View 202

We were driving through Redding looking for a place to eat dinner. We saw mixed reviews on Unilocal regarding View 202, so decided to give it a try… Big Mistake!
All the food we ordered (calamari, nachos, and pasta) was very bland. The house bread wasn’t delivered until we were almost finished with our entrée!!! AND it was the worst bread we’ve ever had… flavorless and stale.
The workers seemed inexperienced. The view is nice… if you go, just get a cocktail!

More and more impressed with View 202 each time we go. Relaxed atmosphere with fancy food and elegant setting on the Sacramento River. Fantastic service tonight. The Watermelon grilled salad was amazing. So unique. The seared ahi on cranberry quinoa with baby arugula – breathtaking…in taste and presentation. The chicken wrapped in bacon was hubby’s pick and he loved it. They brought a chocolate tort to celebrate our 19 years. Divine

Steady decline. I like the bar, the view and the service. But seems every meal is slightly worst then the one before. Especially last two meals over past month have left me disappointed. Calamari is thick rubber. Speciality lunch salads have been bitter, poor tasting produce. I think it is bit pricey for the quality.

We ate there last week with my son that came up from Southern California and the food was amazing and the calamari was out of this world!

We always enjoy the Sunday brunch and the staff are always courteous. They had a wonderful jazz group and the view is amazing! However, I recently ordered the «Corned Beef Hash» only to find it to be much like pot roast with no similarity to Corned Beef at all (I am part Irish and have loved this dish my entire life). The potatoes with beets were good, but the entire dish was smothered in something they named «dirty sauce» or something like that, and it was not very good at all. I picked through and ate a few potatoes and beets, but could not get over the fatty roast and sauce. It was also sitting in what appeared to be a pool of beef fat. On a great note, the «Lavender-​Coconut Lemonade» was delicious! They also have a great «Monte Cristo». Our family has had almost everything on the brunch menu, and this is my only complaint.
N.B. My husband and I had our wedding reception here several years ago and our guests thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful food/​view/​attention that they received. We were impressed all the way around! Money VERY well spent!

We had reservations made a month in advance for a group of nine for special occasion. When we got there we were in full sun on a hot afternoon. TThey were very unaccomodating regarding putting down the shades or adjusting our table several in our party nearly got heat stroke sitting out there trying to be polite. The view is always lovely but the food was terrible. Not a single adult at our table was happy with their food. The prime rib tasted like a bottle of liquid smoke was poured on it. The chicken was too salty and the pasta was also no one finished their meal except the kids, to be fair we had come for lunch the day before and did not like that either (I had Asian nachos-couldn’t finish them and I am not picky)
We will not be back unless there are changes

View was awesome on a nice evening. Had to ask for a view table. They wanted to seat us in the back. Food options were very limited for appetizers. Cosmo was good. Server was ok but brought our tag before we were done. Then we wanted more. And didn’t pick up our tag when we paid cash. So odd. We try this place about once per year and it just doesn’t improve. Disappointing food and service.

Nice views and the staff is friendly, that’s about it. The food was not only bland, but was served at a lukewarm temperature. Probably a good place to go just for drinks and to enjoy a nice evening on the patio.

BLUF — I do NOT recommend this place if you are wanting exceptional service and food quality for the very high prices you will pay.
If you’re ok with paying too much for slower than acceptable, inexperienced service to include cocktails, and don’t mind a previously frozen meat entrée being over cooked then you’ll be ok here. After all, it is considered fine dining (by the staff, just ask them) and has a great view.
Highlights — Good Stuff first.
Great view. Nice patio and ambiance. Staff (a few and bartender) was friendly and serving.
Calamari and seared ahi were properly prepared and nice presentation. Pretty good actually but pricey.
That’s about it…
Ugh… I Was hoping for more
Now for The not so good stuff and the down right disappointing, which is why it gets 2 stars, like a D on a report card. Why not a C you ask? I don’t find it average to overpay and be disappointed, that’s why. Below average, D+ at best.
The manner in which the wait staff executes needs work. For fine dining (as they claim to be) and the high prices one might expect to be taken care of in a timely manner AND a properly prepared entrée, NOT the case here; staff very slow and could not anticipate the basic needs o guests.
Bartenders were unwilling to attempt a basic cocktail they were not familiar with.
$ 35 for the halibut — ok but please make it worth it. Nope, not here. Very dry, overlooked and served with a polenta I could not recognize. Bland and very small in portion size. Also it was served cold, barely warm– like it had sat there for quite a while. Huge disappointment.
Not a bad place overall, but it’s the view and the patio that will bring you back, not the excellent service, fine selection of beer and wine and perfect food, as they are all lacking here.

