Iron Gate

Iron Gate happens to be my favorite restaurant on the peninsula. I loved my birthday dinner of Escargot and Filet of Sole Meunière!

The Filet Mignon was disappointing. Had requested Med but it was more rare. Very little taste from the
steak which was disappointing. The other meal was very good.

Excellent food and service. We love this restaurant.

We visit Iron Gate four or five times a year. and always enjoy the visit greatly. The menu suits us very well. and is of a kind hard to find these days. The noise level is conducive to normal conversation, also not widely available these days.

Birthday celebration

Great traditional menu and fabulous food. The setting is , lovely and the service amazing. The souffles are the best!

A special birthday event, with special treatment for granddaughter who had dietary restrictions. We appreciated the care taken with her meal. Everything was delicious!

Outstanding service as always - the steak Diane flambé at the table is always the highlight - and of course the Caesar salad done tableside as well, was also delicious!

Birthday was good but not great.

I love the Iron Gate. Their Steak Diane is amazing, I think this is the only place left in the Bay Area that does it right. The staff is always friendly and energetic. Don't forget to order a Chocolate Souffle when you order your entree!

We have been going to IronGate for many years now and we can't say enough nice things about our experiences there. They are very courteous and helpful with menu selections and daily specials. Our food is always excellent. We will back to celebrate another special occasion!

A memorable dining experience to celebrate a birthday.

We dine at the Iron Gate relatively often - specifically, for special occasions. We had never before been anything other than extremely pleased with the food and service. This time was a very strange departure from the norm. There were multiple issues with regard to the service, one of which MAY have been my fault. However, when one orders white zin and receives rose because "the white zin wasn't chilled ... well, that's just ridiculous. The waiter also "forgot" to put in the order for dessert souffle, well, that's pretty unforgivable.

The issue which could have been my fault was the appetizer. I thought I ordered the abalone almandine but I received fried calamari. Now, I could have misspoken since calamari has traditionally been served in the style of abalone; however, the waiter did not even offer to remove the fried calamari when I told him I didn't want it and wanted the abalone instead. As I said, this could have been my error but I don't think it was handled as well as it could have been.

The rest of the meal and service were quite excellent, as always, and we will, of course, return to this lovely restaurant.

We came here for a nice dinner and were quite disappointed. It took us over 40 minutes from the time we sat down just to place our order. Not sure if the waiter was overworked or what the problem was, but he came by once to ask us if we had any questions. We tried to order then but he must not have heard, and then we couldn’t find him for another 25 minutes. That is embarrassing for such an expensive place. We almost got up and left. The 40-minute wait just to order put both of us in a bad mood.

The food was okay. We had a zucchini flower-and-crabmeat appetizer which was delicious, but I thought the almond-encrusted sole I ordered was mediocre. All entrees come with the same standard steamed vegetables, which were not all that interesting.

Will not be returning here.

This restaurant came highly recommended to me. Emphasis on dazzling flaming dishes and great presentation.
We were seated promptly and offered beverages. After requesting a wine list our waiter enumerated what was being offered that evening.
We ordered from him marveling that the waiter had memorized the menu.
After food was on the table we noticed that people being seated were offered menus. Not wanting to spoil our anniversary I let it go.
Calling the restaurant the next day the waiter claimed that we did have menus. Not true.
An expensive meal but we were denied the famous specialties. The captain did not offer us any remedy.
The beverage offerings were extensive.
The calamari appetizer was average and not generous.
The rib eye bone in and the veal scallopini were excellent!
Food good.
Not anxious to return there

Birthday celebration. Food entrees(veal & fish)& salads were very good.

Superb as always.

The food was tasty and the service was great!

Pity I could not have given it six stars. Wonderful meals coupled with spectacular old fashioned service. Would not change a thing.

As usual it was a great experience. This time we there for lunch and the 3 course prie fixed lunch was great. Good selection of choices.

Love this place it is good every time

One of my favorite places!

Anniversary

Service was a little slow, maybe a little short handed for a good crowd. My meal wasn't what I expected but my companions was very good.

Definitely met our expectations and more. Best filet - done to perfection. The sides - vegetables were perfect as well.
The bananas foster dessert was supreme - quite the presentation.

Look forward to returning to this well established place. There are few such elegant places like this anymore.

Excellent French/European cuisine, one of the last surviving restaurants with the high end service and dishes that used to be plentiful in the 70’s on ElCamino in San Carlos, Redwood City, Atherton, Menlo Park and Palo Alto.
I miss those days....so Iron Gate is our go-to for special occasions....

I wish there was an Iron Gate in my neck of the woods! It's a wonderful dining experience. The ambiance, the service and especially the food - are all 5 Stars!

Always great food and great service

While the food was very good and the service attentive, didn't really feel worth the higher prices. It also felt a bit rushed. No sooner had we put a fork down, the plate was cleared and moments later the next course appeared. Felt too rushed for the vibe of the restaurant. This place is a classic in the community and has been around forever -- for good reason. It just felt less refined with the faster pace. I don't think we'll rush to go back.

We have been going to the Iron Gate for over 30 and the food has been consistently excellent. It is fine dining with white table clothes, with a friendly atmosphere in a beautiful room. The service has always been outstanding. Steak Diane, prepared tableside, is the most amazing piece of meat I have ever eaten.
Melts in your mouth. The petrale sole with almonds is not on the menu but usually a special. When we are not up to a heavy meal this fish is delicious. Salads are wonderful, caesar, wilted spinach, etc. There are so many great things on the regular menu, you will be pleased with anything you order. But, you need to save room for dessert. Not many places serve a wonderful Souffle Grand Marnier.

This restaurant over the years has always had great food & good service.

They had a special event going in another room with a live Band. A little noisy.
Did not get waited on right away. Eventually served our meals which were both
excellent. Liked it better when service was a little quicker.

Great old style restaurant. Perfect to celebrate an important occasion.

We were visiting near my company's HQ and a co-worker pointed us to this icon of the area. What a great experience. It was "old school" class, and the experience was everything you would hope for in a fine dining experience. Definitely consider the Steak Diane if you are a carnivore, but I'm sure everything is outstanding.

Our experience at Iron Gate was amazing. It was my first time here, and we went for my birthday dinner and had fabulous food and service! Thank you for a great experience.

Great place to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The zucchini blossoms with crab was exquisite. We wanted to order 2 more. The table side Caesar Salad was de-lish as were our entrees - veal Marsala and petroleum sole. The cosmopolitan starter drink was just ok. We look forward to the next time.

Very nice with old school ambiance. Sat in smaller room that was nice and quiet, good for conversation. All the dishes were great, though the veal was a little tough. Service was very good and personable.

What an amazing place - I have lived in San Mateo for years and have driven by Iron Gate so many times and never thought about stopping! My husband had been years ago and we had a friend recommend for our anniversary. The outside is unassuming and it looks like a big box- When you walk in, you enter another world and time of fine dining that you don't experience any more. Our waiter was funny and engaging and the manager stopped by to chat and check on us - enhancing our whole experience!

We didn't have a dish that wasn't fantastic!

Have been going to Iron Gate for years and love the food. The food is delicious but the service has gone way down hill. They pack you in too tight so the waiter has a hard time passing food or anything. The appetizer was half it’s normal serving size and $5.00 more. Asked several times for other items and got only one of them. There were 6 of us and the bill was $760 with out cocktails.
The saving grace was the food but not sure if it’s worth going back. It’s also very noisy !!

The tables have gotten very close to each other. This diminishes the effect of table side service, since for some tables it's really not truly table side. The food is excellent and lives up to the Silicon Valley prices. Service is warm and attentive.