Picán

Had such high hopes for this place. Based on the menu everything looked good, but the service and food make this just a mediocre restaurant.
I will admit the hostess was the highlight of our visit. We walked in and were greeted with such a warm smile and nice presence.
Things went downhill once we were sat. We ordered drinks and asked for straws. My non-​alcoholic drink came out first, it took early 25 mins for the lavender lemon drop to come out. Still no straws, until we asked the third time. We ordered our food, I got the fried chicken, Mac and cheese, and Brussel sprouts and my friend got the side of Mac and cheese and greens. Shortly after (no more than 10 mins– which is strange but I can’t complain) everything BUT the Brussel sprouts came out. I waited another 15 mins and figured they weren’t coming out so I asked the bus boy to cancel the order since our waitress was in her own world. The food was okay. The seasoning on the chicken was overpowering and not in a good way, tasted like there was too much sage. They were not busy, so I was puzzled as to why the service was bad. I’m all for giving things a second try, so maybe in the future I will come back.

Great food, especially sexy bacon, beignets, and chicken Benedict. Sunday brunch is fabulous. This is our go to family celebration place.

Picán is one of my weekend brunch favorites. The décor/​ambiance is beautiful, the customer service can be hit-​or-​miss, but for the most part it’s pretty good, and the food is delicious. I’ve had everything from the Catfish and Grits (my go-​to meal), to the French toast and I’ve never been disappointed. Some of their food may require a little salt and pepper, but they have no problem bringing it to you (and it is served so cute) and I’d personally prefer that option than have them bring me high blood pressure on a plate.
Nevertheless, I recommend Picán as good place to eat with family/​friends or discuss business over a plate of deliciousness, as I’ve done both here. It’s pretty pricey, but… definitely worth it. Treat yourself.
. and don’t forget to order one of their cheddar biscuits. They’re putting Red Lobster to shame. ;)

I didn’t know what to expect but this was a WHOA moment. Our server, Chris was phenomenal. To
some making people feel comfortable just comes naturally– he’s just wonderful. We ordered a bottle of red blended wine. Chris suggested the Fried Green Tomatoes with Housemade Buratta (to die for)! NOLA Jambalaya and Mac & Cheese. The best part outside of my fabulous date who could be a stand in for Anderson Cooper — was the Bread Pudding. The better part was that it was complimentary because Chris is that fabulous. Try this place. It was my instant favorite.

Wow. Finally! Fried chicken!
Being born and raised in the South, I will vouch for this place. It’s a somewhat fancy restaurant that serves not-​so-​fancy Southern food… sigh… only in the Bay Area, the land of gluten-​free, vegetarian hipsters can everyday Southern food be made into something of a delicacy. I wish there was a grab-​and-​go version of Pican.
Regardless, the food is here is amazing. I’m not going to critique fried chicken, mac and cheese, and grits like I’m tasting wine or something. I’ll just tell you that the food is outstanding, you should eat here, and I’ll leave it at that.
The price is expensive, considering the type (don’t read as quality) of food. I’m a little biased here… but since I can’t find this type of food anywhere else, I’ll pay it.

Beginning to drop down from the glory days of chef Uong. The rib-​eye was tasteless at a recent dinner, and brunch a few weeks later was even more disappointing. Four of us came for Sunday brunch and got a terrible version of the country-​fried steak. It came with an awful sausage gravy — CFS uses a CREAM gravy, not a sausage gravy!
The grits were decent but not exceptional; the last few times we’ve gotten them they’ve been plated too quickly, with a skin formed on the top. Overall, we were disappointed, uncertain whether the gravy switch was deliberate or unintentional.
Fried chicken remains excellent, and the biscuits are the best in the EBay, bar none. Only Banks White’s biscuits at The Keystone/​SF are better than Pican’s.
Service always seems stressed at brunch, as if someone didn’t come in and people are having to run to keep up with things. They have excellent servers, well above average, but I always find myself feeling sorry for them. Your waitstaff should NOT have to literally run through the dining room in order to cover their station!

I really wanted to like this place based on the menu, but after finishing my meal, it was an underwhelming experience. I ordered the fried chicken and Mac and cheese with a side of asparagus. The asparagus were good, and the chicken was whatever, but the Mac and cheese was really upsetting. The amount of oil that was left in the pan it came in was disgusting. The prices here are too high to have such mediocre food.

