Sinodino’s Steakhouse

The steaks were tough and the prices have really gone up. We were a party of 4 and we all thought the meat was not tender. The flavor of my New York was not bad though. The service was excellent. Our servers were very friendly and helpful.

What a lovely cozy place to have dinner. I have been there couple of times and I will keep going back for the Jalapeño poppers… I would just eat them for breakfast, lunch and whole dinner!!!
Their New york stake was cooked to perfection and it was just delicious! My husband ordered tripple cheese burger. He liked it too. The portion size is pretty satisfying.
The service was really good and overall I had fun time here. Definately coming back again to try the bar!

I came here with my family for the first time last night. To be honest, the food was good but it wasn’t anything to be wowed about. They had pretty high prices for food that tasted like it could have come from any average chain store restaurant. I ordered the New York Steak cooked medium well and it came out a little pinker than I would have liked. If anything, they give out bread and I was amazed more by the bread than the food. Even though the food didn’t have a «wow» factor, the layout of the restaurant was very professional and relaxed.
This place would have gotten four stars but the service we received was not the best. Our waiter brought out our WATER when the FOOD was served. Also, all of the other servers looked like they hated their job and never offered a smile or any acknowledgement to their customers.

It saddens me to see this place empty in the middle of the holiday season… On a Sunday night too, it’s shameful to see tons of patrons at Texas Roadhouse or Claim Jumpers, and the parking lot at this once revered steakhouse, is desolate.
Maybe. It’s because of the cold veggies and steak-​which-​was-​frozen-​till-​I-​ordered-​it, hot-​on-​outside, cold-​in-​the-​middle off the grill…
You know, I digress.
Review:
½ star. Don’t waste your time and money.

My guy and I went here for dinner last night. The place was almost empty so we had our choice of seating in the bar area. We picked seats next to the windows and with a TV nearby so he could watch the basketball game. Chelsea was our waitress. She is the most down to earth, sweet and attentive waitress we’ve had. We ordered several items from their menus, everything came out perfect and delicious. A great place to go on a date or even take your children!

A couple of my girlfriends and I went to Sinodino’s on Monday, Dec. 21, for an early Christmas celebration, and we had a great time. There was a bit of confusion as to where we would actually meet and sit, so we played musical tables a couple of times. The staff was very accommodating and not phased at all. We finally settled in the dining room. My two friends ordered appetizers and cocktails, but I ordered a full dinner because I hadn’t eaten anything all day. The server made sure to bring everything out at the appropriate time. My fish was wonderful, as usual. It was light and delicious. The vegetables were not mushy or overcooked, and my baked potato wasn’t overly saturated, which left me the opportunity to add extra butter and condiments as I wished.
The new owner also came out and chatted with us at the end of the evening. He assured us that he would retain the integrity of our beloved Sinodino’s, only changing the dated carpeting (yay!) and updating the restrooms. We’ve loved this place for years and will continue coming.

Amazing food, great service, and a wonderful atmosphere. It’s a nice place for dinner for a small group or a large party. I’ve reserved the banquet hall for my mothers 50^th bday party and it was just spectacular. Everyone enjoyed the evening and I will definitely book any future events I have.

We ate there on Sunday night with visitors from out-​of-​town. We’d all had our fill of turkey and someone mentioned they’d like to have a good steak.
The place had very few customers, maybe 4 tables, and was surprisingly cold. Other customers were actually trying to eat while wearing their coats! Some of the servers were wearing coats, too. We had to ask twice to have the heat turned up.
When we got our menus, my eyes grew wide as I realized this place has raised their prices substantially. $ 35.00, $ 45.00 for a steak. They seemed to be trying to emphasize the size of the steak (example: «truck driver’s steak»). That immediately set off alarm bells in my mind because experience tells me that good quality food, especially steaks, doesn’t need to be advertised by portion size.
That experience held true again. My New York Steak was large (for that type of steak) but the quality was mediocre. The same held true for everyone else’s dinner. Even the baked potatoes were mediocre. They were wrapped in foil, which should have been OK except for the fact that they’d obviously been sitting under a heat lamp and sweating. They were tasteless and had the consistency of something that had been boiled yesterday and re-​heated.
The ridiculous pricing carried through on the desserts, of course. A piece of ordinary pumpkin pie was $ 8.50.
The food here has never been great but, until now, it’s never felt like a blatant rip-​off. I suspect they’re not making enough money so, instead of trying to improve the food to attract more customers, etc., they’ve raised their prices. That’s a desperate move based on outright stupidity and it’s incredibly counterproductive.
Summary: poor quality food at ridiculous prices.
This will be the last time we’ll eat at Sinodino’s.
I predict that they’ll be out of business in a year or two.

