Paul Martin’s American Grill

I love this place. The food and service are consistently good. My favorite is theBBQ ribs and cole slaw — worth the calories! I also can’t say enough great things about Fabio, one of the waiters. He is so friendly and welcoming — and he will take good care of you. The man knows his wines, but still manages to have a very laid back style. My friends and family always enjoy coming here because of his excellent service.

We came here on a Thursday night and had such a great dinner. Service was very attentive and wine plus food were delicious.
The complimentary bread was probably my favorite part art of the meal! Very fresh and so tasty.
Red wine is served perfectly «chilled» and the food was fresh, tasty and hot (temperature, I love hot food!).
I’ve been here before and had similar experiences, definitely go back again.

We live nearby and often stop by for happy hour or dinner. Food is generally really good – the hanger steak is amazing, as is the pork medallion and salmon. The happy hour menu has several decent option for both food and drink. The only reason I give this place two stars is because of the service… the service is consistently poor in every aspect (despite them having more than enough staff). It isn’t unusual for the server to forget something we’ve ordered or bring the wrong drink. Also, it often takes the staff 10 min or more to acknowledge we’re there (even when it is very slow… like «more servers than customers» slow). The staff ARE very nice and polite… they all just seem to be less than proficient at their trade. Again, great atmosphere, happy-​hour specials, customer base, décor, food, but the service issues can sometimes ruin the experience…

reasonable american food in an upscale atmosphere with a matching price. nice breaded calamari. brick chicken jus was pretty good with flavorful croutons. short ribs standard. serves local ingredients, seasonable, sustainable and fit nicely as a destination for graduation weekend.

We walked in for happy hour… the menu selection awesome! The meat/​cheese board platter was delicious paired with a Cab! The burger + beer or wine $ 20 is s deal!
Service was quick too!

Came here on a Ladies Sunday Brunch as a first timer. My food was great. I ordered the Salmon Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries. FRESH AND YUMMY! The atmosphere is very chic & modern with New American dishes. I liked how everything is completely made from scratch. Our waitress was very nice, but I felt sorry for her that she was the only one on the floor when it started to get a little busy. I know it wasn’t her fault, but it is the manager’s responsibility to have at least two waiters on the floor. My group was pretty annoyed with the slow service, which again, wasn’t entirely our waitress’ fault.
They didn’t have Sangria, unfortunately, but I was happy with the food that I had at least. Not entirely in a rush to come back, but after reading the reviews, I may give their Happy Hour a chance one of these days.

Great location and super great happy hours, Rolando behind the bar will keep you happy with great drinks.

Exquisite food and atmosphere. My friend ordered the red snapper with garlic spinach (it was delicious), I ordered the green chile pork enchiladas plate (also a terrific dish). We paired our dinner with a fabulous bordeaux wine… what a delightful treat!

This place is amazing. They have regular weekly specials and they just rarely ever miss. They have an awesome happy out that my bf and I regularly go to.
I do have One single bad thing to say and it’s whenever we walk in. And this could b Wednesday at 5pm, the hosts always asks in this very accusing tone, Do you have a reservation? Like cmon bitc# there is literally nobody here, get over yourself.
This has happened twice where we were told u can’t be seated cuz other tables r coming in and all tables r booked o reservation. And both times we ask for a manager and they have this look like wtf, yes of course we can seat you. Lol.
Other than that it’s a great dinner and the desserts are all made in house. Definitely come by here and get some dinner. You will become regulars.
Don’t mind the useless host cnuts upfront :)

My friend and I came for their Sunday prime rib special. $ 27 for three courses — salad, entrée and dessert. I’m a sucker for a good piece of prime rib. It’s probably my favorite type of beef/​steak. And Paul Martin’s version was pretty good. I asked for medium rare and it was juicy and a nice pink. Some fat and marbling. Wish there was more of the cap meat though. It was served with horseradish and mashed potatoes, which were both fine. But wish there was more au jus or a side of it for dipping. The salad was typical to start off with and I think we got to pick the dressing we wanted. It had sunflower seeds and cherry tomatoes. Mmmm. And for dessert, it was our choice of ice cream (I got pistachio) and two homemade biscuit cookies. Service was great and attentive. Parking in the structure adjacent to the row of restaurants. A super filling meal and a steal for the price. If you’ve ever craving a good prime rib, this is the place.

For the Raspberry Martini cocktail.
The raspberries were unwashed on a pretty little skewer.
There were black debris inside my Martini glass.
DISGUSTING.

Yum!
The prime rib special on Sundays is such a treat. For $ 27 you get a salad, prime rib with mashed potatoes, and ice cream with a homemade shortbread cookie.
The prime rib was much better than I expected for the price. It had a flavorful crust and was overall seasoned well. The mashed potatoes were extra creamy and buttery but not too rich.
The salad was just good but I would choose a different dressing next time. The vinaigrette I had was a little too tart for my taste. M didn’t care for his Caesar dressing. He would have preferred it to be a little more creamy. Next time I’ll try the ranch.
The pistachio ice cream was yummy and M enjoyed his vanilla. Both went well with the cookie.
Service was friendly but our server was a little hard to hear/​understand. He was nice and noticed it had been a while since we had our bread and didn’t have our salad so he asked to make sure we got them.
Overall we had a good first experience and will be back on Sundays for sure!
Skip the banana cream pie. It was nothing special.