Discovered someone else’s lipstick on the rim of my glass. Returned it and got the bill with the drink still on there. Was refunded on request. Service was slow and involved a whole lot of miscommunication between the staff. Cocktails were ok-​ish: lavender lemon drop was mostly water, and rosemary’s baby tasted like cheap gin and a pound of sugar.
Staff were super sweet, which was nice and saved this from being 1-​star. Still, I can’t recommend this place. Sorry Picán!

I normally am not a one to just say that everything is amazing but this time I have to admit there was absolutely nothing I could Complain about… except maybe the price. The food was the best I have ever had, and the dessert was equally as good! The service was amazing, or server was so cute and polite and attentive. We got out good within 20 mins of ordering!
So we first came in and Ms Amber seated us immediately. She was so lovely and accommodating. Mr Trevor send us drinks and food and always had a smile on his face and was very personable. They both checked on us regularly and made sure everything was to our satisfaction. Afterwards, Mr Trevor packed our food and brought our amazing desserts.
I was thoroughly pleased with everything, just wish the food wasn’t so pricey. It was worth it. They are a once a month place for those of us who don’t make much money, like me lol.

I came to this restaurant finishing off a tour of Oakland with my culinary class. Service was friendly. Waitress dropped food twice. I had the Wagyu Bourbon Street Burger. I ordered medium rare and instead got well done. The burger was still good and a little juicy, but I got tired of chewing when I was almost done and it started getting dry. Tito’s Mule was a pretty good drink. Chocolate sponge cake was pretty good. Overall a fine restaurant to go to, I expected better out of a fine dining restaurant where the prices are really high.

This post is only in response to the customer service, since I didn’t have the pleasure of dining at this establishment because of the lack of customer service and follow thru by Catering and Event Manager Ms. Mendoza. My organization excitedly reached out to Pican to host our very first Mother’s Day Celebration. We only support Oakland business so obviously Pican was highly recommended by Oaklanders.
At first we felt that we had truly hit the jackpot, our own private dining area to celebrate a group of mothers, several meal options to choose from, we were ecstatic! Then the tables turned, we received a proposal we had some things we wanted to revise etc. We met with another catering/​event staff person who was very helpful and accommodating, Ms. Leigh. However, we tried to reach out and confirm our reservation with Ms. Mendoza for weeks, with no response… like radio silence, it seemed as if she fell off the face of the earth literally. We called, emailed, called and emailed over and over. No RESPONSE! ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSE!!! Our event was exactly one week a way and we had already sent out invitations to the event to our mothers.
In less than a week we had to secure another venue for a party of 30+ and we had yet to hear back from Pican’s catering and event manager Ms. Mendoza. I called and was told that she was on the other line, she was out today, she would call me back in an hour. I never heard from Ms. Mendoza, I sent a very polite email stating we had chosen to move forward with another venue and she has yet to acknowledge it. We received an automated response saying we cancelled our reservation. Eh ummm yeah, what else were we supposed to do.
Long story short, the events and catering side needs some serious training in professionalism and customer service. If you couldn’t accommodate our request all you had to do was communicate that.
I couldn’t stay silent about the matter because in my book silence=acceptance. I do not accept this poor customer service and neither should you.

Tried and true, Pican’s has one of the best upscale atmosphere’s in Oakland and consistently serves delicious mouth watering food for the soul! Of course you should try the renowned fried chicken but please don’t stop there! The specials are always amazing-​we typically get whatever fish is offered and the scallops are yes dear-​to die for!
Last but not least is Pican’s service. It is superb. Our waiter was perfect-​helpful, charming, knowledgeable and consistent. We received a visit from the owner who is just as kind as they come. He helped my girlfriend with an issue and followed up as we were leaving with an additional apology and an offer for us to come dine on him next time! It was a minor issue but I love when establishments go the extra mile to impress and please the customer! Yes, I will be back again and again and I’ll bring my friends and family. Sign me up for the loyalty program because I live and die for excellent service.
Pican’s is an A-​1, five star restaurant. Go often and eat well!

