Mono Restaurant
Category: Restaurants [Edit]
247 4th St(between Alice St & Jackson St)
Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 834-0260
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
177 reviews
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
"Shalimar. The mere mention of the word makes my old roommates and my mouths water. Having gone to school in Berkeley and being weaned on…" read more »
24 Reviews for Mono Restaurant
BF and I stopped in for a snack on the way to the airport. We sat at the bar since all the tables had been reserved, but it was nice people-watching.
We ordered the artichoke, the hamachi crudo and the asparagus -- all were really tasty. I especially liked the asparagus with the fried egg and parmesan on top. The portions are not huge. Wine pour was pretty generous though.
Mono is modern and trendy -- it fits in nicely amongst all cool buildings in the area. Cool spot for a casual but still trying to impress date -- maybe date number 2 or 3?
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Lunch review:
Great Seared Ahi Tuna sandwich (focaccia bread) -- the Ahi tuna was cooked perfect and seasoned very well and the focaccia bread was toasted which was a plus. I worked just a block away and when you first stepped into Mono you tend to forget Cuckoos Nest ever existed. Mono's interior is very modern -- with a clean and streamline kitchen and bar.
My co workers ordered the grilled cheese sandwich (which i heard is the best sandwich in the menu) and a shot of tomato soup. i thought it was very creative that you actually get soup in a shot glass. Then they also ordered desserts which looked SOO good. OMG. The Warm Chocolate Brownie Cake was SOO good. The prices are kinda overpriced ($11 for Ahi Tuna sandwich) but you get what you pay for -- great customer service and delicious food.
Please note, Mono is all about small plates and wine, if you dont like small portions then this place is not for you. But i have to say the lunch portions is perfect because the sandwiches doest leave you feeling overstuff.
I stopped in today for lunch, sat at the bar, and enjoyed a seared ahi sandwich as well as a sangria. The salad that came with the sandwich was a little salty and the sangria was a little too sweet for my taste but in general it was a satisfying lunch. I ended with one shot of espresso. I might like to try this place again for dinner instead.
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Mono is a beautiful space and for a neighbourhood going vertical there are few options. I sometimes want something other than counter of fast food. Mono replaces Cuckoos Nest which was passable was not a place that will be missed---the painfully long waits and non-changing menu begged for a new operation.
Mono is a simple, comfortable and very up-to-date interior; a forward and ever present kitchen and brought together in the black and white design. What is not black and white is their food offering. Lunch is mainly a sandwich or salad--their Ahi Tuna is fresh and delightful and their Meyer lemon Aioli makes itself known but very quietly. Order the Sangria--packed with elegantly cut fruit and floating oxidant fruit like blueberries. The plating and even service was well chosen and notable. My lunch guest and I ordered a latte to finish our meal and it was in a large class cup--it was beautiful and nice to have something to really enjoy and feel like the same request would have been a very small format cup. Eloisa (the co-owner with her husband Todd Wilson) is always present and gracious. I will update this review for my dinner experience to come.
Got a Daily Candy email about Mono so a few friends and I decided to check this place out for lunch. We walk in and were greeted and seated right away. (Don't know how long that is going to last, as I predict word about Mono will spread quickly.) I had the roast beef sandwich with side salad- it was delish. ($9 - hell you just can't beat that!) My friends all ordered the gourmet grilled cheese sandwich that comes with tomato soup and a salad- they all raved about it. Great service, hip urban decor and reasonably priced you can't go wrong with Mono, welcome to the neighborhood. I'll be back soon.
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My highest marks go to any dish with meat or fish on it. I have tried most (Lamb, Short Ribs, Scallops, Prawns, Salumi) and all of it above excellent.
The service is so professional, and they are all learning to work together on busy nights, but their cautious and conservative efforts will definately be rewarded in the long run as they begin getting booked up (they aren't even officially grand-open yet but very full every dinner-night!!
My one area of constructive criticism is that the salads could use a little more TLC, the presentation is really pretty gorgeous but the veggies were all a little tiny bit hard/crunchy and the dressings were average if not a bit too tangy, it didn't feel like the same "magic" had gone into them. The best one by far; however is the Beet salad.
