The Bistro - Valdosta, Georgia

Erin B.

My husband and I decided to go to the Bistro for our date night last weekend. We got to the restaurant at 6 pm along with several other parties with no reservation. The party behind us was a bit impatient, but we were all seated within 5 min. We decided to sit outside since the weather was so nice. In such a small restaurant and with limited staff we did wait a few minutes for our waitress to make her way outside but she was wonderful and my glass was never empty and she was continuously checking in on us. My husband and I both ordered the drunken angus and it was cooked perfectly. Our meals were delicious! The owner even came out and checked on us and was as nice as could be! Overall a great experience.

David M.

We are here again. It definitely didn't disappoint. I did err sitting on sidewalk cause it got coil but that was on me. I have seen a few reviews complaining of slow service. My server was very attentive. It did take a bit of time for the food to arrive but yall I didn't cone to a fast food joint. I enjoyed my time yaking with folks around me. My server seen to me. I enjoyed my experience. Some folks just need to slow down and enjoy time.

Allie P.

My husband and I decided to come here for a late Valentines Day dinner. We got here at 4:45 PM, waited outside, and was one of the first 4 tables seated. We ordered at 5:15 PM. We did not receive our food until 6:40 PM- in the meantime, tables that were sat with us and after us had ordered, received their food, eaten, had dessert, paid, AND left by the time we received our food. The only excuse we got from our waitress was “the kitchen got swamped all at once” but they weren’t swamped enough to give food to tables who ordered 30 minutes after us.
This was overall a terrible experience and I really hope this restaurant can learn from this. I would give this place 0 stars if that was an option.

Nichole L.

We recently moved to Valdosta a few months ago and decided to give this place a try for date night last night and it started out lovely and ended with us going to a different restaurant for dinner.

we arrived just after 6 without a reservation. We typically enjoy a good bar seat and walked straight up to the bar that had no customers at the time. Richard, the bartender greeted us and brought us a delicious lemon drop Martini and beer. he told us about the specials, and then took our order for an appetizer, the baked Vidalia onion dip. He then returned a few minutes later to take our entree order. that was the last time he spoke to us for nearly an hour. people started to pack in fairly quickly at the bar and dining room. after the first 15 minutes, our drinks were empty. I'm not going to lie, the Martini was delicious and I would have ordered probably 2-3 more throughout dinner. had Richard asked. A couple with a 2 year old sat at the end of the bar. he brought them both drinks, toon their ordered, brought refills, and continued to make his wait around the bar to take orders, and fill drinks. We watched people who came into the restaurant after us get their appetizers, entrees, and drink refills. we were not even offered more water. I swear we were staring daggers at this man behind the bar and he avoided eye contact at every turn. Finally after about 45 minutes, he pointed at us, said nothing, and walked away. Then as he was bringing another patron (again. who arrived after us) their appetizers, he said to us "I got you guys, your dip should be up soon." At this point it has been 50 minutes, and my husband and I were hungry, parched and quite irritated. Now I will mention that this place is small, filled in quickly, and was likely understaffed. However, not even a refill offer. No acknowledgement or apology that our appetizer that had still not arrived after nearly an hour had still not come. We decided that frankly we were over the entire experience. I waived the bartender down, and politely said to him "We have been waiting 50 minutes for an appetizer. we would like the check for the drinks we finished and will be leaving". He shook his head in understanding (again, no apologies, not even an "I get it, guys!" no works. just a head shake". He returned a few minutes later with another gentleman. He said to him (again not even addressing us) "they people would like to speak to a manager ". I said immediately, "No, we would just like the check for our drinks please so that we can close out. We have been waiting an hour. We have had empty drinks for 45 minutes. We would like to leave." The manager told us our entrees were almost up. we told him we did not care, we didn't even receive our appetizer. Then I looked right at Richard and said "you didn't even check on us once. you didn't offer a refill, you didn't tell us our food was running long, nothing. and THIS NEXT PART IS WHAT PUT THE NAIL IN THE COFFIN FOR NEVER GOING BACK. Richard replied with sass AND ATTITUDE "Well I'm busy as hell".

