Pear Street Bistro

I dined at Pear Street last Saturday night with a friend. While I found the tables filled with neon lights a bit visually overwhelming in the bar as we entered, the dining room is quite nice with linen covered tables and subdued lighting. The wall of candles by the kitchen is very pretty, but the giant pear "artwork" on one wall is garish and detracts from the overall feeling of relaxation. The appetizer (fritto misto) was good though the calamari was chopped pretty small, making dipping into the wasabi aoili (yum) difficult. But I had a peartini to help me forget my difficulties - and it was delicious (if a tad overpriced at $10). My friend enjoyed her ahi tuna entree, though at $33 it seemed pretty pricey for Pinole. I ordered the mac 'n cheese and a ceasar w/ chicken - both quite tasty, though the salad was pretty darn small - even if it wasn't ordered as an entree (sadly there is only 1 size available). Where they REALLY fell down in my book was dessert. My friend ordered a cheesecake with a fruit compote/sauce. It was very nicely displayed, but tasted like it had been sitting in a stinky fridge for weeks. Dry, metallic and lifeless. And sadly our waiter - who pretty much stopped coming by after he slapped down the entrees, never bothered to ask why we hadn't eaten the dessert...you would think he would notice only 2 bites missing? Overall not a great experience. If they'd lower their prices just a bit and step it up on quality and portion sizes they could knock it out of the park. Lord knows they have a corner on the fine dining market out there! more

What hapens when your the only restaraunt which tries to offer some class in an area which is transitioning from blue collar to white collar? Go to Pear Street and you'll find out. Pear street is some of the better food that you'll find anywhere in the Pinole/Herules area. However, it's not great. But Pear Street apparantley thinks of itself more than it ought. They are pushing the boundaries when it comes to profit margins. They don't even offer a glass of wine for less than $10 and their selections do not warrant such high prices. Over the last months I've gone and it seems the food gets progressively worse and it's preparation a bit lazy. The 32 oz porterhouse steak for $32 dollars was more like 6 ounces of meet and 26 ounces of fat and bone. Not much care was taken in selecting the meat and I suspect another effort to get the most profit out of the dish. The potatoes were barely cooked. Frankly, what Pear Street neeeds is some competition. Hopefully, some places will open in the new Hercules waterfront which will help Pear Street wake up and realize that they aren't all that. Then maybe they'll try a little harder and either adjust their pricing or actually prepare food worthy of such high prices. Something that is not the case now. more

Pear Street Bistro is a classy restaurant with more than good food. The service is great and don't leave you hanging like some of the chain restaurants. It has a great atmosphere and the location has more then enough parking spaces for no head aches. They have a huge wide screen T.V. behind the bar which is good for sports action. I highly recommend this high class restaurant for the not so high class budget. more

The Pear Street Bistro is a nice restaurant. They have a nice presentation, clean, bright, tables are covered with crisp, white linen. They also give you some bread and oil for dipping while you wait for your meal. The place looks classy and the waiters are nice and friendly. Service is good. The food is just okay to me though, nothing spectacular. more

Pear Street Bistro is a gem in the sea of chain restaurants in Pinole. Located in Old Pinole, it offers AMAZING appetizers and entrees for reasonable prices for the fine cuisine. The ambience is chic and the help is polite without being precariously “in your face.” The crab cake (appetizer) and salads are a must and it gets my highest recommendation. more