Previous: Le Bateau Ivre Restaurant
Next: Ardenwood Historic Preserve
Return to Location Search Results

Caffé Verbena

Clicking this link will take you to a form that allows you to tell friends and family about Caffé Verbena.

Oakland Wedding Location
1111 Broadway, Lobby Level
Oakland, CA 94607
Contact: Catering
Phone: 510/465-9300
www.caffeverbena.com
Request a proposal for your event from Caffé Verbena

if you would mention that you found Caffé Verbena on the Here Comes The Guide website.

Click thumbnails to enlarge image

Why We Like This Place

Caffé Verbena is what most urban restaurants long to be: a place that provides respite from the big bad city while simultaneously playing up the glamour of metropolitan life. Inside this upscale eatery, buttery walls, deep leather booths and a handsome bar envelop guests in comfort and calm; yet thanks to vertical windows and an adjacent atrium and garden, the impressive Oakland skyline—and the excitement of the city—is never far away.

Right in the heart of Oakland’s newly revitalized downtown, Caffé Verbena occupies a portion of the towering Shorenstein APL Building’s lobby level. Businesses may inhabit the upper floors, but Caffé Verbena and its immediate environs are all about pleasure. You can limit your celebration to the restaurant itself, but it’s great fun to expand into the light-filled atrium, gleaming marble lobby, and Zen garden just beyond the establishment’s wide-open doors.

The atmosphere changes depending on where you are. In Caffé Verbena’s paneled cherrywood dining room, low lighting, dark fabrics and mahogany wood accents set the tone, with an open kitchen and long, well-stocked bar completing the picture. These details provide a sophisticated backdrop for a seated meal or cocktail reception.

Just outside the restaurant proper, an atrium with floor-to-ceiling windows affords views of the garden and the nearby Federal and City Center buildings. This space can be used for just about anything: drinks and hors d’oeuvres, a delightful lunch or supper, or as a dance floor with room for a DJ booth.

Beyond the atrium, the sparkling but spare rear lobby of the building boasts a high ceiling and a rotating selection of contemporary abstract sculpture from the Oakland Museum. There’s ample room for a cocktail hour, sit-down dinner or even a wedding ceremony. With plenty of advance notice, Caffé Verbena’s management can remove the sculpture—but why bother? These artworks are an added bonus, enhancing the ambiance of the place.

Stepping into the great outdoors from the lobby, guests encounter a grassy courtyard surrounded by a waterfall, stone benches and more sculpture, known as the Zen garden. Some couples get married on the grass, while others exchange vows on the wide cement path that wraps around the courtyard. This open area can also accommodate larger groups, for both seated and standing receptions.

For smaller get-togethers, Verbena sports a petite patio that overlooks 11th Street. Amidst city views, a bride and groom can tie the knot, ply guests with champagne or sit down with an intimate group of family and friends for an al fresco party.

At Caffé Verbena, you can design your event using any or all of these spaces. In fact, this property’s main draw might be the diversity of its event-friendly areas and the different moods they provide. Though Caffé Verbena has only been open since 2001, it should become increasingly popular for weddings, wine tastings, private parties and corporate functions as people discover its enchanting urban setting.

Capacity

Ceremony

Reception/Special Events

Meetings

Max. Seated Indoors: 300
Max. Seated Outdoors: 150

Max. Seated Indoors: 350
Max. Seated Outdoors: 250
Max. Standing Indoors: 600
Max. Standing Outdoors: 400

Max. Seated: 600

CEREMONY CAPACITY: The Lobby holds 300 seated guests, and the Zen Garden holds 150 seated.

EVENT/RECEPTION & MEETING CAPACITY: The facility holds 50–350 seated or 100–400 standing indoors, and 40–250 seated or 75–400 standing outdoors.

Fees & Deposits

50% of the food and beverage minimum is required to reserve your date; the balance is due at the end of the event. Facility fees may apply depending on space rented. Luncheons range $18–35/person, dinners $35–55/person. Tax, alcohol and a 20% service charge are additional, as is a $3/person cake-cutting fee. A ceremony setup fee may apply.

Availability

Year-round, daily, 9am–2am.

Catering

Provided
BYO

Alcohol

Provided
BYO w/ Corkage Fee

Sites Uses

Ceremonies
Wedding Receptions
Special Events, Parties
Business Functions/Meetings
Rehearsal Dinners

Services/Amenities

Catering: provided or BYO CBA
Kitchen Facilities: CBA for BYO catering
Tables & Chairs: provided or CB
Linens, Silver, etc.: provided or CBA
Restrooms: wheelchair accessible
Dance Floor: yes
Bride's Dressing Area: CBA
Meeting Equipment: CBA, extra charge
Parking: onsite garage, extra charge; or on street
Accommodations: no guestrooms
Telephone: pay phone
Outdoor Night Lighting: yes
Outdoor Cooking Facilities: no
Cleanup: provided, extra charge
View: cityscape, garden
Other: event coordination

Amplified Music

Indoors
Outdoors
w/ Restrictions

Wheelchair Access

Wheelchair Accessible

Site Views

Cityscape
Garden
Garden Patio/Courtyard

Site Type

Restaurant
Garden

Restrictions

Alcohol: provided, or wine corkage $10/bottle
Smoking: outdoors only
Music: amplified OK, with restrictions
Wheelchair Access: yes
Insurance: required for outside vendors

Contact: Catering
510/465-9300
www.caffeverbena.com
Email or request a proposal for your event from Caffé Verbena

View Map
Tell a Friend

Share Caffé Verbena with others:

Want to search again?

Previous: Le Bateau Ivre Restaurant
Next: Ardenwood Historic Preserve

FIND A LOCATION

Search for Locations New Locations Featured Locations Rehearsal Dinners Location Search Tips Key to Terms First Time User

Don’t take chances on your wedding!

Certified By The Guide Northern and Southern California wedding vendors have all been highly recommended by tons of brides and fellow wedding professionals. If we don’t consistently hear raves, we don’t put them on our website.

Enter to win

2010 Southern California Dream Wedding Giveaway

You & your fiancé could win a package that includes rehearsal dinner, ceremony & reception location, music, photography, wedding dress, wedding night accommodations and many more event services worth over $100,000!

Register for your MyGuide account

Wishing you could save a list of the places and services that interest you? You can. Register for MyGuide and:
• save your favorite locations and services
• email several of your favorites at the same time
• share your selections with your family and friends
• make notes to yourself about each location or service

Rehearsal Dinner?

Here Comes The Guide is a great tool to use to find your rehearsal dinner location! And, read more about how to personalize your rehearsal dinner.

Wedding Dresses

We’ve selected the best California bridal salons to help you find your wedding dress. And, get great deals on your wedding dress and see entire wedding dress designer collections at California Trunk Shows.

Central Coast Weddings

We have just opened up a whole new section for Central Coast wedding locations and Central Valley ceremony sites. We think this gorgeous region, full of beach wedding locations and winery reception venues is the “next big thing” in destination weddings.

Santa Barbara Weddings

Santa Barbara is a stunning region for destination weddings. Its sublime weather is perfect for garden or beach wedding ceremonies, and its chic hotels and restaurants will rock your wedding reception. Most of our beautiful Santa Barbara wedding locations have Virtual Tours, so take a sneak peek right now!