Ernie's Food & Spirits

Romantic Birthday Dinner

Went for dinner while in Modesto-Salida area. Nice size portions. Steak was great. Would return next oppose get to return to the area. Highly recommend

We enjoyed truffle risotto and Cacio e Pepe pasta as appetizer. They were great about letting us split and share these plates. We also shared 2 wedge salads. These were great! Everything we ate was delicious but all of our entrees came lukewarm or cool! The service was attentive. We didn’t like the occasional wafting odor of cigars each time someone came in from the patio.

Enjoyed the food and cocktails. Nice ambience with white linens and fresh flowers on the table. Great wine list. Friendly and professional service. It's definitely much nicer inside than looking from the outside. Will recommend!

It’s an unassuming restaurant located next to a casino. Not impressive on the outside, but then you walk in to a beautiful oasis.

food, excellent
Gregory server, excellent
ambiance, fantastic
wine selection, excellent and the prices verify it
creamed spinach, one of the best ever
list says it all, the place is fantastic, the staff could work in any upper end steakhouse in the world and excel. the price reflects what you are receiving, if you can't understand that, this not the place for you

Good experience

The food, service, and drinks were excellent! A little pricey, but we will definitely come back.

A very fine restaurant in a low-rent location. Entrance from the outside looks an anonymous as a speakeasy. Inside is another story entirely. It's worth the stop for tourists going back and forth between Yosemite and the Bay Area. It was definitely worth the 60 minute drive for lunch -- even the 120 minute drive back to Sacramento in rush hour. Dungeness crab sandwich, burger, harvest salad, steak and beef tartar, clam chowder, cheese platter, and almond cake were well prepared and presented, and enjoyed by all. The house cabernet (a Lord) was a worthy complement. We always felt welcome and never felt pressure to leave -- we stayed more than two hours. An all-together pleasant experience, particularly for our guests, visitors from the East Coast.

Corkage to high! Everything else perfect! Waitress Nicole was fantastic! Dinner was awesome !

I requested my burger medium, came back very rare.

Our dinner was amazing. I had the Duck and my fiancé had the pork chop.
Our server Gregory was also amazing.

This WAS my favorite restaurant. Very disappointed in the new chef and the changes to the menu and the taste and quality of the food. I go to Ernie’s fairly frequently for lunch and had previously recommended it to family and friends. I recently ate there for the last time. I had heard that the chef was unveiling a new menu and wanted to check it out. It included a lot of appetizers, a lot of small salads, a lot of larger salads, sandwiches, two soups, and just three entrees. Boring. Gone from the menu were my favorite entrees, like the wild salmon with risotto and vegetables. There was a salmon dish, but it sounded more creative than tasty to me. Anxious to hear the special of the day, I was disappointed to hear it was yet another salad: blackened salmon with arugala. My friend and I reluctantly decided on the New England clam chowder and a small Caesar salad. The waiter brought bread. Gone was the delicious baked bread that would melt in your mouth and in its place was toasted sourdough, like one can make at home. It was served with butter and an olive/garlic/avocado(?) mixture that sounds better than it tasted to me. The soup was mostly pureed with extremely small pieces of potatoes. I had a few clams in my soup and my friend got none. The soup had a funny taste. Neither I nor my friend cared for it much, which was surprising given that we love clam chowder and always enjoyed the soups at Ernie’s, like the pureed carrot and ginger, asparagus, and mushroom soups. Then came the salad we ordered. I could barely eat mine. Too much dressing and too much vinegar, and we had to cut up the large pieces of romaine on our own. We were still hungry and decided to order dessert. The bread pudding of the day seems to be the bread pudding of the summer: blueberry. I prefer the ever-changing pudding, especially the apple or the butterscotch. There was a new dessert on the menu: an almond cake...with blueberries. Yawn. We settled on two lattes that were okay and not worth $4.

They have amazing food and the mood there is lovely

The food and atmosphere were both amazing. From the outside it doesn't look like much, but once you get inside it is very nice.

Wonderful customer service from the moment we entered for lunch.
Beautiful location for our girls lunch. Food was perfectly prepared- the skirt steak was tender and delicious!

A true gem in Manteca!

Tracy J

Excellent food and service, and a great whiskey selection!

