I've been to Monti's many times in the past, but today the food and the service were very disappointing. Â We went on a Sunday afternoon at about 3:45 PM for their happy hour. Â The place was not busy at all, but for some reason it took a long time for the waitress to come to the table. Â When she appeared, she gave us the dinner menu, and even did not mention anything about the happy hour menu. Â Since we are "regular" customers there, we knew what we wanted to order, so she got our complete order for food and drinks. It took forever for a glass of wine and a beer to be served at the table, we had to ask and wait for a piece of bread and butter; besides a fly got to my glass of water and no one really paid any attention to it. Â The food we ordered was very disappointing. Â The chicken wings were overcooked and very dry, the chilled oysters were not dressed properly as they have always been in the past and the taste was terrible and the mussels were average. Â The waitress came to the table many times trying to pull empty dishes, and even before I was done with my food and wine she gave us the bill to pay. All the pressure to finish the food, pay and go was very inappropriate! Â I needed no pressure, especially in the Sunday afternoon to finish my small plate and a glass of wine, which actually I left unfinished at the table.
Review Source:In the recent months Ive only been a fan of the bar.  I have not had a "wow" experience with the food or service.  I am a huge fan of  the sister restaurant, Willi's Seafood in Healdsburg, this is not the best showing of the Stark talent.
I do love the outdoor seating, and the wine and bar offerings .
I've been to Monti's 4 or 5 times now over the years. Â I see it is busy, I like the atmosphere, I think it should be great. Â People reviewing here seem to think its pretty good. Â It's just that it isn't. Â I really don't get the hype. Â Every time I go I'm disappointed. Â Maybe it's the overpriced nothing, or the flavorless blah, but I should be able to say "Oh, I had the yadayada poached in whatchamacallit and it was amazing" but sadly I can't. Â Not once have I made any sort of exclamation of excitement, but I've consistently said to myself "really, $16 for this?" Â For dinner, try Bruno's, or anytime Crepevine.
Review Source:The food and service were both underwhelming. Â Our group of 6 was in for Father's Day and had a reservation for the patio. Two in our party arrived about 20 minutes early and sat there with no water while several of the staff walked by. Â Our server finally made an appearance just a couple minutes before the rest of the group arrived. Â I would never expect to be served anything that far ahead of our reservation time, but is it too much trouble to bring out a couple glasses of water when it's 80 degrees outside? We started out with some Oysters and Calamari. Â The Oysters were very good and fresh, the Calamari was just OK. Â No one at our table much cared for the lemony sauce that was served with the Calamari. Â I had the lamb shank with orzo, my Husband had the burger. Â My lamb shank was mushy and not very flavorful, though my Husband did enjoy his burger very much but for $16.00 you would expect it to be good, it's a burger! The first half of the meal it was very difficult to get refills on our water, but halfway through there was some improvement and no one at our table had to proactively ask for a refill again. Â The outdoor heaters kicked on for some unknown reason which made it very hot and uncomfortable very quickly, but the staff was fast to turn them off once several of the tables complained about the excessive heat. Â We had the apple spice cake and chocolate cake for dessert and both were fine (not fantastic, but OK). Â I don't much care for their policy of automatically adding an 18% gratuity for parties of 6 or more. Â Our server was just OK, not great, not awful either but not worth 18%. Several times during our meal someone at our table wondered aloud "Where is our Server?" Â Overall the experience was "Meh."
Review Source:This is a great restaurant. As other reviews have indicated - Â the fact that it is in a shopping center is a drawback as far as ambiance goes, although I admit that once you are inside, the atmosphere is lovely. Â We had a large group and everyone really enjoyed their selections. Â I didn't hear one complaint. Â Several in the group ordered the hanger steak and said it was great. Â I wasn't very hungry and ordered the pork wrap, and it was just amazing. I ended up eating the entire thing, even though I didn't want to! Â Everyone was pleased with their choice. Â Even the baked mac n cheese was great. Â The wait staff was attentive, and pleasant. Â No complaints. Â The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is the location.
