Popped in there last night for an kind of impromptu date night, and was thoroughly impressed. Great food, great service, and really great prices -- especially for the Bay Area! I love finding little gems like this -- we'll be back for sure, and they'll be on my short list for delivery app options as well. read more

Gosh this place is tired. I love the concept and we know we need more sophisticated casual small plates and a glass of wine places to hang out but.... Service: The service is too fast. Yes, too fast. They ask you what you want a minute after sitting down, the appetizer came before our drink, the main before we had three bites of our appetizer and they started to clear while we were eating. No pacing! The waiter tried too hard to upsell us and, though polite, just had no polish. Second time I have had him. Food: Salsa was flat - zero spice. The carne asada tacos were fine. Only one tortilla and that doesn't work with street taco style when the meat spills over. That feels chintzy for the price. The guacamole and chips looked like it came pre-portioned out of the fridge in a mold. Needed salt. Ambience: A little tired, could be a little cleaner. I really wanted it to be better. Seems like things have slid so far from back in the day. We go to the movies at the Piedmont Theater and so want to have a place for a small bite after a film but this place is coasting. read more

It's taco Tuesday! It was Happy Hour. I had a Margarita del Jefe which was okay. I enjoyed the 2 Pollo al Pastor tacos......quality. For dessert Tres Leche which was thumbs up. Service was great. I ate at the bar. Happy hour is a good time to go. I was satisfied with the food they have. read more

See all

Just a quick stop for a first time visit, for me and The Wife. Because Blondie wasn't with us, we didn't have to go to Fenton's. We only had a few small items, but the execution was very good, and everything was very tasty. It was a Saturday night, and we received excellent attention. We had chips with guac and a smoky salsa, rice and beans (vegetarian), and an heirloom tomato sandwich, which I promised not to finish, but since my drink took a while to emerge, I had time. The Wife also had flautas, which also had quac. There was queso sprinkled over much of this, very nice. My drink was a Diablita (Mezcal, Tequila Reposado, Lime, Averna, Mint, Jalapeño Tincture). We'll definitely go back, because it doesn't matter how hungry you are. That's why tapas are great! read more

See all

Had a great meal here with friends. Lively atmosphere with a big bar and street windows for people watching. Service is very good- possibly too attentive at times. We ordered the artichokes, bravo potatoes, Brussel sprouts to share and then myself and 2 friends had different tacos. My well traveled foodie semi snobby friend () said the Brussel sprouts were the best he's had- some kind of spicy bacon and lemony flavor going on- Artichokes were perfect. That can be tricky as they can be too soft or too aldente' and they came with a mayo ailoi. Fish tacos were heaping with colorful veggies and peppers and friend said fish was delicate and cooked well. I recommend this place- food came out a little too fast but the chips and guacamole were super fresh ( housemade chips which I appreciate) and I would come back. read more

Recently visited for Oakland Resturaunt Week and their amazing 3 course prix fixe menu for $45! Started off with a delicious and sweet cocktail called the Saturno. My first course was the Guacamole, which was light tasting with a hint of spice. The second course was sautéed prawns in the garlic butter sauce served with toasted baguettes. The third course was a flavorful birria plate of Mexican rice, beans and homemade tortillas with some salsa. Everything was colorfully presented but the birria was tender and warm, so my favorite course for sure! Our server Miguel was kind and attentive for our first time! He explained each part of our meal thoroughly and offered smooth Tequila to top off the Friday night! Definitely recommend for an intimate dinner with friends or a date night! read more

See all

We are regulars at Bar Cesar. It's always friendly, with a local neighborhood feel, staff are always friendly and attentive. Games are on screen sometimes which adds some excitement. The drinks are tasty and the food consistent. We love their chicken enchiladas, street corn, tempura fish tacos, and don't forget to try the churros or tiramisu!! read more

Bar Cesar - Street corn is so yummy they started eating before I could snap a pic! - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

Great Mexican style food nice bar the chicken enchiladas is fantastic as well as the flautas the chicken el pastor tacos is fine

Pleasant food and ambience, good coffee and excellent service on an entertaining shopping street. ¿Que más?

Consistently good food (when they don't run out of ingredients- this place is popular) and friendly service. Cocktails are delicious! Parking out back makes it a really convenient place for a meal and people watching. read more

The tacos were pretty good - I had shrimp and fish HOWEVER if you're not there for happy hour I would consider them overpriced. Come for happy hour only. Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of the sangria, by partner thought the passion fruit cocktail was good but I wasn't a fan. The service was really nice and attentive. The restaurant itself is a tad dirty - the windows open up which is nice but it did let a lot of flies in. The bathroom was also very dark and a bit dirty/run down. I would still come back for happy hour tacos which I would give 4.5/5 but overall restaurant and not happy hour 3/5 read more

We have been coming here with friends for a couple of times now and we consistently have a great experience. We enjoy sitting at the bar, the staff is super friendly, the food is very tasty and the cocktails are great. read more

