Brunch on Mother's Day! Great food and excellent service. Definitely commended from the Executive chef -Brian Hill to the servers. We were impressed on the selection of  food: different sushi, seafood-oysters, large shrimps, Alaskan king crab legs, smoked salmon; different kinds of salads; omelet station; craving station and hot entrees.  Forgot the full long table of cakes and sweets. A new place for us to go back for a brunch. Price is reasonable! BTW, the kids had their own selection of food...how creative is that!!!!
Review Source:This review is purely for the Mothers Day Brunch. I've actually eaten here before during there early bird 3 course meal for under $20 and it's pretty legit. But the Mothers Day Brunch...
1st off, you need a reservation as it's packed. Price was freaking over $50 per person (they include tip and tax). They usher you into the grand ballroom where the buffet is lined up in the middle.
Why the brunch gets 1 star:
Service:
Blows. Absolutely sucked. I think we got our Champagne refilled a grand total of twice during the hour and half we spent eating here. We had to ask the waiter four times to bring us water. They just don't care.
Food Quality:
Seafood:
Nothing special. Tiny crab legs, tiny oysters, and clams. They had peeled shrimp which was actually the right size, but they also had a sign for Sashimi, but instead had vegetarian sushi lined up. They didn't even have California rolls.
Breakfast Buffet:
Not bad. Not amazing either. Your normal breakfast items along with some specialties like French Cheese Rolls and eggs Benedict.
Carving Table:
Roast beef was dry. Took a few bites gave up. Omelet was whatever, nothing special inside. I didn't even bother trying the honey ham.
Desert Table:
Looked life the Desert table at Safeway.
Ambiance:
While you could eat in the restaurant, or sit outside, we elected to sit in the ballroom near the buffet tables. It was like sitting in an airport waiting lounge, loud as heck with screaming children running around and people running amuck. The grand ball room was dim, and the ambiance was... suck ass.
Bottom line:
Yes, I know this hotel is suppose to be a 4 star posh hotel in middle of Palo Alto, but come on, for $55 bucks a pop you could at least pretend to try. I honestly could get seafood at a Chinese buffet for 50% that would equate to the same quality, or take my mom to Dennys, spend $30 bucks and get equal quality food, with probably the same Ambiance, and better service. Nothing is good here, you will leave feeling unsatisfied and completely robbed.
I've been to 4290 Bistro for the last three Easters. Â I keep going back because it was great, but this year definitely did not live up to my expectations.
I reserved online thru Open Table and had to enter my credit card at that time. Â When I arrived, I was told that that only held the reservation - wish they would have charged it because checking and paying took FOREVER. Â There was only one group ahead of us, but somehow it took about 10 minutes to ring that group up.
We then followed the host to our table - but the server could not find our table. Â He had a map of the dining layout but couldn't find where we were supposed to be. Â He finally just seated us at an empty table that was too big for our party of 5. Â The table could accommodate 8-10, so it was difficult to talk with the people on the other side. Â I later saw our table - it was on the complete other side of the buffet. Â I'd suggest that the person seating customers actually be trained on how to read a map. Â It was quite the uncomfortable start to Easter brunch.
Next, the food. Â It seemed like the choices this year were a bit limited. Â As a vegetarian, I usually love buffets because there are so many different things to taste. Â Many of the salad dishes had meat in them, even the green salad on the buffet was only offered with Caesar dressing (anchovy). Â I finally found a plain green salad with a different dressing at the kid's table which was nice. Â Besides the few vegetable options at the salad table, the menu seemed carb-heavy. Â Even the meat-eaters in my group thought the same thing.
In the past they have had a sushi/sashimi table that offered some vegetarian rolls. Â This year only california rolls were offered.
The best thing was they definitely kept the champagne flowing. Â Since it took a while for our server to get to us, we asked that she just leave a bottle so we wouldn't have to wait for refills. Â She gladly obliged, and actually dropped another bottle off later.
The price was pretty steep - 4 adults and 1 senior ate for $266. Â I don't think that this brunch was worth that price. Â The non-holiday brunches are about $30 - choices are not as extensive but definitely worth the price.
As I said, this has been our regular Easter buffet, but next year we may look for something else. Â An annual brunch should be a very special dining experience, and I don't think that this one measured up.
Their Sunday Brunch is Awesome! The Easter & Mother's Day Brunch is FANTASTIC! It is a bit pricey, but well worth it! There's enough food to feed all of Africa, and the wait staff, are friendly, courteous, helpful, and very accommodating. We've never had lunch or dinner here, just the brunch, but we've come back every year for 5 years now. I hope they maintain the standard they've set. I absolutely recommend 4290 Bistro & Bar for Sunday Brunch! YUM-YUM!