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Mono is an absolutely wonderful addition to the neighborhood.
I've had lunch there a couple of times since they opened. The grilled cheese sandwich manages to be both homey and intriguing, and the roast beef sandwich may well be the best example that I've ever encountered.
Their dinner menu is also most excellent. I've had my eye on the meyer lemon risotto since the menu first appeared in the window, and it did not disappoint. Neither did the prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, the artichokes, or the fascinating panna cotta with rhubarb.
The decor manages to be both elegant and welcoming, the staff is friendly and helpful, and the owners really care about their customers.
An opening night quote from one of the building's residents: "I'll never cook again!" I think she's exaggerating, but I'm very happy to welcome Mono in the neighborhood.
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This Restaurant is the SHIT! I stumbled across it while working in the Jack London area on a consulting tip, and ended up thoroughly enjoying myself! The place is hip, fresh, and full of simple yet creative ideas. The design aesthetic of the restaurant is clean and the service is on-time and friendly. And the FOOD!! My Goodness! It is so nice to have such amazing food in this up and coming neighborhood! I highly, highly recommend this place. I cant wait to go back for the dinner menu and wine list. A++ !!!
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Very Cool atmosphere, great food, great staff, will definatley be going back to this place, nice to have city food in oaktown...
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I only ran in for some take out and was very impressed with the service and the food. Everyone working there was friendly and helpful. The decor is way better than the prior occupant (Cuckoo's Nest). Very upscale and hip. When the weather warms up, it will have a great outside patio area. The menu consists of small plate dishes. I ordered a spicy and flavorful shrimp appetizer that was served on crostini and some mashed potatoes. It was quite yummy. Looks like a good wine list. I cant wait for them to open for dinner and weekend brunch!
We finally have a restaurant for grown folks in the New Jack West.
Check it its Fab!
This is a fun place to eat outside. But you might want to come early. There are a limited amount of outside tables. There is a big chef table near the outside patio, but if you want to enjoy the cool breeze next to a heater while the sun goes down over Oakland, get there as soon as you can as the outside gets filled up pretty quickly. The food is wonderful. Fresh Ahi Tuna. Great wine list to pair with the food. Great Restaurant!
Service 5 stars
Food 4 stars
Ambiance/Decor/Comfort 4 stars
I went there on a Saturday night at 7:30 with no reservations. No table available, but we were given seats at the bar. The bar area is huge and wraps around in an almost "S". I was amazed that even though it was extremely windy out that night that they had the wall to the patio open, yet it was not uncomfortable inside. Although I felt it was a bit cool in the restaurant as I had short sleeves on. We were immediately approached by wait staff (there were many throughout the night). One thing that Mono definitely needs to change are the coat hooks under the bar. Yes they have them, but they need a hook at every seat as the bar stools have no backs on them where you can place your coat.
I found the menu a bit heavy on the prawns and scallops. I think 2 of the five entrees had prawns. There could have been a larger selection of appetizers as well. There was a separate section of crudo. The flavor of the food was great. I had scallops over pancetta mashed potatoes. The scallops were cooked perfectly. I could have used more of the sauce though. The portions are a perfect size, not large, not small. We had dessert. It was amazing!! Definitely 5 star desserts. I had a butterscotch pot du creme. It was not too sweet. Yum!
The service throughout the night was attentive. There was always someone there refilling our water. We ordered the salumi platter and the staff noticed we were getting low on the toast that came with it and asked if we'd like more. Nice touch. We ordered a bottle of wine and we did not have to pour the wine ourselves once throughout the night. This is very important in my book and most service at restaurants fail this test.
I'll definitely be back.
Oh, and parking was a breeze.
I'd go back, so it's a solid 3 stars. Small plates - indeed, but if you're meant to get multiples, it's a bit pricey. Food was fresh tasting. We both had the crudo of Ahi Tuna, Preserved Meyer Lemon, Sesame, Jalapeo Granita, Soba Noodles. Tasty, but the sauce was a bit on the sweet side. Lots of tuna, but otherwise indeed a small plate. And tippy - served in a really pretty, but annoyingly tippy bowl.
Nice wine list by the glass, fairly well priced. Didn't fully review the bottle list so can't comment.
