Ot Cook House & Saloon

I love the clam chowder on Fridays. Salads are good. You get enormous portions. Good People too.

This place is good to be in a small town. I’ve tried different things every time I come and it’s always good. Grill chicken salad, pork chop dinner, burger, fish and chips, etc. The staff is great as well!

underwhelming. little flavor. lots of grease. service so-​so. Big prices for nothing very good.

We wanted a good sit down place with some good steaks. We were greeted at the door with «it will take at least 45 minutes to get your food» and the body language we received from the three servers standing at the register said «why are you still here?». We decided to give it a go, since our family from out of town was wanting a steak. Once we ordered, it took closer to an hour and 15 minutes for our food to arrive. The afterthought of asking if we would like dinner rolls was quite baffling, typically that is a given. Luckily the drinks are extremely large, because our waitress was rarely to be seen. After we received our check, we decided to take it to the cashier after waiting quite a while, to find our waitress visiting with the other waitresses. One of the steaks was ordered medium well and came rare, but the other items were cooked as ordered.
Generally I stay away from OT’s because the service is terrible and it takes forever to get in and out of the place, this visit met my expectations (which are very low).
The service gets ZERO stars, their saving grace was the food, which over all was tasty, except for the one steak which we decided to leave on the plate and not send back, we didn’t have time to wait any longer.

Ot’s has really good soup and good food. I gave it three stars because it is chef’s choice for everything. The chef chooses the soup and the portion sizes, which are way too big if you ask me. I always decide against going to Ot’s on my lunch break because I never know what soup they are serving and would rather pay less for a smaller portion of food. The few times I have ordered lunch from Ot’s it has been such a large portion of food it is practically overflowing from the Styrofoam to-​go container they serve it in. I think this place would be way better if they had smaller prices and portion sizes and took customer feedback on the soup and specials instead of leaving it to the chef to decide.

Been here a couple of times and will come back when ever I feel like I need a nice meal at a decent price. Nice staff and lots of Variety of dishes. Love it!

Best American food in Taft by far. Very big portions and alway great customer service. #1 place for a nice lunch or dinner.

Hands down the best ribeye steak I have ever had! And I have tried ribeyes all over. The staff is courteous and the food was served promptly. My drink never got empty. Thanks

It’s Taft… so nothing is really remarkable and worthy of excellent ratings but they have the best blackened salmon that I have ever had anywhere. They offer it with a dill sauce which only makes it better. That’s all I ever order because it’s fantastic.

Great meal. had the charbroiled cod… so delicious… family restaurant. … our waitress, Tiffany was such a joy… great sugestions including potstickers with chili sauce to die for.yummy.

This is one of few restaurant options in Taft, and I’ve been here several times when my boss and coworkers get sick of eating the lunches we brought to the office. Their menu consists of typical American food, such as burgers, sandwiches, and steaks, but it also includes some seafood options as well.
Overall, the food is on the greasy and fatty side as you would expect from a country cookhouse & saloon. Entrees are around $ 12, while sandwiches are around $ 8, depending of course on the item itself. Entrees come with two sides — there are some healthier options to choose from, such as seasonal fruit and cottage cheese. Though not very healthy, the zucchini fries are pretty tasty. They also have fries, onion rings, grilled zucchini (wouldn’t recommend — too mushy), and seasonal vegetables. If you eat like a normal person, you shouldn’t leave this place hungry — I usually leave with a take-​home box or with food left on my plate.
As far as dishes, I’ve tried the grilled sole (make sure you get it cooked thoroughly, or it’ll be a little slimy) and some type of steak sandwich. Both were decent — not 5* quality but that’s too be expected.
This place gets pretty packed during the lunch hour, especially with employees of the nearby oil and gas fields, but you shouldn’t have trouble finding a table, even for a large group, since the place is pretty big. However, you may have to wait a while for your food to come out if there are more than a few people.

I haven’t been to Ot, so I can’t rate it, but I’m definitely going next time I’m in the area hunting and need a dinner. I’m with Kayla on this one. It’s Taft. Taft and Maricopa are not the culinary center of the universe. There’s nothing anywhere around that I’ve found for 30 – 40 miles in any direction that I’d go back to, let alone recommend, other’n the In-​N-​Out at Lebec on the interstate. So yeah, give em a break. It’s a small town diner trying to make good for the little town it’s in.

My lady friend and I have been here three times. I have been here alone once for carry out. The few reviews this place has are consistent. I would really love to give this establishment five stars, and would if our last two visits were more promptly served. Our first visit was outstanding. We ordered the Beef Medallion appetizer and the Salmon entrée. The portions were generous indeed.
About two weeks later we returned for the same order. The salmon portion was smaller and our food was served less than warm by someone other than the young lady who took our order. The food was still good and we ate it, but the temperature was unbecoming of this town’s finest restaurant.
Mixed bag… we came again one week later and split an order of New York Steak. 14 oz. with about a 6 oz. of strip of fat. Served maybe about 10 degrees warmer than our last meal. Our corn veggie and dinner roll were also served at room temperature.
I did tell the owner. Hopefully everyone else got the message so you may have a five star experience. Good food, nice people and definitely worth checking into. Closed on Mondays.

