Sadly, this place seems to be going through a rough patch. Â The last 2 dinners we've had there have been extremely disappointing and the service definitely needs improvement as we seem to wait much longer than what would seem necessary.
When your menu demands such high prices, you'd better deliver.
Maybe it's just me getting older, but I used to LOVE this place. Having grown up in Los Gatos, The Wine Cellar soon became a family favorite for 20 years. Their food was delicious and simple - yummy fruit and cheese platters, Â fondue, etc. with a wonderful selection of wines. So my sister and I decided to revisit this place recently by taking our dad there for Father's Day!
Disappointing!!
The waiter was a schmuck, pretending to be cool, but just pathetic. The food was just ok - very good cheese pizza, but the cheese fondue appetizer was just warmed over and gloopy, a far cry from the cheesy goodness of a proper live flame pot. We sat outdoors on the new patio - pleasant, but lacking that special ambience. We really prefer the mysterious darkness of the inside.
Sad to say they've gone downhill. Now merely an average dining experience.
We ate dinner at the Wine Cellar and had the most amazing time! Â We were greeted by a delightful young lady, who suggested we sit in the bar while we waited for our table. Â
The bartender was fantastic! Â Not being a gin drinker, he had to show me that you could have a good gin drink. Â It was excellent.
Our waiter, Tim, was "over-the-top" good! Â He suggested terrific menu items for everyone in our party and was extremely attentive to our table. Â His sense of humor made for an especially wonderful and fun-filled evening for everyone.
We definitely look forward to returning!
We received a gift certificate for Wine Cellar, so last night, on a warm day, we decided to check it out. Â
We ate on the patio, as recommended by Yelp. Â The bad thing about this is there are so many flying bugs out there. Â We were swatting bugs out of our food for most of the night, and a few flying bugs seemed to love the salad as they were nose diving into it. Â =(
The service was average. Â Only your own waiter would help you. Â Nobody else would even make eyecontact, just in fear you may ask them for something.
The food was REALLY salty. Â I love salt, but the salt over powered any other flavor, and I woke up in the middle of the night, dehydrated and with a foot cramp.
Total for the bill for 2 people was $175. Â I can get better, elsewhere, so I won't be back and wouldn't recommend it to friends.
I had the pleasure of having late night cocktails one night at the Wine Cellar and we had a great time. Â I had forgotten about the WIne Cellar until it was time to meet a couple of girlfriends for a birthday lunch. Â Found WC on an OpenTable search of Los Gatos restaurants - and so happy I did!!!
We had a reservation for 1:30pm on a Tues and decided to wait a bit longer for a patio table as it was a gorgeous day! Â The wait turned out to be maybe 5 mins - we were lucky! Â The hostess was very sweet/welcoming and our waiter Moses was wonderful! Â We ordered a couple glasses of white wine and a glass of prosecco. Â What a great and extensive wine list - many options in a wide range of prices - love that!!
We were served bread pretty quickly and our lunch came at the perfect time - not a long wait at all. Â We all ordered salads and they were all very tasty:
Roasted beet & goat cheese w/added chicken - $14
Double shrimp & avocado - $15
Cranberry chicken - $12
The weather was nice, the food was delicious and the service made it a perfect lunch! Â Our lunch ended up being 3 hours - only because we were enjoying the ambience so much. Â Moses was so attentive and nice and the bussers were continuously re-filling waters as it was pretty warm outside. Â After lunch Moses brought our birthday girl a little ice cream sunday - perfect way to end the day!
In my opinion, some of the lunch options (sandwiches/entrees) are a little on the pricier side. Â But, the salads are all reasonably priced and the menu does have a wide range of priced options. Â I really am looking forward to going back!!
New favorite place! LOVED!
First time here to celebrate a job promotion for my boyfriend, on a Saturday night. We had reservations & taken to our table immediately. Next time i will request a booth but i actually really loved our seats, also booth style but on the bottom floor (they have a higher booth floor).
-Service=perfect!
-Price=just right-reasonable!
-Food: AMAZING! Tried their cucumber martini=delicious, had to get seconds ;)
ordered their cheese fondue, even their free bread which is served right away was delicious. Ordered crab cakes, ahi tuna salad, & new england clam chowder. My bf wanted the clam chowder he had been craving it, boy am i glad he got it, i am not the biggest fan of chowder but this place just did it! Best clam chowder ever, huge clams in every bite. Ahi tuna salad was very filling & all the flavors were perfect together. Crab cakes: my bf said they were ok, but he isnt a huge crab cake kinda guy, i am and i definitely approved. I think that is all we got.
