Levende East

All we hear about beautiful Oakland is all the murders. But for those that venture out into the revitalized streets of Oakland we find places like Levende East. This wonderful restaurant really surprised me when it came to food, music & atmosphere. Oakland is not full of thugs. You will find professional, laid back folks in there. It has become one of our ""places to meet"" spots for most of my friends. They keep a classic menu, but are not afraid to try new things. I would recommend the mini burgers,(lamb or tuna)as well as, the some of the best mac and cheese I've had in a restaurant. Need music? Some nights there is a live DJ. If you feel the urge to dance, no one will stop you. As for their bar, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the damrak basil gimlet when made correctly.(had to send it back twice, cuz one bartender was clueless) Other than that, it usually is a relaxing night out in Oakland. Pros: Bacon & Sage Mac n Cheese Cons: Service can be sloooooooow on busy nights more

Food was just OK. I left my Credit card at the restuarant by mistake (they didn't put in the check folio) and the owner was a total Jerk about it, never called me back and gave me some lame story that she could not mail my credit card back to me (I live an hour away) because she was ""afraid of going to jail"". I offered to fax or email the credit card statement, my photo ID and anything else she wanted me to sign proving my identity. The owner accused me of hatching some elaborate scam to steal my own identity and said I would have to pick it up in person or get a new one. She ended up hanging the phone up on me and now I have no credit card to use on my vacation in 2 days. Please don't bother wasting your time or money on this place; from what I can gather, it is run by unhappy pretentious jerks who don't care a thing about customer service or your satisfaction. Pros: OK food Cons: Really nasty owner, snooty hostess, bad customer experience more

The live, and good music, without a cover, made the trip from SF to Oaklnd worth the trouble.The chicken was tasty, with sides of vegetables made a meal large enough not to have to buy extra sides. Our waitress was a treat. Most of all, we enjoyed the atmosphere with enough room to really appreciate the music. Pros: the music by T-Wrex was excellent, service good, food too Cons: some patrons talked too much during the music more

Taste reviewed more

A byte of life more

FANTASTIC :) more

Wow, some bad reviews here... but my experience was OK... they could smile more and give prompter service, but I did not get treated as badly as the other reviewers here. more

I don't know what that last person is talking about. I live near the old Oakland area so spend a lot of nights at Levende. All the of the owners have never been anything but polite and friendly. Recently there was a Salsa band playing and the owner was definitely having some drinks, and was nothing but happy, smiling and dancing. I spend at least 2 or 3 nights a week, and many lunches there and have never been witness to anything even close to that type of conduct from anyone involved with Levende or its patrons. Great service, tasty food, good music and friendly owners! Pros: Location, food, and atmosphere Cons: A little too busy fridays more

On this particular night two friends and I went to the bar and my friend bought the first round on her credit card. The bartender filled half the glass and walked away. When she returned she gave us the total and I politely asked if she didn?t mind filling my glass. She then stated that 3 inches from the top of the glass is their standard pour. I told her that I ordered the same drink from this restaurant for the last several weeks in a row and never have I received a half full glass. Her response in a very condescending tone was that she has been with the restaurant since the beginning and that?s how they are always served and that if I wanted she could take the drink. She proceeded to help other customers and 5 minutes later I had to flag her down for the refund which she said that she had already done, so I asked for the receipt. She began to fast talk me and say that they can only reverse the card at the end of the night as a cash out transaction (contradiction to the previous story). I then told her she can either void the transaction or give my friend the cash. The bartender went to the cash register pressed a coupe buttons and walked over with a paper that she presented as the void receipt. I glanced at the receipt and it was clearly a duplicate receipt of the initial transaction. My friend saw the owner near the bar with a beer and pointed him out to me. I walked over and explained the situation, he was visibly incoherent, but I told him that it is definitely not about the money, yet how much I frequented his restaurant and that this was the first issue I had ever had. He reached in his pocket and handed me a $10 bill which I handed over to my girlfriend who had paid for the drinks. I thanked him and proceeded to walk away and the OWNER said ?AND DON?T COME BACK?. I told him that he did not have to worry about getting my money, business, or recommendation EVER again! more

I have to words to describe this place:BAD SERVICE! Pros: Pleasant hostess Cons: BAD:food,drinksand overall service!!! more

I decided to celebrate a friend's birthday at lavende in downtown oakland and boy do i regret that decision...i don't even know where to begin thats how bad the service was.The waiter had an attitude problem and was acting like he was doins us all a favor by servicing us...it would take him forever to come around to take the orders and even longer to bring it to us.The drinks were terrible and the food was okay but overpriced.I got my food after 45 minutes and when we asked to speak to manager it did not help...and i came to find out that he was the co owner which makes it worse...he came over to our table and had the same attitude as our waiter...he claimed that the drinks were being made and the food would be ""right out""(of course that didn't happen)...he never apologized for the poor service nor offered a discount.An 18% gratuity was already include(which i found absurd) and we were a large group (25 people).I would say that this wasmy worst dining experience.I left the restaurante pretty frustrated and aggravated and I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYBODY AND I WILL NOT BE COMING BACK...EVER! Pros: The ambience was cool and the hostess was nice Cons: bad food,bad service,rude waiter,rude manager,overpriced,bad drinks more

I wanted to celebrate my Cousin's 27th birthday, and she heard this place was GREAT, the one In SF was so nice so we desided to have the party in Oakland..BIG Mistake. 1st our waiter was no were to be found half the night, our food took alomst an hour to get and they were not even crowded. The menu was not pleasing at all. And their food was not great at all either. Not to mention when we got there their was another group of people at our Reserved table. Then on top the gratuity was 18%, which we dont mind paying but the service was horrible, and when I spoke to the manager, he also had an attitude.. If you want to have a good time and good service do NOT go here. It Is not worth It at all. Pros: Very Nice Stting Cons: Bad Service, rude Manager, Not Appealing Menu more

I recently had a birthday celebration at Levende East - I was promised the larger portion of the restaurant for my guests. Upon my arrival most of my guests were seated in the bar area. I was told that a portion of the area promised to me had been reserved for another party (who never arrived). When they served my birthday cake - it was sliced and placed on napkins w/ no utensils - I had to go to the manager - who then had the cake (still on napkins) placed on plates. Some of my guests said they felt unwelcome - my DJ mentioned they were very inconsiderate of him as well. When I contacted the manager via email - I received no response, no apology, nothing. Beautiful venue, drinks so-so, no customer service - very disappointed. more

My friends that I hadn?t seen in 6 months decided to meet at Levende's to catch up. We arrived at our 5pm resv. The restaurant was completely empty. After 30 minutes of chatting over our drinks, the waiter told us that we needed to order and that we could not sit at our seat all night. We advised that the restaurant was completely empty. He said continued to verbally harass us about and virtually ruined our evening. more