What a wonderful surprise! Ernie’s is tucked away in a nearly invisible center, which, adds to its charm. You feel almost like you are entering a private speak easy and are the privileged one who knows where it is. The interior is very fashionable and elegant. Plush booths, gorgeous glass tile in warm colors of rose gold surround you.
The food is artistically presented, but you still can identify everything on your plate. We enjoyed the salmon and the scallops. The scallops were crisped on the outside, tender and moist on the inside. I am still trying to master this technique! The salmon was the same. My only issue is just the way my body refuses to cooperate with rich food, in that; the bed the salmon arrived on an out of this world flavorful melange on fresh peas and a wonderful sauce that was well balanced, and added to the personality of the dish, however, it was more than I needed for the perfectly prepared fish.
The main event of the evening was our server, Peter. A very attentive, kind and efficient young man. He truly cared about his customers and his restaurant. Refreshing character these days, in both the young and the mature. He made the evening even more delightful as he was professional and warm and we were well taken care of.
The food was amazing and so was the wine list. We skipped dessert, as we had a very satisfying meal. We will be sure to save room for next time and hope we see Peter again!

Had a great dinner with my lovely wife

Had a wonderful time for my bday. the staff were so friendly! Gregory our waitstaff was on it and another staff member really knew his wines. He made a lovely recommendation to a Tempranillo, which we normally wouldn’t get (we are Cab people) but it was delicious. Ribeyes cooked to perfection and they made special menus with Happy Birthday on them :) we will be back for sure!

My first steak was over cooked and the replacement steak was so bad that I only could east half.

The lettuce for my wedge salad was old and wilty.

Great. No better place in the area if you’re in search of a wonderful dining experience.

Excellent as always, Ernie's never disappoints. The service was friendly and efficient the restaurant clean and lovely, the food was delicious. Highly recommend.

This resturant is awesome.
It is more that u could expect.
Dont let the outside appearance
Fool you. On the inside, there is an experience hard to find in this area.

Wonderful wine list.
Very friendly staff.
Efficient without being rushed.
Menu is very good, and the food is very well prepared, though the selections are very traditional and not particularly intriguing.

We always enjoy time spent and good food at Earnie's. It is on the pricey side so it's for special occasions.

Great meal, wonderful service - odd location but don’t judge by outside looks, beautiful inside - I will be back! Hidden Gem

Lunch at Ernie’s for my bday, I wanted a special and upscale place, and it was wonderful! Fantastic food, great service, lively restaurant and upscale. Highly recommend!

We appreciated the acknowledgement of our anniversary...food was AWESOME, service was OUTSTANDING, an overall wonderful evening!!!

We went to celebrate my birthday. Food was delicious; waitstaff very attentive; setting was lovely. Overall, a wonderful experience. Only disappointment is that it is pricey enough that we can't eat there every week!

We are new to Manteca from Pleasanton which offers many fine restaurants. We miss the fine dining options. A referral to Ernies did not disappoint. Service was lovely as was the ambiance. Service was excellent however, the filet mignon was perhaps the best I have ever had. Serving size was larger than I could eat. We found the wine to be very expensive and it was suggested to bring out own bottle and pay corkage fee.

We will definitely go back!!

Gregory was amazing very knowledgeable, professional, and friendly.All of his recommendations were on point.Great experience.

Jeffrey Knight

We loved dining at Ernie’s. The food was fresh and delicious. The drinks were perfect. The service was excellent!

We love Ernie’s this is our #1 go to for a special occasion anniversary, birthday and date night. The food and service is amazing. We also love how they pay such close attention to our celebrations and needs.
Thank you for all you do and your delicious food from the appetizers to dessert.

Maybe the best food, service, drinks and ambiance in San Joaquin County!

Great food, good service, we will definitely be back

Excellent. The only place in town for a truly great dining experience.

Top Notch! Every aspect of our meal was perfect....Ernie's is hard to beat! 5 Stars!!!

The reservation process was so easy, the restaurant called to confirm and we were seated at our precise reserved time. The wait staff was very professional, attentive and friendly. The food was absolutely delicious. Very flavorful with the perfect amount of seasoning. Everything was worth every penny (although $30 for a corking fee seemed a bit excessive). It was a wonderful evening!

Amazing. A friend referred us to Ernie's. It looks like nothing fancy on the outside, but when we walked in we were surprised at how elegant it was. We were celebrating our wedding anniversary and they made us feel special and valued. Will definitely go back!