I cant wait to be back, we both fell in love with this place. With way too much delicious food & alcohol, our tab was only about $100! I was prepared to pay way more for what i got. This place would had beeb worth the money if it was more expensive. Thankfully its not, that way i can afford to come here A LOT! :)
3.75 stars.
Standard SF caliber cousine at ultra premium prices.
The food is quite good, but again im going to emphasize the price. Prices are $10-15 more per entree then an equivalent dish you would pay for in the city.
The inside is small, but relatively spacious, they designed with comfort in mind, not just to maximize seating capacity for profits. Still a little tight though.
The course timing is slow. 10 minutes for appetizers, 35 minutes later came entrees, 5 minutes after entrees came dessert.
Where do get the best tasting / most satisfying drink along with a great meal? Â You get it from JAY the bartender and the Wine Cellar dinner staff.
Excellent! Â Excellent! Â Excellent!
Jay has to be the most  I-care-what-you-drink and best-service-oriented bartender ever.
He is what makes us coming back as often as we can.
The Wine Cellar provides a very enjoyable meal and atmosphere. In the Spring, Summer and Fall the outdoor patio rocks! I have many a fond memory of friends, family and good meals here.
As with all restaurants there are values and then there are items that are fair. The onion sup is consistently superb. Wonderful fondue as well. The restaurant is clean and well kept.
Took my wife hear for her birthday and ordered the backdraft, the hottest/spiciest shot on the planet! Although the waiter should have alerted us to the heat level (way to spicy for wife, burned her lips for 20 min.), the shots were epic IMO. First time patron to the cellar, I ordered the lobster and wife had short ribs.
Both dishes were prepared well and apps were tasty as well (cheddar/ale fondue and salad).
Cocktail menu features unique liquors and bevies that I don't see at many other places.
Nice atmosphere and easy to get to, I shall return.
My husband & I had dinner at the Wine Cellar on New Year's Eve. Â We eat there often & were once again very happy with everything. Â The Wine Cellar never lets us down!
They had a special menu for New Year's Eve that was wonderful with its diversity of choices. Â We both had the elk medallions & they were perfectly done. Â We also shared a fondue appetizer, which is always delicious. Â We tried the mahi salad & were very pleased with its flavors.
Besides the wonderful food, the other reason we enjoy dining at the Wine Cellar is their incredible service. Â We are never disappointed.
Some reviewers have mentioned the low ceilings inside. Â We feel that lends an intimacy to the atmosphere & keeps the noise level down. Â We enjoy sitting outside for brunch during warmer months.
The first time my boyfriend took me here, I fell in love with this restaurant.
Then we took my whole family here for my dad's birthday and they all fell in love too!
The brunch is, in my mind, the best time to go because they have the free fruit and pastry table downstairs, where you can take as much as you want back to your table! I am always asking my man to bring me back here, because they have always stepped right up to my standards! Great job Wine Cellar!
On a nice sunny day sit outside on the patio and on a dark gloomy night head down into the cellar for a cozy (albeit a bit claustrophobic) table. Â Prices are a tad on the high side for the quality of food and the food is a little on the oily side as well. Â Even your nice healthy arugula salad is going to be soaked in the good 'ol calorie laden evo. Â You can expect decent portions and good service here. Â The abalone appetizer is a sure thing!!
Review Source:we really enjoyed our experience at the wine cellar...walking down the stairs to an actual cellar then greeted by the wonderful aroma from the open kitchen. Â we actually prefer the low ceilings, fireplace and warm feel as it brings home to the meal.
menu with many options for all palettes, extensive wine list, fresh ingredients, good portions.
I reviewed this place before and it was my favorite restaurant in LG... Â the prices for very very average fare has price this restaurant out of us coming back. Â Why eat a steak here for $46 when you can have one for $50 at the Grille in the Alley in San Jose and blow your taste buds out of the universe?
Its a friendly nice place, but its small in side, with low ceilings and now completely overpriced. Â We have been coming for 6 years - no more.
