Half Moon Bay Inn

The menu for Thanksgiving looked promising, but it was false advertising. There was a $42 prix fixe (fixed price per person), and we were a party of three. Instead of three servings of the first course, they gave us one serving to share: three TINY pieces of melba toast, four half-slices of a VERY thin baguette, and a very shallow, small saucer-sized portion of warm dip. The soup was cold. The dinner rolls were cold. The "fresh creamery butter" turned out to be three cubes of cold, hard, foiled-wrapped Darigold butter. The entree did NOT have the "sweet potato puree with buttered pecans" advertised, so I very gently asked about it, and the young waitress pointed to the small piece of stuffing on my plate. Later, someone else came back with three scoops of mashed sweet potato that were cold and tasteless (no "buttered pecans', no flavor, just thrown together). When my mother sweetly asked if she could have a side of extra gravy, a shaggy man came out with a giant gravy boat to lean over our plates and serve it himself. It was strangely personal and invasive. It was something in his demeanor. Now I realize he was trying to bully us. I asked kindly if he was the manager, and he side-stepped by saying, "Oh, I am doing everything today." So I thought I'd ask about the discrepancies between the menu and the food actually served. He was very rude and abrupt and dismissive. I wonder if I should have defended myself a bit more, but I was tired of the place by this time. I eat out quite a bit, and I never have problems, so this was disturbing. And frankly, I shouldn't have to defend myself as a customer! Oh! And the best part? The tacked-on a gratuity of $32! It was not written anywhere on the menu. Avoid this place everybody.... Pros: architecture Cons: bad service; unprofessional attitude; food on menu is not what you get more

The food at the Half Moon Bay Inn is excellent, I recomend the halibut tacos or the cheeseburger with onion rings, but there are plenty of tasty items on the menu. It's an excellent place to sit at one of the window tables and watch people walking around downtown Half Moon Bay. In addition to wonderful food they have an extensive bar with pretty imaginative cocktails, (think vanilla pomagrante margaritas and a cappuchino martinis), but they also have the classics. The staff is very friendly and helpful. I haven't had a poor experience yet! Check it out on a weekday evening when it's a little less crowded and you can get more one on one time with the bartenders, they are always willing to come up with a specialty drink for your taste buds. Hopefully you enjoy the drinks and food as much as my family and I did! Pros: excellent food and drinks Cons: can be crowded on weekends more

My wife and I always come here when we desire a place where we need a little service, but not the frou frou menu that is so common for the area. We've been here a number of times and haven't really expanded our choices on the menu. We generally settle on the grilled cheese with tomato, which hits the spot when we need something comforting and not too complex for the palet. We've also tried the crab sandwich which is a cold crab salad(with celery) on brioche bread. It all depends if that is the type of crab sandwich you like. Atmosphere is casual, but upscale. Pros: Comfort Food Cons: Small Menu more

We decided to get out of San Francisco for Thanksgiving and had dinner and spent the night here with a couple of friends. We enjoyed a prix fixe meal that included a dungeness crab salad appetizer, soup, the full Thanksgiving spread (turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce, green beans, etc.), and pumpkin pie - all for $45 each plus a $10 corkage fee. Considering they were cooking this stuff in large quantities, everything was delicious (except the stuffing with was rather dry and tasteless) and plentiful. The service definitely left something to be desired - the waiter was basically only there to deliver our plates, leaving us to pour our own water and wine. I'd be interested to see if the service is better/friendlier on a "normal" night. The best part was that we were able to reserve a room in the Inn, so we could drink wine to our hearts content and just walk up the stairs to our room - which was small, but very cozy, warm, and comfortable with all the necessary ammenities. We would definitely return to the Half Moon Bay Inn, both for the hotel and for the restaurant. Pros: Perfect Thanksgiving Destination - you don't have to cook or clean up! Cons: Service was lacking more

HMB Kitchen & Cocktails has a lot going for it including an enormous dog friendly patio with several fire places, comfortable seating everywhere, convenient location with parking, reasonable prices, overall nice decor, and STELLAR food. I?ve ate here at least 20 times since they?ve opened. What?s great? The food is unquestionably excellent featuring many locally grown or caught items displayed and garnished in interesting ways. We?ve NEVER had a bad dish here and the food is always perfectly prepared. I can?t say that about any other restaurant I?ve ever been to. The patio is wonderful and was well thought out. Most tables outside have their own personal fireplace so it?s just perfect for a chilly breakfast or dinner seating and, as I mentioned previously, dogs are allowed on the patio if they are behaved. What?s bad? The service at Half Moon Bay Kitchen & Cocktails is a train wreck? everytime. In fact, you will never have a good service experience at this restaurant so just expect it up front. Many locals on the coast have already sworn-off going here simply for this reason. The management and owners wander around oblivious to everything and do nothing when you complain. The waiters are immature, unprofessional and, above all, so lazy that you wonder why they even showed up. Keep in mind that I?ve been here MANY times and we have never had a good service experience. Another tragic item is the bartenders. The bar is structurally beautiful and fully stocked with top-notch items but yet the bartenders are not mixologists ? they know the basics and if you stray they will not accommodate you or will do a bad job trying. You?d think there?d be tons of bartenders wishing they had such a nice bar to work in but the management somehow found the bottom apples. Summary: The food is so good that you should go just go in with the understanding that the service is going to be bad and try to have fun with it. Pros: Food, patio, great brunch Cons: Service is so horrible you'll cry more