Palace Kitchen & Craft Bar — Restaurant in Porterville

Randomly came across this place and couldn't be happier with our experience. We travel around the country for work, with CA being the state offering the worst experiences. So we were beyond impressed to find this little hidden gem. Upon walking in, I immediately noticed how clean this establishment was! The decor is perfect and tastefully done. Great job! We decided to have a couple of pre dinner drinks. The bar is wonderfully designed & very welcoming. Best of all, what truly made our experience here was the bartender Robert. He is truly an amazing staff member, and after meeting other staff, Robert is definitely an integral part of this establishment. He not only takes great pride in his job and work area. He is extremely knowledgeable about the menu, the restaurant as well as the area. His was honest with us, and we can't say enough about the amazing dining experience he provided us with. Memorable to say the least. We had asked for suggestions, and he was right about everything he suggested. We ordered everything he offered, and everything was pure perfection. I mean that! Perfection! Even our drinks were absolutely perfect! My husband ordered the halibut, which was cooked perfect. We are avid outdoorsmen and consider ourselves fish/seafood connoisseurs. Yes, I said it! So many places overcook Halibut. Never did we think we would find perfection here in Porterville. Never would we have ordered if Robert hadn't suggested it. I ordered the salmon as we often order similar meals to share. The salmon was also 👌 😋 wow! Everything we devoured was prepared with so much flavor and obviously cooked with ❤️ 😉 I just can't say enough about our dining experience. Rarely do we find or get to enjoy a dining experience where every bit was top notch. We can't thank Robert enough for his personal, amazing customer service. We weren't even sure we were going to dine here until speaking with him. Completely failed to get pics of our meal, amongst other things, but when the fish arrived, we dove in head first! 😆 While we will be in porterville for a while yet this is our new go-to place! We told all the power lineman working with my husband, so it's about to get busy there!

P.S. Thank you for making Martinis the way they are supposed to be made! If I'm paying 12-20$ for a drink, yup, I don't want it to look pretty & I expect it! 😋 Tell the rest of CA to catch up with the rest of the country & serve it correctly....

Food was incredible. We had New York 12 oz steak. I had mashed potatoes, but when I asked for gravy, all they had was the white country gravy they use for country fried Steak. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!! 🤤 Along with the Flatliners Martinis everything was perfect. Thank you Palace for a wonderful meal. If you go here, you have to try the Brown Sugar Old Fashioned Bourbon Cocktail. It's absolutely delicious. I have rediscovered great American Bourbon once again. Went home and bought a bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel Aged Bourbon. Wonderful 😊. They use Evan Williams American Bourbon here. It's very tasty 🤤. Here again on 3/16/25, just finished Steak and eggs, fries and plenty of Flatliners and Brown Sugar Old Fashioned. The bartender here knows his stuff about fine Bourbon. (SEAN, Shaun in English)He also knew that sugar doesn't dissolve in alcohol. If you ever find a bar that uses sugar cubes or raw granulated sugar in drinks, they don't know what they are doing. 😊😁 Good job Palace Craft cocktails. Everything was excellent 👍. GREAT job Sean. A fine Bourbon expert, and an all around great bartender. This guy knows his drinks. 👍✊. Here again on 4/27/25 for brunch. Had Steak and eggs, once again delicious. Once again Sean was our server and Mixologist. Excellent service and drinks. This guy is now our favorite Mixologist. He would make John Taffer proud.(Bar Rescue) But they don't need him. Palace Kitchen has it going on. If you like great food and great drinks served quick and delicious, this...

Kudos to our servers. My school district had their Xmas dinner here and it entailed over 30 people and different orders. Considering the size of the party, our food and drinks were served in a timely manner.

I had the Pesto Pasta while my wife had the Filet Mignon. The pasta noodles were perfect, they were tender and full of flavor. This is where the dish shined, the kitchen did not skimp on Pesto. I love Pesto but this plate had more pesto than expected and full of flavor. Kudos to the chef.

My wife had the 16 ounce Filet Mignon. It was cooked to her specification. Considering that most of the group had their hamburgers under cooked, we were both surprised that her steak came out as ordered. According to her, the steak was full of flavor and well seasoned. The baked potato was a bit clumpy and dry but adding a hint of butter offset the dryness.

We had onion rings for appetizers. These were excellent, the batter mix was delicious and cooked to a nice flaky perfection.

Again, the service was where this place shined. The large group and individual orders would have made the service slow and cumbersome, yet there were no complaints from the group. Additionally, the location had another large group and more patrons. Kudos to the staff for being prompt and professional.

For these reasons I highly recommend...