We visited this place 3 years ago and thought we would give it another try but this time for our anniversary. Not nearly as good as a few years ago, food was ok but not fantastic for the price. Service was a bit disorganized especially at check in even though our reservation was a early one. Be ready to pay the price but do not expect to be blown away by the food.
Review Source:It has been years since I have eaten at The Wine Cellar. My wife and I decided to spend an evening in Los Gatos celebrating the completion of my last novel. I wanted to sit outside of the restaurant at one of their outside tables, but my wife really wanted to sit and eat inside and not look so pretentious sitting outside. The portions of the food was large, but so was the charge. Service was professional as well and I gave them a very generous tip for their efforts. I had the chicken and sausage penne and it was five stars all the way. I suggest this restaurant for a romantic evening with the girl or guy in your life, but be warned it is expensive. I know it is crowded on weekends and I suggest maybe a special Monday night out. Monday night was perfect for us and we were the only ones in the restaurant, perfect.
Review Source:Sat outside on a great September night. The ambiance is the best thing I have to say about this spot.
The MAJOR problem I had with this place was this. My food arrived, at which point I found a black 3 inch long curly hair in it. I'm not one to complain too much so I politely let our waiter know. I merely mentioned it and never got upset, asked for a refund or tried to return the dish. It didn't seem to faze him at all and he just said ok.
We had the artichoke as an appetizer which was pretty good. The sauces were nice and very flavorful.
I had the chicken piccata. It wasn't bad, but the one I make at home is a lot better. My husband had the Thai beef. Again, not bad but not impressive. Honestly, it felt like the quality of Cheesecake Factory and the portions were massive, again reminding us both of Cheesecake Factory.
I definitely wouldn't pay the pricetag again for mediocre food.
When we received our bill, the waiter didn't even mention the hair in my food nor did he try to apologize for it, ever. I thought it would have been a nice gesture to even take off the $9 artichoke or something like that, but no, nothing.
Pretty unimpressive, won't be going back.
UNIMPRESSED.
For a place that charges $35 an entree, your dishes are underwhelming. Especially for a town of Los Gatos, which touts distinguished restaurants such as Nick's, Manresa, Dio Deka, you really have some nerve to charge so much for a measly entree. Your service time (kitchen to table) is quite dismal as well.
The highlight was the Gruyere and Swiss fondue. That's about it.
Letdowns: Ahi tuna, salmon entrees. You should really put a warning for entrees with intense spicy flavors. As someone who has a high threshold of spice tolerance, I know the average person would have been highly bothered by the level of spice in the Ahi and salmon. And for crying out loud, do something with the rice. You merely placed a bowl of plain basmati rice in the middle of the plate. No flavor, no garnish, nothing. Then you proceed to soak the entire dish with this inexplicable mixture of aioli and hot chili oil. Get out.
I would not recommend Wine Cellar to anyone as there are many more worthy dining options in Los Gatos. Eh, maybe if you are looking for outdoor patio seating it would be nice. Doubt it.
As long as you sit outside, weather permitting, of course....it's wonderful!
Ask for Tim, the best waiter in Los Gatos. Â He will steer you in the right direction and remember how you like your martini! Â (always a plus to be remembered in the day and age).
I eat here fairly often....never really had a bad meal. Â The fondue is yummy...both the cheese and the chocolate. Â No, I don't care for the inside....ceilings are too low, it's too dark and blah blah blah....but I don't eat inside. Â I go to see and be seen and eavesdrop and people watch AND have a good meal, a great cocktail and be taken care of. Â What more do you need???
Had been here before, albeit a couple of years ago, and liked it. This time, however, I was thoroughly unimpressed.
Our 6:30pm reservation I made through Open Table at 5:30pm. The email arrived in my inbox less than 2 minutes later, but the restaurant hadn't gotten it. No matter. We were seated at an outdoor 4-top even though there were only 2 of us, but who was I to argue? We sat for approximately 10 minutes before we were greeted by the only waiter (for 40+ seats). He took our entire order on the spot (which we were later very grateful for) and opened the wine we brought. He quoted a $15 corkage even though the website read $20. No matter, he came back a couple of minutes later and told us he was comping it...which almost made up for the inappropriate stemware.
