The Sow’s Ear

We love this place every time we come… Great service, romantic atmosphere and wonderful food. Sit in the windowsill and you feel like you are there by yourself! We love the Sows Ear!

The food was tough. Meaning I ordered the Kobe beef and it came out really really tough. My husband ordered the chicken and dumplings and it was so salty it burned my mouth. I’m really sad because I was really looking forward to this place but now I know. My friend ordered the filet mingon and it came out over cooked. Really not that good!!!

My family and I have been here twice for the last two winter vacations. I was hoping to write a better review after our second visit on 12÷20÷15. I had their chicken and dumplings the first time. It was very meh, it lacked flavor.
This time I had their pasta special which was okay. My entrée (as well as everything else) was way overpriced. My pasta was $ 26 and you could tell they don’t really know how to make pasta well so they add tons of butter and cream to compensate for actual flavor.
Bread is okay, raw in some parts.
My sister had the chicken fried steak and did not like it at all.
The vegetable sides that accompany the entrees lack flavor all together.
I think the restaurant relies on the fact that it is a tourist destination and puts forth a lackluster effort in the kitchen.
I just hope and pray my mother will make reservations somewhere else if we ever have to come back to Cambria.
Ambiance is quaint and homey.
Service was unremarkable.

My husband I were visiting Cambria for the New Year and came here for dinner one of the nights we were in town. Appearance was quaint, something I’ve come to expect in Cambria. We were seated quickly, (without reservation) in a back corner of the restaurant. Unfortunately for us, our waiter seemed to forget we were there and the service suffered because of it. Our food wasn’t very good. We had the Chicken Fried Steak (3 of us had the same thing) and the Beef Stroganoff. The Chicken Fried Steaks were crispy and black, they were also underseasoned. The Beef Stroganoff had very little gravy and was underseasoned as well. The best part of the evening was the polite young man that was bussing the tables, he was very nice and refilled our drinks quickly. The food is an issue here and the menu needs to be worked on. I expected excellence when I read some of the other reviews but was sadly dissapointed. I’m sorry to say The Sow’s Ear will be scratched off my list of restaurants to visit in Cambria.

This restaurant came highly recommended. The atmosphere was warm and comfortable and the service was good. Our food though was mediocre. Some of it not even warm. The prices would lead us to believe we could’ve gotten better than that.

This is a quaint restaurant located on main street in Cambria, on the main drag. The restaurant itself is small but makes for a very cozy setting. Personally I think that they could have had more wait staff and we waited for a waitress to come by for longer than usual and then also for water but those were the only complaints. The food was exceptional and fairly priced. We were on our honeymoon and they gave us free desert so that was a very nice touch.

French picky girl had a great time and great dinner there!
We shared the fried Brie that was coming with roasted almonds and onion chutney (I think?) and this appetizer was superb.
Then beef stroganoff that was pretty good And the crème brûlée to finish, not bad either.
I thought that the prices were pretty decent (living in SoCal)!

I’ve been to The Sow’s Ear every time I’ve visited Cambria, so probably five times in ten years. It’s always been something I have looked forward to, so I was anticipating a good experience for Thanksgiving dinner last night. Unfortunately that’s not what happened. The waiter was mediocre at best, with inattentive service throughout the meal. Our appetizer arrived before we were allowed to order our entrees, so we sat there with our menus awkwardly in our laps for a while. When our entrees did arrive (after quite a wait), the only thing on the plate that was hot was the meat. It was obvious they had been sitting a long time. The waiter brought out two of our entrees (of four) and the remaining two weren’t delivered for five more minutes. The wine didn’t arrive until after the entrees, and only after we reminded him that it had been ordered.
I realize that it was a busy night, being a holiday, but I’ve been here on holidays in the past with absolutely excellent food and service, so I’m not sure what’s changed, but our party of four agreed we would not likely be coming back on our next trip.

We ate here while in town for our 25^th anniversary.
Great service, great food. Next time we are here we will definitely eat here again.

The food was amazing. The service and atmosphere was great. The place feels cozy. We took our kids, and still felt like we could have a fancy dinner away.
The bread they bring out is baked in a pot, AMAZING!

I had been meaning to check out the Sow’s Ear for a very long time. Yesterday as I was walking by it on the way to the Post Office I noticed they had an intriguing special — chicken, ribeye, and baby-​back ribs, so I stopped by early in the evening for dinner.
The waitress gave me a choice between soup or salad. I chose the soup, which was salmon bisque. It was a great choice.
The dinner was very, very good. Of the three small entrees, the ribeye was the best. In fact, it was in the top six or seven ribeyes I’ve every had, in the same league with a couple of my favorite places in New York City, three I really like in Houston, and the ones I cook on my own grill. Okay — it was better than what I cook on my own grill.
The ribs were flavorful and falling off the bone, as they should be. The chicken had a nice orange flavor to it, but was a tad on the dry side. Still, I enjoyed it.
The dinner also came with rice vegetables.
The bread came baked in a flower pot; it looked like a giant muffin. I believe it was half wheat and half rye. It was very tasty, but the part that had touched the inside of the flower pot was a bit gooey, so I didn’t eat all of it.
They weren’t stingy about bringing water, which is unusual in this town, which is in its fourth year of drought.
I didn’t review the entire wine list since I was eating alone and had no need for an entire bottle, but there was a selection of local wines by the glass. I chose the Peachy Canyon Zin, which went well with the meal.
This is rather unusual, but I left the place with a full stomach. Usually I leave a restaurant and could eat a few more bites. Keep in mind that I almost finished the three-​and-​a-​half pound pie at the pie-​eating contest in Cambria on the Fourth of July. I’m not saying the meal weighed that much; but there was a good amount of food for the price and quality.
Four-​and-​a-​half stars.
I’ll be back.