Review Source:I've been told for years not to bother as it is the weakest link in the Stark's chain, so to speak. Â Found myself in Montgomery Center the other day and thought "why not". Â Really glad I did.
First off the setting, it's right in the middle of shopping center but you don't feel like it is. Â The outdoor spaces are well defined and yet very open. Â The service is the usual high level I have experience at all their other restaurants. Â The menu seemed pretty traditional (at least for them) so I tried a classic, the Monti Cristo. Â So simple and so amazingly good. Â Everything just so and the pan-fried brioche bread was inspired. Â This is a really tough sandwich to get right because it has so many parts and it's so easy to get horribly wrong.
What can I say... I'll be back.
I have only had drinks and appetizers here, but I've had several of those experiences so far and am very impressed. Â Happy hour wines are nice pours and good options, and appetizers were delicious. Â Both the tables and the bar were comfortable places to hang out and talk. Â The menu is on the pricey side, but I think worth it for the most part for the quality.
Review Source:First review, so be nice:
This was my boyfriend and my first time visiting Monti's because friends of ours highly recommended it. We walked in and were promptly greeted by a friendly hostess and sat immediately. We sat for about 10 minutes before being greeted by our waitress (I think she was our waiteess any way, there were about 3-4 different people that took orders from us.) with a "hi. Are you 21?" Okay, weird. We said yes and she asked if we would like wine? We said no thank you, we were thinking a corona and a pomegranate fizz, she said fine. We ordered our drinks and she nodded as she walked away. We had to stop her to and ask if we could order our appetizers too, she nodded and kept walking. Our drinks took 15 minutes to get out to us and we were sitting 2 feet from the bar. We got the calamari and beet salad, both large portions and delicious and came out almost immediately! We saw our server again maybe 2 times our entire meal, can't say her name because she never did. Another woman came to take our entree orders and another came to see if everything was cooked correctly. Food was great, hence the 3 stars, we might come back but were pretty turned off by the cold service. We ordered the exotic mushroom pizza and the hangar steak, both great and cooked correctly. We ended up leaving a 30% tip, I wouldn't normally say how much I left but I felt like she expected a lowly tip or no tip at all, also because we weren't too sure who it'd be going to or how it would be divided up. Now, I work in a restaurant, so I'm pretty critical of service usually, but even my boyfriend noticed. Maybe it's because we were in jeans and T-shirts? She thought, oh why bother with them, they won't tip well any way? I'm not sure, either way, they need to improve attitudes of servers a bit. Or at least have the same one come to the table your entire meal. Now I understand drink runners and food runners, but c'mon.
Went here by myself (in Santa Rosa for work) on a Tuesday night.
The dining room was full so I got the choice between sitting at the bar or at the Communal table. Chose the table - there was just one couple at it and it sits like 12 so I just picked a seat a respectable distance away.
Food: I had the baby lettuces salad and the exotic mushroom pizza. The salad was good. Not over dressed and there were plenty of apple slices and walnut pieces to ensure you got a bit of each throughout the "life" of your salad. Solid item - not exactly a super cutting-edge item, but I've had enough mediocre salads to notice how much I liked this one.
The pizza was pretty good! No red sauce (for those who define pizza as something with a red sauce). And for a pizza with fontina, I was a little worried that it might be salty. It actually not too salty at all. The truffle addition was just right. Not over the top but enough to help make the mushrooms that much more yummy.
I skipped dessert. I almost ate the whole pizza all by myself - trying to be good.
The service was great. The server was super nice, knowledgeable, not pushy, (but it wasn't exactly packed to the rafters either). I liked her a lot though.
Overall - I'd go back and try a couple of other things to see how they do on those, am curious.
Note: full bar but not a lot of beer on tap if you're a beer gal.
