621883 Fri May 22 11:15:39 -0700 2009 10 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 4706915 I'm looking for a good dinner somewhere in Oakland that has comfortable booths or small private rooms. We're looking to have semi private work meetings over dinner, and would prefer somewhere with good food, below $50 pp. A place near Jack London/Old Oakland would be ideal, but travel to other parts of Oakland, Alameda, etc are ok. Something like the booths at Claimjumper's or Back Angus would be nice, but I don't really want the chain food. Fri May 22 11:15:39 -0700 2009 115971 goddess.girl 1 4706939 How many people? My first thought was Luka's -- I think their booths seat six. Fri May 22 11:24:12 -0700 2009 4706915 10159 Ruth Lafler 2 4707004 That was my first thought, too, but it's really loud there, so work meetings might not work. Also, six would be pretty cozy. Fri May 22 11:43:20 -0700 2009 4706939 11231 Glencora 3 4707054 Yeah, Luka's can be noisy. I'm trying to remember if Otaez in Alameda has booths. I know they have banquettes, not sure about full booths. Fri May 22 12:01:49 -0700 2009 4707004 10159 Ruth Lafler 1 4707265 Crogan's in Montclair has some booths and they hold 6. Good solid American food, not great, sort of noisy. They have a back room with tables. I have had groups there. Others are in the room, but you would be sort of away from others. Soi Four has an upstairs that larger groups use. Food is wonderful. Noise can get bad later in the evening. Fri May 22 13:12:52 -0700 2009 4706915 10921 Janet 1 4708909 Mexicali Rose, if I remember correctly. Not loud. Sat May 23 09:17:51 -0700 2009 4706915 11369 Robert Lauriston 2 4709023 Not good, either. If ll that's needed is a booth irrespective of the food, there are other dinosaurs. Plus, the being across from the police department and city jail, the crowd there is mostly cops and low-lifes, especially at dinner (lunch there's also court staff and other spill-over from downtown highrises). Sat May 23 10:25:00 -0700 2009 4708909 10159 Ruth Lafler 3 4709427 I thought the food was fine for Mexican-American the one dinner I had there. Nothing remarkable about the other customers, either. It's not like there are a lot of other places that meet the stated requirements. Sat May 23 14:16:14 -0700 2009 4709023 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 4710811 How about good old Merritt Restaurant? Sun May 24 10:44:54 -0700 2009 4706915 17872 sydthekyd 1 4711688 Caffe Verbena (11th and Broadway) has very good food, a small private room, booths (though I think they seat four, not six), and is usually quiet at dinner. The fish dishes in my experience are uniformly excellent. Sun May 24 17:58:50 -0700 2009 4706915 15172 Michael Rodriguez 2 4711723 Great suggestion! They're really set up for business dinners, but the food is quite good. Sun May 24 18:15:06 -0700 2009 4711688 10159 Ruth Lafler