Roli Roti Gourmet Rotisserie

Just ok for me. I have been dying to go to roli roti to try their porchetta sandwich and I made it a few weeks back in January and they were out of porchetta sandwiches. Fast forward to March picking up the hubster newly working in Oaktown and low and behold it’s farmers market day! Score! Double unscore, the dude working the cart said no more porchetta sandwiches only at the freaking Ferry Building why why why? So I got a pork knuckle. Being asian, I do not like mushy soft chicken skin and their rotisserie chicken looked like it wouldn’t be as chewy as game di bo (free range yellow chicken asian pees know what I’m talking about) so I passed. Those little potatoes look good though…
Back for he pork knuckle for $ 9.50 it was a good size knucle very meat-​y but super salty. Hence the three stars. I think I’m going to have to chalk this one up in my bookmarks as an epic fail.
Maybe next time Roli Roti…

Sorry… this review is VERY LONG… and long overdue.
Last year (2014) at Christmas time, I ordered 2 Crown Pork Roasts (CPR) to be picked up from their Oakland facility the Tuesday before Christmas Day. I had placed the orders with the catering manager (who was apparently leaving the Roli Roti… after Christmas — which I didn’t know this at the time that I placed the order). On the Monday before I was supposed to pick up the CPRs, I called her to send me a receipt since she had never sent me one and to ask what time I could pick it up. She wasn’t available, so I spoke with someone else, who told me that they did not have any record of my order and therefore, they didn’t have any CPRs available for me to pick up and someone will give me a callback. No one called me back so panicked (since this was my PLANNED Xmas dinner), I called back and left several messages.
Finally, Krystal Smith (she’s now the new Catering Manager — but wasn’t at the time) called me back and apologized for the confusion and said that they can have for me the 2 CPRs that I had ordered, ready for pick up tomorrow after 11AM.
…fast forward:
My husband picked up the CPRs on Tuesday and brought them home and refrigerated them. Excited… I left work early… and rushed home. I was thrilled to have gotten them and so I wanted to see what they looked like. I unwrapped all the foil and VOILA… they looked NOTHING like what Roli Roti had been marketing (see attached picture). They looked like… shit! I was a little IRATE by this point! FIRST they never finalized my order… and NOW THIS!!! Who messes with people’s Xmas dinner like this!!! I immediately emailed the catering manager and Krystal. No one emailed me back right away. I called… no one picked up. Left messages… and finally… Krystal calls me back and asks for me to send some pictures to her (see attached pictures).
After reviewing the pictures, she called me back and at first she said it was out of her control… and that there is nothing she can do. (I paid $ 300 for these CPRs… btw) — and that just sent me over the top. I don’t usually make threats… but you better believe I did. I threatened to TWEET, FACEBOOK and blast them on social media and email and write to Thomas Odermatt (owner) about the agony. I mean… again…Who messes with Xmas dinner like that!!! It wasn’t just any Xmas dinner… it was MY first Xmas dinner that I was cooking for my new in-​laws! :)
After patiently listening to all my threats and me yelling and screaming… and almost crying, Krystal said she’d have to see what she can do to make this right for me and she would call me back. When she called me back it was close to 5PM, she offered to drive FROM OAKLAND (I live in San Jose) to pick up the 2 CPRs (in rush hour traffic– before the Xmas Holiday) and that she would bring me 2 new ones the following day so that I can have them in time for my Xmas dinner. She got to my house a little after 8PM, picked up the CPRs and returned 2 BEAUTIFUL new ones to me the next morning, along with a couple of small gifts. I was flabbergasted… yes FLABBERGASTED!!! I love Krystal!!!
I wanted to write this review a LONG time ago… but kept forgetting about it and now that it’s almost the holidays again… I KNEW I HAD TO.
Thank you Krystal!!! LOVE YOU… MEAN IT!

I looove this truck! I see them at the farmers market, where I was first introduced to this delicious moist chicken and potatoes.

I see them every Sunday at the Montclair Farmers Market. I love Brussels sprouts and the way they serve them up, Yummmmm. They are so nice and very helpful. I need to try the knuckle sandwich next week, can’t wait to see them.

Had their rotisserie chicken and potatoes at the Jack London Square Farmers Market and it is super tasty! A bit on the pricey side considering one can get a rotisserie chicken for less at Costco. But, the taste is sure different and good!

Love the porchetta sandwich! Thick layer of carmelized onions added so much flavor! This sandwich is so big I had half for lunch and half for dinner. The crispy skin stayed crisp even after microwaving. Yum!

