Surla’s

One of the best brunch buffets I’ve been to, especially on a holiday weekend. They have king crab legs, ribs, salmon, tri tip, braised beef, and seafood. Definitely will be back!

I love this place!!! Sarah the bartender was extremely accommodating, I asked for frito misto which isn’t listed on the lunch menu. Within minutes she brought me frito misto!!! This place hands down has the best food, drinks and service!

Delicious! Great service too! We celebrated our grandson’s high school graduation tonight; no better place in Modesto!

Came here to eat for dinner, called ahead of time to put in a reservation and no one answered. I listened to their voicemail which stated their hours or information on how to to book a reservation. We decided just to wing it. Upon driving all the way down town and walking up to the door, there was a small sign saying the restaurant was closed for a party. It would have been nice if they could have answered their phone or at least had something on their voicemail before I got my hopes up and wasted my time… I have been wanting to try this place for forever. Hopefully the restaurant will be open the next time I try to go, or at the very least find a way to notify customers that they will be closed.

My husband made reservations for the brunch on Mother’s Day for my family of 5. The reservation was for 12. We didn’t get seated until 1. I think it shows very poor management to accept reservations and then continue to seat anyone who comes in so that you are not able to honor your reservations. If you are going to seat people as they come then you should not take reservations at all and we could have saved ourselves an hour of waiting. The food was pretty good, I really enjoyed the crêpe station and the dessert table. That being said, it didn’t seem like the restaurant was staffed well enough to accommodate the Mother’s Day crowd. I probably would have enjoyed the experience much more if it hadn’t started out so poorly but I was really put off by the poor management of reservations.

Service was great, the menu changes everyday so better call ahead if you have something in mind if it’s available or you’ll be disappointed. I was here for the lechon sushi but it wasn’t on the menu but our server still made it happen after talking to the chefs. Crème brûlée was good with a free icecream and fudge cake in it coz it’s my bday. Ordered the steak and Vegeterian Moussaka for my mate. Probably good coz I finished it all. Burp! They have a full bar too, nice! But we had to go somewhere after so I’ll be back soon.

Wow! This place is the bomb. Where to start…
Well, appetizers and drinks are always a hit with my group (see pic.). Service is the bomb! That statement is not made lightly. The wait staff and the chefs (one of which is the owner) are amazing.
I’ve been to the restaurant while they allowed a United Way fundraiser to host a 5k fun run pit stop and the entire place was screaming.
I’ve been here for dinner, the food was amazing and service was once again excellent.
I’ve come here for drinks, appetizers and hung out until the booze was in the system and it was off to dance at a local club (the croc.)
Would I recommended this place… YUP!

Went here for a rehearsal dinner for my friends wedding and 15 of us came
Down with such bad food poisoning. Was vomiting non stop and finally had to make a trip to the ER.

Surla’s is amazing! Great service, wonderful food, awesome drinks, and romantic music. I love the ambiance of this place. I will continue to go back. My fiancé proposed to me here on July 3, 2015, so it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Great atmosphere, great service and good food. Nice wine selections, it’s true the restaurant is in Modesto, but I felt I was chilling in the Bay Area. Best part about it, my drive home took me 5 minutes.

So we go here a lot and come with all are friends each time, I called for this Sunday brunch and was told we can only have are table for two hours, I was floored. We have never been told this.
I have a problem with this because by the time you visit for 45 min then start to get in line to eat, once you get in the room with the food 3 or 4 of the try’s are empty and you have to wait for them to refill them. If your going to put a time limit on are stay then I think the food needs to be available to eat at the time we want to get in line. Food is subpar at best. The service is very slow and unexpectedly. The only thing good was Amanda the bartender is a sweetheart. If we go back it will be because of her. We have always had good service and a great time when we go to surlas this is the first time we’ve ever had an issue. Thanks again Amanda for your great service.

For starters… sat down and opened up the wine list. The wines are far, far too high marked up (100−200%).
Appetizer of lumpia was good. Bruschetta was just ok.
Got two house salads. They had some sort of herb or something that made it feel like you were chewing on sand.
I had looked at the menu beforehand, and was looking forward to the short ribs. After taking our time, and finally ordering, I ordered the short ribs! Soon to find out, they were all out. The next step to beef was an overpriced ribeye.
The overall experience was disappointing, and really overpriced. You can do a $ 150 dinner for two MUCH better elsewhere

I really enjoy coming to this place. Food is always delish and service is friendly. I usually get the kale salad and it’s always satisfying. Everything on the menu is great and the drinks are also good.

Kudos for the excellent service and live music that really did set the mood. The cold food selection was outstanding and the carved meat was extremely tender. The crêpe station was amazing and it was perfect to share with our table, so good that we didn’t even want to try the actual dessert section that did look amazing as well. We will have to make the effort to visit that section next time.
The only thing that I would like to see is a lower sodium version for the Bloody Mary.
Surla’s is not located in the center of downtown which is a bonus since the dynamics downtown lately have caused some concern for personal saftey. The parking is ample and not having to worry about paying for parking or time limits are a plus.
I’m so glad that your restaurant was recommended to us.

