Pisco Bar — Restaurant in Saratoga

Hoping for improvement...

4 friends for dinner, one from Peru excited to share an upscale taste of home.

Ideal location, upscale decor, seating for +/-70, so why only 4 tables sat between 5 and 9 with lots of beautiful people out enjoying a glorious post-pandemic Saturday evening?

Food is beautifully presented but disappointing, overpriced, and service needs guidance.

Pisco Sours primarily ice, most spilled on way to table. No bar naps or table settings so the table was a sticky mess. About 2 oz to enjoy @ $14 each. Peruvian Malbec was spoiled. Sent it back with a polite explanation. No apology or another option offered.

Still no table settings after appetizers dropped off. Asked again. Shared 2 "Classic" cheviche apps "spicy" which is a thin slice of red chili on top of 4 1/8"x1x1 slices of mild fish, 5 or 6 kernels of native corn, a single 1x 1/2” piece of (over) cooked sweet potato, mild sweet dressing, but mostly red onion sliced long, very awkward with the diminutive tortilla chips. Not much substance @ $20 x 2.

Ordered 5 entrees to share so everyone could try a cross section of the menu. Asked for extra plates. Who doesn’t like Paella? Ordered 2 house signatures, a beef stir fry, pork chop with pumpkin stew, and vegetarian noodles @ $25-45 each.

All arrived cold.

Paellas were mostly overcooked pasta swimming in a super bland sauce. Didn't finish either. No one wanted the leftovers.

Pork chop was 1/4 x 3 x 5" " slice with bone, over smoked and salted, so dry it curled; couldn't even cut it with a steak knife. Pumpkin stew bland, overcooked atop mushy white rice.

Beef stir fry had the right proportion of ingredients but too heavy on the soy/salt. Agreed we'd had better for half the cost elsewhere.

The vegetarian noodles were the best of the lot, nothing to get excited about; cubed tofu, mild sauce, overcooked noodles with an ounce or two of steamed veggies.

Lost our enthusiasm so decided to pass on dessert, but ordered 2 coffees looking forward to a cup of deep, rich fresh South American grind before the long drive home. What arrived was weak, lukewarm, in small cold 3 oz cups, (again) spilled in transit, with little plastic single serve containers of…coffee mate. I'm not making this up, folks. I asked, but was told there was no milk, half and half, or even nut milk anywhere in the house.

We sipped what was left in our little coffee cups till they were empty. No warm up offered, so I went over to the bar again where servers and someone in kitchen whites were standing and asked if someone could refill our coffees and bring some more napkins (to mop up the coffee mess).

Instead, we were brought 2 new (terrible) cups of mostly spilled liquid without the little coffee mates. We're pretty sure they used a K-cup and split a single serving between the 2 coffee cups and reused it for the second 2 cups, it was that abysmal.

We did not receive any silverware or napkins until after our food arrived and we asked for it a second and third time. At no time during the 3 hours there were we asked if we liked our food or needed anything. Most of our beverages ended up on the drink trays. Our food was cold and not at all what we expected.

After almost no service except drop-offs, 2 servers arrived tableside with the bill and a portable card reader wanting to run our card before we even had a chance to review it.

Review it we did; $325 ($80 per person before tip), including spoiled wine that was sent back and 4 coffees (for the 2 of us), which were explained as "we brought you 4 cups of coffee" ...as they cleared the table before we’d finished the second 2 cups of coffee.

We...

My friend and I decided to eat here before heading off to see a show at Mountain Winery nearby. Though the prices were high, the quality and quantity of food was worth it.

We shared the following: ceviche de pescado, ceviche chino, empanadas, papas huancainas, and chicken sausage.

I'm glad we shared because by the time we got the 5th dish, we had to get it to go because we were stuffed! I recommend either of the ceviches. The pescado one had lots of flavor from the lime, enhanced by the spiciness. You can also tell them how hot you want it, but I'm glad we ordered medium because that was perfect. I don't think I could go any higher. The flavor in the chino one was deep in savory flavors of soy and vinegar. And it came with crunchy wonton strips that added a good texture.

The empanada appetizer came with 4 small empanadas: beef, chicken, spinach, and mushroom. I couldn't eat the one with beef because I can't eat red meat anymore, but the other ones were delicious! The dough was softer, and fluffier in texture, which was good for the size it came in. The papas huancainas were so good, and that's the dish that got me stuffed full stop! The soft potatoes were enveloped with delicious aji amarillo sauce, topped with feta cheese. Though the potatoes were soft, they still had enough firmness to hold onto the thick sauce.

The chicken sausage was so good, and we got it go to because we weren't willing to part with it. Unfortunately, we forgot to take the dip it came in, so it's just another reason to go back! The chicken was fried to perfection, and wasn't too greasy.

The restaurant is large and can hold a big party. We were there on a particularly hot day, and I think something was wrong with their a/c because the larger dining area was a bit stuffy. But if that side was the only place to sit, I would because the food is worth it.

Good service, and gender-neutral bathrooms a plus.

Parking in that area is hard, and we were lucky to find one around the corner. But if you made a reservation, give yourself around 30 minutes to...

We went to the grand opening of Pisco Bar (huge mistake). When we first walked through the door it was hard to hear anything the hostess told us and on top of that you have to pay a $15 fee (cash only) simply because they have a dance floor (even if you decide not to dance), found this ridiculous since their food and drinks are even more expensive (3 drinks = ~$40). We found a table that had empty drinks and seemed like whoever was there had left so the hostess allowed us to sit there and even cleared the table, we were then promptly rudely told to get up by customers that were there. We told the hostess about how the customers not only harassed us and yelled but also snatched the menu away from our hands even though we explained the mix up to them and were getting up to leave already. We then went to sit outside which resulted in not getting any service for about 20 minutes, our drinks also took about 20 minutes, and when we finally placed our food order it never arrived. Each time we had to wave the waitress down and ask for what we had ordered since no one ever brought it. After waiting 30-40 minutes for our food we asked the waitress if our appetizers were ready or if we had to wait longer. This resulted in her explaining that she had put the order, someone took it, and the kitchen was already closed. This mix up completely ruined our night among other things, and they had the audacity to still charge us for the drinks. We talked to the manager and we were able to get the entry fee money back, and were even told that they did not expect as many people as they received and the kitchen was not ready. As if that was our problem…I understand things happen but terrible service has nothing to do with the kitchen. Don’t know if we will be going back again, maybe not until they figure out how to properly...