This review is a couple weeks late but definitely wanted to make sure I came back to write about my birthday dinner here! My boyfriend took me here for my 24^th birthday on the 5^th and the ambiance was great. We sat down and did not have anyone come to our table for almost 15 minutes… normally I probably would have freaked out but it was my birthday so I remained calm. Eventually I asked a hostess if we could get a waiter and some water and from that point on our waiter (Alex maybe? Wish I remembered his name!) was at our side the entire night! He was amazing and the food was even better. From the cornbread to the crab dip (OMG) to the fried chicken to the brussels sprouts. They even brought me a delicious dessert to top off a great birthday dinner. My mom is in town this weekend and I plan on bringing her here to try out their brunch menu!

Best fried chicken and cornbread in the Bay Area. Well, maybe tied with Farmerbrown in the City for the chicken. But the vibe at Pican is uniquely Oaktown. My only wish is that the lounge and kitchen were open later, because it would be so perfect as a late night spot.

Sorry guys. Whatever you’re doing different, it isn’t working. I was a huge fan and frequent patron, but the last three times I have been there the service, food and drinks have all gone downhill. My last visit sealed the deal when we had Sunday Brunch. The hostess was rude to start. But worst of all, the Fried Chicken Eggs Benedict was a disaster. It was drenched in Creole hollandaise? More like very bad Dijon mustard. Not good at all. Sorry guys, you lost me as a customer. I won’t be back.

Stars: 2.5−3
So we decided to check this spot out cause my sister viewed it on Check Please. I have to admit, it did look promising. Fantastic space, high ceilings, open kitchen and nice bar area. I made a rezzy on a Tues, they were even nice to confirm the day before. Already knew I wanted to try everything cause it all sounded to good to pass up. We ordered: pork belly, ribs, fried chicken, trout Salad, collard greens, shrimp and grits, etoufee and finally chocolate pecan tart. Well I did say we came to try everything.
Pork Belly: the best thing we had. Amazing cuts of belly grilled just right. Sweet and salty with just the right chew, laying on top of a lettuce cup with a pickled julienne diakon and carrot. Great size appie, 3 servings but can ask for 4^th for additional cost. Must order!
Ribs: 2^nd best… finger licken! They should reconsider bottling that sauce. Spicy and sweet and tasty enough to just finger swipe the plate. Nice size ribs, meaty and great small plate to share. Must order.
FC: was ahright. I understand this is their signature dish, for me, it didn’t live up to the hype. Chicken breast was moist. just lacked flavor. Crust was fine again missing a kick. So they serve the chicken with a drizzle of truffle honey. It did create a nice flavor just thought the truffle was a little much. It was served with a side of mac & cheese. Plate easily to share.
Mac & cheese note: it needed more cheese and I didn’t care for the cheese that broke down/​separated
Collard greens: nice flavor. with some bacon.
S&G: grits were a little to course. Would have like a spicier shrimp topping with less oil.
Chocolate pecan tart: simply missing the chocolate part. Crust was hard/​bland, needed more butter to make it flakey.
Etoufee: over priced for the plate. Fish was cooked fine. It was topped with a salad which it didn’t need. Would have prefer more focus on the sauce.
I talked about the food and unfortunately I must speak to the service. MAJOR disappointment. We were seated and for 10 min no one addressed us. When the appies came out not all of us had small plates so I had to get up and steal two from an open table. Food ordered and never brought out. Table checks were far and few. For the prices you pay on the menu, the food and service did not match up. Which was unfortunate for my wallet.

Totally out of the blue for me. I joined my friend’s group of friends at this place. Looks super modern, moody (especially when it’s raining outside), and it can be romantic if you’re there with someone special. The bar is in the middle and tables surrounds it. There weren’t many people last night, but it was nice atmosphere and nice layout (we were all interior designers, soo… you know we’ll critique!).
It took the waitress a little while to get us some water, but truly enthusiastic about the drink menu because it was hump hump humpity hump day! Hehe… She did spook us out of the blue with drinks and menu items, chiming in a deep convo. But no one seem to mind, it’s just my observation.
Nothing really popped out to me from the menu. Everyone ordered the flank steak and they all loved it. I took a bite of the steak and it wasn’t anything special to me. I had ordered the gator gumbo, which was suppose to be duck confit with blue crab and everything else, but she said that the chef is French so he changed the menu to pork andouille sausage and chicken in lieu of the duck. I was a little disappointed because I love duck confit, but I went ahead and ordered it.
The dish was ok. It’s gumbo, everything was just thrown in together. The only thing I liked in that dish was the lightly battered okras. The sausage and chicken was not favorable to my palette, kind of mushy IMO. The shrimp that was in there was good. I barely tasted any crab in the dish. I was just picking random things out to eat. They topped it with water crest or something to give it some color, because the dish is just brown.
Perhaps I’ve ordered the wrong things or maybe not. Apparently everyone loves this place. Oh and the complimentary corn bread with butter was another thing that was memorable.

