Bar Cesar

I love this place, good food, nice atmosphere, and the sangria is awesome. 2 dollars off tacos on Tuesday, and 12 dollar brunch mimosas. Definitely worth the trip

We went there for the first time last night and had a wonderful meal. I had the shrimp tacos which were very flavorful; the corn tortillas were excellent. I also had a side of asparagus which had a great char-​grilled taste. My husband said his carnitas were the best he’s ever had. The service was friendly and efficient — we’re definitely going back soon.

I love this place! Victoria & Lorin the bartenders are welcoming and offer amazing service. Try the shrimp tacos!

With so many options on the Ave., it’s hard to know where to go.
My family and I stopped in here for a quick lunch. It took a moment for us to find someone that would seat us. There was a man writing on a chalkboard out front but he said he couldn’t help us and didn’t direct us to anyone who could. Strange?
I did, however, have excellent tempura battered shrimp tacos that pretty much took obliterated that experience from my mind. Seriously, they were some good tacos.
Should you be seeking a place to sit in the sun and enjoy a taco, Bar Cesar is a solid option.

I was running errands on Piedmont ave, walked by Ceasar’s and decided to go for a glass of wine. I was lucky I did not have to wait. The staff was super friendly and was seated right away. The ambiance is casual-​contemporary with just a little bit of «tres chic», very cool! Looked at the wine list and ordered a Chardonnay. It was served perfectly chilled to my palate! (It was a hot afternoon!) After catching up with my texting and writing one email, that I never sent, I became a little hungry and ordered the Bacon Wrapped Dates. The menu offers a good selection of bar food or tapas. I only tried one item. This is not intended to be a «judgement at Nuremberg» type of review. In fact, I plan to eat there again and look forward to trying other menu entries.
The bacon wrapped dates were okay, they have a lot of potential. The filling consisted of a chorizo meat in a base of date paste, wrapped in bacon and served in a bed of greens. Well, bacon is going to dominate, the chorizo can stand up fairly well against the bacon. I thought the combination of these two meats elevate this dish. However, I had a little problem figuring what the date paste was doing in this dish. It seemed to be there all by itself, not knowing what to do. I felt there was a missing ingredient to make this dish realize it’s full potential. I am not a food critic, although I used to watch the Food Network, but I thought maybe adding a little bit of acid to the date spread would help blend and balance the flavors in this dish. Suggestions, I thought ginger would be helpful, but it may go to war with meats like bacon. I settled at the end for a light mustard that would adopt the sweetness of the date and help blend it with the chorizo and the bacon.
The presentation could be improved… serving the bacon wrapped dates in a deep dish with greens makes them hard to see. Almost as if they are purposely being hidden! As if you were ashamed of them… make them proud! Serve them in a flat dish, with the greens on one side of the plate, maybe throw in a few olives for excitement. Showcase them!

Went by with a friend for a drink and even having to wait for a seat this place did not disappoint. The Guacamole and chips yummy. The popcorn chicken omg! The drinks are great. Nice place to enjoy and catch the game.

First-​time brunch visit. The Paloma was among the best I’ve ever had – not sweet but not dry, with a perfect citrus balance. And wow, the chicken flautas (2) were really delicious and came with a light dousing of crema fresca and guacamole (which I normally hate) on a bed of lettuces, shredded cabbage, and thin pickled onion that bf ate like it would be his last meal ever. French toast was pretty good, with berries and chantilly cream that wasn’t overwhelming. Bf liked his huevos rancheros, which came with tasty roasted potatoes.
Service was a little slow, and I guess the coffee isn’t bottomless and is served in tiny cups to boot — why? So that part sucked.
Since the rest was pretty good, I would give 3.5 stars if I could.

We think the food here is actually pretty tasty and they make delicious specialty cocktails — if you like citrus flavor cocktails try the Saturno. The ambience is decent enough there always seems to be a place at the bar for us. We’re not sure why they only have three stars right now on Unilocal

This is my go-​to place when I want a delicious, fun date-​night or a pick-​me-​up after a hard day at work. My partner and I have become sort-​of regulars and we’re always greeted by the friendly, personable staff.
The guac portions are huge. The shrimp tacos are to die for. The appetizers are excellent. They also have some veggie and gluten-​free options for when I take my veg/​GF friends to dinner.
And the sangria? Out of this world. Strong, flavorful, and intensely good.
Honestly, I’m flabbergasted by the negative reviews. I have, without exception, **always** had a positive experience at this restaurant. I feel like the negative reviews were written by people who had grumpy days or needed something to complain about.
There’s a reason why I keep coming back– consistently awesome service, delicious food, and killer drinks. My only complaints are when I fall in love with a seasonal item that’s taken off the menu for the season… which is all the more reason to keep coming back and trying new things!

