Elle Wine Bistro

FYI — it looks like the restaurant is now out of business,. Passed it by last night and it was closed, and tried the phone number… disconnected.

While the strip mall ambiance leaves something to be desired, the food is entirely worth the trip. We started the meal with a bottle of wine, which always sets dinner off on the right foot. The complimentary bread was nothing special, but that just allowed us to make room for the rest of the courses. We split the spinach salad to start. It was simple with red onions, and candied pecans. I appreciated that the salad was lightly dressed, and the simplicity of the dish really made it. I had the butternut squash ravioli for my main course, and boy was it delicious. The dish had the ravioli in a rich brown butter sauce, filled with sauteed spinach and mushrooms. I’m normally not crazy about brown butter sauces, but this one won me over. The boy ordered a steak, and while I’m not the right judge, he seemed to enjoy it. We were too full for dessert, but they had several delicious-​sounding offerings.
Elle is too expensive for an everyday dinner, but I can see enjoying that ravioli again for a special occasion.

Well, we had a 2 for 1 coupon and the place is walking distance, so we went back… twice in fact. The horrendous service has not been repeated. In fact it has been quite good. As far as the food, I’d have to say it’s one of the best places in town. Kind of expensive, otherwise we’d go there a lot more.

Their butternut squash ravioli is heavenly and brought me back to Elle a second time. But, their previous location definitely had better atmosphere. For the price of meals and drinks, I wasn’t super amped about eating in a strip mall at the new location. Although the ravioli was amazing, I won’t return.

Wow, I’m very surprised by the bad reviews on here. My boyfriend and I ate at Elle last night for the very first time. We loved our experience and we WILL be back. We purchased a Groupon coupon, which prompted us to try it. We had the salmon appetizer and it was awesome! I couldn’t imagine a better appetizer. My boyfriend had the ahi tuna and he raved about it. It was perfectly cooked. They ask you how you want it cooked. He asked for medium and got medium. I had the penne with chicken. SO good. We had cheesecake for dessert and it was only so-​so. It was either slightly overcooked or a little old. Seemd kind of hard. We probably won’t order that again. The service was wonderful, which is another reason why we will return.

1. Their hours are obnoxiously limited. They close at 9pm
2. A friend and I tired to visit on a Sunday at noon. I walked right in (since the door was not locked) and the place was completely empty. I found that extremely odd. We waited for a few minutes and nobody came. Apparently the place was closed and they forgot to lock the door. Bizarre. We left and decided to come back a few weeks later for happy hour
3. We finally tried Elle for happy hour. The prices are a little steep since there are no specials. After ordering wine, salad, and a few bites, the meal ends up being quite pricey. I found the wine selection to be fair, but not great. Dinners are pretty much limited to pasta dishes.

We went here with clients last week. For the cost of the meal, I thought the food was only so-​so. The cheese tray was the bright spot in the meal. My husband’s ahi tuna was over-​cooked. It is not a great place to go if you are vegan. They did cook my pasta dish in olive oil instead of butter, which was appreciated. But for dessert, they had nothing that didn’t include a milk product of some sort. And even though they had fresh apples on the cheese tray that was ordered, they couldn’t bring themselves to cut up some for me so I could have a dessert with the rest of the group.

Oooooooooooooooooooh, Elle Wine BISTRO, I get it!!! When I drove up I was like, «oh poop, strip mall». Then I walked in and thoughtt, «oh double poop, café!» I looooooooooooooooved the old Elle Wine Country atmosphere… that said… are you ready… last night I ate one of the best meals of my life at Elle Wine Bistro! My husband and I both ordered the special steak with raspberry habanero sauce, chorizo mashed potatoes and vegetables and it was divine as was our Caesar salad with anchovies and house made dressing, and chocolate ganache desert. Our wine, although a bit over priced was delightful. If you are expecting the old Elle, you may be disappointed by the new Bistro atmosphere as opposed to the old wine country atmosphere, but the food is every bit as (if not even more) excellent! This was our second time eating here and we will be back again. CHEERS!

I feel like this place is consistently average. The food is okay, the seating is okay, the service… okay.
I’m never impressed, and not that I expect to be impressed, but I’d like my money to feel like it goes a little farther if I’m dishing out as much as they charge.
The best bet, and the only reason I go back is wine and a cheese plate for happy hour. Their «bar» seating is actually not at a bar, there’s no seating there– it’s just next to the door where you get people standing next to you waiting to sit or leave.

Very expensive for what is not amazing/​innovative food. I had a $ 9 glass of wine, a small side salad, and a cheese plate and the bill with tip/​tax was $ 48. The cheese plate was $ 23 for cheese that I could have gotten from Safeway. I also did not enjoy the bread that came with the plate as I felt it had an odd texture and was overly seasoned with something. If I wanted to spend 50 bucks for lunch, there are better options.
The service was great however, during my lunch time visit, and the ambiance is nice.

My rating is between a 3 –3.5 for this place.
We ended up here the day after Christmas. We walked in at 740 pm and were seated right away and told the special for the evening. What we were not told is what they were currently out of, and that would have been helpful.
They do not have a full wine list yet, so if you want to order a bottle take the price of a glass and x4 and you get your bottle price. After figuring this out we picked a bottle, and they were out. So, we were offered a different selection for the same price, which was good.
We ordered four of the morsel bites. Just an FYI, it says on the morsel menu that they are 2 – 3 bite items, and that is true. Don’t expect a big appetizer portion. Stuffed peppers with goat cheese– good. The fried baby shrimp –good (cocktail sauce was better). The salmon on the cracker — good. The fried brie we didn’t order — not too bad. The homemade sausage that came out a few minutes later when they realized they gave us the wrong thing… just ehh. I am glad we got to try the fried brie.
The petite salad greens was a good size and pretty good as far as salads go. None of the lettuce was wilted, the tomatoes were good, and I enjoyed the vinaigrette.
We tried to spit the gnocchi as our entrée however… they were out. So, went with the butternut squash ravioli. It had some good flavor. The ravioli were cooked perfect and the brown butter sauce was good, but I was wishing there was more butternut squash.
For dessert we had the chocolate gnache, which had an amazing raspberry sauce and homemade whip cream. That was a good way to end the dinner.
PROS: The ambiance is nice, and I like the location. The bread they serve with dinner is really good. The offer petite selections of most everything on the menu. Overall the service was good.
CONS: Not being prepared for what was not available on the menu. And our server came back once wreaking of smoke (obviously he had just had a quick break). That was not exactly pleasant.
I would probably come back here. But it wouldn’t be my first choice. Since this spot is fairly new, I will try it a few more times and update accordingly.

Went here on a Saturday night, it was a bit cool but not to bad. Sat outside, took awhile before we were waited on, bread and water was slow to come. Once again I think due to we were the only ones outside. Two dishes were ordered, Ahi Tuna and Butternut Squash ravioli. Bother dishes were great. I would go back again, but perhaps during the early evening. Inside was full and loud.