I was expecting better things from Pican, but sadly the restaurant failed to deliver. There was nothing that was outright bad, but none of the dishes, with the exception of the pre-​meal cornbread and the side of mac and cheese, were in any way memorable. It was the culinary equivalent of watching a film with no climax.
While the pre-​meal cornbread was good, I’m not quite sure why it was served with butter. In my years of growing up in the South, I’ve never had cornbread with butter, and now I know why: the butter adds nothing to sweet flavor of the cornbread.
Anyway, being a Southern restaurant, we had to try the Southern Fried Chicken, which came with a side of smoked Gouda mac and cheese. While moist and juicy, the chicken was not particularly flavorful. The optional truffled honey helped, but couldn’t completely rescue this dish. The mac and cheese was the only item we had that was a complete success.
We also ordered the 10NOLA Jambalaya Risotto and a side of the Hickory Bacon Brussels Sprouts. As with the chicken, neither dish was impressive. Also, all the dishes came out unnecessarily hot for some reason. We ended up getting most of the food boxed, but only because we felt bad wasting that much food.
Ignoring the unsatisfactory food, I will say that the service was great. They also had an interesting menu of craft cocktails: I tried the Tennessee Margarita. There is a large bar area separate from the dining area that seemed like it might make for a nice hangout spot. I highly doubt I would come back here to dine, but I might consider coming back for drinks.

I went to this restaurant with a group of 10 coworkers. The restaurant was not terribly packed but busy for a Wednesday night. Our server seemed to be a bit overwhelmed as he was always rushed and forgot to open our wine after 15 minutes after leaving it at our table. When my friend asked him if he could open it, the server replied, «it’s over there.» Pointing to the unopened bottle of wine at the end of the table,”. My friend was not happy. The server and other staff did not clear the first round of plates and made us move our plates so the entrée could be placed in front of us. Kind of weird but I was very excited to try my fried chicken with honey truffle oil and a side of Mac n cheese. The chicken was really good. The mac n chews was good but almost too rich, if that is even possible. My wife had the jambalaya which was ok. My friend, whom the waiter I guess had an issue with, had the pork chop and he said it was excellent and that he would come back again just for the pork chop. The sides, cornbread, roasted Brussels, kale salad crab dip were all very good. The fried green tomatoes was ok, but that may just be me. The flatiron steak was very good. Now the dessert. I couldn’t eat the chocolate sponge cake, which supposedly had peanut butt

I generally discount reviews for bad service on Unilocal as patrons being overly picky or unreasonable, but this was by far the worst service I have ever experienced at any restaurant. Our group of 7 had reservations for brunch here before a show at the Paramount. It took 20 minutes to be greeted by our server after being sat, drinks and food were delivered slowly and with items missing, and our server was MIA after he took our order. We had to physically get up and go find him to get a glass of water. When our food was delivered with an entrée missing, we had to get up and track down another employee to find out where our food was. The female manager came over was was condescending and did not seem to care that we were having such a bad experience.
More than half of the people at our table have worked at restaurants for a significant amount of time so we are pretty forgiving when it comes to bad service. But at Pican, not only was the service bad, both the server and manager were completely unapologetic and combative. On our way out of the restaurant, we walked by the manager and asked her for her name, and she told us, followed by «so you can name me when you trash us on Unilocal». I hope the owners start taking all these negative service reviews into account and make some changes — clearly the bad attitude is reflected from the management down. The food was delicious, but I will never return after such a negative experience.

Location: on Broadway, street parking available or there is an ACE parking structure that charges $ ³⁄₂₀ minutes. Restaurant itself is beautifully designed inside!
Food:
–Free cornbread = seriously delicious.
–Blue crab dip = seriously dreaming about it. DELICIOUS.
–Fried chicken with macncheese = extremely heavy meal but delicious flavors!
–Chocolate sponge cake = probably the most disgusting dessert I have ever had. The cake itself was decent, but the peanut butter mousse was cold, congealed and DISGUSTING. Mousse is supposed to be airy and fluffy — it literally tasted like congealed beef broth or something. Absolutely horrible. The bourbon syrup was just little squirts on the corner of the plate. Such a disappointment (as it was my birthday and I was looking forward to a cake lol).
Service: Our server was really nice but MIA most of the night. Took 20 minutes for water, took 20 minutes to take our dessert order, took 20 minutes to get us the check. It was ridiculous that we had to wait that long for any sort of service.
The food was good but probably won’t come back here if it means we spend more time waiting around for a server rather than actually enjoying our dinner.

