Bistro Maison — Restaurant in McMinnville

The restaurant itself: Nice little renovated house that gives you the sense that this is a local staple that pride’s itself on the food and service it’s provided for many years. Some would call the little wobbly tables, table cloths you can find at your grandmothers house, random dish ware and outdoor patio chairs from Target quaint. While others would call the mixture of aging “classy” decor, dishes and furniture with cheap and mish-mashed replacements just somewhat lazy. I’m somewhere in the middle, as the quaint and rustic feel is there to be sure, but it’s hard not to notice the other little things pulling you out of the experience, especially when it’s as pricey as it is. Still, this is a place where they want the food to stand out, so I mostly gave it a benign pass hoping the amazing food would offset this.

Speaking of the food itself: The appetizers were easily the best part of the night. The portions were great for sharing and likely could have been for a 3rd and maybe even 4th person. Between the mixture of complimentary ingredients, flavors and generous portions, the appetizers were not only delicious but every bit worth the price. The wine selection was broad, although I can’t say much as my wife and I chose an Oregon Pinot we have been enjoying for some months now, deciding that it would compliment our choices nicely. The food paired well with it overall and we were not disappointed. We were more than excited for our main courses, however, I’m disappointed to say they fell a bit flat. My wife’s dish less so than mine. Hers was serviceable, cooked well and the flavors combined nicely, but just seemed a bit bland, especially after the appetizers. I had the seared ribeye in crushed green peppercorn sauce. It was a strange experience, because it didn’t hit me right away. The frites with the aioli sauce paired OK with the steak and sauce so I kept on eating. It was about 1/2 way through the steak, conversing and sharing with my wife that I began to taste the burnt crust of the steak. Then, I noticed that, although still fairly juicy, the steak had barely any red and the sauce itself was serving more as a replacement flavor than something to compliment the actual flavor of a ribeye steak. I didn’t say anything because I recalled that I didn’t specify how I wanted the steak cooked, so I figured it was my own fault by not requesting it medium-rare. It wasn’t until we got home that I realized I was never offered the option. In my experience, however, when at some (not all) higher end restaurants and you order the steak, your only option is medium rare as this is the way the dish was intended to be served, so I thought nothing of it as this was my first time here.

The service itself was nice. It was a bit confusing having so many different servers, but they all did well not to forget anything, were kind and did not make us feel rushed or keep us waiting. The one thing I found a bit off-putting was that the person taking our food order felt the need to oversell us on something our drink order taker heard us musing over after explaining the specials. I couldn’t tell if this was entirely intentional, but it didn’t feel genuine and almost pushy.

All in all, an inconsistent experience that ultimately makes me feel as if this is a place that is resting a bit on its laurels with an over reliance on their reputation and past glory. They still have what it takes to remain as one of the “go-to” high quality restaurants in the area, but that could be quickly supplanted if they don’t refocus on tweaking their aesthetic in a way that respects the rustic aesthetic and history, but in a less obviously outdated and patchwork way. They also need to aim for consistency and quality out of their kitchen. The appetizers are amazing and they far outclass their main dishes. They need their main courses to pop more and for the love of all that is sacred, learn how to properly sear a steak for caramelization and control your heat to get that juicy pink center, letting that ribeye flavor shine through and elevate as it pairs...

Made reservations for dinner for my family and best friends. I am visiting from Florida and this was the most recommended in town. Got there for our reservation and immediately asked about splitting tabs (5/5, not hard), our waitress was very polite about it and was rudely interrupted by what we assume is the owner as this continued to happen thruout our meal. It was very akward and off putting for everyone sitting at the table as we were trying to be discreet about it (our bill was well over $500 at the end and they did not split). Upon asking again they brought us a calculator, the hand drawn map of our table and orders (we sat split as we planned to pay, it was literally down the center so two order sheets would have been easy to do — I work F&B for a major theme park and have this hourly, not that big of an issue). Our waitress apologized quietly and said she was trying to accommodate and was told to bring us the calculator and to let us figure it out. She walked away and then came back and stated that she was told to come supervise what we were doing. It was extremely off putting. For a table full of veterans (navy, army and Air Force), this was a slap as it seemed like they thought we were going to skip out on the bill or something, we just felt like they were watching us even tho we stated our request in the beginning. For this reason alone we will NEVER be back. My aunt and uncle live here and have been in several times but stated after this they will not be in again. Our friends drove up from Corvallis to eat here as they have done before (after living in Paris this is the closest cuisine around and they come up for special occasions) and are sad to not WANT to come again. I am visiting but I will never be back in future visits. Very very disappointed.

As for the food, It was amazing. All of it. We ordered a medium priced Bordeaux that was still $100/bottle. It was perfection.

Another complaint around our table was the constant fussing. The staff would barely let us finish a course before clearing the table. About 5 staff were constantly rotating around grabbing and arranging things. We were conversing and would have to pause with all the...

We came from Virginia to the Willamette Valley to sightsee. We chose Bistro Maison for our Friday dinner and we're glad we did. The atmosphere, service and food were great.

Our hostess sat us immediately in the main floor of the converted house on quaint 3rd Street in McMinnville. There are about 15 tables and it's cozy but not crowded. The lighting is perfect- warm and inviting. You can't miss the French wallpaper. By 7pm all the tables were full and the place was buzzing. You're part of the action no matter where you are seated.

We felt like we were being served by a team. The hostess explained the specials, answered our initial questions and offered tips. My wife likes a martini without vermouth. Our server told us there wouldn't be a mistake on that because she was making it herself. She helped us select between our initial choices. The food arrived with perfect timing and the food runner was another experienced server who brought us a custom blended butter/spice spread in addition to the oil and vinegar we wanted for the bread. All three of them were polished hospitality veterans who took considerate care of us.

The food was fantastic. You get a basket of classic French bread slices with tasty butter. The Oysters Rockefeller was cooked to perfection with crusty, tasty cheese on top. The onion soup was slightly different than we were used to with a little less bullion flavor. They say it is authentic French and we loved it. The steak au poivre was a ribeye at medium rare and every bite left me craving the next bite. The fries came with a truffle aiole dip that we loved. We couldn't have asked for a better meal.

After a few days of making our way in parts unknown by ourselves, we felt like we were being treated like family and it...