Root 246

LA Chic comes to Solvang and the result isn’t pretty. Oh, the food presentation is beautiful, but that’s about the only good thing I can say. The food was OK, but not $ 39 OK: I got the scallops (3 of ‘em) which came with 3 tablespoons of a ragout of «wild» mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and potatoes in a sauce that reminded me of Chinese sweet and sour (too sweet and too salty for my taste) The scallops were tasty, but I would hate to know where they came from. I had asked about the salmon and was shocked to learn that a place that bills itself as «farm to table» is using Eastern Canadian Farmed salmon. There was no local fish on the menu, despite our vibrant local industry.
If you have any type of appetite expect to need to supplement your entrée with a couple of $ 6 sides or a $ 15 salad. Service was far below par for a place in this price range. They made a big show of changing the silverware out (which ironically looked like it came from a school cafeteria), but despite a wealth of servers ours was never around when we needed him and none of the others paid us the least bit of attention.
The ambiance is I guess «modern cottage chic». The place is huge, but divided into multiple rooms. When I tried to make a reservation for 6:30 they showed as booked from 6:30 to 8:30, so I went for 6:00. Was surprised to see at least 30 empty tables when we arrived, less than half of which filled in by the time we left at 7:30.
I don’t know how they do their placement, but it was lousy. They seated us on a long stiff bench with a blank wall behind it and an opposing chair. Not exactly romantic to begin with, but despite having six empty tables to the right of us they put us within a foot of the only other couple that was stuck on the bench, forcing us to listen to each others. Meanwhile there were 4 more cozy looking booths that were empty. They play pop music in the background, which is OK, but in an hour and a half we had to listen to Adele’s «Hello» at least three times.
I won’t be back.

Great place to relax and enjoy a great dinner. I would have given them 5 stars if the steak was cooked as I ordered it

Went in for Sunday brunch. It was absolutely worth it. The food is delicious and fresh. The buffet is amazing. Plenty of food choices, a lot of healthy options as well. They have delicious menudo and chicken tortilla soup. We like sitting in the bar area because they have plenty of tvs. Ramiro was great. Very friendly and attentive. He made sure we had refills without asking and makes very good alcoholic drinks. I am very happy with the food and service at this place. Will definitely make it a regular brunch place every time I’m at Solvang.

Another wonderful restaurant in the Santa Ynez Valley collection of restaurants. Our second visit was during the Santa Ynez Valley Restaurant Week. We made reservations, you never know when there is going to be a 30+ minute wait. This restaurant is solid overall, not my favorite place around but definitely have had a couple of good meals here. For restaurant week I had a stuffed poblano, which was the vegetarian option, not being vegetarian I can say I did enjoy it. I probably should have opted for the higher priced steak, *all SYV Restaurant Week menus had to have a $ 20.16 priced meal* but I wanted to see what they could come up with for 20 bucks. I felt like they could have done a little more with the poblano for $ 20 but it was still good. We’ll return and try other dishes and update this review as needed. ( Unilocal LA Challenge #6 of 100)

The service was very slow. Unfortunately, the food was not up to expectations because the fish was undercooked for one of the plates served. For a recommended restaurant, we were very disappointed and will not be revisiting.

