Alturas does not have lots of dining choices, especially Monday and Tuesdays. I will almost always stop at a Basque restaurant. Sweet D was hesitant. We had a menu in our room at The Rimrock. The desk man recommended it. Sweet D, found fried chicken was on the menu. We went. Other reviews speak of the salad, soup and side dishes. Tuesday night's side - lamb stew. It was mutton-y, but not like the mutton of my childhood. We finished it. The best, most tender, sweetest lamb I've ever eaten was off the Bar-b-que at Simon's ranch in the Yakima Valley. I'm sorry Simon, your last name has disappeared among the brain cells I used to slaughter. That is my test for lamb. I ordered Lamb Steak with Garlic tonight. Three nice little bone-in cuts, fat trimmed, several garlic chunks on each. Simon got a challenger tonight. My medium rare lamb steaks were excellent. Tender, delicious flavor, slight mutton hint in the fat. If trimmed of fat, getting pretty close to Simon's delicious Bar-b-que lamb - and no rattlesnake for a durprise appetizer! We would return to The Brass Rail - especially if thr keep serving Spumoni ice cream with the final voffee. read more

Brass Rail - Biz Card - Basque Near Me - Alturas, California

I stayed in Alturas a year ago in the Niles Hotel. I love old Americana. Leaving town, I saw this place, a Basque Restaurant! Had to make an excuse to visit Alturas again to try. It was SO worth the trip! This place is straight out of the best of the 1950's. It was a 5 course, family-style dining room that made me feel like the Brat Pack was going to stop by on the road to Las Vegas. Heidi, the charmer running front-of-house, was everything you could ask for: attentive without any pressure, and just a pleasure to be around. The star of the night, however, was the food. A simple chicken broth with pasta that was honest and satisfying, served with peasant white bread. A basic iceberg lettuce salad, with a perfectly seasoned oil and vinegar with herbs - bright and crunchy and a perfect acidic aperitif to build the appetite. The side was a lamb stew that had a broth that was better than any Birria consume I had in Mexico! For the main, I chose lamb chops. Good choice! Three huge, inch and a half thick gems cooked perfectly rare! Some of the best lamb I've had. Even the fries served with them were excellent. And it was all topped off with a really first rate spumoni ice cream, three of my favorite food flavors - cherry, pistachio and chocolate- the perfect finish! The dinner even included a Cab-ish house red. I will be making this culinary pilgrimage again next year! The photos do not include the spumoni, it did not last long enough to get a shot, oops!​ read more

See all

The BEST! This basque-style restaurant is all you could want. Family-style food, all-included menu ( entree, soup, salad, side, fresh bread, local wine). Service is homey- in a small town everyone is family. Love this place! read more

Nice, welcoming (if a little threadbare) Basque-inspired restaurant. For a night out in Alturas, it hits the spot. This is a place where you want to show up good and hungry, as it's a ton of food. Not cheap, however, so you want to eat a lot to get your money's worth. Service is super friendly, reasonably fast and efficient. Bar scene is hit or miss, but can be fun sometimes. read more

The food was of poor quality and very salty, there were 5 of us all with dieting plates and we all thought the same thing, so the chef must of had extra salt to off load that day, yuck There was no chance at getting water or any other beverages as our server seemed pre occupied by running around to every single table as she was alone for the whole room, we couldn't even get her attention. This place is not worth the 40 bucks a plate I bet even on a good day. Try some place else read more

This place is one of the few dinner choices in town on a Tuesday night. It has a western atmosphere and the waitress was very friendly. The lamb was excellent: very mild and tender. My husband had fried from frozen scallops: ok. The rest of the meal was American 50's food: filling, wholesome, bland and definitely not Basque. Salad: plain lettuce: the dressing was tasty. Lamb soup: very plain with potatoes and canned peas and carrots, no spices to zip it up. The clientele were locals, usually wearing cowboy hats, a couple seemed drunk and talking too loud. They do give you a glass of sweet red wine included with the meal. The place is decent but not exciting in the seasoning department. But the lamb was great. read more

Brass Rail - Plain lettuce salad, lamb soup with canned peas and carrots. Included little glass of wine. - Basque Near Me - Alturas, California

