Is the food at Chalet a good representative of Basque cuisine? I certainly hope not. My friend Stacy A says it is not but a foodie she is not. However, at least for Chalet we seem to be in agreement. After a long day of exploring California's bread basket, I was ready for a hearty tasty meal. The food at Chalet is hearty but it was far from tasty. Just about every item served was bland or plain. I started off with a huge bowl of lumpy tasteless clam chowder which was not any better than the dry tasteless French bread it came with. The dinner also came with marinated tomatoes, marinated beef, beans and salsa. All of which I would rate at edible but not much better. The marinated beef was a plate of thinly sliced beef that had the texture of spam but without the taste. For the main dish, I ordered the lamb chops. I was assured this was one of the house signature dishes. What I got was two triangle shaped chops about 2 inches to a side, most of which was bone. I do have to admit, the lamb was fresh, tender and exhibited an excellent delicate flavor, however, a bit of seasoning would have been good. The décor is dated. The service was enthusiastic, even a bit over enthusiastic. The personable server over sold the lamb chops and the kitchen staff apparently thinks dishes make great music when banged together. Next time? I think another Basque eatery is needed for comparison sake. read more

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For some reason Benji's was closed today, not sure why. We came to this place as a second choice. Entering this place it was somewhat dark inside. We were sat down at a booth by a very disinterested employee. We looked at the menus and decided on shrimp scampi and a veal dish. Several minutes later another employee who also seemed to prefer being elsewhere came to take the order. This waiter did not greet us, did not smile, there was nothing about the interaction that was welcoming. Just "you ready to order?", we gave him our order, and he left. My wife and I talked about how bad and unwelcoming the service was, waited a few minutes, and we left too. This is expensive food to spend that kind of money for DGAF service. Got in the car ended up at Woolgrowers. Never again, I have had better service at fast food outlets, for a tenth of the money. read more

We stopped in for a quick lunch on our way to an appointment. I haven't been to Chalet in years (I'm usually a Woolgrowers or Benjis girl); however it was in the area and I needed my French basque fix while in CA. It was not busy and we were sat in the bar at a booth. However, I do not feel that they had sufficient staff to cover the amount of people they were serving. Our server did a good job but he was busy. We ordered the lunch set up and my mom ordered Fried Shrimp. The lunch set up food was pretty good for $8.95 but not in comparison to some of the other basque restaurants. The shrimp however, was not worth the $11.95 they charge for 5 pieces. They also charged an additional $4 to have soup with it. I was bummed that it wasn't quite as good as I had remembered it being; although I did hear that it has changed ownership in recent years. read more

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Had dinner tonight. Corned beaf and cabbage. Very good. Soup, salad, bean, salsa excelled. The house wine was superb. Wait staff freindly an all around great experience. read more

We've been many times in the past but most recently since the new owner took over. We were VERY pleased with our meals, scampi, chicken, and orange roughly. The soup, salad, fries, and green beans were all cooked to perfection. My husband enjoyed his pecan punch and I was very happy that their bar had 4 draft beers. Our friends had the butterfinger pie and they loved it. We'll be back!​ read more

Service was outstanding and food came out hot and fresh. Our waitress Denise was very helpful and nice as well as the rest of the staff!

Words of advice: listen to the comments before yours! Everything written before me is true.. Came here this evening (Friday) with a party of 9. We were promptly seated (1 point for CB) and the soup came out soon after followed by bread and the beans. All in all the soup was good and I was hopeful to disprove the negative reviews before me...I spoke much too soon! **Side note: the place is dark and dreary which was okay considering but the smell is rather odd and well, not one that makes me want to dive into a plate of food! Back to my story..It seemed like forever after that for us to receive anything else. We were going on our third serving of soup when FINALLY (shocking, I know) the servings of pickled tongue and salad arrived. But wait...As I was salivating waiting for the pickled tongue to arrive before my side of the table I sadly realized that our table of 9 was only getting ONE serving of tongue. Two bowls of salad and ONE PICKLED TONGUE!! You'd think that would've been enough but whatever...maybe they were grabbing more. I was able to get my fair share from my beloved table mates and then they arrived with the chicken. Ahem...garlic chicken that was missing the garlic part. Bland fried chicken. No seasoning. No garlic. Ughhh... Yeah, by this point I'm over this place. Just give me my check. I'm going home! Don't waste your money! read more

