Palmetto — Restaurant in Oakland

The dishes are interesting on paper but even the plainly capable hands of a great kitchen staff can't save croutons swimming in sweet chili sauce - as was the case with the quail dish I ordered. The quail was properly cooked and not at all dry but it was never the less bland beyond salvation. The poor poultry could have easily been saved from it's innocuous ends had the meat been brined with aromatics but was instead left to drown in a host of other unwieldy components on the plate that - should a diner be lucky enough to get them into a single fork-full - the unfortunate fowl simply cannot compete with. Putting that aside, I love Palmetto. The decor manages to transport you to 1940s Hollywood without being trite or overly kitschy. The bar program is fantastic and subtle with several surprises that delight the senses (who would have thought that vermouth was so dang versatile?!). And then there's Jeannie. The bartender and - I suspect - manager was as wonderful as she was knowledgeable. I dream of Jeannie and...

It's a cool little spot with the art Deco diner vibe, and the staff/servers were very nice and attentive to our dietary needs.

Three of us dined together and we all shared the fries, olives, and shrimp cocktail appetizers and even ordered a second side of the tasty fries.. they were the star of the night

Two of us ordered the pork chops and one the other had the salmon.... I didn't try to salmon, but my friend said it was good. However, I was disappointed with the pork chop. It was "trimmed" i guess to remove the fat, and it was very dry and a bit difficult to cut.... i mean the table started shaking it was that tough... no joke!

The other thing that was upsetting was that the pork chop was significantly priced... If you're gonna charge that much for a pork chop, then you need to nail how it is prepared. Covering it with sauce does not compensate for overcooking. Either get it right or take it off the menu

That aside I might try this place again in the future... Maybe I'll try...

I had been meaning to try this place and just recently prioritized it after hearing they were going to close at the end of the month. I tried the trumpet mushrooms, cornbread, mussels, and escargot. Unfortunately the trumpet mushrooms were very chewy and the sauce was reminiscent of a Panda Express teriyaki glaze. The mussels were good, a tad under seasoned and nothing to write home about. The escargot was good, and I would recommend it to others just because I feel like the sauce they created for it is unique and refreshing. The cornbread was honestly the best thing, salty, sweet, and had a great crust in the cast iron. All that being said I would 1000% recommend coming here for drinks. The bartenders were extremely helpful and attentive and the drinks were all amazing. You can tell the bartenders know what they’re doing and care. Wish this place would stick around for the drinks alone because the food unfortunately didn’t...