New Year’s Eve dinner at Root 246 was a huge disappointment for us
Even though we had a longstanding reservation, we were seated in the bar… which was freezing from the main door constantly opening, as people were coming & going. Good thing I was in a short-​sleeved dress
They had ZERO vegetarian options for their set menu entrée and the amuse bouche was likewise meaty — when I confirmed the reservation with you, I was assured you could accommodate our dietary restrictions — because believe me, I planned ahead for this to ensure there would be options for us to eat. So after advising the waiter about this issue, he completely abandoned us
So the Mr & I are sitting there, watching the clock ticking by & hoping they can come back w/​an answer whether they could accommodate us, so we’d have enough time to at least go grab a burger (as most restaurants closed at 8pm & all the «fancy» restaurants were booked… hello, it was NYE!)
Finally, the manager comes over & confirms that they did have our notes in their reservation system & to accommodate us, the chef *couldn’t* offer us a replacement amuse but *would* offer us their veggie-​stuffed Poblano Pepper (off their lunch menu) & touting how great & non-​spicy it was
By this time, it was after 8pm, so we were stuck with that choice
The Apple & Endive salad was awful — there was no dressing on it & it seemed like they had run the salad under water
The pepper was completely inedible — there was so much jalapeño pepper in the mix that all I tasted was heat… and oil from the tasteless & bland veggies. I gave over ²⁄₃ to the Mr — who was an angel & finished it off for me
The dessert consisted of a still frozen, «molten» chocolate cake. The ice cream scoop was hard as rock and it was if the whole plate had just come from the freezer
We ordered no drinks & just wanted the dinner to be *over*. And as the bill arrived, the manager had taken $ 10 off the $ 85-​pp set menu price (due to the fact we didn’t have the amuse). So $ 150 for 3 horrible courses & a pathetic way to end the year. We will not be back

This restaurant is next to the Corque hotel were we stayed and we were very impressed with the dinner and the service. We started with the artichoke which was huge and had a great dipping sauce. We also got the large chicuterie and cheese board which was one of the best we’ve ever had. We then split the lamb chops which were cooked perfectly. They were also very helpful with selecting wines and brought us over several tastings to make our selection. If you are staying is Solvang this is a must try for dinner.

Way overpriced for mediocre food at best. Service wasn’t great either.
Will not be returning.

12÷8÷15 — we stopped by the bar for a cocktail and snack on our way out to enjoy the nightlife. We had a couple of cocktails from the chalkboard along with the hummus and the lamb lolly pops. It was a great value and everything was really delicious. I will say the Sherry Cherry Cola cocktail was really sweet for my liking, but when I mentioned this to the manager, he immediately said they would be taking it off the menu which impressed me.
So when we were returning to our hotel (hotel Corque) at the end of the evening, we decided to have dinner there. We went back to the bar and had the crab cake appetizer, the chicken entrée, and the chocolate lava cake for dessert. The crab cake was one of the best crab cakes I have ever had. It was basically all crab, no cheap fillers. The chicken was melt in your mouth juicy. We subbed the side for the risotto and the risotto was perfectly cooked. The lava cake dessert was divine. The manager, Andrew suggested the maple pecan ice cream to pair with it and he was spot on.
Our server/​bartender was Romero (both times we were there) and he was attentive and friendly. We also meet Matt, another bartender and he was also very pleasant. I highly recommend this place. Not only is the food fantastic, the staff are nice and truly seem like nice people that want you to enjoy the experience. It is a beautiful restaurant, very clean and modern, yet a comfortable ambiance. I will definitely be back again soon!

11÷28÷15.
This review is for the bar only. We came for cocktails sharp at 4pm when they opened. I was immediately drawn by the trendy but homey ambiance. Got cozy on the couch in front of the big fire place. They’re showing football on TVs but thankfully on mute.
Bartender greeted us immediately with smile and bright water. He nailed both drinks, which were cosmopolitan and Moscow mule ($ 10 each). Cosmo tastes exactly like how I want it and make for myself. You can smell the lime and vodka. I like my cocktail straight and stuff. (Grin)
It’s a great place to wind down after the mad hustle and bustle of the Danish village.

