Cafe Randevu

I've never been to this place.

I drove by the other day and noticed the name. What is "Randevu"? I know what Rendez-Vous means; but what is "Randevu"? Anyone?

Cafe Randevu opened in my neighborhood recently, so I went one Saturday evening to check it out. There was a small crowd in the place, low music and offerings of food and drink that were decent. It's definitely a loungey/restaurant type of vibe. I had a fruity cocktail and an order of truffle parmesan fries. I love truffle oil! My companion had the bbq chicken sandwich and liked it enough, but said it was like something you would make at home. Definitely not on foodie status!

Many of the patrons and employees were of East African descent. I can tell that the owners have attempted to create an atmosphere, but I think the vibe and scene of the place are still coming together.

There are plenty of nice booths, tables and couches to choose from and several flat screens for the sports fans. There's also a bar in the corner with seating.

I saw a sign that said they have live music on Fridays. That sounds good in theory. I think they should have a karaoke night, but that's just me! Best of luck to them, hopefully this place can become a friendly, neighborhood go-to spot, but we'll see...

p.s. I definitely made an exception to my strong adherence to proper grammar rules by coming to this place. I am still slightly shocked that they spell their name in such a way. C'mon people, the french *proper* spelling for the word "rendezvous" would have done just fine!

My girlfriend & I stumbled upon this place after a great evening at Art Murmur right up the block.

What initially attracted us was the rocksteady reggae sound we could hear from down the street - turned out to be a whiteboy band doing a decent version of the old Desmond Dekker/Alton Ellis type vibe. We sat down & ordered our drinks. Then the band stopped - pretty abruptly, actually.

As the band packed up, the crowd inside started to change a little - the younger, more Berkeley & Emeryville-type folks being replaced by a decidedly more Oakland, local flavor. The vibe stayed nice though, so we stayed.

Soon a DJ had set up where the band had been before & began dropping hit after hit of loud, top 40 hiphop. It fit perfectly, & before we knew it, we were dancing with everybody else - pimp daddies, a girl in a little blue leather outfit, a BBW barely staying contained in her leopard print dress, & just some straight up thugz. It was all good tho - good vibes & laughs & high fives all night.

Head down here after Art Murmur next time & tear up a danceflo' with us. We'll be the pale folks acting like we've been coming there forever, & that's exactly how it felt in there the first time we visited.

Highly recommended.

ps - I can't say anything about the food, tho.

Super friendly & attentive bartender, great drinks (huge martinis!), good bar food. Finally, a local bar with great service & drinks, comfortable seating and a happy hour that ends later than I usually work!!!!!! Yay!
The chef came out to say hi (very friendly and answered all of our questions about the food we were eating) and they even brought us an extra cacchiatore when we accepted the offer of more rice, so nice!!

We ordered the:

HOT WINGS-not over thought, classic hot sauce coating, very fresh celery & ranch dip (I prefer blue cheese but that's ok)

RIBS-absolutely falling-off-the-bone tender and delicious

PARMESAN FRIES-crisp, hot, skinny, :) could have used more parm (did they have truffle? I can't remember....)

CHICKEN CACCHITORE- I don't know why this is on the menu but both the chicken and rice were tasty (and I am picky about chicken)

CHEESE PLATE- very basic cheeses, very generous portions, great for soaking up alcohol, i wish the bread had been warmed though, I bet they would if requested (note: this cheese plate is not for cheese snobs) came with a couple of tasty fruit preserve type things (it was dark, i didn't ask)

BEEF SPRISS- served sizzling tableside, a nice touch and unexpected for bar food, very tasty, could have been spicier so if you like it spicy be sure to say so, comes with flatbread, i think they said it was made there too

CALAMARI- my least favorite because it was a bit overcooked, kind of a small portion, but came with fries so that redeemed it a bit (in a perfect world they will read this and work on that dish, but then I'm an optimist) I would have loved an aioli with the calamari :) hint hint...

RASPBERRY LONG ISLAND with chambord, highly recommended!!!

The bartender also came over and asked if we wanted to watch the Giants game and changed the tv channel for us, go Giants!!

I will be returning for sure, finally a bartender with a good attitude!
And I left my camera on the table and he ran after us to return it!!!! How often does that happen Oakland???

Great place located between downtown oakland and uptown, they have a FULL bar, offer finger foods such as Tacos, Chicken wings etc. not the best quality but it will fill that void of hunger after you've had a few drinks. Drinks are made strong and stiff! bartenders will take direction if you need them to make a drink you prefer but is not on the menu. It's a very small intimate space. The owner and staff are wonderful and extremely pleasant. I think the best night to go is a Friday. Its free most nights but I think they have a cover charge on weekends around $5 to $10. I know they offer Karaoke but have no clue on what days. They usually have a live DJ as well most nights. Off street parking...

We came here because the wait at Mua was too long.

I was a bit dubious to start with because I felt the interior design was a bit misdirected and poor. But the folks I was rollin with wanted food quick and weren't interested in the Ethiopian cuisine across the street (which I happen to know is really good). So, figuring "how bad could it be?" we entered to an overly loud (but good!) live 3-piece band playing and otherwise empty room.

I was further dubious because the menu seemed a bit... schizophrenic. Maybe it was because I was expecting tapas, or maybe it was the mix half-executed Mediterranean menu items with standard American fare, but I knew the moment I glanced at the wrinkled, single-sheet menus that I was in for a poor dining experience.

The fact that every menu item was $10, $11, or $12 (save for the fries, which were $7) gave me a bit of hope ("This overpriced, maybe it'll actually be good!"). Sadly my hopes were dashed when the food arrived. My flank steak was tough and unimaginatively seasoned. My wife's chicken cacciatore was OK, not great, not even really good. Definitely not worth $12. The fries were actually the best part of the meal. They were good. Not worth $7, but maybe $5.

As I screamed over the music to my wife and her friends, making smalltalk instead of eating my food, I found myself wishing we had just stuck it out for the 1+ hour wait at Mua. My best guess is that this place stays in business strictly via overflow from Mua and other surrounding spots that are actually good.

YMMV. Maybe I just went on a bad night?

C'mon, get it together please. I want to like this place so bad but our experience at this place has been a bit frustrating. Who serves a bunch of burgers/sandwiches and doesn't have mustard?? And please refill our water glasses. Oh, and don't forget about us! We are the only table eating and you have 2 waitresses... Get it together! Like I said, I really want to like this place. Oh, and the music is so loud that you can't talk to the folks you come with...

I love this place..it has a cool vibe to it..food is amazing (my fav is the chicken kabobs !!!!) you guys should come and check it out!! Also, the price is just rite for the portions they give you too :)

Went over to Mua on the late after leaving another spot - trying to get food - and were told the kitchen was closed. We decided to try our luck at this little spot right across the road. Turned out that they not only had food (word to the veggie panini and the the cook who brought it out and made sure it was all good) but they were also playing dancehall! Yay! The bar service was good, spot wasn't too crowded but wasn't empty either (it's rather small). There wasn't a cover on this particular night, either, and even security was cool. It was great people watching, good drinks (thanks for having quality rum) and an all around chill and comfortable vibe. Aside from the one or two folks who stumbled in from shattuck downlow '05, there are no complaints here. Mos def a mostly East African massive. I was diggin' it.

Great food. Great service. Nice setting and the sound of the 3pc band was just right (not too loud) for the venue; first time customer who ventured over to Café Randevu following the Art Murmur, and plan to return again.