This place was a major disappointment. Had a family dinner there before a Tanglewood concert.
Drinks: not good--visibly not shaken and not tasty either.
Food: The lobster cocktail just tasted like mayo, and the soup didn't taste like anything. The lamb meatballs was the one item anyone enjoyed all night--flavorful, and well paired with dates and a salad. For entrees, my dad had the cod--overcooked. My mom and I had the scallops--overcooked and rubbery, and we were both crunching on some kind of sand or dirt that was in them. My brother had the chicken--really dry and the chickpea flour sticks that accompanied it were disgusting and totally unseasoned (weirdly, our waitress had raved about them). My other brother had the salmon, which he said was flavorless. The only positive other than the meatballs was the complimentary bread--hot, tasty, and bread service was quick.
Service: I work as a server, and my brother and dad used to work as waiters too, so we're usually a pretty easygoing bunch. But not only did all our food take forever to come out; our server was unapologetic, salty, and didn't seem to care how our experience went. She had good menu knowledge and did her requisite table "touches" (checking back 5 min after we got dishes to ask how they were) but didn't really seem to care what answer we gave her. She seemed pissed the whole time.. Manager stopped by once to tell us our food would be out soon but also seemed unapologetic about how long everything was talking. I'm not demanding, and am usually the apologist for servers whenever i go out. Even just one "I'm sorry about this" would have gone a long way to change my impression, but these people just didn't seem to care.
To top it all off, it's way overpriced, especially considering the quality of what you get. Sure, we tipped well, because we're servers ourselves--but that was the only reason we tipped well. My parents used to really like this place, but I don't think they'll be back.
We had a lovely lunch on the covered porch of this pretty wine bar restaurant. Â There was a large selection of reasonably priced wines by the glass. Â Service was excellent and everyone was friendly. Â There was a nice selection of salads, panini s, wraps and entrees for lunch. Â There were even lunch specials. Â I had a tomato and caramelized onion torte with arugula salad and a glass or Pinot Grigio from
Sonoma ($7!). Â My husband had a ham, Brie and apple wrap with sweet potato and regular fries. Â He had a Riesling from Germany. Â Everything was wonderful. Â If we are ever in the area again, we will not hesitate to return.
After a week of eating below average restaurants in Pittsfield, Â I came here as one of my last nights. Â I don't know if my expectations had been killed by my other bad experiences, Â but this place rocked!
The duck was cooked perfectly and the dessert cheesecake was not too sweet, so perfect. Â
This was the best meal I had in the Berkshires!
This was our first time in the area and we were happy to find Alta! Â
Our dinner was Delish! Â
It was a busy night so we ended up seated at the bar which was not too bad. Â We started with foie gras, our mains were the steak and cod. Both were cooked well with generous portions. Â Good wine list, and had the sorbet for dessert.
This review applies to lunch only...
I am a creature of habit, so when I find a place I like I go often. My wife and I were in the Berkshires for a week and had lunch at Alta three times.
I loved the lunch concept - an omelette, soup, and stew of the day. Simple, but plenty of room for creativity. The salads were huge and delicious. I particularly liked the Cesar.
Seating on the porch was a nice touch.
Good selection of wine as well (though that didn't help my post-lunch energy level).
Great wines and food well worth the trek.
My friends and I went skiing at Jiminy Peak and wanted to eat at a "nice" restaurant. Â Husband found Alta and I am so glad he did.
What I love most about this place are the wines. They offer "make your own flights" - how cool is that! Also their $6 cab was delicious! It says alot about a place when their cheapest wine is so delicious
All 6 of us thoroughly enjoyed our meals. I had the pasta - was originally worried that it would be too heavy because it was in a cream sauce but it wasn't! Â I couldn't stop eating it. Â
Save room for dessert. Â We loved the cheesecake.
This review is from my visit to Alta on October 26, 2012.
I made my way to Alta after checking into Kripalu way past dinner time. It was only my second trip to Lenox, MA and the town is so dark - after dark I expected to not find anything open. A quick Yelp search showed me a cluster of restaurants on Church Street, so I put my night vision goggles (just kidding) and I drove on down.
I must confess, of all the restaurants on the street I picked this place 100% on looks. It has a wine bar look and feel to it (duh it is a wine bar) and that was all it took to wheel me in.
