cool food options! especially for merced's limited fine dining scene. cocktail menu was fun and really good. service was really nice and our waitress answered all my questions abt the menu or would go to the kitchen to find answers (i was genuinely curious abt an entree; was not pulling a karen). only caveat is that their flan was giving creme brûlée. but a sweet treat is a sweet treat, and i left satisfied! we also stayed past their closing time, and they respectfully packed our leftovers without rushing us:)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
SethP
Food was god but not as outstanding as it used to be. Service was friendly but distinctly unprofessional. We had to ask to order appetizers. Then wait to order mains. Wine bottle placed on table but not served until we started to serve ourselves. Weren't asked if we wanted to taste the wine. No follow up on wine pouring. Table bussing was overly enthusiastic, such that they wanted to take plates away before we were done. Disappointing compared to how it used to be.
B F
Delicious breakfast!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Eggs Benedict
Lauren Hoff
The atmosphere was so great I had high expectations for their food. The server we had was amazing, she was very friendly and helpful. I even thought the menu prices were reasonable till I received my entree. When you pay basically 50 for an entree you expect high quality. The presentation looked thrown together, was surprised that fries were served with steak and mine were limp and soggy. My steak was unevenly cooked and was okay. Partners meal looked presented well and the appetizer was pretty good. Would like to give them another shot because of the positives. Hopefully the quality goes up!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Joshua Calder
Food was excellent and service was top notch. Price was exactly what was expected for an upscale restaurant. The atmosphere and decorations make it a nice place to have a relaxing meal and evening with adult friends. Robust cocktail and drink menu. The beet salad and risotto were excellent.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mushroom Risotto
Karalot
This is not what it used to be, but still probably 3 to 3.5 star quality. The service use to be impeccable, now it is typical Merced service with lots of mistakes (appetizers arriving before drinks and served without small plates - stuff like that). The food is pretty decent, but not as good a before either. The Salmon and Chilean seabass dinnersexcellent, but the tuna crudo and the burrata were not fresh enough and lacked the right balance of flavors. I would now rank Rainbird between Bella Luna (4 star) and Bistro (3-3.5 star).
jeremy lache
This is the second time I have been to Rainbird in the last two weeks. I can honestly say that I am disappointed with the service and likely will not return.On both instances the busser Gabby and the host were far more attentive to our table than the server. The busser "touched our table several times checking up on us asking if we needed anything. Shoutout to her and the hostess! Our sever on the other hand was mostly absent and basically only coming by to take our order and deliver our check.We went on Valentines Day which I realize is an incredibly busy day for restaurants. Parts of my meal were cold, and our food was delayed due to a kitchen mishap which wasn't communicated until we had been waiting sometime already.Being that this is the second time we received poor service we won't be returning. If we received poor service twice in a row how many others have experienced the same?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Mushroom Risotto
Jae Baldwin
Gabby was great, personable, very collected, moved with intention. She was always 10 steps ahead of our server. The host was also amazing, friendly, firm, attentive, very good at reading the tables and the servers.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
JanetR
The lady that welcomed us was very hospitable with a lovely smile and Christina, our waitress, was awesome! She was very attentive but didn't rush us and was very helpful with menu questions. Also our meal was excellently prepared and delicious!
used2cook
Service from Savanah was terrific. She was friendly, attentive and knowledgeable. The food was beautiful but the balance of flavors was not quite there. The tuna crudo and bruschetta were seriously missing acid to brighten the flavors. The bruschetta was accidentally served with micro cilantro instead of micro basil which was not only unexpected but also not a good flavor combination with the ricotta. The duck confit was crispy and tender, overall a delicious plate but the ancient grains were watery and flavorless. We want so much to love this local restaurant and hope they get it together soon!