Actually one of my favorite places to eat in the whole Bay Area, including all of the far more pretentious and expensive places you’ll find in SF.
Friendly down to earth staff and great gourmet southern food!

Came here for Restaurant Week, but apparently they don’t serve Restaurant Week menu on weekend. Would be nice if they let us know about this when they confirmed our reservation since we did put in the note that we were coming in for Restaurant Week.
Anyway, on to the foods… The fried chicken with the honey truffle is good and juicy! The ribeye steak is a bit flavorless. We were wondering why our foods were not hot and we found the answer when we passed by the kitchen. You can see all the fried chicken already fried and ready to be served. We’re guessing, so does all of the other foods because none of our foods are hot. When you eat at an upscale pricey restaurant, you would expect that they cook your foods on order.

Update review. Went lastnight on a Sunday very packed house with some soft R&B music playing in the back ground to a candle lit restaurant. You must, I do mean must take your lady here major brownie points. Lol. Will be back very soon.

The hubby and I visited Pican today for the first time. For Restaurant Week, they had a prix fixe lunch menu which was a great deal, but after looking at the other options available, we decided to order from the regular menu.
We started off with the Pican Punch, which is a combination of fruit juices and rum, but because it was so early we opted for non-​alcoholic versions. Very good! Will definitely have this again WITH the rum :)
Appetizers:
Fried Green Tomatoes (4 to an order): Scrumptious
They were lightly battered in cornmeal. I normally like this dish with a thicker cut tomato, but since it was only an appetizer, I understand why they were more on the thin side. The fresh greens and herbs that topped them added additional flavor and depth to the dish. My husband had never had fried green tomatoes and even he enjoyed these.
Warm Artichoke, Shrimp & Crap Dip: Delicious
This is served hot in a mini cast iron skillet with toasted bread. It would have been great to see a bit more chunks of the artichoke shrimp & crab but overall it was scrumptious!
Entrees:
My husband had the Fried Chicken with Mac & Cheese. He thought it was crispy, juicy and had a lot of flavor. The mac & cheese had a nice bread crumb topping which added nice texture.
I ordered the Smoked Chicken Quinoa Salad which I thought was gonna be a simple salad with chopped chicken on top. However, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a roasted leg/​thigh quarter with lightly crisp skin-​very juicy and full of flavor. The salad greens were fresh and lightly dressed. Overall, a really balanced meal.
Dessert:
We ordered the Pecan Tart for dessert to go. It has a caramel-​fudgy topping which was a bit too sweet by itself– would definitely need vanilla ice cream or simple whipped cream to counter act the sweetness of the tart.
Overall we had a great time. Our server Janna was very attentive and friendly. Definitely worth visiting again to try out the dinner offerings.
Side Notes: Street parking is hard to come by. Although we arrived 20 minutes after the restaurant opened, the streets were already packed. We ended up parking in the lot on 23^rd st. ($ 3.00/ 20 min; paid $ 18.00 max for the day).

While attending a soirée at the Kaiser Rooftop Garden I realized that the numerous amounts of sampled IPA’S and local wines I had enjoyed really made me work up an appetite (and a quick buzz). So rather than wait until I got home to have dinner I decided to do a quick Unilocal search of nearby restaurants. Pican was the closest and off we go.
Pican is located in Oakland’s Uptown district on Broadway at Grand avenue just a few miles from Oakland Convention center and in close proximity to Lake Merritt. Upon entering Pican I immediately noticed how beautiful the décor was. High ceilings, long windows, soft colored drapes, subtle wall colors and nice paintings made me feel right at home. Engaging atmosphere that is quite classy with business casual dress code.
Pican offers Southern cuisine a.k.a «Soul Food». I began my night with the appetizer «Low & Slow» Spicy Barbecued Pork Ribs Hickory smoked with Molasses sauce. Shaaamackinn! Entrée of choice was the Berkshire Pork Chop (Blackened rainbow hoppin’ john, chow chow), Slow Braised Brisket Greens (Smoked beef brisket, collards, onions) and Marble Potatoes (Chicken fat-​fried, black garlic aioli). For my beverage I had a «Tito’s Mule» (Tito’s handmade Vodka, ginger beer, simple syrup, fresh lime juice). Everything was good but I’ll be honest, probably wasn’t the healthiest of dinner choices but in my defense I was already a little buzzed from earlier so my decisions were a bit hasty. Nonetheless a nice urban chic restaurant that I would recommend if your looking for innovative Southern comfort food in Uptown Oakland.
ATTENTION!!! January 14^th-​24^th is Oakland’s annual Restaurant week. Pican has specially priced prix-​fix lunch and menus.