«Never thought I’d fail at failing.» — George Costanza, Seinfeld
Fail. Drove 30 minutes, fought parking to get into Oakland Chinatown. WAS poised to order a feast, 4 lbs. of Porchetta, & a couple orders of brussel sprouts and potatoes… DENIED. «I don’t have a scale today, sandwiches only — step aside if you need to think about it» Wow. Was never treated that way @ the Ferry Building. I’ll spend my $ 100 elsewhere.
NEXT, couple days later, hit the Ferry Building again… fairly short line @ 10am, but guess what? Not selling by the lb. since they «got a late start»… grabbed a sandwhich. Man, it’s NOT my week. Giving up on them, getting a recipe and stopping by the butcher to roll my own tomorrow. Pretty disappointing.

Lunchtime at Castro Valley farmer’s market. The aroma of chicken cooking on the rotisserie was intoxicating. Made me want to eat chicken so bought a whole one. (I wanted potatoes but did not want to wait for the next batch to be done). Went home, and started eating, or trying to eat. My $ 14.50 chicken was overcooked to inedible. The skin was the only really good part. Even the drumsticks and thighs were dry. Here’s how dry the bird was: Between the skin and the thigh was another layer of parchment-​like tissue which had been thigh meat but was so overcooked that it had the semblance of old shoe leather. Yes, that bad. The heavy use of rosemary did not help. The chicken was dumped in the compost bin where it will do some (expensive) environmental good.
My Unilocal ratings are either one star or five stars. Why rate mediocrity? If a business does one thing only; make rotisserie chicken, every chicken should be consistently good.

Super juicy rotisserie chicken. .and potatoes! Soooo good! What can I say? I love this stuff! Always a pleasure when i see this truck! #webegrubbin!

I bought a pork knuckle for USD 8.5, brought it home, any liquid that was still in the pork knuckle had beens squeezed out in a puddle of the food container from the final temperature brought above 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The meat was quite dry, overcooked, flavored nicely except it was overly salty. I had wanted to buy their pork spareribs, but I wanted it pulled when the temperature reached 130 degrees, I can visualize that as the temperature of the meat continues to rise, the moisture inside are being squeezed out of the protein fibers. The temperature will continue to rise and the meat cooking for another ten minutes, so I wanted to pull the meat at 130, and would continue to rise another 10 degrees to 140 – 145 final temperature, where the meat would still be moist. The guy said he couldn’t legally sell it unless it was at least 145 degrees, so I ended up leaving and not buying. It would be pretty expensive, USD 15 for half a rack, USD 30 for a whole rack. I notice they were only cooking two whole racks pork spareribs at a time, so they would only be selling 4 half rack orders and it takes time to cook this. Not impressed.

I so love their pork knuckles and porchetta sandwiches, my mouth starts watering just as I am writing this.
My go-​to markets are Alameda on Tuesdays and Oakland downtown on Friday. It is hit and miss in Alameda with the portk knuckles. You have to be early. They don’t have the porchetta there, but they do in Oakland. But again, you have to be fast. I made the mistake last time and did my grocery shopping before I got in line at the Roli Roti truck. Big mistake and the guy ahead of me got the last porchetta sandwich. Damn it! Heck, the chicken is good as well (as are those yummy little potatos), but this Bavarian girl just looooooves her pork. Go get somel, but please don’t stand in line ahead of me and grab the last one available for I will hate you eternally! :-)

Working by San Francisco’s Ferry Building Embarcadero, I looked forward to the Thursday Farmers’ Market and the delicious Porchetta sandwich at the Roli-​Roti truck. With my job transfer to Downtown Oakland, I was looking forward to the Porchetta at the Roli-​Roti truck at the Friday Old Oakland Farmers’ Market. However, to my disappointment, Roli-​Roti was only selling its rotisserie grilled chicken, pork knuckles and rosemary roasted potatoes, but not their Porchetta sandwich.
However, 2015 has brought me happiness. Roli-​Roti is now selling its Porchetta sandwich at the Old Oakland Farmers’ Market. If you haven’t tried this delicious sandwich of rotisserie pork with pieces of crispy skin, onion marmalade, curly cress and rosemary sea salt on an ACME sweet deli roll, you need to give one of the best gourmet sandwiches around a try. (
)
Also, the waiting line to the Roli-​Roti truck here is only about five to ten deep compared to the line of 25 deep at the Ferry Building too! Thanks Roli-​Roti for bringing your Porchetta to the Old Oakland Farmers’ Market. I know what I’m having for lunch on Fridays!

We used Roli Roti for a wedding I coordinated in Nov 2014 and they were phenomenal! Their prices were great and the food was absolute perfection! All the guests had more than enough to eat and then some. No complaints!
I would highly recommend their catering service to any future weddings I throw.
The staff that were running the food truck, cooking, preparing and serving really worked their butts off. Both people were a pleasure to work with.
They even wrapped up leftovers at the end for the bride and groom to take.
They were very easy, professional, and self contained. A coordinators dream!

their roasted chicken is so flavorful with herb n spices. Perfectly goes well with roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts. The chicken skin is so crispy too. A must try!