Being Basque restaurant lovers, my husband and I were traveling through the area and had always heard of Chalet. We made the plan to stop for lunch and are so happy we did! We received fabulous service from George, their longtime waiter. He explained the restaurant recently changed ownership. We ordered the traditional Basque Picon Punch cocktail. It did not disappoint. George promptly brought out the drinks and brought the original bartender from the restaurant's early days (1971) over to our table to meet us. Such a charming gentleman! The young lady assisting George with waitressing was also lovely and attentive. We enjoyed the many courses, especially the salad and special "hard jack" cheese (so yummy-first time I'd ever heard of or tasted this cheese). Our entire meal was excellent. I was sad we were unable to take our leftovers from this huge meal with us... we were on a road trip, so nowhere to store this to eat later. With that said, we still tried one of Chalet's homemade desserts, the Butterfinger pie. Amazing! We were treated like family here. I enjoyed the old-school feel of the place, and, of course, the amazing meal. We can't wait to visit again the next time we are in the area. read more

The atmosphere was comfortable. The service was prompt and friendly. The meals are family style. Soup, bread, beans, a warm salsa, salad, pickled tongue, marinated tomatoes, French fries and green beans are brought to the table to share amongst your party. My daughter had the fried chicken and said it was cooked perfectly and she really liked the seasoning. I had the special filet mignon. It comes with a brandy and raspberry sauce. It was cooked perfectly, I asked for medium. I loved the pairing of the raspberries (whole raspberries were on the plate) and the steak. My husband ordered the roast beef. He was underwhelmed. He found it to be bland with an overwhelming flavor of onion. That was a miss. Overall an enjoyable meal and a great server, just wish my husband would have liked his entree a bit better. read more

Chalet Basque Restaurant - Filet mignon with brandy and raspberry sauce. - Basque Near Me - Bakersfield, California

I saw the ad under new ownership so i decided to tell my wife lets go back and it was the best experience i ever had we are making this our favorite basque restaurant read more

Wow!!! New owners same great service, beautiful facelift, Definitely recommend! Food always great!!

We've been going to this restaurant for years. We went in for a late lunch, my husband had the pork chops and I had fried chicken. The soup was excellent, the main courses were good. The portions on the side dishes were on the small side. The restaurant is getting a bit dated and it's pretty dark when you're eating. Our waiter was friendly but not very attentive. Overall a good meal. read more

The service was horrible. I never got my order and the carafe that they brought water in had beans smeared in it. Very disappointed. Left without eating a bite after being there for an hour. read more

First, the logistics: We stopped here for lunch on our way to Sequoia. They are doing take-out, and I called to order. The phone connection was a bit fuzzy. I ordered 2 of the Chalet-style sandwiches, 1 lamb and 1 beef; they took about 45 minutes to make. We called again when we arrived, parked by the back door, and someone came out with our sandwiches. We paid cash. No utensils or napkins were included, but I had brought some with me. I didn't see any beverages except milk, coffee, and tea on their online menu, so we just stopped at the gas station down the street to buy Cokes. We headed to Saunders Park to eat. Now, the food: Yum! The sandwiches had a melted, white cheese and an Ortega chile. The bread was grilled. Both sandwiches were awesome, but the lamb was super tender. Sandwiches were wrapped in foil, which made eating them neatly a lot easier. They came with fries and a thick, garlicky soup. Everything was definitely cooked to order and was very, very hot when it was brought to our car. It was all so delicious! I was worried that the portions might be huge, because in my experience Basque restaurants sometimes give you a ridiculous amount of food, but this was perfect for two hungry travelers. Bottom line: Definitely doable for those who are driving through Bakersfield! Prices are very reasonable for the quality of food. read more

