19 Kitchen & Bar

We stopped in here for a quick drink before starting our night out on the town.  There were five of us, and we decided to order some food to go with our drinks.  We hung out in the lounge, enjoying our drinks and food.  We were pretty much the only people in there besides two or three people at the bar.

The waitress was flat out rude.  Her service was lackluster and her attitude was atrocious.  But lucky for her, they tacked on a gratuity even though it said NO WHERE on the menu that they add gratuity for groups.

We had all been here before and had fabulous experiences, so I am not sure if we just caught the staff on an off night, but not sure we'll be back any time soon.

This place is a giant rip-off. The wine list sucks and is double or triple the price for the same wines at other restaurants. The food would have been ok...for $10/plate - but they charged $50/plate. I get it, you pay for the view - but the food quality really make me unhappy to drop $200 for the both of us at the end of the night. The server was kind but immature. They are trying to be posh but really not pulling it off. My Ahi might as well have been microwaved from a freeze-dried TV dinner box. Save your money, take a walk on Nevada beach if you want a nice sunset view of Tahoe, do not eat here.

My wife and I were starting our weekend to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and 19 Kitchen and Bar was our Friday evening outing. We were greeted promptly and shown to a window seat with a perfect view for the upcoming sunset. The wait staff was very friendly and on-point all evening.  They were quick to give refills, timed the serving of the courses perfectly, were unobtrusive yet timely when they arrived. One of the best wait staff experiences we have had at any restaurant.

We started with the scallop appetizer. The scallops were on the cold side and the spices were uneven at best. There were some tasty bites and some not so much. This was definitely the worse food offering of the night. We both decided on the 20 ounce rib-eye. Though on the average price side ($46) for upscale standards, they cut wasn't overly spectacular. Now, the seasoning and taste were very good even though they were slightly over-seared. The garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus on the side were good as well. We ordered dessert as well. I got the cheesecake and my wife got donuts (the house specialty) with vanilla and chocolate sauces. The cheesecake was one of the best I ever had (if not the best) - unique take on a classic dessert. The donuts were good and we enjoyed the vanilla sauce much more than the chocolate (though the vanilla was runny and didn't stick as well). I wouldn't consider the donuts "special" though. Good, not great.

All this led to us finishing with some coffee and watching the sunset over the mountain peaks of Lake Tahoe. The weather was perfect and the patrons in the restaurant, like us, were just possibly more focused on getting pictures of the sunset than the food. As for the other patrons, the restaurant wasn't overly busy but most parties were close to the window to catch the views. This led to a louder atmosphere than we would have preferred.