Bis On Main

06/26/2008 Posted by ltierney

If you live in Bellevue and don't want to travel far, this might be a good place to go to enjoy dinner with an older crowd and drop some cash, otherwise, skip it. The food is not the main attraction, nor is the privacy or wait staff to customer ratio. The lounge area and bar are cramped. Bar seating is mostly in the walkway to the lounge or backed against a wall. Remaining restaurant is composed of two main dining areas in a non-private setting. Drinks are decent, though my second and third "Perfected Manhattan" came with lots of ice cubes floating on top with foam from the shaker. Food is not extraordinary. The New York steak was thick, bland and tough even though medium-rare (some parts difficult to cut with the steak knife). The dry rub is apparently flavorless or washed off with the basalmic vinegar it is slathered in which makes the steak sweet instead of savory. Crispy chicken was decent, but nothing to write home about. Best meal was the Tamarind Prawns and it came with brown rice versus the plain mashed potatoes and broccoli that the other meals seem to come with.

Pros: Valet parking behind restaurant is good since Bellevue thinks they need to charege for parking elsewhere

Cons: Overpriced and under-delivering

03/18/2008 Posted by Franklin50

nothing to write home about. valet parking was the best part about this place. older crowd with bland food and high priced drinks. could have the potential to be great. won't drive home talking about it.

02/21/2008 Posted by changnan

We were coming from the Seattle side and didn't know quite what to expect even though we checked out their website at www.bisonmain We quite enjoyed it. The wine list was superb; the menu was a nice mix of Italian / French but down to earth - not too 'persnickety'. It comes off as food you really want to try. Accessible! Great ambience and white table cloth, friendly wait staff and a consistent buzz of activity, which was nice for this evening. Great service all around! We'll be back to Bis on Main

Pros: great service, wine list, food, 'place'

Cons: couldn't find street parking

06/11/2007 Posted by queenannejess

I live in Seattle and don't venture to the eastside of the lake very often but was told about Bis by a good friend who's opinion I value. She couldn't have been more right, my friends and I (4 total) decided to sit and have drinks and dinner in the new bar/lounge. They offer a full menu plus additional appetizers and I was amazed at how great the "bar food" was. I am a huge steak lover and ordered the Steak Frites and thought that it was amazing. The bartender was cute, funny and attentive. The owner was friendly and made it a point to make our first visit in enjoyable. I will definitely make more trips to the eastside to visit this charming establishment and will most likely always sit in the bar.

Pros: service, ambience, parking

Cons: it's in Bellevue

06/04/2007 Posted by maddiew

They lost something in the remodel. What used to be intimate and charming fine dining has turned into more of a "scene". It's much louder, a little colder and the food actually seems to have lessened in quality. The crab cakes were disappointing and the prices now seem overpriced where before they seemed worth it. Hmmm... I will give it another try because I used to love it, but I am saly disappointed.

04/11/2007 Posted by stinky99

As a newly transplanted citizen of Bellevue, i have encountered two great evenings at Bis on Main. Both evenings i had a wonderful meal at the bar, the bar tenders were attentive and made me feel welcome. I often dine alone, and the staff was entertaining enough to make me feel as though i were dining with a group of friends. They made some great menu recommendations and were knowledgeable of the wine list. Bis is a great place for formal dining. The owner turned me on to the place down the street, Porcella Urban Market, and i have been frequenting that spot as well. Old bellevue is quite the destination for east side foodies.

Pros: Great food and service

Cons: Television in a fine dining establishment is a no-no

04/08/2007 Posted by jimadcock

My wife and I went here for my 50th birthday and we were the youngsters in the crowd. This is a rare professional restaurant in the greater Seattle area, with professional waitstaff. The new remodel is modern and a little austere. My mushroom tart app was wonderful, my wife's endive salad was too sweet, should have had more bitter. She had the Halibut special, I the Delmonico. Both were wonderful. We each had wine by the glass at about $10 each, and well worth it, not like the rip-offs one usually gets on expensive wine by the glass. We were very happy and felt we had been very fairly treated overall.

Pros: Food, Waitstaff

Cons: Older Customers, Ambience on the Stark Side

03/26/2007 Posted by lovetodineinbellevue

My husband and I live nearby this restaurant and enjoy dining out a few times per week. I can tell you we have tried this restaurant 4 different times with equally as miserable results. I have never written a review, but felt compelled to do so now. The first time we went, we were a walk-in (on a whim), and stood in the front for about 10 minutes while the waiter/host was busy visiting with a large party (7 people) currently dining. This was the only table seated in the restaurant. It went from bad to worse when we were finally seated, and ignored after we were rushed to place an order. We ran out of wine, completely out of water; our half-eaten sub-par entrees were left to spoil under our noses. Being a bartender/waitress in my previous life, I will not snap or wave my hand to get attention, but wish I would have done so, so that we could have paid our bill and left. We waited patiently for over an hour in this tiny restaurant while the waiter sat down and visited with the other table. The second time we went with another couple, and were at least seated promptly, but that's where the favorable dining experience went south. I ordered the salmon, and received swordfish. When I approached the waiter, he flat out denied that my fish was swordfish, insisting it was the salmon, and on making a scene at our table arguing with me back and forth (no it is not, yes it is) in front of our guests for dinner. I was absolutely mortified! I have travelled around the world and have never had as poor of service as I have had in this teensy, pretentious restaurant. Which would have been okay if the quality of the food had made up for it, but it did NOT!! I am a forgiving person, so I have actually tried (again) twice to dine here, with similar disappointing results. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY IN THIS RESTAURANT, IT IS NOT WORTH IT. I steer all of my friends and family (even strangers!) away from this restaurant every chance I get.

03/26/2007 Posted by beckycates

Fine

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

03/05/2007 Posted by skitrollfanatic

I finally got a chance to try this place. It's right down the block but for some reason I kept missing it when thinking of places to try. We arrived after 9. The menu is surprisingly large for such a tiny place and meal I had was absolutely wonderful. It was incredibly flavorful. The prices are reasonable. The prices in relation to the food's quality is simply incredible. I wanted to Yelp about this place because I think Joe deserves to have plenty of business. I implore everyone to go here and try it, at least once. This is definitely going to be my new spot.