The food and the service was outstanding. My filet and my husband Porter house was cooked to perfection. You could cut with a fork. Mind you, we hadn't been there in a long time, but I heard there were new owners and we just had to try out. I was happy to see that George and Manny still worked there. May I add those guys never disappoint on there good service. I will definitely be back for the best shrimp scampi. Thank you to the new owners for bringing back the Pyrenees French bread and the lighting for the parking lot and bringing it back to life read more

Extremely poor service. Waited 10 minutes to be seated and nobody showed up. Bartender said to seat ourselves. We waited some more time and the Waiter only showed up as we got up to walk out and go to a resturant that actually cared about its customers. read more

It was my first time here and one of just a couple times having basque food. We all enjoyed the food and I thought the atmosphere was cool and rustic. You get a ton of food(of course it's basque). I enjoyed all the set up stuff. the tongue, soup, and bread were the best parts. I ordered beef Bourguignon which I've never had before and loved it. I tried my friends braised lamb which was great too. I thought the booth they gave us was a little small for 3 of us and all the food they bring out, you have to do a lot of shuffling. I say make sure you're hungry if you come here or the price will not be worth it. read more

Chalet Basque Restaurant - Beef Bourguignon - Basque Near Me - Bakersfield, California

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I used to love this place. I remember when they quit using Pyrenees bread and many people thought that was going to ruin their business. I still continued to support them because the service was top shelf and the food was great every time. Tonight we went in and the waiter almost made us feel like it was an inconvenience to walk past our table. I ordered an iced tea, never received it, but it made it to the bill. My lamb chops were overdone and bland, my wife's filet didn't wind up coming to our table until we asked about it almost 10 minutes after the rest of the table was served. They used to offer pickled tongue as part of the setup, not any more. We weren't even made aware that it no longer on the setup or offered it. To top it off, we had to hear the same thing from the table behind us practically the whole night.... So we weren't the only ones experiencing problems with Chalet. It's a shame because this used to be a favorite of mine. read more

Well it's been a lot of years since I've been here since my grandma passed away had to come back for another funeral food still as good as it used to know drinks are strong and good and they have an excellent big giant party room and also to die for pickled tongue if you haven't had it it's some good stuff away when you're in Bakersfield can you watch some basketball food stop by there the right off the freeway read more

Food was delicious my steak wasn't cooked exactly like I like it but overall it was good, the butterfinger pie is yummy and the staff was very attentive.Good atmosphere read more

Our server was nice and the soup along with all the normal trimmings tasted fine, but our main course was really bad.

We had a wonder experience also last Dec. Were returning for lunch next week on the way to Yosemite. Our first experience was really interesting as we tried several dishes, because we had 4 people. This time we know what to do and we will follow the Server's lead and do it all over again. Very good food and definitely worth a visit. read more

Haven't been here in years and will definitely be back soon. The set up was amazingly delicious and the garlic butter fried chicken was out of this world. My whole family couldn't stop eating and saying how delicious everything was even the ice tea was so good. read more

We weanted to try something new and different. Expecting paella, this restaurant turned out to be French Basque instead of Spanish. Food quality was good but over-priced. Bread was stale and old. The least they can do is warm it up. Food was nothing to be excited about. Service was good and attentive. We visited for lunch on Memorial Day and the place was dead. The owner of the restaurant was our server and was very friendly. Pickled tongue was the only dish that caught my taste buds. Very good and did not at all have a weird taste; the spices and vineagar really help! Beef Bourguignon was good but I can probably get the same quality from Costco. If you are looking for something different, try it out. read more

