Ian M.
Yelp
Oak is an excellent restaurant. My own meal was not great. But everyone else in our party of five raved about it. So I feel it is important to offer a useful assessment and not indulge one's own opinion about what in the overall scheme of things is not a big deal (who was it who said in the long run we're all dead -- I'm trying to cultivate a more Zen attitude).
I was there with my wife, my wife's friend, the friend's sister, and the sister's husband. We were in town during a terrible heat wave, which is not random but the result of climate change (it is crucial to emphasize this in every context since it poses an existential threat to all of us which renders opinions about dining options inconsequential at best). Three of us were running half marathons, and this was the evening between two races for me. We wanted a good hearty meal. We were not disappointed.
We noticed immediately the range of choices. The social scientists who study "choice" advise that too much of it makes most people incapable of making a decision. Choice can be an illusion. But not in this case. The specific type of choice that should be lifted up for praise is the vegetarian and vegan options. Probably no other place known for hamburgers in this town offers such a range of non-meat alternatives, of high quality according to the two members of our group who partook in them.
The items such as salads which were not meat alternatives but conventional plant based dishes were competent and entree sized -- it is not a criticism to say a single person could not possibly finish one as an appetizer, but a recommendation for the table to order one. We had two. They were refreshing on an evening in a stretch which set records for high temperatures. All four diners praised their dishes, two with meat and two without. The fried pickle spears which we shared also were high quality. The French fries were superb, crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside, hot, salty, and not out of a bag.
The disappointment was my chicken pot pie. It was edible. It was not a disaster. The problem, which one might guess was caused by how hot it was (meaning the kitchen must have been much worse), was that the crust was doughy. It had not been baked long enough. The filling was fine. The crust would have been well served with much longer in the oven.
That means that four out of five diners at the table would have given Oak the highest rating and I would have have liked to do so. Rounding up, that makes for five stars. It's important to be generous. That also takes into account friendly service by a waiter who consented to allow an apprentice tattoo artist put on his arm a combination of two old sailor's images, which looked like a set of stairs and goat legs (that was all the explanation we received, and it was intriguing). I would try it again, without a doubt.