My red snapper was good, just a little on the dry side. Could have used a bit more seasoning…read more The service was fantastic. Very friendly and accommodating. We love places that make you feel you've stepped back in time. Very homey vibes. Will definitely return if we get the chance.

Wow finally found a delicious Steak in Merced! My family & I are in town visiting for my mom's…read morebirthday. By her recommendation we came to try it out tonight. We ordered filet mignon with baked potato & veggies, New york strip with mashed potatoes & veggies & Chicken piccata with veggies. Everything was full of flavor. Filet mignon was perfectly seasoned & tender. My carrots in my veggies were hard and dry. But that would be the only complaint. I however had enough delicious food on my plate to not care about missing out on carrots. My son ordered the kids pollo asado( grilled chicken) with rice & beans. Delicious. Wine is a generous pour. Service was friendly, attentive & all orders came out correctly. Restaurant was clean and country decor. Will definitely be returning to try out the breakfast & Mexican food.

Came across The Mainzer while staying next door for the night and of course I was curious thinking…read morethis was a German place based on the name. Apparently the owners might been from Mainz but that's about it. The ambience and food were great and so was their beer! Cheers

Fun place to hang out for beer and tacos, maybe onion rings too. There's an actual movie theatre as…read morewell as a game area with I think skeeball and some other stuff that we didn't check out. Vibe felt like they'd put some money in to the remodel and upkeep, leading to a bright, contemporary vibe that managed to preserve the original feel. Was here for a vendor event, where the extensive beer selection, accessed by self-service RFID cards, worked better in theory than reality. They measure the pours at each machine and it's quite interactive, but it felt like a bunch of the kegs were empty (so the corresponding dispensers were not working), and there were definitely some issues with the RFID system that they, to their credit, did get sorted out. Chips and guac are good and hard to mess up, the carne asada tacos were very good, the chicken tacos were pretty forgettable. 3.5 stars. Tempted to rate higher but they seem to promise a bit more than they delivered.

Celebrating my birthday. We decided to give Rainbird a try. From the valet parking, the hostess and…read morewait staff were all friendly and seemed happy to help. For starters we had the pork belly app with bread and honey ricotta spread. Both were amazing! Best pork belly we have ever had. Then I had the scallops and my child had duck confit! We were trading bites and with our plates half cleared, we realized we never got a photo. I had lemon tiramasu and they had Strawberry shortcake. Great flavor! There was also a double bourbon and a latte in there somewhere. I wanted to try everything on the menu and should have had some wine. There will have to be a next time, and another next time. The dining room was modern and clean. The experience was great and glad that Merced finally has fine dining.

We chose Rainbird for our Galentine's celebration on Sunday, 2-15-26. We had reservations at 12:30…read morepm. We were met by the greeter who proceeded to tell us to wait to be seated. The restaurant was not very busy and it took almost 20 mins just to be seated at our table. We then took our place at the table and we waited another 10-15 mins for someone to wait on us. We kindly flagged the young male server there and asked him if he could get our server to assist us. The young female server finally came out to assist us - she was not very welcoming but proceeded to take our drink order. It took almost 15 minutes to get our mimosas and water. She did not greet us, inquiry if it was our first time there or gave us suggestions on the menu. She then proceeded to take our order which took a while to get our food. The plus - everyone enjoyed our meals from the way they were prepared to the ingredients. No one ever came to our table and gave us any water nor did they ask for a refill on our drinks. During this time I peeked around the corner and saw staff just sitting in the back talking to one another. I tried to keep the experience positive for my group of friends but they were also growing concerned about the lack of hospitality. The lunch schedule was only until 2 pm but because of Rainbird's delay in seating us, taking our drink orders as well as the slight delay we felt we were now being rushed to finish our lunch, I also wanted to celebrate our friend's birthday and I brought a cake - the server proceeded to tell me it would be a $5 charge per person if I cut the cake there. She did offer to bring a complimentary dessert for our guest of honor. In my opinion, due to the service we were not receiving the cake fee should have been at least discounted or offset due to the lackluster enthusiasm and service. As we were trying to finish our lunch and take pictures at this beautiful establishment we could see the "side eyes" of staff rushing to get us out the door. I am a firm believer of supporting small businesses in Merced since I was born and raised there and let's face it - Merced has very limited fine dining and we wanted to do something nice for us. In order for small businesses to thrive in this town they need our consumerism to stay in business. As I read from all the exemplary reviews on this platform we unfortunately had a very bad experience with this lovely establishment. A group of us came from Madera so that we could meet our gals from Merced as a middle location. Needless to say we were very disappointed with the service as well as the treatment we received from Rainbird. Next year we will choose another location for our next gathering. Please do better Rainbird.

Our consisten order of the Breakfast Burrito. Always, Always tastes so good. Feeds both of…read moreus...(elderly peeps) Kathy is as usual, Very Sweet, Attentive, and helpful. Experienced, knowledgeable, Soo Kind. Prices are on the upper end, but, then again....they cannot survive otherwise. Still recommend highly. Place is busy, and yet comfortable!