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It has regular tables and booths instead of trestle tables, but otherwise this is a traditional-style Basque restaurant, where the main course is preceded by an overwhelming number of side-dishes served family-style for your party. These include cabbage soup (quite tasty), green beans, roasted tomatoes, fries, and a plate of sliced tongue, which I have to say was really delicious. Menu implied that there was rice, but I got no rice. The only part not up to snuff was the bread, which was bland. Another difference with other Basque restaurants, where the waitress will tell you which four or five main meats the chef cooked that day, was a menu with a much larger selection, including various kinds of seafood. Usually at a Basque restaurant the best bet is lamb (they had several cuts of that), but I decided to try fried chicken, which was very lightly breaded and lightly seasoned, pretty good. And the last difference was, service was kind of leisurely. If they had dessert, it wasn't offered. read more

Great food. Services was not has good has I've experienced in th pass, maybe due to the Father's Days and being extra busy. IDK. But overall my experience Fathers Day lunch was OK. I will return. read more

Chalet Basque Restaurant - Lunch time - Basque Near Me - Bakersfield, California

customer service was awful, george was our server and hardly came to check on us. the busser with the glasses did more for us than he did. i gave her a tip and not him. food was a 2/10 only good thing is the soup everything else like chicken, shrimp, and steak is dry and no seasoning. bartender is rude and looks annoyed. read more

was there last night and Food was amazing staff was amazing would definitely come back they make you feel at home and are extremely attentive read more

The food here is amazing and the amount that you get for the cost is very good. We ordered the lamb chops and the shrimp scampi appetizer. The lamb came with: a vegetable soup, meaty beans, a somewhat spicy salsa, bread and butter, a house salad with marinated tomatoes, garlic green beans, French fries, and a tasty basil and garlic sauce. It all paired incredibly well, the meats were cooked perfectly and Manuel was a very kind host. Overall great experience. read more

I was referred to this place by a friend who ate here growing up. He's now in AZ where I live as well. I had never had basque food before so I was excited to try something new. I was pleasantly surprised not only by the flavors but the portions. I had top notch service by Manny who I had pick my entree for me (I couldn't decide). I usually steer clear of anything with garlic but I just loved the shrimp he chose. The green beans were even to die for and I don't even like greens beans so there you go. I absolutely loved the cabbage soup w/beans and salsa. It's a place I will definitely crave when I go home and will frequent during my visits to Bakersfield. read more

I came in for lunch today and stood there waiting to be seated forever. I saw a few people sitting at tables in the bar so I grabbed myself a menu and seated myself. I think it was the busboy that put down my plate and bowl and practically tossed my napkin and silverware onto the table. He then brought my water. The food was kinda good. I wanted a set-up which is soup, bread&butter, salsa, and beans. It's always a little weird whenever I've come here. I had to ask to get the rest of the set-up: fries, salad, and veggies (corn from a can). Not the servers fault but the crappy busboy that took down my order who needs a new job. Not once did my water get refilled. Server was polite though. I had to ask the bartender/owner?? for my check. He had to go find the server. It's like something is always a little off here. Food is ok, nothing great, service totally sucks. I left a $1 tip for bringing and clearing away my plates. I am usually a very generous tipper, but service here is silly. Maybe there is always a game on in the back or something because after reading other's reviews, this type of service is normal here. I won't be back. Here in Bakersfield, we are fortunate to have many great Basque restaurants. Benji's, Luigis, Wool Growers, Noriega's, Narducci's, Pyrenees Cafe.. enough that I won't settle for sub par service. read more

Tried to make reservations at Woolgrowers, but they couldn't take us until 9pm. Chalet was recommended by our aunt. It was very dark in there and rather dreary. There were A LOT of large parties going on so it was also quite noisy. Our waitress was VERY personable - especially after her other table left - they seemed to be giving her a hard time and displeased with everything she did. She was quite nice with us and enjoyable to talk to. The setup didn't include spaghetti, which is included at both Woolgrowers and Benji's so that was a bit of a disappointment. My sister and I split the fried chicken with garlic butter and it was not only great, but between the two of us, we couldn't finish the plate - we had to take 2 small pieces of chicken home with us. The setup was tasty and - unlike the other two places, I was ballsy enough to try the tongue. It was better than I thought it would be!! The soup was terrific. The salad was WAY overdressed - there was easily a quarter of an inch of dressing left at the bottom of the bowl - but it was all greens and ripe, juicy tomatoes which was good. The other two places - if I recall - use iceberg. The fries were fantastic - although we hardly touched them. My daughter's burger was incredible. I was unimpressed with the breaded veal that my husband got but he seemed pretty happy with it. When in Bako, Woolgrowers is best, but Chalet comes in a close 2nd that's for sure. read more

