Tanglewood

–meant to write a review in march when I came to eat here for my friends’ dinner party, but
–just say at SR that they had closed and the restuarant is now LB steak (LeftBank Steak, hello now LB has two restaurants in SR? its a steak house that only offers four cuts and sides are sold separately, but i did see truffled mac& cheese on the menu)…ok back to the closed tanglewood
–they were very accomodating/​helpful/​hospitable
–sommelier was very nice even though we didn’t order any wine
–beautiful ambience, dark wood, impressive wine case wall
–yummy salmon entrée
–truffle rosemary fries were ok, too skinny, heard the flank steak was tough
–they had a wierd buffalo style fried calamari with hot sauce and blue cheese suace drizzled over the calamari, wierd?
–good desserts, however I didnt order any, just tasted others
–i wanted to come back for the salmon but I guess I cant… ohwell
–they have outdoor seating

This is a really cool restaurant all the way around. The décor is awesome. Love the indoor/​outdoor spot out front and the sliding glass doors leading in the kitchen. I could stay here for hours.
The food was excellently done, fresh and tasty. I had a salmon dish. It was a generous portion and wonderfully flavored. I did have to send it back at first because it was too rare and undercooked for my taste. I prefer fish cooked medium. Don’t like the raw stuff.
I give it 3 stars because of the rare salmon and because service was irregular. Our server had tables at all corners of the restaurant and outside. I don’t blame her, but management. Other staff were a bit too chatty up front instead of helping out around the restaurant.
I will return though. Great place!

Previously, I had it prematurely concluded that ALL restaurants in Santana Row suck. Then I was proven wrong as we finished a pleasant dinner at Tanglewood.
I liked everything about this place — location, ambiance, service, food, and drinks. Adding up all these factors, this is really a four-​star venue in my opinion. It’s at the very end of the Santana Row strip (close to Stevens Creek), and the place feels very open, spacious and warm. The service was decent (though one of the appetizers never arrived), and we were happy with the wide selection of beers, cocktails and wine, wine, wine. (If I remember correctly, this restaurant is owned by a local winery?!)
As for the food, we were generally satisfied with our orders. My butternut squash soup was rich and tasty. My main, the sauted scallops, was also delicious, and everyone else at the table was seemingly enjoying his/​her entrée (roasted chicken, classic burger, and steak). We especially loved the fresh and crispy french fries of all things… and aughhhh, because of that, we were too full to try out any of the desserts!
Well, Santana Row dining isn’t so bad after all. Unless I’m proven wrong again, I’m keeping this restaurant on my «good for any occasion» list.

I had one FIVE STAR experience here and two TWO STAR experiences so I guess I’m going to mellow it out to three stars.
My five star experience here was once when my friend had a dinner party for her birthday and they actually had a different menu for us with unlimited wines and beers. The menu was filled with their normal goodies as well as fish and steak, both of which was delicious, tender, and full flavored. The service was great and everything was prompt.
However, my first time and last time there I went for dinner /​brunch separately and both times were terrible. The waitress was unresponsive and took a very long time to bring out any food or even to come by to refill our waters /​sodas. The first time the food came out cold and i just felt jipped since the whole experience was quite expensive. The second time the waitress failed to tell us about what we were ordering so half of the table got something unexpected and the other half got the wrong order. They mixed up people’s foods and almost dropped all of our plates after failing to give us the check for an hour.
I’m not sure how I feel about this place because in general the food is good, but the price is high, and the service was only good once out of three times where presumably my friend paid a high price for such good service.
I don’t think I’ll go back though, but it’s a nice restaurant regardless.

