Gather

We came for brunch on a Sunday morning; our last meal before hitting the road back home. I was a bit shocked at how empty they were. We were experiencing extended wait times that entire weekend in Berkeley.
I was a bit disappointed by the size of the brunch menu. At the time of our visit, there wasn’t a lot to choose from, with even fewer vegetarian options. I ended up ordering the polenta and beluga lentils and added an egg. The lentils were my favorite part, but the dish was a bit heavy handed with the polenta. I found the textures to be redundantly soft and wished I had a more generous helping of lentils. The boyfriend ordered the Fontinella and added an egg. The leftover thin crust pizza was the perfect handheld snack for the ride back to LA. Bonus points for the housemade hot sauce, the excellent coffee quality, and the gram-​worthy photo op. I’m also pleased to see the menu has since evolved and look forward to a return visit.

thankfully we gave this place another chance and were happy we did .
our lunch was excellent, especially the pizza .
we will definitely go back.

Their dinner menu has limited choices but each dish is so well-​cooked! We shared a Kirk sausage pizza and a 5 point burger.
The pizza is big enough for three or even four to share, and it’s so good! Great atmosphere and great service. Also complementary sparkling
Will definitely be back for future gathering with friends and the significant other :)

Came here for the first time over five years ago with my parents for dessert and I only remember goods things; however, yesterday afternoon I decided to try Gather again, five years later, and I was not disappointed!
The two of us came in for Sunday brunch around 2pm, and neither of us were confident that we would get a table — we were extremely excited to discover that there was in fact enough space for the two of us! Wasn’t too crowded, surprisingly enough, but we did come in a little later in the day. We spent some time looking at the menu and debating whether or not we should split one of the breakfast pizzas or if we should each order our own meals, and ultimately we decided on the latter.
She ordered the focaccia with added bacon, and I ordered the Acme walnut French toast with Chantilly cream (WOW — we were both in love). She also ordered a soy latte and I decided to try one of the sodas (blood orange with cardamom — good, but I’m not a soda fan in the first place so next time I’ll stick to my water). Oh! Also, upon being seated, our server asked if we would prefer still or sparkling water — we had the option of deciding, at no additional cost! I loved that, greatly appreciated it.
I knocked off one star from this review because it took a while for our server to take our order, and although we spent a majority of that time trying to figure out what exactly we wanted to order, towards the end we just needed to be served in order to make up our minds.
SO, in summation: great food, OK service, beautiful space, awesome location — just across the street from campus — and an excellent atmosphere. Reasonably priced considering the quality of the food — I’ll be back again soon!

Beautiful interior, comfortable seating, great location in walking distance of UC Berkley.
I started with the Spicy Lentil Soup, which was delicious and only a hint of spice.
I followed with the Albacore Tuna Rilettes. It was my fault to picture this dish as a filet of fish of some sort. It is more like an albacore tuna salad spread on two thick pieces of toast. Something I wouldn’t normally like, but I found it quite tasty and delightful.
Would recommend for solo (there is a chef’s bar) or group lunch.

Came here with a friend on a Sunday and had a reservation for 12:30 pm. We weren’t seated until about 12:45 pm but the hostess was extremely nice about it and paid for our drinks for making us wait.
I ordered the french toast and it was good. I am a huge fan of french toast but their french toast is soaked in salted caramel and almost unbearably sweet. If I had known how sweet it was, I probably would have ordered something more savory.
The service was good, and the food was good. Four stars because nothing was over the top amazing. Will be back if I am in the Berkeley area!

