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Sonoma Chicken Coop
(American cuisine)
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8
JaT Rating |
408-866-4540
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| Large restaurant offering a wide range of high quality dishes at low prices |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1020
Reviewed: 8/2/2005
Rating: 8
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Sonoma Chicken Coop is one of the largest restaurants we have reviewed. This place is enormous with seating capacity somewhere in the 200 range? They have 2 sets of outdoor seating downstairs and upstairs. I even recall seeing a sign for banquet seating, you get the picture, this place is huge and newly decorated. I was a bit skeptical on what kind of food I was too received.
Not quite fast food service but not waiter service, grab a menu on your way in and jump in line. Place your order, find a seat, they call your number, you eat, easy as that. I was tempted to get the lasagne but since the word chicken appeared in the restaurant name, Id order the Grilled Lime Chicken and share the hockey puck dessert with Terry. After waiting a short 10 minutes, our numbers were called and we picked up what appeared to be very nicely presented trays of food. No way...this fast of service and the food looks beautiful.
Grilled Lime Chicken - my plate was overflowing with food. I had mashed potatoes with fried slices of onions, cream something rice, 2 small slices of pizza, and 2 grilled chicken breast, and grilled bell peppers.
Chicken was a little dry but healthier tasting. Wasnt oily or fatty, chicken had slight grilled flavor to it, Im not sure where the lime taste comes into the meal, I dont recall tasting any. Other than that good stuff.
The sides were excellent. Mashed potatoes were dangerously tasty. I could have done without the 2 slices, not sure why they are served with the meal. The cream sauce on the rice was addicting, very buttery. Grilled bell peppers were a good compliment to the chicken.
Hockey Puck - just look at the picture, you have to get one. Although artful looking, the taste is even better. I would recommend sharing this one.
Well, I almost finished my meal and still pondering how Sonoma Chicken Coop is able to serve beautiful looking dishes that are reasonably priced, great tasting, and deliver all this in a very short amount of time. Im not sure who owns Sonoma Chicken Coop but its definitely somebody with a large bankroll. Judging on what we had today, I dont think its going to be tough to convince people to try their signature dishes.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 738
Reviewed: 8/3/2005
Rating: 8
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Sonoma Chicken Coop is at two locations - one in San Jose and another (the one we went to) is newly opened in downtown Campbell. It was my first time to downtown Campbell and I must say it was another world. People kicking back (in the middle of the week) in shorts and tank tops, not a care in the world. Its like another world, where people dont' have to work.
Anyway, Sonoma Chicken Coop is a nice place, very new and clean. Its also HUGE. I can't imagine them ever filling this place up with people, but perhaps on a Friday night or weekend.
Its one of those places, like Aqui, where you stand in line, order your food, and then wait for them to call you. Then you go get your food at the counter. I am not quite used to this style of service and for the cuisine and quality of food, it seemed a bit odd. I dont' think I'm quite sold on this form of dining. In any case, it definitely cut down on the prices of the dishes.
I went for the recommended wishlist item of Central Coast Pizza. It was a bargain and they gave me enough food to fill me. The pizza toppings were primarily veggie and while not my favorite type of pizza in the world, they tasted quite fresh and really refreshing. The crust was slightly grilled almost on the outside and had a nice crunch but the flavor of the dough was very blah. Like something you would expect from Chilis or something. Basic filler food. If the dough was of higher quality, I would rate this as a very good pizza - as it was though, it was good.
For dessert I got the recommended Chocolate Hockey Puck. It was a VERY rich chocolate truffle with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce on it. Presentation was amazing, completely out of line with the low price. It tasted absolutely fantastic and was a guilty pleasure for sure. I would be highly recommend this on your visit.
If you can deal with the cafeteria style dining, you will like this place. The quality of the food seems to be a few steps up from the prices you see on the menu. It seems like a nice family-friendly restaurant as well. I would have no problems bringing the wife and kids here for a nice weekend lunch.
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Reviewer: Grace
Total Reviews: 42
Reviewed: 11/3/2005
Rating: 8
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I usually eat at the Sonoma Chicken Coop in downtown San Jose, but I have visted both. The difference between them other than location is that the one in campbell supposedly has a microbrewery. I'm not a big beer fan, so I haven't looked into it.
Anyways, my favorite dishes to get is the goat cheese fondue for the appetizer. They have a lot of yummy items to dip into the cheese, which is nicely seasoned. It's more of a warm goat cheese instead of a melted cheese you would think of as a fondue, but it's still very good. I also like the artichoke hearts, the sauce that comes with it is superb.
I like getting some of the pasta dishes, but my favorite is to get the sirloin steak. The sauce is sometimes a bit strong for me, maybe I don't appreciate the upscaleness of the place because all of the food is prepared very upscale despite the assembly line style of the restaurant. They also have a good salad, I forget what it's called but it's citrusy with pieces of mango in it.
For dessert, I like the creme brulee. It's very custardy, not overly sweet, and they have a little gingerbread cookie sticking out of it with some fruit to eat it with on the plate. The plating of this dish is very appealing.