One of my spots to watch a game with my buds, and grub on a steak and guzzle bourbons n’ soda (Bulleit in the house!). I skip the main dining area for the most part, but the bar area has flat screens, full service and freedom to get a little loud. Can’t really do that in the main area.
Steaks have gone up in price here. From mid $ 20’s to the mid $ 30’s now. Don’t know if quality has gone up, but food seems to not have declined. Still a decent meat outing, with the New York Strip or the weekend Prime Rib as the GO-TO’s.
I also have to give them props on their house salad. It is weird… but in a good way. It has greens… cucs, olives and croutons. But they also throw in a heavy dose of dried cranberries. Who does that?! But the result is a sweet n salty product that I just love, especially with their thick balsamic dressing. Great pre-​game before the massive meat outing.
Still can’t up them a star though because their parking lot is still creepily dark. And the whole building itself actually has a haunted house feel. But no need to be a scare-​d-​cat, just find a nice game and grub on some decent eats. Game on!

We came to sinodino’s after a wedding for dinner. They rented out a banquet room for 20 guests, we got there at 6:30 and didn’t get out of there until 9:30. The food took forever to order and even longer to come out. We hardly ever saw waiters and because we were in a banquet room we had to walk out and around to the front of the building if we wanted to get any drinks. When the food came out it was pretty gross, I ordered the Grilled Jumbo Shrimp and what I was expecting and what was on my plate was completely different. It came out warm at best and the only thing that tasted «good» was the mashed potatoes and gravy. After some issues we were having with the TV in the banquet room the manager shows up in JEANS AND SLIPPERS. We definitely won’t be coming back. Ever.

I went to Sinodino’s restaurant for happy hour on a Monday and their deals for food were amazing (picture attached). I bought an order of jalapeño poppers and an order of the buffalo chicken sliders. The poppers came with a really great sweet dipping sauce that complemented the heat of the jalapeños really well. The sliders were also enjoyable, definitely recommend getting them with extra buffalo sauce!
The staff were also very friendly with everyone in the bar. You could tell that the regulars had a great relationship with them and the waitresses were very welcoming to me as a newcomer as well. This really added to the environment.
Overall you couldn’t beat the price of this place during happy hour. You leave feeling like you had a quality meal at a fair and economical price. I feel like many people are starting to want to pay an extra few bucks to get a more substantial meal as the «fast casual» dining movement begins to pick up and displace fast food restaurants. This place for happy hour definitely hits the spot.
I look forward to returning during dinner time. I snuck in some looks at the formal dining area and it looked great (as does the menu). I’m sure they handle the classy restaurant component of their business just as well for those interested in a more formal experience with high quality food.

I have wanted to go here for years. Finally had an opportunity. The service was not good. The server kept forgetting things. My daughter’s chicken nuggets tasted like fish and we returned it. The server voluntarily offered to remove it from the bill $ 9.95 and offered to give her a bowl of soup at no charge. They also didn’t inform us that they charge $ 2 for grilled onions and another $ 2 for grilled mushrooms. When we received the bill we saw the charges. When I reminded her that she offered to credit the nuggets, she said that they credited $ 4 instead, per her Manager, and left the remaining charge.$ 5.95 for the soup. Paid the bill, no problem. At this point I found it a waste of time to. let her know that she. should have. told us that there was an extra $ 4 charge for mushrooms and garlic on steak when she. offered that as well. Or maybe it was added on to make up for the $ 4 they credited for the fish flavored nuggets. My daughter is five and knows how nuggets are supposed to taste. I tried it myself and. sure enough, she was right.
Thank goodness for Unilocal.I wouldn’t have asked for bill credit but. rather something else or.nothing. She offered.
This was my first and last time coming to this establishment.

