Wool Growers Restaurant

This is a very popular spot in Bakersfield, but I don't understand why! The food is horrible and expensive. You get a ""set up"" with every meal. It includes bread/butter, salsa, beans, spaghetti w/ meat sauce, lettuce salad, tomato salad, vegetable soup, cow tongue, canned peas and carrots, and rice. Is that a weird combination of stuff or what? So all of that is served family style and it's pretty awful. The tomato salad in an oil & vinegar dressing wasn't too bad but they didn't even bother to cut the stems off the tomatoes! The ""salad"" was huge iceberg leaves drowned in dressing. The bread was cold and underdone in the center. For my main course I ordered lamb ($18.50), which was thick fatty slices with canned brown gravy and canned mushrooms on top. I also tried the breaded veal which had a country gravy over it and was mushy inside. They were super busy with many big tables of 6 to 12 people and the bar area was packed as well. You have to walk down an aisle with the bathrooms on one side and the kitchen on the other to get to your table. Blech! Don't eat here. more

Great place to have some traditional basque food. I would definitely recommend this place and they have a lot of room for big parties. You can choose from a variety of menu items. I highly recommend checking out this place! more

Michael S. should stay with fast foods! We have been patronizing this resturant for years. After a long day of antiquing we always enjoy a great meal and friendly service, usually at the first seating. Always make a reservation. Mike Y. more

They serve traditional Basque food at Wool Growers. As a traditional Basque restaurant, the food is served ?family-style.? They offer several dining options, the ?Setup? is an all-you-can-eat soup and salad (salad is Caesar/traditional salad; soup is beans with salsa, vegetable soup with pork, and cheese), you can order a family/lunch special that basically comes with a variety of meats to choose from with your ?Setup,? and then you can order a traditional entr? The service is friendly and prompt and they are very good about bringing out more food for your group right away. It is a little dark in the restaurant depending on where you are seated (I was there for lunch too!). I thought the food had a lot of flavor and was very well-seasoned; nothing was bland. This is good Basque food at a very reasonable price and there?s plenty to eat. more

If you are native to the stale hot air in Bakersfield you may like this restaurant, but if you're like the rest of us I wouldn't recommend eating here. Let me share why: the food is "Basque" style- which I am still not sure exactly what that means, but just think of the most random leftovers in your fridge and make a meal with it. First course was cabbage soup, with salsa and baked beans, second was salad, third course included pickled cow tongue and green beans; Yup I said tongue. Fourth course was a nice combination of spaghetti and frenchfries and if you ordered a entree it came at this time. The waitress was nice and drinks are cheap but I warn you all steer clear of any drunk local cowboys. PROS: CONS: Inebriated locals more

Almost everyone in Bakersfield will tell you that you must try Wool Growers. I think they do this to encourage visitors to never, ever come back. The restaurant is truly awful. The food, which the local claim is wonderful, is nasty. Ox tongue should NOT be eaten unless one is starving. And the forced side-dishes are each uniquely disgusting. Only your entree might be edible, and that is truly a large MIGHT BE. Having eaten at restaurants from coast to coast, I'm truly puzzled as to why the locals like this hole. Pros: Encourage Weight Loss Cons: Awful Food, Bizarre Atmosphere, Rude Service more