Since I was alone, I decided to order my dinner at the bar, the bartender was extremely knowledgeable about wines and the menu; he recommended the perfect pairing. I ordered the Halibut which was served with a caper sauce over spinach and mashed potatoes with a glass of wine he also recommended.
The halibut was PERFECT, the sauce was amazing, the mashed potatoes the perfect consistency and taste, while the wine as he promised was the perfect one to not overpower the dish. Â Service was perfect, it was not intrusive, however I was checked on periodically to see if I needed anything.
Although the food is amazing at Kripalu, I am looking forward to my next Kripalu retreat to give Alta another visit.
I was passing through Lenox and needed a place for dinner. Upon walking by this place, decided to give it a try just based on seeing the menu and the atmosphere. The food was delicious! I ended up ordering several dishes because each dish was better than the next. Signed on to write this review and saw all the rare reviews and five stars--its well deserved! If you are in Lenox this is the place to eat.
During my last visit, my friends wanted to hit FireFly. The food and wine there is good, but not anything special like at Alta. Firefly is also more casual.
Too tired to write the details of my meal, you dont need them anyway because whatever you have is bound to be delish.
We had a very good meal here. For an appetizer we split quinoa salad which was enough for the two of us. The martinis were "adult" ie heavy pour. They do have some speciality drinks which sounded great with locally made vodka, gin and bourbon . They infuse the gin with black tea for one of their martinis. For our entree we had the salmon special which was to die for. The salmon was broiled and served on a bed of chunky mashed potatoes with spinach . We sat at the bar and the service was great. It would have gotten 5 stars, but it was a little hot, temperature wise, at the bar. Overall a very good experience .
Review Source:Just ate here this past Saturday, 9/22/12, and it was AMAZING. I had the Mediterranean salad (soooo good) and a burger (the goat cheese is yummy!) and my boyfriend had the butternut squash soup which was very very good he said, and he also had a burger. The service was A+++++. I forgot who our waitress's name was, but I know she used to live in Danvers, MA. :-) Anyway, I would totally recomment this place!! Great prices and amazing food and service!!!
Review Source:We decided to picnic at Tanglewood and chose takeout from Alta. The owner was gracious enough make a few special salads for two of our group on strict diets.
Everyone was happy with their meals. The food was a little under seasoned but that could be because of their very health conscious menu.
Nothing was amazing but sometimes consistency is key. I would recommend this to our friends.
Wow!! The greatest find so far. We had a 7:00 pm reservation and were taken in immediately. Our waitress Daralyn was the best. We started with the best caesar salad I have ever had  way big enough for two.  She led us to our favorites. I had the special (shrimp with risotto and veggies) to die for. My better half had the trout which was scrumptious.  Desert-OH MY GOD.  A fruit cobbler that nothing could be left over. This is a definite stop if you are in the Birkshires.
Review Source:We came here recently for a family birthday celebration, and overall had a very nice time. Â While our visit was not without a few minor kinks, the food was great and the service was also excellent. Â If you're interested in all the dirty details, check out the pictures I posted of some of our food, and read on...
We arrived for our reservation a few minutes early and were greeted warmly before being seated right away. Â The hostess led us to a 6-top table which was in a cramped corner next to the bar. Â In my opinion, this space would fit one or two 2-top tables just fine, but 6 made it very cramped. Â It was tight enough that those sitting on the far side of the table along the wall couldn't squeeze past others to get out of their seat, and the three across the table were sitting right up against other patrons seated in stools at the bar. Â I was pleased when we were told that the bar would clear out by 6:30 and we'd end up having more space and less noise... But that never actually happened. Â The bar stayed packed for the duration. Â So, we filed in to our table when we arrived and we filed back out when we left... and thankfully, no one had to use the bathroom before the meal was over. Â
We were told that someone would bring us some fresh, warm bread ,but no one ever did. Â That was okay, though, because we turned out to be more than satisfied with our meals. Â Several of us started with the soup of the day, a corn bisque, which was tasty. Â I also tried a few bites of the quinoa salad, which was a huge portion and very bright with fresh herbs.
Our waitress (Darilyn?) was very knowledgeable about the wines. Â Being a wine bar, the selection is extensive, and she did a great job making individual recommendations after asking us a few questions about our preferences. Â Bravo.
