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The Barrel Bistro & Wine Bar, San Mateo, CA

The Barrel Bistro & Wine Bar

4.4
4.4
388 Reviews
$30 and under
French American

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 PM
Booked 10 times today
  • Neighborhood gem
  • Good for special occasions
  • Good for groups
The Barrel Bistro and Wine Bar welcomes everyone with selective wines selection and many pairings superbly with a wide variety of cuisine. With selective cheeses and charcutiers, hundreds of different wines, seafood,
and meats.The Barrel Bistro&Wine Bar attracts colleagues for a drink after work, business dinners, a quick bite or drink before a show, late night revelers, families for Sunday brunch and more.

Order delivery or takeout

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Price
    $30 and under
  • Cuisines
    French American, Spanish, Wine Bar
  • Hours of operation
    Lunch Daily 11:00 am–3:00 pm Dinner Mon–Thu, Sun 3:00 pm–9:30 pm Fri, Sat 3:00 pm–10:30 pm
  • Phone number
    (650) 445-7250
  • Payment options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
  • Dress code
    Business Casual
  • Executive chef
    Edwin Steve
  • Neighborhood
    San Mateo
  • Parking details
    None
  • Additional
    Bar/Lounge, Beer, Corkage Fee, Counter Seating, Entertainment, Gender Neutral Restroom, Gluten-free Options, Indoor Fireplace, Non-Smoking, Outdoor Firepit, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Weekend Brunch, Wheelchair Access, Wine

What 388 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.4
4.4 based on recent ratings
  • 4.3Food
  • 4.5Service
  • 4.3Ambience
  • 4.1Value

NoiseModerate

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
The Barrel Bistro & Wine Bar is a vibrant dining destination celebrated for its "fantastic food" and "absolutely wonderful service." The lively atmosphere, excellent wine selection, and diverse menu make it a favorite for many. Despite occasional noise and space concerns, diners consistently praise the "delicious" dishes and attentive staff.

389 Reviews
  1. Malia

    San Francisco

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 2 days ago

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    We didn’t get a chance to dine here. It seems as though they severely overbooked their reservations for Valentine’s day. We had a reservation at 8:30pm, came to the restaurant at 8:20 and saw a huge line outside. It was complete chaos and everyone was kind of just standing around. A hostess came out and she started calling out for “8pm reservations.” At this point we looked around and it looked like the restaurant was completely full so it was pretty clear we’d be waiting for quite a while. We ended up going elsewhere. But please beware on big holidays this restaurant might overbook you!

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  2. Shrivinayak

    San Francisco

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    Restaurant did not honor the reservation. We waited for about an hour outside and had to leave with no service.

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  3. Katelyn

    VIP

    Los Angeles

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    We were never seated. There was no check in system and they had a crowd of at least 50 people with reservations standing around outside. Chaos.

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  4. Jeremy

    Los Angeles

    1 review

    2.0

    1 review

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 3
    Overbooked. Everyone there has a reservation but no more tables. It’s stupid that you gotta wait in line for more than an hour when you already reserved a table

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  5. Paul

    San Francisco

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    Unfortunately we didn’t get to eat here, as the restaurant was extremely overbooked and overwhelmed with too many reservations. We showed up early to find a line of thirty people, all with reservations preceding ours, and no one organizing them. We left and had to find somewhere else for Valentine’s Day dinner.

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  6. Joshua

    San Francisco

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    Do NOT count on your reservation being kept at this restaurant. We made a reservation for Valentine’s Day dinner only to find out we would be held at the door with 50 other people who also made reservations at the same time. This caused us and dozens of others to scramble last minute to just find dinner on what was supposed to be a special night. Do NOT count on Barrel Bistro to keep your dinner plans on special evenings.

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  7. Rick

    VIP

    San Francisco

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    Embarrassingly bad. They overbooked Valentine’s Day dinner so badly that when we showed up for our 7pm reservation there was still a mob of people with 6:30 and 6:45 reservations crowding the entrance. The staff could not seem to track who had checked in so would simply announce “table for two” when one came open. People raised their hands to volunteer to be seated, unclear if there was any association with if or when they had reservations or order of arrival. Because one had to remain near the entry to hear these cattle calls, the mob of waiting customers blocked the door and aisles in the outdoor seating, slowing service dramatically. Customers who were unfortunate enough to have seats in these aisles had waiting customers’ butts in their faces. We waited 25 minutes and left when it was clear we would never be seated without playing the cattle call game. I’ve literally never seen a restaurant manage a crowd so poorly.

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  8. Manolete

    San Francisco

    2 reviews

    3.0

    2 reviews

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 3
    Food was "fine". Tables too close to each other. Service was ok. Got best service when we were leaving. Strange ambiance. TVs like a sports bar, but "fancy" otherwise.

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  9. Jenny

    San Francisco

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined on February 8, 2025

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    We ordered a bottle of wine, an appetizer, and two burgers, but the experience was frustrating from start to finish. The restaurant was overcrowded, and our table was practically in the walkway, with my knee touching the person next to us and servers constantly bumping into my shoulder and chair. First, our appetizer was forgotten and only arrived after we reminded the server we had ordered it. Then, both of our burgers, ordered medium rare with pepper jack, arrived with cheddar instead. Instead of making a fresh one, they simply removed the cheddar, added pepper jack, and recooked the same patty—resulting in a well-done burger with chunks of cheddar still on it. We felt bad, thinking the server might be having an off day, but after politely addressing the issue, they only remade the burger after bringing it to a manager. Even with all the back and forth, there was no offer to remedy or comp anything. For the price, there are plenty of better options with better service and ambiance. Unfortunately, I won’t be returning or recommending this place.

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  10. Josh

    Hawaii

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on January 17, 2025

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 2
    The food was so so. I got veggie pasta for dinner, it was greasy & I got sick later in the night. My stomach was upset for the next couple of days. I think some of the produce used was not fresh. I think this place is overpriced for the food they serve. I usually don’t leave negative reviews but my stomach was upset after I ate here. Hope they use fresher ingredients going forward & use the feedback constructively.

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FAQs

The Barrel Bistro & Wine Bar does offer delivery in partnership with Uber Eats. The Barrel Bistro & Wine Bar also offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (650) 445-7250.

The Barrel Bistro & Wine Bar is rated 4.4 stars by 388 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 PM
Booked 10 times today

Order delivery or takeout

Google Map for The Barrel Bistro & Wine Bar

246 S B St, San Mateo, CA 94401-4018

Additional information

  • Neighborhood
    San Mateo
  • Hours of operation
    Lunch Daily 11:00 am–3:00 pm Dinner Mon–Thu, Sun 3:00 pm–9:30 pm Fri, Sat 3:00 pm–10:30 pm
  • Price
    $30 and under
  • Cuisines
    French American, Spanish, Wine Bar
  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Dress code
    Business Casual
  • Parking details
    None
  • Payment options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
  • Executive chef
    Edwin Steve
  • Additional
    Bar/Lounge, Beer, Corkage Fee, Counter Seating, Entertainment, Gender Neutral Restroom, Gluten-free Options, Indoor Fireplace, Non-Smoking, Outdoor Firepit, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Weekend Brunch, Wheelchair Access, Wine
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