Top Rated Restaurants & Cafes in Oakland

This award winning Gastropub at Oakland is by far, one of the best places for a great breakfast. The menu is not very exhaustive, but each item off the menu is scrumptious and offers good sized portions. They have sandwiches, deli sandwiches (Monday through Friday), burgers, soups and hashbrowns. Some of their signature dishes are #baconslut, Not Your Momma's PB & J, and the vegetarian hoagie. They serve coffee and tea as well. The restaurant is warm with bright lighting, friendly staff and delicious meals.

La Bonita Taqueria is a hidden gem located in Uptown Oakland's Franklin Square. Only open until mid-afternoon, La Bonita excels at breakfast burritos and plates and of course lunch foods, all traditionally prepared with care. Favorite dishes include the Enchiladas Poblanas, the Torta, and the Carnitas.

This Oakland offshoot of the legendary Ike's Place in San Francisco stacks some of the best sandwiches in the East Bay. This brightly colored sandwich shop in the Uptown District has a massive menu full of heaping combinations of ingredients that include all your typical favorites and far beyond. Order one of the specialty sandwiches with fun and creative names like the Going Home for Thanksgiving, the Al Davis or create your own, then eat it at one of the tables in the cute little square outside, or take it to go and enjoy it anywhere. Ike's does not take phone orders, but sandwich enthusiasts can order online.

The Halal Guys situated in the heart of Oakland is a street cart turned restaurant that is popular for the American Halal cuisine that it serves. The signature dishes of the initial street cart became a huge hit amongst their patrons in New York encouraging the owners to establish a restaurant and expand to different cities and deliver delicious food to the locals. Chicken Gyro, Beef Gyro, Falafel and a wide range of sandwiches and platters served here with a side of your choice are delicious and ideal for when you want to grab a quick bite and get going. The generous portion and very reasonable price of the dishes at The Halal Guys means that you won't have to break the bank in order to dine here.

Treat yourself to a slice of paradise, Jamaican style, at Kingston 11. Colorful and casual, this lively eatery embraces the vibrant spirit of the Caribbean and the more refined, urban style of Jamaica's capital city. The menu features all the classics, including jerk chicken that will wow you with its smokey flavor, succulent goat curry, hearty oxtail stew and the ever popular Roasted Escoveitch Salmon. With a menu that is packed with dishes that are prepared using locally grown, seasonal, organic produce, healthy cooking practices, and a hearty dose of exotic spices flown in from Jamaica, chef and owner Nigel Jones promises his guests all the goodness of homestyle cooking and comfort food in a contemporary, urban setting. This piece of paradise is completed by a well-stocked rum bar and exceptional service that adds to the air of bonhomie, raising your spirits as you delight in company of friends and friendly strangers brought together by food. Live music is featured on Wednesdays and Thursdays, while on Fridays the night is brought to life by DJs spinning classic reggae tunes.

When one hears the term "soul food" probably the last thing they would associate it with is the word "vegan," but Oakland's Souley Vegan has made the oxymoron a reality. Diners can choose from all kinds of familiar Southern foods like fried okra, cornbread and collared greens, along with some not so familiar dishes like BBQ or fried tofu. Souley Vegan cooks up all its food with soul, as the name implies, making it so good you might not even notice the lack of animal products.