Insalata’s Restaurant

i took friends out for a celebration and our evening, thanks to the food and service, was excellent. Our server was subtle, anticipated our needs and laughed with us. the food was… simply put, superb: from the not-​to-​be missed fattoush salad, to the kobe beef to the veggie dish, the mediterranean flavors were amazing and varied from dish to dish. one of the best meals i can remember having in a long time!

Close friends repeatedly raved about Insalata’s annual Mother’s Day buffet brunch so I finally put it on my calendar. That’s right: I, a mother, made reservations for my family to take me out on Mother’s Day. This is what all mothers of boys/​young men should do to fend off disappointment.
What my friends failed to mention is that it appears that every mother in Marin is being taken (or taking herself) to Insalata’s for Mother’s Day buffet brunch. Seriously. Dress nicely: you’ll see pretty much everyone you know here.
For about $ 45 per person this is an unlimited buffet brunch and for once, Insalata’s is happening. Packed to the rafters. A reasonably paced line to reach the savory items, no line to reach the sweets. Pfft… everyone is probably avoiding the gluten and sugar and whatnot but they actually did offer a few gluten-​free sweets in the array.
I happen to like Insalata’s Mediterranean fare quite a lot and Mother’s Day allowed me to experience more than I’d ever get to on any other day of the year. I’m usually no fan of AYCE buffets but on this day I was sold.
Year in year out, Insalata’s remains a lovely, upscale Marin dining experience. It’s not about the buzzy vibe here but more about quietly casual elegance. If you’re under 40 you might not appreciate its charms.
I usually hate going out to eat on Mother’s Day but Insalata’s changed all that. As long as they keep offering this buffet I’ll keep making those Mother’s Day reservations.

My Guy and I were savoring our likely 50^th dinner at Insalata’s (BTW: the Lamb Kefta and Bavette Steak are always everything), when suddenly the Manager & Hostess appear out of nowhere with a $ 75 gift-​certificate for us. I won’t soon get over the generosity and surprise of the gesture. To everyone at Insalata’s: you are the absolute best!

Great restaurant with excellent food at moderate prices. A terrific Fatoush salad that’s an entire meal. Everything is well prepared and the service is excellent. Dishes we’ve tried include a yogurt chicken, pasta, and hamburger.

After all these years I have not found a better steak than this. This is where I return to when the streets of this sleepy suburbs get quiet and all the other steaks have disappointed me. The second best part? Bread and the sauce, of course. The service is great and I always feel welcomed and cared for. You can taste the love in the food. Already dreaming about my next visit.

I absolutely love Insalata’s Resturant. I had driven by the restaurant a few times and decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did.
First, I was greeted by their hostess I think her name may have been Angela, She was friendly, upbeat and got us all settled to our seats. I had told her this was my first time coming to the restaurant and she teasingly said that she may see us again since the food there was so wonderful. I must agree she’s was absolutely right. The service was wonderful. But the food was out of this world. I started with the Fattoush salad, it was amazing. The different flavors the hint of citrus. Just delicious. My friend started out with something they called cigars which were something like very fancy open eggroll. They too were delicious. I ordered the salmon which was cooked to perfection. My friend ordered a chicken dish which she absolutely loved. The bar area has wonderful wines to choose from. So if you like of good wine with your dinner you will not be disappointed. For me a great dinner place must have all the elements I described above. Good people especially the first person who greets you when you walk in the restaurant They give the customer the first glance and feel of the Resturant, A Good service staff is key. Are they attending to your order? Of course most importantly is the food. Is the food Great!
Insalata’s gets an A+ in everyone of these categories for me. So even though it may be a little bit on the expensive side I am willing to pay for good a friendly staff, great service people, and excellent food. When I go out to dinner, I do so in order to have an enjoyable time, in an enjoyable atmosphere and have dinner prepared and served to me. Insalata’s Will be seeing me a lot more often. Thank you for such a wonderful evening.

