The Best Downtown Oakland Restaurants and Dining

Oakland is a booming city located across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco. It’s alive with companies, professionals, and families who call it home. Also, it’s a short drive to exciting destinations like Silicon Valley, Wine Country, and Redwood Regional Park.

The luxurious apartments at 17th and Broadway in downtown Oakland offer easy access to the area's top dining options. With over 40 nearby restaurants within a 10-block radius, there's no shortage of delicious food to try. Here are some of the best, along with reasons why they're loved by locals and visitors alike.

Lion Dance Café

Just a short two-minute walk from 17th and Broadway lies Lion Dance Café, a fully vegan Oakland restaurant founded in 2020 by CY Chia and Shane Stanbridge, the duo behind the popular food pop-up S+M Vegan. Blending Teochew Singaporean family recipes with Chinese American diaspora and Eurasian and Cali-Italian sensibilities, their menu is always changing based on available ingredients. Yelpers rave about the laksa noodle soup, sesame bread, Mushroom Goreng, sesame noodles, and A.S.S cookies. Lion Dance Café aims to bring comfort and good luck to their customers, and locals agree that it's one of the best restaurants in Oakland.

Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen

Just a mere 400 feet from the 17th and Broadway luxury apartments, you’ll find Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen. According to their website, this Oakland restaurant “pairs classic Jewish recipes with the best Californian ingredients to make delicious deli fare that would make their bubbies proud.” Wise Sons creates nearly everything in-house with freshly sourced ingredients, their pastrami and corned beef are made with hormone and antibiotic-free beef and their beef brisket is brined in a proprietary blend of spices. According to Yelpers, their must-try dishes include their tasty breakfast sandwiches, as well as their crispy latkes, peppery pastrami, fluffy matzo balls, and airy cinnamon babka.

The front window of Wise Sons Jewish Deli during the day just outside the shop.

Pho 84

Founded in 1984, Pho 84 touts itself as the oldest Vietnamese restaurant in Oakland. Located a two-minute walk from 17th and Broadway, they’re a great place to grab takeout or to meet for a group lunch or dinner (if you call ahead). Customers say they’re one of the best restaurants in Oakland because of their large portions, yummy egg rolls and spring rolls, and delicious Vietnamese soups. Fans of this Oakland restaurant and beer/wine bar rave on Yelp about their Vermicelli Noodle Salad Bowls which are served with chopped lettuce, beansprouts, cucumber, pickled carrots, and daikon with warm rice noodles over fish sauce and your choice of beef, chicken, pork, or grilled prawns.

Sushi Villa

Just a two-minute walk from 17th and Broadway, Sushi Villa offers delicious downtown Oakland dining and takeout. Sushi Villa is well-known for their high-quality ingredients, reasonable prices, and friendly staff who are ready to answer any questions you have about the menu. Patrons on Yelp say this is one of the best restaurants in Oakland for lunch or dinner because of their large portions of tasty sushi, buttery miso soup, and build-your-own poke bowls that are chock full of ingredients.

Señor Sisig

Located just a three-minute walk from 17th and Broadway on Webster Street, Señor Sisig started as a food truck in 2010 by friends Evan Kidera and Gil Payumo. They offer Mexican fusion cuisine with their take on sisig, a traditional Filipino dish made from pork head and snout. Payumo uses pork shoulder instead, and infuses the meat with a spicy marinade for 24 hours before grilling and chopping. Señor Sisig has expanded to four trucks and three physical locations in the Bay Area, and Yelpers rave about their perfectly-spiced sisig-filled burritos and tacos, as well as their delicious vegan options.

Molcajete Cocina Mexicana

A four-minute walk from 17th and Broadway on Webster Street, Molcajete Cocina Mexicana is one of the best Mexican restaurants in downtown Oakland. Established in 2012 by Manuel Torres and his family, this Oakland restaurant serves authentic and traditional Mexican food. Fans on Yelp describe Molcajete as a delicious hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant with an intimate atmosphere. They say that Molcajete is one of the best restaurants in Oakland for their tasty chips and guacamole, as well as delicious, filling shrimp and carne asada burritos, and dishes that skillfully integrate classic Mexican ingredients like mole sauce and nopales. The restaurant also offers outdoor seating — a heated patio that accommodates groups and is warm on chilly nights.

The bar at Molcajete features murals in the style of Dia de los Muertos with people drinking at a bar.

Duende

On 19th Street in downtown Oakland, Duende offers authentic Spanish cuisine that blends traditional and contemporary influences. They use local, sustainable ingredients sourced from farmers and ranchers, so their menu changes daily. Their small plates of Tapas and Pintxos, intermediate selections of Raciones, and pans of Paella and Fideua are designed to be shared with family and friends. Their communal seating encourages socializing and making new friends. Yelpers rave about their cozy atmosphere and delicious tapas like patatas bravas and Buñuelos De Tres Quesos.