Bar Cesar - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

This review is all about updating the happy hour pricing images. ;) Happy hour food costs have doubled since my last visit. (No judgement! Food costs are up everywhere. ) Great food. Love the environment, staff and location too! read more

Bar Cesar - Happy hour prices! June 5, 2024 - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

See all

Cute ambiance and fast service. The carne asada and fish tacos are really good. 10/10 cocktails

The bar was a very nice place to catch up with my friend! Although bustling, it was not too loud, and there was a lot of available bar seating. The service was nice as the bartender helped us decide what shots to take and what drinks were the most popular. I enjoyed the Paloma a lot! It was crisp, refreshing and light. I would definitely order it again. read more

Bar Cesar - Paloma - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

See all

We just love this place. Can't believe I haven't updated my review. The crispy shrimp tacos are my favorite but I've never had a bad thing here. The host (wish I knew his name) is so fantastic. I mentioned that I wished they had tequila flights and he put one together for me. Off menu. On the fly. Amazing. Love the vibe of the place and there's a parking lot. So if you love the sport of finding parking in Oakland, you'll be disappointed but for us, it's a plus. We happen to live down the street from Bar Cesar and the luxury of being there in two minutes is amazing. read more

Reliably delicious food and drinks at reasonable prices. Great place to catch a game or check out the neighborhood vibe as a lot of folks at the bar are regulars. So grateful the owner has managed to keep this place, it's the heart of our neighborhood. read more

Very average food and prices keep increasing, odd because they don't pay rent, the guy owns the building. Male bartenders are nice, one lady has worked there for years and can be moody, not my fault lady. Anyway yeah, it's no longer for me. You see the same people constantly, mostly a neighborhood watering hole IMO! read more

Ambience is good. Enthusiastic waiter, genuinely friendly. Good service. Grilled artichokes decent. Caesar salad tasted peppery. The romaine was good, but the salad was lacking, traditional Caesar salad flavor. Croutons were nice and crispy, but pretty blah. Chips and ceviche were very good. The Virgin Mojito was fantastic. read more

This is my neighborhood spot for happy hour w/ discounted margaritas and great tacos The other honorable mentions are their lamb chops, carnitas racion, enchiladas and flautas. They are back open for brunch on weekends 10-3. My fav's so far carnitas hash and chorizo Benedict. Great bartenders and staff! read more

Bar Cesar - Chorizo Benedict - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

See all

Fun atmosphere, great artichoke and lamb chops, fairly easy parking. Don't get the churros.

I'm from the bay and have lived in Oakland (maxwell park) for a couple years now. We come to Piedmont all the time and finally decided to check this place out on a Friday night. It looks like fun always when we walk by. Well, the ambiance was a little chic and fun, however the food was not very good. We tried the calamari and the street corn. The calamari tasted as if the shrimps were pre frozen and thawed. There wasn't much kick to it at all. Needed more salt and lime and spices. The street corn was literally corn with a lightly flavored mayo it seemed. Could've made it at home easily. The tacos were not very good either. I got salmon tacos. Weird mayo on there. Something just tasted weird/off. The service was adequate. We usually love to chit chat but were feeling like we wanted to chill that night so didn't chat up the server much. Our food was timely, she checked in. All was good. Just nothing crazy good or different to where we'd ever want to come back. read more

Good vibe and service, but food wasn't great. Potatoes Bravos were drenched in sauce, beet salad drenched in dressing. My husband enjoyed the tacos with housemade corn tortilla. read more

Came here looking for fresh oysters. Price is a bit steep for the quality - they were decently shucked (some of the juices were spilling out) and the vinaigrette was yummy. That said, not somewhere I'd revisit. Calamari portion was meek and came out cold, definitely not an adult serving. Fries were alright but quite oily and the street corn should be relabeled. It was simply corn (possibly canned?), floating in a creamy butter of sorts, with the slightest sprinkle of seasoning. Service was slow, but the wait staff is polite so definitely not a personal thing. Ambiance is cute, ok spot to drink and drag. read more

Bar Cesar - Calamari, Mexican Street Corn, Oysters (2), Herb Garden Fries - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

I hadn't been here for years and decided to take my partner. It was so disappointing. They seated us at a table with a nice view of the cute street however the wall next to our table was filthy. It looked like a crime scene tbh. We were starving so we ordered anyway. The service was ok. We got the following: -Cesar Caesar salad: given it's their namesake I had high hopes. It was under dressed. The dressing tasted weird. It just was not good. -Passion fruit soda: it was rancid. -Fries: they were good but they brought them when we were ready for the check. -Calamari: it was ok, but not that crispy. -Oysters: were not fresh but the mignonette sauce was one of the best I have ever had. -Vegetarian tacos: these were our fave but they were so hot I burned my mouth. Flavors were great and they packed a lot of great veggies in it. -Shrimp ceviche: it lacked flavor, really didn't taste like anything but watered down lime. The mango wasn't ripe. read more

Used to go frequently when I worked closer to the area. Love this place that have delicious and authentic Spanish tapas (yes I lived there, so I can confirm). Wonderful cocktails and great ambiance. I love this location but the North Berkeley one is where i frequented more often. It's smaller but has a fun community feel, like in Spain. The bocadillas with sardine and/or anchovies and crème fraîche?? are delectable read more

This place is phenomenal every time we come here with our friends everything is amazing the cocktail the food the service. read more

Bar Cesar - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

Relaxed vibe and great service. Baja crispy shrimp tacos, birria/carne asada plates are excellent!