A fantastic, fancy southern restaurant. Great atmosphere, good service, and really beautiful and delicious food. I’ve come here for both the fried chicken with their truffle honey, which is likely their most popular dish, as well as for the scallops.
Both dishes have not disappointed, although like in most places, don’t order the scallops if you’re terrifically hungry.
The restaurant has a great bar as well if you want a nice drink with dinner or just need a place to relax after work.

#8
I really love Pican. I have written an earlier review; however, I eat here so much I just felt the need to update. The food is so spectacular and the service we receive here is always above average.
My last visit was a little different than usual. We waited a little longer, the food came out a little bit haphazardly (as far as timing goes), my server seemed a bit overloaded. The thing about all of that is that they took such great care of us that it almost slipped my mind throughout the meal.
Neada was our server and she had such a sweet a personable demeanor. She kind of reminded me of the typical southerner – even though I knew she was not – due to her hospitality. She realized things were taking a bit long and were arriving to the table in a cumbersome manner, and she was aware of everything. She apologized and brought us some free cornbread (which is to die for) and made sure our drinks were full each time she came by, which was quite frequently for her busy shift.
We grabbed a Basil Hayden and a martini and enjoyed our cornbread with fresh butter. It was so delicious. Reminds me of home for sure.
Next, we ordered a couple appetizers to share:
Beet Carpaccio
Chickpea Funnel Cake
The funnel cake was so light and fluffy. At first, I thought it was an odd combination – when I think of funnel cake I think of little carnivals in the south when I was a kid covered in powdered sugar and loaded with complex carbohydrates. I also know my chickpeas – I have been eating Garbanzo beans since I was old enough to chew food on my own. So this was an absolute party in my mouth – I hope that does not sound too «dirty’. Hot, light, fluffly and full of flavor. I feel like I need to comment on the capriccio too, but at this point I was stealing all the funnel cake.
From this point, it was time for dinner:
Shrimp and Grits
Mac n Cheese
I always have their mac n cheese. It really is so close to grammy’s that I always am amazed at how my taste buds can carry me to my youthful memories of helping grammy make her famous mac n cheese in the Dirty South as a little girl.
As for the shrimp and grits – boom! So perfect. And again, I love grits and they are not too common in the Bay Area, so any chance I have to order grits I go for it. And Pican never disappoints.
To summarize:
Even though the service from the kitchen was sketchy, and Neada was overwhelmed with tables, everyone made sure the dinning experience was worthy of note – a positive note at that.
Stephani Smiles for Pican ;)
#closestthingtonolaicanfindinthebayarea

We had a Lexus voucher for $ 100 for 2 people (which include alcohol and excludes tax and tips). Pican has pretty good reviews and was excited to try this so we called in to make a reservation.
Parking wasn’t too bad on a Sunday but we parked about 2 blocks away. We arrived about 30 minutes early and was seated right away.
Service is terrible here, the waiter didn’t come to our table until about 20 minutes later and it took 20mins+ for the waiter to get our check and then another 10mins to actually get us the box for the leftovers. During our meal, it was difficult to flag down our waiter. We noticed that the servers packed the leftovers for other tables but they only gave us the boxes to pack ourselves.
We ordered:
— Corn bread — complimentary, I was excited to try this as there was good reviews on this but it was very dry, not moist. It tasted better with butter but what doesn’t.
— Glazed Pork Belly $ 17 — 3 little gem leetuce, picked mirlton, habanero mustard, sorghum gastrique– this sounded pretty delicious but was only just ok. the pork belly was good but was a bit over cooked served as almost like a taco style but it was really difficult to eat. lots of veggies on top of the pork belly.
— Warm Louisiana Blue Crab Dip $ 20 — Artichoke, Gulf shrimp, mascarpone, grilled country bread — MEHHH, this was very cream, and no big chunks. I had a lot better for hell of a lot cheaper elsewhere
— «Low ‘N Slow» Spicy BBQ Pork Ribs $ 19 — hickory wood smoked, molasses bbq sauce– this was prob the best thing we ordered! fall of the bone, very flavorful, very mild spicy.
— Southern Fried Chicken $ 26 with the truffled honey served add $ 2 — Brined, double dredged Mary’s chicken, smoked Gouda mac n’cheese — MEHH, chicken had a good batter and chicken was juicy, wasn’t dry. It was white meat, should’ve requested for dark meat. It was only average nothing special. We added the truffled honey because we read some reviews that it goes well with it. The server came out and was going to directly pour it on the chicken and I quickly stopped him and asked for it to be on the side. Luckily I did b/​c we did not like it at all. Truffled honey was wayyy too strong and does not go well with the chicken at all.
— Tito’s Mule $ 12 — basically taste like ginger beer with no alcohol taste.