Parlour

One of the Italian restaurants in downtown Oakland, Parlour was started in 2015 by Linda Bradford, Travis Dutton, and Patrick Lynch, the partners behind Bar 355, a bar also in the Bay Area. Only a four-minute walk from 17th and Broadway, Parlour’s Italian-influenced cuisine offers a seasonal, ingredient-driven menu that draws produce from Northern California farmers. Their beautiful wood-fired oven is the centerpiece of their open kitchen, and their bar offers a wide array of cocktails, spirits, wine, and beer. Patrons say on Yelp that their relaxed atmosphere makes Parlour one of the best restaurants in Oakland, and they recommend tasty appetizers like their Brussels sprouts and arancini. This Oakland restaurant’s wood-fired pizzas like their Margherita and Allium, Allium, Allium are also extremely popular.

Mountain Mike’s Pizza

Mountain Mike’s Pizza restaurant is a chain established in 1978 in Palo Alto, CA. They started as a single pizza restaurant with a casual, family-friendly atmosphere, and since then they’ve grown to include more than 250 locations across the Bay Area, and throughout California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Idaho. Their location in downtown Oakland, only a five-minute walk from 17th and Broadway, represents the values that have made them so popular: the freshest and finest ingredients, friendly service, and of course, their signature crispy, curly pepperoni. According to their website, “Mountain Mike’s does not compromise on quality or value, and still makes the best pizza in the West!” Yelpers generally agree that the service at this location is friendly, and when anyone doesn’t have the best experience, the manager seems quick to comment on their review and tries to make things right.

Happy Donuts

Happy Donuts is a popular coffee shop just two minutes away from 17th and Broadway, known for its fresh, delicious donuts and friendly staff. Customers on Yelp love the eclectic artwork and affordable prices. Their menu features a wide variety of donuts including classic glazed, maple glazed, crumb donut, glazed twist, cream-filled chocolate, and chocolate old-fashioned. Yelpers agree that any choice is a good one, and some also enjoy their breakfast sandwiches, but others suggest sticking to coffee and donuts.

ITANI Ramen

Kyle Itani first brought his passion for Japanese cuisine and culture to Oakland in 2012, when he opened Hopscotch, a diner serving classic American dishes with a Japanese twist. With his downtown Oakland restaurant ITANI Ramen, chef Itani offers his own izakaya, an informal Japanese bar that serves drinks and snacks. Focusing on traditional Japanese flavors, ITANI Ramen serves small bites, donburi bowls, cocktails, and ramen. The restaurant, which is a two-minute walk from 17th and Broadway, provides food that is meant to be affordable, served quickly, and satisfying. Reviews on Yelp say this is one of the best restaurants in Oakland for their friendly service and their tasty cocktails, crispy gyoza, and slurp-able miso pork ramen.

Xolo Taqueria

Another one of the well-known Mexican restaurants in downtown Oakland, Xolo Taqueria, is just a three-minute walk from 17th and Broadway. This brightly decorated hole-in-the-wall restaurant serves fresh meat, seafood, and vegetarian tacos in a variety of delicious flavors like mushroom, beef, fish, chicken, and shrimp. The old-school taqueria has a lowkey walk-up counter service where you can order off the board, grab a number and take a seat to wait for your food. They also have ample outdoor seating in front and in back on a terrace, as well as a spacious backroom with a picnic table that’s perfect for groups. One Yelper went for lunch in a group of eight people and left satisfied by the fast, friendly service and generously portioned tacos.

Falafel Boy

Falafel Boy is an authentic Mediterranean restaurant serving 100% clean and tasty cuisine based on recipes perfected over generations. Their hormone-free Halal protein and locally-sourced produce and spices are served in eco-friendly containers. Only a four-minute walk from 17th and Broadway, they offer specialty wraps, salad bowls, rice bowls, kebabs, and desserts. Yelpers rave about their hummus, baba ganoush, grilled halloumi cheese plate, and grilled shrimp. They offer limited seating inside but are a great option for takeout.

Golden Lotus

Established in 1996, Golden Lotus specializes in crafting vegan Vietnamese and Chinese fusion. A six-minute walk from 17th and Broadway, they offer flavorful organic tofu and imitation meat, fish, and shrimp, and provide a wide selection of vegan desserts. Their food contains fresh, non-GMO, and organic ingredients since they strive to only serve their customers the highest quality foods. Yelpers say Golden Lotus offers delicious vegan food, and amazing service, and it makes a great spot for lunch. They recommend their spring rolls, sweet and sour soy chicken, and yellow curry vermicelli.

Living at 17th and Broadway

If you live at 17th and Broadway luxury apartments, you’ll be less than a mile from the best downtown Oakland restaurants and dining. You’ll have access to everything this bustling area has to offer, which includes the best downtown Oakland shopping. If you want to know more about what it’s like to live at 17th and Broadway, learn about the neighborhood, and the building's amenities, or schedule a tour of the apartments.

Luxury Pool at 17th and Broadway in Oakland, CA.