Lark Creek Blue

Food is pretty good but service was average. Pretty expensive too.

Lark Creek Blue tried to go for an upscale, steak– and seafood-​heavy menu, but besides the showcase oyster bar, hot menu items were merely average and, for that matter, priced just a bit high. Whether an appetizer of fried oysters, an entrée of lobster spaghetti, or a dessert crisp, things weren’t terribly filling and tasted quite conventional going down. Service was reasonably decent, but overall, given the prices relative to the quality and quantity that you’d get, I didn’t see much to distinguish Lark Creek Blue from other outlets here at Santana Row alone.

SPAGHETTI. LOBSTER. NOODLE.
That’s all you need to know. That’s all I ever ordered.

New Trendy restaurant in Santana Row.
Very friendly staff, good customer service.
Popular items recommended:
Entrees–
Grilled swordfish -$ 25
Lobster pasta– small amount of lobster, spicy $ 29
Seafood cioppino– tomato sauce with prawns, muscles, clams, cod, crab, and toasts $ 24– best value here for portion, flavor, and price
Dessert–
Butterscotch pudding– a must try! small in size but a Big Bang in flavor! Cream, and caramel sauce with cookie $ 7
Banana pecan bread pudding– comes with scoop of ice cream. Delicious!

I had their 16 oyster set for the price of 12 yesterday during Happy Hour and it was still expensive lol. The oysters are good, fresh, and paired with four amazing sauces but the price hurt me. I had 8 Walker Creeks & 8 Skoocums for $ 38 lol. Like they should def have $ 1 oysters for happy hour. Expensive for this but they tasted amazing still.

I went to Lark Creek Blue because I was craving a cioppino. We started with the calamari appetizer which I loved! It reminded me of a restaurant dish I used to enjoy in New England. We practically licked the plate clean. My partner got the seared tuna and really liked the dish. I wasn’t so impressed with the cioppino. It was spaghetti sauce with seafood in it. The seafood selection was decent but it should be in a broth, not a sauce. And the once skimpy piece of bread didn’t cut it. I would go back for the calamari appetizer but would pass on the cioppino.

Perfect day to sit outside to soak up the sun, people watch, and eat. I was hangry so I ordered 16 oysters, a baby kale salad with shrimp and chicken. My wife ordered the confit nachos and had complimentary bread and butter.
The food here is good! The Miyagi and Hammersley oysters calmed my raging taste buds. The shrimp are large and grilled perfectly. I could taste the slight char in each bite.
What made lunch perfect was the fantastic service from our waitress Sonia. She served with a smile and had good recommendations for us first timers. Will definitely come back again.

My boyfriend and I came here because we have a membership to Passport Dining and Lark Creek Blue was listed as a participant. Having worked for Yankee Pier in the past, it was great seeing how the place has transformed.
Our waiter, Brian, was great. He was very informative and attentive. I know how it can get when the restaurant gets busy but Brian was on top of it.
We ordered the Lobster Arrabbiata, the Ribeye Steak, and butterscotch pudding to share. The Lobster Arrabbiata was fresh, cooked perfectly, and not too heavy. The Ribeye was cooked to our liking, Rare, but it was nothing memorable. The butterscotch pudding was great. Having worked for the company, this has always been my favorite dessert.
Overall, I’m glad that LCB is a participating restaurant with Passport.

My bf and I came here for dinner because of his Passport discount (buy 1 entrée, get 1 free). Without the discount, this place may not be worth it. The ambience of the restaurant was great, and it felt like we ate at a very upscale restaurant in Santana Row. But, like other restaurants in SR, the quality was not really there.
We ordered the «keeper» platter ($ 25), seared ahi tuna ($ 27), grilled Hawaiian swordfish ($ 25), and brussel sprouts. The «keeper» platter was refreshing mainly because of their oysters. However, it was not a «keeper» and was not worth it price-​wise. We got a few oysters, a couple shrimp, and a small bowl of ceviche. The grilled Hawaiian swordfish was not as tender as I would have liked. The seared ahi tuna was decent, but I’ve had better at other restaurants. My favorite out of the dishes had to be the brussel sprouts. But then, who would come here just for that.
All in all, coming here was worth it because of the discount. The food wasn’t spectacular, but I left with a full stomach. I can’t deny that this is a great date restaurant; just be ready to shell out some $$$.

Happy hour/​bar review only. Perfect place to stop before a movie at Cinearts for a drink. Happy hour cocktails are around $ 7, and quite unique (and strong).
Shout out to Miguel was a wonderful bartender and had great input on oyster options. We went with the Fanny Bay oysters and they were sweet and flavorful with a cucumber finish. Highly recommend. During happy hour you can get 8 for the price of 6 or 16 for the price of 12.
Looking forward to returning.

