Heirloom Grill

Heirloom Grill has called it a day. Their paper signs have been partially stripped away, leaving their half-​effort firmly in place while they skipped out apparently without paying their rent. It’s hard to get all that glue off the back of the paper! Posted public notices around the building state repossession of the building. It’s better to have an empty vacant storefront than what Heirloom tried to put over on the diners of San Rafael. Shame.

This place is hit or miss… Sometimes it is really good… Sometimes not so much, I think they are still working the kinks out as a new restaurant. The food can also take a really long time depending on the day.
I think they still need to figure out some of the menu, the salad bar is really overpriced, as are most of the sides.
I will be back, hoping they get it all worked out, the place has a lot of potential.

I think the best thing on the menu was the mac n cheese and that was overcooked and flavorless.
The kennebec fries weren’t crispy and their aioli tasted suspiciously like mayonaise sans garlic.
The buttermilk popcorn chicken had a crisp exterior mated to a sawdust dry interior for some parts and others were crip and moist. Uniformity of size would help in cooking them.
The ribeye sandwich came and appeared to contain the worlds smallest, saddest little ribeye I ever did see. I’d ordered it medium rare and it came well. I wonder if it was too thin for them to cook medium rare. The white cheddar lacked flavor. There was one strand of a pepper on one half and none on the other. I fared slightly better with the partial mushroom (if you added the 3 bits together they still weren’t even a whole mushroom). Needless to say I was massively underwhelmed with this.
On the upside, our server was very nice.

Salad Bar = Excellent
Vegetables = Good
Strawberry Cooler Drink = Awesome
Steak = Great
Lighting = Too Bright
Men’s Room = Not Good
Uncooked Fried Chicken = Bad
Being told by the waiter that even though the chicken was raw at the bone I wouldn’t get sick because it’s organic = Wrong!!!
Come for lunch NOT dinner.

Their liquor licence is still pending, but that gives you a great excuse to try one of their awesome other beverages while gnawing on their overly appealing apps. I can’t speak to the level of service, but I will tell you about the food.
Beverages $ 4 — I could both see and taste the fresh ginger flecks in each
Golden Ginger: ginger and citrus brought out by brown sugar
Lemon Ale: also ginger, but made tartly sweet by apricot
Appetizers $ 8 — $ 12 — we were able to split these between the 2 of us w/​even a little left over
Popcorn Chicken: was great! I wished it was cooked a little more and even though the menu said it came with hot sauce and blue blue cheese dressing the waiter made me feel like an a$$ for asking for the blue cheese after he only brought hot, but still the chicken was amazingly flavored
Ahi Poke: chopped raw tuna (obviously :D) with a rich smokey sesame oil and topped with roasted pumpkin seeds. Delicious!
Lunch Menu $ 11
Chicken sandwich: Ugh, so good. Juicy chicken, sweet heirloom tomato, avocado and perfectly crisp bacon (I have high standards for my bacon, although don’t we all?)
I did not try the salad bar, but it did look quite impressive… maybe next time

My husband and I just visited Heirloom San Rafael… And we thought it was great. They’d clearly worked out whatever kinks people were griping about early on. The salad bar was excellent, service was on point and our entrees were awesome.
I highly recommend the fried chicken. A friend of mine has said their Cobb salad is pretty awesome as well.
1 star is knocked off for ambiance. We noticed somewhere through dinner that there was no music playing. It was weirdly quiet.
It came on about half way through our meal. I felt like they could have made the chairs /​tables /​vibe, a little nicer to meet the quality of the food they are serving.

