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| - I've tried Sonoma Cellar five times over the years and it has never failed to disappoint me. Last night was my first visit after the new redesign and while the restaurant is drop-dead gorgeous inside in terms of interior design, the food is still just as god-awful as ever. I spent my free players points on dinner here and while it was technically a "free" mail, I STILL feel like I got ripped off.
Our server was professional and prompt (until it came time to pay our bill, more on that later). We were presented with a basket of complimentary bread which included sourdough, wheat, and a really yummy bacon foccaccia style bread. Noone warned us that there was indeed pork in the bread, a big no-no if there's a vegetarian or vegan at your table.
The new menu looks an awful lot like the old menu, but with a few "upgrades": one of them apparently being the quality of the meat. Our waiter gushed about how the kitchen was now using "fresh produce grown in Nevada" and "higher quality beef."
The menu is also misleading. The descriptions sound delicious but they over-promise while the kitchen under-delivers. Here's what we ordered:
Appetizer to Share: Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, $14 for four decently prepared shrimp wrapped in super crispy bacon and a mustard / orange marmalade sauce. Tasty but overpriced.
For dinner I got the filet mignon ($34) and asked for it medium well. The kitchen butterflied my steak which is fine, but it was still a little too pink in the middle for me and it was served cold. I didn't send it back because it wasn't that good anyway, but a steakhouse should know how to properly cook a steak without butterflying it and if they have to cut it, it at least shouldn't be closer to rare in the middle (and serving a steak cold -- not room temperature, but COLD) is ridiculous. Hubby got the pan seared ribeye ($39) and said the meat quality was disappointing. Neither of the steaks were well seasoned and my steak tasted like it had zero seasoning on it at all, not even salt or pepper.
The side dishes, each priced at $9, were miniscule portions and tasted bad. We had broccoli that was served with a dab of yogurt on the bottom and a few sad pistachios tossed in (although the menu promised spicy broccoli with mint and yogurt and nuts, we technically got those things but it was unappetizing to look at), and Cauliflower Three Ways (the menu listed it as such, as a trio of cauliflower prepared pickled, pureed, and roasted). We were served a bowl of cold roasted cauliflower.
The wine list was actually quite good, heavy on the big California reds and the per bottle prices weren't marked up as much as they are at the "big boy" gourmet steak houses. A few wines were served by the glass for an average price of $11 per glass. We brought in our own bottle and the corkage fee was $25.
The service was decent until it was time for our check, and we sat and waited quite a long time. We were trying to catch a movie next door at the Regal and our waiter was aware of that fact. Still, he ignored us for a good 15 minutes before returning with our check. We paid with points but he erroneously took an additional $40 worth of points out of our Players account. He swore he would get a manager to take care of it, but I'm doubtful. I'll check to see what my balance is but I have every idea that he just left that extra $40 on there.
This is a pretty restaurant but the food is bad, the prices are too high, the quality is poor, and the service needs a lot of work. I won't be back.
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