Birk’s Restaurant

Short & Sweet:
Hostess — Management should look into why they keep hiring hostesses that are rude and look like they would rather be anywhere else but there. This is the first impression customers see when they arrive!
Waitress — Nadia — approached our table, did not introduce herself, had to ask for her name before she left the table with drink order. Also seemed to be want to be anywhere else but there. Spend more time chatting it up with her friends at the bar then making sure her tables were tended to.
Food — Fried Calamari was just OK, expecting it to be less greasy for the price $ 15.00. New York Steak Special was over cooked and even though it was described as a pepper rub steak, there was so much pepper on it, that was all you could taste. Had to scrape most of the pepper off.
Dessert — came with my meal, I had a choice of three. I chose the raspberry cheesecake. What I received was a plain cheesecake with a couple of raspberries on the side, a sprinkling of sauce and it had cupcake ridges along it. Seems they do not make their desserts there, but rather have frozen desserts. Was not impressed at all — will not be back.
Guess this is a place for the lunch crowd as it is located at the bottom of an office building.

Four stars for the Watermelon mint cooler, Seafood Cobb Salad, the Truffle fries, and the White Chocolate Cheesecake! Service is quick!

Went to Birks for a birthday celebration in early May 2016. We had been here twice before. This trip we each ordered a rare rib steak. We had one salad and one soup of the day for starters. The soup was a chicken tortilla which was wonderful with great taste. The steaks came out more than 30 minutes later, seemed rather long wait time. They came out medium after waiting so long and then the server went ahead and served them instead of having them recooked correctly! Maybe stick to the rare prime rib which have ordered before.

Spilled wine on me and yet gave me a full bill with no apologies. Hard to believe the arrogance from the waiter and the manager.

I used to come here all the time, once or twice a week back in the early 2000’s. The restaurant continues to serve wonderful food (just smaller portions). I used to be able to get a double cut filet mignon, but that has ended with the pre-​cutting of steaks outside of the restaurant.
The ice tea is good and the bar can be fun on weekends. The noise is a bit high during the day, so I don’t suggest lunch meetings, but for dinner it tends to be better.

Rude hostesses is not the start of a good dining experience. Made reservation and literally first ones to show up at lunch. Empty restaurant and they sat us at the worst table in the back. When asked for a better seat, lunch hostess simply dismissed request and said it’ll be busy. Apparently their logic is backwards. Other early people coming in were also given same treatment. Why not give those who show up on time and early the better seat and then work to the worst… does that strain logic?

When: Work Lunch 4÷7÷16
Hostess seemed a bit standoffish (African american hostess) while seating me and my friend at the last 2 seats of the oyster bar. Keep in mind, there was only another party of 3 at the oyster bar that were seated closer to the front door but somehow we must been lucky to have gotten the «last 2 seats» (Caucasian hostess told us).
Now maybe it’s because I was wearing shorts and a Northface jacket and my friend was in a t-​shirt, khakis but there’s nothing on Birks website that states there’s a dress code.
Waiter was friendly and attentive.
Food: 1 dozen oysters (both species great), 1 NY Strip, 1 Bacon Wrapped Filet
The NY Strip is why I’m giving this visit a 2 star rating. I ordered the NY Strip. I asked for medium rare. I have a picture that I’ll up load of my medium rare that was served to me as a medium. I understand that as meat rests it will continue to cook, but as a customer, if I understand that then I expect the professionals in the kitchen to understand that and to cook the item accordingly. The Strip was also under seasoned and the fat on the meat was burnt black.
This was my experience today and may not be typical

Food was delicious, Marco our server was fantastic as well as the other severs, and it was perfect for my dad’s 80^th birthday. We went around 645 and it was pretty packed and loud so it was hard to talk to him but we had a nice time.

Best meal and dining experience I’ve had in a long time.
* Exceptional service.
* Nice atmosphere. Not too loud but quiet either
* Food prepared exactly as I wanted and expected.
* Fair price.