We were there for over 15 minutes before we got water and over 30 minutes before we were offered bread. With 2 people at a table, we were given 3 pieces of bread. Finally, almost 45 minutes after being seated, we got our appetizers--fresh sauteed abalone and asian ahi tuna tartare. The abalone was tepid plus was overbreaded and was clearly cooked in a hurry (too high a temperature) as it was nearly charred at one end and mushy at the other. We sent it back. The tuna tartare was wonderful (can't overcook that one) with a flavorful soy-ginger-wasabi dressing and loads of avocado. Finally our entrees--duck confit and braised shortribs--arrived. For the duck, the sauce was cold, the rice lukewarm, the veggies flavorless and both the duck breast and leg/thigh were overcooked. And I swear to god the "duck leg" was a chicken leg. The braised shortribs were tender, the bokchoy underseasoned but properly cooked and the creamy mashed potatoes fine.
For a restaurant in this location at this pricepoint, I was disappointed. If I'm going to pay $14-20 for an appetizer and over $30 for an entree, I expect better service and better food. I felt bad for the waiter. It wasn't his fault, this is clearly a management and kitchen issue. He apologized several times for everything and even gave me a free Jameson's Irish coffee for dessert. Still, this isn't enough to get us back there. For that we'll need better service and much better food. Meh.
Zombie Table For 2?.........
Pros: Â Â Tasty. Â Hungry-Man portions. Â Personable service. Â Nice views from the patio.
Cons: Â Â Understaffed. Â Eating in the main, underground section is fit for a corpse.
Suggestion: Â Sit outside or go somewhere else Â
Star Ratings:
- Â Overall: Â Â 4 ( should be 3.5 )
- Â Food Quality: Â 4
- Â Food Quantity: Â 4
- Â Menu: Â Â 3
- Â Service: Â Â 3-4
- Â Price: Â Â 3
- Â Value: Â Â 3
- Â Parking: Â Â 4
- Â Ambiance: Â Â ( Outside: 4. Â Downstairs: 1 )
Until a recent visit, I thought the Wine Cellar was a tomb. Â A place so dank, dark and claustrophobic you'd expect the hostess to ask "zombie table for 2"? Â Coffins instead of chairs? Â It's dinner in a dungeon with no natural light and bats in the rafters. Â Well, at least the first part is true.
Recently, my wife and some friends had a few lunches at the Wine Cellar, but not the part underground.  They were seated outside on a small patio between the Cellar's entrance and California Café in the main Old Town building.  She claimed both the food and atmosphere were enjoyable and, in fact, wanted to go back with those same friends ( and husbands ) for her birthday dinner.
Impressions from our visit with 6 people for dinner at 6 PM on a Saturday:
- Â Food: Â The meal got off to a bumpy start. Â My wife and I arrived first, but we had to make several attempts to flag down a server to order drinks. Â When the rest of our group came at 6 PM, it took 15 minutes for drink orders...23 minutes for bread ( I was hungry and counting ) and 30 minutes for our dinner selections. Â The patio was fairly busy, but the staff was short-handed. You'd think they'd plan accordingly for a weekend evening.
I started the meal with a salad of mixed greens.  Nothing unusual, but the ingredients seemed fresh.  My entrée was the "swordfish special".  It was a good size piece of fish laying on top of a mound of garlic mashed potatoes with some steamed vegetables by the side.  All of that was surrounded by a moat of sauce containing lots of horseradish and a whiff of wasabi.  Taste was top notch and portion was hungry-man.  One of our friend's ordered something similar with the same sauce.  He liked the main dish, but felt the green pond around his food was a bit overbearing.
I can't quite remember what the other people ate except there were no obvious mistakes.  I also had most of the seasoned rice accompanying my wife's entrée and must say it combined very well with the swordfish and garlic potatoes.  The bread which seemed to take forever to arrive had a nice consistency.  It was especially tasty with a spread of soft butter.
-  Menu:   The patio uses the same menu as the downstairs tomb.  I'd call it California cuisine and place it in the same general category as Steamer's and the California Café.  Lots of interesting selections without getting too exotic.  Of course, I didn't need a flood light to read it sitting outside.
-  Price and Value:  Reasonable.  Not cheap, but in the ballpark for café food...and probably a little cheaper than the 2 places mentioned above.  $121 per couple with drinks, tax and tip.