So gross. no accountability, no kindness or understanding. nothing. The manager chimed in with "Ill bring your food out right now. I'll buy you a round of drinks. My husband just politely said "No, we would like the check for the drinks we had, this whole experience has been ridiculous."

The manager told us not to worry about the drinks, and we left.

We went two doors down to El Paso and we were greeted, seated and had drinks in 4 minutes. Our food was out quick, fresh and hot and delicious. We were so grateful for a lovely server and her attentivenes.

This date was an anniversary celebration and we had planned to spend a few hundred dollars enjoying ourselves with an upscale dinner and drinks. It's a shame that the Bistro put such a bad taste in our mouths. I had read some negative reviews prior to going and thought "everyone has an off night, these comments were not recent, I'm sure we will have a great time. Well that was wrong and when reviews tell you something is crap, you should believe them.

Barry C.

Came to this place on February 22nd for an anniversary dinner with my wife. We are new to the area and wanted to try a local restaurant. We arrived and sat at the bar and was greeted promptly by the bar tender Richard. He went over the specials and took our drink order. After receiving our drinks we placed our order for an appetizer and 2 entrees. Drinks were good but I couldn't tell you how the food was because after placing our order thats when service took a turn.

The place did get busy but it seemed like Richard had no issue accommodating everyone around us at the bar with exceptional customer service even so much as tending to a couple sitting at a table away from the bar. We sat with empty drink glasses for well over 30 minutes while Richard had no issue providing additional rounds of drinks to the couple next to us and everyone else at the bar. No disrespect to the couple next to us but it was apparent that they knew the manager on duty (older gentleman in a black ball cap who came by and chatted them up multiple times) which might explain the exceptional service they received while we were pretty much invisible to the rest of the staff.

50 minutes eventually went by and we still had not gotten our appetizers and drink glasses still remained empty while everyone around was enjoying their's. Eventually we had to stop Richard and ask what was going on with the appetizer he told us it would be up shortly but by then we were ready to pay for the 2 drinks we finished a long time ago and leave.

The manager came over after that and all of sudden they wanted to go above and beyond for us when all we wanted to begin with was adequate service, we never came in expecting special treatment like the managers friends sitting next to us. After I explained to him about the blatant disregard we received from Richard, he then back tracked and said "oh well we are swamped right now" but again it seemed like everyone else in the restaurant was receiving adequate and attentive service. I told him I would like to pay for my 2 drinks and leave. He told us not to worry about that and so we left. Total shame even more so because we were very excited to try the food and drinks while spending a good amount of money on it.

Not sure why this place fell short on standard customer service but to go that long without even so much as a "can I get anything else for you guys" or just general acknowledgement from the bartender is beyond me. They couldn't so much as provide us with the complimentary bread that everyone else got after being seated.

I'd like to return and give them a 2nd chance but I'll leave that up to whoever runs the place. Maybe he or she would care to make this right.

T P.

My brother's and I had a birthday dinner for dad here. It's a small place with limited seating so everyone would need to show up together really. The staff was really helpful in getting space for everyone. The food was great and drinks were even better. I ordered stuffed cod w/crab, salad, and mac n cheese. A little on salty side except salad however, really tasty. I ended up ordering another meal to go which was lamb chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans. That's a dish everyone should try it's fabulous 👌. Crab cakes were appetizers also splendid but the chicken florentine flatbread were over cooked unfortunately. Finally, hats off to bartender whose a great mixologist 😁 my martini wet ny palette well.

Charles S.

The food was amazing. Staff was very nice. Love the paintings and ambiance. However, for the prices you pay, I don't expect shrimp to come with the tail on and I have to take it off. They had big flies in the window. I killed three of them. They may need some kind of bug catcher in the dinning room. Menus could be laminated cause the paper ones were covered in stains.

Erica S.

My husband took me here for my birthday and it was delicious! Highly recommend any of the filets! I got the Drunken Angus, and I can’t remember what the hubby got but it was good too! We both tried each other’s dishes lol! Appetizers are great as well! I got the Oysters Rockefeller and the hubby got Escargot, which was delicious!