As I had mentioned, I was at Santana Row last night after a nice dinner with Mikey U. We figured we just walk around a bit and I remembered speaking with Zeke (restaurant manager) about a happy hour menu. Unfortunately at the time, they didn’t offer anything. As of NOW… guess what… another place to hit up if you’re in the mood to unwind and taste their amazing selection of wines, beers, and specialty drinks! I guess a little voice in his head kind of gave him that idea… I can’t wait to come by here again and sip on some good drinks along with a few appetizers and possibly their entrees, salads and desserts. Everything on their menu sounds delicious!
HAPPY HOUR INFO:
When: Mondays-​Fridays, 4pm-6:30pm
(BAR AREA ONLY)
Drinks:
$ 3 beer
$ 5 specialty cocktails
$ 5 wine by the glass
Food Menu:
$ 5 appetizers

Rating: 3.5
I just went again for brunch. Awesome eggs benedict. Thumbs up for home fries instead of hash browns!

Color me impressed, truly.
My qualm with eating at Tanglewood had much to do with the 3 stars and that I’d heard negative things regarding portion vs price. Yesterday, I reluctantly walked in with a friend of mine who said it’s his favorite restaurant in Santana Row.
We sat down and I promptly ordered a berry mojito at the strong recommendation of our server. Her saying it was her favorite was enough to push me over the edge to try it… and boy am I glad I did. WOW. One of the best flavored mojitos I’ve had.
To start we had the skillet melted cheese grilled rustic bread, roasted gilroy garlic, extra virgin olive oil… OMG. Heavenly. Then Zeke, one of the managing staff came over and suggested more of the grilled rustic bread to properly finish off the Amish cheese which was such a great idea as there was a decent amount of cheese left after the first 4 pieces vanished. :)
Next we had prawns, prociutto wrapped fresh gulf prawns, grilled stonefruit, and roasted watermelon radish. Well paired items, light, refreshing but flavorful.
For lunch we both had the row burger *niman ranch beef*, tillamook sharp cheddar, applewood smoked bacon, aioli, fries. The burger was average but the fries… oh the perfectly heavily salted skinny french fries that were perfectly crisp on the outside with just the right amount of soft potato inside. A+ on the fries, you guys!
Great service, perfect portions, and definitely another visit from me in the future.

We went to Pizza Antica and it’s full of people. The waiting list is long too. So we decided to try Tanglewood next door and we don’t need to wait for a table.
The food is typical American, burger, chicken, steak and fish.
There is one dish called hanger beef. I have no idea what it is. So I asked the waiter and he said it has one hanger per cow and it’s close to kidney. And we all laughed. I don’t know if what I thought is what hanger beef should be.
We ordered N.Y. steak, salmon, halibut and chicken. The steak tastes good and I like salmon most because it tastes sweet.
The dessert is wonderful, chocolate mousse.

Yum. It is unusual to find a restaurant that delivers food of this quality on such a large scale (it definitely seats 100+). Tons of reviews already so here is the rundown. The menu was pretty large so we shared everything and threw ourselves on the mercy of the waiter. He had a bit of a snarky attitude, which we mostly found charming… he recommended, and we devoured:
— Tuna Tartare: very mild, chopped, and mixed in with avocado and light seasonings, into the shape of a hockey puck. This was somewhat exotic and pleasing, but it was more successful when viewed as a balance to the other appetizer we got:
— Foie Gras Crème Brulee or something. Basically, they take a foie gras terrine, and sear it. Not bad! It wasn’t as good as having a huge piece of it grilled, but it was better than some terrines I’ve had, and the warm varied texture of it was a nice surprise.
— Filet Mignon with Bernaise Sauce: holy hell. The filet itself was a decent piece of prime beef, but the sauce, oh the sauce. Magic… buttery… a little bit of spice… wow.
— Salmon something: they recommended it medium rare, which is something you can only do with really premium salmon, and this it was. Again the sauce was a real winner, but this time getting to enjoy medium rare salmon with all the flavor it has was the real treat.
It was a miraculously short wait on a Saturday evening to go here… which makes it a little weird that they were out of the duck (which the waiter said he liked) and a couple other things. But everything we did get was a winner. Looks like others have had less good experiences. But if you do go, hope you get a great waiter (our check says ours was Ariel), and get great food. Yum.

