Thank you finally! Good food. We've been traveling for about two weeks and eating out truly stinks when you're use to cooking meals at home. However, this place was delicious!! We had the truffle pizza, oh my gosh. So good. We also ordered spaghetti. I make my spaghetti from scratch so most places we go to are just not comparable. You can tell this place uses fresh ingredients. Definitely didn't taste like boxed or canned anything. I was impressed! Lastly, we had a kale Caesar salad. Again, 100% delicious. So thank you to this restaurant for finally satisfying our palettes! read more

Amazing mushroom truffle pizza, decent mint lemonade drink, really nice server and clean kitchen... what else to ask from a local pizza place :) read more

I just moved back to the Bay after a brief hiatus to London (happy to be Yelping in the Bay once again) and popped into Summer Kitchen this week for a delish lunch. Staff was helpful and my crispy chicken sandwich was exceptional. My colleagues had the minestrone soup and bacon sandwich respectively which I also tried some of and enjoyed. A little pricier than other options in Elmwood but you can tell it's because of the high quality ingredients they use. Def worth a visit! read more

Cute bake shop. Decent blue bottle brownie (good texture but too sweet for me - hubby loved it), fried chicken was ok - needed more flavor (salt). read more

Huge dissapointment after all the good reviews I read and wrote myself :/ The third time I went, I ordered the usual chicken sandwich togo. The chicken meat tasted so bad like a rubber that I couldn't possibly finish it. But then I thought maybe it was just one in a thousand bad luck kind of thing. Until my friend who paid that day tells me that he got charged 5 times.. which came out as $100 bill on the bank statement (uhhh..?) read more

Our home (kitchen) away from home (kitchen). There is always something good to suit your mood here. It's a casual, friendly place. Great for eat-in or takeout. The stuffs in the deli case are for when you want homey without spending the time and energy to make it yourself. The bake goods and pizza are exceptional! For what it's worth, if it's up to my 3.5 year old we would be eating here every day. read more

Delicious food from a small menu. Definitely worth a return trip. The seating is very limited. The prices are slightly dear. Hoping they get to expand. read more

Takes a while for food to come out but quality is pretty decent. Plenty of salads, pizzas and sandwiches to choose from. There is seating inside but it might be difficult to find a place to sit during their busy times. Their menu changes every once in a while so come check it out! read more

I stopped by for lunch one day. It was pretty crowded inside and so I sat at the counter. They have only one large table that fits about 8 so you have to share the table with strangers and one other 2 person table. The counter fits about 8 i think. The inside is very cute and cozy, reminds me of a farm. They have a lot of pastries and cupcakes available as well as all kinds of flavored fruit sodas like izzys. I ordered the watermelon salad. It was really refreshing and the flavor was perfect. It came with shaved red onion, fresh arugula, basil, and sherry vinaigrette. But the portion is not all that great. It filled me up, but I saw the other summer fresh salad and that was way bigger! It just seemed like the watermelon salad wasn't worth the price if I can get something else that has much more substance. I also fell into the temptation of trying one of their cute cupcakes. I got the chocolate one with cream cheese icing. The chocolate part tasted great and was very moist, but the icing was very off. It was really really weird...I don't know how else to explain it. So I ended up not eating any of the icing which I guess is better for me anyway. The place is cute and ingredients are fresh but I'd rather go to Gregoire. read more

Summer Kitchen +bakeshop - watermelon salad - New American Near Me - Berkeley, California

I've been going here basically since they opened, and every time I love what I get. Their pizzas are all fantastic, their salads are great, I adore their dinners, and of course, the baked goods. My favorites (the menu changes regularly, though): Egg Salad Sandwich--one would think that since it's a basic food, there's little they could do to it, but they really nail it. Perfect creaminess, sprinkled with chives, between tasty bread. Mojito-Lime Soda--simple, not overly sweet, and fresh. Dulce de Leche S'more--soooooo good. It's marshmallow fluff with caramel over a brownie. What's not to like?! Spelt Pasta Dinner--they change around the ingredients on this regularly, but it's a very hearty vegetarian dish each time. I'll be going back as long as I'm in the Bay Area. Easily one of my Berkeley favorites. read more

I would've given them more stars, but 5 is the limit. The burger, the spaghetti, the chicken sandwich and the chicken meal are the best I've ever had. Love it. And their chocolate chip cookies and mocha brownies...This is my all time favorite restaurant. read more