2÷1÷16: Underrated. Came here with my gf for our monthly anniversary and I’d have to say I was highly impressed, especially given their «lowly» 3.5 star current rating. The restaurant was beautiful, in that old traditionally charming way. All the staff looks classy and treat you with deep respect… even to the oddball balding people at the table next to us wearing t-​shirts and shorts. Wow. Well, anyway, they were the only ones. My gf was wearing a beautifully intricate lace dress, and all the other girls and women in the place were beautiful as well.
And the food…
1. Large Sparkling Water $ 8: It’s blue. Cool.
2. G Roederer Wine $ 12: A little sweet. Perfect for her.
3. Spice Of The Valley $ 12 (Milagro tequila, Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur, muddled jalapeño, lemon, agave nectar): Pretty delicious. Comes with a hulking ice cube – nicely non-​melting, but left little room for the concoction, which there was very little of. Yummy but pretty stingy. ⁶⁄₁₀
4. Clam Chowder Cup $ 5: Very good. Quite a unique chowder in that there were so many textures inside. Tons of little ingredients and the flavor was awesome. I wish I wrote this review sooner so I could give more details, but unfortunately my memory sucks and I can’t remember much more other than there were so many taste sensations. Great stuff. ⁹⁄₁₀
5. Grilled Artichoke $ 12 (Romesco, roasted tomato sauce, lemon-​garlic mayonnaise): So, I think this was one of the most beautiful roasted artichoke dishes I’ve seen. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as great to eat. The artichoke was extremely tender, which you would think would be a good thing, but made it really hard to scoop up the 3 very nice sauces they provided. But still, I’d have to give them credit for the eye candy and beautiful roasted color. I know I know – they just can’t win huh? ⁶⁄₁₀
6. Prime Bone-​In Rib Eye $ 57 (Blue cheese butter): Alright. Judgement. It’s great, but not superb. Very tender, and great taste. Rich, buttery, and quite tender. Yet, it doesn’t have that gamy taste of the very best aged beef – it’s getting there, but not there. That blue cheese butter is amazing though – I personally normally don’t like blue cheese, so if I like it, most people probably would too I would think. Overall, I liked the steak, and don’t get me wrong… it’s better than most sub-​$ 50 steaks out there, but not quite the top of upper echelon yet. 8.5÷10
7. Filet Mignon 10oz $ 40: Quite good. Alas, it’s filet mignon, and the only filet to have ever impressed me was Mastro’s. You know – way too lean, and just supreme tenderness with less meaty flavor. But I think other than the miracle Mastro pulls off, it’s cooked as well as you can expect. A bonus – it doesn’t look like they cheated and did sous vide cause the transitions from the cooked surface to the perfectly medium rare middle was natural. ⁸⁄₁₀
8. Chocolate Hazelnut Bombe $ 10 (Flourless chocolate sponge cake, mango-​passion fruit curd): One of those great for chocolate lovers, but maybe not so much if not, type cakes. Extreme chocolateyness as you would expect. Ultra rich. But you know, we’ve all had that. The special part would have been the fruit curd, but there’s so little of it, hidden at the very top under the ganache. It did taste good though, but just wasn’t enough there to make the thing interesting. Well, anyway, tastes good for a chocolate cake but nothing great. ⁶⁄₁₀
Grand Marnier 1880 $ 60: Never saw this on a menu ever! – had get it… and it was amaz… SIKE…
Grand Marnier 100yr $ 32: … sigh… 49% of me wished I pulled the trigger but the other 51% won out. Oh well. There was my chance. Anyway, I got the next most expensive. I was planning to buy one of these $ 170 bottles to add to my collection, but I’m pretty happy I tried it here first…
Grand Marnier $ 9: So, immediately after getting the 100yr, I regretted not getting a standard version to compare against. Well, a quick hail to the waiter fixed that…
The Showdown: The 100yr was certainly what you’d expect – a richer profile, softer, gentler. The standard version, which we’ve all tried, is quite strong and is like drinking candied oranges. The 100yr does taste more sophisticated, but otherwise I can’t find it as nuanced and as complex as I would wish for something that expensive. I will not be buying a bottle (unless I win the lottery and just feel like flinging green around.) Thanks Birk’s for that.
Birk’s a great traditional steakhouse. Great steak. Great service. Come, enjoy the food, enjoy your company.
⁴⁄₅
#steak #american

Tucked away in an office park, this restaurant serves steaks & seafood in a classic bistro setting. Accepts reservations. Good for groups.
About a mile away from Levi Stadium.
Nice staff, delicious food.

