Golden Bear Station — Restaurant in California

We were so excited to visit Golden Bear. We looked everywhere for a menu online and found none. But were sure we could find items we liked and would work for us. Imagine our disappointment when my husband decided on the burger, after the description from the server/owner, only to be told that they would not serve the burger without the bun.

Then the owner marched over the open kitchen counter and loudly told the staff that they would not serve a burger without a bun, as seemingly additional rebuke of our request.

We were so thrown by her insistence and unwillingness not to serve the burger without a bun, that we decided to dine elsewhere.

P.S. message I received from the owner after I posted my review. Keren Colsten, I regret to inform you that neither you nor your husband placed an order during your visit to my restaurant. It is important to note that my staff has been instructed not to fulfill requests for hamburgers without buns, as this goes against our standard procedures. Considering that our restaurant primarily serves dishes with gluten ingredients, it is unreasonable to expect us to provide gluten-free options such as pizza and pasta. If your husband has dietary preferences or allergies, it would have been more prudent to choose a restaurant that caters to those needs. It is evident that my establishment does not align with your expectations, and I must express that I am not sorry for this. Although we do offer gluten-free alternatives on our menu, it appears that you were not interested in exploring those options. Furthermore, I am personally responsible for setting the standards in my kitchen, and it is untrue that my wife made any demands regarding the burger without a bun. Your false accusations are both ridiculous and disrespectful. I have video evidence of the incident, which clearly shows that it was your husband who displayed rudeness by instructing my wife to “get away from my table”. It is worth mentioning that there are valid reasons behind our decision not to serve burgers without buns, but it seems that you have no interest in understanding them. Please understand that my restaurant is not here to cater to your specific preferences. If you desire a dish tailored to your exact specifications, I kindly suggest preparing it at home. Keep in mind that you visited my restaurant only on our second day of operation. If other establishments are willing to accommodate your dietary restrictions, that is their prerogative, just as it is mine to uphold my own standards. It is akin to visiting a vegan restaurant and demanding a steak, and then leaving a one-star review when it is not available. Lastly, I would like to address the comment made by you and your husband about leaving the restaurant. My wife simply responded that you were free to do so if you wished, and your husband's statement that you did not require permission to leave was duly noted. My restaurant my rules. My restaurant is obviously not for you. We all have the right to choose where to dine but I don’t feel any restaurant should have to cater to everyone’s needs when you can simply choose to go somewhere else. You are rude, a liar and a person that leaves one star reviews just because you went to a mostly gluten driven restaurant that your husband either is allergic to or has a very strong preference not to eat gluten. If your husband is allergic to gluten, why would you select a restaurant that serves mostly gluten items?

If you want to create your own dish, I suggest your nearby grocery store.

I know you don’t care and you feel entitled but we are a mom and pop restaurant and we do the best we can to support our two daughters that are 9 and 11 and the livelihood of our staff that work really hard. Please remove your reviews or we will have no choice but to take this matter to court for defamation.

And on top of all of this, you’re asian and your husband is jewish which i am both. How...

Yes, you want to eat here, I don't care who you are. Go ahead and make a reservation now. Now for the review.

Food: The yellowtail sashimi with brown butter, white soy, and citrus was... kind of boring? The execution was flawless, and every single individual flavor was good, and the fish itself was slightly warm, which helped to bring out the aroma, but there just isn't much there to work with. Nothing wrong with it, just boring for my palette (but people call me the umami bomber, so I'm biased). Your taste buds may enjoy this, if you enjoy tasting raw fish relatively unflavored. I might even order it again - it's not bad, but nothing to rave about, except perhaps the audacity to plate such a simple dish here is notable. And thank you too for that simplicity.

I had the "Hot Honey" pizza, and let me tell you that the only other slice of pizza heaven within an hour's drive - known as PizzaLeah - finally has competition. My first slice passed my "will it stay erect?" test, which is where I hold a slice the way a New Yorker would when walking down the street, folded in half. This pizza doesn't droop and stands erect. That speaks to the structure of the dough and baking process. Beyond that, the flavor profile was off the charts awesome. Just the right balance of tomato sauce and toppings. This pizza also passed the most difficult test of being taken home in a box and then eaten cold for breakfast the next day and loving it.

Lastly, there is the side order of pastrami kimchi fried rice, a dish that remarkably echoed a dish I'd just made up a few days earlier for myself: Pastrami potato latke with kimchi (equally good, btw). The dish was well executed and I liked the taste, but I found the pastrami lost in the dish; I would have preferred larger chunks of pastrami, basing that off my own cooking experiments, but this is such a slight criticism.

For desert, we had the Basque style burnt cheesecake, which was refreshingly lighter than a traditional cheesecake and I thought it was a nice way to finish off with something sweet without being too heavy.

Service: The service was excellent and was the perfect balance of being attentive without being annoying or absent. The food came out quickly.

Atmosphere: was good, actually I could even call it great. Of particular importance: It's not noisy so you won't need to shout to talk across the table, and there's plenty of space between tables. It's very comfortable. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the atmosphere, and I love it. It doesn't get 5 stars because it didn't rise above being merely really good to being wow, 5-stars!

So, there it is. They are currently booking up weeks or months in advance so book early...

As (up until recently) a Sonoma resident, I enjoyed the food, atmosphere and service at Animo, the Golden Bear owner's previous restaurant. I was looking forward to eating here after hearing many good reviews.

On a Friday evening, with reservations made more than a month ahead, we walked in as a party of 8. We were seated at a table made for 6 and were reluctantly given permission after asking, to use the 2 heads of the table to spread out a little.

We were given regular menus but when we were ready to order one of the owners said she might have forgotten to mention that we could only choose a set menu and that it would be served "Family Style". After seeing the looks on our faces while we contemplated leaving, she annoyingly decided to let us order from the regular menu but that " .. items will come out as they are ready.. no guarantee.."

Other than the one owner there was only one other server trying to take care of everyone. The young lady was so busy and overwhelmed that there was no way to flag her down for anything. We were never greeted with any type of "welcome" or " nice to see you here" or "have you dined with us before?".

We were put in front of a large window with intense sun shining in and when we told the owner that it was in the eyes of 2 of the guests she just shrugged and said " Oh it's OK, the sun will set behind the sign soon.." Even the man behind the kitchen cook line was shielding his eyes while trying to prep food.

And speaking of the food.. It is good. ... But it's not great. And when you pay the prices they are charging you, and with the owners riding on the reputation of their former endeavors, I think you are entitled to great. The Bib Salad had a very good taste. It was probably the best tasting item that we had. But the lettuce leaves are large and uncut and the salad comes not tossed. Trying to toss it creates a mess and in the end many of the tasty ingredients were still at the bottom of the bowl. The Margherita pizza was also good. I was expecting a little added creativity for the added cost of $32 for the small portion. The pasta with Vodka sauce was very good. It would be my entree choice IF I were to go back. The Bolognese pasta was also just good. It didn't rise a single taste bud above "good". The pork chop was, like the other items, "good". A $10 bottle of Kenwood Chardonnay will cost you $50. There are many excellent restaurants within Sonoma County that will welcome your business with pleasant greetings, nice ambiance, excellent quality food and reasonable prices. The Golden Bear is not one of...