The Gingerbread House

I ate at the Gingerbread house for my birthday about 20 years ago. Ever since I have been trying to replicate the amazing warm gingerbread/chocolate chip cookie they serve ala mode as dessert. It was the stuff memories are made of. I've spent the last ten years living in Seattle and have reminisced fondly about this place to anyone I knew would be visiting the bay area.\r \r The jambalaya was also lip-smacking good and equally delicious as leftovers the next day-- cold, right out of the fridge even!\r \r Now that I am back home in the bay area I am just looking for an excuse to make the trip over the bay to see if it is all that I have built it up to be in my mind.\r \r As for the negative reviews I have read on here... pull the sticks out or stick to your favorite overpriced ""clean"" spots and leave the magic of the Gingerbread House to those of us that can appreciate it. Pros: Great food, magical atmosphere, family run, and friendly servers. Cons: Might be lightly pricey for some, apparently you need reservations and this is upsetting to some. more

My girlfriend (who ought to know something about Creole/Cajun food, since her mother was a cook in New Orleans' French Quarter) and I have been coming to the Gingerbread House for several years now, and it remains our favorite East Bay restaurant. Its years in business and the many civic awards it has won make it unnecessary to defend either its ambiance or its menu; but to suggest that the proprietor behaves as though she were on coke has no place in a restaurant review, and whichever ignorant person wrote it ought to be ashamed. Both of us can testify to the decency, generosity and unique flair and style of the beautiful and hardworking lady who has devoted herself to the Gingerbread House for something like thirty-five years. Avoid the food, if it doesn't suit you, and tell your friends not to go there - that's certainly your right and your privilege. Libelling the proprietor's character is not. She and her family restaurant - and we have come to feel like family when we're there - are ornaments to the Oakland community, and deserve to be recognized and treated as such. That woman who carries herself like a queen while she serves your dinner is a lady, in case you never saw one before. Pros: Delicious food and elegant service! more

I came here for my birthday a few nights and I had a blast. I can understand why other people call their service slow, but if you're not in a huge rush, the wait is fine. The service is friendly and attentive. Yes, the food took a while to appear, but we never minded because waitress made sure we always had enough cornbread and starry-eyed tea (which is to die for). One of my friends and I had the jambalaya while my other friend had the gumbo, and all of us cleaned our plates! Then at the end the waitress brought out a fresh gingerbread cookie and ice cream for me and sang happy birthday. Overall I was happy with my experience and I'll be bringing my relatives there to eat when they come to visit. Pros: starry-eyed tea! and the food is wonderful Cons: slow service, kind of dark more

My mom and I drove by this restaurant and decided to stop in for a look. After waiting 15 minutes to be seated, the ""friendly"" southern-twanged hostess, waitress, chef, all-in-one seated us and made us wait another 30 mins to receive our appetizers. The menu was severely lacking, the food was waaaay to pricey for the size of the plate, and the staff is aloof (this is being kind).\r \r Don't let the fun/odd decor fool you. Avoid this place like the plague. Pros: freeway close (as in, go hop on the freeway and get to another restaurant FASSST!) Cons: long wait, pricey, low value, decent food more

The worse experience I have ever had at a bay area restaurant. It looks dirty and odd inside. I don't mind dirty in a really good soul food or rib joint in the hood, but not at a place that you'll end up spending 70 bucks easy for two people. The people on here who said this food is ""great"" or even ""good"" , I'll go a step further. Even if you thought it was ""OK or Average"" you were born with no taste buds or work there. The lemonade was that minute maid type stuff from a can, that tastes how you would imagine Lemon scented toilet cleaner to taste. The corn bread had some weird tasting herbs in them and were soaked in margarine or butter or something old and oily tasting. I get light headed and nauseous thinking about it . \r \r The main course I had the gumbo. Ok my grandmother was born and raised in New Orleans and knows how to make some gumbo. This ""stuff"" I ate was not gumbo. It tasted like dish water with hot dogs and a crab leg in it. Seriously. I took one taste of that 20 dollar bowl of gumbo and sat there angry. Then my wife gets the red snapper or some sort of fish in a cream sauce with those cheap fake baby shrimp on top that you get on a Denny's salad. WTF. That cream sauce was the worse. It was basically milk mixed with flour and salt. My wife did not eat it. The weird waitress came over and asked what was wrong we said the food was bad and she looked high on coke not even caring. Then said sorry do you want a bag. ? She's crazy foreal. She then handed me the bill I was shocked at how much we spent. $70 bucks with tax and tip. At that point I just wanted to hurry and get the hell up out of there twilight zone environment. I paid and me and my wife didn't even speak on the drive back. AVOID AVOID AVOID!!! FOOD IS TERRIBEL, OVER PRICED, AND IT'S NASTY INSIDE. Pros: The Icecream was tolerable Cons: Food is horrible, service is very slow, price is ridiculous, location is awful next to a freeway!?!? more

