Horse in the Alley

This was a reservation for six on a Friday afternoon at 17:30. It is very important that you do make a reservation for dinner. Hours are limited and the restaurant is well worth it. The entire Place reminds me of a speakeasy . It's not extremely bright and the vibe is very common inviting . The entire place is extremely clean. was our waitress for the entire dining experience. I absolutely enjoy when the person handling your table loves what they do. You could tell how much Samantha enjoyed her position. Samantha made our dining experience top notch. We had a chance to speak with Chef Jason. He came to check on our table, making sure we were satisfied with our selections and to answer any questions we may have on the menu. Oh Beth, you will hear more about her later on in this review. We ordered all four appetizers on the menu which were stuffed mushrooms, shrimp cocktail, escargot, and the bruschetta. We were given two extra plates, stuffed mushrooms mushrooms and shrimp cocktail. This was given to us on the house by Chef Jason. We ordered the lemon drops and every one that ordered ordered a second one, that is how tasteful they were. I ordered a bottle of the talosa Pinot Noir 1997, always a crowd pleaser.Moving on to the main course, we ordered the ribeye, chicken alfredo, and four dishes of the block fillet. The block fillet was topped with a gorgonzola cheese slice and then finished off with a balsamic drizzle. My guest stated that each filet was cooked perfectly to a medium consistency. Flavorful and melt in your mouth. The ribeye had a mushroom shallot cream sauce on top of it, with a hint of time. My ribeye was ordered medium and it also was flavored extremely well, never once overpowered my palate. Cooked to a medium perfection. One of my guests ordered the chicken out Florence which she stated was the best dish she has ever had. Chicken was nice and juicy full of flavor and the pasta was perfectly al dente. She stated the sauce was rich in flavor but not heavy in her stomach.Moving on to dessert, we ordered two of each. The first was a South African pudding called malva, which does not contain chocolate. It contains apricots and the way Beth has perfected this recipe leaves me speechless! I at first didn't want to taste it because I thought it was all fudge. After my guess were ranting and raving about how delicious it was, I had to try it. And I am so glad I did. A big round of applause to Beth for baking this dessert and making my life better for tasting it!! The cheesecake was good with the blackberries on top and the Turtle trifle was just as delicious. The dessert of the Malva is something I would literally stop by just to pick that up. It is a must try if you come here. If you come and have dinner here and do not order the malva pudding you may end up with an empty little hole in your heart for never tasting it.I 100% did not have one bad bite of anything at this restaurant. I am so happy that I chose to have dinner here. The entire experience was top-notch. If you are in the area, make sure to make reservations, and dine here. Don't forget that Malva pudding. This is a 10 out of 10, will return.

We've been wanting to try this spot for a while and finally went there to celebrate our anniversary. We had a great experience and will definitely go back again. We were seated in a corner booth overlooking the dining room, which seems like the best vantage point in the whole place. The dining room isn't large so we were afraid it would be overly quiet. But several larger parties arrived shortly after we did and there was a nice buzz of laughter and conversation throughout. The dining room is dimly lit but bright enough to read the menus and see around the room. Our meals were wonderful. We started with well-made cocktails and fresh bread. We chose salads to start off our meals. The fresh greens included mushroom and tomatoes and several dressings to choose from. My husband chose a ribeye with peppercorn sauce and baked potato while I selected the salmon with lemon dill sauce and vegetables. Everything was prepared perfectly and we finished every bite. We topped off our meal by sharing a layered turtle sundae dessert which was made by the co-owner. It was delicious! We really appreciated being able to take our time and enjoy each course. We never felt rushed and were able to dine at a leisurely pace. The restaurant was very busy and the staff members tended to multiple tables but we never felt ignored. Our server was also a co-owner and her pride and attention to details were evident. Plan ahead if you want to try this place as they have limited hours and reservations are a must. We will, as we will definitely go back again soon!

What an amazing surprise to find this gem! My friend and I are here for a conference and wanted to find the best possible place to go out to dinner on our night off of work and family duty. Found this place on Yelp and love a good historical setting and steaks. It was even better than expected!The entire staff is stellar, friendly and entirely welcoming of two ladies that don't look like they're from around here. ;) We started with the stuffed mushrooms and bread and garlic butter and already had our eyes rolling back into our heads. The steaks were even better. Melt in your mouth, seasoned to perfection and my friend said it was the best side of broccoli she had ever tasted. Baked potatoes were perfect. We are stuffed and looking forward to their homemade dessert later in our room. If you love a good steakhouse don't miss this place!

I just had this for dinner with my family to celebrate my sister and I birthday and it was delicious. Our first time here, great service and food. Met the owners and the boss good people.

