Clearie's Restaurant & Lounge

Stopped into this place the other evening and was pleasantly surprised. On the outside it looks like any boring stock restaurant along the lines of applebees. However walking in we were greeted and promptly seated without a reservation. Our server was quite knowledgeable of the menu and the specials were quite tasty.

Hands down the best part was the spicy clam chowder. I could have easily eaten a big bowl of that and their amazing bread. We will definitely be back again.

A few weeks ago my wife and I decided to go here for dinner on a Friday night, so you would expect the A team cooking.  We had been there previously to grab a drink after eating dinner at Kobe and it seemed decent enough and she had liked the gimmicky martini.

We started our meal with an order of the beef Carpaccio and a couple of drinks.  The drinks were fine and the Carpaccio was really good but after I ate a couple of pieces I noticed there was a large piece of plastic underneath one of the slices of beef I'm talking like a 4"x8" piece.  When the waiter came back I let him know and showed him the plastic and he was apologetic and we carried on to the rest of the meal.

I ordered the prosciutto wrapped scallops for my dinner entree and the wife had the seared tuna.  My scallops were all crudely wrapped in one giant bunch with a few pieces of prosciutto and the risotto underneath was completely bland and covered in asparagus stocks cut up in tiny pieces.  For the price you pay they can afford to serve only the asparagus crowns and do something useful with the stalks like make a soup.

My wife's tuna was a disaster.  Seared tuna should still have the deep red color in the center and this was a far cry from that.  (I have had seared tuna from a taco truck that was done correctly but this place couldn't manage it) The majority of the tuna was white because it was overcooked and the center had a tiny bit of pink and no red color left whatsoever.  

To top it all off when the bill arrived the waiter didn't even comp the Carpaccio that was served with a healthy portion of plastic.  So we took it out of his tip and we will not be back.

If you like a gimmick you might try their bastardized martini with a hunk of dry ice in it.  If you would like a good meal, try anywhere else.

This is without reservation 5 star dining at it's best.  My wife and I were up in Redding for the Kool April Nights car show.  It was also my wife's birthday and some guys at the car show recommended Clearie's.  

The service was excellent, Justin was our server the first night and we liked it so much we went back for a second night and James waited on us.  I cant say enough about the service, ambiance, food and presentation...

This restaurant would be a hit in Newport Beach, Beverly Hills or anywhere...

Dont miss dining here if you are in Redding...

Thanks

Chuck