This place has good food and magic. Notice the divergent reviews people have written. If you are not a stuffy, uptight pr*ck you will enjoy this place. I loved it although could not see myself going regularly. The ribs & cornbread were my favorite. If you plan on going just don't be in a rush to walk in and out. Take your time and enjoy yourself. more

This place has a trippy haunted feel to it. The classic cajun dishes (especially the jambalaya) are adequate but a visit to this place is all about the experience. I have eaten here about 4 times over the past 15 years and it id definately worth a trip, but probably not worth a regular visit. Pros: Decor, Live quaint music, classic cajun dishes Cons: Trippy servers, Haunted atmosphere more

The Lousiana fine Gumbo is as authentic as you will ever find. A cousin from Baton Rouge was impressed and said that the cornbread was even better than back home!\r \r A must try at least once. Pros: great authentic food Cons: gumbo and jambalaya is more pricey than other places more

After driving by this little gingerbread house, tucked away amongst the freeway and Bart tracks, I just had to know more. I discovered a short time later that it has been in business over 30-years. After dining at the restauraunt, it was easy to see why they have been so successful. The food is great, the service is unbeatable and the ambiance is a much needed break from the typical overly trendy, overly priced scene of the Bay area. The waitress is eager to share her menu favorites as well as make your dining experience personal and enjoyable. Pros: Cornbread!, dessert!, SERVICE! more

My husband and I dined at TJ's Gingerbread House in Oakland last night. This restaurant has been in operation since 1972, and the decor is a blend of 70's Victorian retro and 80's faux finishes. We loved our food, although for some folks it would be diet-busting to see your corn bread arrive in a pool of melted butter...now I get the point of corn bread. The cuisine is ""Louisiana Fancy-Fine."" For about $25/person we were regaled with chicory coffee, fresh lemonade, fresh fruit appetizer, main course Jambalaya and Cajun catfish), and freshly-baked gingerbread/chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream. Our lovely waitress, Noel, was simultaneously solicitous for our comfort, sassy, dramatic, and sweet. The small gazebo seating area held several large parties and a few romantic couples...a diverse clientele of all ages, races, walks of life. Everyone seemed to be having a blast on a wintry Thursday evening. more

This place is way overpriced and the food is ok, but not really anything to write home about. Further, the waitress (daughter of the owner) was very weird. She was way into herself and though she was some sort of goddess or something. She was very nice and friendly to the children in our group, and totally short and cold with the adults. I feel like this place should close. It's never that busy and is a bit strange as if they are pretending to have a lot of personality but they are just faking it. more

Anyone who believes this place matches the prices of a three star restaurant needs to go back to McDonalds. Besides, this is a four star resturant. Pros: This is run right, Unique & Tasty Food, Original Ambiance Cons: Inconvenient Location, Top items take days, Limited help more

For the price of this place, you could go to a nice three-star San Francisco restaurant. The lemonade tasted like that cheap powder you mix with water, the jambalaya was mediocre at best, desert was plain vanilla ice cream (with an okay cookie), and the salad was 8 pieces of fruit. Our waitress was also very strange. The best thing the place has going for it is the decor, which is very kitsch. Also most of the items on the menu weren't available, which left the jumbalaya, gumbo, lobster and two others. more