This was a disappointing return to Rainbird. We have not been to the restaurant since last summer just before it closed. The service was horrible. While the servers were polite and friendly, the service was just not up to par for what we expected from a high-end restaurant. As an example, my husband ordered a steak; and after it was served, he had to ask for a steak knife. Another example, we were offered to see the dessert menu, to which we said yes. After about 10 minutes, the server came back and asked us if we wanted anything, and we answered politely that we were still waiting to see the menu. And most disappointing was the food. Presentation was all around lacking—the food appeared slapped on the plates. The tuna crudo appetizer was bland; the ribeye steak was lacking in flavor, size (ounces), and it was not evenly cooked. The French fries and grilled asparagus it was served with were decent. But a plate not worth the $48 price tag. The Chilean sea bass was also bland and overcooked. The tomato sauce it was served with was flavorless. At $38, not worth it. Our cocktails were decent but served about 10 minutes after our appetizer was served. We asked for water repeatedly through the evening. Alas, we will likely not return there for dinner anytime soon. If we do, we will obviously try different dishes. We were told by others that their breakfast/brunch were very delicious, so perhaps we will return for that instead.
This is such a special place to dine. The atmosphere is welcoming and warm with an upscale vibe. We were celebrating an occasion with dear friends. The evening was lovely starting with cocktails and a delicious dinner. Unfortunately the service was a bit slow and it appeared that our server was responsible for most of the diners. We will definitely return.
Edward Hernandez
This is the gem of the Valley. Widely a restaurant that takes pride in how they present their food. The service is incredible as you get multiple well informed people helping you. The restaurant is also very beautiful in an also beautiful
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
F BB
We loved this restaurant, the atmosphere, the decoration, the good service and above all the food, it was all delicious. We will be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
ST7387
We had a reservation and were sat immediately, even given a choice of where we would like to sit. We were offered water quickly and I ordered a soda as well. That was brought out promptly. It took some time for our waiter to come over, he introduced himself as the waiter and bartender which may explain the poor service from that point. I ordered the ribeye medium and it was medium rare but not a big deal, my husband ordered the duck and it was overcooked and dry. We did not complain and just tried to enjoy the meal. The drink my husband ordered was delicious, I believe it was called a Bourbon Blush. Our plates were cleared and we waited about 15 minutes before we could finally get someone's attention to bring our check. We had no dishes on front of us and no drinks, had our waiter looked over at our table he would have clearly seen we were ready to leave since we had no one to take our drink orders. We eneded up walking over to Tioga Sequoia to finish the evening and were given amazing service there. To Sim it up, the food was not great, the service was better than most but for the type of establishment and price I expected more. We have eaten here for brunch and had a much better experience than dinner.
cool food options! especially for merced's limited fine dining scene. cocktail menu was fun and really good. service was really nice and our waitress answered all my questions abt the menu or would go to the kitchen to find answers (i was genuinely curious abt an entree; was not pulling a karen). only caveat is that their flan was giving creme brûlée. but a sweet treat is a sweet treat, and i left satisfied! we also stayed past their closing time, and they respectfully packed our leftovers without rushing us:)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Food was god but not as outstanding as it used to be. Service was friendly but distinctly unprofessional. We had to ask to order appetizers. Then wait to order mains. Wine bottle placed on table but not served until we started to serve ourselves. Weren't asked if we wanted to taste the wine. No follow up on wine pouring. Table bussing was overly enthusiastic, such that they wanted to take plates away before we were done. Disappointing compared to how it used to be.
Delicious breakfast!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Eggs Benedict
The atmosphere was so great I had high expectations for their food. The server we had was amazing, she was very friendly and helpful. I even thought the menu prices were reasonable till I received my entree. When you pay basically 50 for an entree you expect high quality. The presentation looked thrown together, was surprised that fries were served with steak and mine were limp and soggy. My steak was unevenly cooked and was okay. Partners meal looked presented well and the appetizer was pretty good. Would like to give them another shot because of the positives. Hopefully the quality goes up!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Food was excellent and service was top notch. Price was exactly what was expected for an upscale restaurant. The atmosphere and decorations make it a nice place to have a relaxing meal and evening with adult friends. Robust cocktail and drink menu. The beet salad and risotto were excellent.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mushroom Risotto
This is not what it used to be, but still probably 3 to 3.5 star quality. The service use to be impeccable, now it is typical Merced service with lots of mistakes (appetizers arriving before drinks and served without small plates - stuff like that). The food is pretty decent, but not as good a before either. The Salmon and Chilean seabass dinnersexcellent, but the tuna crudo and the burrata were not fresh enough and lacked the right balance of flavors. I would now rank Rainbird between Bella Luna (4 star) and Bistro (3-3.5 star).