I've never had a bad experience here. I've dined here at least 50 times throughout the years. It's my go to place for a good ribeye or lam steak/chop with roasted garlic on top. It's all served family style so the portions are huge. read more

Bar food is great.. especially the chicken and of course Amber the bartender....Sean the other bartender is absolutely awful...such a bad attitude...yes everyone has an off night but this prick is nasty all the time...they need to rid themselves of this "cancer" ...we go as far as avoiding visiting when that asshole works read more

I was excited to go eat here and then the food came. The soup had good flavor, but it had spaghetti noodle and couldn't get the pasta on the spoon, next was raviolis. The sauce was better to just eat with bread. Our salad or should I say just lettuce with dressing. My boyfriend got shrimp and I got the rib steak. There were 6 shrimp with breading on it, looked like from a box in the freezer. My steak was half fat and gristle. I will never be going back. read more

I'm giving 3 stars because of the bartender and the clientele. I was a visitor from out of town and went to this restaurant because (1) there isn't much else available in this dinky town and (2) it shows up on all the lists of places to eat in Modoc County. Let's start with the good. The restaurant service was great - friendly, the perfect amount of checking in. The dinner service is a multi-course meal where you choose your main protein and your flavor of ice cream but everything else is standardized. I ordered the lamb chops for my main and my only complaint is there was a lot of fat. The waitress suggested that the lamb steak is leaner and a better choice. Other choices include fried chicken and a shrimp dish. I was in the bar before dinner service started and the bartender was brisk and had a negative vibe. Locals showed up and his negativity increased - cussing, badmouthing other locals. Swearing doesn't bother me but his attitude and energy were off-putting. I went back to the bar after dinner. 7:00ish, opening day of deer hunting season. If you are not a Trump loving, State of Jefferson loving, Biden-hating person, keep your mouth shut. I was trying to have a reasonable conversation with someone who also does not live there but actually lives in my neighborhood and locals - who were not part of the conversation - harassed and insulted me on my way out. If I were a confrontational person it could've escalated but instead I took their abuse in silence and left. The restaurant was great, the bar was not. read more

Food was not good. I ordered a Medium Rare steak and I got the most rarest steak. The service is fine. The waiter is very kind. And lastly, the Ambiance is good. It is like a western type restaurant. read more

This place is like an old fashion- family style serving food, before your main course you will get Bread Wine & water. Then soup, salad & rice. Their Spanish rice is outstanding. I ordered Lamb steak today, meat is fresh & tasty just a little bit on a tough side for my taste. The service is great. read more

Brass Rail - Lamb steak with garlic - Basque Near Me - Alturas, California

Stumbled upon this place on our way to Oregon. Glad we popped in the bar for a beer. Bartender, Amber, was friendly and busy. This is definitely a local, after work, hangout. Quick stop, but will most definitely be back!!!!! Did not have food, only sat at the bar read more

Friendly staff. Great food! It was like eating and visiting with family and friends. Two up!!!

It has the most minimal menu from every single restaurant I looked at between Alturas and Cedarville. It's barely a menu, but luckily, even though my son eats virtually nothing, they had two things he could eat, and one of them is a roast beef sandwich. He loves a roast beef sandwich plain with literally nothing on it, including cheese or even the au jus dipping sauce. I had expected, since it's never been a problem in my 26+ years of being vegetarian to have an American food restaurant make me a super basic nothingless grilled cheese, that they could obviously make that, since they had the ingredients to do so based off their minimal menu, but they wouldn't do it. First restaurant in my entire adult life that refused, whether it was on the menu or not. So that was a major bummer, as I had to then wait till Cedarville to find something at a place that also didn't have it on the menu but had no issue making it. The plus side was this place was completely empty, as with everything in this area, the food was ready in 10 minutes. My won said it was one of the best roast beef and ever had, and the biggest issue we have whether it's a high-end or low-end restaurant like Arby's is it could be dry, too fatty, too thickly cut and he can't chew it and he gags, but it was perfect here. The fries were cold, so he didn't eat those, so that was a bummer. Considering we were there when he said the food would be ready by, it's weird that the fries were already cold. Anyhow, we would stop there again, specifically for the roast beef sandwich for my son. But they have no veggie options except fries and maybe a salad. read more