We ate here after a race at the college, and it was packed -- but the staff handled it like total…read morepros! They got everyone seated quickly, took our orders efficiently, and our food came out faster than I expected (even with a chicken fried steak in the mix). I grew up in a restaurant, so I know how hard it is to keep things consistent when it's that busy -- but they nailed it. The hash browns were crispy, the waffles were perfect, and everything tasted great. We all had such a good time. I'm so impressed and can't wait to come back. Highly, highly recommend!

Scott's Diner in Merced is always a win, and today was no exception. We were on our way to a hike…read morein Mariposa and wanted a Mexican breakfast that would actually power us through the trail--Scott's delivered in every way. We asked if they could do a special order: a burrito deconstructed, with over-easy eggs and the tortillas on the side. They were totally accommodating, and it was exactly what I was craving--fresh, filling, and seriously delicious. I went for the blueberry pancakes, and wow: they were enormous, fluffy, packed with real blueberries, and basically the perfect pre-hike fuel. And the coffee? Amazing, as always. I meant to take a picture of my food, but honestly I accidentally didn't--because everything looked so good that I dug in immediately. And even without the photo evidence, the presentation and plating were incredible, just like they always are. This place has my heart. I'd give it a hundred stars if I could--highly, highly recommend.

Hole in the wall local place near the more southern area of hotels in Merced, and a welcome break…read morefrom mediocre hotel breakfast. Staff here are friendly, there's a solid bit of history and kitsch in the very back on the way to the restrooms, giving character to what is otherwise a decidedly local, low-frills experience. The steak salad (was it a steak taco salad?) looked quite tasty but also ordinary so I skipped it and stuck with breakfast; the sausage and eggs were very much unremarkable, but at least the hashbrowns were nicely pan fried and the eggs were a large portion. Biscuit and gravy reinforced the former impression, but again, hard to complain-- did the job. This place is super affordable and the overall verdict is a solid local place that's easy to appreciate but hard for me to say I would actually get excited about.

While this restaurant has always been my go to for breakfast and casual dining. I did find an item…read moreon the menu that I think is exceptional. It is the sirloin steak dinner you get the sirloin steak which is 8 ounces about an inch and a half thick so it's perfect if you like your medium rare. The dinner comes with a choice of rice, pilaf, mashed potatoes, french fries or baked potato after 3 PM Daily, and a veggie. You also have a choice of a dinner roll or cheese bread. The steak itself was tender and cooked to perfection. It had a great taste all this and the price was under $20. You can't beat that. Bill

Had a great ride from Oakland down here to eat at the Bbq pit…read more Called 2 hours in advance and talked to Nancy. Told here there were 8 of us would be arriving in 2 hours. When we got there, there was a table waiting for us. Same as they did for us last year. Good food, service and price. Thanks Nancy. See you next time

Stopped in with my family for lunch on Friday. When we walked in the restaurant was pretty busy and…read moreunfortunately only had one server working all positions herself. She greeted us and sat us. Then we sat looking at the menu for over 10-15minutes and she still had not returned to even get our drink order. She finally returned and apologized for the long wait. We ordered our drinks and food since we were now ready. The food took quite some time to come out. But as we were waiting we noticed the tables around us still had not received their food as well. When our food finally arrived it was really good. We ordered the buttermilk ranch Chicken Sandwich with fries / sweet potato fries, double stack burger added egg on top with fries & kids chicken tenders. Chicken sandwich was perfect. Juicy on the inside and perfectly crisp on the outside. My husband enjoyed the stack burger. The restaurant was clean and had they of had a hostess & busser to help out the waitress I believe the experience would have gone better. For this I deducted 1 star.

Lunch with my son and pup here was fantastic. We sat outdoors and the courtyard in front of the…read morerestaurant is a nice space to take in the active downtown view. Our server was top notch and very well versed on the menu. They have a full bar and extensive menu. We started with the poke appetizer, which was amazingly flavorful. I was not expecting the ample amount and excellent quality of this dish. It's a must-try if you like raw fish. We also tried the bacon wrapped dates, which were awesome. The cashew nut inside is a pleasant addition. I ordered the 510 Penne for lunch and my son had the tortellini. Both were excellent. The chicken was very tender. It was a lot of food and we took some leftovers. They have a unique payment system whereby you can scan a barcode on the bill to pay your bill automatically. This was a nice touch and came in handy to pay quickly because rain was rolling in. Overall I highly enjoyed this restaurant and look forward to my next visit. There's parking nearby and it's close to lots of shops if you care to walk and shop.

Just needed a bite to eat while passing through on our way out of town. This popped up on the map…read more Never heard of it.. such a cute place outside and inside. Nice selections of bakery items! We were greeted promptly and seated. Their menu is a great selection of sandwiches, salads, burgers. My husband had the Salmon salad 2.0, I had a grilled vegie sandwich on focaccia bread. Got the food fast. We were shocked at the size of the salad! It was plated beautifully! My sandwich was delicious. Only tiny complaint.. I wish there were more vegies on it. The fries were crazy good and crispy! Crinkle cut.! There are other options for your sides. I got a piece of pumpkin roll to go. Had to take a bite as we were leaving.. it was divine!!! I can't wait to stop again. The ladies were so attentive and fast. Please stop by if you're in Merced.

Got a hair in my burger , not the greatest surprise. Their…read moredesserts are yummy , I would recommend the lemon bar