CIA at Greystone

Elite '08

63

357

Lily L.

San Jose, CA

I just had my 2nd visit at CIA over the weekend.  Both times I enjoyed their excellent food.  First time, we had the tasting menu which was small bites of various appetizers.  They had a small (small like a shot glass) of corn chowder and other stuff...it was awhile ago and I can't remember what else was there but I definitely remember the chowder because it was so good I ordered a bowl.  This past weekend I opted out of the tasting menu since it was mostly fish and me no likey the fish.

The rest of the group had a dozen oysters from 3 different regions and raved about it.  Since I don't do oysters either, I had the spring garlic soup.  I don't know what was in the "Spring" garlic soup but it was light green and had slices of fragrant garlic.  If you know me at all, I heart garlic and completely devoured my soup.

I had the baby chicken and it is safe to say that it was one of the best chicken dishes I had at a restuarant. The guys loved their hanger steak and it was cooked to their preference and very juicy.  Surprising for a hanger steak!  I wished they told us about the souffle earlier because it takes a good 30 mins and since we had gotten there early for our reservations, we didn't want to wait any longer.  

I highly recommend making reservations early and to stick to your reservations as they take a credit card to hold it.  Oh and beware of the expensive corkage fee - $20!

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Elite '08

87

151

Karen C.

San Francisco, CA

My gf's were so sweet to plan a day in Napa with lunch at the CIA for my bachlorette party. So I feel bad for giving this place such a mediocre review, but that's all it deserves. For wine country, this place really needs to step it up. First of all, the decor is hideous. Its not refined, elegant, modern, or anything - it was cheesey. The colors resembled some type of tex-mex like restaurant such as Chevy's. Secondly, the food is decent, but over priced for the quality. For these prices, I could be dining at a really great restaurant instead of just decent. Seems like a bit of a tourist trap to me. Disappointing. I'm glad I didn't end up planning my wedding here.

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Elite '08

101

281

Lily R.

San Jose, CA

Tasting menu is great but I think it may be a waste of money for a large group. I would save my appetite for the main course! I enjoyed my dinner here. I had steak and my friend had the vietnamese beef salad.

My dinner was great. Meat was cooked to perfection. Her salad was nothing to write home about. Others at our table had the grilled chicken which was a hit, however another person had mussels in some sort of cioppino which was not great. My friend enjoyed the tasting menu soup so much that she ordered a whole bowl. It was corn bisque which really was delicious! They only give you about two teaspoon fulls in the tasting menu.

For my first time in Wine country, I think this place left a good impression leaving me eager to try others!

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124

280

Alex L.

Santa Clara, CA

Forget the French Laundry, this is THE place to eat in wine country. Only slightly easier to get reservations, but the food is head and shoulder above anything else on the west coast. Even the iced tea is amazing and different. I highly recommend opting for the chef's tasting menu. It's always wonderful and includes a few surprises and extras along the way. The decor is elegantly casual with lots of natural surfaces (wood/stone). If you're in for a treat, sit at the dining bar and watch the chefs work. They often dish you a little of whatever they're making just for fun.

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1

2

Liyin L.

Covina, CA

Okay, so the food was pretty good, but for the price that we paid it had better be good.  The ambiance of the restaurant was pretty good, very busy and you are welcomed to go and take a look at each station and ask questions. So what was the worst thing about the CIA? The service, boy did it suck.  While I was eating all I could think about was how incredibly bad at serving our server was. It really took away from the food.  Our server ignored us for most of the meal and forgot to order our dessert (the chocolate souffle, which had to be ordered in advance, and we did). So instead of tell us he forgot, he just let us wait another 40 minutes for the souffle to be made and then blamed it on the VIP party that was in another room. Very shabby, and I did not appreciate being treated like I didn't know how long it took to make the stink'n souffle. He didn't apologize, didn't offer to make amends, and the most important thing was that he did  not leave the ratings sheet that the diners were suppose to fill out.  Perhaps he knew that we were going to slam him?  

The food though was pretty good, what part of it I actually noticed, the chocolate souffle was pretty good too.  But if would have been even better if it were on time. The cruddy service pretty much ruined what could have been 5 star evening.

Tip: The tasting menu isn't anything special, go for the entrees, more bang for your buck. Get the chocolate souffle, and make sure to remind your waiter to make sure they place the order. Also remember to ask for the rating card even if they don't offer it, because it is a school and they are their to be trained right?

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12

169

ananda z.

Berkeley, CA

"I was sadly dissapointed by this restaurant.  We saved it for when we had out of town guests so that they could sample the real tastes of Napa.  The temptations... for $8.95: a tasty shrimp but basically covered with a fancy pico-de-gallo, boring hummus and a chip, a toast with awful goose pate, but delicious light savory mango soup.  For entree, I had the $20 squash tortellini, which was itself delicious, light, sweet and buttery, although there were only 6 small tortellini surrounding this dense awful harsh & bitter watercress and shitake mushroom-mustard nest-thing.  I kept trying to give it another chance, but it was just too harsh and awful!  The rest of my friends seemed pretty happy with their selections... but the overall effect was just kind of average.  Not what you would expect for a cooking school!  Our server was incredible, the view marvelous, and eating out doors in the sunshine would have made everything just perfect, but the food was seriously underwhelming.  It made me very sad.  :("

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