I went to Monti's for the second time after I had more or less forgotten my previous experience (I now remember why I waited so long between visits). Â This place seems like a place to love; rustic California fusion cuisine, indoor/outdoor seating, fireplace, full bar but there is no love on my part. Â
The food is good (not amazing, but solid), the place is rather loud, it is impossible to use the bathroom because there is only one, I waited 20 minutes to wash my hands, the decor is nice but the place is a bit loud and the service is not great (servers actually know remarkably little about the food they serve). On Sunday I think our server was trying to spend the least amount of time possible at our table and push us out as fast as possible. (He gave us our menu as soon as we were seated and wanted our drink orders right then and there, he came back three minutes later to take our order asking if we were ready, when I said no he asked if I could be ready by the time my companion ordered. We never saw him again he swooped in the minute a plate was empty to take the plates and bring a check seconds later.)
While on a road trip with THE NEIL DEAL band, friends suggested Monti's for after the show on Saturday Afternoon. Â Our table of 6 had a most lovely early dinner, appetizers included the yummi Hummus platter, xlnt Crab Briks & Gorgonzola frys. Everyone at the table was thrilled with their dinners, I had the OssoBuco, tender tender & tasty; the rest enjoyed Hanger steak, King Salmon & (pyramid of) Mussels. Â
We just couldn't resist & had to try deserts & had a fantabulous Creme brullee with the most amazing crispy sugar top & this delightful petite meyer lemon cake w/creme top.
The place is lovely, we sat outside on the shaded patio (it was a 90 degree day!!) and servers were friendly, professional and excellent.
Very highly recommended!!
Went here with friends after wine tasting in Sonoma. Â Friendly service and a casual atmosphere. Â We started with a mushroom pizza that was super yummy. Â Then had a couple other dishes, including the weekly duck special, which was terrible. Â I'm a total duck fan and have never had anything so dry and tasteless. Â We split a dessert, which was excellent. Â Overall, I found the place inconsistent, ranging from excellent to awful. Â Probably wouldn't go back.
Review Source:We had the calamari starter and it was heavily battered with tiny odd shaped pieces of the fish and more battered veges than calamari. My seared tuna was over cooked. Several dishes had olive oil swimming on the edge of the plate and the food was heavy and oily. The best thing was the beet salad. I won't go back. There are too many good restaurants as an alternative choice.
Review Source:Family birthday dinner
a couple of shaky things. We stood at the front door for quite a while waiting for the hostess, and then she strolls out of no where without acknowledging our wait.
I think it was because we were hungry that we had a hard time ordering or there were too many items.
The waitress was very patient and aware of our needs.
I ordered the beet salad, nothing to write home about a solid beet salad.
The Gorgonzola/rosemary fries were very rich tasting. Maybe a squeeze of lemon a top could have cut up the richness.
Entrees:
The chorizo/corn pizza very greasy in my opinion. I like a crispy wood stove pizza without the olive oil drippings.
the side spinach, was again swimming in oil.
My dish was the lamb burger, the burger wasn't really med/rare but it was good. I'm surprised that for the cost the burger didn't have a little salad or side of something with it.
The pork chop looked beautiful, a jiggly and hard to cut in some areas. The cute latkas were crispy and perfect with the homemade apple chunk like sauce was a cute play on the old fashioned pork and apple sauce.
I did watch as the hostess spilled some beer on the floor and walked away for several minutes as servers and customers walked around the liquid. Seemed dangerous and kind of a bit too casual for my taste.
I'm not sure if I would be back, perhaps I would for a lunch service.
To be honest, I was pretty disappointed in this place. I'd been for lunch before, but that was probably 6 years ago. I've been wanting to go back for dinner since that lunch, but it's always packed. I've even tried making reservations but have been unsuccessful. Finally decided to make a reservation for my birthday. Had to do it on Opentable because when we called they only gave us 2 times, but opentable gave us much better options. Got in easily and was seated right away.
Our appetizer of hummus was the number 1 good thing about this place, and hell, for $11, it better be. I could buy about 4 things of hummus at Whole Foods for $11.
My drink, the Ruby Slipper was tasty, but there was a flying bug on the inside of the glass upon my first sip. I wanted to tell our server, but she never returned to ask how the drinks were, until the bug has dried itself off and flew away.
Our entrees were the most disappointing of all. My hanger steak was TOUGH, I mean, really really tough. The Friday night special, Veal was completely covered in fat. My truffle fries were extremely truffley and stuck around with me for hours. I really wanted to tell our server that my steak was extremely tough, but she never asked, and a busser took our plates away.