Came here after visiting the Cathedral of Christ the Light for a Sunday brunch with the bf. We usually go to Jack London Square for brunching, but we decided to try something different — and we are really glad we did! Specializing in Southern comfort food, Picán was exactly what we needed to escape the brisk, icy cold that’s been covering the Bay Area as of late.
That being said, and with me craving fried chicken for the past week and a half, I ordered the signature chicken benedict while the bf ordered the country fried steak. Both were seriously so good, and writing this makes me want to go back to order some more fried chicken as soon as possible, haha. We also ordered the shrimp and grits as an appetizer, but because of a mistake from our waiter we ended up getting the biscuits and gravy instead. Not complaining on this happy accident though because it was still soooo bomb! Also, our waiter ended up taking the biscuits and gravy off of our total bill since we didn’t actually order it which was really nice.
And of course, it wouldn’t be brunch without some booze so we got the BBQ bourbon Bloody Mary, which came in a massive mason jar and was topped off with shrimp, «sexy» bacon, and an olive. It was pretty overwhelming and I actually couldn’t finish all of mine, but from what I did drink it was the perfect accompaniment to all of the other Southern goodies.
Because we got a third entrée by mistake, we were too full to try any of the desserts offered, but next time I definitely want to try their beignets!

Ambience, décor, fanciness = 5 stars
Alcoholic beverages = 5 stars
Cornbread = 10 stars
Came here with two girlfriends to catch up over dinner and drinks, with our pinkies up!
Ordered the Warm Artichoke, Shrimp & Louisiana Blue Crab Dip to share for our appetizer. Not bad, not bad. Tasty! Not too salty either. I think the cornbread was complimentary (don’t quote me on that though). The cornbread was probably the best thing we had ordered.
My friend said that Pican was known for their gator gumbo and their chicken & macncheese. so the two of my girlfriends ordered that. The chicken was good, crispy. Macncheese was good, cheesy, not too heavy, not greasy. I didn’t try the gumbo but my friend said she’d had better gumbo at Elephant Bar. I went for the 12oz Char Crusted Ribeye Steak. The meat was tender, cooked medium well, risotto was filling. All of our entrees were… oh-​kay. I thought it would be a bit more orgasmic in my mouth. Buuuuuut. It was average. Nothing lifechanging, sorry! It’s pricey, but I guess you pay for the venue more than anything.
The drinks, like I said, were great! I got the lavender lemon drop. YUM! My friend’s got a Tito’s Mule and Southern Peach Squeeze.
Alcohol + cornbread + venue.

Excellent service. We had Trevor as our server and his support staff and they were amazing. The hostess was so nice and helpful and the restaurant had a bit of an unnecessary wait for a table, even though no one else was at the restaurant. But many people apparently had reservations.
The table service was great and the food was perfect. I had the jambalaya, the portion was small. But full of flavor. The rabbit meatballs brought four on grits and they were very game’y and cooked well. The fried green tomatoes were also very good. A must try is the fried chicken with truffle honey drizzle which is a must. As well as the Mac and Cheese Crawfish.