- Â Service: Â As noted before, it started slowly. Â However, once our server, Moises, got into gear, he provided us with an enjoyable meal. Â Friendly and accommodating with a light touch. Â Still, when all the patio tables were taken, they seemed understaffed.
- Â Dining Area: Â The patio lies inside a gated area not far from the Old Town parking lot. Â I'd say it could hold around 50 people with lots of big umbrellas shading customers from the hot summer sun.
- Â Parking: Â Lots of lots everywhere you look, although the popular ones are filled at busy times.
In some ways, the Wine Cellar has a split personality.  There's the tomb of the unknown restaurant down a flight of steps ( I've been there for dinner and used the restroom this time which was, thankfully, near the front door ).....and there's a café with great views of the Santa Cruz Mountains poking its head above the fashionable stores of Los Gatos. Stay outside.
I know i'm an asshole, but I really do not expect to be treated like an asshole by the service staff at a restaurant. Like so many places in Northern California, Wine Cellar is able to serve a diner quality meal and charge fine dining prices. I don't know if it is just the lack of decent restaurants up here or the people just have so much money they are willing to throw it at restaurants in exchange for crap.
I was pleased to see that they served a ribeye steak (albeit boneless). For anyone who is not a big steak person, the ribeye is the absolute best cut. Beautifully marbled, tender, and flavorful, it is often the choice of fine dining restaurants.
This is not a fine dining restaurant.
They brought me an unseasoned, thin, grey, flap of meat with some cold potatoes. When I cut into the meat, I was stunned because it was dark grey all the way through. I called the waiter over and asked him if it looked medium-rare to him. He gave me a stupid look and said he would have a new steak fired up. About 10 minutes later he brought me a new plate back. To my dismay it was equally grey throughout. There was no sear on the outside of the steak, so it looked like it very well could have been cooked in a microwave.
How do you screw up what is easily the best cut of beef known to man???
You just dont give a fuck about what you serve your customers.
I asked for the manager.
An older lady came over and heard my complaint. Her response to me: "it is medium rare, if you cannot see, I can bring you a flashlight."
Proven again, they just don't give a fuck about their customers. There are more people in Los Gatos with too much money who will accept crappy food because it is served in a pretentious hovel.
I was so blown away by this asshole treating me like an asshole after serving me a piece of trash steak. I mean, I will totally tolerate being treated like an asshole, if I am at least fed well.
My wife had the artichoke appetizer and she was unimpressed.
Packed away our leftovers and laid them out for our dog who casually grazed on the chunks of meat over the next two days. I can't blame her for not being excited at eating the worst ribeye on earth.
Save your money. There is good food to be found in Northern California...just look beyond this mediocre and falsely pretentious money pit.
. Â Lisa, the owner of the Wine Cellar has informed me that she does not market her restaurant as "dog friendly" and is unaware of how her restaurant comes up when you do a search of dog friendly restaurants in Los Gatos. Â I have a message into the website to correct this misleading information. Thank you Lisa for letting me know you were unaware - so now we all know.
My rating? Â if the web search was a negative for Wine Cellar it would already be corrected. Â The fact that I have to do it lets me know my bad experience does not "rate" since the door was left open for this to happen again along with the clear inference that while she did not know how her restaurant is described once informed she did not find this description much off the mark, unless you happen to take this review at it's word - like I did.
I have been here for lunch a few times, but this week went for dinner.
We sat inside; I like the intimacy and the faux Italian design. Also, inside the staff can see you better than outside upstairs.
We were surprised and thrilled with the food and service. We corked 2 bottles of red we brought. Â I am having a lot of 4 and 5 star outings lately.
The abalone and stuffed pablano appetizers were excellent. The ribs were outstanding and a great portion to split. Seafood pasta and ribeye were pretty good. I will stick with the more unusual stuff on the menu.
Can't wait to go back.
Came here for my friend's birthday tonight (Friday). Menu looked good, but when I checked out the surroundings, it just felt overpriced for the atmosphere. We were seated in a booth but there were paper place mats. Cloth napkins, yes, but paper place mats. *scratches chin*
We started with an artichoke and a baby iceberg salad. The salad was presented nicely and easy to share but the artichoke was fairy undercooked and very oily. As I ate oil kept running down my wrists. It was a bit annoying and just way too messy.
There were three of us. For mains, I ordered the Chicken Piccata, and my companions ordered the Chicken Maria and a Rib Eye Steak.