Easily one of the most disappointing meals of my life. This might seem a bit harsh but in all honesty, I had expected so much more from a restaurant that attempts to break away from the norm of a old timey Danish village and become its own thing.
Me and my fiancée chose to spend our Thanksgiving weekend in Solvang and made the decision to eat at this lovely looking establishment. After being guided to our seats, which was still littered with trash from the previous patron, we were greeted by our waitress, whom I would guess absolutely did not want to be there. Now I can understand that someone would be upset having to work on Thanksgiving (this includes the kitchen staff) but we chose to be here and you’re here whether you like it or not so atleast try not to ruin our dinner as well. So for starters, that trash I spoke of previously, remained on our table until the end of night. When we attempted to ask questions about the menu it seemed as though this restaurant had never done a prix fixe menu before because the waitress was simply stunned at any question we had regarding the mechanics of the menu. For example, «do we have to order all at once or one by one?» «Uhhhh I don’t know, lemme ask my manager.»
Our first portion of the food arrived, the Cinnamon Creamed Corn Soup. Overall, the taste was great if you managed to avoid the whole popcorn kernels they through in there that if you accidentally bit, would cause you to chip a tooth.4/10
The appetizers then arrived and literally 10 seconds later, and I’m not joking here…10 seconds, our entrée arrives. Now after finally managing to wave down our waitress after 8 mins of tries because she was too busy flirting with a guest at the bar, she comes by and takes our meal back inside so we can peacefully enjoy our apps, which honestly weren’t that bad. ⁷⁄₁₀
Finally, she comes up to us and asks in the most attitude filled away if we’re ready for our entrée NOW, we say sure bring on the turkey. Basically what happened was that they MICROWAVED our food back up to a warm status and brought it out to us. The turkey, the green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, all of it tasted disgusting at this point. Mind you they promised a creamed hazelnut purée and decided on their own to sub that out without asking us anything. The food tasted disgusting. ²⁄₁₀
If you’ve managed to read this whole review through then you would’ve already figured out that the kitchen staff and waitress were simultaneously shitty. Please Root 246 take a lesson from the more cozy restaurant settings around you and focus more on your quality rather than your aesthetic appeal. As a potential customer, save yourself the trouble and eat elsewhere. You’ll save money and actually enjoy your food!

So, this is a tough review to write. There are a lot of good things about Root 246. This was not our first visit. The décor is great both in the dining area, lounge and bar. Such a cool mix of modern and contemporary. The wine selection is great. So many awesome wines to pair with the food. The service we had was good; attentive, helpful and polite. And lastly, when the food is served, it looks great. Sum total here and you are thinking 4+ stars.
But now the taste… Sigh. The taste. I had the sirloin with whipped potatoes with the cesear salad to start. My wife and I shared the brussel sprouts starter. She had a salad for her entrée. The best item was the sprouts. They were roasted in a flavored vinegar and were very good. The salad I had was bland for a cesear salad even with a piece of real anchovy on it. The worst was the steak. From all appearances it was cooked right and looked great. But oh my, no flavor. Used salt and pepper. More salt. More salt. More pepper. More salt. Repeat. I actually couldn’t finish it. We skipped dessert. In the past the food was better, maybe 3+ stars. This was a real disappointment. There are too many places that compete in the steak arena in SY Valley. If you are not at the top of your game in this basic meal, people will pass — permanently.

We had been asking the locals for 2 days what they recommend for dinner. Root 246 was the most popular answer. The atmosphere is very swanky with gigantic plush chairs for seats in the dining room, but there were also TVs at the bar, so we didn’t feel uncomfortable dining there in jeans.
We had a beer flight to share, which had a pretty limited draft selection, but a good variety amongst the few they had. For vegetarians, the entire town is difficult to find multiple options (usually the token «veggie burger». Root 246 did have a couple of delicious sounding veggie-​friendly salads, but no entrees. We opted for a mix of the vegetable sides. Brussels sprouts (listed as an appetizer), cream corned, cheesy risotto, and whipped potatoes. Surprisingly, that was more food than we could eat in a sitting. Of course, that might be because of the amazing pretzel rolls (we asked for an extra serving).
Overall, we were very satisfied with the kind service and good food. A great dinner stop on the edge of downtown.