It was very quiet on this late summer Tuesday night. This is one sleepy town. We got a nice table at the window. We started with the lobster pops/​corn dogs which were very different and quite a good appetizer. The corn meal coating was nicely crispy.
For our entrees we had the fish stew which was chocked full of salmon, shrimp, and clams. It was okay but a bit bland. Their version of Mac and cheese was more flavorful with Gruyère cheese and andouille sausage with a side of steamed veggies. Everyone was very friendly and helpful.

The Sow’s Ear is a nice, quaint Restaraunt with an amazing menu. If you are going on a weekend I strongly suggest going early, or making reservations. The décor is s little shabby, but provides good conversation topics for your dining experience.
When we arrived we were greeted by s very friendly hostess who seated us immediately, and let us know of that day’s special. We ordered the Lobster Corn Dogs, which were terribly disappointing. There were 3 on the plate, but they were nothing close to my expectation. The actual meat on the stock was more of a mash-​up of seafood that included lobster, that was coated like a corn dog, then deep fried. The salad as well was a bummer. The dressing was watery, and the blue cheese crumbles were nowhere to be found. Luckily the clam chowder was the saving grace. Creamy, full of flavor, and quite good.
Now for the reason for the 4 stars. My entrée was unbelievable. I ordered the Coffee Crusted American Kobe Top Serloin. This thing was «budduh». The cook on the meat was perfect, it was dressed with mashed potatoes and a fresh veggie medley (undercooked). The port wine glaze just pushed it over the top. They knocked it outtah the park.
Our second entrée ordered was the chicken fried steak. It was a good portion, dressed with Housemade gravy, and mashed potatoes with a fresh veggie medley. Well seasoned and very tasty.
By the time we finished our entrees we were too full to sample their extensive dessert menu. Also, Their wine list is extensive, and impressive. The prices are not terrible either, and match the prices you would find elsewhere. FYI, the house Cab Sauv is really tasty. We will definitely be coming back

The Gorilla says:
«Lobster mac and cheese
Was the bright star of the show.
‘Kobe’ beef was good, too.»

My dad worked here for many years long ago but I have never eaten here so we decided to check it out and see how it compares to when he won best restaurant in the county 20 years ago.
We went in on a weeknight & we were seated right away. Our server, Leticia, was super sweet and very helpful.
The food was great – to be fair we only tried apps, but we finished every bit. The lobster corn dogs were served with lemon aioli and mustard dipping sauces. I was unsure because I’ve never heard of these before but we decided to try them and they were really good! The fried Brie with sliced almonds and marmalade was my favorite– nice warm, gooey consistency of the cheese, and the almonds were very toasted and full of flavor. Our third appetizer was spicy calamari. I am a fan of spicy and didn’t find the calamari spicy at all. There was a little scoop of wasabi in the cocktail sauce so maybe that was supposed to bring in the spice but I couldn’t really taste it. However, I can’t complain about the calamari itself.
Thanks for a tasty experience. We will be back

Our first experience at Sow’s Ear just did not cut it for me, but it was not a complete loss.
We arrived early in the evening, and on an early weekday to avoid crowds. It was a good move as we had no reservations, and we did not need to wait for a table. An hour later would have been different. The atmosphere was darkened, tastefully decorated and cozy like a cute pub, complete with fireplace.
We started with a soup and a salad. Since mine was an early dinner special, the soup was an add-​on. The Cream of Celery soup was delicious and worth it. The dinner salad, likewise was crisp and fresh, and beautiful to look at with dark green baby lettuces, orange carrot shreds, purple cabbage, red cherry tomatoes, and topped with blue cheese dressing and sprinkles.
The bread is delightful. Two kinds of bread dough, one dark and seedy, the other white, baked together into a clay flower pot, was served hot and was a showpiece.
Mine was the Calamari Steak dinner. It disappointed. While extremely tender, the coating was of plain dry bread crumbs, no seasoning. It was so bland, I tried to coax it into tasting better by buttering, salting, and seasoning with lemon juice. Unfortunately, it never made it to my standard of goodness. It came home with me but I was not interested it reviving it, and it ultimately ended up trashed. Too bad.
The Short Rib dinner was a good choice. A huge chunk of tender, slow cooked beef, it fell off the bone. Mr. B was as happy with his as I was not with mine.
A wild rice pilaf came with my calamari, but it did not inspire me to eat much. Mashed potatoes came with the short rib, and were good. The accompanying vegetable medley was slightly undercooked.
We passed on dessert that night. I could have been tempted by their Mud Pie, but that would have to be another visit. Overall, the meal ranked about a 3.5 star.

This is the place to eat supper in Cambria!