The service was also very friendly and attentive, and the food was well timed. Â A manager checked on us at one point to make sure were were happy, which was a nice touch. Â Although the meals looked a bit small at first glance, they were healthy sized portions and each of us was satisfied. Â The plates looked beautiful and tasted even better. Â I tried both the duck and tofu, and both were excellent. Â We were all too full to order dessert, and we had a birthday cake waiting for us at home anyway. Â
In conclusion: although this wasn't a flawless experience, I would not hesitate to return to Alta.
I always like a restaurant tha will modify what they serve to meet your desires, and, when they are French, that is an extra plus. Â We originally tried Nudel across the street, but since my wife is gluten intolerant and a vegitarian, we left. Â I tend to shy away from a place the calls itself a wine bar, because I feel the emphasis will be on the wine, not the food. Â Was I wrong! Â At first we did not see any vegitarian options, but then the hostess said she was vegan and they could cook for any dietary restrictions. Â The result was superb; well worth the hour wait for a table. Â We had the scallops and the tastes were perfectly balanced. Â We will reserve ahead the next time.
Review Source:We chose Alta's because of the reviews on yelp. We certainly were not disappointed. We both had the special of the evening, which was a fresh sea bass with a hazelnut pesto sauce, it was excellent. The side of mashed potatoes were very good. Our waitress was outstanding. You must try the basil peach white sangria, amazing! Highly recommend a visit here.
Review Source:This was a really amazing restaurant, owned and operated by a Frenchman who was very attentive to our needs and whose staff is friendly and efficient. All of our dishes - scallops, linguini, pork chop, beet salad, provencal tart - were delicious. The creme brulee with Grand Marnier was perfect! We had a Washington State Meritage by Hogue (2007) that was an excellent value. The wine list had a lot of choices and the pricing was fair. We admired the paintings by a local artist, Kris Galli, which adorn the walls. If Scott Prior and Johannes Vermeer had collaborated, these would be the result - realistic and softly muted. Back to the food, it was very pleasing and we had a great time. You can see why the locals support this restaurant year round.
Review Source:Alta consistently serves excellent food prepared with fresh ingredients and interesting mixes of ingredients. Â Their fish specials are especially good.
On our last visit we had the quinoa salad (a great dish and great value at $10) that is served with roasted hazelnuts, raisins, feta cheese and arugula. As with all their salads you can also order it with chicken, scallops, salmon or shrimp for an additional $4-6. Â It also comes in a larger portion which makes a great meal in itself. Â My favorites are the quinoa with scallops or chicken.
Their mushroom and leek upside down tart ($10) is a rich blend of vegetables in a creamy tart. Â Another really nice way to start a meal.
My wife ordered the tomato fennel linguini($19) which was served al dente in a delicious light tomato fennel sauce. Â I had the red snapper special that came with an orange glaze, mashed potatoes and spinach. Â The fish was light and flaky.
Another terrific fish selection is the pan seared derauda ($25) that is served with a crispy skin and an artichoke pesto. Â Highly recommended.
Service is always friendly and efficient and the chef/owner often comes out to check on his patrons and is always wiling to talk food and wine.
If you are in Lenox, this is one of the better stops.
I would give this 3.5 stars but I can't give it 4, so 3 it is. Â We ate out in the open air seating. Â The space was very crowded the people around us kept having a tough time getting out or moving around. Â The service was just "OK". Â Our server just struck me as a little odd. While we got frequent refills of water the person kept only filling up the glasses half way. The food was very good for us. However, I felt the price was way too high considering the portion size, the simpleness of the food, and the less than fine seating. They charge like they are fine dining but its just a fine place to dine.
Review Source:I was here last year, and we ordered a scallop dish and a halibut dish, both were very good. Â But we ordered them to-go so I did not write a review. Â Now, a year later, I tried out the risotto w/scallops and it's a 0.5 star dish.
Very wary on complaining in restaurant while you're being watched over by staff, I bit my tongue about the lousy risotto and tried to focus on the redeeming scallops.
The scallops were slightly under done, which was perfect...though a slight salt taste to them like they were previously frozen.
The risotto was sooooo lazily made, I've never experienced risotto like this. Â Al Dente is not an excuse. Â The risotto was not pillowy or soft or creamy as rice, it was the texture of cooked white rice, and the chef attempted to make up for this and make it creamy with about a quart of cream....NEVER seen this before.