Date night with the hubby. I feel like for a Saturday night it could have been busier. This restaurant seemed more of a lunch staple instead of dinner. Made the reservation for 7:30 pm and it seemed so slow for a Saturday.
Our waitress was Teresa. She was amazing. I could have done with just one more stop to see how we were doing but I would just be nit-​picking.
The food. The bread was amazing. Nice and hot and fluffy with some salted butter. We got the crab cakes. Just 2 with a spoonful of guac and a small bushful of baby arugula. Not really worth $ 20 imo. I got the plain Jane 8 oz filet mignon and hubby got the peppered filet mignon. Cooks were perfect and my steak was amazing with the $ 6 add on of the Béarnaise sauce. Both our steaks came with creamed spinach and garlic mash. Hubby traded out spinach for broccoli. I really felt like the spinach was overly salted and I didn’t care for the mash. Not because I’m a chunky mash type of gal but it was just tasteless even with the cracked pepper on top. The hubby’s steak was not coated with peppercorns and the peppercorn sauce tasted mostly of heavy cream. But the nice kick of pepper at the end was nice.
For dessert we got the full crème bruele. They have full and have portions $ 5/​$ 10. And we got the chocolate hazelnut bombe which was a cake with mango/​passion fruit filling. The cake said to have hazelnut in the name but it was much to be desired not tasting any hazelnut. Super dense cake and heavy but when you did reach the mango and passion fruit the tartness was just pure bliss to even out the super chocolately flavor. The crème bruele was one of the best I’ve had. They did sprinkle in some cinnamon with the sugar which was such a nice surprise that they have their own twist on a classic.
Over all it was a 4.5 out of 5 just because of small issues. This has easily become one of our favorite steak places by far. A must go to again.

I forgot how awesome their pepper crusted filet was. It’s been about 4 years since my last visit and this place still impresses me. Service, cleanliness, and quality of food is spot on. Parking can be challenging and the price is a tad higher than normal (good thing it was a business lunch), but there’s something about that pepper filet that is magical. I need to go back more often.

Great place for drinks, wine, appetizer and dinner. Conversation can be difficult though because it’s noisy inside. There’s good parking. Outdoor seating available. Wine menu is limited.
The steaks were cooked perfectly. Seafood pasta paella is delicious even though it’s a bit salty. The ahi appetizer is good but the soba server with it was slightly undercooked.
Service was very good — prompt and friendly! Would come back if I’m invited by friends but not my first choice because it’s noisy and hard to hold a conversation. Food was good but for the money, there we better options.

Went here last night with a group of 9 after some drinking. I was the only one with no alcohol due to pregnancy but it really bugged me how unfriendly the hostess was while we were waiting for our table. She kept shooting dirty looks at some of our party. If you cannot be friendly, don’t work customer service.
For dinner, I started off with their clam chowder which was delicious. My entrée was prime rib and it was cooked perfectly but I did find it to be slightly salty. I did notice however that my prime rib was not hot, just the slightest bit warm and I probably would have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t cold by my second bite. The mashed potatoes and spinach were really good sides. For dessert, I had crème brûlée and that was pretty good. My husband has the white chocolate cheesecake and that was pretty good as well. All in all, this was a pretty good place for prime rib.
I wanted to give this place 4 stars but due to the rudeness I witnessed and sensed from the hostess, I can only give our experience a 3 star rating.

Great steak house… excellent meal!
Enjoyed a spectacular business dinner at this impressive steak house. Great wine list, excellent drinks, tasty appetizers, and perfectly cooked steaks. In particular enjoyed the iceberg wedge, the truffle fries and the bone-​in rib eye. Service was excellent, food was tasty, and experience was lively.
Worth a visit… great dinner.

