Old City Hall Restaurant — Restaurant in Gilroy

So, I visited this establishment over the weekend with a lady friend who had told me about it. Apparently this restaurant was a big hit among her co workers and one of them had given her a couple of gift cards for this place. So, we decided to try it out for our second "date" and see what all the fuss was about. Food and service wise it was decent. Attentive waiter and the food came out pretty fast but was not rushed. My dish was well cooked and and had an overall good flavor. I got the chicken cordon blue with seasonal veggies and a baked potato. The chicken was very good, the veggies were crisp and seasoned nicely. The baked potato was good but it was fairly basic. Sour cream and chives was all that complimented it and although it wasn't bad, it could have easily been better. Her plate, shrimp scampi over linguini was a different story. Great presentation but the flavor was all of sour lemon juice. It over powered the shrimp and basically the entire dish. Her meal came with a soup which was a tomato bisque, and that was really good. I tore open a dinner roll and spread some soft butter on it before spooning on some of the bisque and let me tell you, phenomenal. Drinks were ok. I had 2 mudslides and she had 2 margaritas. Both basic run of the mill cocktails. Nothing to cheer or complain about. However, the first drink I ordered, an old fashioned, was horrible. Sorry to put it like that but honestly, I have never had the misfortune of tasting such a bad old fashioned. If I would have ordered a bourbon and club soda, it would have been perfect 👌🏼. But I ordered an old fashioned and I was disappointed. Overall, the atmosphere was good, like I said the staff were very helpful and attentive and the food was for the most part pretty good. Would I recommend it? Well, if you're hungry and you want to eat something hearty and you don't have the time to drive somewhere else, then yes. By all means. It's not that it's bad and after all, this is just my opinion and should not be taken as scripture. You might enjoy it. I guess the lady friend who I was with hyped the place up. But she was going by what her co workers had told her. So, try it out, just stay away from the...

I’m sure it was particularly slow due to Tamale Festival & Car show but the place was dead when we got there. One other set of customers, which was as a couple (who ALREADY had their food when we got there) and then myself, husband, and 2 year old son entered and sat down. Our orders were taken and then the owner comes to our table and asks if we’re parked out back. Seemed like he was on a mission to make sure only paying customers were using their parking.. Weird, but OK.. The waiter was nice and tentative, but the food took FOREVER to get to our table, at least 20-30 mins (again, no other people in the restaurant at this point) He brought my son’s food first because you know, impatient 2 year olds and we are giving him snacks from home at this point trying to keep him happy. I thought that was nice of him, as we try hard to keep him entertained rather than giving him a screen. Upon setting down his plate of food, the waiter says “I’m gonna give you guys a 25% discount because that took way too long and you have a VERY patient and behaved little guy.” Okay sweet, thanks! THEN, I start cutting into my son’s pancake and it is completely RAW inside, I mean, still cold pancake batter. I was irritated at this point. A waitress came and asked how things were and I sent the whole plate back. They bring his eggs and sausage back, and she starts commenting how hungry he is (he’s ravenously eating his eggs at this point) I said “YEAH, we’ve been waiting a long time.” Finally they bring my husbands food, and then mine. Husband says his was OK but he’s not one to complain. I ordered MEDIUM steak and eggs, and when I tell you this steak was nearly a piece of jerky, I’m not kidding. They ended up also bringing my son a bowl of fruit (which they didn’t charge us for) and then a new (cooked) pancake. Overall service was OK, but the food and wait time was absolutely ridiculous. Atmosphere was also outdated, musty upon entrance, and lacked luster for such an important building of the city. Will NOT...

On a 4.5 hour drive back to LA after this meal, we struggled to find any redeeming qualities about Old City Hall. At least it gave us a laugh?

Food: Terrible. The attached photos (aside from the burger) are before we touched anything. Everything looked physically thrown on the plates. And it's like, the food was wrong in both directions, in every case. The Cubano was burnt but underdone. The fries were undercooked and overcooked. The pasta salad had been boiled 40 minutes, chilled, then placed under a heat lamp. The "crostini" was dry but untoasted. They asked for a temperature on the smash burger, which is never a good sign, and indeed it was not smashed. It was the kind of meal that makes you wonder if you're going to be sick later.

Service: It took 10 minutes for a host to arrive to seat us, then another 10 for our server to appear. The first thing she said was that she was quitting, and the other table she had was complaining a lot. Usually I side with the staff on these matters, but I came to realize the other table probably had a point. The restaurant was probably at 30% capacity, maybe 8 tables, and there were 3 servers working at least. And they were very clearly in the weeds. I don't know where the breakdown happened but something is not working here. Also, look at the mustard bottle. That label has not been changed in years. Absolutely horrifying.

Atmosphere: The exterior is the one place Old Town Hall has any positive. The building was once the Old Town Hall, and it has cool bones. But what they've done with the inside looks like the "before" of an episode of Kitchen Nightmares. It's ugly, brown, disgusting, outdated, and absolutely unwelcoming in every regard.

I hate to give a one star review unless something catastrophic happens but Old Town Hall is a catastrophe. What boggles my mind is it's featured in local "Welcome to Gilroy" printed materials and websites. Maybe it was once good, but as it stands, Old City Hall needs...