View 202 is a classy place, so I am going to give it a classy review. If you are on a budget, this not the place for you. If you are a young man in your 20’s, my suggestion is, buy one less Metal Mulisha or Fox t-​shirt, and take your special someone here. They will appreciate it.
With that being said, it is a great view with a really good menu. Some might say that the menu is a little limited, but my retort to that is, do you want 35 mediocre options, or 14 awesome options?
The Mocktails are great, the ingredients are obviously high quality and the portions are the perfect size.
I was actually in one day, when I got to meet the Executive Chef, Dustin. You could tell that he has a true passion for the culinary arts and that this Is not just a job for him.
You obviously can’t beat the view and the décor is darker in tone, but without being gloomy.
Pretty much every person there is good looking and extremely polite. While this does not affect the quality of the food in any way, who wants to look at a bridge troll while they are ordering their entrée?

The ambiance is perfection. We wanted to sit on the patio for dinner but it was «full» with reservations, on a Wednesday at 5:30?!? Hm.
The bread and pesto was perfection. The house salads were good, but not worth $ 7.00. Maybe $ 5.00.
I had the house made pasta with tender greens. The pasta was yummy but the sauce has little flavor. It was missing something.
Overall the service was great. I love the check presentation in an old book, such a unique touch!

Overall I had an ALRIGHT experience. Ambiance is great, View is beautiful. (which is why it’s 2 stars instead of 1)
The food is mediocre. They up sell it too much. Combination of flavors in my dishes did not mix well. I had the seared ahi for my main and flourless chocolate torte for desert. Couple of Liberty school pinot noir’ to wash it all down. Which was amazing, as always. I’m not a food critic, but I’ve had worse. BUT I’ve had substantially better. The service was absolutely terrible. I observed numerous tables waiting quite a while for the server to either take their order or to receive their libations. Looks like the servers/​bartenders are too overwhelmed with tables. I came on a Monday evening so I’m sure they didn’t have the staff to accommodate all of the patrons. Been here two times, each time I wasn’t impressed. I won’t be back.

Very disappointed in the service. This was a very good place to eat once upon a time. The waiter did not know anything about the meals or the specialty drinks. Given that he was new he should have had better training and assistance with his tables. The manager quotes that they recently had undergone new management and this was the problem
Then 2 of our fish meals looked similar and they were given to the wrong people at our table! Wasn’t until we were part way into the meals did we realize this! One meal came with potatoes that were asked to be omitted (no biggie) but they were COLD!
This is a more «fancy» restaurant and I was very disappointed. They did comp the meal with the cold potaoes but in my opinion this place has been open far to long for this kind of service.
Prob won’t go back

The menu changed from a year ago and I miss the quinoa salad and tacos!
Fries are good as are the drinks!
The ambiance is nice and the river view is awesome!

