Tucked away in an alley, Finch's was a very nice surprise The restaurant itself is quiet and intimate. Service was attentive. The food overall was well priced and well prepared. I have a very picky husband who loved everything he ate. We plan on going back often. La Jolla is full of touristy expensive restaurants - Finch's truly is a neighborhood gem.
At 8:15 on a Wednesday night, we were one of only two tables, so it was very quiet. The menu is small, but good. They advertised flights of wine on the chalkboard outside the restaurant, but they were not mentioned on the menu or wine list, so make sure to ask about that if you are interested.
Dishes were not served at the same time. Menu on website does not match what is served in the restaurant. Chicken was very tough and inedible. Very poor experience.
New ownership has not preserved the fine quality of the food. It was a great disappointment because this was our favorite restaurant two years ago.
Our table was great with a pleasant atmosphere.A very romantic setting. Our waiter brought my wife's salad and entree together, forgetting mine all together. He offered to keep her food warm while she ate her salad but when he brought it back with my food hers was cold. What should have been a very nice birthday.dinner turned out to be a bad experience for us.
Recommendations: Indulge with something off the captain's list! They're pouring with a Coravin and I got to try legendary wine Cardinale without having to buy a whole bottle! It's only 25$ for a 1 oz pour which we let sit for the meal and WOW.
Also, the mussels are very tasty and the perfect sized appetizer to then jump to the salmon. Incredible preparation and the best lentils I've had!
Always a new fun wine and my servers, Alex, knows a lot about wines. Always good to learn new things!
We went for dinner the entire family as we were on vacation in San Diego area. Service: the wine list is way overpriced. The wine server tried to rush us to decide and when he saw that we have not decided yet disappeared and never came back. The rest of the service was OK, although they did not change the cutlery between services. I ordered the fettucine Alfredo and the chicken was burnt and gave a horrible flavor to the entire dish. The salmon and the chicken was good though. We ran away and never gave a try to the desserts. We will never come back. Not worth it. Impossible to feed kids in this restaurant, btw.
Always an excellent selection of wine from this place, and with the amazing cheese plate definitely the best choice to bring in 2016!
It was the perfect place, romantic, intimate, great food and great service.
This is a very tiny restaurant in a very covert location with a very small staff and a very good chef. Our waiter never mentioned the daily specials that the other waited recited to the table next to us , but our selections were fine : a chicken dish and a filet, more or less forgettable a week later but tasty then.
Lovely place, keep returning and never feel bored. Great place to have a quiet lunch with some stellar wine.
Stopped in when I heard there was a wine bar in La Jolla pouring some amazing wines by the glass. Was not disappointed. Got to try ounce pours of some of the most incredible wines being produced in California right now, but their by the glass selection also offers great choices. Really enjoyed their mussels in pesto cream sauce. Top notch service!
During our lovely dining experience - we found that Finch's will be undergoing an ownership change.
We hope the new owner will continue the innovative dishes and friendly atmosphere.
My husband and I had been talking about going to Finch's for quite some time but had never managed to align our desire to go there with a day when they had a table available. Last Saturday we decided to go there with my mother and sister, who were in from out of town.
We were particularly excited by a few items on the menu that is posted online, including an avocado appetizer, among other things.
Upon arrival, however, we discovered that the menu they actually offer at Finch's is significantly more limited, including none of the items we'd been eagerly anticipating, and offering only 6 entrees. Then, despite the fact that it was not even 7:00pm, we were informed that they were out of 2 of the 6 entrees, specifically the filet mignon and the rack of lamb (the only 2 red meat items), leaving the entrees to consist entirely of chicken, fish, and vegetarian options. This seemed a bit unreasonable to me, given how limited the selection was to begin with and how early it was on a Saturday evening.
That being said, as we were already seated and hungry, we all found items to order, and ultimately each of us enjoyed our meal and wine. The food is indeed very good - my balsamic brussels sprouts in particular were excellent - and the wine selection is fairly extensive. Our waitress was very nice, and the service was pretty good. But I think people should know that the menu is much more limited that what seems to be posted online.
I went with a group to Finch's Wine Bar and Bistro over the weekend and had a terrible experience. Most of the menu was not available because they kept running out of everything! 3 different times they came to our table to update the menu on what was currently out of stock. The waiter was somewhat snippy with us and told us that it was not his fault but poor management. My husband and I have been here on previous occasions and it was wonderful, the food was great, great wine list, great service and wonderful atmosphere, with live music. This experience could not be further from what we were expecting. The items they did have on the menu were completely flavorless and the wine list was somewhat limited but they did have some good options. Overall I was expecting more because of our previous experience but this was just terrible.
The Service, Food, Price, Wine Selection and Environment was outstanding. We will be back for sure and I would recommend this to everyone.
The food here is good and the duck salad for lunch is great. The Dinner Menu is also good and tasty and inventive. The problem the night I was there was the slowness of the kitchen/service. it took two hours for dinner. Three people and only two appetizers each. One desert took 20 minutes to get and it was wrong....so 20 minutes more to get it replaced. So almost three hours! It isn't cheap either.
As we arrived for our anniversary dinner, the setting is quaint, outside seating tucked between 2 buildings with some white lights giving cute atmosphere. Perfect until we waited for about 20 min to receive water. Started with female waiter who stopped briefly but then disappeared for a very long time. We were just about to leave when the male waiter came by and apologized and took care of us very well from that moment on! Sorry that I don't recall his name but the pace was great and he brought us complimentary champagne for our anniversary and bread pudding that was amazing! All of the food was awesome! Not sure what happened with the service initially but they made up for it! I would visit again!
