Excellent food, service, and ambiance. Literally, everything we tried was delicious and I am kind of disappointed that I haven't been there before. All good though, because I now know how good Mama's is and will definitely become a regular. read more

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I had an amazing time here! It's been a while since I've had Italian food, let alone eat at an upscale Italian restaurant. My gf's surprised me for an early birthday dinner and I did not leave disappointed. The menu is a seasonal, three-course prix fixe dinner with two options for $36.95 per person, which I think is an incredible value for the high-quality food you're getting. Ambience: 10/10 - Upon entering the restaurant on a cold, rainy night, the ambience indoors is elegant, warm, and charming. It felt very welcoming! Service: 10/10 - Our servers really took care of us. Friendly, attentive, and made me feel special for my early birthday without having to sing out loud to everybody haha. What we ordered: - House-made foccacia bread [add-on $6]: What's better than fresh warm bread served before your meal? As a whore for carbs, the foccacia was divine! It was airy, seasoned with the perfect amount of salt, and paired nicely with the tomato (butter spread, I believe). - Winter Chicory Salad: Really fresh and balanced. It was a great light appetizer to begin. Comes with arugula, sliced pear, date vinaigrette topped with a nice textural component of chicken skin, puffed farro crumble, and pumpkins seeds. - Saffron Risotto: *Ladies and gentlemen... her.* The star dish of the night!!! The rice was cooked perfectly - firmness to the bite, but not underdone. The lemon gremolata was a such a nice touch and added the perfect amount of brightness to the salty, rich bite of the rock shrimp and creaminess of the risotto. Just the overall dish was cohesive and well executed. - MAMA's Beef & Pork Meatballs [add-on $10]: Hearty, herbaceous, and moist. The tomato sauce was delicious! No complaints. - Ice Cream Sandwich: Peppermint bark gelato sandwiched between a warm, chewy chocolate chip cookie. I didn't taste much of the marshmallow, wasn't sure if it was a layer in the sandwich. But didn't mind that too much. It's a simple dessert, but in a good way! Overall, I had an incredible experience at MAMA and would definitely come back for a special occasion to celebrate. Shoutout to my girls for bringing me here! read more

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I want to say the customer service is outstanding, very cozy inside. Definitely a date night type of place. The food is good. Very portion out. It's up on the higher side on the price but it's pretty amazing. read more

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I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally go to Mama's!! We went for my brothers gfs birthday and it was a blast. First of all, I love me a pre-fixed menu. Second, they change it every 6 days or so, so there's always a reason to come back. I really enjoyed the options we had, the sunchoke soup was delicious, loved the raviolo and their spin on tiramisu was divine!! The tiramisu was my favorite for sure and so glad they put their own twist to it vs a traditional. We also got their meatballs and their focaccia, such great add ons! I was pretty full after the meal which is always a plus. Definitely will be back! read more

Michelin meal at an affordable price? Done. Homemade pasta? Check. 3 courses? Perfect. Mama is a cozy Italian spot close to Lake Merritt in Oakland that offers great service, solid wine list, and a simple menu that can accommodate a range of sauce and flavor preferences. The restaurant is simple and clean in decor and aesthetic. As a bonus if you can't get a table - hop over to Bay Grape nearby to order a meatball sub to be delivered there while you taste wine! Can only get the sub at Bay Grape and it's divine, and still supports Mama. read more

Food: good but not great. It was pretty average. Honestly for the price, a slightly bigger portion could have been beneficial for client retention. I understand the vision here, but this is not your fine dining restaurant, nor experience, so a more friendly staff and slighter bigger portion would have been great! Customer service: from the beginning my experience was kind of off. When I called to make the reservation, the person who answered the phone asked me for my card information, didn't explain why. btw my reservation was for a table of 3 people, usually they will ask for a card when it's a bigger party. When I asked why she asked for my card, the woman said that in case that we didn't show they would charge 30 dollars per person on the reservation. I just thanked her for the information but honestly that added stress to my experience. Then, when we actually came in today for dinner, I informed the hostess that my brother was most likely going to join, so she said ok but please to let her know he arrives because the server likes to put the order in all together which I understand but I think she forgot that it's all about our experience, not the servers experience. Then, I informed the hostess after speaking to my brother on the phone, that he wasn't going to eat, he was just going to join us, (I mentioned that due to her comment about the server wanting to put in all the food together) and she responded by saying "ok no worries, ILL ALLOW IT" .... Excuse me? That was weird. Then she followed by saying he can at least have a glass of wine. Not that this matters but my brother doesn't drink alcohol, which btw he ordered a non alcoholic beer from the server and he brought him one that was not 100% non alcoholic. I think the server should be more careful as some people would appreciate to know when the beer is not 100% non alcoholic, that way they can make their decision. There are people who are allergic to alcohol, and the server should be more careful, aware and knowledgeable. Additionally they charged a 20% tip on my tab. Again, table of 3. Usually restaurants charge the tip when the table is 6 or more people. I usually leave 25% because I used to work in the industry and because my brother is a chef, but this server cut his tip short on his own. Ambience: the restaurant itself, does not align with the price tag. Although, cute and somewhat homie, it is very small, not too much character. Probably not coming back and I know the restaurant doesn't care bla bla, but if a customer reads this and it's helpful that's all I care about. I think that we have done a GREAT job normalizing tipping and tipping well. LETS NORMALIZE GOOD SERVICE TOO. read more

