Burly's California Bistro

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An Absolute Hidden Gem — Modesto, Don’t Sleep on This Place! Can’t say enough good things about Burly’s Bistro. This place is truly one of Modesto’s best-kept secrets (unfortunately) — and it deserves to be packed every night. We came here for my mom’s birthday dinner with a large group of 18–20 people, and from start to finish, everything was flawless. We ordered a variety of appetizers — the cheese board, Brussels sprouts, lamb meatballs, and almond-crusted chicken skewers — and every single dish was packed with flavor and beautifully presented. Even with a group our size, all the food came out at the same time, hot, fresh, and absolutely delicious. The kids were served first (huge win for the parents!), and the service throughout the night was nothing short of exceptional. In a time when good service is rare, Burly’s truly goes above and beyond. Every single person at the table was impressed — most had never been there before, and every one of them said they’d be back. And while that birthday dinner was amazing, it wasn’t a one-off. Before moving out of the area, I’d eat lunch at Burly’s about once a week. The food was consistently top notch, never hit-or-miss like so many other places. You always knew you were getting something great — and honestly, it's one of the spots I miss most since we moved away. I still crave it. Incredible food. Incredible service. Unmatched value. Modesto, this is the kind of local business we should all be rallying around. If you haven’t tried Burly’s Bistro yet — do yourself a favor and go. You won’t be disappointed.

Food is good, service is friendly but a little slow

Be prepared for a LONG wait if you plan to dine here. Took over 45 minutes to get our food and there was only one other table. The food was good, but came out cold and portion sizes were small for the price and the area. Really want to support local but this is the second time we've come and had issues with long wait times, so wont be coming back. Staff is nice but totally inexperienced and unprofessional.

Do yourself a favor and just go downtown.

Delicious food and fantastic service

Got the steak& chicken. The steak was super over cooked/blan. And tough. Didnt finish it. The chicken was over cooked and dry,the sauce for chicken was good. Also ordered some bread/butter. The bread was fresh, but it was rock hard. It was slightly soft near the center. This place need some improvements. The service was good. Will likely not be returning.

A hiden gem! Not crowed and busy like some places in Modesto! My friends and I enjoy going there!

Great food, great service! We will be back again. Love this place and happy to support a Modesto born business Woman.

One of the hidden gems in Modesto. I can’t believe that this place is isn’t packed every single night. The service was impeccable, Alexis was a rockstar and the food was absolutely delicious! My wife got the steak with blue cheese potatoes and it was amazing! My fillet couldn’t have been cooked any better! You should definitely come here!!

It’s a little quiet, but the food is really good and the servers are nice

Service was excellent, wait staff were very friendly. The food, however, was very subpar. The house baked bread was bitter and almost chemically, and the butter they served it with was rock hard. The fries were pretty good, but the burger was burned on the outside and mushy in the middle (asked for medium). The chicken was cooked well, but the sauce had a really extreme lemon flavor (I like lemon, but the sauce tasted almost like lemon juice instead of a little lemon in the sauce). The flavors in all of the food were just really off and missed the mark. A lot of the food was bitter, like the seasoning or pieces of it were burned. Overall, while the service was great, we didn't really enjoy the food.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 5

I have been trying many food establishments here in Modesto and it seems I could never go wrong with Burlys. I found this place by accident and boy what a delicious accident. The service is excellent and the food is very delicious. It's hard to find a place where you leave feeling like family.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Tried this place today. Very empty. That's never a good sign. I went with the reviews. The menu is small easy & simple. Service was excellent. When you order a Medium burger and it shows up well done? My suspicions are as follows. The food was not fresh. You can be the best chef in the world but without quality "Fresh" food everything becomes suspect. The food was not fresh so the eating experience was mediocre at best. Reflects poorly on management and or owners. Example? Texas Roadhouse that's busy all the time with a high turn over the food is fresh and you can taste the difference and the end result is a similar meal there will be better tasting and less expensive. Wife & I didn't leave feeling good. Felt taken advantage of. It wasn't a fair equal good value experience. Not sure if we will try it again.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Grilled Atlantic Salmon, Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Crispy Calamari, Dave's Meat Beef Burger

My favorite restaurant in Modesto. Never had a bad meal here. Food is fantastic. Service by every staff member is great. Atmosphere is typical for a restaurant. Not loud and easy to talk to one another. Extremely clean. Cannot say enough about this restaurant.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Grilled Atlantic Salmon, French Dip

Great food, service and friendly staff!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Almond Crusted Chicken Skewers and Pretzel Sticks with Beer Cheese Dip

Everyone at the table enjoyed their meal, from the Burger, Prime Rib Dip sandwich, Herb Chicken Breast, Shrimp Pasta and Ribeye Steak. We also had the Calamari started that has this amazing aioli and even though there is a charge for the House Baked Bread it is delicious and TOTALLY worth the $2!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Crispy Calamari, Dave's Meat Beef Burger, French Dip