Wasn’t really sure what to expect — this steak place is only 3.5 stars, but quite a few reviews. My coworker made a reservation for our party of 18 for a weekday lunch for my farewell lunch — they required a credit card for holding the large party reservation.
I ordered the grass fed bone-​in rib eye with broccoli and (swapped for mushrooms) creamed spinach. It was delicious, and really well cooked to my requested medium rare. Minimally and well seasoned to let the meat really shine through. Delicious!
Others all finished their dishes, although nobody in my group was particularly picky to begin with. The shrimp dishes all had (visually) a good amount of seafood on them, which seemed good.
Also, I was surprised with a slice of their white chocolate cheesecake for the occasion. I expected it to be too sweet but it wasn’t! It was actually a really great balance of lighter whipped cream cheese with the heavy white chocolate flavor, and I would have finished it after my steak if I hadn’t opted to remove it from my vicinity, lol.
The $ 46 price tag on my entrée seemed a bit high — portion was big but not crazy, I think ~$ 35 would have been a little more fair. But disregarding price, my food was quite good.

The Good:
+ ribeye was cooked perfectly
+ prime rib was cooked perfectly
The Not So Good:
— pretty expensive for the quality of meats
— has a very classic steakhouse feel, dont’ come here if you’re expecting modern and chic
— location is kind of strange and out of the way, makes sense for business dinners
Bottom Line:
If you want better quality meat and a more modern twist, I would opt for Alexander’s but you’ll pay more there. Birk’s is very comparable to Sundance in Palo Alto in execution and ambiance.

Prime location of a restaurant visible from the Highway 101. It’s great for business lunches and dinner.
Our party of four came here and got the chicken tortilla soup, shrimp cocktail, seared scallops, grilled chicken kale salad and lamb chops. They offer a wide selection of food and beverages with main entrees range in price from $ 30 — $ 50.
I opted for the lamb this time. The double cut lamb chops were juicy and looked absolutely lovely, albeit a bit bloody when cutting into the meat. The fingerling potatoes were a little bland but the broccolini was fresh and crunchy.
The restaurant offers both outdoor & indoor seating and a full bar. Our waiter was attentive and the service was prompt. The noise level was moderate.

Lots of men, in suits. And when I say lots, the place is swarming. I was here for dinner last week and the service and food were both excellent. Here’s a breakdown:
Oysters on a half shell: (1 dozen shared between 4 people)
I can’t recall the variety of oysters that we had– What I do remember is that they were muy delicioso. Little squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of sauce and a tapping of tabasco, and these oysters were a party in my mouth. So good.
Prime Bone-​in Rib Shop: The biggest slab of meat with a side of creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. Meat was super tender, juicy, (sometimes a bit fatty) and overall great. Creamed spinach was tasty and fresh and the mashed potatoes were good as well.
Spiced Stuffed Trout:
Havarti, crab, spinach, tomato, pappardelle, mushrooms, basil-​white wine butter sauce. So glad that I opted for the only fish entrée at the table. The fish lacked any of the «fishy» taste that I tend to shy away from and the stuffing was perfect– slighty tangy from the tomatoes, and the crab spinach mushroom were a great combo of flavors. It sat atop a bed of orzo (I think?!) I can’t promise you that it was orzo but what I will say is that it was creamy and I loved every bite of it.
Chocolate Almond Macaroon Torte:
Espresso butter cream, chocolate ganache, almond meringue, candied almonds, blackberry compote. Oh how I wish I got a picture of this beauty– It was a round piece of cake fully covered in chocolate ganache and on the inside were layers of hard cookie crumbles and soft cake– picture a twix bar but on a whole other level. My mouth is salivating as I write about this.
White Chocolate Cheesecake:
Oreo cookie crust, raspberry sauce. The key word here is «Oreo cookie crust» Need I say more? White chocolate cheesecake is decadent enough– but add the Oreo cookie crust in there and it’s
.
I would come back here again in a heartbeat. That is all.