Now under the risotto (yes, UNDER it) was a pool of broth and olive oil with a mound of squash, zuchinni, asparagus, green beans, and garlic.
The veg literally looks like the mound you'd find next to a piece of meat, and then the risotto slopped on top. Â Olive oil pool mixing with heavy cream in the risotto....bad bad bad mix. Â
Based on the written description you'd think you were going to get what most restaurants would have served....a risotto made with stock/broth with some parm and then asparagus cut and mixed in. Â
For $27 I really think this was incredibly overcharged for what I got. Â Skip dish if you're not going to skip this place.
We were vacationing in the Berkshires this summer and decided to venture out to nearby towns. Â My wife and I have 5 kids and don't get out often. Â We were not so happy with the restaurant options in Pittsfleld so we looked for a good date-night restaurant in Lenox. Â Luckily, there seems to be a few good options it seemed, including this restaurant and one across the street. Â It was a toss-up. Â When we arrived, visually Alta seemed to be the coziest-looking with it's outdoor alfresco dining.
We started with a nice bottle of wine. Â My wife order the gazpacho to start and the duck entree with a salted caramel sauce. Â I ordered tomato w/black bean soup with sour cream and a lime-scented scallops with quinoa. Â
We sat outside and the ambiance was nice it seemed. Â The waiter was pleasant enough. Â Our soups arrived and we were rather underwhelmed. Â
My wife's Gazpacho, a soup served cold, arrived in a warmed bowl - like it just got out of the dishwasher. Â The gazpacho lacked flavor, it seemed like someone opened a can of tomato juice and poured it into her hot bowl. Â The soup was garnished with different sized-cuts of tomatoes - some of which still had the core! Â Not so good.
My soup tasted like store-bought tomato sauce and was missing the sour cream dollop. Â When the waiter finally arrived to check in, I asked for the sour cream (that was supposed to be IN the soup) to which he delivered a ramekin of sour cream - too late to make a difference to the soup. Â Also not good.
It wasn't looking good at this point - but we kept and open mind for the entrees. Â We were disappointed when they arrived. Â The duck's cut was not even so the temperature was all over the place - rare to medium on one piece of duck. Â My scallops, which were supposed to be seared, most looked more like they were steamed. Â Overall, the dishes were flavorful, we understood the intent, but the way it was executed was poorly done.
What killed the dinner however was the hostess. Â You are probably thinking - "how does a hostess ruin a dinner after you are seated?". Â One word- bug spray. Â Because we were on the outside deck, the hostess found it necessary to spray herself with bug spray in the middle of the deck. Â Wafting into the air, it was only a mere 60 seconds before we tasted mostly bug spray from this point on. Â We heard other people commenting as well on the smell & taste.
The saving grace here from this restaurant not getting one star was that the owner/manager came out to ask how things were... and we were honest. Â He seemed genuinely concerned and thanked us for the feedback with words and an offering of dessert, on the house. Â We shared the molten chocolate cake (that he said was awesome) to which we are afraid to say was more like a soup, not a cake- kind of nasty.
So from beginning to end, we do not recommend going here, looks can be deceiving - the place looks charming but if were had the chance to do it again, should have gone across the street.
Update 8/13/11:
The co-owner of Alta contacted me after this review which started as a 2-star. Â He, the chef, and staff are really genuinely interested in quality and customer experience, and offered an better experience on our return. Â While I'm not sure if we'll ever be back in that area, I am impressed when a company/owner values feedback enough to reach out and try to do something about a negative experience. Â Kudos to Alta. Â Maybe they deserve another chance. Â I'm elevating a start to 3.
BTW- the owner did address the bug-spray issue with the new hostess.
The staff was friendly and accomodating in moving our table away from a large, noisy group of diners and into a smaller, quieter room. The young owner check up to make sure that we were satisfied, and that personal touch enhanced our evening. We learned that the menu is normally determined by what foods are available locally, but remains unchanged during the busy summer season. The food was outstanding. The risotto the best ever and the tuna cooked just right. We expect to return often.
Review Source:While the butter they served with the bread had a faint taste of being kept out in the refrigerator too long, the rest of the meal was sublime. My party had an excellent gazpacho, pork tenderloin with an inventive Dijon whipped cream, and then there was my entree, duck breast in a salty caramel sauce. If this sauce had been a man I would have torn off his clothes and had my way with him. I could have done with the sauce. I will say that the peach-chocolate cobbler should have gone one way or the other - the combination didn't work. But I would crawl on my knees through broken glass for more of that duck and especially the sauce.
