Native Son — Restaurant in Merced

Casual & modern hotel restaurant. Staff were friendly and attentive. The hotel property is beautiful. Execution of the menu items, however, was not quite up to the price point. The smoked old fashioned (upgraded to Woodford Reserve) lacked on two of three major components; the smoke was not perceptible, likely due to the apparatus being awkward and the bartender struggled to get any smoke in contact with the liquid, and the sugar was also absent (demarera in this case). The orange peel was properly represented, so not a complete miss.

Ordered the Wagyu burger and a mixed green salad. I did not enjoy the "bacon jam" which in my case was burnt bacon crumbles. We also ordered the bone -in pork chop. This dish was prepared well, but I couldn't get into the caramelized banana.

Native Son is a vibrant downtown restaurant with some room for improvement. I hope they can soon meet the bar set by the luxurious El Capitan hotel (and their own...

Was craving a breakfast burrito but my normal spots in Mariposa were all closed due to a power outage. Had to be in Merced anyway so I asked my CFO (wife) to find a place there. She knew that I'd been wanting to give Native Son a go and saw that they had breakfast burritos on the menu.

We were greeted with smiles and pleasantries and ordered the veggie burritos, reluctantly as the only other option was chorizo (which I love, but I'm on a diet that excludes processed meat).

What a surprise! The wheat tortilla was tasty, the eggs perfect, but the star was the sweet potato. It was so good that I felt guilty eating it.

Staff were super friendly, including the humble chef, to whom I raved about the burrito. Will definitely make this a regular spot...

Good service, good food and great location. The restaurant is in the middle of Downtown Merced. It’s located in El Capitan Hotel.

I ordered their Chipotle Bacon Melt which comes with applewood bacon, aged cheddar, arugula and chipotle spread on toasted sourdough bread. The portions were pretty decent. The melt was very delicious in regards of flavor, but it was definitely on the salty side. The bread was really soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. You could choose from potato chips or salad as your side. I ordered the salad, and it tasted very fresh. The dressing that came on it was delicious. It was a little sweet and a little sour.

I would like to come back and try other items in their menu. Although it’s very limited, it...