Calavera Mexican Kitchen & Agave Bar

Group of six tried had a great time w/ pitchers of margaritas, various Oaxacan tacos, beans/tortillas, chiles rellenos. I loved my corn on the cob and quesadillas. Server was charming and attentive, and noise level lively but not unpleasant (restaurant wasn't completely full). Can't wait to go back.

Great ceviche. Tacos too.

The service is extremely slow at lunch

Impressive variety of tequila. Chicken Tinga tacos were delicious!

Creative dishes. Excellent, friendly service. Easy walk to Paramount or Fox Theater.

We love this place and always have great service. Our waiter seemed less than pleased to be at work that day and it was reflective in the service we got. It was the first time at Calavera where we had to get up and ask other waiters to get our waiter to come back to the table. I’d still go back again and again but not in his section.

Awesome, delicious food! Friendly and fast service.

Nice place to eat - especially the patio (less loud then the interior).

Really great place! Lovely to sit outside and inside decor/atmosphere is both chic and homey. Food is excellent.

Joel the bartender was AWESOME! Great evening!

Had a great time! The restaurant kindly made room out on their patio even though we booked an indoor table. Took awhile for service but the wait staff was excellent once they were at our table. Food was all delicious and huge portions. And what can I say about the cocktails? Simply amazing!

Service was very slow. First round of drinks took forever. We had food before drinks. We also got our dinner before the salad. The cactus salad was way under dressed and had no flavor.

Great food, friends and staff made our night special. We will be back to dine again!

Thanks for supporting Dining Out for Life and Project Open Hand to help end HIV/AIDS, Calavera!

great vibe, interesting menu, delicious drinks, pleasant staff

My wife and i were excited to try this restaurant. When we arrived we were very pleased by the appearance and feel and were looking forward to a great meal. We had made reservations and were promptly seated right next to the hostess stand even though tables were open in all areas of the restaurant. We sat and looked at menus for 15 minutes without anyone greeting us or taking drink orders. We finally asked the host who our waitperson was so we could be served. The host took our drink order.

The runner delivered our drinks and we still had not seen a waitperson so we asked her who would be serving us and she ended up taking our order. We did not see the waitress until the food was delivered. By that time my drink was long gone and I was not asked about another until the food came.

Bottom line the service was horrible, the food was good, but not great and it was expensive. Not much value received on this visit and won't be back unless it just for a drink, but there are plenty of places in Oakland so need to return.

We went last night for a causal dinner - the food and drinks were the slowest I’ve ever experienced and they were completely understaffed. My friend canceled her wine because it didn’t come even AFTER we had appetizers and our mains. Ouch.

A delightful restaurant with lots of choices for vegetarians. Mexican favorites are elevated to a new level of freshness and creativity at Calavera. I look forward to more visits!

The service was really bad. They barely came by our table of 10 people. The drinks arrived like 20 minutes after the food. Also, the portions are incredibly small. They charged us for a few more chips for the expensive guac. I felt taken advantage of.

Food was great. Service was a little shakey but we were not in a rush.

Overall very friendly and good suggestions from waiter

Food is always delicious. Service this time around was slow

Food was great as always, but the service was actually pretty slow. Food and drinks took a very long time, and after we ate , our plates stayed in front of us for over 40 mins

The food was well done, however it was quite overpriced. I also felt ignored by staff on a slow Sunday evening. I was dining solo and felt less important compared to other tables around me with bigger parties.

Very good, interesting and innovative Mexican foods. On the surface, it seemed a little expensive, but the entrees were huge, large enough for 2 to 3 meals. Great Mescal and Tequila inspired drinks.

Great afternoon lunch on the patio. The tacos were great and so was the guac.

Food was very good and the weather was perfect for the outside patio

Good, not great. Drinks are inventive and fresh. Mole and bar b q sauces very good. A bit heavy on the oil on whole fish and tacos. Cheese dish should have been hotter. Ditto for the coffee.

Great food & service. The drinks were awesome & outdoor seating was nice.

We ate out on the porch which at first we thought we did not want to do. The lovely hostess showed us and it was quieter ... and she treated us to our chips and guacamole because of our misunderstanding. The food was fabulous... from. margaritas to tacos and apps. We will return!

Food was very disappointing

I really liked the atmosphere, the margarita was amazing and so smooth. Food was ok, the flautas were yummy, not a fan of the chicken taco or the squash taco. Go with the carnita taco ! Service was ok, not very friendly and I got an eye roll or two when asking questions about the menu. Didn’t get our drinks until after food was already served

Nothing special. Beans were good but we didn't receive them until we pointed out to it server that we were given a duplicate item instead of our order. Staff didn't seem invested in customer care.

Outstanding lunch. The menu is very interesting and I hope to sample several other items. It is more expensive than most Mexican restaurants but the quality of our guacamole and two kinds of tacos suggests that it is well worth it. The whole area is very "hipster" and it costs $8 an hour to park in the lot but it is fun.

Wonderful! Food and service are always top-notch!

I came to Calavera for my 50th birthday and had a great dinner with 6 friends. The service was above and beyond warm and welcoming. The food and drinks were delicious and the ambiance makes for a special night. I would highly recommend Calavera, the staff there made my birthday memorable and fun!

The tacos were awesome. The cocktails were all very sweet but interesting.

Had a great time. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and gave us great recommendations. Food was excellent-We will be back.

Food is fine, but definitely not amazing.
We got really bad service though, our drinks only arrived after our second dish... and we had to ask for them at least twice. Then, once we finally finished our dinner, they asked whether we wanted desert. We said we’d love to see the menu, but when it hadn’t arrived 20mins later and weren’t able to attract attention we had to just walk over and ask for the check. Also it was cold, they kept the side door to the terrace open, which on a rainy day in March just made the whole place unpleasantly cold. It’s surprisingly crowded and maybe others got better service, but personally I wouldn’t return.
I’ve been there before prob a year and a half ago and remembered it to be very nice, but seems things have changed.
FYI: Acoustics aren’t great for bigger groups, bit of a swimming pool effect

Sunday evening and they were missing multiple items in the food menu and drinks menu.
Server was new and was struggling to keep up with things.
It was an OK experience but nothing we would like to repeat anytime soon.

Great food, varied menu, everyone in our party loved their dish.
The tequila choices were also a great hit,
good all round experience.

I really enjoyed Calavera. Food was well prepared and tasty and influenced by Oaxacan style cuisine. Service was excellent and so was the selection of Tequilas and Mezcals. The restaurant had a great vibe and was very busy when we arrived at 8pm.