I patronize this business regularly at the Montclair Farmer’s market on Sunday. Today (¹¹⁄₁₆) was a terrible experience. First, let me say there is a great guy who is usually serving with a pony tail and scraggly goatee (not knocking you buddy) who is the nicest and most gracious person. He knows that I usually like a more well-​done chicken. Today the portly guy with the pony tail was a complete JERK! He had four chickens on the platter by the potatoes that were under-​done and had pale skin. I asked for a more well-​done chicken that was on the rotisserie and he refused saying it they were not done and it was a health department violation to sell me any other chicken. What a crock of s*^t. He was serving under-​done chickens to unsuspecting customers. I am a certified ServSafe general manager by the National Restaurant Association. Most people know a well-​done chicken when they see one and you can also determine this by using a restaurant grade thermometer by inserting it into the right part of the chicken (breast) with a holding temperature of 165 degrees or higher for at least 30 seconds. I told this JERK that I am the customer and if I want a particular chicken he should sell it to me. It’s my hard earned money and I am not wasting it on an under-​done chicken that could get me and my family sick.
Message to Thomas Odermatt: I will never buy another chicken as long as that JERK is working at the truck. I will wait for the courteous guy who knows how to treat a long-​term customer. And no, I don’t want any compensation. I just want a well-​done chicken. Get rid of this idiot!

On Saturday, 8÷23÷14, my girlfriend and I decided to hit up the Grand Lake Farmers Market before I got my haircut at Lakeshore.
I’ve heard a lot of positive rave reviews about Roli Roti Gourmet Rotisserie. I ordered the Chicken and Potatoes plate. The chicken was very moist and tender. It tasted really good. Way better than the plain dry chicken I eat during the week for my diet! Haha! The potatoes were loaded with flavor. I’m sure the chicken and rib fat drippings added even more flavor to the potatoes. You can literally see the juices of the whole chickens and rack of ribs dripping down onto the potatoes.
If your in the area and want some good food give Roli Roti a try.

ready… set…pork… A really great porchetta sandwich awaits you when you order one at Roli Roti’s. The sando had an enormous amount of juicy pork and crispy skin, along with a quality bun, grilled onions and field greens. Great assembly and great fatty-​pork flavors. Don’t let the long lines detract you, as it moves quickly. It seems like everyone was there to get one of those pork sandos. 4-​stars

I have been waiting to try this place ever since I found them on Unilocal.It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to the Ferry Building during the Farmer’s Market and the last time I went I really didn’t walk around.
Finally found them on Saturday! BUSY SATURDAY! Their line was pretty long. Even while standing in line I never saw the line get any shorter. Don’t let the line intimidate you… These guys move FAST!!!
Everything looked so good I was torn between all the menu items. I decided to go for the Porchetta Sandwich.
Are we there yet?
All the yummy stuff cooking!
It was cool to know that all of their chickens & meat are all organic! I’ve started to switch over to organic & it just tastes way better than all the GMO stuff!
Porchetta Sandwich & a Rosemary Lemonade: I took the first bite and it was amazing!!! So tender! Juicy! The caramelized onions were so good! The meat was not dry at all!!! The bread had just a little bit of crunch on the outside & soft on the inside.
Porchetta Sandwich:
I can’t wait to try their chicken!!!

For a long time, i wanted to be a food critic. Strangely, it was easier to become a surgeon, so here I am, just writing Unilocal reviews. But I did feel a certain pressure while wedding planning to not disappoint our guests with crappy wedding food.
Fortunately for us, Roli Roti really came through on the wedding day. The food was kick ass, the people serving it were super cool and personable, and every single guest complimented us on the food choice as they devoured more. Even my food snob tables were thrilled with the dinner.
Planning a wedding is super stressful, but anyone planning on hiring Roli Roti can rest assured that they made a great decision.

I say that I’m a carnivore — because there are so many folks out there who say they are vegetarian. (I’m sorry I’m not out to offend, it’s just to balance things out. I mean seriously, so many times during potlucks at work people show sensitivity to the vegeterians and the vegans that they stop bringing any meat. well what about the people who like meat? what about the other folks like me? i hope that’s not insensitive)
In any case– back to the review. Roli Roti caters to folks like me :) At the end of the farmers market on fridays in Oldtown Oakland you will find Roli Roti right next to some vegetarian and vegan option pop ups. Actually your nose will find it first as the deliciously savory aroma wafts down the streets to guide you.
They however serve up really generous portions at an affordable price that it’s actually too much meat to handle. I’ve tried the pork knuckle which is a punch of meat that’s fatty and crispy and ooh boy! it’s OP! I also tried their whole chicken which is a great challenge for one to consume in one sitting specially if you have to back to work afterwards. both great and served nice and hot — right off the rotisserie however i surrender — overwhelmed. i guess my hungry eyes get the best of me.
And so I leave you with a tip– TIP: Try the ¼ chicken and potatoes for $ 7 it’s a nice balance between starch and protein and the happy compromise unless you will be sharing the other options described above. Until next time.
Cheers.