I’ve always seen this restaurant and have passed by for years, my mouth drooling at the words Steakhouse. However I was always on the go and never took the opportunity to stop by til recently.
Sad to say, it’s not what I had expected and wish I didn’t hype myself up. Passing by you always see oodles and noodles of cars parked out front and hungry diners filling the windows with steak knifes in their hands chowing down.
We had reservations for a Saturday evening, and noticed the restaurant was full of larger parties dining. The crowd is definitely older, think close to retirement age families. The first set of bread basket we received was pretty rock hard, with replacements softer (they may wanna check how stale the bread is before serving). Upon glancing at the petite menu, we noticed it isn’t too significantly lower in price, but after having a late lunch we opted to try it out.
With your meal you can have rice, fries, mash, baked potato and soup or salad. Unfortunately their rice was swimming in butter. A rice pilaf should not be super heavy. Their baked potato was amazing! I love having a loaded baked potato cooked perfectly. Sadly our entire table wished we opted for the salad as the clam chowder was HEAVY and thick. It was so thick you didn’t need the oyster crackers to thicken it at all.
As for the meal, my husband opted for their shrimp and received 2 shrimps swimming in melted butter. While I got the salmon. And it definitely needed more seasoning, besides that it wasn’t too bad.
The waitress carried over a sample platter of desserts after our dinner and didn’t try too hard to sell it. We eat with our eyes beforehand, and it’s hard to say it looked good at all. The tiramisu was melted and flopping over while the other desserts had cocoa powder sprinkled everywhere.
Unfortunately I think we would pass by and keep driving next time. Definitely disappointed. But that baked potato. Yum!

THE TRUCK DRIVER CHALLENGE
Last Tuesday, which also was my birthday, I left Lake Tahoe and headed back to the Bay Area. When I arrived back at Union City I wanted to treat myself to a birthday dinner. I didn’t know where to have dinner as I didn’t want to go eat at a place I had already eaten before. That’s when I researched Unilocal and found this restaurant. The item that I noticed that was highlighted the most was The Truck Driver, which is a 2 lbs steak. I have read reviews that this steak is impossible to finish. I’m no Adam Richman from Man vs. Food but this is a challenge that I know I can finish. The only concern I have is if there are side orders that come along with the steak that easily make me full before I can finish the steak. As long as I’m not timed I give myself at least 95% change to finish the meal.
When ordering this type of steak there is no chance you should consider getting an appetizer. Regarding drinks I recommend water if you’re ordering this steak as wine and soft drinks can make you full. The side orders with this steak are salad, toasted bread, and baked potato. Regarding the baked potato I regrettably ordered it as fully loaded — that is with sour cream, cheese, chives, and bacon. When it comes to salad I never eat it first. I eat it after the main meal. Why is that? Eating salad after your main dish helps with your digestion. Ok I know too much information, but it’s true.
What about the steak? I expected the cut to be more than one inch. If it was more than an inch the steak would become chewier making the challenge to finish The Truck Driver more difficult. To be honest I expected the steak to be 2 inches thick, but it was 1 inch thick. As people who know me I love to order my steak rare. I don’t eat a lot of steak in general only when I go to restaurants that I eat steak. I love my steak as red as the 49ers. However I would recommend if you’re going to order The Truck Driver get it cooked to be no more than medium rare. The steak is moist and tasty. In the past I would ask for A1 Steak Sauce but you can tell if a steak is really flavorful is how well it is aged and seasoned. The Truck Driver has those qualities. Did I finish it? You bet I did. What helped me finish the steak was it was delicious. Eating The Truck Driver with salad at the same time also helped me finish the steak. The only thing I couldn’t finish was the fully loaded baked potato. That was my concern was a side order I couldn’t finish. I think why The Trick Driver seems impossible to finish is that everyone tries to finish all the side orders. The main objective isto finish the steak. The servers were shocked that I finished The Truck Driver. Finishing The Trick Driver isn’t impossible to finish as long as you don’t order any appetizers. Also what helps is that you didn’t eat a lot during the day. In terms of the price a 2 lbs steak for $ 32 at this restaurant is great value. Why? If The Truck Driver was at a chain restaurant or an upscale steakhouse the price of this type steak would be all over $ 50. In addition if you order wine with The Truck Driver your meal can cost more than $ 80, which is expensive in suburban restaurant. The taste and price of The Truck Driver is why I gave Sinodino’s Steakhouse 4 stars.
So go ahead try The Truck Driver challenge. I did. Even if you didn’t finish it you’ll enjoy the flavorful steak.

Scrumptious burger! Crafted by experienced hands in the tradition of the finest restaurants! I should know as my Dad was the Head Chef for the Alioto’s at Fisherman’s Wharf for years! I ordered mine without my usual grilled onions and mushrooms just to see how their chef prepared their basic burger and I was NOT disappointed at all! It was cooked to a perfect medium-​rare, freshest tomato, onions and lettuce along with great hot fries were outstanding! To quote our famous ‘Governator’ Arnold Schwarzenegger: «I’ll Be Back!» Cheers!