Mama - Italian Near Me - Oakland, California

Came here for my friends birthday dinner. Everything was so delicious! I don't want to speak too much on the menu because it changes every few weeks but the butternut squash risotto and grilled octopus we had were truly some of the best food I've ever had! The main entree was their famous lasagna, but a deconstructed version. The sauce was delicious and the pasta was cooked perfectly. The service was amazing. They had a nice wine selection as well. A must try spot if you're in Oakland! read more

Decided to try Mama after seeing a few recommendations for this place. We came in on a Wednesday evening at 6pm with reservations for 5 indoors. It filled up quickly both inside and outside. There's not too many tables, so probably good idea to try to get a reservation. The food was good! The service was also amazing. Everyone was super nice and our water cups were never empty. You get to choose 3 items from a set menu, and the price was decent. The flavors of everything were good, but maybe I came in with high expectations due to being on the Michelin guide and wasn't completely blown away. Everyone had a good time and enjoyed their meal. Overall the value and food were great. read more

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Came here for our valentines dinner. The menu is pre fixe only. 3 courses for $36.99 is unheard of! We did opt in to add the focaccia bread and the meatballs. We got one of each item on the pre fixe and every dish was amazing. The ambience was cozy and intimate - perfect for a date night. Highly recommend. read more

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My dining companion and I agreed that our meal on Saturday night was the best we've had in years in the Bay Area. Our criteria for "best restaurants in memory" was that a dish served changed the way we thought about an ingredient or style forever - and that happened here. The sweet corn soup with bay shrimp (part of a menu ending 9/20) was a total game changer, followed closely by the cannelloni with the thinnest, most delightful pasta possible - oh my. My companion doesn't even usually like soup and he said he could eat it every day of his life and be happy! I replied I'd be happy to have the early girl tomato salad and cannelloni as a generous combo (OK, and the to-die-for focaccia, too) forever. Excepting the meatballs (which we will try next time), we ordered the whole menu. There were no duds, but definitely the first two courses were the highlights. The two entree add ons were delicious, and very different from each other, but were each slightly more out of balance: Local cod fritto misto could have had some more salt and acid, but the okra easily qualified as an aforementioned ingredient defining experience; the pork tenderloin was slightly over-sweet with the amount of fig jam provided, and needed more of the savory creamed corn to offset it. The desserts were lovely and well balanced against each other - one markedly more sweet than the other. Both delicious. This restaurant would be life affirming enjoyed solo, but really shines if you can share the experience with more than one person so there is someone to hear you say "wow". Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the awesome host (who offered complimentary champagne because we had to wait an extra 10 minutes for our reserved table - no big deal) and our server (who was so kind and friendly, with zero pretension). Thank you for such a pleasurable, reasonably priced, delightful experience. I hope MAMA sticks around for years to come. read more

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One of the best food experiences in a while! This restaurant and its pricings got me wanting to try out more pre fixe menus in the bay! I ordered Pappardelle & Mama's SugoTomato Braised Beef & Pork Sauce, Parmesan, Basil, the Apple Custard TartNutmeg Crème Fraîche, Spiced Pecans, Chamomile Honey, and the first course was Shaved Brussels Sprout SaladSmoked Chicken, Shaved Apples, Cacio e Pepe Dressing! The flavors were so refreshing and I have nothing to complain about the food at all. Even tho the pre fixe menu is priced at under $40, it did end up being $70 pp with the wine corkage fee, taxes, tip and 20% service charge. Parking around the restaurant is mostly safe and street parking was not that bad to find after 7pm. We did get a reservation before hand. The staff is amazing and the ambience is warm and inviting. The place isn't too loud. I can't recommend this place enough! It changes its menu weekly but I am sure they make everything with love and effort! I give it a solid 4.5 stars read more

