Vista Union — Restaurant in Columbia

When you go to a fondue restaurant, you expect to eat fondue. This is not the case at City Bar and Fondue, however.

Upon arriving to the restaurant, we were seated in a large circular booth and greeted by the waiter. He was unsure of the full beer selection, and had to go back to the bar to learn what beer was available. After we ordered the drinks—the one bright spot—we were told by the waiter that only 2 of our party could get fondue, due to the supposed limitations of the induction cooker on the table. This induction cooker, however, was more than big enough to heat two large pots of fondue. I was skeptical, and asked the waiter if it would be possible have multiple fondue pots. He insisted that it was not, but eventually relented and went to speak with the owner, who okayed the two pots. The cheese fondue came out first, and was pretty standard as far as cheese fondue goes. However, it was served with fries, which is an untraditional method I hadn’t seen before, and a disappointing one, as the fries were soggy and would fall into the fondue pot once they were dipped. The waiter insisted the cooker be kept on a low temperature, which made the fondue lukewarm at best. I used my phone and searched the cooker model and recommended cooking temperatures for it, and changed the setting, which resulted in fondue at the appropriate temperature. The waiter, though, would insist the cooker be turned down due to steam coming off of it, though this is traditionally how fondue is served. After this course was taken away meat fondue for 3 came out—the highest number of people we were able to convince the owner to let us eat fondue. The waiter recommended we cook the chicken for 4 minutes, the red meat for 2, and the shrimp for 3—double the typical suggested cooking times for meat fondue.

This was an overall extremely disappointing experience for both me and my party, and I cannot recommend dining at City...

If you haven't been here to EAT then you are missing out. I've been here several times before for drinks only but today (Tuesday, September 13, 2016 @5:30 pm) I decided to eat! Had the Chuck Town Shrimp and Grits which comes with an awesome side salad that has their homemade hot and crunchy croutons (salad is a must), Boudin Balls, and a Blood Orange Mule (well I'm on number 2 of the mule). The food is very full of flavor and just right. Plenty of shrimps with nice and creamy grits. The Boudin Balls are crunchy on the outside but soft and flavorful in the inside. The Blood Orange Mule is wonderful and bubbly. So bubbly that I'm starting to feel a little bubbly myself. Lol. This place is very attractive and nice but hardly ever pack. They have outside seating and plenty of bar space and seating for dinner guests. The staff is nice and attentive. It's a nice upscale type place that need to advertise more to attract more customers. It's sits in the ally way between Wet Willie's and Tin Lizzy. I highly recommend this place. I always have a nice time here. So if you are reading this and thinking about going out then definitely give them a try for food, drinks, or both and tell several of your friends. And ask for Emma. She was my waitress today and she represent this place well. DJ is the bartender who made those amazing mules. Well let me drink this water cause those mules are kickin my_________ (you fill in the blank) a bit!...

Guy working (sorta) behind the bar Monday evening. His frat bros were there with him, they were playing pool and kept taking him from the bar. We got our quarters and went to the tables to find that the floor was so sticky it was taking shoes off, that the tables were all similarly sticky with food, miscellaneous stains and even glass shards from (I imagine) somebody's drink at some point. Only some of the pool sticks were actually straight, three guesses who took them all...found one straight one laying on our table as we went up- the bartender promptly came over and took it, claiming "he was using it". We barely made it through the game, my drink was all Coke and no Jack. CJ's for pool and actual...