2430 Broadway,Oakland,California
4 (382)
Reviews
Smells Creole Catering Restaurant in Oakland, CA, was delicious. The greeter was pleasant. We were seated immediately. Our waiter was a charming young man who had multiple suggestions. We tried to order multiple food items. It was hard to decide. Fried Shrimp 10/10 seasoned perfectly Fried Fish 10/10 seasoned perfectly MacNCheese 100/10 Yams 5/10 Garlic Green Beans 10/10 others in our group thought the green beans were a 7/10 Fried Chicken 7/10 Fried super duper hard Mash Potatoes 10/10 The customer service was extraordinary. Everyone was helpful and well aware. Yes, we would come back again when in Oakland. Parking was challenging!!! The music was grown and nice.
The food was just ridiculous (incredible). We almost had to take a nap before driving home 💤😁! Looking forward to the next visit
If you have not tried Chef Smelly’s food you have to ASAP! Everything this place makes is delicious, and Elegance has amazing desserts. Multiple members of my family love to order take out from here for their birthdays, specifically the dungenous crab. We usually purchase a couples platter, it comes with 2 whole crabs, 1 lbs of prawns, and garlic noodles for $150. This usually feeds 3 of us. The catfish, snapper, trifecta fries, and ribeye are also amazing. The best part might be the garlic noodles, I don’t know what is in them but they will blow you away. Do not leave anything in your car while grabbing food here, there are Bippers. Get over to Chef Smelly’s ASAP if you haven’t already.
Sooooo I want to see this restaurant win! It's a tough business and it's hard to get everything right but it's necessary to keep the doors open in this competitive East Bay restaurant market. That said, I will admit I have rated Smelly's more generously than I do normally. Considering the exceptional deal we received for Oakland's Restaurant week, the food was great for the price. Who gets a whole crab, blackened shrimp and garlic noodles for $60! That's totally unheard of! I also ordered a side wings that were absolutely delicious! I had to toss my napkin to the side and lick my fingers to make sure I didn't miss any of that phenomenal flavor! While the crab was covered in garlic and butter the flavor was just OK but the garlic noodles were a great consistency and had a good amount of garlic and some other ingredients that made me turn into a magician who made them disappear! The blackened shrimp was so yummy! As far as atmosphere, well, the day I was there it was comfortable to me as an African American women because I could fully relate to the cultural dynamics of a large group of women singing along with most of the music that was played lounder than you will find in any other restaurant. I found their singing to be lighthearted and uplifting. The party atmosphere of Smelly's was wonderful - for me. They can use some more sturdy tables as they are a bit cheap feeling and light weight but perhaps they need something light since they are there only about 4 days a week and maybe they need something easy to move around but they should invest in something more substantial. The host was so sweet and super attentive! I felt she took each person's comfort and food delivery personally. Now, about the "food delivery" it took about 45 minutes before we got our food after we ordered it. Maybe this was due to the $60 deal that day. I will go back and update my post if it changes. I only saw a few people leave but all who sat down waited for that super priced meal and it was worth the wait. I look forward to ordering other items from Smelly's and sharing my experience in the near future. Sorry my pics were not available since I attacked my food before taking pics. These are from their site but look almost identical to what I ordered!
I went to Shelly's to celebrate my sister n law's birthday. We ordered drinks, appetizers, and entrees. The food was excellent! Especially the catfish. I wish I could remember our waiter and bartender's name because they provided excellent service. I highly recommend this establishment.