The Chicken Piccata was served with rice and broccoli rabe but there were mushrooms in the sauce. This is the first time I've had Piccata with mushrooms and I think that the mushrooms really overpowered the lemony taste that I am used to. The chicken was dry. There was nothing great about this dish at all.
The Chicken Maria (in Marsala or maybe Madeira?) was also served with the same rice and broccoli rabe sides. Nothing distinctive. This dish was much more flavorful than mine but was really drenched in alcohol. It was a bit overwhelming and also hard to eat. Both me and my companion that ordered this dish could only eat a few bites of our dinners. We packed up our meals and gave them to the 3rd dining companion to take home.
The 3rd person liked their steak which was served with mashed potatoes and a succotash. The steak was topped with fried onion rings and looked pretty good.
We ended with a creme brulee which was topped with berries and whipped cream.
Portions were huge, service was attentive, but the food just wasn't a hit for me. There are a lot of stellar restaurants in town and this one is more expensive than they are and the food just isn't that great. And besides, I have a bit of an issue being seated in front of paper place mats when paying $42 for a steak.
And to boot, about 45 minutes after leaving, me and the person who ate the steak were both nauseated and felt ill. We're not sure what did it but that 2 out of 3 of us are feeling sick this fast smacks of something wrong.
Dinner ran us about $190 for the three of us including $20 for corkage and tip. Pricey. I would hit up Nic's on Main, Dio Deka, or James Randall before coming back. They have better atmosphere, better food, and I've never left feeling ill before.
UPDATE: Got a nice note from the owner who promised to look into this. I changed my rating from 1star to 3stars because someone responded. I might give WC another try.
Original story:
Went to Wine Cellar for dinner. The hostess told us a table might be available in 10 min because of a no show. Then, kept sending us to the bar. I did not want to eat at the bar. Told the hostess we would wait up front. And we waited and waited. Eventually, went to check. Turned out, the no show showed but nobody told us! The wait was now 45 min. How hard is it to walk over 5 feet and tell us that the table will not be available?
I had meals there before. The food is ok, drinks are mostly acceptable. One star is for terrible customer service on a busy Friday night.
Came here for dinner and it was busy! We were almost an hour late for our reservations but they managed to keep it for us! That's super sweet of them.
I ordered a creamy ravioli seafood (scallops, crab, lobster, shrimp) dish that is not on their online menu. I assumed that they would skimp on the seafood since most places with that much seafood do; to my surprise it was filled with all of the ingredients listed! That was one yummy dish. My boyfriend's filet was also cooked and seasoned quite well. We didn't know that you are able to bring your own wine bottle =( so we ordered a Pinot Noir, sadly I forgot which one, but none from Santa Cruz hills since those wineries we can drive there ourselves and purchase a bottle. If I can recall correctly it was probably from Carneros? But the Pinot was a good choice for the dishes we all ordered, a Cab would have been to strong for my seafood dish, etc.
Anyhow we went on to dessert, their Banana Sundae is melt in your mouth, delicious status! Their rum glaze is perfect, not too sweet and the combination with pound cake made it so much better! To go along with our sundae I ordered an Irish Coffee. It was alright but my friend ordered one mixed with tequila instead. That definitely tasted better, guess I am just not a whiskey fanatic.
The service was alright, not great and not bad. Not bad enough to deduct one star. But they could be more attentive.
My review is long overdue. Â I've been to WC a few times but food/service was never over the top or horrible to write about. Â That is until this last time.
The food was ok. Â We had cheese fondue for appetizers and salads for dinner. Â Again, nothing too bad but nothing good either.
The service however was absolutely horrible. Â Took forever to get our order and rarely checked back on us. Â Our water was always empty. Â But here's what made it the final straw, we ordered a 2006 David Bruce Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountain and received a 2007. Â Funny because they didn't have the 2007 listed on their wine list. Â We noticed it right away and flagged our waiter down (which took forever). Â He apologized and took it away. Â But when he returned, the same bottle of 2007 came back with him and he said they they ran out of 2006 but it's ok because the 2007 taste and cost the same.
Seriously? Â As a member of DB winery, I buy David Bruce by the case load. Â The 2006 and 2007 are definitely not the same in terms of taste and price. Â
Terrible. Won't be coming back. Â That's for sure.