I approached my dinner here with trepidation, after reading all of the reviews my fellow Unilocalers have posted. And you know what? They’re all right on.
We were invited by my wife’s boss to dinner, so how could I pass that up? I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers and cause a career limiting move, so I shut up and ate… and thought about what I’m going to write here.
The outside patio was nice, which added to the ambiance. Two of us ordered the fillet mignon, which was pretty good. One ordered the surf and turf, and my wife had the ribs. The S&T looked pretty weak; all you get is a half lobster tail, which resembled a large tiger prawn. The ribs were oven baked, with a topping of barbecue sauce. I’d be embarrassed to put that on a plate.
Service was not what I’d expect for a place like this. Salads were brought out without cracked pepper being offered; I had to flag down four people just to get my pepper. Bus boys were attentive, but I wish the wait staff had the same urgency.
I’d eat here again based on the ambiance and good steak, but I’d be careful about the other items.

(Sept/​2006)
Can I have seconds?
I had the farmer’s market soup and the lobster roll. It was good– all two bites of it. My boyfriend had the Surf ‘n’ Turf for $ 40!!! Portions are unbelievably small and ridiculously expensive.
You would think because of the small servings, the service would be fast. Well think again. Slow slow slow! Take a glance around the beautifully décor restaurant and you’ll see a flood of white coats and black ties just moping around without a care in the world, which is such a tragedy, because the restaurant is «nice».

Ok seriously when is brunch supposed to be? My homeboy wikipedia dictates that it’s supposedly between 10:00am and 11:00 am. I’ve been having this debate with all my friends to whom I promise to have brunch with but lazily wake up late for. But really at Tanglewood they serve brunch till 2:30pm. In the valley I have to say that it’s a little later than everywhere else, so does that mean I win the debate? Ok I am digressing and even venting a little, so back to the experience.
We were walking along Santana Row trying to decide where to have a late lunch at when we pass by the normal joints. Village, Left Bank, Sino, and all the stuff that is further down the street, but nothing looks that great. We stop at Pizza Antiqua for a bit, but decided that we didn’t really want pizza either. So finally yes Tanglewood we both hadn’t been there, they were relatively empty because they are at the end of the strip, and on this beautiful Saturday afternoon they had their huge glass doors open for fresh air and people watching.
We’re immediately seated inside and as soon as the menu lands, and I see the Bellini accented with a basil leaf. I cheer out loud accompanied by a mini-​fist pump, «Bellini’s are for brunch! Let’s get our afternoon drink on!» thinking everyone was out of earshot. Much to my embarrassment the waiter was coming back at that exact moment. He asks if he can bring out the Bellini’s, with a silly jovial smirk, but now I mumble awkwardly «Um, we’ll need a couple more minutes.»
My company for the day agrees that it’s afternoon drink time indeed, and they get the white wine sangria, while I get the first pump provoking Bellini, both drinks were amazing. For food we ordered the ahi tuna fennel salad over mixed greens and french toast. The toast looked delicious. It was this huge slice that was 3 inches thick with a wedge of hash brown that he waiter told us was something the chef was trying out. It was so dense that we didn’t really like it. The ahi was perfectly seared and slightly seasoned with sea salt, I really enjoyed the fennel even though I normally don’t like the taste of black licorice.
Since I ordered the salad I was ready for something richer for dessert. For some reason I was oddly feeling like I wanted chocolate, which is almost never the case for me. So we decided to share the brownie banana split. Warm and with large chunks of chocolate, the brownie was served at the bottom of a lidded jar, then covered in fresh vanilla bean ice cream, and garnished with half a banana that was caramelized in sugar. On the side was a dark chocolate based dipping sauce.
I think there couldn’t have been a better experience here. They did make an error on the bill which we had them correct, but the service was great the food was good and reasonably priced for this area, now only if they had more attractions to get people down there it might be a buzzing place to be.
P. S. In the main dining room I love the ceiling lamps. I think they are adorable.