This is a great place for brunch right by UC Berkeley. We came right at opening, so it wasn’t that crowded at first.
AMBIENCE: very modern décor, but relaxing because of the plants around the bar. There are seats all along the wall which is lined with huge windows facing the steet. Ask to sit there if you can!
SERVICE: quick and attentive. Our server came by to refill our water when it was low.
FOOD:
+ Acne Walnut French Toast ($ 13) — wow. Great flavor with every bite. The «toast» was more of a thick slice of cinnamon raisin bread with lots of walnut chunks throughout. It was covered with a thick salted caramel sauce, which was slightly too thick and actually started to harden on the plate as I ate. But other than that, it was fantastic. What really made this dish shine was the CHANTILLY CREAM. It was light as a cloud and the taste of fresh milk fills your mouth and wraps around the rich toast. Absolutely amazing.
+ Focaccia Croque w/​bacon ($ 11; $ 14 with the bacon) — Thin toast, fried egg, bacon, red chicory, cheddar, and sauce mornay (cheese and egg yolk). The bacon was perfect chewy to crispy texture. The bitterness of the chicory went well with the creamy egg.
It was a little pricey, but for a restaurant right next to a UC campus, it was expected. Would go again for a pizza dinner!

Sunday morning walk-​in. We didn’t wait but by 10:30am the house was packed. This food was great, fresh came out quickly. The service was just okay.
The reason for my lower than usual rating is that this place doesn’t have hot sauce — YOU SERVE BREAKFAST AND YOU DON’t HAVE ANY HOT SAUCE?! No Tapatio, Tabasco, Cholula?! They brought out this house made stuff which was good but come on.
On that same note– asked for ketchup for my potatoes (yes I might have the tendencies of a 6 year old adding ketchup to potatoes but I’m paying for a service please have the basics) YOU SERVE BREAKFAST AND YOU DONT HAVE KETCHUP? No Huntz, Heinz, for Christs sake even that Fancy Ketchup. Again brought out house made ketchup which was great but I’m a simple girl I want basic ketchup. It’s probably cheaper for the kitchen to buy those bottles anyway!
Disappointed that they took booshie brunch to another level and don’t have hot sauce or ketchup. Come on people. Get it together.

Very quality spot for dinner in Berkeley. The parking garage just around the corner makes it easy to snag a space in an otherwise impossible little part of the city. I’ve been to Gather a few times and I’ve always enjoyed my experience. Their menu is composed of locally sourced, quality ingredients with a pretty wide variety of entrée for everyone in your party. The burger is one of the best out there. They use Prather Ranch bacon, which IMHO is the best bacon in the entire wide world. The beef is juicy and flavorful and the cheese is gooey. You cannot go wrong.
Tonight I ventured in to new territory and got the chicken dish with potato purée. I was very happy with my meal. The skin was crispy, the potatoes were creamy and the broccoli rabe accompaniment was just the right amount of bitter salt to bring the meal to the next level. Our waiter was very friendly and the ambiance of this place is very comfortable. I will definitely be back!

Well, apparently Gather’s menu changes from week to week and I evidently visited during the vegetarian week because the menu lacked protein that I need. So in lieu of this problem, I must stress to visit their website rather than just winging a meal off of Unilocal reviewers suggestions.
The atmosphere is wonderful. The beautiful greens hanging all throughout the restaurant and the natural lighting shining in from their windows, I just wished that there was something more on their menu. I ended up ordering their squash soup along with their roasted nuts. The soup was rich and delicious. The nuts has a slight salty, sour, tart taste to them and was probably three table spoons in a small sauce cup.
The service was nice. Attentive in the beginning but when people started to show up the service started to slow down a bit (I visited on a Saturday morning at 1030, table for one). So when I needed to go, I really needed to leave.
Perhaps I should visit during dinner? Maybe the next time I’m in town.

Love this place for dinner! I’ve been here about four times, and Gather is a wonderful restaurant for fancy dinner for any special occasion. I love the ambience of the restaurant, as it feels very romantic with soft dim lighting and a vine-​shrubbery décor all over the pillars and in between the tables of the restaurant. I also love that the restaurant is in a semi-​circle shape, with the rounded wall of the restaurant having long window panels to let in natural light in the day time.
The food is also spectacular, and everything I have tried so far has been delicious. My favorite item on the menu is their pizzas, and in particular the Fontinella pizza that has mozzarella, tomato, and sea salt. Even though the ingredients don’t sound particularly inventive, this is the most delicious cheese pizza I’ve ever had. It truly is an elevated, gourmet cheese pizza, and I would highly recommend it.
Service has been great all the times I ate at Gather, as we never had to wait for a long time for our food, and our servers were always friendly and really knowledgeable about the menu.
Gather was definitely one of my favorite fancy restaurants when I was a student at Cal, and if you live in Berkeley and are looking for a lovely place for a special occasion or you’re just feeling fancy, you can’t go wrong with Gather. Just note that you will need a reservation, because while they do allow drop-​ins, the restaurant is always packed and you likely won’t be able to dine in.