Skipped desserts, other than a cheese course, nothing that seemed to match the interest/lightness of the food - something I find typical in restaurants. Odd.
Mono is grossly overpriced -- three scallops and mashed spuds for $21? I think not. However, the presentation of every dish I've seen (I dined in a party of 10) was exquisite.
The reception was warm and inviting. Our waiter explained all the dishes and was able to accomodate our "dieter". The food was delicious. I had the Ahi tuna sandwich with a very fresh salad with small colorful tomatoes and watercress. It was so much that I had to take half with me. The iced tea is served with simple syrup which is always a bonus for a Southern girl who likes "sweet tea'. A friend had the chicken sandwich which she said was delicious. I believe her. She ate all of it! I'll be back.
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Went to lunch here with some girlfriends - had a nice time. The decor is clean and modern, but this restaurant is not huge in size. If you don't have a reservation or it's crowded you can sit around the bar. Simple menu, simple food. Soup or Salad, and then Sandwiches. The starter bread sticks were a little salty, but the almonds were great. The service was a little awkward - but I have a feeling our waiter was new. The manager was a little over zealous for my taste - I actually heard her tell one of her staff - "Can you not pour water in to people's laps". Uh great management... you aren't in a sound proof booth we can all hear you! LOL If you have to tell the staff something like that take them to the back, don't say it on the main floor. I also felt they tried to clear plates too quickly. When food is still on the plate and my napkin is still on my lap please don't come put your hand on my plate. Overall food was OK. Seemed to be more people in the kitchen than on the floor and for the most part 1 or 2 were just hanging out. I got the grilled cheese - it was a small sandwich, but was fine because it came with a small side of tomato soup and a small salad. Have you ever had Spaghetti O's?? Ok - the tomato soup tasted like a creamier, sweeter version of the Spaghetti O Sauce. It was OK. The salad was very simple, but again ok. The grilled cheese was good, but nothing fancy. The good thing is that the sandwich with soup and salad was only 10 dollars. The people I was with ordered the Ahi Sandwich which looked fabulous, and then the ham & cheese sandwich which was huge. After our sandwiches we all 3 split a dessert - which was pretty good. It's overall a clean, cute place with simple food but it didn't knock my socks off. I would like to go back for a dinner and see if it rates any better. Nice place for a business lunch though just seems like they have to work out the server quirks.
I've been waiting for this place to open here for awhile now.
I knew it was coming and I'm sure It'll really revitalize the area.
Excellent fresh local food. Just been for lunch so far (twice) . Inventive sandwiches with fresh unique salads. We went there for lunch on St. Patrick's day. The traditional corned beef lunch special was the best I've had. Succulent beef with some kind of amazing sweet mustard seed dollop served with moist fingerling potatoes and the Brussels sprouts.... Very cool and delicious twist.
Going there tonight for dinner, Can't wait.
Great Job my friends.
Mark
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I really wanted to like Mono last night, but they're going to have to work through their new-restaurant kinks first.
I realize that what is going to follow is gonna sound like a snarky Yelp review, but I'm going to list them here in the hopes that the good folks at Mono will take heed:
1. There were more people working in the kitchen and the front of house than there were actual customers, and our service was still a bit shaky.
2. We didn't get an explanation of the items on our charcuterie plate, and there were some items that were unfamiliar to us.
3. If you're going to have a semi-outdoor patio, make sure that the second heating lamp is functional.
4. My scallop entree came to my table cold, but I was pretty starving by the time I got my dinner that I just ate it. It was good, but its temperature led me to believe that it had been plated and had been sitting for a while before coming to my table.
5. Service was a bit unorganized; we had one woman seat us and take our initial drink order, then another man (who I assume was our server) took our orders and brought out the wine, then another person came and picked up the plates, and still another man came to re-fill our wine glasses. Mind you, the restaurant was not busy.
6. Are you a small plates joint, or a traditional appetizer/entree kinda place? I wasn't too sure.
Chef Shuna Lydon is consulting them on their desserts, and I have to say, they were the highlight of the evening (but then again, it's dessert!). I recommend ordering the butterscotch pots du creme or the gingerbread. Yum.
