The Waterboy — Restaurant in Sacramento

I have to say that overall, I had a positive experience at this place. You'll see from my pictures and the one video that the interior of the restaurant is pretty spectacular! I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the decor chosen by the owners. I actually visited this place for the first time on a date in December 2023! So yes, this is an old review that I never got around to writing.

With that idea in mind, I must be fully transparent and honest about my complete experience. The food left a little to be desired for my taste. :-( I'm being honest about that. After all, eating is probably the most important reason for visiting a restaurant, yes? I received an order of large pasta noodles with what appeared to be remnants of ground beef or sausage scattered about in the meal. In other words, and you'll see from my picture, there was barely any sauce or meat in the dish! That was unfortunate.

I was mostly disappointed because of the price that my date and I paid for the meal! They are pricey as hell! LOL and frankly, I would not have minded the price that we paid if the portions had been larger. And that's the other issue: the portions are quite small at this place. Expect to spend a lot of money but not get much for what you pay for. That's the reality of it. I am always fully honest in my reviews, and this place, even with their high ratings, does not get the benefit of my lying to keep their reviews hi. I'm sorry.

You're probably thinking to yourself, "If the food wasn't so great, why give them four stars?!" Well! That's easily answered: it's because of the customer service we received! Our server was very friendly. I gave him a note about the food that I ordered, and asked his opinion about the matter. I guess it was more of a complaint? My date had the same problem.

The server basically explained to us that it was a standard measured amount for the proteins. It's how they did things! They literally measure out the amount of protein one receives, and that iscthat. Aside from that, the server was really fantastic.

Also, there was another gentleman at the bar who gave us a free drink while we waited to be seated at our table. He was FANTASTIC!!! I had wished he could've been our server. We did have a reservation in advance.

So, the decor, the customer service, and especially the cleanliness of the bathroom are the reasons to visit this establishment! I was quite surprised with how clean the restroom was. That's why they got four stars. If the food had been spectacular, I would have given them five stars! If you look at the breakdown of the star review I gave them, you'll see I gave them two stars for the food, but five stars for everything else. Will I visit this place again in the future?Hmmm, maybe or maybe not. I'm not sure, to be...

To eat at The Waterboy one needs to make a weekend reservation several weeks in advance. Why is beyond me. For my second dinner there I arrived in slacks and a sportcoat with a 5:30 reservation and found us offered a small table squeezed in with 6 others despite several window tables available. I declined and requested a seating elsewhere. The menu is limited although that is not unexpected or bad for a small restaurant with only 16 tables. What is annoying is being rushed through a meal so they can turn the table two or three times that night. I had not even swallowed my last bit of appetizer when the waitstaffer was pulling my plate away. It happened again with the entree. I was about to comment to my wife how delicious the ravioli special for the night had been when in came a giant arm to disrupt my train of thought. It was if they have a designated watcher to swoop in as soon as the plate is clean.

The good news is that the food has seasoning and is tasty. The not-so-good news is that the portions are really small. My wife's sea bass special could not have been more than 6 ounces. My special had 5 regular-size ravioli. The potatoes and veggies with the main courses were also delicious but sparse. If you are very hungry or a big person this is not the place to eat. My last objection is to the charge of $1 for "bread service". Really !? If all 16 tables order bread and they turn the table 3 times in the night, they make a whole $50 more profit. This is the first and only restaurant I know of that charges for bread. Maybe next it will be for the water .

Ambience is casual in one large open room looking out on Capitol Avenue in downtown Sacramento. The two-person bar is a bit silly. And I did get my check handed to me and processed in record time... of course. I guess I just need to learn how to eat slower, but then the food gets cold. I like to relax when I eat out, and even then it only takes 60-70 minutes. Waterboy had us in and out in 55 minutes. We went to the Hyatt for dessert and liqueurs. Very relaxing, very romantic, very Saturday night. Waterboy...

Cocktails were delicious. Fiancee and I split a half dozen of oysters which were divine! They were the perfect amount of saltiness, sour, and buttery, you can tell they are higher quality oyster based on their texture and flavor. Then for my first course I had sweetbreads with a garlic mash, bacon, tomatoes, capers, and a deliciously rich sauce that had me scooping as much as I could on my fork...so much so, that our server brought us bread to sop it up...YUM! My fiance had the steak tartare which was fresh, citrusy, and bright. It had a delicious aioli on it and was served on a toasted crostini. My main course was a pan seared scallop dish with sweet potatoes, brown butter gnocchi, and brussel sprouts. I cannot believe how deliciously well the flavors all blended together. Again I was scraping up my plate of all the scrumptiousness. My fiance had a fish and seafood risotto with muscles, clams, fish, scallop, and shrimp, with a tomato base. Again our server came around with a piece of bread for us to soak up all the tasty goodness. Our final destination: dessert. An area I can be kind of picky on. However, it is easy if the choice is something lemon (which it was). So we decided to share a meyer lemon creme brulee and meyer lemon sorbet which were so good! The creme brulee was rich and had a perfect caramelization on top, along with a meringue cookie and a meyer lemon curd. Everything except the curd was delicious. To the both of us, the curd had a cold liver oil aftertaste...I don't know why, but the initial flavor was great. The sorbet was fantastic, a fresh and light refreshing dessert. I couldn't stop saying how happy I was to be eating all the food we had. On top of that we also had two great cocktails each with the very affordable price of about $197, for two people with all of the deliciousness we had...was extremely worth it. Service was fast and attentive, my water was never empty, except when we left. I HIGHLY...