Review Source:We happened on Alta twice in a week while doing sales in the Berkshires. Our first pleasant surprise was that they were open and receptive. Our second was the great service, warm greetings, and excellent wine and food.
We were greeted both times by the warm and knowledgeable owner, and had a great conversation about Alsace and local tastes. I enjoyed a great wine flight both times and enjoyed their Russian River Cab as well as their Sancerre. I thought they had a good selection without going over the top.
Our second visit we had lunch. I had a wrap that was grilled with a nice spicy mustard, my wife's salad was scrumptious also. Fresh, fast, and with a smiles. We were both very happy, and had wished we were closer to enjoy it more often. It looks like we'll be looking for an excuse to get back to Lenox soon.
Went to Alta for dinner while visiting the spa at cranwell. We started with the wine flight  and the waitress was very knowledgable about what we got and very helpfulmwith recommendations.  The duck with the salted Carmel sauce was the star but the scallops were impeccably cooked and the pesto with fresh veggies was great and very summery.  I highly recommend this place. Also the owner was very sweet and attentive
Review Source:Great service and absolutely lovely wine list. Â Service was slow, and the menu is limited, but as far as bistro lunch is concerned, not bad value for the money. Â Food was ok, not "knock your socks off" but given the gastronomic insult from "cheaper eats" like Arizona Pizza Co., Alta was a surprise. Â Its still "a little train that can"... Â Ribs were cold but very flavorful, and we were hungry and short on time, so we just ate and sipped a very nice Spanish garnacha. Â They were very accommodating to changes, and very pleasant. Â Their soup du jour is wonderful, their breads are very nice, and the fries (if they weren't COLD), are a mix of regular and sweet potato. Â Definitely a nice stop in town for some nice wine and bistro eats.
Review Source:I went to Alta with a friend this Sunday -- we were exploring Lenox and looking for somewhere with outdoor dining to have dinner. Â We had discounted Alta after reading reviews because they don't have a patio, but what they DO have is a lovely open-air seating area in the front of the restaurant that looks out onto Church St. Â It looked very inviting, and they were happy to seat us and get us drinks even though they weren't technically open for dinner yet. Â
I got "The Spa," which I think consisted of Henrick's gin, fresh ginger, fresh lime, fresh cucumber, maybe some mint -- it was good, not amazing though. Â I think there was supposed to be some sparkling water or something in it, which was not evident. Â I could be remembering it wrong, but if I am this drink could use a little carbonation of some sort. Â Not bad though.
The service here was very good -- we felt very well taken care of and our server was quite patient as we asked him to repeat the specials one more time. Â We ended up ordering the ahi tuna appetizer, which had some bright green seaweed in the middle and a little sauce around the edges. Â It was good but not amazing, the tuna & seaweed were excellent but the sauce drizzled around a little boring - Â basically tasted like sweet, thickened soy sauce. Â If they spiced that up somehow, it could be amazing. Â
Then we both got the special pasta -- fettucine with *freshly foraged* chantarelle mushrooms in a white wine and shallot sauce with oven-roasted tomatoes. Â YUM YUM YUM, AMAZING! I ate every bite. Â I want all my chatarelles freshly foraged from now on. Â
I would definitely recommend a reservation here -- we went on a Sunday, probably getting there at 4:45 (like I said, they hadn't even opened yet). Â We got the last unreserved table in the street-front area and the place filled up within a half hour of opening.
After our mini-vacation in the Berhshires, we stopped off for one more meal before heading back to the Hub.
Alta is a more stylish spot in the middle of downtown Lenox. Their lunch menu is small, but has a lot of great selections.
Their special Spiced Sangria is unreal. Not to be missed.
I had the Autumn panini, a nice pressed sandwich made from fresh local bread, fresh sliced turkey, caramelized onions, cranberry spread and cheddar cheese. Very tasty. The hand-cut fries are good, but would be better if they soaked them overnight.
The homemade lentil soup is off the chart, and the portobello panini is quite good too. Service was impeccable; our waiter was polite and careful.
I would have loved to try more selections from them, but I'll have to swing back through here next time we hit Tanglewood.
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