I was in between 3 or 4 stars for Gather, but decided that it’s unfair to rate based on my personal palette preference and went with the 4 stars.
Honestly, the brunch here is pretty decent, but since the menu constantly changes, I cant guarantee that your food would be as good.
Came here for a celebration brunch and ordered the following:
1) Farm Egg — Forbidden Black rice, confit carrots, Brussels sprouts, kimchi, scallion & ginger
2) Focaccia Croque — cheddar, chicory, fried egg, sauce mornay
3) Egg Pizza — bacon, caramelized onions, oregano
Although I highly recommend all 3 dishes, my favorite was the Farm Egg with the black rice. The flavors were so well put together and was a great take on asian fusion, which I really enjoyed. Quite frankly, I was expecting just a few sunny side up eggs with black rice on the side, but this dish was a combination of interesting flavors of ginger, scallions, and kimchi. Yum!
The Focaccia Croque and Egg Pizza were good also, but just not the best breakfast dishes I’ve had. But neither was Farm Egg, though its extremely memorable.
I gotta say though, the service here was spectacular! The servers were attentive and polite at all times, and since we were here for a birthday brunch, they gladly stored our cake in the fridge and remembered to bring it out without asking at the end of the meal PERFECTLY CUT. And that’s when you know it’s great service.
Highly recommend this cute spot with absolutely spot-​on rustic décor if you are looking for an adorable brunch/​dinner joint that serves American food. Street parking will be hard to find on weekends, but be persistent and you are sure to find one!

I was lucky enough to grab a chef-​side table on a Friday night with a companion. Our drinks were (1) the Mele Mêlée with brandy, almondy influences and walnut bitters and (2) a vodka-​based drink with cranberry and sparkling wine. I observed the bartender getting quite the arm workout shaking up these drinks. The drinks hit exactly the notes I would expect of unique craft cocktails put together by someone with a very refined and eclectic palate. Mele Mêlée was warming, slightly bitter, nutty, and complex. I savored it throughout my meal.
While waiting for dinner we watched the chefs preparing pizzas for the oven as well as arranging delicate slices of pears, melons, radishes etc. onto vegetable small plates. They decorated the ingredient architecture with sauces in icing bags and tubes. We were witnessing the emblematic eclectic California gourmet cuisine, whose hallmark is artistic presentation of fresh, delicate ingredients.
Unfortunately they appeared to be amuse-​bouche sized portions rather than proper appetizers. Food needs to be filling and satisfying to the tummy in my humble opinion, because teasing the eyes with fancy, artful food only whets the stomach juices.
My worries about not getting sufficient quantities of food were underscored when our entrees arrived. I got the autumn mushroom plate ($ 24) while my companion got the chickpea cake served in spicy tomato sauce ($ 24). I immediately sensed that eating a few vegetables– however perfectly done and presented– was not going to suffice for my appetite. However the truffle-​infused celery root base was perfect to showcase the chanterelles, enoki, shitake, and other mushrooms roasted and seared on my plate. A whipped truffle foam was interspersed among the mushrooms. My companion’s chickpea patty was really delicious, both sweetish and earthy, and set on a plate of warmly spiced (not tart) tomato sauce. The sunchokes and fingerlings (all three of them) were deliciously roasted. The obvious good taste of the vegetables hit all the right notes. Altogether a unique experience.
The waitress had assured us there would be sufficient food but I’m sure that she forgot to mention, «After you have had a pre-​meal at home.»
We paid a lot for this food, and I chalked it up to a unique experience and the California cult-​status of this style of gourmet kitchen. But I certainly left hungry. Debating between a pizza joint and tacos to fill us up with real food, I opted for the tacos at Cancun Taqueria next door to get some real dinner because I was actually hangry by then.