Nope.
I was highly anticipating the opening of this place. Very excited that there would be more options for a nice sit down restaurant especially a farm to fork offering within the Family Restaurant filled Terra Linda. But… nope.
The location is right where a Chill’s was previously, and the interior does look a little Chili’s like… Weird booths in the middle of the restaurant. A bar with TV’s. And gasp… A SALAD BAR…
Right then we knew… this was really another Family Restaurant… By then we had already committed to eating here by purchasing a Groupon. Well best give it a try anyways.
The waiters were attentive, and very smartly but awkwardly carrying their iPads everywhere to capture customer’s orders. I did read that the owner wanted to introduce some technology into the restaurant to set it apart from others. But honestly it was awkward. Give the poor guy a pad will you!!! It’s hard to balance dishes and an iPad under your arm.
Food wise, really meh. To be honest, we were here for lunch. And there really wasn’t anything on the menu except for Sandwiches and Salads. There was a delicious looking option for fish and chips but that wasn’t available until after 5pm. I ended up with a Tuna salad. and my partner had a Steak Sandwich.
The sandwich was good, but nothing to cry home about and then salad was just ho hum. The Tuna itself lacked taste same thing with the meat.
Portion wise, these things are no joke. We ended up with needing boxes for both.
There was also no alcoholic beverages, I guess they don’t have a liquor license yet. Was really hoping for a beer with my lunch, guess not then.
Desserts was great though. We ordered a smores pie to share and it was every bit worth the calories. Too bad about everything else.
Overall, not sure if we’ll be back. There’s just so many other options that are similar in the area and tastes better, Applebees, BJ’s, Chevy’s, etc… The prices are very reasonable, but if there was more options on the menu and tastes were absolutely outstanding above the rest of them that might be a different story.

The huge, delicious, fresh salad bar ($ 12, or $ 3 with sandwich/​entrée) and the friendly managerial staff (Leo) are the main reasons to dine here. This is the most impressive salad bar we’ve seen yet. For that I would give Heirloom Grill at least 4 stars.
However, our dinner was a 2-​star let-​down. I ordered the fish and chips, which had a bland, puffy, rather meaningless breading, but the chips and slaw were good. My companion had the BBQ ribs, which were humdrum.
The portions are large, and the prices are fair, so you won’t walk away hungry or broke. One might have better luck with less ambitious menu items, such as the burger or sandwich, perhaps.
There is a distinct lack of good dining in Terra Linda, so we are pulling for Heirloom Grill to seriously bump up their culinary skill. However, It’s aspiring to be the caliber of restaurant beyond what the chef/​cooks are able to pull off.

We first tried this place soon after it opened; we were excited that there was finally an actual restaurant going into this space. However, they were clearly not prepared for any sort of actual dinner rush; they ended up closing their doors around 6:30 that night, refusing to seat any more diners. The service was bad.
That said, there is enough to like about Heirloom now to give it a try. We went again last night, and the service was improved, although not excellent. Our server ignored our empty beverage glasses twice and we had to flag him down for refills.
The food though, is quite good. Complimentary homemade potato chips? Brilliant.
I had the shrimp and grits, and those two things alone are delicious, but this savory dish also includes bacon, andouille sausage, and had a nice cheesy, spicy tang to it. Juicy prawns on there too. I dipped my fries in the sauce and wondered what poutine tasted like. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would order again. The hot sandwiches are good as well.
While most of their menu is pretty heavy, comfort-​type food, they do have a salad bar, if you’re into that. Apparently they have their own farm, and most of their offerings are local, organic, etc. Try the free range fish and the gluten free water.
Prices are reasonable too. I hope this place really finds its rhythm, and gets a full liquor license at some point. Terra Linda needs this.
4 star food/​2 star service = 3 stars overall.

I saw this place form the freeway and since it’s close to halloween I thought I’d grab some lunch and then visit Michael’s crafts for decorations-​I was beyond disappointed-​the lettuce was old, wilted and brown-​nothing looked fresh-​No one greeted me so I thought it was a concept like fresh choice-​NOT! there was old veggies, looked like they had been out for days-​I sat down, no one approached so I walked up to the front and asked if I could get an ice tea-​the server gave me a menu and brought me some tea-​I ordered a bowl of clam chowder-​it was ok but my tab came to 20 for wilted lettuce, glumpy caesar dressing and a bowl of soup that could of fed 2-​I was starving-​it was one of the worst meals I have ever had-​thanks for that, It made me not want to eat the rest of the day.
Your going to have to do better than that to stay afloat-​why don’t you start with fresh ingredients

Really great, despite the other lame reviews. First off, the salad bar is amazing. We are pale eaters, and they make burgers and the salmon club without bread and they both were great!!!
It was a great meal, and we are so glad it exists.

This was our first time here and were very pleased. They have a huge salad bar w organic vegetables, fresh bread, etc. I also had the clam chowder which was quite good. It has a nice atmosphere, quiet, clean, cloth napkins and very reasonable prices. You can add an entrée to the salad bar for just a few dollars. I’ll come again.