Came here for brunch on a Sunday… The inside is nicely decorated and our waitress was super sweet! A nice alcohol display as well! They only had one tv but it was fine because we sat at the bar. I had the chorizo Benedict… It was pretty good but definitely needed a little something extra to make it pop. Maybe add some avocado? Or tomato? I’m no good expert but I think that would have made a difference. Over all good, casual and a nice stop to start our day!

This place is a disaster. Service was very slow and food was cold.
But, the biggest complaint is the a-​hole owner. Apparently he lurks around the place every week just being awful to everyone. Caught him screaming at his own staff while I was there. Big stick up this guys butt – watch out.

The food was okay but the service was awful.
They completely forgot my order. I waited while most everyone got their drinks. I had to ask twice for mine. Then when the food came out I was stuck waiting. I had to tell them they forgot mine (and one of my coworkers) food. We had to wait another 10 – 15 minutes for the food to come out, since the server wouldn’t be bothered to come over to us. We didn’t get our food until almost everyone was finished with theirs. The server didn’t apologize or acknowledge that he hadn’t entered it into the system.
We were expecting lunch to be similar to dinner, but lunch was individual plates, not tapas style. When I eventually got the steak tacos I ordered, they were good but a small portion of meat and the food was kinda thrown on the plate.
Because there were 6 of us, the gratuity was included and wouldn’t be removed. I thought that wasn’t supposed to happen anymore? Meh. I am disappointed with the entire experience.

A cute tapas restaurant with excellent and strong drinks. I watched the Warriors win their championship here and the crowd was pretty sweet that day.

Happily surprised. I felt like its above par and better than its 3 star rating.
It was quiet so they sat us promptly. Waitstaff was very pleasant. Chips and guacamole to start. Thick and crispy tortilla chips and about average guacamole. I had the flautas and my girlfriend had the shrimp tacos. Food came promptly. Girlfriend said the tacos were good, the shrimp was perfectly cooked. I’d say the flautas were perfectly cooked and had a lot of flavor. Maybe a bit much though, a lot of competing flavors. Still good though.
Happily surprised with the service and food. Stoked about the price, all 3 dishes came out to $ 27.

Bar Cesar was open for HH which is a plus. what followed (food) were minuses
eats offered: quacamole and chips,. oysters, fish/​shrimp taco, ceviche, etc.
drink:sculpin grapefruit brew (6)
–nice hint of grapefruit, high alcohol content
eats:
baja style crispy shrimip taco (2) in beer battered arbol aioli, tangy slaw (7)
*tasted like one tasty shrimp topped with a mountain of red cabbage
–vinegared sliced carrot on side
tomato albacore ceviche (14)
–blue berries, fresca chiles, onions, jicama, …with stale chips
fish lost in the mix of veggies, spices, not tasted
2ish stars.
HH entrees only $ 2 cheaper than regular meal
–food/​drinks pricey, not worth HH pricing.
–service OK.

Stopped here with the family for brunch and was really happy with the food and how quickly we were seated and served. It was a little loud but they gave us a seat near the back close to the restrooms so that was good since we had small children in our party. The food was absolutely amazing and was on the table in 5 minutes from the time we placed our order!
I only have two complaints, one being I felt a bit hovered upon once we started finishing up with our plates with someone coming by to grab each plate as it was cleared. The second that we had to go find the waiter to pay the check, not fun with two wriggling kids ready to leave. Otherwise a great time with delicious food!

Group of us came here to celebrate a friend’s birthday weekend. Pretty decent place, but pretty pricey despite the quantity/​quality. Drinks were a pretty penny. I ordered a moscow mule, and it was not in a copper mug. Also tasted more fruity than I’m used to. Maybe too much lime?
We got an appetizer of chips and guac, but the portion of chips and guac did not match. In this case, it worked in our favor with more guac than chips, but would have liked to have more chips to go with the guac we had remaining.
For dinner, I got the carnitas platter, which for a whopping $ 20, was smaller than I thought it would be. Tasted decent enough, but I’ve had better food for cheaper. The steak was a little undercooked, and other parts of a dish were slightly underseasoned. Just felt a bit underwhelming, but then I tried my friend’s chicken enchilada and that tasted really good, so seems they are not that good a cooking steak.
And not gonna blame too much on the establishment for this one, but apparently someone left the fridge open, so the night we went, they had no dessert options available. So ended up having to go to Fenton’s, which was probably a better substitute, all things considered.

