Republica

Republica calls itself Berkley’s neighborhood gastropub, and the room makes good on the neighborhood part: small, cozy, and so cute we’d come back for the atmosphere alone. The kitchen leans “health-forward American comfort food,” which in practice means a menu where too many things sound good at once. We went back and forth longer than we’d like to admit, and what we ordered was really good. The one that got away: baklava French toast on the weekend brunch menu, which is a sweet tooth’s built-in reason to return.

Service is where we have to be straight with you, and one of us is a hospitality director by trade, so weigh it with that lens. Our servers were friendly, just more tuned in to catching up with each other than to the tables. We had to ask for silverware and napkins, and the to-go box for leftovers arrived with salt in it and had to be swapped out. None of it ruined the meal. All of it was avoidable.

Our scorecard: food 4/5, service 3/5, atmosphere 5/5. If you’re making a morning of it in Berkley, a weekend brunch here pairs nicely with a stroll through the Berkley Farmers Market. It’s earned a return visit. We’ll just bring a little patience along with our appetite.