I don’t know. I came here about 1 — 2 years ago and my experience was just sub par.
Their menu is seasonal (unless they changed the concept) so its hard for me to say «don’t get my entrée» because it may no longer ever be featured.
The place is too trendy (doh! santanna row does it again!) and too loud. I came in hoping for a nice fine dining experience. Made reservations and everything. They throw my date and I in a shitty corner next to drunk blondes who won’t stop talking about how drunk they are.
I ordered the duck and it was good… if it was beef. Because get this, this texture was like beef! My date hated the place!
The service was nothing special.
But i don’t know. My friend went here about a few months back and she said the place is great.
So really it’s up to you to try.

I’m somewhere between a 3 and a 4 for Tanglewood. If I hadn’t dined there with Tracey Lee D., I’d maybe be closer to a 4… BUT as she solidly reported — this «upscale» restaurant was basically unable to really cater to a vegetarian. That just doesn’t seem right. Certainly vegetarians are used to limitations when dining out but I frankly, felt really bad for dragging her here where she had to finally order a bunch of side dishes, instead of the chicken she was counting on from the online menu. And note — Tracey Lee D. eats chicken on rare occasion, too. But there wasn’t a chicken in the house! We even saw gnocchi as a complement to a fish dish and thought about asking them to make something up with those little suckers. But she finally decided a selection of side dishes would be satisfactory.
Let’s back up now… I’ve actually been to Tanglewood a few times. Once for a wedding rehearsal dinner (taking advantage of the cozy/​classy side dining room) and another time just for dessert. I’ve been pleased overall. The rehearsal dinner was executed splendidly (wow — I really DID just use the word «splendid») and while I know we ate a lot of yummy food that night, off a set-​menu from which we made 2 – 3 choices… I don’t remember any servers. So that means they did their job… well, splendidly also! Blending in so that the festivities and speeches of the night could take center stage. A friend and I stopped in for dessert another time and shared the «sundae in a mason jar» which was okay.
I like the ambiance here. It’s classy and new just like you’d expect a Santana restaurant to be. The waiters have all been fantastic. Friendly, not pushy…
Back to dinner with Tracey Lee. Our belinis were okay; maybe she liked hers more than I did mine. Oh and while we’re talking about drinks — I was FLOORED that most of their signature mixed drinks are close to $ 12! That’s primarily why I got the belini — ‘cuz it was only ~$ 9. Are we in NYC? Hell, we aren’t even in San Francisco! How can you charge $ 12 for a drink?! Does it come in a pail?
The food overall has been between okay and good. Tracey Lee’s sides were great while my lamb shank was just okay. (Should I start counting my uses of the word «okay»?) One thing that was pleasantly surprising was the size of the shank ~~ hehe that sounds funny. It was a whole shank with PLENTY of meat sitting atop some tasty risotto. I almost couldn’t finish it… but did, and stuffed myself; and paid for it later while trying on clothes at H&M — but that’s another story.
I was really looking forward to the churros with warm chocolate sauce for dessert. And was FLOORED for the second time tonight (at least this time it was a «good flooring») when not 2, not 3, but SIX large churros came out on a plate. This was definitely a dessert for 2 – 3 people and Tracey Lee had ordered her own bowl of mango sorbet. So if I were a detective I’d start noticing now the path to not enjoying that fitting room at H&M… darn me! The churros were not as good as I was hoping. They didn’t have that slightly chewy consistency which I LOVE about good churros. However, did this stop me from eating three of them and practically licking my bowl of chocolate sauce? Um… no.
I would go back to Tanglewood. I won’t order a signature cocktail, nor the churros but I’d be open to sampling some other main dishes since the only experience I can really remember was this one with Ms. Tracey Lee D. Maybe the reason I’m STILL wavering between 3 and 4 even now as I wrap this up is due to the wonderful night of catching up with a great old friend. So for now; since I’ve got her back — a 3 for Tanglewood, Santana Row.

