A16

09/03/09

over rated

by bacchusbf at Citysearch

We ate here once and probably won't come back. We shared a tuna reserva and a salad and both lacked seasoning and imagination. Eating numerous time at Pizzaiolo in Oakland and then trying this place was like night night and day. The pizza was ho-hum and having to endure loud marina doosh bags was about as much as we could handle. The service was efficient but chilly and we were treated with watching the pizza cook slurp soda in front of us the entire time out of a deli cup then proceed to make our food. Strike one, two three yer gone.

• Pros: very open and comfortable
• Cons: food and service mediocre at best

03/04/09

bad review

by CSMobileUser2 at Citysearch

hostess with terrible attitude. Manager unresponsive and wimpy. Wait time too long. Pizza is soggy. I've seen a total deterioration in service and quality over the past year. Save your wait and money for a better restaurant.

07/09/08

Bad Experience

by Pianolady at Citysearch

Ok, but overrated food. Lamb wasn't as tender as it should be. Atmosphere isn't as good as it used to be.

• Pros: Service
• Cons: Atmosphere

06/30/08

86 A16

by VicRomano at Citysearch

I can think of many more suitable names for this over-hyped dog. The food was average. I had the Duroc Pork and a pizza to share as a starter. The pizza was ok, but the Pork was ridiculously average. I am not sure where on the pig its Duroc is, but if its between it's hind legs I believe it. I found the wait staff to be pleasant and hospitable, which is more than I can say for the owners who were arrogant and rude. With experiences like these it will only be a matter of time before I will be picking up my dry cleaning or renting movies at the location that was A16.

• Pros: I didn't get the squirts
• Cons: Arogant Owners

06/30/08

Atmosphere Poor - Lamb Tough - The Emperor Has No Clothes!

by GoodFoodJunkie at Citysearch

Not impressed by this restaurant at all. Many better restaurants to choose from in the City. The lamb was tough and we had a very poorly prepared cheese/meat appetizer plate. The worst part is the management/owernship of the restaurant. Apparently you are not allowed to enjoy yourself while eating. We had the misfortune of sitting next to the owner. He kept staring us down everytime we made a joke at our table or had the temerity to laugh. We found out later in the evening that he's the owner of the restaurant. Hope you enjoy your snooty restaurant. By the way, our waitress was wonderful. I fee sorry that she has to work for such a control freak.

• Pros: Waitress
• Cons: Atmosphere - Food

05/10/07

A Nightmare! Over rated! A Customer Service Travesty! Worst staff ever! Go to New York and eat at Franny's instead!

by clementine10 at Citysearch

This was our worst dining experience ever! We had a reservation and we still had to wait an hour for a table on a Sunday night without any apology from the staff. The bar was a meat market. People without reservations were seated before us. People who were seated after us were waited on first. The wait staff were zombie-like, and were rude and inattentive. It was so loud we couldn't carry on a conversation. We had to yell out our orders. It was unbearably hot. We waited and waited for our food and we almost walked out! People who ordered after us got their food first. Again, no apologies. How did this restaurant merit a feature article in Food & Wine? They must know someone on staff. I won't trust Food & Wine again. By the time the food finally arrived, we were miserable. We couldn't enjoy anything in that atmosphere. We cancelled our plans to order a bottle of wine just to get out of there quickly. All I remember is really wanting to leave and that the pizza was good, but not as good as Franny's in Brooklyn. At FRANNY'S, the pizza is always excellent and the staff is gracious, knowledgable, professional, and attentive. My advice to the chefs at A16 - LEAVE, open your own place and instead hiring of robotic zombies, programmed to fawn over botoxed Paris Hilton look alikes, hire a new a staff of warm human beings, who are truly knowledgeable and care about the food and the wine that they're serving. Hire a staff that knows how to make all of your customers happy, not just a select few. Look at all the negative reviews on this site, People hate A16! The Lindgrens, the owners who were featured in Food & Wine in April have clearly made more people miserable than happy. They should be ashamed.

• Pros: None
• Cons: A nightmare dining experience.

04/22/07

Worst service. They made us wait over 45 to be seated for a reservation. Rude hostess.

by acampo77 at Citysearch

Rude hostesses. We had our reservation for over 2 months and they completely jerked us around for over 45 minutes.

