TOAST Kitchen & Bar

It felt just like eating at a wonderful outdoor cafe in perfect weather with fabulous fresh food. Kind of like being in Oakland. Or Berkley. Great salad, wonderful pasta, but desert really hit the spot. Menu changes daily, but fantastic both times I've been.

I love the pork shoulder. And the delicious kale ceaser salad! Definitely 5 stars.

Toast is positively delightful. Everything I've had there has been fantastic, but the stand-outs have to be the cocktails and the entrees.

The menu is smart and well put together, and offers the standard brasserie-type faire. Everything has always been well prepared and super tasty. I've had the all-day braise a few times and it's always delectable, falling off the bone, amazing meat served with good accompaniments.

The bar is also great, with talented bartenders and an array of medium-to-top-shelf liquor. They're also a wine bar, so they have a great selection of desirable wines to taste.

Always a table available. Nice cocktails. Did is fine, if bit special. Great terrace.

Upscale vegan restaurant. The decor is modern chic. The food is delicious, but the portion sizes are pretty small. The price is also a little on the high side. I would recommend getting a reservation. The wait can be very long.

The food is delicious and in a way, it kind of lulls you to sleep.

great cocktails, good service, good food. nothing exceptional about this place but a very solid place for dinner.

Great brunch experience overall! The menu looks like it's expanded for brunch and they have a great patio that is dog friendly. I had a nice light arugula salad and breakfast potatoes and my friends had the frittata and the egg sandwich . Both looked delicious!

Favorite brunch place so far in Oakland and Crossroads is right across the street!

Great place for a date, though not sure if I would come back. Came with a couple of girlfriends for drinks and a light meal with reservations. Not sure why we still ended up waiting 20 mins for our table, but the drinks, appetizers, and small plates were good. The place and staff seemed a bit rushed, maybe because the place was crowded, but service could have been better. Might be a nice place to grab lunch and drinks in the summertime since they have a nice patio area.

Had a great lunch during the week (sun bathed terrace). Then great early dinner on saturday night. Staff is quite nice, and food inventive yet delicious

Toast could be, and should be, such a better restaurant than it is. It does a great job of branding itself -- nice website, nice looking menus, nice interior decor. Need I also say that they have an amazing patio space on the corner of Chabot and College -- prime Rockridge restaurant real Estate.

However, none of that stuff matters when you cook bad food. And not to be harsh, but their food just is not good. I have been multiple times and ordered a healthy cross section of the menu, and nothing has stood out as even, necessarily enjoyable. It is branded as a Cali-Southern restaurant, which is a slap in the face to two very established schools of cooking.

About the only thing that Toast has going for it is the patio space. If only Barclays could move into Toast's spot, then the whole neighborhood could rejoice. And for goodness sake, get some draft beer on the menu. It's laughable that all you serve is bottled beer.

Get the chicken. Seriously. Top five restaurant chicken dishes. Smoky and moist and spectacular. I know you don't order chicken out. I don't either. No one does. Just get it.

The food is great, and the service is good. I wish there were more choices available for the brunch.

The service was slow, and the food was meh. The restaurant automatically charges a 15% tip on every table. I'm totally fine with this, but I wonder if the slow service was due to a lack of incentive. They seemed to be working hard, and busy, but it was restaurant week so you'd think the owner would know to bulk up the staff. Maybe someone called in sick.You never know.

Pros: Decor was nice. Food tasted fresh. Menu had decent variety. Servers seemed friendly.

Cons: I did the tasting menu they had for restaurant week for $30. The antipasti was an apple/kale salad with olive oil/lemon dressing. Very bland and uninspiring. No other choice.
My entree choice was between the roasted winter squash (vegetarian) salad and clam spaghetti.
I also got to choose between a white and red wine.



They were out of the lamb sugo so my bf got the sausages instead.
I asked for the clam spaghetti. 5min later she came back to say they were out of the clam spaghetti. I didn't want the vegetarian option so I asked if I could choose the chicken from the dinner menu. She said she would have to check. She came back 5min later and said they do actually have the clam spaghetti.

When our food finally arrived, it was tasty, but bland and easy to make. We were charged the $30 for the tasting menu + $9 for the glass of wine which should have been included in the $30. The waitress apologized all night for how slow everything was, and for this as well. She said she must have been doing that all night (unfortunate to hear).

Overall, I would not recommend this restaurant.

Every time we come here we have a great experience. The location is great, the outdoor space is inspiring, and the food is delicious. The portion sizes are just perfect and the service is always above par. I'd recommend this place except I don't want it to get too crowded :)

Nice to place to eat outside especially considering they have heat lamps, provide blankets on request and the best part... dogs are welcome. The food is good, sometimes even great but it is pricey. Also, the service is noticeably better than most places.

Get ready to open your wallet. Not only is the food unbelievably expensive, but they also add extra gratuity on top of the tip that you're expected to pay. I'm never coming back.

Charming place. Great patio and interior. Really like the blend of upscale food and casual atmosphere. Kid friendly. I like to go for lunch when the food is still great but the prices are more reasonable.

Interesting take on breakfast here. Very tasty. I'd describe it as traditional with a twist.

TOAST has perhaps the best atmosphere of any restaurant in the East Bay. Bold statement? Yes. But it's just that lovely. The inside of the restaurant is like something out of Architectural Digest, the patio has the softest blankets and heating lamps for a chilly night, and the bar just looks so classy and cool. (Note: apparently they've just opened a new bar area following a remodel, and I can't wait to check out what they've done with the place.)

The food is delicious, although some of the portions are at times a bit skimpy, in my opinion. The strongest dishes in my opinion are the desserts, particularly the chocolate cake. Cocktails are delicious, and of course the wine selection is fantastic.

Great college ave restaurant bar. Indoor outdoor seating! Good people watching and cocktails.