Barrel House Tavern — Restaurant in Sausalito

Phenomenal food, great views, wonderful service, and spotless interior.

I went through the menu outside to find something that sounded interesting and landed on the salmon Tartare Tacos and Garlic Fries. I went up the steps and met the host. He was very friendly and charismatic. I asked for a table, but they were booked for an event. Only the lounge and bar area had seating available. It looked pretty packed, and I was going to be dining alone, so I decided to order to-go. I was handed a menu, but I already knew what I wanted. My total was about $35 before tip.

After placing my order and handing over my card, I was given a glass of water. I asked where I could wait for my order and was directed to the lounge, which had only four seats left. After about ten minutes, my order was handed to me and I left. There was plenty of seating within a short walk. I realized that I forgot my card and went back to get it and they found it in less than a minute.

Inside the bag, there were two boxes placed sideways. My food didn't look great, but it was very tasty, and you shouldn't have high expectations for presentation when the food is take-out or delivery anyway. The larger box contained the garlic fries, which had plenty of parmesan and garlic butter. They were still crispy and tasted great. The aioli tasted great. I felt that the portion was enough for two people. The tartare tacos came in the little box. At first, I felt like I paid way too much for three tacos until I tasted them. They were absolutely phenomenal. The avocado was ripe, the salmon was fresh and the taco shells were crispy. $9 would be a good price for three tacos, but when you factor in the quality of the ingredients, the prime location, and increasing wages and prices for ingredients, $22 isn't that bad, and it's absolutely worth it. If you're visiting this restaurant, you wanted to splurge anyway. This restaurant's food is worth every penny.

This is a very nice restaurant with very nice staff and phenomenal food. Expect to spend more than $30 here if you want to leave feeling full. You should dine in and make a reservation beforehand for the best experience. You should absolutely visit Barrel House if you...

We went to dinner here on a Sunday evening after visiting all the Golden Gate Bridge overlooks and taking pictures. Located on the Waterfront in Sausalito the Barrel House is a beautifully designed restaurant located on the waters edge overlooking San Francisco. It is an ideal place for dinner with a view of the city and the bay.

We were able to get a table very easily without a wait and most of the tables that I could see had views of the bay, unless you were to sit at the bar area. We had a very pleasant waiter who was very helpful and made some nice suggestions as we were deciding on what to eat.

We started with the flatbread appetizer. This was good, but did not pack the flavor punch we thought it might. The potatoes really do not carry the flavor profile and the pea puree is just ok. I do not think we would order this again.

After seeing the calamari come out to another table, the family decided that it is what we needed to try. We followed our flatbread with the calamari and it was much better. Cooked well and served with cocktail sauce and aioli. The coating was light and this was the appetizer that I would recommend.

For our entree I got the Mushroom Ravioli which was the best dish for me of the evening. The sauce on the ravioli was well prepared and had great flavors. Filled with sun dried tomatoes and a variety of different mushrooms it really accompanied the ravioli well. This was really a delightful dish.

Due to some confusion on our order which the restaurant recovered from beautifully, we also got to try the mushroom chicken. While I am not someone who loves chicken breasts, this was a pretty amazing dish and my family was very complementary of the dish. The chicken was not dry and stuffed with mushrooms and cheese, then topped with mushroom sauce. This would also be a dish that I could recommend.

After we gorged ourselves on appetizers my wife and daughter split a burger, which the restaurant split for them nicely. They enjoyed the burger, but I think it was a pretty reliable standby and doest not really allow the chef to stand out.

Overall we had a very...

The food was acceptable, but for the Bay Area, nothing great. The atmosphere was very cramped, they have the tables packed in there as tight as they could, and in fact, the person behind me hit my chair when they got up to leave. The main issue leading to the low rating was the alcohol. A person in the group ordered a vodka martini and upgraded the vodka brand. They charged $14 for the liquor and another $8 to make it into a martini. When the drink arrived, it was in maybe a modified coupe style glass (not sure, see photo) but was half the normal size. Add to that they didn't make it the way she asked. We ordered two glasses of white wine, which on the menu were listed at $13 and $16. When the bill arrived, the charges were now $18 and $24. Without asking, the waiter decided to bring what he claimed were 8-ounce pours, but this was a typical 5 or 6-ounce pour because the glass itself was a standard unoaked chardonnay/sauvignon blanc glass that wasn't even near half full. I've been drinking wine for a few years and basically can tell when you've poured extra, and this was not. Add to that that there was no inquiry if that's what we even wanted, Showing one price on the menu then price switching without discussing was unprofessionally and unacceptably presumptuous on their part. This was nothing short of blatant price gouging and overcharging. Totally unacceptable. I didn't get I rarely say anything negative about any restaurant, ever, and I've lived and worked all over the country. In this instance, I'm so thoroughly disappointed that I will never go back again. Moreover, I work with a few thousand extraordinarily [over]paid individuals that have discretionary income to spend. I'm going to include information on our internal sharepoint about this experience and that this restaurant is not worth going to. There are other great places in Sausalito that are superior. The Bay Area used to represent the pinnacle of customer service, not sure what happened because I've been treated better at basic chain restaurants. ...