The Secret Garden — Restaurant in Modesto

TL;DR: I’m hesitant to recommend The Secret Garden to friends. I might try it again to explore the rest of the menu, but of the six dishes we ordered, all seemed to lack seasoning. Be prepared to spend more than the food’s quality justifies.

As other reviewers have noted, the food's presentation was impressive, but the flavors fell short. The ingredients were high-quality, yet the seasoning was lacking. I ordered the Diablo Chorizo skillet, which was good in terms of ingredients but missed the mark on spiciness and seasoning. Moreover, the skillet wasn’t as hot as expected, which was disappointing. My girlfriend’s California Eggs Benedict had enjoyable eggs, but the home fries and hollandaise sauce lacked flavor. The chicken and waffles were a highlight, with flavorful chicken and a crispy waffle that I’d consider ordering again. For mimosas, I recommend the watermelon or orange varieties and would skip the others. The iced tea also missed the mark on sweetness.

On a positive note, the service was excellent. Our waitress was friendly, and the food arrived promptly.

Regarding cost, the $19 skillet felt overpriced given its lack of flavor. The $26 mimosa flight offered better value. However, the automatic gratuity for large parties seemed excessive. Although I would have tipped more, being forced to do so felt unfair. It's disappointing that there seems to be an expectation for customers to supplement wages. If the food had been better, I wouldn't mind paying more. At $19 for a skillet, it's reasonable to expect fair wages for the staff without relying...

I took my mom and grandma here for Mother’s Day lunch. I called ahead to put my name on the list and was told about 45 minutes to an hour, when we got there the wait wasn’t bad. We all ordered from the breakfast menu and only got waters. It took about 30 minutes for our food to finally get to us after it had been pushed around while sitting there for 10 minutes getting cold within our view. When someone finally realized that our dishes had been sitting for a while it took 5 different people to figure out where it was supposed to go while being passed around between them. Instead of letting us know and remaking the food that was now cold then sent the food to our table for us to then have to send back because it was cold. My mother had to get out of her seat to tell them it was our dish while they stood in a circle confused on to where it was supposed to go. We were then told we would be getting a discount by two different servers and their idea of a discount was about $5 off. I understand it being busy but the service was very poor and everyone was extremely disorganized. The food cold, late and even after it was remade it was so greasy and burnt it was almost inedible. Their hollandaise sauce was basically yellow water with no flavor. I’m so disappointed because this was a Mother’s Day meal and it was ruined. After the whole ordeal we then came home and all felt sick to...

I came here on a Saturday afternoon with my family to enjoy some brunch together. First off the decor and the ambience was great. Our waitress Cyntia greeted us and brought us to our table in the back, which was great. We ordered some drinks. I had the Paloma, which was one of the best Palomas I probably have ever had and that's probably because it was so strong! I ordered the crab Benedict, which was absolutely delicious. The only other food I tasted was that Chilaquiles, which I cannot stop thinking about and definitely will have that the next time I go, as far as everyone else in our party everyone loved their drinks and their food. Cyntia was probably one of the best waitresses l've experienced at a restaurant in a while. She was helpful, attentive, and friendly. I wanted to order the espresso martini. She asked me a few questions about how I liked it, and she went to the bar and had them make some type of specialty concoction, which was absolutely delicious! I'm not from Modesto but better believe when I come to town to see my family I am going to go have myself a Paloma and their...