We came for dinner early evening on a Saturday. We arrived a little before 6 PM and were promptly seated outside as per our request.
I had the hoisin marinated pork chop and my fiancée had the steak frites. Most of what we had was cooked appropriately. The pork chop was great, cooked perfectly and super tasty. Steak was a bit overdone in some places and under seasoned. Fries were good.
Our server was fantastic. Kept our waters filled and checked in on us several times. He was very inviting and polite. No complaints whatsoever.
I would come back. Would like to try happy hour burger — $ 14 w/​fries and a beer, sounds good!

Unhappy Easter to us!
Our Family of 5 adults dined here for Easter Sunday, each ordering the prime rib. This was our first visit and most likely our last. My Husband RARELY says no to me. I thought we should give them a second chance to come back and try the fish tacos since I’m a wannabe fish taco aficionado! NOPE. That bad.
Our server seemed checked out. I asked for a non-​alcoholic drink, he just pointed to the drink menu propped up in the middle of the table and walked away. No suggestions? Alrighty.
Later, he refilled everyone’s ice teas, but neglected my Husband’s and my empty water glasses. No biggie, I have a water bottle in my bag. I’m not above having to go into my stash. We were kind of laughing that we weren’t the only table who kept looking for our servers. As soon as he came around, we had to attack him with our requests because we didn’t know when we would see him again. We looked around at other tables and they were doing the same thing with the one finger in the air, «Excuse me» gesture.
I asked if I can substitute the salad with a butternut squash soup. How refreshing to offer a fall soup in the spring. It’s like getting pumpkin ice cream outside of October/​November. NOPE. He just cut me off and said he can’t put it in the computer any other way. (Geez, can you fake it and say I’ll ask. Then come back and say you tried.) They have a heavy hand with the dressing and I couldn’t help but hum the throwback psa, «Don’t drown your food!» with Louis the Lifeguard.
My Dad asked for an end cut. NOPE. We told our server, we asked for the end cut and he replied, «You did? Do you want me to take that back and ask for an end cut?» (You took the order, right?)
ALL the cuts of prime rib had this awful 1.5″ strip of fat down the center. You had to really get busy working to cut all the fat away from the other parts of the meat. (We’ve been spoiled by the House of Prime Rib in San Francisco; they set the bar pretty high when it comes to Prime Rib.) I ordered mine «well». There was so much red meat, I couldn’t even look at it. I asked our server is this «well», he nodded yes. I said, no, please ask them to cook this longer. (I can’t handle bloody meat.) The one good thing is that I got a better cut — that I had to eat alone because the rest of the family already finished.
The dessert with this Prime Rib bundle was out loud laughable. We all looked at each other in disbelief. It’s as if they used a melon-​baller to scoop the ice cream into a giant bowl.
My Husband and I were wondering if we would have gotten a better experience at the PM in San Mateo since they were all booked and this location still had openings. Nonetheless, we all agreed that we should have gone to our favorite little Chinese restaurant in our neighborhood. We drove 70 miles round trip and paid $ 200 for a lousy Easter lunch.

I have been to this Paul Martin’s several times. It is a good place to spend an evening when you want to act like an adult. The lighting is dimmed and there is hardwood everywhere. Not the best place for kids. Everything about this place screams that children do not belong.
Honestly, I’m never that impressed with the food. The food is okay. Not bad, not great. I would give you a recommendation, but I really can’t remember any meal item that much.
The best thing about Paul Martin’s are the cocktails. They are good and strong! I only need one drink before I know that it isn’t going to be an evening that I will be driving. Happy hour has fantastic deals for small plates and drinks. That is the reason that I will be back. For dinner, meh.