In any case, I'm not totally writing MONO off; like I said, it's obvious they have a few refinements they need to make.
We want Mono to succeed because it is the right kind of restaurant for an up and coming part of Oakland. We ate here with a couple friends and have some tips that we think will help the kitchen that would have been more to our taste. Service was good -we liked the cucumber water. Appetizers were good also. The desserts were bold and beautiful and can only be highly recommended. The gingerbread and chocolate cakes were well worth the trip to Mono. The gingerbread was particularly creative with what tasted like citron cream and candied orange.
Unfortunately, the entrees were not up to par. The lamb chops were the best entree at the table and came recommended by the server. Having said that the lamb chops were not as warm as they should have been though still very tasty. The beef cheeks were sorely disappointing. Not knowing much about beef cheeks, I ordered them medium rare. However, this was not an option because what I received was stew meat. Don't get me wrong- I like stews but the cheeks were supposedly braised in a wine sauce which was not detectable. The horseradish potatoes didn't have sufficient horseradish. The Meyer Lemon Risotto lacked in lemon flavor leaving only the flavor of rice though the prawns were good. Our advice to the kitchen is be bold with flavors-really bold. The Meyer Lemon Risotto should really taste like lemon. The wine sauce for the beef cheeks should taste of wine. The lamb chops should taste like apple.
I live nearby and have been anxiously awaiting the opening of Mono. We went in for dinner during their soft-opening, so I did recognize that they must still be working on things that will get settled out. For instance there was a ton of wait staff, way more than needed, but I suppose there was a lot of on-the-job training going on, and that they will thin the herd to an appropriate level. (I found it actually detracted from the service, since everyone was trying to help and there wasn't any clear 'owner' for our table, not to mention that the place is quite small, so there's not a lot of room for an extra 6 staff to stand around in) When the staff gets up to speed, and gets more comfortable with the menu and pacing, they seem like good people and will do fine.
Their wine list, while broad, is not very deep yet and will surely need to be tweaked, but as they emphasize wine so much, I have no doubt they will evolve the list.
As for food....
The olives were tasty with what must have been their own recipe, and a bargain for a whole 'boat' of the delicious little suckers for $3. (I swear, at Market Hall, they would have charged me $6 from the deli counter)
The beet salad was superb, (house-pickled? If not, from a great source) lots of heirloom variatals. Beets are a taste that I acquired late in life, but when good, they're soooo good, and these were them.
I tasted the mushroom soup (not my own order), and I didn't care for it much, but to each their own.
For my main course, I had the yellowtail, which was served sashimi style between thin slices of cucumber and jalapeno and some sort of light dressing. It was super fresh, a little zippy from the peppers, a little tangy from the vinagrette style sauce, quite nice and I'd order it again.
Even though they are neighbors, and I'm definitely going to give them plenty of business, they're not as casually priced as the previous place, so I'm going to have to put them in rotation for 'date-night' dining rather than more frequent fare.
All in all, a welcome addition to the neighborhood, and while I was happy with our dinner, I look forward to it getting even better.
If you don't want to read the whole review, know this; MoNo IS the place to be right now. OK it seems a little unrealistic to give a brand new restaurant a five star review, just as it would be unrealistic to give them a two star on their first day. Here is what I know.
I have now eaten at MoNo five times. All of my meals have been everything I would expect from highly rated restaurants in NY or SF. The prices are great for the experience that you get. The owners truly care about every aspect of your experience.
I have watched locals walk in with trepidation (remember this is Oakland) Only to be greeted like a guest in Todd & Eloisa's home.
Now for the food. I took home some of the Meyer Lemon-Asparagus Risotto the other night and my wife said it was as good as the best Risotto we've ever had in Florence. The Tomato Soup that comes with the Grilled Gruyere Sandwich is one of the few that isn't so acidic that I need a TUMS afterward. The Gingerbread is freaking great!
Wine List- Are you kidding me? A flight of Alvear Pedro Jimenx Montillas? International wines BTG....try the Grandes Perrieres Sancerre. An extensive list of half bottles and bubbles.
GO TO MoNo! Eat good food.
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Great food! Wonderful wine list. The only restaurant in the area that's worth going to.
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