Solano Grill & Bar

Restaurant Information

1133 Solano Avenue
Albany, CA, 94706
(510) 525-8686
http://www.solanogrillandbar.com/welcome.html

Food Pictures

Peach Bellini

Rita: This literally was a mixture of one pint sparkling water to one shot Kern's peach juice. I can't believe I paid $7 for a sparkling water and Kern's peach juice. I wasn't a big fan of it either because it wasn't sweet enough for me. In the end, I gave the drink to Mike, who downed that thing like an Irish car bomb. Apparently, he likes unsweetened peach sparkling water. The warmed sourdough bread they supplied plus a generous dab of butter equaled bliss on a winter day.

Mike: If you order this drink expecting a sweet beverage, you've got the wrong idea and the menu is somewhat misleading. Rather than a powerful peach flavor, the syrup just adds a small hint of flavor to the sparkling water, which is something I would normally never order at a restaurant. Still, this was free since Rita didn't want it and therefore was still pretty tasty.

Grilled Ahi Tuna Sandwich

Rita: Memo to Solano Grill & Bar: Searing is a grilling technique where only the surface of the food is cooked, not half of the tuna fillet. I was extremely disappointed to find only half of the ahi tuna was seared correctly, the other portion was cooked too long. There was also too much onion in the sandwich. My first two bites had filled my mouth with the pugent taste of red onion and I couldn't taste the avacado, tomato, or wasabi. After taking out the offending culprit, I was able to actually distinguish the different ingredients. The avocado was fresh and the foccocia bread complemented the tuna. However, the wasabi was lacking - there was only a hint of it. From the menu, the fries are said to be "shoe string". I was expecting long, skinny strips of fried potato but given regular Burger King style fries instead. The fries weren't bad tasting at all, in fact they were quite delicious and cripsy, but please correctly advertise what you are serving.

Fish and Chips

kitzie: The Solano Bar and Grill seems like the kind of place my great-grandma would hang out, and, uhhh, I still think she would, but I would hope she would bring me along and pay for me to eat their expensive, but really-freaking-tasty, fish and chips. Now, I suppose I'm not really in the habit of ordering such a plebeian dish when I'm at nice places, so maybe all fancy places use fish that's not chewy and give you - get this - TWO sauces, but this is the best place I've been. The fish was very tender with just the right amount of fall-apartyness. The fries were average. Don't pay $7 for the drink Rita ordered, and you'll be happy.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Mike: This was a pretty good meal, as the portions were of decent size and had the right amount of ingredients to raise this standard sandwich to a new level. First of all, the cheese was melted, and I was given a good portion of what I believe was spinach, with pesto olive oil on top of that. The bread had a nice and crunchy crust, the kind that just adds more texture to the meal without being rock-hard. The only complaint that I have with this dish is that it also had sun-dried tomatoes, which unfortunately stuck to my teeth like the inside of a Butterfinger candy bar does, making the actual eating part a bit difficult to enjoy. My tip on how to make this better: fresh tomatoes instead, or you can just pick them out like I did. The french fries were pretty good, but nothing earth-shattering. I've since returned to this faux-pretentious restaurant for "brunch" at 1 p.m. and was treated to french toast with - and wait for it - cinnamon butter!? I felt like I was royalty, but my wallet didn't really notice the difference between this and a meal at Denny's.