We love this place! We've probably been here four or five times now, and never have been disappointed. Up until last night, my go-to dish here was the fried chicken, sometimes with the garlic, sometimes without. And I do love the chicken, no doubt. Well done, and the portion is huge. Of course, I can never eat it all, because the standard setup is so filling. You start out with a vegetable soup, heavy on the cabbage. As much as you want, of course, but they bring out a huge bowl for just two people, so we've never had to ask for more. Same for the salad, very tasty, and you can have more if you want, so anyone who says the salad is too small is making stuff up. There's also a bowl of beans, which I like to put into my soup bowl. Bread and butter, of course, and some salsa, which I also add to the soup. Green beans, crispy french fries, pickled tongue, (fabulous!), sometimes a really tasty beef stew, sometimes something else in place of it. By this time, I'm usually pretty well filled up. So what do they do? Bring out the entree! This time, I had the orange roughy with basque tomato sauce, and now it's my new favorite entree. Again, a HUGE slab of fish, well cooked, on a bed of chopped tomato sauce. My wife had the lamb fries, which is a delicate way of saying testicles. Very nicely done. Not everyone's cup of tea, of course, but everyone should try them sometime in their life. The servers are great, very friendly and helpful, and owner is a VERY beautiful and friendly lady, who you WILL see roaming around the place interacting with customers. Will we be back? Uhhhhh,.....yeah! read more

We always end up at Chalet, it's open in the late afternoon when we're trekking back to LA. I like the atmosphere, not just old school but downright historic. The large polished wood bar looks wild west and the rest of the place could be Italian if you squinted your eyes a little. All of the entrees look homey and good. I've learned not to order any though because I get filled up on the set up; I love the soup with beans and salsa and I don't want to have to pace myself to save room for anything else. read more

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Yummy oriental food. Owner is super friendly, and treats people as if she's known you a long time!

I cannot tell you how absolutely heartbroken I am to have to write this review of one of our favorite restaurants in Bakersfield, but fair is fair! We went in for an early dinner with friends over the weekend. We were promptly seated, which was the highlight of our dinner!!!! It was downhill from there! The Reader's Digest version: Service was an absolutely a disgrace, it was beyond slow. No drink order, no water refills, once the food was brought out, no return to check on needs....we ran out of water, bread, salsa, and beans. Our check was incorrect and it took almost half an hour to get a corrected check. The food: Steaks were charred on the outside and bloody on the inside and tough as shoe leather. Pickled tongue was so fatty it couldn't be eaten. The salad had a funky, rotten vinegar taste, the soup was luke warm at best. The corn was from a can, the pork chops tasted like they had been reheated. It was one of the most disappointing meals we have ever had a Chalet Basque. Was it an "off night?" From the other comments, I would say NO, it appears to be a resturant on the way out! There are too many really good Basque restaurants in Bakersfield to spend hard earned money on bad food and bad service. read more

This restaurant is against ADA standards for individuals with medical conditions. I visited from out of town with friends, and was unable to purchase a child's service. Further, they do not have a senior service. Thus, I spent $12.50 for maybe $6.50 of food. Having had bariatric surgery, I am unable to eat what is expected. read more

This place is amazing it's clean very unique the service was Great!!!! The food was very delicious, we came out of town to try something different and we came here a must try if in Bakersfield. read more

Manny was our server today and as always everything was consistently delish My go to Basque Restaurant! read more

The food is fabulous the 3 times I have been there. Wide selection to choose from. Friendly staff. I only have 1 suggestion. The food comes out on a cart, largely because of the amount of staff, or at least I think that is why, but it is loud and cut our conversation short. But other than that....wonderful. Give it a try! read more