didn’t like them? His dad assured her it was more that he was really distracted by the game but that they were yummy (I ate a bunch, they were!) and she smiled and let him know that she wanted to know because if the pancakes weren’t satisfactory, she wouldn’t charge them. I rarely get checked in with like that at any restaurant and appreciate when everyone working you interact with has ownership over the success of the place. Whether or not she was the owner didn’t matter — she wanted you to be satisfied!
Oh and, at some point she walked by with a plate of spaghetti at some point and it looked BOMB! From what I’m reading in other reviews this seems like one of the rare gems where you really can order from all corners of the menu and not be disappointed.
I can’t wait to go back :-)

What a delightful find! A place that serves pizza, burgers, breakfast, and ETHIOPIAN?! Hellzzz yeahhhh. My husband is picky about his first meal of the day so what a perfect restaurant to serve him breakfast while I have my Kelwa! (He ended up getting pizza anyway since it smelled so good when we walked in.)
Ethiopean: This is the main reason I would venture to the East Bay; we just don’t have a lot of places in the Peninsula and City that are as good and flavorful. The beef kelwa with mushrooms ($ 10.95) was very good after I sprinkled some salt onto it. The flavors just opened up. The injera was soft, bouncy, and wonderfully tart, just slightly. Portions were huge and lasted me three meals.
Pizza: What a delightfully, yeasty, gooey, thin crust. My husband inhaled the entire 12″.
Coffee: One of the best soy lattés I’ve had. The coffee was robust and full flavored without being acidic nor bitter.
Service was a little slow but very warm. The lovely lady behind the counter was the only server, cashier, and busser so I’m totally OK with being patient.

MLK Café had only one table, if that. post lunch. no servers around so i grabbed a drink.
menu: burgers, breakfast, ethiopian, pizza.
pour: tanqueray & tonic (6)
–small drink had a lot of punch
–no well drinks, just bombay, tanqueray.
on draught
–felt strange about ordering food so didn’t.:
–good size eatery
–bar clean.

This place is gluten-​free, checkbook and sports friendly :-)
You can order any pizza they have on the menu, in any size, gluten-​free. Very cool.
I decided to try the BBQ Chicken Pizza 8″.
It was only $ 4.50!!! Yes $ 4.50. Unbelievable.
It was also delicious.
Came with a crispy thin crust — topped with cheese BBQ chicken, bell peppers, onions, and a sweet tangy BBQ sauce that reminded me of Everett & Jones sauce.
Don’t be fooled by the name, which has the word «Café» in it… during 49’ers game days, the whole place converts into a pleasantly-​chaotic cheering sports bar.
It was great to watch the game on any one of the 5 flatscreens they have around.
And despite that Café misnomer — they serve beer and Ethiopian food as well.
Yes, you can drink beer while eating Ethiopian food while a rowdy crowd around cheers on a football game. This place is amazing.
How many establishments are there out there where you can do all that?!
The only reason I can’t give it 5-​stars is the location. Its in one of the worst areas of Oakland.
With no parking lot, you have to park on the run down streets nearby.
And this is a very rough area.
I am usually pretty laid back about this stuff, but I must admit that I was quite worried leaving my car out on the street for an hour.