We’re on vacation from Portland OR for the Holidays. We’ve just been in L.A. for the past few weeks, and are on the two-​day drive home. Heading northbound, Wife N. and I decided it would be a good thing to take a break from the kids and have a Saturday night «date night» out.
Saturday night, 7:30pm. We arrived at View 202.
First off, wow, the exterior of this place is awesome. A tip o’ the hat to the architect that designed this place. It’s absolutely stunning inside and out!
We’re at the tail end of our vacation. You know, the part where you’re looking back over the past two weeks, and your resultant checking account balance, and telling yourselves, «Okay, maybe we don’t order cocktails???»
Wife N. ordered a lovely raspberry-​infused lemonade to start. I stuck with the Dihydrogen Monoxide. That’s water for you non-​nerdy folk.
Started with an appetizer order of the Tuna Tartare and a starter Caesar Salad.
The tuna tartare was amazing. Finely chopped up ahi with a spicy creamy sauce, a little bit of roe (masago), and then several sesame wonton chips. However, what totally made the dish was this honey drizzle that was infused with wasabi. Just dipping a finger, it was clearly honey with a puzzling flavor I really couldn’t make out. I found out it was wasabi. On its own, it was inexplicably odd. However, when taken all together between the tuna, sesame wonton chips, and roe, it was pure magic. Of the five main sensory flavors, this one appetizer had sweet (honey), salty (roe), spicy (wasabi, creamy sauce) and umami (sesame wonton). It was pretty much firing on all cylinders. Booyah!
The Caesar, on the other hand, was unfortunately very average. Basic «cream-​style» Caesar dressing, no stand-​out flavors, no anchovies, no croutons. Pretty much romaine and a Caesar-​ish dressing. Meh.
For dinner, Wife N. ordered the Steak Frites and I ordered a lovely-​sounding Rare-​Seared Ahi Tuna.
The Steak Frites were cooked perfectly to order: rare, and had an excellent blue-​cheese Bechamel. Very flavorful sauce. The fries were fine, nothing wrong with them at all.
The Ahi tuna gave a mixed impression. I’ve attached photos. The Tuna came thin-​sliced, and in three little stacks on these interesting corn-​based fried «ball-​shaped-​things». The best way I can describe the fried things is that it’s what cornbread would want to be if it were balled, compressed, battered and deep fried. I actually liked them. Wife N. didn’t but she has shall we say a «limited» number of textural anomalies she can handle and she stuck her nose up at them.
The tuna itself… hmmmm. There were clearly two different steaks used. One was fresh, tender, ultra-​ruby and translucent in color, and delightful in texture. The other was older, sinewy, and almost chewy. Taste was clearly different — these were from two different fish. I know from precisely slicing ahi at home for sushi that there are portions you serve raw, and other portions of the cut that you must thoroughly cook because they are too chewy to be served raw. And I got both, quick-​seared rare, on my plate. The mango garnish on top of each stack (a total of about a teaspoon between the three stacks) was absolutely delightful. But there was way too little of it. The fish itself, without the sauce, was flavorless. I asked our server for more of the mango slaw, and she came back with a dish of coleslaw telling me that the kitchen ran out of the mango slaw. Huh? If you’re missing the primary flavor accent of your dish, why did you serve it in the first place? ’86 the dish and let me know so I can order something else, rather than making do with the dregs and serving it anyway. Massive mounds of frizée on the plate with no dressing whatsoever. Just a plate full of dry bitter spiky lettuce. Visually, this dish had serious promise, and was plated beautifully, but missed when actually consumed. It needed about 3 – 4 times the sauce, and the salad could have been so much better if there were a dressing on it — something mildly acidic would have totally brightened up the dish. I really think they should keep this plate on the menu – they’ve definitely got a good idea there, but it needs work.
The ambiance of the place is awesome. Lighting and the overall «feel» is excellent. We were there at night time (which isn’t hard to do on January 2^nd) so I couldn’t see the river, but I’d imagine this place is drop-​dead gorgeous in the daylight.
In all, View 202 needs some work. The chef clearly has some good plating skills and has some pretty progressive extreme pairing ideas that work well. But the execution needs to be better directed. Get it right, or don’t serve it. At $ 20 a plate your customers shouldn’t be guinea pigs.
That all said, still worthy of a 3* rating. It’s was perfectly A-​OK, if a bit pricey given the work that needs to be done perfecting the dishes. Worth stopping in again in a year or so to see how they’re progressing.

