The 411 on Burdell #
Address: 4640 Telegraph Ave
Oakland, CA
Website: https://www.burdelloakland.com/
Phone: 510-239-9287
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The Vibe: As of December 2025, Burdell is one of the most highly acclaimed restaurants in the Bay Area, including taking the #1 spot on the SF Chronicle’s Top 100 and Food and Wine’s Best Restaurant lists for two years in a row.
With results like that, some folks might be tempted to call Burdell upscale Southern cuisine. The website dubs the restaurant nostalgic soul, which also explains the 1970s vibe of the décor and the Corelle dinnerware. But after dining at Burdell, I can’t say upscale is what comes to mind. Chef Geoff Davis isn’t trying to “elevate” the cuisine, but rather, to celebrate it. With his extensive training, he has the skills to use refined techniques that call attention to what makes soul food so delicious and comforting. And he uses those skills well.
That’s the sort of expertise that precisely places whole celery leaves on a classic potato salad, encouraging the diner to ponder the herb and what it contributes to the dish. It’s fried chicken that focuses on the crunch, leaving as little grease as possible on the drumstick while retaining every morsel of moisture in the meat.
It's good eating, whether prepared by an expert chef or your grandma. I appreciated the reminders of why these foods are classics, as familiarity makes that so easy to overlook. Heck, I appreciated the Corelle dinnerware, as I have a more modern Corelle pattern on the dishes in my own cabinets and appreciate their often overlooked quality as well.
Davis also brings that quality to the forefront by playing with the classic dishes to provide contrast, such as combining a spicy miso sauce with boiled peanuts or adding browned butter to a carrot cake. Doing so amplifies what works so well about southern cooking rather than trying to surpass the cuisine. The additions complement it, and I think that’s what Burdell is all about.
My Take on Burdell #
The Drinks: Burdell does not appear to have a hard liquor license, thus the cocktail list is focused on sherry and aperitif concoctions. My husband had the Margaret, made with sherry, lime, agave, a Seville orange aperitif, and a coconut milk wash. I opted for the Gladys with white Vermouth, juniper, elderflower, and bubbly wine.
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The Margaret
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The Gladys
Neither of us were that impressed with the drinks. Sure, presentation is purposefully relaxed at Burdell, but that’s especially noticeable when you’re paying $15–$18 for a drink that doesn’t so much lack a punch as it does give a poke instead, and in mediocre glassware. We both quite like sherry and aperitif cocktails! But these were not memorable ones.
The Food: The food, however, was a different story. We started with the blistered brussels caesar, passing on the aforementioned boiled peanuts as neither my husband nor I developed a taste for those during our eight years in the North Carolina.
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The brussels caesar is a more modern dish on Burdell’s menu. The brussels were perfectly roasted, with plenty of give inside and char outside. The crispy sunchoke chips added excellent texture in place of croutons, and the dressing hinted at that salty, savory flavor that anchovy brings. A caesar salad is not soul food, but the soul of a caesar salad was captured in this dish without being a play-by-play reproduction.
We each had the chicken as our mains, with a buttermilk-fried leg of chicken, a roasted breast, and a deviled egg La Ratte potato salad.
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It was heavenly. Not only is pairing roasted and fried chicken on the same plate a terrific way to highlight what makes each method of preparation work well, that chicken was just plain amazing. Each bite, whether the skin was crunchy or crinkly, was delicious. And the potato salad?
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Everything I ask for in a potato salad is right there. La Ratte potatoes are a French variety known for having a nutty and buttery flavor, and that helped this dish shine, something Chef Davis no doubt knew would happen from his training. The deviled egg element could have been played up by including a stuffed egg half rather than mixing it all together, but the mayonnaise sauce and herbs combined beautifully for my palate. In addition to celery leaves, dill and parsley fronds were scattered on top.
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Do not, I repeat, do not skip that cornbread side. The pieces are exceptionally fluffy but do not fall apart and have a great crunch on the ends. The grits are milled from a heritage red corn. The butter is strong on the lemon, a touch too strong in my opinion, but tastes fresh and creamy.
Of course, I had to try dessert once I saw that brown butter carrot cake on the menu.
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A rich dessert like carrot cake does not need additional richness, but why not go for it with the brown butter? The carrot cake includes raisins and pecans, and pineapple that the kitchen caramelizes. It also comes with homemade salted caramel dip. You can’t see that in my photo, as I wasn’t at the right angle to notice it until I was halfway through! Honestly, the dip is unneeded, as the brown butter already enhances the frosting’s sweetness plenty. Great cake. I’d like some more.
Would I Go Back? The food is satisfying and I want to try the Charleston Gold rice, the delicata squash rings, and the beet salad. But let’s be real, I only went this time because my credit card gave me a $150 credit to do so. Burdell is Bay Area pricy, and while it’s worth the cost, I can’t afford it often. Not with so many other worthy Oakland restaurants at similar or lower price points that I still haven’t tried.
The ambience and cocktails did leave a little to be desired, though I enjoyed the Monkey Jacket zinfandel that I had for my second beverage round. Thus, I’d call the wine list appealing. But the rather basic décor is not. I get that Burdell aims for a cozy, homey feel but with mostly empty walls in the dining room, with the exception of one striking portrait, it was less “cozy” and more waiting for the homeowners to fully move in.
That’s a long way of saying yes, I would love to go back, but I’ll wait until I see a new dish pop on the menu that I can’t resist.
Burdell is also open for Sunday brunch.
Reviewed December 2025.
