SideTrack Bar + Grill — Restaurant in Pleasanton

Absolutely Horrible Service – Never Again!

This was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in a long time. First off, we didn’t receive any utensils with our order. Then, although we ordered orange juice, it never arrived — and neither did our coffee. The servers disappeared entirely, and we had to wait quite a while before any food showed up.

When breakfast finally did come, the portions were shockingly small for the price. We ordered the Brisket Breakfast Burrito and Amy’s Egg White Omelet. The burrito tasted okay, but again, way too small for $14. The omelet was below average and cost $19 — ridiculous!

To make it worse, we were charged extra ($3+) for tater tots and a fruit basket without being told they were additional. And despite specifically asking for no meat, we found sausage in our eggs. Unacceptable.

When the coffee finally arrived (much later), there was no sugar, even though we had clearly asked for it. With no staff around, I had to get up and walk inside just to grab some sugar myself.

No one came by to ask if the food was okay or to offer us the bill. I had to flag someone down while they were serving others just to pay. To top it off, they included the orange juice (that we never received) on the bill. After pointing it out, they corrected it but didn’t even bother to apologize — and the juice was meant for my child!

There was no option to leave feedback, so I’m leaving this review instead. I gave a 10% tip purely to make a statement about the poor service.

Final thoughts: • Brisket burrito: decent taste, small portion. • Amy’s egg white omelet: underwhelming, overpriced. • Service: chaotic, unprofessional, and frustrating.

Would I go back? No way. One star...

This could have been a four or even a five star place because the food was good. But, so many other small things got in the way and the accumulated missteps brought the rating down. In fact I think I might be generous at 3 star.

First I really wanted a pastrami reuben sandwich which is on their lunch menu but because we were there and it was Sunday brunch they wouldn't make it for me. Next I ordered a cup of clam chowder. Good news the chowder was good - bad news, it was not got, just tepid. We also had trouble with service because the timing of the delivery of the chowder was really bad. They brought it to me and then within having taken just a couple of spoonfuls my pastrami hash that I ordered because I couldn't have the pastrami sandwich arrived. But that's okay, the soup was kind of cold anyway so I just went ahead and finished it and went on to the hash, which was good. I also had French fries which were excellent. They were crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. That's the good news bad news is I ran out of ketchup and I had a hell of a time trying to find somebody to get more.

By now you get the jist - food's good but the service is sketchy at best and the fact that they're not flexible and can't accommodate a pastrami sandwich even though everything for the kitchen to make it was on hand,...

We seemed to have found ourselves in this area more often then not. And we just discovered Sidetrack! Great spot for the warmer / hot days - to sit out enjoy a few drinks, walk about downtown.

We ended up here on a cooler day and started with red wine to help warm us up. I was surprised at the limited / average wine selection. Being near Livermore, there are a ton of vineyards which have great wine, at the same prices.

The menu is also a bit limited - mainly sandwiches.

Grilled Salmon - was a bit dry (for my taste). I think I'm really used to having fresh fish, and can now see the difference between frozen vs fresh. It also have a slight fishy smell, but didn't taste fishy. Slightly off putting.

The french fries though, really good! crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.

The Hangover Burger - don't really think it would cure a hangover. The fried egg (what makes the burger) is supposed to be runny, we got fully cooked and hard. Medium rare seemed to be cooked a minute too long - but was still juicy. Overall the burger lacked flavor - we ended up asking for their special sauce - which didn't really help either.

In general, it's a good place for a quick meal, and maybe the appetizers. The menu did have good options for game day food - may go back to try...