• Pros: Good location
• Cons: Makes you wait forever to be seated with a reservation.

03/12/07

Do yourself a favor... avoid A16

by sujack at Citysearch

I'll admit that I'd read the customer reviews--most of them negative--before deciding to eschew their advice and give A16 a try. My husband and I had walked by the place a few times, and the atmosphere looked so inviting, that we figured the reviews were just exaggerations, or maybe just the ventings of a few disgruntled customers who had unusually poor service. Boy, was that a mistake!

It's no joke that you'll probably have a hard time getting a table there, something that in retrospect really amazes me. But if you do manage to get seated, make sure you're ready to spend a lot of money. I can't imagine in what universe this place would be considered "reasonably-priced", but definitely not in the universe I live in! There was hardly a single affordable bottle of wine listed, at least for my husband I who have somewhat of a budget. The food was likewise expensive. While we sucked it up and enjoyed the wine we ordered, I can't say the same for the food. Honestly, it seemed like everything was cooked in a microwave, and overcooked at that! It was painful at the end of the evening to hand over a credit card... what exactly were we paying all that money for?

Needless to say, we'll be avoiding A16 from here on out. I suggest you do the same.

• Pros: Ambience is decent, decent wine if you can afford it
• Cons: Very high-priced, poor quality food

03/07/07

A complete waste of money

by frankhoff at Citysearch

My wife and I visited A16 a year and a half ago and enjoyed ourselves then. So we decided recently for a special occasion to revisit. What we experienced this time made us feel that we were not only in a different restaurant, but a different planet. The service this time around was very robotic and unfriendly. The menu had completely changed; not only were there relatively few choices--particularly if you're not in the mood for pizza--but prices had definitely gone up. And speaking of prices, the wine list was also overpriced. The restaurant does offer the option of 375 milliliter carafes, but at prices that generally match those of full bottles at most other restaurants.

I settled on the quail which, at $20, was one of the less expensive entrees on the menu. The portions that ultimately arrived were tiny, as well as bland and chewy. My wife ordered the pasta with clams, and spent the entire meal spitting out pieces of shells; she finally gave up. We left soon after, still hungry, very disappointed, and much lighter in the wallet. There are too many good restaurants in the city--and on Chestnut Street, for that matter--to ever consider going back to A16 again.

• Cons: Ridiculously high prices, disappointing food, unfriendly service

02/23/07

VERY Overrated

by susannab at Citysearch

We couldn't wait to try this "recommended" retaurant. The Burrato appetizer was specifically mentioned in a travel magazine and being that I am of Southern Italian descent, I was excited to scope it out before bringing my dad and other friends. I called to inquire about the wait time at 7:45pm on a Thursday night and was told it was about 20 min. but would probably be less by the time we got there. We arrived at the crowded restaurant at 8:20 pm, and were told the wait was 30-35 min. After 30 min. one of the hostesses said it would be about 10 more minutes, fine. Another couple came in after us and ate at the bar and left while we were still waiting for a table. At 9:00 the other hostess said it would be about 15 more minutes, we were already invested at this point. After a 65 min. wait we were seated at a high bar table next to the "bathroom. Waitress was great, service was prompt and attentive. The other guests were all trying to out yell each other. I wish I knew sign language to talk to my husband, luckily we can kind of read lips. The appetizers were decent, burrato not worth the 65 min. wait. Prociutto tasting was good, but 2 types for $14? Hardly a "tasting. My husband's orrechiette was so undercooked it was crunchy. My gnocchi, while light and fluffy, were totally devoid of taste as was the broth they were served in. The meatballs that accompanied them were the texture won-ton filling with out any flavor whatsoever. We should have sent the orrechiette back but are typically skeptical of eating food prepared by an offended cook. Should have stopped there, but ordered the gelato of the house as the rest of the desert menu was interesting but not appetizing. Wow, so bad, not creamy. The bittersweet chocolate flavor was o.k. but the texture was chunky and icy, not what I would consider gelato.

My family is from Calabria, we go back often and we know Southern Italian food. The menu was authentic, the taste was not. Very disappointed.

• Pros: Extensive wine menu, great olive oil, good service
• Cons: Bland food, long wait, very loud, hard to park,