Foundation Restaurant & Bar

We dropped in to Foundation on a Friday night a little later than normal after seeing a show. It was during Dine Downtown week so we wanted to enjoy their pre fix menu. Located right downtown on a corner, there is street and a parking structure nearby. The interior is contemporary and clean in appearance, with lots of windows, a large bar and a separate room for larger groups or parties. The bar was packed with lots of what appeared to be locals as they all seemed to know each other and they all knew the bartenders and servers. Cocktail prices were quite reasonable. Everyone was friendly throughout the evening. Our server was super nice, but quite honestly either new, or a little off her game. Not sure which applied. For the Dine Downtown event we chose a selection from the pre fix menu so we could get a variety of items between us. Food was just ok for us. Good but nothing special in my opinion. We may come back another time that is not the Dine Downtown menu.

I like eating here once a week, the owner, Elias is the heart of the restaurant and he serves the drinks as well. The staff are the best, they friendly and caring. And the food is delicious!

Happy Valentines Day! It has always been a special day for me and my sweet husband, Mitch, since he proposed to me 36 years ago -- on Valentines' Day. We chose Foundation to celebrate this special night because you can't find a better place to celebrate. First, if you are lucky enough to book a table and have Cameron as your server -- you SCORED! The food was incredible! The drinks made by Elias and Elias (yes, father and son) were perfection! If you live in the area and you are looking for a place to experience fine dining and wonderful staff -- this is the place!

My server was absolutely phenomenal! He was so busy yet he checked on me every five minutes and every item I ordered my items came out in great time! I was able to dine during happy hour but the food was so good I wouldn’t care what time of day it was! The atmosphere is so nice the amount of windows and natural light that comes in paired with the dim lighting in the restaurant really sets the tone. This is a must when visiting the city.

I was pretty disappointed with my boyfriend and I’s recent visit on 1/10. I understand it was a Saturday night, the first weekend of dine downtown, and a playoff football game however the service was pretty abysmal. We made a reservation at 7:30 and arrived about 10-15 mins early. The hostess came right over and sat us even though we were early which was nice, but that was about the extent of the good service. We looked over the food and drink menus and did not get greeted or even get water for at least 10 minutes. We had decided our entire app, entree, dessert and drink orders by the time a server finally came over with water. Then he got our drinks and ran off so quickly we could not even tell him we were ready to order or at least get some apps started. He came back quickly to drop the drinks and disappeared just as fast. When we finally did order he almost left without even taking my boyfriend’s order, we had to catch him to let him know my boyfriends had not ordered yet. The shredded beef tacos were pretty good albeit the tortillas were a bit undercooked. When our entrees came out I had to remind our waiter that my fried green beans (my dine downtown app) had not come out yet and it came out along with my boyfriend’s fries he had ordered with his burger halfway through our entrees. The fries were also undercooked and flaccid. He never brought the extra ketchup we asked for and never refilled our water glasses once so we were pretty thirsty throughout the meal, but he rarely came around to ask for things. We got a second round of bar drinks and I noticed on my bill I was charged two different prices for the same drink with no explanation. The apple crisp also was pretty dry and had maybe two slices of apple so it was mostly dry crumble and oats, it wasn’t super pleasant. We had to remind our server again for boxes and at that point we had already long been ready to leave. For the price that we spent (almost $150 between the two of us not including the tip I left that was probably more than was deserved but working in food service myself I tend to tip higher than normal) I expected a better experience and I was just left wanting. I was disappointed with the experience and the price overall and we left wishing we would have dined somewhere else for dinner. 🙁 which sucks because I was really excited to try a local place for dine downtown and had picked this one out for a nice date night (which we don’t get often because money is tight) and felt like I should have picked somewhere else.

I think this place was probably awesome 10 years ago. Now it's a little old and run down. Food was actually pretty tasty but for the price, I expect much better. The Braised Beef was good, but cold. Plates were cold. Salmon was good. We ran out of water and was not offered more. Parking was terrible. Don't go during a Kings game.

Chill corner spot. Delicious short ribs. Clam chowder tasty. Bought the Sac Dine Out deal, 3 course meal $45. My dark and stormy wasn't dark enough and was a small glass.