Backstage Bistro

Something has changed and that is obvious by the amount of empty seats at 7:00 p.m. on a Saturday night. The calamari was good, but the entrees we could have skipped. Fajitas came out on a cast iron skillet but lacked the obvious «sizzle» and just didn’t look good, the taste, ok. I ordered the patty melt, expecting something substantial, I received 2 slices of bread with some meat larger than a slider patty but smaller than a burger patty. I visited with the manager however, overall, we were disappointed, if you look at the 2 year Unilocal trend they are not improving and I am sorry to see this. For the price point, I expect more.

A great bar to get warmed up for a movie! Good beer selection, good happy hour which we love on Tuesdays. Great date night bar. Big shout out to our favorite bartenders, Cody and Jim! They remember us and go out of their way to make sure we have things correct, Thanx!

I’ve been here twice now and both times I found the food and service lacking in a significant way.
First, I understand they exist to serve the theatre however, they also set up as a restaurant so the expectation I have is no different than any other restaurant.
Both times I’ve visited they’ve been out of several items on the menu. I’m sorry, unless something is a special and not a staple, restaurants shouldn’t run out of core items. Especially during the holiday season when they can reasonably assume they will be busier than usual.
Each time the food I ordered was served warm not hot. The amount of time it took to get my order left me imagining that it had been cooling under a mediocre heat lamp while the servers were doing … I’m not sure what exactly.
The service is slow and sparse, you’ll wait forever to have a refill on your water and forget about needing to order quickly, you’ll be seated and it will take five to ten minutes for someone to come talk to you and take your order. But be prepared, they probably won’t have what you order so then they’ll walk away while you look at the menu and amble back over in another five to ten minutes.
The food quality is average and the prices are what you’d expect at Twigs or Kona Grill for a much high quality food and experience.
I think next time I’ll opt for a hot dog from the cinema snack bar.

Wow, this was a disappointment.
I read The Statesman review from last year and I was really looking forward to trying The Backstage Bistro. I’m sorry I did.
We were grabbing dinner before the movie and sat at the bar. The bartender seemed nice enough. However I had ask three times before we could get two glasses of water, that seemed odd.
We ordered Ham Croquettes as a starter, my better half ordered a SIDE salad with Blue Cheese dressing on the side and a Club Sandwich with Onion straws. I ordered the Chicken & Dumplings, then the bartender explained it was not a typical Chicken & Dumpling dinner. I’m glad she did because other than having chicken, it’s not anything like Chicken & Dumplings. However it sounded interesting so I took the plunge.
The Ham Croquettes were ok, but not great. I was a little disappointed, but no big deal.
We waited about 20 – 30 minutes and then they brought out the sandwich, my plate and a STEAK salad. I explain that we ordered a side salad to be brought out before the meal. The server apologized and said that she simply brought out the salad to the wrong table but she would bring the correct salad that she had already made.
She brought out the correct salad, with the wrong dressing. I wanted to know why they didn’t bring out the salad first, but my girl was already irritated and didn’t want me to make a scene so I relented.
The Chicken & Dumpling dinner was ok, a new take on a classic dish. Not great, but good enough I guess. The Club Sandwich on the other hand was inedible. The bread was stale and dry and the whole thing just looked unappealing.
We really like the décor and general ambiance, but it will be a long time before I go to The Backstage Bistro for anything other than a drink. They do make a good Martini!

Try going today. Went at 4pm which they stated was their open hours. There was no on there at 415pm needless to say they were still closed. Very disappointed that they were not following their hours.

I don’t know how the Idaho Statesman named this place the best food at the village? Maybe the reviewer just smoked a big dubbie. Tried a couple of times and the food is just not that good. Cold fries, tasteless and dry burger and my wife’s entrée was uninspired.
The bistro was not busy while other restaurants were packed. The theory of if a restaurant is not busy… the odds are that the food is not good.
I will give credit to very good service.
I suggest Twigs or Kona Grill over the Bistro at the village in Meridian.

This is a great place to start before you go into your movie. The drinks are good and the food is as well. I love the steak salad. Loads of steak and the Vignette dressing is awesome. Nice that the server knows us and even knew which dressing We like.

If therecwasca way to give zero stars, I would. Sat out on the balcony with my wine group. Definite lack of shade so if you sit there, bring a hat, umbrella, Panama boy with a large fan, go nude! All I could smell was the popcorn from the cinema below. Staff seemed apathetic, low energy. Almost had to do cartwheels to get my order taken. I could’be easily walked out without paying. Extreme disappointment. I’ll never return.

Love this place! The service is fantastic! The people are so sweet and wonderful! The view is great! They go out of their way to make you happy and accommodate you unlike the other places in the village! The bread pudding is the best! Love the wings, salads, etc! Happy hour prices are terrific, especially for wine and beer, beats the other pricey places in the village!