After not dining here for many years, and not being able to get a last-​minute reservation at wonderful Picco, we decided to give this place a try again. I still don’t get the popularity of this restaurant. We ordered the crispy cigars and hummus for appetizers. The cigars are basically 4 tiny pieces of deep fried egg roll filled with mainly cheese. The hummus was in a minuscule dish and was served with several small pitta (unheated) triangles. We ordered a glass of the cabernet. For $ 15 it was ok but nothing special. For dinner we shared the fattoush salad, which was just fair and was drenched in oil. We also shared the vegetarian plate which was really bad. For $ 18 it is a very small portion and mainly consists of couscous which tasted slightly rancid. There were a few lentils and a couple slivers of squash. Overall it was tasteless and didn’t get eaten. The waiter was fine and the atmosphere was ok, although they definitely cater to an older, slightly stuffy clientele. The bottom line is that none of the food was good, and everything was overpriced. We won’t be back.

This is a hit or miss kinda spot. The foods not consistent at all. The dinner menu sounds fancy but its average. Dessert there is so not worth looking Presentation also is not up to par. Specially for the price ! The salad is the highlight of that menu and even that was made with romaine lettuce n sliced olives. Just over all sub par dining.

My very favorite restaurant in Marin County. The food is always a delight. Spices and flavors are outside the norm for what I usually cook, so always enjoy the experience. Wine list is good, and service is impeccable. Ambiance is restful. Particularly love the paintings of larger-​than-​life fruits and veggies on the walls.

Delicious salmon and chicken lunches. The salads have a very unique dressing that works well with the pita like topping. Appreciate that parking is available. Snooty service from the hostess and a bit slow even at their to go section.

Snooty hostesses, but very friendly busboy and waitress. Plenty of easy parking, very nice atmosphere inside, older crowd (probably they are the ones that can afford the prices). We ordered the mushroom soup which was salty but excellent. You could really taste the mushrooms. It was so rich that I was done with my meal then and there but the flounder arrived. It was very nice and they put in a few shrimps in there as well. The sauce was light and not overpowering, very nice. It came with a few potatoes. My husband had the salad, lots of it and excellent. Then the duck which he really liked.
Dessert was very strong-​flavored mango ice cream and a very hard cookie. I did not like it. And very chocolatey chocolate something.
All in all, it was a pleasant dining experience and we will be back. It is very HARD to find decent food in Marin.

Dined at this restaurant for a private event and was underwhelmed. I’d heard some real-​live reviews that the food was unimaginably delicious, but that wasn’t the case.
Be warned, the parking lot is tiny!
I wouldn’t be opposed to stopping in again, but I definitely wouldn’t throw a private event myself.

Had Brunch here at 11 am when they opened on a Sunday. It was just about perfect. Creative selection, great service in a caually elegant atmosphere.
I would go again no problem.

Best restaurant in Marin, hands down. Quality, and price. We love the Tues-​Thurs tasting menu. Consistently excellent!
We live in Marin and go out to eat a lot but we don’t waste our time going to mediocre places, we just go to Insalata.

This restaurant has a great selection of wine! I wish I could remember what we drank. Well, for lunch I had the salmon dish and it was amazing.
The downside is the food portions are absolutely absurd for what they’re charging you. While delicious, it’s not worth it for me to come here regularly. I don’t think I’ll be back unless it’s a girls night out and I feel like spending money. Or maybe if I’m celebrating something.