We returned again to Finch's last weekend and were pleased that it hadn't changed much with the new ownership. The menu was pared down a little, and some of the really unique dishes were eliminated, but the entrees that were left were excellent and beautifully presented. The live music is always a nice touch. We will return.
Food was wonderfully prepared and service was top notch. The wine list was very impressive and the sommelier Ricardo was very pleasant, knowledgeable and welcoming as was our server Alex. Definitely recommend this place for a date or if you are looking for a great meal as everything we ate and drank were delicious and I am already eager to return. Thank you both to a wonderful evening with my wife!
Very good food, excellent sommellier, great ambiance. Impress your spouse or date with a fine evening.
Finch's in the heart of the Village of La Jolla is a great place for dinner - be it entrees or many appetizers. Wine list is great - ranging across prices, and many choices for diners. It's a cozy setting where you can really talk with your partner and friends.
We were pleasantly surprised. This was a very cozy and friendly bistro. We went for my son's birthday and it was successful. Ravioli was excellent. Osso bucco and lamb rack were very nicely done. Filet was slightly overcooked but still with good flavor. Peach cobbler was amazing.
Service was attentive and very friendly even with three kids. No stuffiness. Definitely will go again.
Love it more each time I go for dinner...the duck and lamb chops are my favorites!
We had a very enjoyable lunch on the patio. It was a warm day, but there was a nice breeze and lots of shade. Food was very good. We've also had delicious dinners there.
The dishes are well composed, always, and the staff knowledgeable. The wine list presents a good price range from value to extravagant. We had the avocado/crab sopes, the duck-bacon balsamic roasted brussel sprouts, the farfalle vodka-salmon sauce, and the mussels in white wine sauce.
All the dishes were on-point, with the exception of the farfalle pasta being overcooked and over sauced, but the excellent quality salmon was cooked to perfection. The brussel sprouts are a must-try.
The service is always great there - well trained staff and as I said knowledgeable. If they don't know a question's answer, like where the mussels were sourced from, they go find out right away. If you're going for a romantic evening for two, call ahead a few days in advance and make sure to ask for a table that is not in the narrow entry way - it feels like an alley and it's high traffic.
This is our go-to spot before going to a show at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Lacks the buzz of the new places, but deserves similar audience. Highly recommend.
This was my first experience at this establishment. I brought 4 friends with me and none of us had dined here previously. We all thought it was terrific. The food was very good. Service very nice and we did not feel rushed. I plan to return to this neighborhood gem!!
Finch's is down an alley on Girard in La Jolla. You have to look for the restaurant sign, but it is worth the look. They have a nice wine selection which pairs well with food. We started with the mussels in wine broth. That was very tasty, but it took more than 3 requests to get bread. The Beet the Heat salad was great! I had the short ribs and my husband had the rack of lamb. Lamb was breaded which my husband didn't care for. My short ribs were excellent. Dessert was very tasty as well.
This is a small , cozy restaurant that serves excellent food in a timely fashion. I never felt rushed nor ignored. The entire staff was friendly . The atmosphere was ever relaxing ; nice live but soft guitar music. Would be enjoyable for a special occasion as well as a family dinner. Definitely will return!
We were surprised that Finch's had a new owner and some changes had been made to the menu. All in all the food was very good although it took awhile to get it. We missed some of our old favorites but found some new ones. Good luck to the new owners. Don't make too many changes. We loved the old Finch's a lot.
Love Finch's, hidden away from street, food is always great, love the outdoor eating too. Look forward to trying the wine bar
Finch's Bistro and Wine Bar was a great find! Off the main drag of Prospect, it is on Gehard. While it doesn't have the ocean view that Prospect offers, it is a charming, romantic restaurant with generous portions that are delicious. They had beautiful live classical guitar playing as well. Will definitely be back!
Delicious food and great service. It is always a pleasure to go to Finch's. The stuffed squash blossoms are really terrific!
On Our First Visit, Everything was Outstanding at Finches. Best cheese plate I think we've ever had had. Food was very good.
New ownership is doing a fine job of carrying on the tradition of wonderful food, fairly priced with warm and friendly service. We will continue to regularly visit.
We celebrated my wife's 64th birthday there. The place is small and perhaps that is what makes it cozier. At first we noticed a noisy bar but were seated around the corner and a ways away, problem solved. When the "band" showed up, it was one person playing a guitar. Nice background music. The food was very good as was the service. This is a hidden gem and I'll go there again.
We had a really nice evening here. I have been by Finch's several times on my lunch break always making note I wanted to come try it out for dinner. Finally made it out! We were welcomed and given a choice of patio or inside. It was a warmer evening so we chose the patio. It ended up being a great choice because they had a musician performing (Friday night). The guitar was awesome and we really enjoyed the live music. Our server was very friendly. I didn't catch his name, but he was very knowledgeable about the menu and the wine selection. Seemed to really know his stuff. Everyone was very impressed with their food.
The ambiance, food and service were exceptional. My husband had the lamb shank which was the best he had ever had which is saying something! I had the bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed with crabmeat and the flavors and the sauce were incredible. The only thing I would have liked is for all of the bacon to have been cooked a bit more.
It was beautiful evening to dine outside and the heaters made it possible for us to be outside. A very romantic, quaint setting for our last evening in La Jolla. Many thanks!