This is a wonderful little lunch spot. Summer Kitchen has a great staff, which is super friendly and helpful. Despite the small size of the dining area, it feels incredibly comfortable and airy inside. The interior makes you feel like you're lunching on Martha's Vineyard, which is clearly the intended effect. Best of all, terrific food! The sandwiches are stellar - light and very tasty. The pizza is really good too, and baked fresh in a wood fired oven in the back. The wine list is short, but phenomenally selected. Great desserts if you are into sweets. I would rate the Summer Kitchen as one of the best casual eateries in Berkeley, and a terrific hang out, especially for families. read more

So I went back to SKBS today because it's a Saturday and I had time to wait for my order. And I'm glad I went because this visit has made me a fan. If you're not in any rush or if you place your order in advance (I noticed a cashier taking phone orders), you'll just fall in love with this place. What convinced me that I need to go back is the carrot cake. My lunch entree -- a chicken fennel sandwich -- was delicious (although the temperature differential between the cold chicken and the grilled bread bothered me a little bit). But the carrot cake was wonderful, reminding me of the carrot cakes I used to make on my own. If you haven't made carrot cake from scratch, it's an incredibly time consuming recipe, requiring lots of ingredients, lots of labor, and lots of patience. Just looking at the Summer Kitchen carrot cake, you can see all the labor in the shredded carrots, white raisins, homemade frosting, and so on. Even better, you can taste the care and attention to detail that went into the making of this cake -- it's almost like being at home! June Update - I'm officially a fan of SKBS. This place is basically the reason I'm never going to be able to fit into the skinny emo jeans at Slash (which I reviewed earlier). But I don't care because the food here is so good. Since my last review, I've had the fried chicken, the salads, more of the sandwiches, and all of the pastries; it's all wonderful -- so wonderful that I think about grabbing a bite to eat there every day. But then I think about my waistline . . . I've even bought a few of their market products and I actually wish they had more of those. I really enjoyed the bagged salad greens; they were so tasty that I pretty much finished the bag in three days. And I wouldn't mind seeing more fresh produce and dairy items (eggs, cheese, and even organic yogurt and milk). I think that this part of College Ave. could use something analogous to Yasai (in Rockridge) but better. Finally, because SKBS is open later than many places on College and because I typically don't leave work until late, it's become a very convenient place for me to purchase a nice meal or provisions on the way home. read more

Meh.... cashier grumpy, pizza not out in 15 minutes so cancelled - refund was obtained. Too many other choices on Elmwood...Ciao!

The new owners have made this cafe even better. They have brightened up the place in many good and artistic ways. All the favorites are still there and consistently perfect; new soups and salads are added with the season. Loved the Harvest Salad. read more

Such a cute little place. The sweets are beautifully displayed and all look so decadent. I was torn between the fried chicken sandwich, a burger, and the pulled pork sandwich. I went with the burger but I plan to try the others in subsequent visits. I almost got a side of potato salad but knew it would just be too much food. Maybe next time as well... read more

Yup, super cute, kind of pricey, and you could probably do a fair amount of it better yourself. But who can argue with an impromptu picnic?! We tried a little lemon poppy seed loaf, which was adorable, tasty, and just a little dry. I wish they had some mini items (such as cupcakes), because a lot of their items looked delicious but cost more than I want to pay. I'd like to stop back in to check out various items - the place is quite intriguing. read more

Sooooooooooooo, I eat here every other day. Everything is delicious, everything no matter what you order!! Ive been eating here every other day for 2 or 3 years now. Peace Love and cupcake frosting. read more

Hey, it's pizza, which can be partially baked for carry-out; and it's good pizza, truly, better than merely average. I'd happily eat the Hobbs pepperoni and the house-made fennel sausage pizzas again, but I wouldn't go out of my way since good pizza is more and more common (everywhere) in the bay area. read more

Great local neighborhood spot, Jason the owner has done a great job since taking over. If you're in Elmwood it's a must visit for lunch or dinner! read more

My somewhat picky eater of a toddler gobbled up 2 whole slices of the pizza margherita and some of the roasted broccoli salad too. They were yummy. So it's a thumbs up for this mama. read more

Ridiculously Expensive Food is nice, clean, fresh, but the prices are just exploitive. I am from here and use to crazy prices, but this one is simply priced too high. Can't recommend. read more