— for the price, the elegant décor, the Harvard alum chef. I expected better food
— lasagna: it was. different. not very cheesy at all
+ enjoyed the tomatoe salad, extremely fresh tomatoes
+ cool sliding doorway into the kitchen

Came here before having a girl’s night out… let’s just say, it was a start of a crappy night.
We shared the scallops and calamari, eh nothing to write home about.
For our entrees, one of the girls and I both got the shrimp risotto. It pretty much looked like puke after a while because of all the stuff mixed in together. Thanks… but no thanks.
For dessert, we got some strawberry/​rhubarb w/​honey ice cream type thing? Basically pie without the crust.
The service was so-​so. Towards the end of the meal, a different server took over. Thank God because our original was terribly rude.
I’ll probably come back another time with my boyfriend and order something else. Hopefully. it’ll be better next time. But knowing how most of the Santana Row restaurants are, it probably won’t.

This place won’t be here long. There’s a reason why the bad reviews are SO bad. I went here a few months ago for a birthday dinner and we were pretty stuffed from our meals. We had appetizers, 2 bottles of wine and our main courses so we were way too stuffed to order dessert. So instead of bringing out a small scoop of ice cream or cake with a candle the waiter decides to bring out an empty plate with a candle lit on it.
At first I thought it was a joke and laughed a little, but he was serious when he said «since you guys didn’t order dessert this is all you get». My jaw dropped and I was literally so speechless I couldn’t bitch him out. The 6 of us probably spent $ 400 and they couldn’t bring out a small dessert? Take a look at the picture in the gallery. This is something they’ll never be able to swallow.
I can’t wait to see this place razed.

Scale of 1 – 10, 1 being the worst, 10 the best.
Food = 4
Service =9
atmosphere = 6
decoration = 3
beverage = 5
overall experience = 4
Not worth it for the money!

Those stars up above represent how much food they give you. I figured that with a $ 25 order of braised short ribs, you would at least get a really big piece or maybe even 2 pieces. Heck, even a bunch of potatoes would be good. But nope. Just a small rib with like 6 small shreds of potato and pear. Oh yeah, but I guess 3 mini carrots the size of a AAA battery make up for it. NOT! I will give them credit though, the rib was good… all 8 bites of it. For dessert, we had a piece of carrot cake. Actually, I believe it was a piece of a piece of carrot cake.
I know, I know. I probably sound like I believe I should be getting huge amounts of food at every dining out experience. And no, I don’t think that. What I do believe is that I should always be getting a better deal than what I got at Tanglewood.
(P.S. Check out the pictures, if you really want to see how little food they give you. I took it up close, so it looks bigger than what you think it is.)

We had a work lunch here last week, which means it was paid for by our company, which is good, because I don’t think I would pay this much of my own money for what I got.
I ordered the roasted squash soup and the Wagyu burger. The squash soup came with roasted whole squash seeds in it (not shelled, as if they’d been directly scraped out of the squash) — I liked the toasty flavor but didn’t like the tough texture of the whole seeds. The soup itself was acceptable, but I have to tell you I make a much better butternut squash soup at home and for way less than $ 7 a bowl. I think the soup was one of their only vegetarian/​potentially vegan offerings (if they left out the duck ravioli) so there was no cream, but, it needed cream. Or salt and pepper. Or all of the above.
The Wagyu burger prepared with with short rib meat was pretty good, but I’m not sure it was $ 18 good. I’m not actually sure what an $ 18 burger would look and taste like, but maybe someday I will find out, hopefully also on an expense account.
Oddly, all our little fried accompaniments (my coworker’s three onion rings and my small pile of fries) were overly greasy, as if they hadn’t quite mastered the use of the deep fryer temperature setting just yet.
The service was reasonably prompt and attentive, I do like the space, and they have ginger ale available, which is always a plus for the no-​caffeine crowd.
Overall: I guess I’d say go here if you can expense it, but if not, maybe go somewhere else…