Let’s talk food justice for a minute.
I appreciate restaurants that are diligent about sourcing locally. That are conscious about not wasting food. That are committed to serving only the freshest, organically grown, non-​GMO, yaddy yaddy ya ingredients.
What I ALSO appreciate is when people that make these rhetorics accessible and judgment-​free.
People who work at Gather do the OPPOSITE of this. They seem to looove to bask in their own self-​righteousness while judging the shit out of people who they perceive to be less educated or progressive.
«HOW DARE SHE ASK FOR EGG-​WHITES ONLY» was the elitist attitude I got when I asked for precisely that because of personal health reasons. High cholesterol and pancreatitis, hellooooo. That shit’s no joke.
I asked if they can make my scramble with egg whites only. «NO.» Super curt. No explanation. Judgmental look ensued. Even more annoying, after he left the table, he proceeded to talk to another server about my request «…so I just said no» *eye roll.* (they didn’t realize I heard /​saw them)
I flagged down the other server, just in case the one I asked before was new to the restaurant.
Another curt, judgmental, «NO.» Again, no explanation. No other suggestion. No asking WHY I’m asking for it. They probably assumed I was just trying to be difficult being on a non-​food-​justice-​conscious-​shallow-​fad-​diet. Like those juice-​cleansing-​yuppy-​lulu-​wearing-​marina-​betches.
I asked for the THIRD time, again to the first server. He then FINALLY decided to explain why they don’t do this. They don’t like to waste food. Sure, I get it, and I respect that. But before patronizing a well-​intentioned customer with elitist attitude around food justice, why don’t they get trained to 1) ask why 2) explain reasons why they do /​don’t do certain things 3) offer workarounds /​other suggestions to meet your needs?
People have various reasons for eating /​not eating certain things. Not all vegans are progressive. Not all meat eaters are ignorant. Not all picky eaters are on a diet.
As an establishment purporting to serve «conscious» food, have some respect for the movement by being less judgmental, elitist, and trying harder to make the philosophy more accessible and forgiving.
The servers’ attitude left a bad taste in my mouth, though the food was quite simple and tasty.

Came here for two business meetings this past week. Joe was fabulous! So attentive, warm and knowledgeable.
I had the kale salad with chicken and a cup of the pumpkin soup. My dessert was kombucha which was sweet and refreshing and did not taste like most other kombucha I’ve tried.

Came here with my cousin who is attending Berkeley and had a delicious meal. We were seated in the outdoor back section which was lovely. The menu was tempting as I wanted to try the pizzas and appetizers but decided to be somewhat healthy and went with the kale salad and the salmon.
Yum yum yum that kale salad was banging. Seriously one of the best I’ve ever tasted, the capers and dressing and cheese were just to my liking. Sour and flavorful.
The salmon was also fantastic. The chickpeas and seaweed complimented the fish perfectly.
There was barely any room for dessert but I had to try that coconut verbena ice cream which was awesome.
Everything is awesome. Begin Lego song… No seriously it’s great!

One of those semi-​pricey, small serving size kind of placed.
The Fontina pizza is awesome. Seems like they do anything with curse well!
Not an every day, but a good treat place.

A decently crowded brunch place for a Sunday. I’m not sure how it compares to other Berkeley brunch places but it’s got the San Francisco price for OK-​overall food.
Definitely good for couples and groups but expect a wait or counter seating for groups larger than 4 people during the typical brunch/​lunch time. Portions are a hit-​or-​miss; some have a decent amount while others have less on the plate.
Acme walnut French toast — two thick slices of French toast soaked in maple syrup. Honestly a bit too sweet. I wasn’t expecting the syrup to be poured on for me. The small puddle of mascarpone was nice; it adds creaminess that kinda lessens the maple syrup sweetness. The walnuts tasted like candy and the strawberry slices were, well, strawberry slices. It felt like a heavy entrée for only having two slices of bread.
Pork belly — the two caramelized pork belly chunks were tasty. I don’t normally go for fatty pork but this one tasted good. The poached eggs and toast went well with the sweet pork.
The fried egg sandwich seemed lonely on the massive plate. I didn’t try it. It looked good but it would’ve been nice if it had a side to go with it.

