Virgil's At Cimmiyotti's — Restaurant in Pendleton

The wife and I were treated to great service, a fantastic meal, and an overall good experience here. The prices run a little higher than most of the other restaurants in Pendleton, but if quality matters to you, you will get what you pay for here. The steak was superb, and I do know my steaks. I am grateful they know what the terms for steak doneness mean, and absolutely nailed, "Medium well," which is an art I both notice and appreciate greatly. The veggies were fresh and delightful. The tea was not force made garbage tea, but rather pleasant home made delicious tea served without sugar, but with perfect portion size sugar packets, the brand of which I have forgotten but wish I had not. One small suggestion for the staff would be to go ahead and bring second glass of tea, with new lemon, as opposed to retrieving the glass and refilling. The reason for this is you serve with lemon, and I imagine most customers sweeten their tea with sugar, splenda, or some other sweetener. Getting those proportions to perfection sometimes takes a few tries, but then when the glass is refilled those proportions are now, well, softened by the nature of unsweetened tea. It's a minor thing, and had I been allowed to drink a solid red wine, or one of your fine mixed drinks, I would not have cared. But as I am cheating even with tea these days, I noticed and was missing my lemon flavor as a refreshing palette cleanser. It's a tea thing, and again, a minor detail overall.

The bread, were a little salty for my taste. But had I been pairing this meal with one of their wines from their selection that would have been fine. Also, I assume this was intentional add flavor to the bread when dipped in the oil and vinegar. I'm not exactly a food expert, although sometimes I think I am. As a barely middle class father of too many children, I'm not accustomed to some of the nuances of finer dining, being sorry on both come and cash on a regular basis. I am, therefore, open to clarification and/or validation on this, or even suggestions; but not so much personal criticisms should someone wish to reply to me on this. The music seemed a little loud at first, but as the restaurant/ best became busier I appreciated that the music helped to break up the noise between tables. It wasn't intrusive, just an observation. From the Beta fish in the lighted Pendleton Whiskey bottle, to the old bass on the walls, the vintage wallpaper on the wall behind the bar, I loved the decor of what I was able to see of the restaurant. The different pieces made for fantastic conversation. I also noticed all of this appeared clean and generally dust free, another detail I appreciate. The wife and I had a good meal and conversation here without the kids, and both agree we had a good first experience with this restaurant. Although nothing in life is certain, particularly life itself, I will certainly try to make it back to this...

Overall a good experience. I’ll return, but won’t order the same things again.

Cons: The dinner bread was bad. Soft and bland like white sandwich bread. Dinner bread isn’t a deal breaker, but I feel like they could really step it up here with minimal effort. There was a hostess wearing a very flashy Jessica Rabbit style dress that I thought was a Halloween costume, which honestly brought down my expectations for the level of class we were getting here. The pasta was bland. The minestrone soup was also very bland. I’ve never had to salt food at an upscale eatery before, so that was a bummer. One of the glasses at the table when we sat down was dirty. The cowboy theme was strange for a fine dining establishment but it is Pendleton so I guess that’s what we get.

Pros: Our reservation was early in the evening, so it wasn’t too busy yet. Service was quick; we had 4 courses and we were only there for about an hour. Our server was good. We were never wanting for anything. The bacon wrapped dates were divine. I’d go back just for those babies. I had a side salad with a delicious honey yogurt dressing that I really loved, and the coconut prawns were also very good and cooked perfectly. The music was pleasant. Good volume and nothing too terrible playing.

Maybe they weren’t on their A game because of the busy holiday. Maybe my expectations were a little high, but overall I thought the meal was just okay. I’ll give them another shot, but it wasn’t...

I know this review is a little late but figured better late than never! I am a local and have ate at every place in town. Cimmiyotti's is the best restaurant in Pendleton. My boyfriend and I went to Cimmiyotti's on valentine's day. We were seated upstairs. I watched the servers go up and down those stairs constantly making sure those of us upstairs were taken care of. The service was very good! Now the food. We had the crab cakes to start and they were very flavorful the only disappointment is that there were not more of them on the plate. I ordered the filet which was cooked to perfection! Even our starter salads were handled with care with just the right amount of dressing and visually perfect as well as wonderful flavor. My boyfriend had the Halibut and even let me try it. The fish was amazing. The bread was very good too! Our entrees, with a shared appetizer came to $99 dollars which included tip. Now put this into perspective... A few months later we went to Hamley's (right down the street) who is known for their steaks. We ordered nearly the same exact meal we had at Cimmiyotti's and not only did we pay $20 more the salads were not appetizing, my steak was cold, and the crab cakes were awful (I cannot tell you if there was even crab in them). I would pay the $99 dollars again to have the food I had at...