Shakewell

Our verdict

Wood-fired paella and a large central bar anchoring an open-plan dining room signal Shakewell's priorities from the moment you walk in: this is a room built around sharing, heat, and the kind of Mediterranean cooking that travels well across the Atlantic. Opened in 2014 by executive chef Jen Biesty and co-founder Tim Nugent, the Lakeshore Avenue address has held its footing in Oakland's Grand Lake neighbourhood through a focused Spanish and Mediterranean tapas format that resists the drift toward fusion for its own sake. The menu's range runs from crab toast and octopus through to fried chicken and churros, a spread that reflects the Spanish tapas structure without treating it as a rigid constraint. The wood-burning oven is the room's functional centrepiece, and dishes that pass through it carry the kind of char and smoke that a conventional kitchen range cannot replicate. At an estimated $25–$30 per person, the price point sits comfortably in mid-range territory for the Bay Area, making the format accessible without cheapening the sourcing. Lakeshore Avenue runs along the western edge of Lake Merritt, a stretch of Oakland that draws a neighbourhood crowd rather than a destination-dining circuit. The Grand Lake Theatre sits nearby, and the commercial strip has enough foot traffic to sustain a restaurant that depends on repeat visits rather than tourist spend. High ceilings and a warm service approach keep the atmosphere from tipping into the kind of studied cool that can make a tapas bar feel transactional. Shakewell reads instead as a place built for the long evening, where the format of small plates encourages the table to linger through several rounds.