I had not heard great things about this place, but I did hear they were great for oysters! I saw that they were offering a groupon for an oyster tasting for 2 which also included either a glass of champagne or sparkling wine. For $ 49, it’s a really good deal considering you get 18 – 30 oysters.
My friend and I came on a Thursday evening (reservations are required for this groupon, and luckily they take Open Table!) and it got pretty busy as the evening progressed. Our waitress was really nice, but seemed a bit new as she had some trouble remembering what the oysters were. She told us they only had 6 different oysters on hand, so that she would bring 2 of everything, and we could choose which 3 we liked from there.
The oysters came with 4 different toppings, horseradish, cocktail sauce, a red wine minionette, and a ginger tobiko sauce. All were really good, and we definitley had 3 favorite oysters from the list. Unfortunately the mini kumumotos were one of the worst I’ve tasted. We also ordered some side dishes of macaroni and cheese, garlic herb french fries, and brussel sprouts. The macaroni and cheese was really tasty and they use the orchiette pasta. French fries were also really good, and have real cloves of fried garlic! Delicious! I asked for an aoili which ended up being a siracha mayo. The brussel sprouts were just okay.
Overall, really great meal we had! I would come back again for these oysters and side dishes.

First of all, this review is over a year overdue. In fact, it’s now two years overdue
I went here for dinner with my friend Daniel.
We just decided to go for the heck of it. Daniel and I decided to go to Santana Row to get some fancy ass dinner with some quality BRO TIME.
******* funny tidbit *************
Have you noticed that the words, «bro», «man», and «dude» have basically kept you from saying your best friends actual name TO HIM in years? Hell, when talking to Daniel, I will NEVER say his name, shit I haven’t said his name in YEARS. I always call to him as, «bro», «dude», or «man».
*********************************
Okay, now that we’ve got that tidbit out of the way. We had a really great dinner. We were able to be situated in this nice little table that gave us a great view of the entire restaurant. We had the ability to coat check, we were given the drink menu and food menu and were walked through it very thoroughly.
I must say that I was very impressed with the service to quality ratio here. It’s a damn near 1:1 ratio. The drinks served here were amazing (trust me, ask for the whiskey sour with their house whiskey. it’s unbelievably good). The steaks were actually well executed. In fact, I found their steak to be on par with LB steak! So, there’s some dollar saving opportunities for you!
I’ve forgotten the rest of the dinner since it was. you know… TWO YEARS AGO. but I can say this I’d highly recommend going here. Shoot, I should go back here too and see if my memories still serves me right!

We enjoyed eating here. We have a friend who is vegan, and with myself as gluten intolerant we sometimes struggle to find a good place to eat for all of us.
Skylar was a server, and he was great.
I ordered the Louie salad, and if you order it, I highly recommend adding the lobster. The dressing is a champagne vinaigrette that is very good, but you can also get the traditional thousand island dressing.
The rest of my group had the swordfish, the catfish, and duplicates of the ahi and louie salad.
My husband had the seared ahi, and the serving was actually pretty small. One of our guests asked for ahi on the side, and got a bigger serving then my husband did ordering the entrée.
I had the lemon sorbet for dessert, which was amazing. The rest of my party had the butterscotch pudding, which looked very good.
I would recommend this place if you are gluten intolerant or have special dietary needs. They can accommodate!

Sometimes I wish half-​stars were allowed. I think Lark Creek Blue is a definite 3.5 star kinda place; somewhere in between «A-​OK» and «Yay! I’m a fan». Keep in mind 3 star IS NOT a bad score.
Saying that, I’ve been here twice now and am glad I gave it a second try. I first came here on a Sunday for brunch. I know. brunch. We started with the KUMAMOTO OYSTERS which were fresh, sweet, and fantastic. For my entrée, I ordered EGGS BENEDICT. I was completely underwhelmed by the thin Hollandaise, poorly poached egg, and an under-​toasted English muffin. I returned the PETRALE SOLE for my entrée. Three small filets arrived on a bed of sauteed spinach & jasmine rice over a beurre blanc. The fish was excellently prepared and seasoned.
Based on my second visit, I’d definitely return again should I find myself in Santana Row and craving fish or oysters. Plus, the service WAS terrific and attentive each time.

This place is pretty good!
We had oysters and ceviche and prawns for the appetizer. The ceviche was a different style than I have had before but was really good and tasted really fresh. For entrées we got the lobster spaghetti which was good and the gumbo. My only complaint with the gumbo was it wasn’t very spicy, even after being told it is AND I even asked for extra spicy… I was disappointed that even with the request, it was maybe a 3 out of 10 on spice. With that being said, however, the flavor was still good and I really liked it. Our server recommended the butterscotch pudding for dessert and it was amazing! Do yourself a favor and make sure you leave room for it!
On top of all that, the service was amazing… The kind of experience when you don’t mind paying 20+ percent for the quality. Would definitely come back, we want to try brunch with our fur baby… They are dog friendly!

Yum Yum Yum! This restaurant is really good and you get to dine with your furkids too. I sat with my friends and their furkids on the side patio. There are heaters and curtains to keep you warm during the winter months. Here are my foodie recommendations:
Butterscotch pudding!!! OMG! This was so good and I could have eaten two servings of it easily if I was not stuffed full from my appetizers and meal. Get it, eat it, and savor the delicious texture and flavor of the this pudding… YUM!
I also liked the Tuna Tartar. The crackers, mustard, and tartar worked well together and made for a great app. I equally recommend the calamari. The homemade sweet chili sauce and bed of veggies under the crispy calamari was super yummy.
Kale salad! This was fantastic and I recommend adding the prawns too.
The puppies ate a grilled well-​done Ahi with no seasoning. They gobbled it up and loved every single bite. Lark Creek knows how to fill our pups’ bellies too.
All around this was a yummy experience for my friends, our furkids, and myself.

