Willows & Pine

We hit the jackpot when we landed seats at Willows & Pine! We had a bit of a wait (what great restaurant doesn't have one?) but we were also met with a warm greeting. The chowder was some of the best we've ever had. Hot, well-seasoned, creamy deliciousness with tender potatoes and perfect shrimp. A tastebuds' treat all by itself! But no, we didn't stop there. I had the jambalaya - filled with tender chicken, shrimp and sausage. It has a bit if a kick to it but the seasonings were all perfectly appointed. My husband ordered the pork chop dinner with mashed potatoes and braised Brussels sprouts. He fully enjoyed his meal - well not fully, I kept also dipping in his plate. Food - hot, fresh, amazing!I love, loved how that many customers that came in seemed to be family or at least repeat customers, and staff gave attention and time to everyone to ensure a pleasant dining experience. We were too full to attempt desserts but you can bet when we are back in the Bay, we will drop in on Willow & Pine. In the meantime, if you are anywhere close, go check them out. You will not be disappointed! Bravo Chef & Family!

I was headed home on 580 one evening and wanted to grab dinner first in this corner of Oakland near the hills. I've actually never been on this side of Fruitvale Ave, only the part around the Bart station, which is very Hispanic. This part in the hills, not so much.This place hit my feed back in 2024. Sit down Soul Food that has an upscale tinge but still quite casual. Great local story of a family that migrated from the South in the 1930's to escape racial oppresion and started a new life in West Oakland. There the grand parents opened a neighborhood store and eventually some local kitchen. All that eventually got phased out through development and this is the newer generation of that family trying to do something in the same town. Gotta respect that. The menu is actually quite small, but I think they have certain specials on certain nights. Like I would have wanted to try their seafood gumbo but I think it is only on Fridays. They also do brunch on the weekends that I've heard are quite buzzin'. Shrimp/Crawfish Chowder ($10/cup/4*) Very creamy with a standard chowder consistency. Very flavorful maybe even a tad salty. But definite garlic presence with all that creaminess. And serious chunks in this chowder like a handful of medium sized shrimps, just a few hits of small crayfish meat and substantial chunks of potato and carrot. The shrimps were just okay to me, but it is the part that'll fill ya up. The crayfish is what made it special that I wished there were more of it, but kinda expected. And their cup size is larger than most, that to me it is almost meal sized, and they even have a bigger size. This was so filling that I could only eat half of my entree. Smothered Pork Chops ($32/4*) These were just regular smaller diner style pork chops, just lightly seasoned and lightly pan fried without any coating/breading. So pretty plain but still decent. The mashed potatoes and gravy is where this place can separate themselves from other soul food joints. Here they have a lighter and more elegant hand than say a typical divier joint. Here the potatoes were super smooth and light, almost fine dining mashers. And the gravy was much lighter to where when it tops the meat, you can see through it and see the meat. Most other gravies it tends to smother the meats, covering it almost entirely.And it was supposed to come out with their brussel sprouts but they were out, so I chose their collard greens. And theirs were perfect to me, cooked down til soft but not totally mushy, still had some structure. And the leaves were cut in a uniform manner, so I'm gathering that someone back there has some good kitchen cred.For a first visit I was pretty impressed. Just curious to see how they evolve and hoping to see it firsthand.

We ordered takeout: the banana pudding waffle, salmon eggs benedict, and smothered potatoes. I had wanted to try the cornbread and sweet potato fries, but those were out of stock that day, so we got the potatoes instead.- Banana pudding waffle: I wish they included nilla wafers as that felt like a big missing component from the banana pudding flavor. I'm not a big fan of maple syrup personally. I also wish the banana pieces were cut smaller. This one was a little disappointing overall.- Salmon benedict: it had Hollandaise sauce, some salmon, English muffins, lots of liquidy egg. I enjoyed it overall, although I prefer my eggs more solid personally.- Potatoes: These were pretty good, though not particularly memorable to me.Food was good overall, though I wish there were even more savory and salty, not just sweet, vegetarian entree options. I do see they have added vegan chicken and waffles to the menu which I'd be interested in trying in the future.