For the location, the prices are what I expected. The food was fine, but it would have been nice to know that my crispy chicken sandwich was assembled from the pile of pre-cooked chicken tenders pulled from a bowl on the counter by the register and not freshly prepared. I'm sorry, I wanted to love it, but it tasted like it was made out of reheated-chicken-tenders-pulled-from-a-stack-in-a-bowl-on-the-counter. It was fine, but wouldn't be something I ordered again. Salad was ok, chocolate loaf cake very ok! read more

Hey, it's a deli, with various salads sold by lb, and sandwiches, and pizza(s). But why can't a $15 dollar sandwich come with a side of greens, I don't know (unless three slices of pickle count as a side). read more

With all recent turbulence in Elmwood, I'm so happy to always see Summer Kitchen always busy and beloved. We love the fried chicken (accompanied by a Kale Caesar), the roast chicken, the pizzas, and the deli case. The quality of service fluctuates, but that's just a problem in the Bay Area, so I can overlook it. read more

I discovered this place as a recommendation from Lulu Lemon Staff, they have good taste!!! This place reminds me of True Food Kitchen... only better!! The Kale Caesar with Crispy butter milk chicken is crazy, even though there is no table service per se, you can still get a decent glass of wine or a beer!!! Excellent!! If other YELPERS have less than 4 stars for this place than they either work for the competition or have a grudge!! read more

I love this place. All the food is great but their bacon sandwich is especially amazing.

When you are pregnant you can get extra picky, to put it mildly. The tasty food at Summer Kitchen & Bake Shop almost always has something in my mood, a great help during my first trimester. The salads and fresh chicken dishes are delicious. Unfortunately, the service is so abrupt and haughty that I haven't been back in quite a while. I dislike a place where the counter servers try to make you feel like you don't belong there or that they have a million better things to be doing with folks who have $1000 purses or something. Even though I think highly of the food, the experience makes me not want to come back to this neighborhood spot. read more

I got the crispy chicken caraway and my boyfriend got the diestel turkey sandwich, and we split a yukon gold potato pizza. The chicken in the crispy chicken sandwich was delicious, but I would have liked more slaw and more tang to compliment the fried chicken. Compared to Bakesale Betty's, this fried chicken sandwich is definitely smaller with less of a kick, but still worth a try. The house made pickles in it and on the side were really good though. The diestel turkey sandwich was really tasty. The onion-cranberry marmalade was a perfect compliment to the turkey and we noted how it reminded us of a better version of thanksgiving dinner with turkey and cranberry sauce. The pizza was a really good mix of flavor with a light and fluffy thin crust. I really feel you can't go wrong with a soft cooked egg on a pizza as well. The pizza is very comparable to cheeseboard's potato pizza, but with the flavors a little more muted yet elegant. Don't expect as much potato on Summer Kitchens. I would give this place 3 and a half stars if we didn't decide to get the dessert. We got the carrot cake which was delicious and moist! While I was talking to the cashier, they had samples of the chocolate marble cake. Let me tell you, I don't really like cake in the scheme of all the desserts out there, but I have never been able to find a cake better than a place in New York called Amy's Bakery. This is the closest thing I have found to that cake. It's a MUST try. You feel like you probably consumed a lot of butter while eating it, but it's worth it. You're already eating cake anyways right? All in all, 3 and a half stars for the food, but 4 stars for the amazing desserts and fact that they try and use local, organic and sustainable food products which is always a plus! read more

One of the best pizzas I've had in the East Bay. This is in comparison to some of the other great pizzas I've had at, e.g., Gioia's, Bobby G's, Addies, Pizzaiolo, Cheeseboard, and Arizmendis. It's a quaint cafe type shop on College, but it houses a wood fired burning oven, and they've worked out a dough formula that I found to be a good balance between crunchy and chewy. Thin crust but no soggy, droopy slices here. I had their pepperoni pizza, and I look forward to going back and trying the other offerings. I also shared a summer salad with my friend and that was excellent as well. It had chicken pieces in it, and they were tender and juicy with great flavor. The red onions were grilled which tamed the onion bite, and gave it a nice sweet flavor. The greens were dressed just right, and there were some french lentils in the mix which added a nice texture to the salad. Finally, I had one of their Valhrona Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes for desert. Holy cow, it was sooooo good!!! Not too sweet, and it was moist, decadent, yummmmmy-ness. There was also a nice cherry jam filing in the center that was surprisingly perfect (I don't normally like filled cupcakes). I really look forward to going back to this place! read more

A terrific place to get a snack if the very little seating is unoccupied. I say snack because, even with a small stomach like mine, a sandwich wasn't filling. It certainly didn't do the trick for the boyfriend, so he scoffed a bit at the price for something so light. Perhaps a meatier selection would have worked for him. Either way, our food was definitely exquisite for the few moments it lasted. read more

The food has quality ingredients but the prices are higher than expected, and the staff aren't the friendliest bunch.