Evidently, it’s all about the brunch here.
Unfortunately I came in for dinner.
Having heard (& read) raves about Surla’s, it seemed a natural choice for date night. But from beginning to end, I don’t get what the appeal is.
First off, it’s a comfortable space, but nothing fancy. And that’s fine. I’m always more concerned w the food. If I want fancy, I know where (& where not) to go.
It would have been more comfortable if the air conditioning wasn’t set so high. I totally relate to another reviewer when she said that she couldn’t enjoy her meal here when she was freezing the whole time. It’s true. Having been a professional cook, do I appreciate the merits of a great walk-​in refrigerator? Absolutely. Do I want to sit & eat inside of one? No.
We started w the cheese board. This was well done. Things looked promising at this point.
Now, the meal. My expectations were high, yes. But my salmon dish was mediocre. At best. The preparation was more on par w a T.G.I. Friday’s than a higher end restaurant. The salmon, the mashed potatoes, everything, was subpar. Disappointingly, & most surprisingly, underwhelming, considering all the rave reviews.
Then there’s the fact that our initially engaging waiter seemed to fizzle out on us after we informed him we were from San Francisco. But he’s the one that asked us where we were from. Did he think we were snobs, or did he suspect that we might be disappointed? Sure, I eat out almost 7 days a week in San Francisco. High end & low end. From fine dining, to food trucks & hole in the walls. I cover the gamut, & without prejudice. All I care about is good food.
Finally, it took a long time to get our bill, make the transaction, & get on our way. It was a weeknight. Perhaps things are better on the weekends?
I waited to write this review because I thought I should try them again before I decide on a rating. But that’s just it; my first experience here left me so unenthusiastic about returning, that I still haven’t.
Good apps. I liked the cheese selection. And our waiter did a good job w wine recommendations to go w our meal.
2 & ½ stars.

Surla’s is a very cool restaurant with a somewhat odd location, it is technically downtown, but not in the high traffic areas off of J and I where you would expect.
Atmosphere and Service is top notch, the Chef really takes his time to build relationships with the community and his patrons which is not only good for business but nice as a patron as well!
Has a very cool bar that gets quite lively and fun after hours. l
Food is delicious, I ate there twice and have to say that the preparation of my meal was not consistent as the first time, I didn’t find my 2^nd meal as enjoyable so hopefully they have worked on their consistency since then, definitely give it a try you’ll be surprised a place like this is in Modesto!

Love this place!
First visit was a Sunday brunch, awesome selection of food and bottomless champagne was worth the drive down from Lathrop.
Dinner date: A fried egg over my burger and wifey had beef tip risotto. Both bomb.
It’s like Filipino meets fine dining without the big wooden spoon and fork hanging on the wall.
Came by for a late night during and was greeted by a bartender that pointed me to a complimentary late night buffet… complimentary…buffet! Some pasta, some pizza, some salad, some ciabatta bread. A nice little surprise spread.
Love this place!

Good stuff! Brunch was pretty good. Nice mix of treats from sushi to crepes to ribs to eggs Benedict, beet and calamari salad plus a table of just dessert treats like cream puffs and cookies n such. Super nice staff! Great atmosphere and for the most part mellow clientele (except the loud belligerent dirtbag hipsters shouting about their supposed conquests) and great décor.
The regular menu is great as well. Most anything can be prepared and customized for you if you don’t see an amazing version of it on the menu, and John is always changing it up with seasonal treats and specials. Their burgers are off the chart! And though I don’t drink, they have an extensive wine list and their mixologists can whip up some visually stunning quenchers!
Again, the staff is great and as friendly as they are handsome and beautiful, as well as knowledgable.
Thanks guys! A great treat for business, company from out of town or a nice meal date.

We tried to get here before the kitchen closed, but unfortunately we were late by 15 minutes. As we were about to walk back out the door, our server/​bartender said, «Let me see if we can get you something» and she went back into the kitchen and said they could make us some lumpia for a nice late night Filipino food snack. It was perfect! The drinks were poured and food was served… and we were three happy traveling foodies!
The lumpia is cooked perfectly, nice and crispy! I love the way the rolls are cut diagonally and the sweet and spicy sauce drizzled nicely over the lumpia. I couldn’t get enough of it. If the lumpia tastes this good… I can’t even imagine what the rest of the menu must be like!
We did manage to sneak in a dessert order, too! The crème brûlée. Oh so good. I’ll definitely be back to try a full meal the next time I find myself in Modesto. (I’m wishing this place was a bit closer to San Diego!)

Look for an updated review of the Sunday brunch.
Ambience and décor were trendy and chic. A little Asian flair, huge open storage area that is nicely displaying of their expensive and vast wines, and liquor. A bonus of a acoustic guitar player, playing some soft and beautiful music. I can see how an early dinner before 8 can be romantic with how dim the lighting is and the strums of the guitar. Quiet enough when my sisters and I went that we even saw a few couples with their children having an early supper.
We were greeted by a sweet and genuinely friendly young lady/​hostess and were seated promptly. Menu and wine list handed to is and told to enjoy our meal. We took in the whole atmosphere and browsed the menu.
We were not greeted by our server for a full 10 minutes. No, the restaurant was not busy. There was a party of 10 – 12, another party of 4 and a scatter of couples at 4 tops in the the entire restaurant.
Our server came back and although he was nice you could tell that he was distracted and didn’t seem to interested in our first time visit. Seemed odd especially since we did tell him that both my sisters drove from the Bay Area to try Surlas out.
We ended up ordering the LECHON appetizer and that I will say was ON POINT! So good and truly we could have just had that and some cocktails (us filipinos LOVE Lechon)
We then each ordered 3 different entrees. I had the special of Scallops, while my sisters both tried the adobo and the ribs. They were.good. But not overly fantastic. I truly wish I would have gotten the risotto that my Unilocal friend suggested! I got the Moscow mule that my Unilocal friend Gina also suggested and Super yummy but also will sneak up on YA later lol!
All in all it was a nice night out, not what we expected, I think we thought more filipino or Asian foods with a twist is what we thought? But I think I’ll be back with my husband for a possible date night. But for sure I do want to try the brunch.