Had a very nice dinner last night. Unfortunately, Shelby our waitress was so overwhelmed, she was struggling to b friendly! However, She did a pretty good job of taking care of a full house! Please get her some help!! I hope she made some good tips last night I know we left her a good one! read more

Brass Rail - Fried chicken. All main courses are served with baked potatoes you need to ask for fries! - Basque Near Me - Alturas, California

Worst place to eat in Alturas. Hands down. First and foremost, their menu is very limited. Not many options to choose from and I wasn't all too impressed with the food served. More importantly, I was served at the bar (for food and drinks) by an extremely rude, inconsiderate, and disrespectful server/bartender. She should be ashamed of herself for all that she said and how much she derided me. I will never be coming to eat here again as you do not deserve any of my business. read more

Best hot buttered rum ever! She makes her own butter mix and it is awesome, love the nutmeg. Stopped for lunch on way north during snow storm as when would we ever eat at a Basque cafe in a small, out of the way place. Definitely looks like it's seen better times but friendly and full of locals where everyone knew each other. Food was very good but not sure what is "Basque" read more

In visiting Alturas, we found out about Brass Rail, a Basque restaurant. I haven't eaten at a Basque place in many years as the 2 Basque restaurants in my home town closed many years ago, so I was excited to try it. In the bar I had a Picon, a mixed a drink that is a specialty of Brass Rail, which is strong and tasty. I can't remember what was in it but it did have an orangy flavor. For my own sake I kept it to just one. They serve typically Basque style, which is family style in multiple courses, and you get an insane amount of food. Bread, soup, salad, a side dish, and the entree with fries AND dessert and coffee. Regarding the side dish, it was red beans with braised lamb shanks, potatoes and carrots, and paprika (not smoked). I love to cook beans so that certainly gave me something to play with in the future. In short, the food is good, and the bartender and our server were helpful and entertaining. Alturas is a small town (seriously) and somehow Brass Rail embodies the sense of community you get in a small town. And that was really nice. Plus we have leftovers for tomorrow :) PLEASE NOTE: They are open for inside dining. read more

This is THEE BEST place to go to eat in Alturas! You will always leave here full and then some. My go to favorite is the lamb steak with garlic and a side of fries. And they are the only restaurant I've been to that serves spumoni icecream and it's so good!!! read more

See all

Came here a couple weeks ago on a trip. Stopped here had a beer and the steak and fries at the bar. Decent place. I got steak and the fries. For 13.99 or whatever it's a good price for what your getting can't complain. It's decent but a cool little spot read more

This restaurant is family style and the food was definitely interesting. My brother in law had the steak and it was delicious and the bread was also tasty, but everything else was mediocre at best. For the quality of the food this restaurant was way overpriced. The waitress we had was a rock star and did an excellent job. read more

My husband grew up in this little town and I have been hearing about the Brass rail for 16 years. This place has the reputation as the "nice" place to have a family or celebratory dinner. We went with 10 people and sat at on of their long tables. I really enjoyed the food. Maybe because I was with my husbands family who still live there and it felt like family. Everyone knew everyone and at one point our Aunt Belia went into the kitchen to say goodbye to the owner who is really old and still cooking in the kitchen. Menu is simple- bread, soup, salad, raviolis (Sunday thing), and an entree. I had the steak, my kids had fried chicken, lamb and my husband had the rib eye. All this followed by ice cream. I am not sure how much per plate but I think it was $20. OH! the BEST part is it comes with wine, unlimited wine in these carafes that are usually for water. I am from Seattle and was kind of leery of the wine, but it WAS good really good. Did I say UNLIMITED? If you are driving through Alturas and want some good food then for sure stop here. read more

Brass Rail - the menu for the brass rail restaurant - Basque Near Me - Alturas, California

Great place where locals go. Awesome Basque restaurant, known for their family style dinning. You sit down and they serve you chicken soup (with tomato base), then a salad, then a side dish (side dish is different each day), THEN they ask what you want for dinner you also get ice cream for desert. They are known for their lamb and steaks, but they do have chicken, shrimp, scallops. read more

See all

Wonderful, wonderful restaurant. The food feels like my mother made it, and that's someone who comes from Spain. The ambiance is wonderful and the food is made with love. I would recommend to any and all who visit. read more

I look forward to coming here every year. Stopping in for a Pecan is a tradition among our fellow hunter and camper friends. I recommend stopping in for sure. read more