Upscale Southern/​NOLA food in Uptown. For the most part, I love it. Unfortunately it is pricey enough to keep it out of reach for weekly outings. More like special occasion outings. Drinks, unless you’re drinking beer are $ 10+. Even for something as basic as a bourbon n’ soda. They have a $ 40 Snapper dish. A $ 45 steak. I think you can catch my drift. But there are other worthy entrees in the $ 22-​$ 30 range.
Beet Jubilee Salad ($ 14) is pretty good. Assortment of sliced cooked beets made the colors festive. Tiny balls of goat cheese added a creamy tang. Dressed greens… just eh. Kicker ingredient were toasted pumpkin seeds. Powww! I want this in every salad now. So nutty and deep, it made everything more noticeable.
Gumbo ($ 28) Probably the fanciest rendition I’ve had yet. Sauce appropriately dark and nutty without it being burnt. Gulf prawns and Blue crab were noticeable. Duck confit a winner ingredient being very tender and rich. Fried okra was a very nice touch. A very well thought out gumbo with nice execution.
Jambalaya Risotto ($ 25) Wow! I love both dishes, and why haven’t I ever seen the 2 dishes put together? It is so natural for them to be together. Arborio rice cooked to that perfect risotto al dente-​ness. All the other flavors and textures mimic a Louisana Jambalaya… brilliant. Andouille Sausage gave it the requisite smoke note. Prawns and Chicken added the satisfying protein. While silky chunks of Catfish sent this to Cajun heaven. A little salty, but still a game changing dish.
Chose to drink dessert and we had one of their spiked coffee drinks. Black Ink ($ 10) is dark rum, chocolate liqueur and soft whipped cream. Worth every penny as it is a very slow sipper.
Very high ceilings, a candle at every table, nice jazz gave it a special occasion vibe. Service competent but for the prices, I wished they replaced silverware between courses. They’ll actually take your fork off your finished plate, and place it back on the table for the next course. In a diner… fine. But here, I felt they could do better.

More like a 3.5. Some of the dishes can get pretty pricey and in addition to those, there’s a $ 19 Bloody Mary. In its defense, it’s in a huge mason jar, had bourbon, and tastes super delish.
I had the Cherry Tomatoes with Cheesy Grits, Poached Eggs, and Crispy Shallots. For being one of the few vegetarian dishes on the menu, it was really good. Great flavor all around and I didn’t feel weighed down like everyone else did from the meats.
I tried the Monte Cristo with Hickory Smoked Bacon which had thick cuts of quality bacon. It was balanced well with the sweetness of the bread but it was too much unhealthy. It also came with house made chips – some salad would’ve been better to minimize the oil.
Eating here feels like you’re eating in a New Orleans mansion. It’s an open space with high ceilings. Feels comfortable and breezy.

Seriously scrumptious Southern fare. The Southern fried chicken is a must-​have for dinner, and is an extra delightful treat when sprinkled with truffled honey. For brunch, nothing beats a brisket cheesesteak biscuit paired with a fried chicken biscuit for a sinfully delightful way to earn back all those calories lost from a weekend morning run or workout, and then some. If you’ve got room for more, the bar offers an extensive list of cocktails, like the exquisite café brulot, which combines hot coffee with liqueur and whipped cream.
Service is friendly and casual, although sometimes it can take a while for the food to arrive at your table. Nevertheless, whether you’re dining in a group large or small, you’re always dining among friends here, as the clientele here is outgoing and friendly, just like you’d expect in Oakland. Definitely worth 5 stars, as well as all the buzz and recognition it can get.

This is only my second time coming here, the last time I was here was about 4 or 5 years ago for my birthday breakfast when I ordered shrimps and grits… it was sooo good.
Today I am simply here to drink, I am a tequila drinker so today is all new for me. I have had 4 different drinks I have never heard of or had before… the people I am with ordered 4 different appetizers, but I was simply out to drink so I didnt sample anything other than finishing my drinks.
The staff is pretty cool and decently attentive, the drink were strong and pretty sweetly flavored (for those that need flavor or some kind of sweetness the drinks are probably the business), Im more of a shot kind of guy and was adventurous today, Im not disappointed but glad I didnt eat in addition to these flavorful drinks.
I will be back and give a cheers to Pican!!!

They’ve been open for almost a year now, and they still have the friendly, well-​dressed gentleman opening the door for you, and he always seems glad you came. All the dishes are hearty, and the drinks are well made. Only thing causing a mild ding is the price. $ 20+ for fried chicken is a little painful, but it’s damn good fried chicken. A good place to stop by for dessert after a show at the Paramount.