The first time I tried Backstage Bistro was during a movie at the Village Cinema with the VIP 21+ seating they have. All of the food was delicious, although I had cold mac and cheese (as another reviewer experienced) and our server was not the best. However, I did not let that one experience tarnish my opinion and decided to give Bistro more chances. One time was with a friend during happy hour — good nachos, good discounts on the drinks, and more attentive staff (this was when actually dining in the restaurant portion). Flash forward to another VIP movie experience, and wow, talk about improvement! Our waitress was beyond friendly and accommodating. The food we received was not only hot, but delicious too. Mind you, these visits all took place after Bistro was not-​as-​new and more established, leading me to believe they listen to feedback and work hard to improve, which is a huge deal.
My last visit was the highlight of my experiences at Bistro and what seals the deal such a high review. After some less than stellar service at two other restaurants in The Village (I’ll omit names), my friend and I ended up settling at Bistro for the night and we are so glad we did. We were seated quickly in a booth, as per our request. Waters were brought out first thing and our waitress was happy to give us time to browse the food and drink menus. She was back in a timely manner to take our orders and proceeded to fulfill our drink orders in no time flat! When she saw we had not yet received the dessert we ordered when stopping by a short while later, she went back to the kitchen to see what the status was and a minute after that, VOILA, sugary goodness delivered! Note — our waitress was taking our orders AND working as one of the bartenders and she still managed to give us the full attention we would expect. The other staff are also extremely friendly and helpful, as they walk by and are not afraid to make eye contact (which is surprising, since at some places, you can be flailing your arms and knocking stuff over trying to get a servers attention and not a single employee will bat their eyes or acknowledge you).
I was also fortunate enough to meet the manager and general manager. Both gentleman were very friendly and professional. I can see why Bistro has improved so much — they clearly care about the business and want to not only see it succeed, but also see people enjoy the time spent there, which includes excellent service and food.
I personally enjoy the atmosphere, which has high ceilings (with a super cool chandelier made of glass film) and beautiful balcony seating for nice days. The bar is in the center of the restaurant, so if you enjoy having drinks, this leads to speedier service than other establishments. Sometimes there are also special events they do to promote movies (most recently, The Avengers 2) which really livens the place up!
So long story short — if you are looking for (what I have found to be) the friendliest staff in The Village, tasty food (make sure to get the profiteroles… hard to pronounce, easy to enjoy), and a pleasant ambiance, go here! Just please don’t take my booth :)

Steamed clams on potato, leek soup. OMG the best! Dry martini and a salad is where it is at! The chef here rocks thanks Tal for an amazing meal! !!

I just had a killer hamburger and it was dirt cheap. Our waiter Kevin was awesome. The menu is so interesting and you don’t have to go to a movie to eat there. However if you want a place to go before a movie this is the place.

We made reservations for a Valentine’s dinner. When we arrived the hostess turned her back on us and when she finally walked us to «our» table, it ended up being a communal 8 foot long bar table with other groups at each end of the table. So, apparently we were to spend our Valentine’s with complete strangers. We asked if we could have a private table and she rudely announced that those tables were reserved. I reminded her that we had reservations, but she simply put the menus at the spots she had deemed were good enough for us and walked away without acknowledging it. (Note that there were 4 – 6 tables that were empty before we arrived and were still empty when we left) It was interesting to have the couple seated closest to us tell us «If it makes you feel any better, she just did the same thing to us». I currently have a broken back and am in a back brace. The bar high chairs were excruciating for me. Normally, I would have tried one more time to be moved, but she had made it clear that she refused to help us.
We ordered from both the regular menu and the Valentines menu. For appetizers, we tried both the Popcorn Calamari ($ 10.50) and the Bistro Meat and Cheese ($ 14.00). The calamari were soft, perfectly fried and the sauce was great. The meat and cheese «tray» would be a joke if they hadn’t charged $ 14 for it, making it not at all funny. There were 2 pieces of cured pork (could have been a beef, it wasn’t identified) 3 thin slices of salami, 6 pieces of baguette and 4 tiny cheese wedges that, if combined, would not have totaled a 1“x 1 ½″ square.
My husband ordered the Beef Tournados, which was fine, but there was a very small amount of beef on one thin potato cake. He did compliment the potato cake, but there was supposed to be beets and there were just about 5 — ¼“x½″ pieces. How does someone justify charging $ 19 for that?
But the worst dish of all was my Shellfish scampi. I looked up «scampi» in the dictionary and it didn’t mention hard, overcooked, rubbery shrimp. The linguini was so overcooked that it was a mush with peppery wine sauce. That’s all it was. I felt like I had wasted an opportunity for a special Valentine with my hubby of 40 years and was beyond disappointed. When the waiter asked how it was I said «alright» and he asked if it was «just» alright. I said yes, he left, brought the bill and didn’t say another word to us. In any fine establishment with good front of house training and service, the manager or chef would have come out and spoken to us, but no one showed up. It was amazing to think about even giving the waiter 15% at that point, because he could have been honest with us about any of these dishes and we would have taken him seriously. Instead, out of 4 items, we had one decent item.
Please keep in mind the options around this place. Kona Grill, Twigs Martini Bar and Bistro, YardHouse, Goodwood, and dozens of others. This would never be an option for us again. One star is the lowest they allow you to rate, or this would be NO STAR.