I was excited to check out this place and was pleased to see how they transformed the old Chili’s place to a new more modern, warm space. The service we received was very good. Both the host and server were friendly and attentive.
Where it falls for me is the food. They gave us some complimentary house made chips, which were super crispy, but has no salt, so I had to add some. The chicken wings was cooked well. Crispy outside, juicy inside. But bland. No seasoning whatsoever. They asked us if we wanted BBQ or Buffalo wings. We said Buffalo, so the wings just came with hot sauce on the side. The salmon club, was not really a club at all, except it came with bacon. Again salmon was cooked right, bread was good quality, but the taste was not there. I feel like the place has great cooks who know how to cook things properly, but lacking a chef who will taste what’s coming out of the kitchen before serving people. I also do not get the salad bar. I don’t know whether it’s like more like a Sizzler’s or a bistro. Not sure what clientele they’re going for either.
It’s a bit new, so maybe the identity will evolve later. I’ll probably check in a few months to see how it is. Right now, I would suggest that the restaurant season their food and maybe I’ll come back sooner.

Decent lunch spot if you need your greens fix.
The service definitely needs some tweaking. I am not sure if they are trying to create a full service or a self service type of dining experience. but it feels a little bit unfinished in general. I might have to give it a few go rounds since it is so close by.
This go round I stopped in with a co-​worker for lunch and while their selection of salad bar options are impressive, their service was slightly confused. We did not know whether we could get a second plate of salad and the add-​ons are unclear. the stapled paper menu was odd. As a soup option they had a Clam Chowder or Eggplant. I tried neither and instead we opted for a fried green tomato BLT sandwich and salad bar. The sandwich was a bit dry, sadly, but the bacon was good.
The open salad bar is $ 10, and not sure if it is all you can eat but we did see take away containers being filled. The salad bar is a pretty good deal for the area and I will be back for my greens fix, to go!

I went here with my boss for lunch on a Thursday, and it was totally A-​Okay. I feel like the outside of the building gives you an impression that the inside does not deliver — it’s more casual and less stylish than I expected.
The menu has something for most tastes, and while the salad bar isn’t fancy, it’s well stocked. Pulled chicken was a little dry, but everything else was fresh and tasted good. A nice selection — similar to Molly Stone or Paradise Market.
I had the salad bar add-​on with the chicken sando, which was exactly what it promised to be, and fries, which were surprisingly tasty (for fries). My boss got the salad bar with the BLT, which features fried green tomatoes, which she reported was quite good as well.
Dinner options (available after 5:00 p.m.) looked interesting. I might swing by after work one day.
Regarding service: We were seated promptly, received menus and drinks quickly, and the entire experience was totally acceptable. Looking at the other reviews, I can tell they’re having a rough time. I’m hoping the owners read the other reviews and took some kind of corrective action. I happened to recognize one of the servers as a total champ from other restaurants I frequent — he has it together, and they’re lucky to have him. Everyone else seemed organized and calm, so I can only hope that it’s a sign that they’ve addressed their service and kitchen issues.

Oh dear. After 2 nice visits, we went back and brought a friend for dinner:
— service was terribly slow and disorganized (we sat for 10 minutes without menus), we were just about to walk out as someone finally came with our water and we asked to see menus
— the frittes appetizer was supposed to come with homemade aioli but instead was RANCH DRESSING, and was a small portion for $ 6!
— The salad bar ingredients were just not fresh (dehydrated vegetables, limp, old lettuce)
— The fish and chips weren’t worth $ 16 for the quality
— Took forever to receive check
Not keen on coming back here again, so disappointed.