For my wife's birthday I wanted to take her somewhere nicer than our normal go-to's. A co-worker recommended this spot. Making the reservation was easy, they called and confirmed the day of. I picked her up after work and when we turned into the alley she looked me dead in the eyes and asked where the heck I was taking her. Hilarious! Ambiance was nice. Darker, candlelight, roses on the tables. Oh la la. We checked in and were seated quickly. Our server, Megan was amazing! She answered all of our questions and was able to steer us in the right direction. She brought out the fresh sourdough with garlic butter melted by a small candle while we mare our choices. We let her know that my wife has a shellfish allergy and she said she would make the chef aware. For our appetizer, we went with the stuffed mushrooms. Very tasty in a slightly creamy sauce with a hint of sweet. My dish was the chicken, with rice pilaf, fresh veggies. It was good, but after having a bite of my wife's dish, I realized I had made a huge mistake. Her's was bomb!! It was pasta with steak. Yum! We finished off the night with a very tasty cheesecake. The food was 4 stars, The service was 10 stars. I can't wait to come back and try a nice juicy steak. The only downside is that , it is downtown, and in an alley. When we left, it was dark and there was homeless stumbling around. Something to be aware of.

My wife and I joined two other couples (really good friends of ours) on a date night here a few weeks back. The staff was incredibly attentive and visited our table regularly. The head chef (who also happens to be the owner) came out twice and spent time at our table asking us what we liked and didn't like about the food. Our server., Gracie., was amazing! We will be asking for her every time from here on out! The food was perfect, the atmosphere was romantic, and the service was a 10 out of 10! If you haven't tried this place yet, you have to! Thank you everyone for a memorable evening!

This resteraunt probably has the BEST ambiance to dine to in Bakersfield. Tucked away in a alley, you'll find the Horse in the alley and when you walk in, the vibe is just awesome and so cool. We found this place on Yelp and literally made reservations for the next day for 5:30pm to check it out. We were so happy that we did! The menu is awesome, it had a little bit of everything. The salmon with port wine reduction is what caught our eye since we are huge fans of port wine which is also served on their alcohol menu. The salmon was fantastic. We also ordered a filet mignon, cooked to medium temp and that steak was really good. To make our experience even better our waitress was just so nice/kind/ adorable lady! She was really on it too, made great reccomendations and was just great at her job.Overall, we can't wait to come back! Next time my wife wants to sit at the bar for some port wine / cocktails. The bar area is cool and worth checking out even if your not hungry and could go for a drink. Thanks Horse in the Alley for the hospitality. Till next time!

Getting a 5/5 is really difficult. You have to be PERFECT. This restaurant was oh-so-close. Had to make reservations as they are very limited. Our spot in the bar was perfect. We were seated very quickly because of bumped up reservations which was confusing as my original reservations noted limited space but no one sat in the opposing bar location until 6:30pm. Pyrenees roll w/ garlic butter was great to start. Decided on the escargot which was delish. Our waitress was exceptional. A couple things that stuck out were to pay extra for a small 1/2 tsp of bacon and cheese on our baked potato and the wait for our food. Everyone was wonderful but small details like that made it a 4/5 experience. I loved my steak w/balsamic glaze but hubbies was smothered in mushrooms which was a bit overpowering. Overall great spot and would come back.

It's been about five months since was last at "The Horse" and I decided that this trip I would give it another try (I took pictures this time too!" I am updating my review to four stars and I will explain why and what changed, and not changed. The place was a bit busier than the last visit. Still interesting that they don't have a host/hostess at the front door. This time around I was greeted upon sitting down at the bar and politely advised there were a few drinks ahead of me, then they would be right with me. Same bartender as last time. I watched as they poured, still pouring the same way (placing the jigger in the glass). But there was a little more haste and enthusiasm this round. The food. I wasn't terribly hungry going in, so I opted for a salad option. But I was curious about what the soup of the day was. It's called "Crack Chicken Soup," because "it's so addicting." As I'm writing this I already want more again. The soup was a broth chicken soup with cream, and whatever seasoning it's made with is amazing. I was also told that the recipe is the brain child of the same mind (Beth) as the Malva Pudding I loved so much the first go.The salad I chose was the Bleu Cheese Filet. While the salad was quite basic, it was really the perfect amount. In addition, the filet was made to near perfect and seasoning, the amount of Bleu cheese crumbles and dressing was not overbearing, and there was a nice mix of lettuce leafs. So, bravo to the menu this go. I paired the night with a bottle of Tolosa Pinot Noir. The staff was very friendly, including the manager/owner (Jason). He walked the floor introducing himself and chatting with parishioners. It was a very happy yet buzzing environment.The Horse gets four stars this round because of the quality of the food and engagement of staff. There are still things to work out, but it was definitely and worth while experience this time. Thank you Jason and Beth.

Wow wow wow!!! 1st call ahead to dine here. They only take dinner RSVP. Now, the service throughout was fabulous, everyone is friendly. The ambiance is great, the cuisine is French-inspired. You feel like your not in Bako for the evening. The food...I had the ribeye dinner, vegetables and baked potato...10+/10. The dessert...Malava pudding...10+/10. I would totally recommend. Just come on your payday bc for food like this, be ready to spend some $. But it was worth it and we'll be back!