This was my second time here and the food is not the same. I guess they have a new chef. I got the pakuku or something like that. My fish was very fishy tasting and bland. My significant other got the rib eye and they over cooked it. On a positive note the presentation was pretty. But when the most enjoyable part of my meal was the pesto olive oil and bread. For the price that I’m paying it’s definitely not with it. I won’t be coming back.

Sunday Brunch:
One step above Denny’s.
Eggs benedict was served with soggy deep fried potatoes. I also ordered a waffle which I guess doesn’t come with syrup unless you request it. The menu listed pure maple syrup but what they brought me (upon request) was cheap table syrup, also know as pancake syrup, or fake a** fructose syrup.
The flavor and properly poached egg rescued this from one star.

I was here for lunch. The weather and shade provided by the patio made sitting outside wonderful. The view is fantastic and the restaurant has a nice vibe for relaxing. There are gas fire pits outside and even a misting sprinkler system if it gets too hot. The menu looked full of good items to try. I did not even look at the wine or drinks list so I cannot speak about that.
Ok, the good:
It was noon on Thursday and the place was almost empty. We walked up to the door and the greeter opened the door for us and sat us right away. We had a front row seat on the patio. Two hours slipped by before we knew it. The service was great and our coffee never went cold or ran out. I think our server was Brooke?
Now the not so good:
The host that seated us answered our question of «what would you recommend» and his answer was «I don’t really eat here.» Not a good sign, for whatever the reason. I ordered «The View» burger cooked medium. It was tasty and cooked correctly. The fries were a small portion of thin cut fries and were good. Overall not bad, but for $ 14 it didn’t rock my world like it should have. My friend ordered the fish tacos and they were very small street taco sized. I would say no bigger than an appetizer portion, also for $ 14. No side came with those so I would say that while they were good, not at all a good value.
The four stars were for the great service and wonderful atmosphere and view that made spending a couple hours there very pleasant. I would go back to try some more of the food items, but it is pricey for what you get I think.

I really wanted to love this place. I was planning my trip to my High School Reunion and I wanted to take some old friends and my BF to somewhere amazing. I looked on Unilocal and saw this place. I liked the concept of their seasonal menu, upscale atmosphere, and best of all the beautiful view of the Sacramento River. I had a reservation, but it took almost half-​an-​hour to get seated. I wanted the outdoor seating, but they had a wedding there that obstructed the view for any other guests. Once seated, it took forever for anyone to take our drink order. I felt this was unacceptable because it was Saturday (and the place was well-​staffed) and it wasn’t very crowded. I realize that they had to tend to a wedding, but that does not make it okay to neglect other paying customers.
The drinks were good and well crafted. We also ordered the Tuna Tartar appetizer which was heavenly. For the entrée, my BF and I split the fish tacos. They were okay at best. For what we got, the bill was very steep. All I can say is it definitely wasn’t worth it. Next time I come to town I will pass this place up and check out somewhere else…

So, I’ve returned after not having come here for awhile. This time I was informed that View 202 has a new chef and new menu. There were a few intriguing menu items we chose to try.
On the «smalls» section, we tried the short rib tacos and braised pork belly. Our waiter, who was terrific at providing service with a smile, has great taste as he affirmed that the chef here really knows his braised pork belly. Yum! It was probably the best thing I’ve ever tasted here (5 stars for this dish). However, the short rib tacos bombed for me personally. This dish is so super salty that I know it was meant to be enjoyed with plenty of booze (something I can’t partake in due to a reaction to alcohol that besets many of Asian ancestry). I think my dining companion enjoyed it more though.
I also ordered the steelhead trout that’s served over braised cabbage with small slices of smokehouse bacon and a dollop of chinese mustard. It seems that they gave me salmon instead but I’m not complaining about that. The flavors in this dish are very pleasing however, while I do expect smaller portions at nice restaurants, the entrée portions here were exceedingly skimpy, comparable to the size of «smalls» items but with a dinner entrée price tag (twice the cost of a small plate).
Oh, and since I keep going back to the reception at this place… No perceived rudeness this time, but I guess the hiring manager likes to have receptionists who silently and awkwardly wait for patrons to speak up about what they want first.