I’m giving it a 4 for service and a 2 for food. This place just opened in the site formerly occupied by Chili’s so many moons ago. In between, it was something else that we didn’t try. But lately there’s been talk of this place on our neighborhood blog, and G_​_​_​_​_​liked it, so we thought we’d give it a try when we were over shopping at CVS.
The interior is pleasantly rustic and spacious, with Saltillo tiles, plantation shutters, and a scattering of plants. However all the chairs, including banquettes, are wood, not so kind to my aged a_​_​. To your right as you walk in is a very long salad bar, with a myriad of choices. Another neighbor (not G) had commented about a week ago that the salad greens were not so fresh. So that was the first thing I checked, and though the romaine and iceberg leaves looked fresh and crisp, the «spring mix» was limp and dessicated.
So since greens are the foundation of my salad, I bypassed the salad bar and went a la carte. I ordered the unusual-​sounding BLT which came with fried green tomatoes, arugula and bacon on a brioche. They were out of brioche, so by special request I got mine on a focaccia bun.
Our drinks (water and iced tea) came out promptly (and were frequently refilled,) and soon we had our sandwiches. I ordered no side because the only options are potatoes and potatoes (fries or chips.) Why??? Anyway, the hub’s fries were good — slender, crisp, with skins. His sandwich — not that great. The eggplant had been sliced too thick and was a tad bitter. Also, the focaccia was not really focaccia. It’s a hamburger bun with some oil and herbs brushed on top. And finally, he said, the whole thing was too bland. He asked the waitstaff (most of whom are Latino) for some salsa, and all they had was tabasco.
My sandwich consisted of the same foccacia/​burger bun, some slices of pallid tomato fried in a panko-​ish batter, some good crisp bacon, and arugula. The arugula offered a nice counterpoint to the sweet bacon, but I missed the tart-​sweet bite of ripe tomatoes. The fried «green» ones were not bad, though I’ve made them myself and these were oddly lacking in color and flavor and had a sort-​of capsicum undertone. A beer batter on greener tomatoes, plus some red, ripe ones on top would have made a tastier combo. Additionally, the kitchen was right to hesitate about putting this sammy on focaccia — real or ersatz. The bits of rosemary in the oil mix just gave the whole affair a strange herbal effect.
Adding to my displeasure with this sandwich was the pickle which had no garlic, no dill, no nothing to recommend it. After I had the waiter bring me a box for the 2^nd half of my sandwich which I hope to jazz up at home, he offered me a second box and told me to help myself to some fruit from the salad bar. At first I couldn’t find any fruit, aside from some poorly picked-​through grapes, some of which were broken. Another server directed me to the middle of the bar, where I found day-​old cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew chunks. That’s it for the fruit offerings.
Several other people have written unfavorable reviews of this place on our local blog and I wonder if the management reads these at all. If they have no access, they could at least solicit the opinions of their patrons. It always saddens me when novices open a business with stars in their eyes, and fail in a hurry when they could easily have succeeded if they’d only listened. Heirloom, get your act together!

Don’t do it!
My friend and I went for lunch, so excited to have a new place in town. While we waited for a seat we watched the crowed, servers and ogled the salad bar. Unfortunately we watched the person staffing the salad bar use his bare hands to replenish and clean, including cleaning the floor! Gross, gross, gross and I am not a germaphobe. The servers and help we’re not wearing starched clean serving clothes either and the overall effect there was just shoddy.
We were there so we figured we would be safe and just order a grilled cheese sandwich, can’t go wrong there, we’ll apparently you can. The grilled cheese with bacon and tomato came without bacon, and was so cold the cheese was congealed. We couldn’t find our waiter, so I went back to the service counter and let them know we were dissatisfied and would be leaving. He didn’t seem interested or surprised, he just shrugged his shoulders.
I suspect a lot of people will go here once, because it’s about time we have someplace new to go in Terra Linda, unfortunately new turned out to be so bad.

Heirloom Grill is brand new and worth trying. I had the tuna sandwich and my wife had the grilled chicken. We both had the salad bar. My tuna sandwich had a ¾″ piece of AHI Tuna — barely braised as requested — and was served in a 4-​grain bun with home made chips. It was very nice. The Chicken Sandwich was excellent, well prepared as well. The salad bar is not adventurous, but still a long walk of goodies worth checking out.
Since I’d like to see this place stay in business for a while, I hope they are able to adjust their menu with a few items for seniors and despite the salad bar — maybe a few vegan entrées?

Tried this today, as they just opened a couple of days ago. Not too bad! Ahi Tuna Poke was delicious and Popcorn Chicken was good. Small portions and slightly overpriced, but that’s what you pay for local.
Can’t wait to go back and try their «All you can eat» salad bar!
(I did have to add this business to Unilocal,so please feel free to add additional info!)