Prelude Kitchen & Bar

Reviews

• OP

  ov pike

  2 days ago
  4.0
  I enjoy a nice upper end menu but this menu seemed to be lacking options. My group and I looked it over various times and some of us couldn’t find anything that appetizing for a reasonable price and the rest of us just felt there were better options in town after seeing the plates being served and trying the garlic truffle fries which were okay. Unfortunately we went elsewhere to eat dinner but this place is a beautiful environment for an after work happy hour, appetizers and drinks kind of place. I may come back with my spouse for a nice date dinner.
• OS

  Olga Simons

  4 days ago
  5.0
  Very impressive restaurant: delicious food, very attentive and professional service and beautiful view of the Capitol. We are definitely going to be back!
• AE

  AJ “AJ” Espinosa

  May 4, 2026
  2.0
  Went on a Friday night. Nice place but I wanted to turn around when I saw that the place was empty. About 5 tables were an all that was in there. Got the halibut and it was hard and dry. Swiss chard was under seasoned. Took one bite and the server took it back when I said I was done. I really can’t believe they thought I was satisfied.
• AM

  avenir marchenko

  Apr 25, 2026
  3.0
  Great atmosphere and helpful staff. The food had its ups and downs. While all the pasta options were great, the chicken was dry and lacked flavor. Portion sizes were much smaller than you’d expect considering the tag for each entree. The staff was quick to make sure all needs were met and were helpful with all our questions and concerns. The view was spectacular however prepare in advance for parking. Prelude will validate parking if you park in the parking garage next door, but not on weekends. The lack of this specification led to some confusion and should be formally stated somewhere as a heads up.
• RR

  Ron Rabun

  Apr 23, 2026
  3.0
  This is my first Prelude experience. Seems it was a dinner service in reverse. I could give a lesser rating but feel 3 stars will get attention for a high end highly rated restaurant downtown Sacramento. I feel the only way they will improve is by a straightforward review. Also, I won't be commenting on anything that that wasn't discussed with the waiter and manager. First, we were sat at a table next to the kitchen entrance/exit in the predominant staff thoroughfare. I asked to be reseated because of this having constant distraction and because there were several available tables. I observed others being seated in these worse possible seats as though the seats were priority seating. We were comfortably seated in a booth. Second, we searched the drink specials, house Specialties, but found no Gin Martinis. Prelude has a comprehensive wine and liquor list priced individually by brand. We settled on martinis made individually with Botanic and Jack Evans based on the servers suggestion. At the same time we ordered our food, a split Rissoto With shrimp and Asparagas starter special to be served together. 5 minutes passed and the food was delivered before our martinis. We asked about the martinis and she said she'll check. No salt nor pepper on the Table. 5 minutes later martinis after we had started our food. We asked for bread which is a menu Bread item. We enjoyed our martinis which were cold and flavorful. The server commented "your bread is in the over." We slowly ate our rissoto and asparagus waiting for bread. 10 minutes after finishing food bread arrives with a seasoned butter which was tasty. The bread was actually toast crunchy and hard. I pointed out, "bread was toast after the 10 minutes being in the oven." The Meyer Lemon Rissoto with shrimp was like rice covered with garlic sautéed shrimp with butter floating all around. There was no indication the rissoto was creamy but don't know because the sautéed shrimp butter "broke" it. The Grilled Aspargas with Tahini was another Columbo investigation. 6 large spears with grill marks was slightly chilled with a dark green puree the flavor of soy bean hummas and seemingly pieces of crushed pistachio served cold. I asked the server if it was a warm or cold dish. He commented cold. We couldn't eat the toast though. I commented to the server that it was "a meal in reverse". He apologized for the kitchen jumping ahead on the food and drinks sequence. All N' All it wasn't a bad meal but not highly ranked for prices that were higher than Ramsey's in Reno. I do also understand Prelude's farm town fork philosophy contributing to pricing and quality. Now for the bill. They removed the bread which is respectable. The query came when the drinks were listed as "Ginquot; then "Up $3". For a martini totalling $18 which is reasonable. I asked what "Up" meant because in my 50 years of drinking internationally never saw that "Up" charge on anything bill. I thought it was the martini prep charge. The waiter explained it was the charge for the extra gin in the drink. That Prelude provides 2 1/2 ounces that is an extra ounce over the normal contained in a martinis. They do serve them in a standard cup style champagne glass. Its all Strange to me because they can just put "Martini $18 or $20" on the menu. Both he and the floor manager looked perplexed when I asked is this a new normal process? It's the way Prelude does it. They did remove the martinis off the bill even after I agreed to pay for them because $18 would have been the price. They offered a free dessert which I refused then offered a $15 gift card, also refused. My concerns are those of expected quality not intended to get free food ever. Just honest input that can improve their own expected quality. Would you go to Ramsey's and expect entrees to come 10 minutes apart.... absolutely not... well it happened. So I hope that Prelude expects quality improvement is a constant. On Wednesday night at 7pm Prelude was quite busy so I'm sure there's great food and service that meets the 4.6 rating. Just not for us this night.

Frequently Asked Questions About Prelude Kitchen & Bar