I showed up for the Thanksgiving day special menu: $ 49 for 3 courses + amuse. I was planning on getting the lobster tail option, but they ran out: that was a major disappointment. So I went for the turkey entrée. It was terrible. Here’s the round-​up:
³⁄₅: the oysters Rockefeller amuse was OK: it consisted of two medium sized oysters:
But the breading could have been more flavorful /​moist.
¹⁄₅: The butternut squash soup was too thick:
It was like eating baby food. The flavor was 1-​dimensional and not savory enough. I sent it back.
¹⁄₅: In place of the soup, I got an order of steamed clams in broth with chorizo:
It was terrible. the clams were small and dried out. The chorizo was not even reheated: it was just thrown on as an afterthought. The broth didn’t have any clam flavor: it was mostly just white wine. Easily the worst mussels dish I’ve ever had.
¹⁄₅: The Traditional Turkey entrée was terrible:
The gravy was flavorless and gummy. The cornbread stuffing was dry and flavorless. The Brussels sprouts were barely re-​heated. The whipped potatoes were no better than instant potatoes. I could only stomach a few bites.
⁴⁄₅: Thankfully, the creamy crunch chocolate tart was good:
It had a crunchy base, then a mousse on top. But it was very small, and it came with a microscopic scoop of ice cream.
⁵⁄₅: The one redeeming quality: their fresh-​made bread was fantastic.
In summary: For Thanksgiving 2015, if you want the lobster entrée, you need to show up before they run out. And I don’t recommend the turkey entre option. There are 3 other restaurants in Santana Row that offer Thanksgiving dinners: LB Steak, Left Bank, and Maggiano’s Little Italy; I suggest any of those instead.

If it wasn’t for the fantastic service, I would have given this place one star.
The nice thing about Santana Row is that they are very dog-​friendly. However, the bad thing about Santana Row is that the restaurants are mediocre, bordering on horrible.
We decided to have dinner one evening but had the dog with us. Since Santana Row was on the way, we decided to find a restaurant there. We ended up at Lark Creek Blue.
The waitress and hostess were great! Even the manager was very welcoming and attentive. What disappointed us was their food. We went all out and order a dozen of our favorite oysters, the kumamato. We got it and it tasted off, it wasn’t the delicate flavor we have come to love, rather it seemed thawed from a cold state. It just didn’t taste fresh at all.
Then we got our main courses, and I kid you not, every dish we had lacked flavor. I had some sort of lobster pasta (yes, I cannot remember what the dish names were, they were that unmemorable), it had no flavor and lacked seasoning. My boyfriend stated the same about his dish.
What frustrates me the most was the price point. Dinner for two was nearing $ 100 and I can name a shit-​ton of restaurants that are that price point and is certainly worth every penny. If I were to place a value on the dinner I had that evening, I would pay $ 30. It wasn’t good, creative, or innovative. It seems that they are just banking on their location.
If you like dull food, come here … otherwise … keep on truckin’

********************* 1155 *********************
Changed chef alert, chef Anthony does a great job at keeping Lark Creek Blue fresh and delicious.
Check out these new dishes:
— Maine Lobster Spaghetti «Arrabiata» — roasted half lobster, tomato, calabrese chilies, basila MUST ORDER, light in broth, al dente pasta, half lobster, juicy, tasty and fresh. This is probably my FAV dish on the menu for Fall 2014.
— Halibut
— Branzino, whole fish, stuffed with delicious, super good, MUST TRY!
— Crab salad
— Grilled Spanish Octopus, chickpeas, olive tapenad, nice and tasty.
— Oysters selection is always good here, I especially love the Kusshi!
Decent wine list, service has been better, if you seat by the bar, server Matt is very cute & cool. Too bad manager Thoi is leaving, however the GM is really nice here. 1 of my favorite spots on Santana Row.

We sat outside on the patio this past Saturday night and while the reviews for this place aren’t as good, it didn’t deter me from wanting to try it anyways. I’m glad we did.
Upon walking in, we were greeted by the hostess who promptly asked us where we wanted to sit. Since it was a relatively warm night, we opted to sit outside. Luckily they had some permanent heat lamps situated right above our area which was a high table with comfortable stools.
Here’s a breakdown of our orders which we shared:
Calamari: Fried calamari with bits and pieces of green peppers. It was a nice touch and gave it a little kick that was different from the usual calamari served at other restaurants. They also had an orange cream sauce for dipping which was tasty as well.
Filet Mignon 8oz with sauteed Spinach as a side: Our waitress suggested that we could share this and she was absolutely right. You can see from the picture that I posted that it was a good enough serving The meat was super tasty and tender. The house steak sauce was not needed as the seasoning on the meat was enough. The spinach was simple and sauteed with garlic.
Overall the food was good even though a little pricey. I guess that’s what you can come to expect when it comes to Santana Row.