Horrible place! Website says they are open from 11:00am to 10:00pm so we thought we would beat the dinner rush and arrived at 4:00pm. There is a restaurant side, and a bar side to the building, so we tried the restaurant side of course... but locked. So we went into the bar, which smelled of bleach and vomit. The bar keep informed us the restaurant opened at 5:30, so we looked for things to do until they opened. At 5:30 we returned to a Restaurant door still locked, but you could gain access through smelly bar. Waitress said we could sit anywhere so we did... she came back and told us that she'd bring us soup and bread. We didn't know about the small menu on the table, but it's a four course meal with a side dish of the day ... Saturday is fried rice (later to be named...), there's about six choices for your main course. I chose steak and potato, the wife fried chicken. My steak and potato was good, but imagine your fried chicken with no coating or seasoning! Just a piece of raw chicken fried in oil... yuck! For the rest of the meal... the bread was burnt, the soup was mainly broth, the salad was just iceberg lettuce with some oily crap! Lastly the rice which we named Tomcat rice, because after you taste it you'll want to go outside to look for a tomcat , so you can lick his back side to get the bad taste out of your mouth!!!!! read more

We had a large group with a reservations weeks in advance. The only employees for the entire restaurant the evening we arrrived was a Waitress, bartender, and cook. The waitress was great but way over worked. As far a food, the soup was just broth and some pasta, the salad just iceberg lettuce with too much dressing, the bread may have been "homemade" but not on that day as it was cold and not fresh, and the pasta side dish was overcooked with the sauce straight out of a jar. The wine was ok, but poured into old wine bottles probably from a box. The Entrees seemed to be cooked to order and were decent. This place looks to have had it's best days back in the 70s and nothing much has changed since then. From the over used and ripped menus, to the duct tape holding the a/c vent to the roof, to the broken bathroom door handles. It is clear the owners are just phoning this in and have no desire to make this a decent restaurant. Feel sorry for the employees as 3 people is not enough to run a restaurant on a busy night. BTW, the menus do not have pricing but it is $8 for just soup/salad, $10 for all the sides, and complete meals are $20-$30 depending on the order. read more

Soup tasted like Campbell's canned. As well as Raviolli like canned chef boy r dee. Steak lacked flavor and over cooked. Way over priced for the poor quality. Bar food is good. read more

Always good food at the Rail. We make sure to stop in for a steak whenever we are in town. Sometimes the bar tender is extra crabby, but usually most of the staff is super fun. You get a lot of bang for your buck here. read more

I go here at least once a month for stake and fries in the bar. I prefer eating off the bar menu because it is delicious and the perfect amount of food also you cant beat the 10.99 price :-) read more

While fishing in the area, my buddies and I stopped in at The Brass Rail to bask in the gentle gastronomic-glow of this local legend. All in all, I had a great time there and left full and happy. The details follow. THE SPACE: When entering this redoubtable establishment, the first thing you might notice is that it's an old Rotary Club site - the second is that the outside steps are carpeted. Weird. But not bad. Just weird. You walk in and (at least in July) want to avoid sitting anywhere near the door, because the light from the setting sun will blaze in with each customer, and basically blind those of you at the table who face West. So watch that. As for the rest of the space, it's great. The ceiling is sound-dampened with cheesy tiles and there are some decorations that make me wonder (coat of arms with crossed swords) if the Rotary doesn't still meet here. The tables are covered in clear plastic, the lighting is muted, and the serving wear is very basic. Add to this that the menu has adverts for all the local merchants, and I basically want to move into this home-spun Cheese Cake Factory. Except that I actually don't want to do that. THE SERVICE: The service is down to earth. Our waitress was older, wore flannel, had highlights, and called us (collectively) "Hon." Great. THE VITTALS: This is where the money is. As the (at this time) only other reviewer mentioned, the menu works like this: price = wine, bread, soup, salad, day's side, and ordered entre and dessert. In other words, you order the entre and dessert and that's it. When they say bread, they mean whatever bread it is they have and decide to bring to you. When they say "soup," same deal. When they salad, expect a romane salad with italian dressing. We were unfortunate enough to have come on a night when they had run out of lamb, which is it not odd for a Basque restaurant to run out of lamb? Seriously, that's like all such restaurants serve, isn't it? Our waitress was very nice about it, and let us all know in advance, but still, odd. She said it was the second time that had happened in the 26 years the place had been running. Also, the wine they serve is a red, and it is served cold in a recycle bottle (complete with re-used cork whittled down to fit), and has a strange pine-resin-like flavor that I'm told is typical of Basque wine. It was good. I drank half that bottle! But if you're expecting a typical California red-wine experience, you will be caught wrong-footed. So, FYI there, I guess. The entres are things like spaghetti, lamb chops, fried chicken, steak, and popcorn shrimp, and all come with french fries. I got the fried chicken and foolishly cleaned my plate - I looked and felt pregnant when I left. It was a great meal, but it wasn't "Basque Cuisine." And lastly, the desserts were these: cookies and cream ice cream, or orange sherbert. Again, good, but not "Basque Cuisine." CONCLUSION: The Brass Rail serves up generous portions in a friendly, down-home atmosphere, but calling it a Basque restaurant might be a bit misleading. I'd be back in a heart beat though, and if you're in the area, I recommend them for a charming taste of the local cuisine and culture. read more