Review Source:This can be a popular spot for happy hour for drinks and appetizers, but nothing stands out here. Â Whether you order a glass or wine or a plate of the fish tacos, the food is simple with no frills to remember.
The staff is helpful and friendly for good service. Â Plus, you get wifi access to lounge in the bar or watch TV. Â The decor is somewhat bland, but bright enough to keep you awake. Â Parking is ample in the front and back lots.
You can earn the right to charge $15 for Mac & Cheese and $17 for grilled artichokes, if and only if the food you produce is spectacular in taste and presentation and your service is impeccable.
4290 Bistro has not earned this right, but they do it anyway.
I had the grilled artichokes. Â And by "grilled" I mean "burned to a crisp and mostly inedible". Â The outer layers of the artichoke were of course completely inedible, and the inner layers were tough, chewy, and bland. Â The couscous might have been edible if it had been warmed a little.
Service was mediocre. Â Took forever to get our check, and then took forever for them to come back for it. Â Wasn't worth the expense. Poor value.
Now my stomach is upset, and I wish I had eaten something that might normally qualify as 'food' instead of 'refuse'. Â Yuck. Â Just... ugh. Yuck.
Review for their Sunday Champagne Brunch - $30 a head & very WELL worth it too....
Excellent service. Â They all really were stellar.
Delicious and very fresh food, it's not as elaborate as the Hyatt Sunday brunch but it definitely has plenty of options to put you in food coma if you indulge. Â Beware. Â It's easy to do here.
My cousin, brothers and sisters-in-law were unanimously impressed. With the 9ers game on and Fleet weekend, we were happy this find wasn't busier, as it likely has potential to be.
I'm not particularly huge on buffets, but am huge on the ones that focus on quality v. quantity.
Breakfast basics plus a rockin omelet station, awesome cheese blintzes and fruit galore- Â check
Lunch goodies - check
     ......  including some mean prime rib, really yummy fresh salmon, blackened BBQ shrimp, cold shelled prawns/cracked crab, veggie quiche, chicken breast, and a plethora of salads that clearly were made that morning, not yesterday's buffet leftovers as some hotels get away with.
I think we'll be taking my parents here next time.
Beautifully renovated space, nice curb appeal and very cool pool area in case you're thinking of staying there - Â it looked surprisingly modern and very aesthetically pleasing.
If you're a group of 6 of more, reservations also recommended.
*Only downfall - there is a beautiful piano in the dining area void of a player. Â They're in the process of hiring someone, apparently, as their regular guy died :(
This review is for the Sunday Brunch only, as I've never been there for any other meal. Â
Their brunch offerings can be divided into 2 big groups: the breakfast items and the lunch items. Â The breakfast items include all the usual stuff you would expect to see: bacon, sausage, roasted potatoes, omelet station, cereal/oatmeal station, and my personal favorite, Eggs Benedict. Â I think their lunch entrees change periodically, but they always have a fish entree, chicken entree and beef entree, plus rice and veggies, and a salad bar. Â And they have a dessert station for those that just need that extra dose of sugar after a meal. The food is good, not great, but if you're hungry it certainly hits the spot. Â
But one thing I love about this place is their excellent customer service. Â The first time I came here was the day after my wedding, and between my and my husband's family, bridal party, friends and one freeloader, we had maybe 30 people in our entourage that were hungry and needed some grub. Â On a whim and with no reservations, we decided to check out the brunch here since we were staying at a hotel across the street, and that hotel had no brunch. Â I had sent 2 of my bridesmaids ahead to make sure they had space to accommodate all of us, and when my entire group finally got there, the restaurant manager personally came out to greet us and show us to our tables.
The next time I came here, it was just the hubby and I, but the customer service was still top notch. Â When I was checking out the Eggs Benedict from their breakfast items, one of the servers approached me and told me that he would go get a fresh batch from the kitchen, since the batch that was on the buffet station had been out for a while. Â I appreciate that kind of service, especially since he didn't have to go to the trouble of getting a fresh batch; I would have gladly just picked one out from the batch that was already there.
So the moral of my story, 4290 Bistro, is that your servers deserve a raise.
back in the day, the Cabana had a rodizio. It's too bad it didnt last but at least they tried an interesting cuisine. Cut to present day, they've opened 4290 Bistro which is a much safer and reserved offering. Standard California fare with some modern twists. I just wanted a bacon cheeseburger and some fries. Well I can say that they do a decent job here. I actually got my burger correctly cooked medium rare here. You have no idea how many times places have f'd this up. Good fries with parmesan too boot. Now the ambiance isn't really much to look at as it was pretty empty but service was solid and friendly. Again you're in a hotel so take it as what you will. 3.5 stars
Review Source:
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