I love this place.
Spent New Year’s Eve with my boyfriend here for a great Gatsby theme party and we had a blast.
Kind of an amazing view and all around fun place.

I have never in my life received such atrocious service as I did last night when I went to the backstage bistro. For as dead as it was there is not excuse as to why I had to give my order to the hostess, not once did our server come ask what we had wanted, never once was my water refilled, never once was I asked how my meal was, which for the price I might add was mediocre. I had to track down the hostess again for my check because after sitting there twenty minutes after we were done with dinner it was beyond time to go. Unless management can find some better servers getting rid of Kristen would be there best option than I will not be returning to the backstage bistro EVER!!!

Love the ambiance of this restaurant. It has an old Hollywood glam style, but the menu. .. . well– it USED to make this restaurant a fine dining experience. Now– it’s a glorified bar menu. PLEASE bring back the full menu!

***three star casual dining***
Other than food taking a long time to arrive just above cold, it was pretty nice. Our server was very personable, but her helpers kept trying to rush us off by pre-​bussing our plates that still had quite a bit of food on them. It took 30min for 5 appetizers to appear (which weren’t creative genius) after ordering. Since they took their sweet time getting the food there– aren’t we allowed at least as much time to consume them? Sure it was busy– but that’s what the biz looks like properly running! I wonder if they just don’t have enough dishes to serve food on? Anyway, the wine was very good. :-)

We popped into Backstage Bistro before a Saturday night flick (about 5:30pm) and found it surprisingly empty. Also, surprisingly classy. I felt a little under dressed!
I was with a small group of gals who opted to sit on the balcony — not the best decision, in my opinion, due to the 90 degree weather. However, the view is awesome. There are a few couches outside, one of which surrounds (what I’m assuming is) a glass fire pit and some very cool string lights. It would be such a neat spot to hang out for the night. When we sat down, they turned on the misters that wrapped around the railing, something I greatly appreciated! One of my girlfriends, however, didn’t appreciated getting a face full of water (understandable, seeing as she was all dolled up) and asked they be turned off (we were the only crazy ones sitting outside). For some reason, it took 10 minutes of them turning them off and on before they finally died down completely.
The prices are a little steep, but I suppose they fit the Village’s vibe and the restaurant’s atmosphere. The food though? O-​M-​G! So good!!! Great, even! I had the Chicken Club and it was to-​die for. Everyone at the table was extremely satisfied. One of the girls got a caprese salad and the smell of the pesto overwhelmed the table, in a 100% good way!
I probably would have give 5 stars if it weren’t for the lacking customer service. The mister incident combined with lackluster service left for some sort of docking.

For not knowing the movie theater had a good restaurant located inside it, our experience was great. The service was very attentive. The chef even arrived at our table to inquire about the food. The chef was very nice and informative. We gave our opinions and he appreciated our feedback. Not to often does the chef make personal visits to the guests.
The food was creative, upscale and tasty. The menu is not what one would expect inside a movie theater.
The Short Ribs were cooked perfectly along with the house made pasta. We also ordered the house made gnocchi in butter sauce.
The décor is nice and the patio is amazing.
Highly recommend and we look forward to many drinks this summer on the patio watching the sunset.

I ordered food from the bistro when we saw a movie on the VIP balcony. They had some kinks to work out regarding the system, but my burger and fries were surprisingly tasty and not greasy. The prices are comparable to similar establishments, and considering the expense of popcorn and prepackaged concessions, it’s a good value.
We also stopped by the bar after my birthday dinner last weekend. Even though we were just there for post-​dinner drinks, we still received friendly service. I didn’t find it to be any louder than any other dining options at the Village. Quite the contrary.
It’s a unique idea and well-​executed. I can see us coming for a meal when Twigs isn’t in the budget, or taking advantage of VIP dining again.
Update: we’ve indulged in VIP dining several times now. There’s still the occasional slip-​up, but the burgers and fries are consistently fantastic. My second fave burger after the signature burger at Twigs. The cocktails aren’t as enjoyable served in plastic, but I can guess why they avoid glassware in the theater itself. My advice?
Unless you’re drinking beer, sip a cocktail on the balcony before or after your movie instead, and enjoy the view.