Dinner 6÷12÷15
We came for early dinner on Friday after shopping on Piedmont Avenue. It’s a lively place with with high ceiling. Lots of walk-​in but best with reservation. We were lucky to have a table by the window.
*Guacamole ($ 7) is served with hand-​crafted chips and salsa. Good with drinks. The Moscow Mule ($ 9) and Pinot Gris (Dusted Valley, Washington $ 10) hit the mark.
They have lots of tacos on the menu: carnitas, shrimp, marinated pork with pineapple… and they have a taco salad with, in my opinion, kale that is abused by many restaurants (lol). We settled for a taco entrée and an a la carte taco:
*Baja Cripsy Shrimp ($ 4.5 each) features one shrimp in beer batter with arbol chile aioli and a mountain of tangy slaw. For the amount of shrimp I think the price is steep, and it doesn’t come with a side. Black bean for $ 4 extra.
*Fish Taco Entrée ($ 17) has three tacos with wild rock cod, fried in beer batter and lettuce, pineapple pico de gallo, crema, and arbol aioli, served with house salad. The batter was a bit too thick, and that salad dressing tastes like orange gone bad.
*Churros with Vanilla Ice-​cream ($ 8) is quite good, although the churros were overcooked.
Overall the prices reflect the Piedmont neighborhood but I expect more to fill my stomach. Service is also not the quickest here. Ten minutes until we were greeted and given water.

I live in the neighborhood and have loved this place for years… For it’s space and drinks. Great bar, good drinks… So I don’t mind paying a little more.
But I find myself going over less and less because of the dinner menu. Expect to pay a lot or leave hungry. Tacos are now 3.5 each and they are tiny. A taco salad, which is good, is 11 (I have a hard time paying 11 for a salad) There are a few entrees that go for 15 –19 … None very inspiring… Fish tacos (yes… More tacos) on the dinner menu are the best at 17. The enchiladas were just ok… For 17, I want more than ok.
We ordered the asparagus the last time we actually ate there and, although it was good… There were only 4 stalks of asparagus under a pile of chorizo and an over easy egg. We asked for some chips to eat the chorizo on and were charged an extra $ 1…I was appalled.
So these days… We go have our drink (instead of 2 – 3 times a week, it’s usually just Friday now) and as we are enjoying our drinks and the space… We ponder where we would like to eat…
I hope the dinner menu gains some variety and great flavor again. I miss the taco soups, the paella, the tortas (which they may have on their lunch menu), the sopes… And I could go on and on…

I think there must be a faux Bar Cesar around these parts. How else to account for the lack of love Unilocalers have heaped upon this place of which I’m a new fan?
The real Bar Cesar proved a perfect place from which to watch the Warriors playoff game. Recommended to me by a trusted regular, I read the reviews with trepidation trying to square what I was reading with the recognition that someone I know and trust has been here upwards of 40 times. I’ll go with that person.
Perhaps the lack of Unilocal love accounts for the reason why the place wasn’t at all crowded come game time. Moments before start time I was able to grab two seats at the bar where I ordered up (over the next several hours) 2 of the most deceivingly strong Margaritas ($ 7) I’ve ever encountered. If you want a stiff one, meet Bar Cesar.
The food menu proved to be satisfying as well. Beginning with an order of chips, salsa, and guacamole ($ 7) and ending with carne asada nachos (it was that sort of night, don’t judge) I achieved nirvana. Those perfectly oily, salty, fresh made chips and the bad boys with which they kept company couldn’t have sated me more fully. I’d read complaints that some food is bland but about this food I had no such complaints.
Even when the game was in full swing — a game which would possibly secure the hometown Warriors a place in the Championships — Bar Cesar had a good crowd but stopped far short of being crowded.
If you’re seeking strong drinks, perfect food accompaniments, and a bar/​restaurant at which you can grab a seat close to the start time of an important game I’d bee-​line to Bar Cesar.

Summary: Welcome to the Land of the Bland.
Backstory: Nursing an instantaneous onset of anxiety spiked by a flat bicycle tire at 2:49pm, I was immediately drawn to Bar Cesar’s promise of «Bottomless White Sangria» till 3pm.
Knowing I’d still have to push the bike another mile or so post-​Sangria, I had the foresight to order the $ 7 carnitas street tacos with a side of $ 4 retried black beans to absorb any negative side affects from my now much anticipated treatment.
Mixed results drive my three-​star review. As I sit slurping down my second 12 once mason jar of white sangria, I notice that the interior is 1980’s fern-​bar, minus the ferns. Tired.
I also notice that I forgot about the taste of my carnitas street tacos even while I was chewing them. I’m used to roasted pork having such a distinct smell and flavor. Not this time. The avocado crème didn’t contribute any flavor, either. The beans were similarly underwhelming. Just two crumblets of cheese on top of paste.
Too bad! After shelling out ~$ 25 for this, I expected more from Bar Cesar, especially given the fierce restaurant competition on Piedmont Ave.
Now I’m off to push that bike.