I was very excited to try this place located next to our hotel. It was our last night visiting the area and my mom and I were ready for a splurge.
Everything was good until we actually got our meal.
My mom, who is fighting cancer (she looks amazing) ordered the short ribs, I think. I ordered a fish dish. Everything looked and smelled delicious. But as soon as I took my first bite of the fish, I immediately smelled ammonia. I was horrified.
I told my waitress and she immediately apologized. The manager also came by and apologized and another meal was prepared for me.
Of course, it took some time for them to prepare my new meal. I sat and watched my mom eat her’s.
When I got the bill I was not so much as comped for a drink or dessert or my meal. I would’ve been happy with the five dollar cookie.
Dinner was obviously disjointed and disappointing.
I hope you have a better experience.

We finally had a much anticipated visit. It was a little bit of a letdown. I actually had 2 meals because I had a conference catered at the Corque, then my husband met me and we had drinks in the bar, then dinner. Sadly, lunch was better than dinner. They served roasted chicken, pasta and salad for lunch. The bartender made a pretty good martini. We ordered the largest steak they had and shared for dinner. We really did like the bread, particularly the little pretzel rolls. Their wine list is o.k. lots of Santa Rita pinots. Not much to say about the service except that the redhead didnt seem happy to work there. I think next time we will just order off the happy hour menu.

Came on a Saturday night with a reservation but it wasn’t super packed. Ended up sitting at the bar. The restaurant itself is really beautiful. Very romantic. Got a yummy rose wine. My husband and I split a squash soup which was really yummy. I love the pretzel bread they give you at the beginning of the meal. I ordered the salmon which I asked for well done, and it came out perfect. My husband got a steak and said it was fatty which sucks because it was not cheap. My husbands drink (a cranberry and vodka) was pretty weak as well. I might come back, but my husband was over it and would not return. Too pricey.

Pricey!!! But it’s delicious, food was unique and gourmet. Came out in a timely fashion and friendly staff. Diver scallops are amazing!!! Chicken dish was also amazing but not as flavorful. Perfect location and right next door to hotel corque which was also a nice hotel without feeling cramped or too busy like the ones on the main road.

Lousy staff… walked far from our hotel, not looking for a pot of gold but how about some good service and food? had to pretty much get up get our own water… food mediocre at best… Dessert don’t bother!
Atmosphere was nice… but since they are suppose to be serving food… ill pass.
Don’t bother!

Five stars for the atmosphere and service. Instead of the pretty patio or dining area, we ate at a table in the bar area which was spacious, dark and loungey, which on our visit was playing cheeky instrumental versions of alternative hits.
Sadly, I didn’t see many menu options to suit my taste. My wife got the pork chop, which was huge but bland. She didn’t like it, and the patient server (was it Jessica?) offered to get her something different. I got a pasta dish that was interesting. Told it was straw-​like, thick, hollow spaghetti that came with a meat sauce, it barely had any sauce at all, and the noodles were like shoelaces, but the proscuitto-​wrapped shrimp were great. The grilled asparagus (a side that we got as an appetizer) was awesome.
Though I only gave it three stars, I would recommend this place based on the service and atmosphere… I think maybe we just ordered the wrong thing.
UPDATE:
Returned ¹⁰⁄₁₅. Again, an attractive place to eat, with great service. Again, not too many menu options. Pretzel bread is yummy. The squash soup is so sweet it could be a dessert. I got the New York steak, medium-​rare. Thick, flavorful, well-​cooked, with fatty edges, the steak was good, but… I don’t know… not $ 34 good. I didn’t appreciate that the Tito’s and cranberry was weak. If you’re paying $ 70 a person, you expect a stiff drink. You NEED one, really.
Recommended if you don’t care about the dollar signs, limited menu, and weak drinks.

Excellent food and wine. My husband and I shared the scallops with risotto, both were creamy and divine. We finished with the lemon crème brûlée which was very refreshing. Our waitress, Janson, was very friendly and knowledgable about the menu. Also, my husband called them in advance to tell them I graduated graduate school and they wrote «congratulations graduate!» On the menu. It was so sweet. Will definitely be back.