Sinodino’s absolutely SUCKS!
This place is so ridiculous its not even funny. My family and I came to Sinodino’s randomly one day for dinner. Side Note: WE WERE STARVING! So we were really looking forward to some good food. As I was told this place was pretty good by a few people. LIARS! Anyways the Prime Rib was disgusting. It was as if the meat was sitting out for literally the whole day and they just went back there and heated it up. Everyone who knows about prime rib knows that it is usually a thin juicy slice, and is suppose to melt in your mouth. This was not the case at all. It was a fat ass chunk that was to thick to even chew through and sat in your chest. 2 bites and that was it. You couldn’t even finish it. The loaded baked potato was gross too. The cheese didn’t even melt. WTF!!! it was cold and sad. Quick question? How do you fuck up a baked potato? Anyone?
Next, the Chicken Parmigiana. SMH. It was all bad. Sauce was heated and put on a piece of chicken that wasn’t even cooked. And a slice of regular sandwich cheese was just topped on top of the dam sauce. Are you serious? I could have made it 10x better at my house. We mentioned to the staff that the food was not good and she apologized and said «Let me get you a $ 25 gift card so that you can come back and have some prime rib.» Bitch, are you kidding me. We just expressed to you how bad the prime rib was and you want to offer us a $ 25 dollar gift card to come back for some? I couldn’t even begin to understand. I must have looked at her crazy. We left that gift card there.
Needless to say. Do not come here. Do not think about coming here. Do not suggest coming here. You will be disappointed. And the people who have 5 stars on here are tripping. This place is way overpriced and food is just gross. My family went home and all of us had to either throw up or shit our life away. NOT WORTH IT.

I’m still a noob to Sinodinos. I’ve been a few times over the past 2 years, and never have been disappointed, nor have I felt «impressed».
I like the building, and the park-​like setting — and it is very convenient to my home.
Regarding their «Happy Hour» — OVERPRICED…
$ 5.00 for a Rum & Coke? The Waitress said the regular price was around $ 8.00! Well, that may be a fitting price up in San Francisco, but in Newark California… Humm…
Let me compare — at Spin-​A-​Yarn in Fremont I only pay $ 2.50 for a Rum & Coke which is made in a glass that must easily be 25% BIGGER than the glass used here at Sinodinos.
Need I say any more?
I will say that those 3 Stars above will increase quickly to 4 Stars if they keep up that awesome Monday Hamburger Promotion, and they either get larger glasses for their mixed drinks, or drop that high price!
Bön Appetite!
~ Eric

My first impression as I was walking in the door should have sent me running… Filthy dirty «welcome mat». Once inside, there was yet ANOTHER filthy dirty welcome mat…
Hospital food is better!!!
This was by far the worst meal I have had in a long, long time!
I doubt the mashed potatoes are real potatoes. The Chicken Marsala was thin little pieces of chicken, which I’m pretty sure came from a bag of frozen chicken. served with canned gravy.
The vegetables were inconsistent, some were raw, some were mushy. The salad was old lettuce that had been sitting in the frig all day. The Pork chop? I can’t even begin to explain how tasteless, and over cooked it was.
We walked in very hungry. I left half of my plate untouched. It was just too nasty to eat.
This was the biggest waste of money, and time. I will NEVER go back, for ANY reason!
The only thing good about it was our server. She was very sweet, and very attentive.

Came for the Monday special $ 2.95 burgers. For the special you have to sit in the bar area. The staff are super friendly, helpful and fast. Burgers are big, tasty and filling. They also have happy hour specials. Calamari was just right not under cooked or over cooked and had just enough flavor. Mac n cheese bites yummy yummy. This is my new Monday night spot

Just a tip: When you finally get their attention, order EVERYTHING you were planning to for your stay there… it’s the only time you’ll see/​get attention from them. Trust me. Worst. Service. Ever.
The plus side of this place is that happy hour is all day and it’s cheap af. But when you literally need to chase a server down, wait an extra15 minutes for ranch because they forgot to bring it out the first time or wait 45 minutes after you finished your drink for another round, it hella ruins you and your party’s mood.
I’m over here trying to support my local mom and pop shops but Sino’s suck. My service at Applebee’s HH was better than this. And I hate chain restaurants.
P. S. They can’t make a Scooby Snack at all.