This is a tough one. Everything started off nice with being seated quickly and the drinks coming right away. But then it took about an hour for our food to arrive and the server came by and said they forgot to place the order. So then they gave us another round of drinks (on the house). When the food finally it arrived it was delicious. The shrimp ceviche was on point. Fresh, incredibly flavorful and worth the price. The carnitas tacos might have been my favorite. Cooked very well, the tortillas didn't fall apart and garnished perfectly w/ pickled carrots, onions, peppers and radishes. Lastly the chicken enchiladas were the perfect entree. A little tangy salsa verde kept fresh w/ lettuce and pickled peppers on the side. In the end they compt all of our drinks. I do want to point out our server was super nice and apologetic. I get it, stuff happens. I feel like it's really a 4 star rating but have to give this one time experience a three on the wait/mess up. read more

Bar Cesar - Chicken Enchiladas - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

Bar Cesar is so good! I've tried just about everything on their menu.it's all good. The drinks don't miss my favorite is their margaritas or Palomas.:They also do a hot toddy that perfect for cold weather or if you're feeling under weather! Date night, day with the girls or mom date this place is just the vibe Oakland needs. Thank you bar Cesar! read more

We love Cesar!! This is one of our favorite places to eat and have a nice drink because both the food and drinks are always consistent. The carnitas are probably my personal fav followed by the corn, but honestly everything is good. I would say everything is seasoned well and almost home made, including the salsas. The service is also always kind, helpful and prompt. The vibe is always chill, with good music and some type of sports on Tv. Perfect ! read more

The ambiance of this restaurant is top tier def a nice place to go for good food and a classy feel. Def a nice place for a date! read more

Bar Cesar - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

Terrific service but really uninspired and lazy food, also meh cocktails. Should be one star but that feels mean. I don't typically write negative reviews but it's been a minute since I've been out with a group and we all found each dish and drink really poor. We couldn't wait to leave. For example, our caesar had four romaine heart chunks that were pretty substantially sized, like the bottom of the head that everyone throws in the compost. Similarly, the ceviche and asada plate had large chunks of onion and scallion including the white center heart of an old red onion that's started to sprout. Like this food shouldn't be going out and the fact each dish had it makes you wonder if corners are being cut for extending produce needs or if the kitchen is completely checked out. But even then, wouldn't a manager or server take a look en route and make sure it wasn't served? Maybe people will come regardless and they know it but I won't be back any time soon. read more

Happy hour was perfect today. Lemon drop, Paloma and these were some of the best oysters I've had in a while. Got the street corn (could have came w tortilla chips), crab cakes, and the flautas I could have gotten more! So good. Great service too! read more

Bar Cesar - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

my new go to. I really enjoy coming here with friends and my boyfriend! It's an easy spot for us to go to with a good vibe and good food. read more

Bar Cesar - Margarita Classico - Tapas Bars Near Me - Oakland, California

I would call this popular Piedmont Ave spot an overpriced Spanish/American restaurant. The prices are pretty high and the food is good but not good enough for the prices. Probably because rent is so high on Piedmont Ave. Watermelon salad- this was one of my favorite dishes. The sweet watermelon, light tangy dressing, and greens were a refreshing mix and a perfect starter. Guac and chips- good but not enough chips. Oysters - sweet but small. Shrimp and duck tacos- tasty but two tacos were $14-$15! That's exorbitant for taco prices. Sundae with chocolate and vanilla - standard, nothing special I think it's best to dine here during happy hour to get more bang for your buck. Food is decent but paying full price makes you feel almost cheated. read more

See all

Excellent food. Fantastic drinks. Friendly staff. Happy hour is a great value. Run, don't walk!

Excellent cocktails, and small plates for the happy hour. Love the Brooklyn and the Diablita and the bar. Miguel is a fantastic bar tender and goes out of his way to create amazing cocktails. The tacos are delightful and you can't miss the Fingerling Patatas Bravas. That staff is always welcoming and friendly. read more

Wow! Such an amazing experience every time we are here! We love to sit at the bar. The happy hour is great! Miguel, the head bartender has crafted so many amazing cocktails. The tacos are fantastic, especially the carne asada! read more

The server was top notch, the huervos rancheros were awful. I tried to complain about it on their site and was cut off. Nothing Mexican about it, they bury the eggs between two corn tortillas so you have no idea what the huervos look like. Worst I've ever had. If you go here for Sunday Brunch don't get it. read more