Montis — Restaurant in Santa Rosa

Updated review, post remodel.

The restaurant is gorgeous. Sadly I was not a fan of most of the new menu. I'm going to preface my next statement, I'm a very adventurous diner, but nearly every menu item made me uncomfortable with the ingredients, and I found myself somewhat uninterested in ordering a main course based on the descriptions and pairings. Sadly, it felt like in an attempt to update the menu they tried to be edgy and instead fell off a cliff.

The oysters were, as always, a delight. And it's nice that the server was actually able to answer questions about the varieties available.

The soup of the day was cauliflower and so delightful, but I wouldn't order it again as they no longer sell a cup size. I LOVE soup but if you're going to force me to spend more I'll just opt out. Bring back an appetizer size please!

I was nervous about a short rib stuffed pasta with horseradish. The was actually quite good

The crab pasta with chili and preserved lemon was bad. The pasta was very bitter from the preserved lemon with no sweetness or creaminess to balance the bitterness, the crab was a little lacking, and the pasta undercooked.

The Cod Picata was a miss. I asked to sub pasta as Picata sauce is so delightful with pasta; sadly, the chef declined my request. I ordered it anyway and it came with undercooked fingerling potatoes that everyone at the table refused to eat. The sauce was generally lacking flavor without enough garlic, lemon, butter, wine and salt.

The cheese pizza was ok, but the dough was again very flavorless, seriously lacking salt.

The flourless cake was just ok

The date cake was fantastic and the crunchy candied nuts were an inspired addition.

The espresso martini (my favorite drink) was incredibly bitter and unbalanced.

I'm disappointed and considering how much we used to love this restaurant I may give them another chance in the future My old review:

Monti's always delivers an...

Came here on a Sunday around 6:30PM. We sat outside, and the sun was blasting us in the face. Unfortunately, I can't leave a review on the sun's position in the sky at the time I choose to sit outside, but I'll keep looking!

The service - Fine. We had a large group (10) and the server didn't seem overburdened. At times, another employee would mesh right in with service, which made everything go smoothly. There was an issue with an incorrect drink, but hey - 90% isn't bad, and it was replaced with the correct drink promptly. No biggie! Appetizers were served before entrees, and the entrees were all brought out at approximately the same time.

The food - Meh. Am I allowed to say "Meh" on the Google?I think so. Nothing to write home about. $29 for a chunk of Smoked Prime Rib. It tasted smoky, but it was certainly lacking that seasoning, crunchy, chewy, rare in the middle thing. I'd say it was actually served rather cold. Walk over to Cattlemen's if you want some Prime Rib. Perhaps it is better to explore the menu a bit more.

The pie cutting - I think they tried to trigger someone. So when you cut a pie, generally you would cut it so that all of the slices come together at one central point. No way, not at Monti's! You'll get something back that looks like a Kindergarten shapes puzzle. I'm talking Right Triangles, Pentagons, little pieces, giant pieces. I personally thought it was fantastic, as the pie was rather nice when it was brought in. BYOPie isn't on the menu I suppose.

Overall, I felt like Monti's was struggling to establish or present an identity. The menu was huge, and all over the place as far as options. Casual, with an "upscale" presentation. Casual service with an "upscale" price. I might revisit, just to try a different menu item in a smaller group. I think first time visits in a group of 10 might not be an ideal way to scale...

Went for my dad's birthday, and out of six people not one of us actually got to order what we wanted. Plus , we all just kept looking over and turning the menu over to then begin again and still not even one person was able to say I'm having this. Then anything we asked was able to be done or they didn't have. Example; ranch dressing. Not very flexible when changing anything on the menu and choices really weren't there . I guess I should of known when my brother asks what the "special's" were available during dinner tonight and the waiter replies everything on the menu is special. Then adding the tip for the wait staff , and staff in the kitchen is fine when the do something like accommodating minor changes with different things but that was not allowed for anyone at our table. Used plates , empty glasses should be cleared before we are getting up to leave after paying. We restored to staking them up ourselves and putting them all together at the end of the table just so the waiter would let us know someone will be by to get them . I'm not one to ever leave a review like this , but it was my dad's 79th birthday and they also knew this , and we had brought a cake ourselves talked to them about it before even sitting down . Asked them to bring it out after we ate were told that was actually something they could do . Then we are done eating , the bill comes , and they finally clear the table . They return aftering chargeing the CC and by then it was just kinda to the point where you say f*$& this , and we then reminded the waiter when asking for our cake back. He had totally forgot and let us know that. So we took the cake home and sung happy birthday. I take no pleasure in any of this, cause I would of much rathered a great time and...