Limón

Limón Oakland is our favorite neighborhood restaurant. My husband and I dine here at least once a week (if not more often). The staff are warm and welcoming, and the atmosphere is fun and energetic.There is not a bad dish on the menu. We always start with one of the ceviches, which are delicious and generously portioned. Mixto Rocoto is our favorite, followed by Ceviche Limon, and they are even better with a side of taro chips. The small plates are great for sharing. If you enjoy fried calamari, definitely try the fantastic Jalea. We also frequently get the Antichuchos de Pollo (amazing chicken skewers) and Chanchito a la Diabla (pork belly bites). Limón has an extensive drink menu, but we always order one of the Pisco Sours, frothy and delicious.When the room is full of happy people it does tend to get very loud (as some reviews have mentioned). If that's a problem, we recommend visiting for lunch for a quieter experience.

Given all of the great reviews, I was really excited to try the food here. However, I have to say that the experience wasn't great. To be fair, we ordered takeout so some things like the sweet potato fries and empanadas were a bit soft/soggy and would have been better straight from the kitchen. That's totally understandable and not the reason for the low rating. So, we ordered the La Poderosa, vegetarian and chicken empanadas, Lomo Soltado, 1/2 chicken, and the Tacu Tacu Marisquero. Most of the food was decent but nothing was exceptional. Expectations were elevated also because the food here isn't cheap. So I've had some great Lomo Soltado and this one was just OK. It lacked depth of flavor and the meat wasn't as tender as I would have expected.The two bad things were that there was a piece of plastic in the vegetarian empanada and a ~1" piece of chicken bone in the chicken empanada. The chicken bone is barely forgivable but the piece of plastic, never. It was clear, about 1/2" to 3/4" in length and it looked like it was the seal to some sort of food condiment. Thank goodness nobody swallowed it. Anyway, perhaps we were unlucky or it was a bad night but this is not a restaurant I'd want to patronize again.

This was a disappointing experience all due to service.We came in on a weekend early afternoon and it was pretty empty so we were seated right away. Our table was right by the "hostess" station where they also have their cubicles to store the staff personal items. So during the whole meal we had multiple staff personnel standing right by the table on their phones. This is NOT an issue with the staff, but seems like an issue with the facility maybe needing to provide a better break room location.We came here to try Peruvian chicken and were not disappointed, on the side we got a salad ( disappointing considering it was your basic school lunch chopped up salad), and spicy seasoned zucchini which was delicious. I got a sangria which was very good and my partner got a lychee drink which was also delicious. Our server was Brian C who not only was taking care of us, but other tables AND working behind the bar and still provided excellent service. The problem was the other staff members. Not once but twice we saw Brian C having to ask other servers to clean up tables or assist. What was not an ok server situation was one of the servers walked over to clean off dirty plates from a table right next to us and she proceeded to take the dirty plates and put it on OUR table as we were eating without a word. Bottom line come for the food but not for the service unless its Brian C.

Peruvian food is something I have never tried until this evening. Getting to the place was confusing as Google Maps puts you right in the middle of the block when in actuality the place is on the corner, so FYI. The service could have indeed been better, there were a lot of times that we'd wait for what appeared to be far too long to get a drink or her service. The place was kind of slow, not a lot going on but it was a weeknight so there's that. The food read excellent though, definitely enjoyed it, & since I've heard they have other locations in SF, I plan to check it out.

Second time here, everything was great like on my initial visit. I brought a different friend here and she was surprised at how good the food and drinks were. I think she did a shoulder shimmy (happy dance) .

If you're driving by and you're wondering, why are they so busy, find a park and go inside and see for yourself. Parking is a nightmare but it's a prime location so what can you expect. Seating inside and outside (when the weather permits), very low key comfortable vibe inside. Very close and quant tabletops. They have a nice variety if items to choose from for those who have never had this cuisine. We decided on the special of the night, which I'm not sure exactly what it was called but it was chicken and the sauce was so smooth and delicate. Of course we had to try the seafood ceviche and it could not have tasted any fresher! For dessert we tried two different items and both were out of this world but the one I kept going back for was the dark chocolate bandido. I've stopped back in just for dessert and cocktails so if you haven't been, I suggest you check it out!

The food was good and the service was good as well! The atmosphere was great and you can even watch the game now. I recommend and go back

Limon offers the wonderful flavors of Peru brought to you here in The Bay. Great dining atmosphere w/ both indoor and outdoor seating. Whether it's HH or dinner w/ friends, you can't go wrong.Peru is known for their ceviche, so you have to try one as a starter. They have a number of different flavors. But have no fear, if you're having trouble deciding, they offer a mixto of four different types as a sampler. I enjoyed both their beef and chicken empanadas. Candidly I thought the cheese and vegetable were a little bland and forgettable. But again, if you're having a hard time choosing they offer a sampler of beef, chicken, cheese and vegetable. For entrees, I'd recommend one of their "Classico" plates. The lomo saltado is a great choice of steak and sautéed vegetable on a bed of French fries and rice. The seco de costillas is another great "Classico" and full of flavors served as bone in short rib on a bed of Peruvian rice & beans and delicious salsa. As a heads up, parking in the Oakland location is tough. So make sure you allocate enough time for 10-15 minutes trying to find a spot, unless you have the natural parking karma :)

Okay, let's just start off with, this place is loud af. Don't bring people with hearing issues here. This is by no means a dealbreaker. Just know before you go. That said, they also have some of the best ceviche I have ever had! Interesting and ranges for spicy. Keep the ceviche juice for later dishes!The chicken is also a massive star of the show. I've been slowly getting to other dishes. Love the sangria and that you can still order a carafe.

We came here for my brother's birthday lunch. I was craving paella and my brother wanted Peruvian.We found street parking pretty easily outside and walked right in. They weren't really busy for a Saturday lunch time.We let my brother do the ordering. We asked the staff how manh dishes would be good for a party of 3 and went with the recommended two entrees and an appetizer. We had the polli-papas as an appetizer. Pretty delicious, good fries and nice flavors.For our entrees, we got the saltado de pollo and the seafood paella!We wound up not really eating the rice as we were getting pretty full but the saltado de pollo was delicious!Finally, what I was waiting for was the paella. It didn't have that crispiness that Spanish paella does but it was still pretty good. They even provided a plate for shells. Very flavorful.Would definitely return and try other things on the menu!