Horse In The Alley - Benton Park

The food was phenomenal, the service was excellent, and the atmosphere was elegant. Usually, I don’t return to upscale restaurants because the quality of the food never meets the expectations one might expect when looking at the price. However, Horse in the Alley has succeeded my expectations. The bill was actually fair.

Best Place to be in Bakersfield!Food, bar, and service are the best in town! Good options for everyone, but the steak with peppercorn sauce is my go-to.This is our annual motorcycle ride stop and we are never disappointed. The owners, Jason and Beth are super nice people and go out of their way to provide a great atmosphere. Old school steakhouse feel, like going to The Golden Steer, if you've been there.All of us look forward to visiting the Horse in the Alley. Not just for the food and drinks, but also for the time we get to spend with Jason and Beth.We tell everyone we meet: If you're in Bakersfield, this is the place to be!

Wife and I visited with a reservation on a Saturday, upon entering looks great and classic atmosphere with intimate feel.No wine on this visit (lent season)Ordered iced tea $3 service from the bus-boy on keeping our glass full was perfect.Ordered appetizer Stuffed Mushrooms $15 just ok, not sure what the stuff was, sauce was to sweet not the best combination.Ordered side of Caesar Salad $6 dressing was way to sour with a taste of fermentation might have been anchovy on the dressing, not good at all, maybe try store bought instead.Wife had the Marsala Chicken $30 with rice pilaf and vegetables it was ok nothing to brag about it, not something you desire to have again.I ordered the Cognac Filet 6 oz $56 with vegetables and baked potato horrible choice, portion was thrifty, skimpy, cut was uneven, high on one side and low on the other so the low side was charred and hard, the quality on the steak was none existing, vegetables ok, baked potato skimpy on size and old from previous day (dark and firm on the inside).Bread rolls and the warm olive oil with granulated garlic was excellent and a nice touch to the experience.No dessert we ran out of time.Service was friendly but slow.We waited between courses especially after salad for a good 20 minutes before dinner was served.Makes me wonder about the big disconnect specially after reading all the praising reviews of previous customers.

First visit and it was a special occasion. The lobster was enormous and cooked perfectly, lamb chops were excellent and the prime steak was a very generous (2 person) serving. The malva pudding for dessert was buttery and decadent. We will go back.

The dessert, Malva pudding, (bread pudding in a creamy sauce) deserves all the stars! We came here on a friend’s recommendation. The appetizers were okay. The stuffed mushrooms which were very sweet and the escargot was all butter. I ordered the steak blue cheese salad and my husband ordered the block filet. I tasted my friend’s shrimp pasta and it was amazing. It came out steaming hot and the right texture. However, I was disappointed in the steak especially for a steakhouse. It was tender but SO salty and overpowered with pepper. The service was incredibly friendly but slow. Took us quite a while to get our food and drinks. The ambience was nice. I would come back to only stick to the pasta and dessert.