Ceron Kitchen - Alameda

Food was exceptional and such a great ambiance. Do not miss the buttermilk chive biscuits!

My family and friends have been to Ceron a few times for dinner and we have never been disappointed. Our latest visit with my daughter and grandson was to celebrate my wife's birthday. My grandson had never tasted homemade pasta but when the chef made our 4 year old a simple dish with butter and mushrooms, he devoured it. We felt welcome and at home from the moment we arrived. We reside in Alameda and have found that this level of service and quality of food usually require a trip across the bay. Although some of our favorite restaurants are across the bay, Ceron makes such a trip unnecessary. The menu is reminiscent of the old school San Francisco restaurants, many of which have held Michelin designations. We've been pretty picky about where we dine since the pandemic struck, but the experience we enjoyed here has always been well worth the price in terms of time and money. We will continue to recommend Ceron to those who can appreciate excellent food and service: the staff is friendly and knowledgeable, the bartender mixes cocktails very well, and the chef is among the best on the west coast.

Need to preface- 1st time was on NYE probably not ideal circumstances. Having said this, the management fumbled badly. The seating podium crew were nonexistent had the panache of DMV clerks. We were seated in the bar on a tiny 2-top obviously crowbarred in for maximum capacity, surrounded by screens broadcasting football. Did I want to spend my evening enjoying a fine meal in a Vegas sports bar? Server was young knew next to nothing about the food or wines. Poor kid was buried, no backup. Guessing he was a last minute recruit to staff for the busiest night of the year. I felt bad for him. The only saving grace was the food which was exceptional. If the food were on the same level as front-of-the-house operations, this place would’ve gone dark ages ago.

Food: Delicious. 10/10. Service: Arrived for a 7pm reservation and were told we'd have to wait 15 minutes for a table. Waited 40 minutes, asked again, and they seemed confused, then found us a table. Wait staff was fine. 8/10 Ambience: New Year's Eve, every table full, boisterous, positive, well appointed. 9/10 Value: Expensive. Steak $60+, drinks $20 each. 5/10

The buttermilk chive biscuits were great but there were just three of them and they were a little bigger than one-inch squares. Disappointing for $14.00. We make healthy salaries and were still put off with that. The service was pretty bad, but the restaurant was busy. Still we watched table after table be served before us. Even though they were sat after us. Maybe we just got a dud foodserver. The Ahi Tuna Tartare was good, but it came with one five inch round tortilla chip. It was nowhere near enough. Our wine that we ordered with dinner was delivered as we were finishing our tuna. And that was because we reminded our server. We both had a salad. My wife had the pomegranate and I had the wedge. They were both very good. For dinner, I had the filet and my wife had the King salmon. They were both great. The steak was full of flavor and the sides were delicious. The salmon was equally as good. The main courses were the highlights and helped redeem for the poor service. Overall, I can't imagine we would go back or recommend it to friends. There are just too many restaurants in the Bay Area that are better.