This is the second time I have been to Rainbird in the last two weeks. I can honestly say that I am disappointed with the service and likely will not return.On both instances the busser Gabby and the host were far more attentive to our table than the server. The busser "touched our table several times checking up on us asking if we needed anything. Shoutout to her and the hostess! Our sever on the other hand was mostly absent and basically only coming by to take our order and deliver our check.We went on Valentines Day which I realize is an incredibly busy day for restaurants. Parts of my meal were cold, and our food was delayed due to a kitchen mishap which wasn't communicated until we had been waiting sometime already.Being that this is the second time we received poor service we won't be returning. If we received poor service twice in a row how many others have experienced the same?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Mushroom Risotto
Gabby was great, personable, very collected, moved with intention. She was always 10 steps ahead of our server. The host was also amazing, friendly, firm, attentive, very good at reading the tables and the servers.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
The lady that welcomed us was very hospitable with a lovely smile and Christina, our waitress, was awesome! She was very attentive but didn't rush us and was very helpful with menu questions. Also our meal was excellently prepared and delicious!
Service from Savanah was terrific. She was friendly, attentive and knowledgeable. The food was beautiful but the balance of flavors was not quite there. The tuna crudo and bruschetta were seriously missing acid to brighten the flavors. The bruschetta was accidentally served with micro cilantro instead of micro basil which was not only unexpected but also not a good flavor combination with the ricotta. The duck confit was crispy and tender, overall a delicious plate but the ancient grains were watery and flavorless. We want so much to love this local restaurant and hope they get it together soon!
Restaurantji Recommends
This was a disappointing return to Rainbird. We have not been to the restaurant since last summer just before it closed. The service was horrible. While the servers were polite and friendly, the service was just not up to par for what we expected from a high-end restaurant. As an example, my husband ordered a steak; and after it was served, he had to ask for a steak knife. Another example, we were offered to see the dessert menu, to which we said yes. After about 10 minutes, the server came back and asked us if we wanted anything, and we answered politely that we were still waiting to see the menu. And most disappointing was the food. Presentation was all around lacking—the food appeared slapped on the plates. The tuna crudo appetizer was bland; the ribeye steak was lacking in flavor, size (ounces), and it was not evenly cooked. The French fries and grilled asparagus it was served with were decent. But a plate not worth the $48 price tag. The Chilean sea bass was also bland and overcooked. The tomato sauce it was served with was flavorless. At $38, not worth it. Our cocktails were decent but served about 10 minutes after our appetizer was served. We asked for water repeatedly through the evening. Alas, we will likely not return there for dinner anytime soon. If we do, we will obviously try different dishes. We were told by others that their breakfast/brunch were very delicious, so perhaps we will return for that instead.
This is such a special place to dine. The atmosphere is welcoming and warm with an upscale vibe. We were celebrating an occasion with dear friends. The evening was lovely starting with cocktails and a delicious dinner. Unfortunately the service was a bit slow and it appeared that our server was responsible for most of the diners. We will definitely return.
This is the gem of the Valley. Widely a restaurant that takes pride in how they present their food. The service is incredible as you get multiple well informed people helping you. The restaurant is also very beautiful in an also beautiful
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We loved this restaurant, the atmosphere, the decoration, the good service and above all the food, it was all delicious. We will be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had a reservation and were sat immediately, even given a choice of where we would like to sit. We were offered water quickly and I ordered a soda as well. That was brought out promptly. It took some time for our waiter to come over, he introduced himself as the waiter and bartender which may explain the poor service from that point. I ordered the ribeye medium and it was medium rare but not a big deal, my husband ordered the duck and it was overcooked and dry. We did not complain and just tried to enjoy the meal. The drink my husband ordered was delicious, I believe it was called a Bourbon Blush. Our plates were cleared and we waited about 15 minutes before we could finally get someone's attention to bring our check. We had no dishes on front of us and no drinks, had our waiter looked over at our table he would have clearly seen we were ready to leave since we had no one to take our drink orders. We eneded up walking over to Tioga Sequoia to finish the evening and were given amazing service there. To Sim it up, the food was not great, the service was better than most but for the type of establishment and price I expected more. We have eaten here for brunch and had a much better experience than dinner.