TABLES FOR TWO

The East Bay’s Top 10 Romantic Tables

By Shane Glass

This Valentine’s Day, there will be a few lucky couples who manage to land not just a table, but the table. The one that offers gorgeous views, extra intimacy, maybe even a roaring fire. The competition for these most-requested tables may be fierce, especially on February 14, but if you don’t score one, remember that they are just as romantic on other nights. And there’s always next year.

Bay Wolf The Veranda
This Piedmont Avenue institution has been wooing V-Day couples for the past quarter century. Bay Wolf veterans know to try for a table on the cozy, heated veranda, which is decorated with strings of white lights, at this renovated Victorian house.
3853 Piedmont Ave.
Oakland
(510) 655-6004

Bridges The Fountain Room
Danville’s Bridges Restaurant and Bar remains one of the most romantic dining spots east of the Caldecott. General Manager Lisa Waldman says the hottest real estate is Table 33, in a corner of the Fountain Room, which offers views of the patio fountain.
44 Church St.
Danville
(925) 820-7200

Casa Orinda The Fireplace Tables
Don’t let the macho, Old West–style décor fool you; this Orinda establishment is no stranger to local love-struck couples. Situated around the grand fireplace are a few choice tables fit for a marriage proposal. Of the many engagements sealed here, the most memorable was pulled off by a woman who popped the question to her boyfriend, recalls Manager John Goyak. “She orchestrated everything. She was much more thorough than any man had been.”
20 Bryant Way
Orinda
(925) 254-2981

Jordan’s The Bay View
Just about every table at the Claremont Resort & Spa’s fine dining restaurant offers a sweeping view of the Bay, but those along the windows are the front-row seats to spectacular sunsets and, after dark, the shimmer of San Francisco’s lights across the water. You can’t officially reserve these window tables, but book ahead to improve your chance of landing one.
41 Tunnel Rd.
Berkeley
(510) 549-8510

Mudd’s The Garden View
Mudd’s elegant but comfortable atmosphere attracts many romantic types, especially because it’s surrounded by the restaurant’s own edible Crow Canyon Gardens. Naturally, the most coveted tables are those affording the best garden views. The idyllic setting has inspired its share of creative betrothals. Executive chef Ron Ottobre recalls “a gentleman dressed as a knight who rode up on a white horse onto the patio and proposed.”
10 Boardwalk
San Ramon
(925) 837-9387

Olivia The Cozy Corners
Because this recently opened restaurant seats a maximum of 30 people at a time, every table amid the nooks and crannies of the quirky Moorish-style building offers a cozy atmosphere.
1453 Dwight Way
Berkeley
(510) 548-2322

Postino The Alcove
The interior of this classic Italian restaurant in Lafayette boasts two fireplaces—one in the Family Room and one in the Library. But the privacy of Table 71, in a corner of the Alcove Room, makes it the proposal hot spot.
3565 Mt. Diablo Blvd.
Lafayette
(925) 299-8700

Prima Ristorante Table 30
This celebrated restaurant’s most romantic spot is so popular, diners ask for it by name: Table 30. According to Manager Suzanne Soshea, this corner table has it all: “You sit side by side with candlelight and the fireplace nearby, so it is very cozy.”
1522 N. Main St.
Walnut Creek
(925) 935-7780

Vic Stewart’s The Drawing Rooms
Vic Stewart’s offers retro romance in Walnut Creek’s former train depot. Try for one of the four private drawing rooms on the 1901 Pullman train car, each with closing doors, original woodwork, old-fashioned light fixtures, and padded seating.
850 S. Broadway
Walnut Creek
(925) 943-5666

Wente The Dramatic Table
Wente Vineyards Restaurant pastry chef Lisa Shaver knows a little something about the romantic draw of the eatery’s prize Table 8. (It’s the one looking out onto the front patio, separated from other tables by a credenza.) Last year, a diner who booked that table conspired with Shaver on the ultimate dessert: chocolate mousse with a blood orange coulis, topped with a tuile, sugar-work, and a diamond ring. Now that’s a proposal.
5050 Arroyo Rd.
Livermore
(925) 456-2450