Willow — Restaurant in Sacramento

I assume most people probably wouldn't eat here at "Willow" if they knew just how dirty and unsanitary their kitchen really is:

Hair, dust and grease buildups underneath, and on top of all the stoves and other cooking equipment. Most equipment looks like it hasn't been cleaned in months, if not longer.

Used gloves and old moldy food underneath the stoves, prep stations and other equipment in the kitchen.

Live and dead cockroaches in the kitchen where the food is being cooked, and inside the walk-in refrigerator where all the meat, seafood, fruits and vegetables are stored.

The cast iron pans they cook the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes in are always left filthy dirty with dust all over them. Multiple times I witnessed them pour pancake batter directly into a dirty pan built up with grease and dust without cleaning it out first.

If you've ever wondered why their "Bucatini Carbonara" dish tastes under seasoned and watered down, that's because it literally is. They run their pasta boiling machine with unfiltered tap water and NO SEA SALT...just plain water. And the "Cream Sauce" is made up of 1 part WATER, 1 part Heavy Cream and 1 Egg yolk.

Cooks seemingly do not even know how to properly sauté either. I personally witnessed multiple breakfast cooks, even the Sous and Executive Chefs throw COLD oil and COLD ingredients in a COLD sauté pan all at the same time...then put it on the stove burner, and start stirring and tossing the ingredients before the pan or oil even heats up!

Not to mention they all gossip about each other like they're in high-school. Everyone from the Bartender Jon, the Pastry Chef Amanda, and even the Sous Chef Dan talks badly about the Executive Chef Scott Carr behind his back...saying he doesn't know what he's doing. I was warned not to let him cook my lunch, and they also said he previously took the Gnocchi off the menu because he didn't know how to cook it correctly, and kept burning the brown butter.

They were also operating their kitchen here with a dishwashing machine that had NO HOT WATER for months. Which is a huge ⚠️Health Code Violation⚠️

They told me it had been like that already for a while because the higher ups were being lazy and taking their sweet time to approve getting it fixed.

HOT water is crucial for effective cleaning and sanitation! A lack of hot water can lead to an inadequate removal of food debris and potential bacterial growth, creating a HEALTH RISK. Even though they do have soap and sanitizer...that and mere COLD water alone is not enough to eliminate all the germs, bacteria and other harmful microorganisms.

Fine dining? This place is an absolute mess.

Eat at your...

I was disappointed. It's farm to fork - that is their big thing so understand that going in. There isn't a lot of flavor to anything. Not even basic salt & pepper. It's fresh - I will give them that. You order a potato, it tastes like a potato. Prepare to pay for your entry which is the entry only, any sides are separate. It's on the pricier side with sparkling water running at a small bottle for $8 and a can of Sprite (yes it was brought out in a can) running at $4.

My niece and I love trying new places. To note, I don't mind the price point. What I want to do though is walk out, no matter what the amount of the bill, and say THAT was worth it! In this case, it wasn't. 2 people - 2 waters, 1 sprite, 2 appetizers, 2 entries and 2 sides - $163.13. Would be a decent price for a nicer restaurant experience however the food was bland, service was mediocre.

We had signed up for their "experience" dinner. We arrived on time. There's no parking unless you can find it on the street so definitely just go to the DOCO parking garage. It's a quick 5-10 walk to the restaurant. The restaurant itself - lovely! Great date night, business lunch, etc. atmosphere. Upon checking in I was told that the dinner experience wasn't available because of an event that was booked that night. They did leave me a voice message "ahead" of time that I didn't receive until after. Our reservations was at 7pm, the message was left 545pm that same day. Would strongly suggest reaching out sooner to people. We chose to stay as we were there to try a new place and enjoy the atmosphere and food. Summary: the food was beautifully plated - I wish it tasted as flavorful as it looked. It had little flavor if any. Our server was nice but I'm fairly certain she forgot us several times as we often had no water and our food between the appetizer and meal took about 30 minutes with zero follow updates to us at the table. We typically take 2 or 3 hours for our Niece & Auntie dinners between enjoying the food to enjoying the conversation. We were there for about 2 hrs merely because of the food timeframe. I will note - because we had missed the dinner experience that we reserved, the manager did come over and take our bill back from the table and take off $60. That made the whole thing a bit easier to swallow.

It's a 2 out of 5 for me based on the food alone. Service is a 2. Restaurant is lovely - décor, lighting ... excellent! Parking is typical for downtown. Zero wait. Overall a 3 due to the decor vs a 2 just on the food & service. Money wasn't worth...

I write my review with the understanding that this restaurant has been open only 3 months. Having worked in the restaurant business, I know there is a lot that goes into perfecting the menu and service. So my review is based on my experience with a caveat.

We came here for Christmas Eve. My parents were visiting from out of town and I wanted to take them to someplace special. Reservations were for 7:00, booked on Open Table. The manager called me earlier in the day to ask if we could move our reservation to 7:15. There was a show somewhere nearby that was throwing off the timing. I was happy to oblige. I don't want to stand around awkwardly waiting for our table.

They offer valet parking. We ended up showing up early anyway and were happy to see a beautiful fully stocked bar. So we enjoyed a cocktail while waiting for our table (only 5 minutes). Bartender was super friendly and boy did she know how to make a drink. My husband said his lemon drop was the best he'd ever had. I wanted a wine so she made a recommendation and gave me a tasting pour.

We were seated in a very comfortable table with big windows facing J street. Our server was friendly and we kept her busy with cocktails, appetizers and entrees. All was good. I had the duck pasta, which I loved. My parents wanted to split their chicken but that would have been a 45 minute wait, so they didn't bother.

The ambience of this place is upscale and so beautiful inside. My parents were impressed. This is not a ripped jeans and shorts kind of place. But you could wear a sundress or khaki pants.

There is no patio, so no outdoor dining.

Overall, the consensus was that our experience felt very special and worthy of a Christmas Eve, justifying...