Well Fed On the Town

The first time I went to Bistro 33 in Davis, Cali., it was for a business lunch. It had only opened about two weeks earlier. I had this amazing sandwich with turkey, herb mayo, pears, smoked cheese; oh, it was heaven between two slices of bread. I intended to head back ever since, and with my friend in town we finally had the chance, 18 months later.

I have a friend who is a chef there. He had been slowly telling me of his desire to leave. That the kitchen wasn’t always stocked, the other chefs were shady and untrustworthy, that the quality was screaming downhill. Yet, I did not listen. That sandwich still controlled my appetite and drove my desire.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Let me begin by saying that the decor of this place is out of sight. I love it. It’s contemporary, whimsical, and edgy. Shimmering tile work, and wrought iron fire place and live music outside, strung white lights, and pillars of flames at the bar. Genius.

Speaking of the bar, the bartenders are talented, and made a classy combo of blueberry Stoli, Pom, and Sprite for me. Shibby indeed. However, after about 10 minutes of trying to pay, I thought I was gonna have to club him over the damn head with a glass for him to take my bill. I mean Jesus, a bartender not going for the bill and tip? Isn’t that a sign of the apocalypse or something?

But why were we trying to leave the bar and get outside so we could wait for our table? The inside was loud. As in you can’t hear anything, and I wish I had Advil on me at the time. It was louder and more obnoxious than your nephew’s fifth grade performance of a John Phillip Sousa march. After going outside to enjoy our drinks, we were paged and seated. Next to the bar. Perfect. The waitress even had to yell so we could hear her.

The food? Barely worth mentioning really. It was just disappointing and bad. I know people are raving about Bistro 33 Midtown in Sac, but Bistro 33 needs an overhaul. My friend’s French onion soup was just oily water with onions. I make way better French onion soup than this swill. No thyme, no garlic, and I am pretty sure there was no salt or vermouth in it at all. I mean, the hell?

I ordered the special of red snapper in ancho butter sauce with pear chutney, green beans, and couscous with lemon and herbs. Wow, this was just… *sigh* I didn’t even want to eat it. The fish was good, but there was no pear chutney. It did not exist on my plate. The green beans were nothing special. It was pan seared a bit in olive oil with salt, and pepper. Nothing I couldn’t make at home. The couscous was bland and tasteless. No wait, it tasted like water. Swear to God. Water.

Did we argue? No, my friend was feeling ill (it had been slowly getting worse all day, and we thought maybe food would help). We had it bagged, but tossed it once we got to the street. We paid and left to get her home so she could lie down.

What is the future of Bistro 33? I don’t know. The desire for something hip by the Davis residents will probably keep it open for some time to come, and the cheap beer/dance nights they have will keep the college students coming. We’ll see how long that will last before the crappy food begins to deter attendance. My advice? If you want hip and trendy, make the drive to anywhere else in Sacramento.

On a positive note, I did get a shibby photo of my drink.

Bistro 33
226 F Street
Davis, CA 95616
(530) 756-4566