Overall, I enjoy the food they serve. They have a great concept going, upscale food at low cost, the lack of servers does not take away from the environment of the restaurant. Some of the food tastes too strong for me, but I don't appreciate the reduction sauces from wine and such. I still stop by about once every month or two for a treat. |
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Reviewer: pyunnyhana
Total Reviews: 45
Reviewed: 4/16/2006
Rating: 8
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SAN JOSE LOCATION
I went to the coop for a late dinner and ordered the Ciopino which is seafood soup in a tomato broth. It was 15 dollars with a side of spaghetti and about 4 pieces of pizza.
Soup: It had mussels, clam, salmon, crab and chunks of tomato. Good broth and had a lot of crab yum. I just wish they had given me calamari in there too. That would've been REAL nice.
Spaghetti: nothing special. It wasn't al dente and there was only like a spoonful of pesto on top. Not enough to flavor the pasta. Bleh
Pizza: Good for a side. Just tomato and onions. Good to dip in the soup
I was very surprised with the extra side dishes, though it could've been better. The soup was very good with lots of seafood :D. My friend bought an artichoke pizza and that looked delicious. I would definitely come back to try out their other items since the prices aren't bad, and service was pretty quick.
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 176
Reviewed: 10/14/2006
Rating: 8
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Sonoma Chicken Coop
Over the weekend, I had dinner at Sonoma Chicken Coop for a friends 29th birthday. We were a party of 10 getting together early for dinner as later that night they rented the room upstairs for the private party hosting over 50 guests.
SCS is described by many as “gourmet fast food,” where gourmet means sit down restaurant type of food but you actually wait in line to order your food and wait for your number and name to be called. This is my first time eating here and I looked forward to it as Jatbar gave SCS a favorable review, plus the fact I have not reviewed here yet.
Half of the group waited in line to get there food. The other half grabbed a table at the bar area. Turns out if you sit in the bar/table section of the restaurant, someone will come and take your order for food and drinks. Those who grabbed the table ordered from the waitress while those who ordered on their own waited for their numbers to be called.
The place was packed for dinner Saturday night and our group was fortunate to grab 3 tables right near each other to combine into one. Since this is Sonoma Chicken Coop, I decide to order the Roost-Tisserie Half Chicken (8.99) with the Rooster Booster BBQ sauce and a side of Pasta Bolognese. I was planning to get the mashed potato but the birthday girl recommended the pasta saying “the pasta dish is huge and plus you get two slices of Foccacia bread.” My friend ends up ordering the Sirloin Steak (rare).
Most people in our group and several tables near our party had a plate of fried calamari on their table. This seems like the popular starter to get, as the portions are twice as large as you get in most restaurants. About 20 minutes later our food arrived. My friend was right; there was a lot of food for only 8.99. The half chicken would have been enough on its own. The chicken was moist and juicy for most part but some of the areas within the center of the breast were a tad dry and a portion of the skin was overdone. Other than that, I wish they added more BBQ sauce to the chicken. The pasta Bolognese was your typically spaghetti al dente with thick meat sauce. I was a bit disappointed I did not get the slices of bread but was not sure that was included with my meal.
My friends rare steak looked nicely grilled to her liking with mashed potato and two slices of the Foccacia bread. After the meal, I had no room left for dessert. Service was prompt and friendly although at one stage I wished my soda was refilled, but after waiting for 10 minuets I finally asked the waitress for a refill and she prompted brought over a new glass.
I ended up paying $12 for my portion of the meal. Would definitely go back to get one of their desserts. The party ended at 12:30am but when everyone was leaving it seems like their bar section downstairs was still open.
Pluses: Easy access to a parking garage just across the street, affordable prices, large portions, friendly service.
Minuses: When busy, could be difficult to find a table. You dont always get your free slices of bread.
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Reviewer: Stevetacular
Total Reviews: 25
Reviewed: 8/21/2006
Rating: 7.5
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Sonoma Chicken Coop it seems is the place for my friends and I to go when there's a special occassion and no one can really decide on where to go. Sonoma Chicken Coop is by no means bad, but it's not particularly great either. The Campbell location has a bigger interior, so it's more comfortable to go there during the colder months, while the San Jose location is more suitable for warmer months in my estimation.
The worst part of going to Sonoma Chicken Coop is finding a table especially if you have six or more people in your group. The prices are well I must say pricey seeing as how you have to pick up your food. Ordering is quick and so is food preparation; it probably takes less than 10 minutes to get your food.
The food here is good, not mind-blowingly good, but it's good. My favorite order is the Fisherman's Net which is seafood pasta. A great appetizer choice would be calamari because they give you a lot of calamari. Same goes for the Caesar salad, they give you a lot for what you pay for. For each dinner they give two pieces of foccacia bread. My friend ordered a pizza once and the bread even came with the pizza...interesting. Overall I'd say Sonoma Chicken Coop is always a good choice for people to try out. In my book it's not a place I would frequent a lot, but it's worth coming back again to once in a while. |
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