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What can I say about this place? Great affordable 3 course meal! But for us, we still want more. We couldn't resist adding the focaccia, meatballs and branzino. Of course we also saved room for dessert! Everything was delicious, and the service was friendly. I would recommend to friends, but maybe don't order as much as we did. Haha, our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs. read more

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Haven't had Italian food for a while, this place has 3 course meals for you to choose from(only 2 choices) Me and coworker shared all the dishes, they were all pretty bomb, the artichokes are really good, highly recommend that Really nice place for a chill after work meal read more

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Three-course prix fixe menu is a great way to spend a cold, Monday night. I grabbed dinner with my friend yesterday and was impressed with the potato & leek soup, paccheri, and chocolate brownie torta. I would have never thought to try this place, but happened to see they were open on Mondays. Glad I did! read more

Mama - Paccheri & Mama's sugo - Italian Near Me - Oakland, California

Came for my birthday and was excited but was completely let down! The food was ok but nothing spectacular. Each course took a long time to come out, the whole meal took almost 3 hours and we kept asking for the check. Unsure who my waiter was because it kept changing without notice. I used to love this place, but the service and food were both off. The dessert was nasty. I was embarrassed I invited guests here to celebrate, and they weren't treated well. Would NOT recommend this place anymore. read more

We tried Mama Oakland for the first time last night. Everything about the evening was perfect. We were seated at the chef's table and could watch all the action in the kitchen. The wait staff were attentive and kind. The food was absolutely delicious and the wine recommendations were amazing! The honey soaked brioche in the panna cotta reminded me of Korean Yakgwa that my mother used to make! Brought me home! read more

Top notch food and served on a Monday which is unusual for good East Bay restaurants! Decent service to boot. read more

Mama - Celery soup to die for! - Italian Near Me - Oakland, California

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I brought my mom here for a late mothers day.Our server seemed like she didn't want to be there :( When I would ask for options for things or dare I ask her to repeat herself and she seemed sooooo irritated like I asked her a million times =/ I know everyone has bad days but it was unfortunate. Our soup was also cold when it arrived, we let 3 people know and no one offered us a new soup or to take it off the bill. It would have been a nice experience but considering the menu is 3 courses and the first was cold with the poor service on top of that, I personally question if I'd be back. Besides this though, the main course and desert was really tasty and different from things I've tried before but overall my experience here wasn't the best and I'm sure others had a better one as other servers seemed more pleasant! read more

Mama is a great place to go for a yummy Italian prefix meal. I've been at least 3 times now as one of the top restaurants in the east bay. read more

Mama - Italian Near Me - Oakland, California

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Wonderful service, food was excellent & the wine Negroni was surprisingly delicious! Highly recommended!!!

First off... $35 for a 3-meal prix fixe? Where else are you going to find something like that in the Bay Area? That's the price of a single dish these days! Amazing deal aside, the food here is delicious, unique and consistent. We've been here twice so far, and every time has been perfect. Additionally we had just gotten back from NYC where we had tried some of the "best" Italian food NYC had to offer, and this place was above and beyond any of those spots. And on top of it, the service was wonderful and our server was kind, knowledgeable and fun. You know how these days the servers give you that attitude like, you're lucky to be here? Not at Mama! They have that old school style where they actually provide... good service. Anyway, don't sleep on this place! Perfect for a date night or if you just want really high quality and delicious Italian food. Go! read more

Whole experience was blah! Restaurant was freezing cold with cold air blowing in every time the door opened, which was every two minutes. Had to leave our jackets on the entire meal as did the other diners. Food was good/ish, but definitely salty and only lukewarm. Portions are too small. I was still hungry after my meal. They accommodate pescatarian/vegetarian requests, but then the meals have zero protein...adding to the "still hungry" problem. Service and ambiance were just average and definitely didn't match the bill price. Please don't leave my bill on the table 30 seconds after I get my dessert. I understand you want to turn the table, but that makes me feel rushed and is poor service. We won't be coming back. read more

MAMA Oakland never disappoints! The space is small, intimate and dimly lit. Lots of date night couples here. Would not recommend for parties larger than 4 and definitely not for kids! Treat yourself to a night away from the kiddos to enjoy the excellent wine list and hearty Italian food. Though the flavors were homey, the presentation was elegant and elevated. Taking mamas home cooking to the next level! Get the add ons. The focaccia was to die for with the pear jam and butter spread. The meatballs were juicy and not at all dry. We loved every bite, but the carrot soup and sugo were my faves. Not a bland bite in this place. Everything was just bursting with flavor and umami! Sit inside, get a bottle of wine and enjoy. Would come back here again and again. read more

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Delicious authentic Italian food. Highly recommend for a special date night. Down-to-earth ambience and great service. All around great experience. read more