Was driving through Berkeley with my husband and three friends and decided to stop here for dinner. The interior was calming, thoughtful, and chic. I liked that much of the décor around the restaurant is just big jars of their different pickles — aesthetically pleasing AND resourceful.
We were seated right away without a reservation, but it was late on a Sunday evening so kinda slow anyways. Server was friendly and knowledgeable about their food — not only did he answer our questions about what was what, he made everything sound so delicious we felt we had to have it! They serve complimentary sparkling water (or still, if you prefer) which I love and wish was an option in more restaurants. Other waitstaff were watchful and prompt about refilling the bottles of still and sparkling on our table throughout the meal.
My husband and I shared the Snap Peas app to start and the Fontinella pizza for our entrée. In fact, everyone at our table had the Snap Peas because it was described so delectably to us. And it was delicious, so many textures and flavors on one plate! As a vegetarian, I appreciated that they replaced pork rind with the smoked yuba on this dish so that it’s accessible to all.
The Fontinella was a no-​fuss dish: simple and delicious — just tomato sauce, mozzarella, and flaky sea salt. But each product was top quality, especially the cheese.
While the prices were steeper than we anticipated, I’m glad we stopped here for dinner and the portions were just big enough to share.

Came for dinner tonight and it was a mediocre experience. Even my bf said this place is at best 3.5 stars.
FOOD
Kale salad — we started with this and it was pretty good. Cooked dinosaur kale, pine nuts, capers all tossed in a light dressing. It was really good and I really enjoyed the capers but it was just WAY TOO SALTY. My bf and I were downing water like crazy.
Pork belly — really well cooked. Nice and tender but there was only one piece which I thought wasn’t really worth it for the money. It came with some lentils which filled us up but again these lentils were SO SALTY.
Spicy tomato pizza — good but I felt like it was a bit empty. It could’ve used some more substance like a meat or some more veggies. Felt like I was just eating tomato sauce on bread. The sauce again was TOO SOUR and pretty spicy. However, the crust was super crispy which I loved. They do the crust well.
SERVICE
Mediocre. Hard to get waiters attention and felt like she didn’t really attend to us.
AMBIANCE
Nice with the dim lights but tables were a bit too close to each other for comfort.
OVERALL
Probably won’t be back again for dinner. Might try brunch but that’s questionable. I’m afraid it’ll be too salty too.

I decided to have a Cousin Brunch (with my cousins, of course) here based on the reviews and my seemingly insatiable craving for decent French toast.
The 6 of us met here at 11 and asked for a table for 6. The woman at the door told us it would be a 45 minute wait even though there were at least 6 free tables that could be pushed together. To be fair, we did not make a reservation. So 35 minutes had passed and I went back in to follow up. The same woman told me it would be another 5−10min. Ok. So I wait. An hour had passed, still nothing. At this point, I’M PISSED. I walk back in to see other groups being seated and the place is packed! This told me that she had not worked on securing a table for us the entire time! Horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE!
Finally, and unapologetically, she said our table was ready. No smile, no concern. We sat down feeling very disappointed. I mean I was seconds away from saying screw it and taking my business elsewhere.
Luckily, our server saved this review from being a 1-​star because she was very sweet and kind. She even gave us a few compliments, as if she knew we had had a rough start. So I thank her for easing the tension.
The food is ok, a bit pricey. Overall my experience could have been way better.
Note to staff: if you tell someone the wait is 45 minutes, make sure it does NOT exceed 45 minutes!!!

Wurde uns von einem Freund empfohlen. Die Cocktails waren zwar klein und teuer, aber extrem gut. Ich selbst hatte einen Southern Skies — himmlisch.
Es gibt viel Veganes und Gerichte ohne Gluten, die Portionen der Vorspeisen sind allerdings recht klein.
Trotzdem würde ich je nach Anlass wieder kommen, alleine schon für die Cocktails. Günstig ist es aber jedenfalls nicht.