Three Flames — Restaurant in San Jose

I would like to preface this review with the fact that we received excellent service whilst here, and the following is purely based on the eating and food experience.

Well, it wasn't a good start with everything being closed (who does that at 8pm in Silicon Valley!?), and with older people in the car, we didn't want to have to cross town for a convenient meal. It is a typically dated venue, outfitted in the 'grand dining room' style of who-knows-what-era. Some people love it - it isn't my cup of tea. There is a nice looking bar that had a karaoke night, on that particular night, adjacent to the dining room. Even behind glass, the singing dominated dinner. Not great pairing for a 'formal dining room'.

The food is typically huge servings of basically unappetizing and massively starchy, salty dishes. There was one vegetarian entree on the entire menu, and as I wasn't feeling too well, a pasta marinara was out of the question. So I ordered a side of rice pilaf and a cup of soup. Others at our table ordered pasta with shrimp or chicken, cesear salad, calzone etc.

Most of us were so hungry (it had been cold and raining), that the disappointment was monumental. My soup was full of lovely vegetables and I was so excited to receive it however it was so highly salted, and the soup had obviously been on the simmer for a loooong time. It tasted reheated. My rice would surely be better. You can't screw up rice, right?? It was as though it was an instant pilaf from a commercial box. It was without natural flavor, had a truly non-food-like consistency and the vegetables in it and had the flavour of being frozen/reheated/rehydrated. Again, a lot of salt. And way too much baked lipstick on my glass.

Sadly, the story was similar with other meals at the table. The pasta dishes were huge and quite over cooked, extremely salty with a scattering of something that could have been chicken, and the calzone was 'well done'.

Our server was lovely, however. She was attentive, kind, polite and consistent. I could not have asked for more in that department. I almost felt guilty when she offered us the dessert menus and not a single person out of our six person party accepted.

All the while, I think we heard one good karaoke contender. We won't be returning any time soon - trekking across town may be worth it, even with a car full of...

Friends invited me to the Three Flames lounge on a Saturday night. What I didn't know was there was an unposted 2 drink minimum. So after I ordered some food with water and ordered a second water the server started giving me problems.

Then when I ordered a third water, that was where she became ridiculous. She started complaining to the bartender and then she's complaining to my friends instead of telling ME there was a 2 drink minimum (even though I ordered FOOD!) It was NOT stated on the website! It was NOT stated anywhere that I could see and server did NOT EVER tell ME one single time.

I could have bought a couple of waters or a couple of sodas or whatever but she never told me about the UN-stated, UN-posted, two drink minimum.

I mean do I look like a child you can't talk directly to me. Do my friends look like my keepers? The whole thing was VERY INSULTING!

And what's the big deal if I order food instead of drinks anyway???

But understand it was her nasty attitude over this that was ridiculous!!!

I mean to be treated like dirt because I want water after I paid for food???

Oh yeah plus when she took my order she came up BEHIND me and asked me what I wanted. I didn't even know she was talking to me at first. THAT...

We found this place on a whim. We were looking for some comfort food, and boy did we find the right place. The menu was extensive. From seafood, to steaks, sandwiches, hot plates, burgers, pretty much every category you can think of. We settled with the open faced hot roast beef sandwich with mash and gravy, and the French dipped sandwich with french fries. The hot roast beef came with an array of yummy veggies such as cauliflower and broccoli. I was not a fan of the gravy however, not rich enough or beefy enough, but it worked okay with the sandwich. The roast beef was amazing. The French dip came with the most wonderful French fries. They were crispy on the outside and very creamy on the inside. Next time we are getting the basket of fries, they were that good. The ranch dressing for dipping was exceptional. Oscar our server went out of his way to help us, he was generous with his time and kindness, even making my daughter his recipe for ginger ale. All in all worth a visit or...