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Willow Steakhouse & Saloon
Rating Details »
Categories: Steakhouses, American (Traditional) [Edit]
Willow & MainJamestown, CA 95327
(209) 984-3998
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
8 reviews for Willow Steakhouse & Saloon
My family went to the Willow for a Christmas Eve dinner and, boy, were we ever satisfied. Walking into the restaurant, you feel like you're entering a museum and you just know that there have been some amazing experiences in the building.
Yeah, the "haunted" history is appealing and makes for some interesting dinner conversation. You can see why the place might actually be haunted but it's not a scary place - it's very inviting, warm and cozy.
The food was excellent - no empty stomachs. The price was just right. I'm sure there are other good restaurants in Jamestown but the Willow will definitely get my business again.
We ordered a cup of clam chowder, a shrimp cocktail, a coulotte steak, and a steak sandwich. Total is only $33. Very special steak. I have never eaten this style of steak in Black Angus, Outback, or Texas Roadhouse. I like Willow steakhouse, and Jamestown, not too many people like Sonora.
I'm still bitter we ate here. It was put up to a family vote, and half of us wanted to go to Banny's in Sonora. (Banny's had better online reviews (especially for filet mignon), and the menu sounded delish (chicken marsala, rack of lamb, and a $20 prix fixe). They seemed to care more about seasonal ingredients and their pasta was touted as homemade. Stop reading this review and go to Banny's instead since I never got to. It is too late for me, my son...)
Anyway, it was a tie vote, and Mr. Kathy (my father) declared, "There's something for everyone at Willow. Let's eat there." I didn't really understand that justification since Willow's menu is basically steak (in all forms), a couple chicken dishes, and fish, and my dad later said "I would never get fish in a steak restaurant." So basically Willow's menu is just steak and two chicken dishes so it's more diverse?
I learned you should never debate between two restaurants when you're standing in front of one of them because that's where you will go.
I'd already learned my lesson about my brother and dad picking a restaurant they'd been to before and loved (and they were the two votes in favor of Willow):
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
(Now that I know my mom reads my reviews, I hope she'll enjoy that one as well.)
Anyway I'll try not to let the bitterness cloud my opinion of Willow.
In reviews people mentioned the sense of history they felt sitting inside Willow. The building has a great Gold Rush look from the outside, the bar has a great old feeling to it, and the menu has a nice summary of the history of the place. However, the dining room is pretty nondescript. It's not decorated in "old timey Gold Rush", and if you didn't know that this place was historical, you wouldn't have been able to tell while eating there.
Willow has complimentary bread and fondue (no forks here - you swipe it in the cheese). While I like the attempt to do something new with the bread and butter course, the fondue was not good. (Unfortunately the bread was really average, not hot, and not worth eating on its own.) The cheddar cheese fondue was really one dimensional - like if you took a block of cheddar cheese and melted it down without adding anything to it. If you've had fondue at a fondue restaurant you'd immediately recognize the suck-itude of this fondue. Once I told my brother how the pizza at one restaurant had too much cheese. He said, "No such thing." Not surprisingly, he loved the fondue.
We all had some form of steak or prime rib. They were all around $20 and included vegetables, and a choice of potato. They cooked my Prime Rib a pretty good medium rare. It tasted pretty good, but only about a quarter of the beef was the best quality meat, another quarter was the brown but still edible meat, and the other half was fat, gristle, and other unseemly parts. My husband who also had the Prime Rib experienced the same thing. We didn't blame Willow for this as I think this is pretty common. We just think in the future when we want beef that Prime Rib's not our thing.
The veggies were pretty non-descript. The best thing of the whole meal were the Roasted Red Potatoes with Parmesan (my father, beef lover surpreme, agreed). They were pre-made so my husband couldn't get them without Parmesan, but there wasn't much on there so he still ate some from my plate.
The service was only okay. I remember a long period of time where we needed something from our server but we couldn't find her and we ended up asking another server for help.
Why are you still reading this? You should be at Banny's!
Wow, that's too bad that Kathleen M. had such a miserable experience. We've been going to the Willow for 30+ years and it has always been one of our favorites. In fact, my picky-picky, it-has-to-be-perfect brother-in-law from Pleasanton ate there and enjoyed it so much that he nibbled his t-bone steak clear to the bone. Most embarrassing. But he was definitely enjoying it. Aww, Kathleen M., can you give the Willow one more try? :-)
I had a hard time deciding what star-rating to give this place.