I was so excited to try Willows & Pine and it did not disappoint. Every time I step foot in this place, I feel like I'm at my Rich auntie house. Lol. It just feels like home, for real. The staff is great. I believe it is family owned and ran and it definitely has that feel. As far as the food......... the short ribs, TOP TIER! The Jambalaya, TOP TIER! The shrimp etoufee! My God! *licks lips* Everything is soooooooooooooooooo good and you can tell it was made with love. And don't even get me started on the dessert. They had a peach cobber bundt cake or whatever it was and I didn't need to scrape the plate trying to get every crumb like I did. The food can take a minute to come out and it can get pricey (be well worth it) so be prepared. It is best to make a reservation if you can, especially on the weekends. It gets busy. I've only been for dinner, but I hear the breakfast is really good too. Overall, Oakland needed this black-owned jewel. You won't regret coming here. I've returned serval times..... and with friends and family.

The food was great! The service was even better. My wife and I was there at the end of the day and the servers enjoyed what they were doing.

Great service. Great chef. Great food. Great ambience.. ..ordered the cabbage and cornbread however they were out of cornbread so they gave me a biscuit. And also the voodoo shrimpThe shrimp are good however they had tails on them and the tail still were not cleaned out, but the shrimp were large, plump and delicious, nice sauce and not spicy at all. It normally does not come with rice. My waiter was great and he recommended to get rice. It was seasoned perfectly. The cabbage was good as well ,however , I like a little bit more spicy in my cabbage, but they do have some Louisiana hot sauce on the table. definitely come back to try other stuff

Great services, wonder food, beautiful decor. I'm there once a week and love their new lunch menu. Go check them out.

Willows & Pine was absolutely amazing. We had a party of 15 and the service was outstanding. The ambience and vibe was spot on the entire time. I ordered the Chicken Étouffée. It was moist mouthing water and breath taking. Everything that our party ordered was a hit. 5 stars for sure. The owner came out and checked on our party which doesn't happen at all lot of places. Definitely worth a visit if you're in Oakland

My wife and I had a wonderful time as our first time at this restaurant. The food was excellent, the service was attentive and willing to chat, and the whole experience was great. One of the few restaurants that we've gone to in years that really made a great impression on us. We had the shrimp and crawfish chowder, and it's superb, one of my favorite chowders ever. It was creamy and all the vegetables were perfectly cooked. The shrimp and crawfish tails were plump and tasted wonderful. The jambalaya was also excellent with the rice being cooked correctly with well cooked shrimp and really nice spicy sausage. For dessert, we had the banana pudding waffle and another apple dessert that I can't see on their menu right now. The banana pudding was really really fantastic. The apple desert was good, but didn't compare to the other.The restaurant seems to be very much family and friends like and/or part of the community with lots of people seeming like they were locals. It doesn't hurt the experience at all, but you get lots of friendly loud greetings. The chef came and chatted with lots of diners and her recommendations were great and on point.Ambiance wise, it's fairly loud and friendly. There's just the 1 TV playing sports games. Staff was friendly, talkative, attentive, and fun. We made reservations, and you definitely needed them for a Saturday, even early like 6/630 when we arrived.We enjoyed our experience a lot and am looking to come back. Thank you.

Party of 2- we came today (a Saturday) during brunch hours and the food was good, but the service was really slow. The place wasn't packed so it was a little bit confusing why this was the case. But that's not the issue. The issue was that our greeter didn't show us to our table (they TOLD us where we're sitting and THEN brought menus 5 min afterwards).Then after 10 min our waitress came to take our order. We asked for the cocktail menu and she never came back at ALL.The food was very good but the service soured our experience. Such a shame because this place is good and the place has good ambience but after the subpar service I don't see coming back anytime soon :(