Our server was plenty nice, but didn't really check in on us enough. Twice I wanted to complain but it was the busser that came over and cleared everything away. I just wish the server would have been available to tell her, we were not too happy.
For an $80 (before tip) dinner for two, we both had to laugh. It was pretty bad for $80...
It has a cool atmosphere, pretty quaint, but really, Sonoma County has so much more to offer. I won't be back. I would have given this place 2.75 stars, but since Yelp doesn't do increments, I'm sticking with a 2, because it really wasn't "A-OK" in my book.
Been to Monty's a few times now and it's almost always great!
The food is noteably pricier than chain diners like Applebees or Checkers but also hands down better in quality and with a few options that still let you have a full dinner without breaking the bank.
I love their desserts, the ice cream cookie sandwich thing is delicious and their warm chocolate cake is a wonderful way to finish off a meal (also apparently gluten free!).
I believe it was a short rib pasta which let me down once, not terrible but had a strong aroma that did not make me think short ribs and wasn't particularly great...
Everything else has been spot on. Â From tasty apps and salads (the french cobb is declious despite having very little resemblence to a classic cob salad) to delicious entre's I am generally very impressed.
The service has been hit or miss, sometimes with what seems like an unusually long wait for the salads... the bartender made up for this on one occasion and it was never dire, but if I had to pick on something I would say that was it...
Ambiance is good and staff has always been friendly.
Met my friend and her mom here last weekend for a light brunch. They've been to Monti's before and highly recommended everything on the menu. Our table ended up getting a fruit plate, walnut salad, cheesy biscuits with orange marmalade, and a spinach salad with shrimp.
Food was at our table very quick (I guess it's what I expected since nothing was really cooked lol). Everything was so good. Salads were dressed a bit  heavily but other than that, I was very happy with everything.
Got a recommendation for this place after I had already made reservations for dinner on Mother's Day. I admit I was a little apprehensive since it was in a shopping center, but I'm really glad we kept this reservation instead of finding somewhere else. We showed up early for the reservation and were sat outside temporarily, though it was nice enough under the heat lamp that we decided to stay - and honestly after a minute it was easy to forget we were eating between shops.
First thing I want to say is that our service was 100% completely amazing. Our server was Isaac and I just want to give him a huge shout-out for being awesome. He got everything exactly right, was sweet and courteous even when a few of us stayed behind a little after closing time to grab dessert.
Food and drinks were, I would say, about on par with what they were charging on the menu. In other words, worth the money even if you might say it wasn't a "super deal." The charcuterie plate came with soft, toasty bread, sweet pickles, and really tasty mustard. The cheese plate actually kind of blew me away, since alongside the cheeses you got: these crispy cracker things, quince paste, honey, almonds and brown sugar (I thought the chunks of sugar might be dates, but I got voted down).
Mixed drinks were tasty - I can recommend the Twist of Life and Full Monti (spicy!), and though the Aviation wasn't to my taste, my mom liked it.
Other things we tried and found delicious: tomato bisque, prime rib, pork chop, macaroni and cheese, and lamb burger (which they actually cooked so rare it was almost scary, but my brother likes it that way!).
The only minor problem I had is that I, personally, found the fried items to be undersalted. We tried both the calamari and the sole. HOWEVER, I will say that the sauces served alongside these items were really delicious, so if you ate it all together like you're supposed to, it was perfect, but no popping naked calamari into your mouth. Minor problem though - better under than oversalted. Oh, and additionally, we found that there were slices of fried lemon in with the calamari - I don't know if this was noted on the menu, but it was definitely a surprise.
As for dessert, I can say that I was a little underwhelmed, but only after the caliber of the rest of the food. Probably because we didn't get the things I personally would have found most appealing, but they were in no way bad. I'd get them again if I was in the mood: lemon pudding cake and lavender creme brulee, the latter of which had a completely perfect texture in both the sugar crust and the custard.
Highly recommended - we will definitely be back.