We were driving through Taft on our way back home. My husband wanted to see what was playing at the local theatre. Unfortunately, the theatre was closed. It was about dinner time, so we decided to eat here instead of going north. The place was packed. That was a good sign.
I ordered pork chops with mashed potatoes, grilled zucchini, and apple sauce. Amazingly good, and twice the portion you would see in a restaurant in Southern California. My husband ordered the beef stroganoff, and the portion size was big enough for three people! As the waitress said, «We don’t like people to go away hungry.»
Food was obviously cooked to order and fresh. We both took away boxes of leftovers, and I had lunch for another two days. If I’m ever in Taft and want a restaurant that gives you a lot of bang for your buck, this is the place.

Awwwww… come on guys. Its TAFT. For being in the culinary mecca that ISN’T Taft, CA, this place isn’t too shabs.
I’ve been here countless times, probably since they first opened several years ago. My beloved Grandma lives in Taft, so on my visits to town, we usually end up going to OT’s because it is the best dining establishment in the town. And probably because she ALWAYS ends up running into someone she knows, and Grandma looooves to introduce me to anyone she may see out and about. You know how that goes.
It’s very typical, just rolled off the Sysco truck, HUGE portions, kinda «American» food type place. Very reliable, with absolutely no fuss involved. Its not much to look at, interior wise or exterior, but the staff is always extremely sweet, attentive, and helpful. The prices are ridiculously low, and on most trips, I end up taking a large box with me.
I’ve actually eaten amazing raw oysters here, great crab legs and lobster, and decent fish and chips. Yes, the sandwiches and salads are a safe bet, but some of the offerings this place has may suprise you. There is also a bar, which I have never actually been into, but I know it is usually packed around Happy Hour time, usually with oil-​industry workers stopping on their way home.
I adjust my ratings in conjuction with the surroundings. So this place is damn near perfect in contrast. Give em a break.

Here’s another lunch place that I was wrangled into by co-​workers. I don’t work in Taft often so, I had to trust their judgment. From now on, I’m not letting them pick.
The establishment itself looks like two double wides plopped on some land and converted into a restaurant. The interior hasn’t changed much since the opening, with wooden panels and all. The staff is friendly and the older lady is really sweet. Service can be slow — it took awhile for the appetizers to come out.
It was Wednesday, which was fresh fish day. Apparently, the manager gets fresh fish flown in from Hawaii on Wednesdays so it’s supposed to be really good. Our table orders either the cod or salmon dish, which were ok. My salmon was dry and too flaky. The edges of the fillet were bland while the middle was salty and overseasoned. My sides were steamed broccoli and sliced tomatoes which were pretty difficult to mess up. The beef veggie soup that we had for a starter was pretty good — it had chunks of beef and veggies. I could’ve had a bowl as my meal.
I’m not sold on this place. The portions were huge but, the food was so ‘effin bland! The wait was also unbearably long — we all managed to roll in late for our afternoon conference call. $ 14 for my salmon dish, which is a good price if the fish had any flavor. I’m so ready to forget this place.

This place is the nicest sit down restaurant which I have encountered in my visits to Taft. Cynthia L.‘s review covers the food types, so I won’t repeat.
The service has always been fast and friendly. The portions are LARGE. Great Arnie Palmers.
I’m not a fan of the iceberg lettuce and tomatos in the salad. There isn’t anything wrong with them, but I don’t feel like the nutritional value is there.
Nutrition aside, let me say that the zucchini fries are the BEST I have ever had.
I was most impressed by the Z-​fries and the sandwiches.

This is one of the few and most popular restaurants in Taft.
When I walked in for lunch, I thought the whole town was in there because it was packed and our group had to wait for a table. I couldn’t believe it!
The lunch menu had sandwiches, salads, soup du jour, burgers, and meat and fish entrees. Sandwich choices included kielbasa sausage, ribeye steak, pastrami, prime rib, and meatloaf. Entrees ranged from salmon to pork loin to new york steak and bacon ground sirloin.
I decided to try the chicken fried steak with sides of fried zucchini and mashed potatoes. The gravy was good, but the chicken fried steak was sadly very soggy and not crispy and crunchy as I would have hoped. The steak was HUGE however and took up ¾ of my plate. It could have fed two people. As for the sides, the mashed potatoes were creamy and the fried zucchini were crunchy. The zucchini tasted extra yummy dipped in ranch sauce.
For being in the rural city of Taft, I would say the food was good. It beats eating at Burger King. If I had to work and/​or live in Taft, sure, I wouldn’t mind going back here. I bet they have an awesome happy hour in the saloon, but being from the city makes me such a food snob and spoiled of LA’s good eats.