I hate to two star a place like Paul Martin’s where I’ve had some good dining experiences in the past. But you are only as good as your last experience and my last experience qualified as below average from the diner perspective.
Comparing to sports to real life experiences always seems like an easy way to relate ideas so I’ll use the baseball three strikes rule.
Strike 1: My brother found a bottle of wine that he wanted to try for my dad’s birthday. It was fairly priced on their wine list and usually a bit hard to find. We ordered it and then our server came back later to tell us that they were out of it. Obviously we were disappointed but it was a sign of things to come.
Strike 2: My brother and dad wanted to order the ribeye steak. We placed our orders and then again, we were told that they were out of ribeye steak. They declared earlier in the night that they were a «scratch» kitchen and that they make everything fresh and they could run out of things. Sure that’s great but how about a heads up beforehand? We were already 15 – 20 minutes in and you tell us now that the ribeye was 86’ed (kitchen jargon)? They had to settle to getting the New York steak instead. FYI, our server did not deliver this news as I believe it was a manager who came to tell this bit of news.
Strike 3: We ordered a cocktail and they came back saying that they had run out of one of the ingredients for that particular cocktail. At this point, it was almost comical. I mean these small things detract from our dining experience and it wasn’t just one thing, but three things. Three things where we asked to get something and it was not delivered. Even though I wasn’t directly affected by all three strikes, I have to admit that I didn’t realize that this restaurant can literally run out of food and that the menu is a lie because it doesn’t show what they have in stock.
So what transpired that night wasn’t horrific but very unlucky from our experience. Should they have comp’d our meals or given us something for our trouble? Well they didn’t and we didn’t ask for it either. We probably could have told them about how our displeasure of our experience but at that point we fully digested how unsatisfied that we were, the meal was over and it was a moot point.
What things did I take out of this?
1)Don’t go to Paul Martin’s near the closing hours of their brunch, lunch, or dinner. It doesn’t seem like they have a good system of communication on what inventory they have on hand and you’ll have better odds to get what you want if you go earlier in the day than later.
2)Make sure to ask them to check before putting your order in so that you don’t have to scramble and order something else than what you originally intended.
3)If indeed this exact situation happens to you, then let your server and manager know that you deserved to know what wasn’t available when you are seated at your table. Believe me when I say that I wish I could have said these things to them on that night.

I come from Alberta where beef is kings So when my colleagues suggested this place I had my reservations. Well I must say that this place surprised me!
First of all it has all the comforts I expect from a steak place (mostly that delightful smell of beef cooking under a fire/​grill). Oh yummy! I think it’s part of Albertans DNA!
Anywho, the dark and stormy drink was ok but my friend had the margarita and it was very tasty. They sure use good tequila in there drinks here. I had the short ribs which comes with mashed potatos but I substituted with brussel sprouts because they are in season (too funny; u never see signs saying BS r in season in Edmonton). The dish was amazing. Short ribs were SO tender, sauce delish and the BS had this vinagerette sauce that was to die for.
Definitely recommend!

This place is a reliable source of consistently good food — I have no complaints.
I frequent this place regularly for date night, which is probably a testament to the quality. You aren’t getting Michelin star quality food here, but you’re getting slightly elevated bar food. You have an option to sit at the bar, which includes a nice bar menu — burger w/​fries or fish and chips with a beer for an affordable price plus a happy hour menu with small bites. Good thing about the burger is you can add cheese, bacon, avocado all for no extra charge!
I’ve had multiple items here — to describe a few:
— Grilled artichoke: I’m a sucker for these. This was one was a little oilier than I’d like, but pretty typical for a restaurant grilled artichoke. The dipping sauce on the side was also delicious.
— Calamari: Nothing special here. Good, but not spectacular.
— Mexican Tortilla Soup: Part of my regular order. I got this pretty consistently with the mac n cheese, until I purchased it one night and there was a freakish amount of salt. To the point where I was drinking water for hours afterwards. I’m assuming this was a fluke… maybe someone just threw a handful of salt rather than a dash? Haven’t ordered it sense, but I’m sure I’ll come back to this some day.
Four stars because it’s easy, nice ambience, and consistently good food.

Classy establishment perfect for business lunches or dinners. It has a great bar area with additional high tables and chairs. The most commendable part about Paul Martin’s is its management – amenable, attentive, and accommodating.
Food: food here is straightforward and fresh-​there are no wild twists and turns in conception or execution. I’d recommend oysters whenever they have a northeast variety (my Boston roots are showing). We were fortunate enough to have in one evening when they had cotuits available; I had a dozen (homesickness i swear!). The fried shrimp appetizers are also delicious. Salmon is another good thing to get here, but after a dozen oysters, I settled for a delicious cup of soup.
Service: the one star I knocked office for service. The staff seems overwhelmed at times and aren’t always intuitive about checking up on you. I commend management however for their watchful eye and crisis control.
Though lights get dimmed for dinner, I would not recommend this for a romantic evening. The times I’ve went, my impression is more coworkers or business crowds. The noise level also gets a little high.

Had reservations for a large party during lunch. Good location but parking is limited. There are more spots in the plaza but it’s a walk.
Spacious with outdoor table seating. We opted for indoors.
Started off with a glass of rose for me, Rosat of Sangiovese, Napa Valley, ’14. Bottles of zinfandel and chardonnay for the table.
Appetizers, salads, and fries: Since we had a large party, we ordered two of each:
— Spinach dip: not your typical dip. Large uncut chunks of spinach which makes it difficult to scoop up or eat.
— Town dock calamari: Big portion with good breading to meat ratio
— Salt & Pepper shrimp: Tasty, good flavor, and enough to share. 6pcs.
— Kale Caesar Salad: Never had kale in my caesar before but it was interesting. Wasn’t too fond of the massive pieces of anchovies on top but it was very good.
— Side order of fries: Now we’re talkin. Can’t ever go wrong with fries. It’s cut in perfect size and it was good!
Main dish: Salmon fish tacos: Included arugula, special sauce, and onions on flour tortilla. It was surprisingly good. It was my first time having salmon in my tacos. Would definitely get this again.
Overall experience here is good. Lunch menu had limited options. Service was great and the restaurant is spacious and clean.