OMG. This was a total fluke that we landed here for a recent dinner. We didn't have a reservation and the host at first turned us away, but then chased us down the street because they, indeed, had an open table. Our mouths watered at the prix fixe menu and we lustily enjoyed it ALL!!! Best bargain of our Bay Area visit! read more

I really liked the food and thought it was a good price, $40 fixed menu for 3 courses with optional add ons. However, they include a 20% service fee and 4% healthy living mandate and a 12.47% sales tax (even though Oakland's is closer to 10???) so works out to be $55 with no add ons. I always hate when places add on mandatory fees. I'd rather them just be upfront with their prices, I think it's kind of shady bc people often miss that part. read more

Always a delight. I love this place it is so inventive and delectable. I will come again and again and will be bringing friends. Thank you for such a lovely meal. read more

Mama - Italian Near Me - Oakland, California

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Mama is a lovely neighborhood-y restaurant with a fun concept (similar to Trestle in SF for those who have been). For $40 a head, you get to select a starter, a pasta and a dessert from among 2 options for each course. You also have the opportunity to add on other items, such as bread, meatballs and an additional protein course. I dined with a friend who's a vegetarian and Mama easily customized their dishes to accommodate her. The food was delicious across the board. My only gripe is that the menu description for my first course - a salad - did not list peppers as an ingredient. Yet the dish had huuuge chunks of sweet peppers on top (i.e., it was not an insignificant ingredient). I. Hate. Peppers. Thankfully I noticed the peppers on another diner's salad right after I had placed my order and was able to ask the server to omit them. Crisis averted. read more

Delicious pasta, great wine selection and service!! Server was well prepared for wine recommendations - we did the prix fixe menu and it was all delicious - value was well worth it! Sitting outside was ok but disrupted by cruising motorcycles going up and down the street - def recommend eating inside. read more

Great food and service at a price that would be 3x if it were in NYC or LA. Their menu is seasonal, but they seem to keep some favorites from month to month, namely the risotto. They've got a great selection of wine, beer and non-alcs, too read more

We had a reservation at 8:15 and arrived a bit early, just before 8:00. We did not get seated until 9:00 despite seeing multiple tables open and being promised that we were the next ones to be seated. The host was ignorant and absolutely a nightmare, asking our name over and over again every time we checked back with him. How hard is it to pay a little more attention to your customers and remember who they are? He also seated multiple parties that arrived after us, and I know most of them had reservations around 8:15 as well. What kind of a restaurant is this if they can't even work out their reservation system? And oh, don't forget about them charging you $70 for changing your reservation time if an earlier spot opens up. Maybe they know customers get upset to things like this and that's why they include 20% service fee and 4% health fee in the bill. Food quality is overall good, but some dishes were a bit salty. Our waitresses were nice and attentive, nothing to complain about. read more

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The dinner was fine and nice, but the entree portions are SMALL, water is charged, and even bread is not free. There are SO many hidden fees undisclosed to the customer until after the card is taken. Waiters are scarcely seen and avoid looking at you once the checks is dropped because they know how scummy this practice is. I received my bill for around $130, paid it, and was given a receipt back for over $175. They automatically charge a 20% gratuity, 10% healthy living fee, and tax the gratuity as well. The $40 meal price is a SCAM since you are charged for every other little thing. Never coming back and they should be ashamed for not disclosing fees upfront. read more

This is the place that we've been looking for in Oakland. It's definitely my favorite restaurant here. This is a great place for a celebration with delicious food and attentive servers! The menu changes every two weeks on Tuesday so check the website for the menu. I started with a crisp prosecco. I appreciate that they can do many of the dishes as vegetarian so I could enjoy the savory corn soup and a mushroom pasta. The olive oil cake and decaf French press were good, but I would get the chocolate tart. They even can do kids pasta or focaccia without rosemary and olive oil (which I might do even without kids). read more

Made reservations to come here for dinner on Saturday evening. Beautiful decor with a very warm and cozy vibe. Service was attentive and well-paced; we got our next course served a few minutes after finishing the previous one. It's a three course pre-fixed menu at a reasonable price with the option to add on additional dishes. My friend and I both started off with the butternut squash soup, which was heartwarming with a nice kick of cinnamon. Next was the mushroom carbonara, which was full of flavor, had nice bits of crunchy pancetta, and a runny egg yolk. Only thing I didn't like was the raw thinly sliced mushrooms. We added the optional seared dayboat scallops with butternut squash, which were perfectly cooked with a brown butter sauce. We ended trying both desserts: Meyer lemon tart and Nutella bombolino. Tart wasn't really for me but my friend really liked it and the bombolino was good but a tad bit sweet. For the price, quality of food, level of service, and ambiance of the restaurant, I highly recommend Mama Oakland if you're looking for an enjoyable experience with delicious food! read more