Monti's is amazing!! I went there for my borthday and had a blast!! our server was amazing, I think her name was Jaime. Anyways she was so sweet and informative about my frequent questions. And she even offered a dessert on the house, since it was my birthday day!! I had the lemon pudding cake, which was presented beautifully and tasted even better then it looked!!!
The ambience was fun and active, not at all stuffy or pretentious like some Sonoma County Resturants can get! The music was fun oldies and the lighting was dim. In the center of the intimate dining room is the fireplace, which as you take a second look has a dozen chickens roasting away right in from of you. Very cool!!
I started with a dozen Kumomoto Oysters and they were amazing!! So fresh no little shell bits floating on them. I had 3 amazing cocktails, my favorite was the Twist of Fate suggested by the Bartender. We also had a bottle of wine for our dinner and we weren't familiar with some of the wines so our server offered us insight and tastes, so we discovered a new little Treasure in the L'Angevin Pinot. Which was priced very reasonably. For dinner I enjoyed the rotiserrie special, it was the Prime Rib. Cooked Mid rare to perfection!!! Over all everything was amazing, I plan on coming back over and over again!!
Also I hear they have an amazing Brunch on Sundays, I just hope they serve eggs bendict, My favorite!!!
I had a thoroughly enjoyable dinner here with some friends. Â I thought the food was very good and the service was excellent. Â The menu has a nice variety and although it was not terribly creative, it was all very tasty. Â
The atmosphere is relaxed but not sloppy and well maintained. Â Our group was pleased and will return to Monti's again.
I ate here for Sonoma County Restaurant Week  and it was delicious. I was our first time and I have nothing but gleaming things to say about the food, service and ambiance. I highly recommend this place to anyone...as I think most people would be able to find what they are looking for off the menu - don't miss this one! To see my personal review, check out my blog:
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsophisticatedsass.tumblr.com%2F&s=121e941aad3b0e08b15e6dbfdc95fba9af752f9d37e9a758364d2299d1f23629" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://sophisticatedsass…</a>
This place has solid food. Â This is one of my go-to spots in Santa Rosa. Â They have probably the best mac and cheese ever. Â Their steak, lamb and chicken dishes are good too. Â I always order the crab briks.
Service is pretty good, except this one time when they had a pretentious waiter with a stick up his ass who sounded like a culinary school drop out. Â I haven't seen him since, though...
Monti's is a delightful place for lunch or dinner. Â There's outdoor seating, where you can watch people walk by on their Montgomery Village endeavors. Â The wait staff is knowledgable and fun. Â They offer 40 wines, all of which are available by the glass--which is hard to find!
My favorite option for lunch or dinner is the beet salad. Â All I have to say is--Truffle Oil! Â Gotta love it!
They also have great coffee if you're looking for a Meditteranean-style dessert. Â
They also have occasional live music and a HUGE Christmas tree during the winter season.
I went to Monti's with my 3 aunties and we shared plates. We had the Sole Almondine, Pork Chop, and Mussels. We started with the Spinach Salad and the Meat plate. The Spinach salad had the perfect amount of cheese, nuts, dried fruit, bacon and dressing...this was big enough for a meal or sharing amongst the 4 of us. The House smoked/cured meat plate was ample and had just enough to share. The Duck pate' was absolutely melt-in-your-mouth heaven! Don't be fooled by the smidgen of pate they put on the meat board!
The fish was tender and moist and full of flavor with a generous sprinkling of perfectly toasted almond slices. The green beans that accompanied the fish were crisp and tasty. The pork chop was grilled to moist perfection and served with a chunky applesauce, a reduction of balsamic, and a croquet of what I thought was potato, but could be a blend of turnips and potatoes. Regardless, it was crispy and not greasy. The mussels were a little on the fishy side, but the broth was out of this world! I ended up dipping the shell into the broth like a spoon and drinking it as well as dipping my bread into the broth.
When in Santa Rosa, be sure to stop by Monti's for a bite to eat. The ambiance is great, and the staff is friendly. The bar appeared to be a lively area, and there is great outdoor seating available too.
Bon Apetit!