This is the third time Alan and I have eaten here. The first two were several years ago, once w/​our friend Nancy, who lives a few blocks walk away and the second time w/​Nancy and my brother Jim, when he was visiting from Utah. This was before Unilocal.This morning we had brunch w/​David and Linda. The restaurant has its own lot. We parked right next door to the beautiful Garden Center.
We were seated at a comfortable table for 4. We looked over the menu, which offered a multitude of tempting dishes. My favorite kind of menu, where several dishes call to me. The soup of the day was carrot and butternut squash w/​a bit of chipotle to give it some smokey spice. Linda and I decided to split it and shared tastes w/​Alan and David. It was lovely, flavorful, rich and smooth. Linda told us that their bread was good, so we requested some. There were two types, a fluffy white bread and a slightly darker, denser one. I had a piece of the darker one and it was delicious. We finished one plate and requested another. Alan ordered corned beef hash, David ordered Eggs Benedict, Linda ordered the prawn salad and I ordered the Eggs Benedict. Both David and I substituted fresh fruit for the crispy potatoes. I ordered tea, which came in a small Japanese iron Tetsubin teapot. The tea was delicious, but the pot leaked annoyingly onto the paper covering the tablecloth when I poured into my cup. I’d never encountered one that did that. Service was wonderful. Friendly and accommodating. When I told our waiter about the teapot he brought me a new paper to cover the wet spots and a new napkin to replace the one I had used to soak up the lost tea.
The Eggs Benedict were delicious, served w/​mushrooms and spinach atop smoked pork loin and a biscuit rather than an English muffin. One egg was poached perfectly soft and runny, the other slightly harder but not hard. The Hollandaise was applied w/​a judicious hand and was well balanced and flavorful. The fruit, raspberries and pineapple, was sweet and lovely. Alan’s corned beef hash was good, but not the best he’s had. The corned beef itself was brined too much and the hash had a bit more oil than he liked. Linda’s salad was gorgeously composed and begged to have its picture taken, though we didn’t. It was a mound of arugula, surrounded by thin rounds of lightly pickled radish. The prawns were arranged high around the sides w/​one atop a fan of sliced avocado. The dressing had a cilantro base. Linda offered me a taste of it and it was as sumptuous as it was beautiful. I was sorry I hadn’t ordered it, although I enjoyed what I had. The restaurant was surprisingly empty and quiet We were able to linger over conversation w/​o guilt. Alan asked to take home the bread that was left, as it would have been thrown out and was accommodated. We will have to return sooner than several years.

You’re not gonna get out of this place cheaply, but you will emerge having enjoyed a very nice meal. I think about their green goddess dressing regularly, as it completely reset my expectations of what salad dressing should be. Great wine, good wait staff, wonderful experience overall.

Went for Valentine’s based on a top 10 list of restaurants in Marin. Showed up and parking lot was full. Sign said valet was available, but after waiting several minutes we realized there was nobody there to help. Kind odd for a busy night. Ended up dropping off my wife and parking several blocks away.
Dinner was a preset menu with 3 options for each of the three courses. Food was ok. The portions were tiny. After an appetizer, main course and desert, I left hungry. I don’t mind paying a little extra, but the food & service did not match the price. Everything felt rushed, as if they were ready for the next customers.
Sadly, I won’t be going back.

Over the years I’ve never really quite liked this place. I’m not sure if its the service (generally pokey to nonexistent), the lemonade (consistently tastes very off) or just a menu I don’t find appealing.
I just don’t find this to be a good bang for my buck. To me the food has always been just ‘meh’. Sometimes it’s not offensive and others you wonder if they confused mutton for lamb.

Insalata’s is set in a lovely, modern space complete with large windows in the front and an open kitchen in the back. There’s a well stocked bar in the middle, with friendly bartenders who make killer pomegranate cosmos. Enormous still life paintings of fruit add color and warmth to the interior.
The food at Insalata’s is great and the service excellent, but the atmosphere is quite sedate, especially during the week. On weeknights, much older couples or women in their sixties can often be seen dining here. The atmosphere on the weekends is more lively and animated; families often come here for special occasions and celebrations.
For food, you can’t really go wrong, but I do have some favorites. The crispy eggplant fries with tzatziki dip are the new, best twist on the classic French fries. You also can’t go wrong with the Fattoush salad– the lemony vinaigrette and mint add a nice kick to it.
The entrees here have inspired me to buy their cookbook. They’re all so good. The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Platter is a rich combination of lentils, squash, couscous and more. It’s a popular crowd favorite and always seems to be on a table near us if not on our own. The Yogurt-​Marinated Chicken is one of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever had. And that’s saying a lot because I love chicken.
Note: if you stop by Insalata’s for lunch, you should try the grilled lamb on flatbread.