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Restaurant was COLD ... we had to put outdoor jackets on - as did most other patrons. I went to my car to get an additional jacket so that I can be somewhat comfortable .. but my feet were still cold ... can't they afford to turn on the heat? If you are not comfortable the meal experience is ruined. To add insult to injury the food was very SALTY. Horrible experience. Finally - the bill not only had automatic 20% service charge they added another x% for employee benefits ... Why aren't they paying their employees a living wage from the expensive meals.... read more

Food was delicious- I had a broccolini and artichoke salad, mushroom risotto and finished with chocolate bread pudding. Portions were perfectly sized for a three course meal and the price point is so fair! Also have a great, non-boring wine list and extremely friendly service. Dining room is pretty small, so make a reservation if possible. read more

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My friend from Rome always complains about how sorry the Italian food in the US is. So I asked him where he goes for Italian while living here. He said Mama. My wife and I travelled all the way from Napa Valley to Oakland to this small, narrow restaurant. We sat at the Chef's table and we immediately felt like we were in the presence of family. Warm and appropriate hospitality. The food was perfect. The prices were more than fair (mine you that we got ALL the upgrades and additions to the fixed menu). In a world in need of friendliness and true hospitality, Mama delivered the essence of this philosophy Bravo, Mama. Continue doing what you're doing. You are incredibly important for this industry. read more

Mama - If there's fried chicken on the menu, order it. If you're at Mama's order it twice and take the left overs home - Italian Near Me - Oakland, California

Great food, great service. When in Oakland, this place is a must! Be sure to make a reservation as the restaurant is smaller and fills up fast. read more

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After seeing the cover story on SF Chronicle's Food + Wine about Mama Oakland's prix-fixe Italian menu, I bookmarked it for a visit. The restaurant is a partnership with Stevie Stacionis and Josiah Baldivino and Ryan Cole of Trestle, the Vault and Corridor. I made reservations for a recent dinner at 5:45pm and found street parking on the same block. It's a quaint restaurant with about 12 tables with a couple outside. For inside dining, there is a vaccination verification at the door. The menu, which we saw online, changes weekly on Wednesday. The three-course menu has two choices for the starter, pasta main and dessert with add on options of house made herb focaccia, MAMA's pork and beef meatballs and entrée options of short rib pot roast and roasted prawns. So that we could sample both course options, we each mixed our choices. Starters Italian Pepper Bisque - The soup bowl with pieces of shrimp, croutons, tarragon and crème fraiche was brought to the table where the waiter poured the bisque. Delicious bisque that was not overly rich in taste. Little Gem Salad - green bean, sieved egg, focaccia olive crumble, radish and potato in a shallot vinaigrette. Refreshing shallot with different textures with the various ingredients. Pastas Mama's Sugo and Risotto - the risotto was topped with tomato braised beef and pork, saffron and parmesan. Flavorful but rich. Truffled Ricotta Cannelloni - on top of butternut squash sauce, the cannelloni's were topped with shaved porcini, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms and parmesan. Light tasting dish. Added Mama's Meatballs - three large pan-fried meatballs in a light marinara topped with tarragon and parmesan. The beef and pork meatballs were moist and tasty. Dessert Griddled Panettone - with a poached pear, the panettone was topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with a caramel sauce. A fancy delicious dessert. Tiramisu - a bowl of rum-soaked ladyfinger topped with mascarpone dusted with cocoa powder. A delicious classic Italian dessert. We were fans of the old Trestle in SF and see this menu concept similar to it. Since the menu changes weekly, I suggest checking online to see if the week's offerings interest you. But the $35 prix-fixe is a great deal for the quality of food and the satisfaction you'll get from the meal. Friendly service too! read more

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I discovered this restaurant on the michelin guide and was intrigued by the 3 course, 2 option menu for a decent price. We came for my birthday dinner, and there was 5 of us so we got to taste everything. The wine list is huge and we loved reading the descriptions. we sat outside in the little parklet that was built- not the best construction and there was a lot of little gnats. unfortunately there was an event happening down the road so a lot of loud cars and motorcycles going by caused some noise. but the food! the focaccia had a nice crust, the ricotta gnudi were so fluffy and delicious, the friend chicken had a perfect amount of heat, and my favorite was the chocolate budino dessert! this place would be perfect for a couple, so you could each get the different options, with a larger group it's a lot of food since each person has to get the 3 courses. I'll have to keep an eye on the changing menu to come back! read more

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