Great little restaurant hidden on Main street, outdoor patio seating is very romantic, or fun conversations while relaxing with a girlfriend after the Los Gatos trail bike ride.
ASIAN AHI TUNA TARTARE was fantastic to start with. Â Adding the La Crema Chardonnay was a plus.
CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD
Grilled Chicken, Napa and Red Cabbage, crispy Wonton Noodles, toasted Sesame Seeds, Oranges, Peanuts and Cilantro in a Ginger Sesame Dressing. (This was just okay maybe a 3 star)
ROTINI BOLOGNESE
*Painted Hills Ground Chuck and Natural Pork Meat Sauce simmered with Crimini Mushrooms, Spanish Onion, Sweet Bell Pepper, Italian Sausage and Roma Tomatoes; Topped with Parmesan Cheese and served with Garlic Cheese Bread (giving this a 4 star)
Have always had great service and the atmosphere is simply lovely. :)
Calamari was fresh and delicious. Service was fast and attentive. Patio seating available and they let you strap your dog to the other side of the patio if it so happens your furry friend is along for the ride.
I've also had here that I recommend:
AHI TUNA TARTARE: Light and fresh but the sauce accompanyment brings the whole dish together.
GRILLED ARTICHOKE: Very tastey, especially when the artichokes are in season and the aioli sauce was very good.
CRAB LOUIS SALAD: Crab had good flavor and the salad was very cold and crisp. (Exactly how a salad should be.)
GUYERE & CHEDDAR FONDUE: Very good and surprisingly filling. This dish shared plus another appetizer over a great glass of wine or beer and that could be both your meals in itself.
Patio seating is nice on a great day. Inside could be a bit dark at times (hence the name) but sometimes a bit ominous.
Prices for what you expect in this area. We'd come here for the calamari alone and the outside seating on a great day. Three and a half stars for the food and another half star for being nice to our pooches.
I've been putting this review off for over a year now and its purely for selfish reasons. I've always wanted to keep this little gem to myself, but since the yelp gods decided to make me Elite status, I have responsibilities now, so I guess its only fair I let you all know why the Wine Cellar is my #1 Los Gatos haunt.
First off the food... The Wine Cellar has an elegant but simple menu. They have had the same head chef for over four years but he hasn't lost any of his edge. All the dishes are top notch, with my favorite treat being the Abalone special, which is cooked to perfection. My lunchtime recommendations include the juicy Carna Asada sandwhich, the awesome Baja Tacos or the simple but hearty French Onion Soup. After a hard day at the office (cough), I always have a struggle deciding whether to go for the Sesame Ahi Tuna, the Duck Confit or the delicious Short Ribs. All amazing dishes and all are sure to fill you up.
As for the ambience, when I walked in and heard Zero-7 playing in the background, they had me hook, line and sinker. Outside, there's a great little patio for kicking back, chillin, enjoying a cocktail or three and doing a bit of people watching, Los Gatos style. Inside, its warm, cozy & inviting with just the right amount of mood lighting. It's no surprise this place has won awards for "Best place for a date" or "Best Romantic Restaurant".
The staff are young, vibrant, enthusiastic & helpful.
Finally, I couldn't complete this review without mentioning my favorite barman, Dave. He easily takes the Wine Cellar to a six star review. He has a thorough knowledge of wine, can make a mean cocktail, always knows when I'm ready for a refill and is entertaining, funny and sincere. By the time I grab my seat at the bar, there's always a fresh Stella or a Liberty waiting for me. What a guy...
(Enough with the poor Scottish jokes though dude!)
Yet another great restaurant in Los Gatos. Â Set below the Border's bookstore, the Wine Cellar is intimate and romantic. Â We went for dinner and were not disappointed. Food, decor and service were all very good.
I had the short ribs and my companion had the halibut. Â Both cooked to perfection and very tasty. Â The accompanients were also very good.
A nice wine selection list. Â Mixed drinks also looked very good.
Dessert was split with a chocolate, chocolate thingy. Â Tasty to the last bite.
Wine Cellar is certainly an upscale restaurant that competes well with California Cafe and Steamer's which are just nearby.
Prices are what to expect for such good food. Â The two of us got out for about $180 which included wine. Â
Very, very nice if you are in or near Los Gatos.
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