Went for dinner and wasn't sure what to expect quality-wise, but were pleasantly surprised! The soup was flavorful, but salad left more to be desired (just lettuce and a vinaigrette). The 'spanish rice' had meat, which was great, except I think it was actually vermicelli. I had the lamb steak (they were out of chops) and it was excellent! My husband tried the rib eye but it was undercooked (he order medium rare and it was rare) and the cut was half fat. Otherwise the service was above and beyond excellent. Making plans to revsit this gem the next time we're in the area. read more

See all

IT HAS A FULL BAR with a great bartender, I wrote this last but This is the ONLY bar in town that is worth even going to so i moved to the top... Family "Basque" dinning... the serve salad, soup, bread, wine, side dish, in large family plates so it is serve yourself, and you get to order a dinner entree as well . Overall it is good, but in Alturas the choices are limited so it gets 4 stars. read more

Very good Picon punch. Family style basque dinner was just ok. Lamb was less than generous. Raviolis and salad was good, the bread was definitely cold and stale. What can one say about ice cream and coffee? read more

So so. Waitress very attentive and nice. But I go to a restaurant also to eat. Expect quantity if not exactly quality. "Salad" was lettuce only drenched in Italian dressing. Bread was bread. Lamb stew (served before dinner was ok. I didn't try the soup. The Top sirloin steak was more well than medium done, and a little tough. And thin. The baked potato was good, as was the coffee ice cream for dessert. Coffee was ok. Menu was interesting: limited options and no prices listed. If I ever return to Alturas, I'll try the other restaurants. read more

Meh. The server was so sweet and friendly. The soup may or may not have been campbells. The fries were good, the fried chicken was okay. The picons hit the spot, and the table wine wasn't the worst. All and all, nothing stood out or was great. read more

We went for dinner at the Brass Rail since they had a full bar and the Wagon Wheel where we were staying did not serve alcohol with dinner. The BR had about 6 beers on tap, including a fruit flavored one. The bar keep was great, and offered a sampler of the unusual brews. The bar serves a few items, but we opted for the full meal in the restaurant. I grew up with Amish restaurants nearby so knew generally what to expect with the family style Basque fare. We filled up on the salty chicken broth based tomato soup with corkscrew pasta, iceberg lettuce that had been marinating in its dressing for awhile, fresh home baked bread, and a side dish which turned out to be peas, potatoes, carrots, and lamb chunks in a tomato based broth. It was only after all these courses were presented that the order for our meat entree was taken. Needless to say we boxed up most of the meat to take with us. Everything was tasty in a heavily-salted kind of way. The small bottle of chilled burgundy style was a good accompaniment to the meal. Nothing elegant, but it worked for us. read more

We had dinner tonight at Brass Rail. Food was okay, and house wines better than expected. One waitress was covering the whole dining room, and she was hustling, which was okay, except she was so fast in her interactions with us we ended up feeling rushed. We enjoy Basque restaurants, but this one isn't a favorite. read more

Amazing food served family style! Great service! Loved it! Try ii! Multiple courses all made from scratch. Wine coffee and spumoni included. Excellent Basque food! read more