I have now tried this place three times, none of which were my choice, either work or my friend used it as their pick and each time I hope its better than the last and it just isn't
This last time I had their special their an onion quiche with salad...the quiche was super watery and lacked seasoning and the salad was drenched in their dressing overpowering all the other ingredients.
The waitress was friendly and service was good.
What a disappointment! Crunchy salmon fillet and oily spinach
My girl and I have heard such good things about Monti's that we were eager to go.
Upon arrival we were seated at the door to the kitchen which i quickly rejected. The hostess gave me a pained look even though it was a Saturday afternoon and the place was only half full. she seated us at an acceptable table and we were soon met by our waitress.
For starters we had crab deviled eggs and the tuna tartar. The eggs were unremarkable except that the crab was old and fishy, I assume the filling sat in the cooler over night. The tuna tartar was super lemony, my girl compared it to lemon merangue.
for our entrees I had salmon on lentils with a horseradish creme fraiche, my companion had roasted chicken with spinach. My salmon was lightly battered and crunchy on one side! the lentils tasted of dirt and the creme fraiche was nondescript and out of place. My girl reported her chicken to be about the same as a COSTCO chicken in terms of flavor and the spinach was very greasy, so much so she was later found searching for a wet-nap or some hand sanitizer in the cars glove box.
Service was polite and speedy overall but the re was an instance in which my friends water was accidentally overfilled with a large clump of ice splashing in and flooding the area surrounding the glass. the waitress merely exclaimed "oops sorry" and dint return with a new glass or a rag to mop up the mess.
The dining room was nice but I found that our salt shaker had its top glued on with expanding foam or Gorilla Glue which gave it sort a of a rabid appearance (see the photo of "Rabid Salt Shaker").
Perhaps it was one bad meal and a hurried server but this was a disappointing first at a well reviewed local favorite.
Can I give four stars based solely on ambiance? This place is perfect, particularly for a romantic winter evening with the one you love. Not to say that I've ever been here with anyone other than my parents, but you get the idea. The whole place gives off a warm glowy feeling, and not just due to the wood rotisserie inside.
I've had a few appetizers - the calamari was tops in my book. Spinach salad is killer (the goat cheese just melts in your mouth) and the wood-grilled pizzas are just the perfect combination of crunch and taste. Even when I did eat meat, I wasn't all that into it, but the chicken is pretty good and the fish is even better. And don't forget the artisan cheeses...to. die. for. YUM.
Came here this past Friday with out of town company. Â I have been wanting to try this place based on recommendations.
Service was okay!
We had the following:
Baby Beet Salad-I can eat anything with beets and this was to die for!
Hearts of Romaine Salad
Rigatoni & Short Rib Ragu-it was good and had a hint of horseradish
Hangar Steak
CK Lamb Shank
It was okay nothing really memorable but out of fairness, I have been eating rich heavy meals all week long! Â I will go back and try it again to see if it is better the second time around.
We love Monti's sister restaurant Willi's Seafood and Raw Bar in Healdsburg, but Monti's is just so-so. Â We went there for a quick bite on a Sunday evening, brought our own bottle of Pax Syrah and ordered a bunch of small plates to share. Â All of the food was mediocre at best, pizza was dry, mac n cheese flavorless, crab bricks soggy. Â Service was so-so as well.
This is probably my third time eating at Monti's in the last 2 or 3 years and it's never been great but I don't remember it being this bad.
Oh, what am I doing in a strip mall? The ONLY reason I would come here is to find food...yeah.
All our entrees were fresh and the chef served generous sized portions.
They serve daily specials. I had the soup special which was a portobello and porcini mushrooms. This was really rich in flavor and delicious. They also served a prime rib special that my friend ordered. Despite being extremely full, she finished this generous serving till her plate was clean. Must have been delicious. My other friends had entrees off the regular menu and had no complaints.
Our wait staff was friendly and attentive. Our waiter took time to explain what was on the menu and our water and drinks were replenished without noticing they were empty.
The ambiance was lively, but being from the city...I thought it was too suburbia for me.
Overall: 3 stars - Great food, generous portions, friendly service.
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