I got food poisoning from the crispy chicken sandwich here. How do I know it was summer kitchen, because my friend got food poisoning too. We met there for lunch, then parted ways. I asked him later on in the week how the food treated him, and he said that he'd gotten food poisoning...that's when I knew. He also said that he'd gotten sick after the last time he'd eaten there, but wasn't sure if it was their food or not. Diners beware! read more

I loved this cute little deli/cafe/bakery! Really delicious desserts and sandwiches. The tuna sandwich was divine as was the marble cake. If I lived nearby it would be a problem. Sadly (luckily?) I live in Seattle. Nice little space to eat - I felt like I was back in New England in the summer. Cute!! And delicious!!! read more

One of my new favorite places. Some of the reviews complain about the price, but I really think the entrees are a good value. The spaghetti and meatballs is enough for two and their salads are exceptionally generous. I like the atmosphere and if the service is a little "not there," I see it as training--they're young and they'll get over themselves, soon. I figure it's our (the customer's) job to smile and be friendly and polite and hopefully, they'll catch-on. All-in-all a great place for lunch or dinner. read more

Good solid food. Lovely interior. You order at the counter and they will bring you food. You have to get your utensils and clean after meal yourself. I don't like there is a line for tip when you sign your credit card receipt. It makes me feel that staff think they are entitled for tip. They don't ask for tip at Panera Bread and they clean for you after you eat. They probably need money more than staff here. Do I tip for service or ambience? read more

Summer Kitchen +bakeshop - New American Near Me - Berkeley, California

Can't say I tried the food yet but it looks good. I placed an order for a pizza and asked for a substitution. The cashier did not mention they were not able to accommodate the substitution (not a big deal just a preference). One of the chefs yelled very loudly who rung up the mushroom pizza? I can't make it without leeks. It was so loud that at one point the group sitting at the high top counter stopped and looked at me. The cashier looked nervous and frazzled. I looked at the chef and stated that it was ok. His response was, it's ok? So do you still want your pizza or what. I stated yes, I would still like my pizza thank you. Although he was rude and abrasive the food does look and smell very good and everyone has bad days right. read more

This place one of the best chicken sandwiches I tasted in the bay. I tried the organic pasta with meatballs tonight and that's fantastic except you need like three people to finish it. I give it three stars because the service in the evening is not that great maybe cuz there busy but Every night! During the early day it's cool read more

The food is normally spectacular. Unfortunately with the change of New Year's it seems to of lost 3 stars. I'm giving two stars based on passed good experience. 1) I ordered the "King Salmon". I've ordered it twice previously and it was delicious. This time the serving was half the size. I ordered two, one for myself and one for someone else. When I opened the box I was literally shocked at the serving size. I thought there must be a mistake. The two current servings previously equalled one old serving size. The King salmon is the most expensive item on the menu ($20) and they gave me a serving size that I wouldn't pay $10 for. 2) Had the serving size just been small I would of given at least 3 stars. However the salmon was completely dry, the rice tasted bland and the other ingredients just felt tossed on. If you want to charge $20 for a puny 300 calorie dish, it better be out of this world. I don't mind paying $20 a plate, but it better be big or good and this was neither. So I won't be coming back here for some time and I certainly won't be gambling on the King Salmon if I do. I'll order something less expensive and more consistent. Hopefully this place will turn around as it's a nice option between cheap places (Gordos) and more expensive sit down places on college ave. But had I been a first time customer I'd of given a 1-star and never come back. read more

I had such high expectations for this darling place on College in Elmwood. Looked like a summer breeze from the outside. Whitewashed furniture, white everywhere, fresh, interesting menu...we were psyched. Until we got our food. I had the salad with roast chicken and what a big yucko. Obviously used last night's roast chicken, and forgot to take off the yucky, stringy, hanging, cartilage parts. it was soooo unappetizing. Almost took it back but i was too grossed out to stay. Had a little pile of cartilage and flabby skin on the side of my plate at the end... The sauvignon blanc was very good and my friend's tuna salad sandwich was excellent. Just don't make me eat a recycled salad. read more