Redwood Cafe

We have been dining here for special occasions for 20+ yrs. The meals have always been exceptional tasting never a disappointment, however no matter how great tasting the meal if the service is poor or your patronage is not valued it will ruin the dining experience. Such was our case. Quickly stated. At 5pm (Our reservation time) we went to the Dale Rd entrance and the door was locked. We waited till 5:10 when I called the Hostess and was told to enter on the Bangs Rd.side. When we walked up to the Bangs Rd. entrance door there was a sign on it that said “enter on the Dale Rd side”. Frustrated we entered in the door and found an employee inside the dining room where our table was suppose to be reserved, the employee told us we had to go back outside and go to the outside gate and check in with the hostess? What? I explained to them we’d both done enough walking due to our disabilities and we were leaving. How can you enjoy a meal after this. I contacted the Manager on the phone while we were in the parking lot and he could not explain why there was no signage on the Dale Rd main entrance and improper signage on the Bangs Rd entrance and made no mention of correcting that issue. Basically he could care less about what we experienced. But all ends well as we drove to Mike’s Grill-house and enjoyed an amazing Halibut dinner, fantastic clam chowder, but most of all the service we received was above and beyond even though Mike’s Grill-House was filled to capacity.

The wait staff was very attentive and helpful. The food was really great. My main course lacked flavor- the spicy chicken pasta. Others got the pizza, scallops, and filet and all loved it. Very upscale menu and prices for Modesto. This is a nice restaurant but not too stuffy. Wish my meal tasted better but overall it was a good experience.

Let me start by saying that the food here is pricey, but excellent. The cocktails are amazing and the wine is up to par. That said, tonight was my 3rd time visiting this restaurant with my wife. The first time, in 2019, we called and made a reservation for my wife's birthday. When we showed up, they found no record of our reservation and after about 10 minutes of trying to figure it out, we walked out. The manager followed behind and caught up to us; and immediately accommodated us and got us a table on the back patio area. That was fine. The second time was during father's day 2019 and the brunch was amazing. That second experience I felt they had redeemed themselves from the first. However, this brings us to tonight, having made a reservation for 7pm for my five year marriage anniversary. Below I will list the issues we experienced tonight: 1 - We showed up at exactly 6:56pm and had to park along the canal; which was an absolute nightmare to pull out of when we left. However, upon checking in at the back entrance at 7pm, we were told our table was not yet ready and it would be five minutes. It was 15 minutes later we were actually seated. 2 - We ordered our drinks and appetizer, which we received at 7:30pm. It was then we made our order for the dinner. We did not receive our dinner until 8:33pm. During that time, we watched two other tables that showed up after us receive and complete their meals. 3 - The outdoor patio experience was absolute trash, and I don't use that type of description often. Firstly, the sun was coming down directly into our faces. Secondly, the lighting is so terrible back there that when it got darker, we couldn't see much of anything and several lights were flickering so bad we both got headaches (still have the headache while writing this). 4 - The aforementioned may not have been so terrible, save the fact my father was watching our son at home and it was 1.5 hours after our reservation that we actually got our food. Because of everything, we both of us became irritated and spent about five minutes actually eating our food before we stewed enough to ask for food boxes to leave. Lastly I will say that Sienna (sp?), our waitress, was very very good and empathetic when I brought these issues up to her. It isn't her fault and she was very attentive to us. She consistently checked up on us, and in fact we were having a decent time there initially and hadn't thought about how long the food was taking until the sun went down and we developed irritating headaches because of the lighting. All that said, we both of us decided that our experiences tonight and in the past were not up to par with $200 dinners. We will not be visiting The Redwood Cafe any further, but do hope that others enjoy their experiences there. If you have not yet tried the Pork Schnitzel and / or the Smoked Manhattan, they are an absolute must.

This is one of the best restaurants I have ever visited. I haven't been in a while but when I last ate there; I had this beautiful peach wrapped in prosciutto, which was then fried and I believe decoratively placed on a plate with some delicious sauce lightly drizzled about it.. Lovely. It was absolutely unforgettable and perfect. I also recall having a blueberry, lemon drink that had vodka in it and it greatly resembled a Moyjito, it was super refreshing and delicious as well.

I have not visit this place in about 3 years. Let me tell you if you have not visit, you are missing a good opportunity to have a great experience, I would not say it is cheat, but great experience overall. The place looks great and very accommodating. The food was great. But one thing that I felt was amazing was the service. It was on point. I can not say that I need it something and I could not find someone there to help me. If you guys at the redwood read this, you should be proud to have such an amazing team. As for everyone else, give yourself a treat and visit this place, you won’t regret it. Thank you like always this is just my experience overall of my resent visit to the restaurant. Hope this helps and I will see you around.

The Grounds are beautiful and it is a nice venue for a variety of events Birthdays small weddings , The only reason I gave it a 4 star is because it is definitely very pricey. Dinner for 2 without drinks was right at 200 dollars we did have a appetizer and desert . The Food was Great but not excellent we had the filet Mignon . The service was 5 star the staff where very attentive and plentiful the waiter was Great with his service and suggestions again I just didn't feel that the food merited the prices. That being said we will dine there again perhaps that chef was a bit off on our Visit . Enjoy