For atmosphere and history The Willow deserves a 5, even a 6 maybe! The history is outlined on their menus---if you ever go don't forget to read it, and they have free postcards with an awesome night-time picture of the historic building so make sure to pick one of those up too.
The bread and fondue that comes in the place of your usual bread and butter is worth the trip alone, I am telling you it is SO addictive---I should have just ordered more!
I got the chicken cordon blu and Xavier got the veal parmesean, both were okay. I mean, I have definitely had worse meals, but I have also had way better. I would return here simply because it is just a really cool place, but I'd probably go with something less "fancy" like a cheeseburger--hard to make a bad one.
What a gem! This place has some of the best gravy and meat in the area. The hotel has a pretty cool atmosphere, circa 1862. The staff is friendly, and accommodating (we arrived with no reservation on a Friday night and they sat us anyway).
Jamestown is a really cute downtown, and we hope to go back and investigate a little more.
Nothing you can't like about this place. It's "haunted" location, the great gold-rush era feeling you get just looking around, and the delicious cheese fondue that you get to eat before your dinner. Maybe the chairs are a little stiff - but hey, they go well with The Willow; that whole building is an antique.
"In continuous operation since it was established in 1862,the Willow Hotel was named for the trees that were growing here long before the gold rush started.In its heyday,the Willow Hotel hosted President McKinley,Mrs. Robert E.Lee and Bat Masterson among many others.Plagued by many fires,much of the original building was destroyed in 1982.However,the original redwood bar has survived intact.Internationally famous for its ghost's,the Willow enriches local history and preserves a reputation for good food and drink"
This is on a plaque placed by E.Clampus Vitus near the front door of this fine establishment.I was introduced to the Willow by a fellow Clamper brother a few years back,but i had been passing it for most of my childhood.The first time i went there,it was just me and the boys on a weekend trip.Once i was inside,i knew my wife and daughter had to eat here too(i took the wife back 2 weeks later).
The Willow is in a historic building(see above)so it has the old style western atmosphere you would expect from a Gold Country Steakhouse/Saloon.The hostess was super friendly and said it would be a few minutes for our table(there was about 5-6 of us)and suggested we step into the Saloon for a drink before dinner.Halfway though my whiskey sour,we were ushered into the dining room to our table.We were greated by our server who took our order for more drinks.Directly after,a large pot of fondue arrived as an alternative to the same old bread and butter.This was some of the best fondue i have had(and free to boot..woo hoo!!)The menu was packed with so many great sounding items,it was hard to choose.I picked the prime rib and was glad i did...Between the meat,baked potato and the fresh veggies(plus a huge salad before the meal)i left there 10 lbs. heavier.And the price?$20.00 with the drink...Wait,my second visit gets better.......
So me and the wife decide to make the 3 1/2 hour trek to the Gold Country(1 of our favorites weekend get aways)after she heard all about my experience at the Willow.We decide to explore the area and head back to Jamestown for dinner.The first thing we see is the sandwich board out front with the nights specials.We decide on some items from the board before we are even seated..Rack of Lamb for her and Steak and Crab for me.After the mentioned fondue and salad,here comes the main dishes..Holy Shit!!Her rack of lamb is just that,a whole rack of lamb!This thing almost filled an entire dinner plate!There was bearly room for the potato and veggies.So mine comes out..Steak first.Its a large piece of meat with some sort of a whiskey sauce on it,but wheres the crab legs?Out comes a plate with,get this,a WHOLE CRAB on it.Not crab legs,a whole crab,cracked and ready to devour.Needlessto say,we didnt finish it all(well,she didnt)but it was one of the most delicious meals we have ever had.So back to my reason for a second story about my experience here..the price!For both meals,2 cocktails and coffee...$60.00...You read that right,$60.00.i'm used to the S.F. Bay Area prices for a meal like this,so i had to call our server over and tell her i think she made a mistake on our bill...I felt so guilty about the price of all this,i left her a $40.00 tip,for which she tracked me down and tried to give me back some change...Something a S.F. server would never had done.
If your in the area,hit up The Willow for a strong drink or an awesome meal...Satisfactory!!!