The food is amazing and always warms the soul. Coming here is like being at home. This isn't your typical, sit down, order, eat, pay and get out! restaurant. The Gingerbread house is warm and low key. You should not come here in a rush to get some place else. It is refreshing from our busy world. Ms. Noel is one of the most wonderful people on this planet and if you are lucky enough to get her as your waitress, you will be enchanted. Order in advance and know that your food is being purchased that day.If you are in a rush or like to be done with dinner in 45 minutes, then do not come here. If you are ready to relax to some home-style soul food and love from the family that owns this gem, then this is a new tradtion for your family to begin. Pros: Wonderful Service, great food for SOUL, Enchanting settings Cons: , A bit expensive more

From the menu it sounded good, but when we got there we only had a few things to choose from. When I go out I don't expect to order my food in the morning or hours prior, as is necessary for many of their entrees. The food was the worst I've had in years. I'm not usually very picky, but the food was disgustingly bland. Fish, bland, fruit salad, from a can (seriously the pineapple chunks didn't taste like anything), cornbread tasted like the meat cooked in the oven from before and was soaked with grease, the tea was Trader Joe's Bedtime Tea but named Louisiana Blended Starry Eyed Tea. The food was also extremely expensive. We paid $50 for two fish entrees! Almost asked the waiter to stop before the desert because I didnt want to eat any more. A terrible dining experience, minus the cookie and ice cream. Pros: Nice waiter Cons: , Expensive (rip off), Bad seating arrangmnt more

I enjoy everything about this restaurant. When we want to have a quiet private dinner, this is the place!! There aren't too many tables and Ms. Noel is always personable...what more could you ask for. The food is hot and spicy and down right GOOD for the soul!!! Pros: Food, Servers, Ms. Noel Cons: Parking(on occasion) more

the ribs, hmmmmmm if you get there late, you might have some runny jumbalaya...so make reservations... some of the best corn bread in the world more

The service... My boyfriend and I had reservations and ordered our food in advance as suggested. We were seated at 6:00 in a room with 3 other tables who all came in a bit after us. Our appetizer didn't arrive until 2 hours after being seated!! Keep in mind that our appetizer was a tiny bowl of Jamabalaya which should be sitting a pot ready to go. Also, another table seated shortly after us got the Jamabalaya as an entree and received it before we did. We waited an additional 45 minutes and after listening to the waiter claim that our entrees would be coming ""in a minute"", we finally left in disgust. The food... what I was able to taste was pretty tasty, but not worth the price of admission. The decor... seen better days. The knick-knacks on the walls look like they could use a good dusting. Pros: food is tasty Cons: decor is getting old, terribly service, expensive!! more

This was the worst dinning experience ever. First it took 15 minutes just to be seated, We were squeezed in the corner and not to be seen for another 25 minutes. We ordered apps. and they took 1hr and 45 mins. to arrive.we would have asked but we did'nt see the waitress for that amount of time. The food came out about 3 hrs later and one table that arived at the same time got up and left after 2 hrs. Now about the food we brought a lady from LA. and she said this was not cajun or creole food this tasted mor like food from a can, I did'nt know campbell's made cajun/creole food. Even at 1/2 price it's not worth the time.. save your time and money and go to McDonald's. Cons: expensive, no service, crowded more

This place is surreal--a real melting pot they have the most diverse and interesting clientele and waitstaff, and occasionally have jazz or piano lounge music to accompany the slow but very attentive service. Make a reservation and order 24 hours in advance for the best selection from the menu, as most of their best dishes need notice to prepare. It looks like an inverted wedding cake inside the dining area--very roccocco. There's a warmth here that is sincere, and a real obvious concern for diners happiness and satisfaction. The cornbread is delicious and a cup of chicory and hot plate of bread pudding makes a very nice end to to your meal. Pros: Best service anywhere, Delcious desserts, Funky atmosphere! Cons: Not in the best area., Make reservations!, Order in advance! more