Hawks Public House - Sacramento, California

Jay W.

We went on a random Tuesday night and wait times for drinks and food are long. Waitress was super nice and kept us updated and apologized for short staff but I suppose there’s a certain expectation for nice restaurants like this. Food was amazing, great flavors and done in unique ways. The tuna takes the cake here, super well done app. Drinks are done well here too, good selection at the bar. The chocolate cookie and ice cream was the perfect way to end the night

Mark B.

Hawks is a nice place. The food was excellent and the service was great. Apparently this place is quite popular. Our group arrived early on a Monday night with only a few people in the place but by the time we left the place was packed. The one negative is it got very loud inside once all the seats were filled. Back to the food, it was top notch but not cheap. No complaints on the price but be forewarned. The service won me over.

Christopher G.

Damn delicious! The Gnocchi to start...the sauce was so good, used the bread to soak it up. Brussels were really great balance of flavor and spice. Lobster spaghetti was dynamite for being in middle California. A generous amount of lobster. This Sourdough bread pudding with gelato...just order it no matter how full! So damn good. Also great service, food was so good, almost forgot that the service was spot on!

Mike

Great atmosphere. Service was excellent. Mushroom soup to start with was excellent, great depth of mushroom flavor and the truffle oil addition created a nice contrast. Salmon was cooked perfectly, only feedback was the skin while crispy was over salted. Overall a great spot. Plenty of free parking is a bonus.

Ryan B.

Honestly surprised about our poor experience after reading other reviews. Arrived 10 minutes before our reservation when only the bar was open and the lone bartender couldn’t handle a 2/3 full bar. Hostess wouldn’t let us sit at any of the empty tables since the servers hadn’t arrived so we were left standing in the middle of the restaurant unable to get a drink. Finally made it to a space in the bar and the bartender said he was too busy to take our order right away. Other staff there but no one ever came to help him. Eventually took 40 minutes to get drinks and well 90 minutes to get our food. Watched people who came in well after us get their food 20 minutes before us.

House cocktail had a weird consistency and several items we ordered weren’t great. Rigatoni sauce was tasty but noodles were very tough. Cold blob of cheese on top isn’t a great addition as the pasta cooled over pretty quickly.

Server was pleasant but seemed unfamiliar with some menu items ingredients. Overall not a place I’d go back to.

Amber M.

My boyfriend brought me here multiple times. I chose it to even celebrate my birthday today because it is SO amazing. From the wine to the food to the service and the ambiance. Nothing else compares in Sac. The Rigatoni is my favorite. If you want a really good cheeseburger my bf LOVED it. Their fries and garlic aioli is delicious!

Eddie L.

It's a get together dinner night with a bunch of great colleagues.  Hawks Public House was chosen for our group of 10 on a Tuesday (7/30) evening.

Hawk’s is located off a fairly busy street off Alhambra Blvd.  Free parking is available off Sutter Medical Plaza.  The restaurant is pretty small and the dining area seats probably 75 people or so is my guest.  There's an amazing bar inside decked out with all kinds of spirits along the wall.  Decor is warm and inviting.

We were seated along the West side of the building.  Given the timing of our get together (5:30pm), a couple of us were seated facing west while the sun was setting, which made it really bright and warm.

Our server was awesome.  She was very patient with us.  She got us started with drinks while we waited for the rest of our party to arrive.

In terms of the food, we had ordered Deviled Egg and Kennebec Fries for appetizers.  The Deviled Eggs were delicate and full of flavor.  Each order had 6 little Deviled Eggs.  The Kennebec Fries were good but nothing special.

For our main course, we ordered the Rigatoni, Spaghetti Fra Diavolo, Rotolo, the Grilled Pork Chop, and the Dayboat Scallops.  All sounded very interesting.  Our food arrived within 20 minutes upon ordering.  The presentations of the dishes were all amazing.  However, the portion size for some of the dishes were much smaller than expected, especially the Dayboat Scallops.  The dish was so small it was actually comical.  We had joked that we'd starve and would need to fill up on booze instead.  I personally had the scallops and while it was very tasty, it was on the saltier side.  The three pieces of scallops were full of flavor and very yummy.

The cocktails were good but did fall short of expectations.  I had ordered the Hawks Tonic, a cocktail made with gin, homemade mediterranean tonic, and lime juice.  The lime was too much and overpowered any taste of herbal that I was expecting in a gin cocktail.  It tasted more like a limeade than a gin cocktail.  The presentations of the cocktails looked amazing though.

For desserts, we had ordered a Mocha Pot De Creme and a Lemon Olive Oil Cake.  Both turned out really good.  It wasn't too sweet and had the right balance of flavors.  Some ordered the dessert wine and said it was excellent.

Our dinner came out to be about $100 per person for the evening which included a couple of drinks, appetizers, main course, dessert, tax, and tip.

So how did Hawks Public House score in my book?  Here it is:

Service is a solid 5/5.  Our server was awesome.  She was a great host and wasn't over bearing but was always available to us.  Dining area is a 4/5.  The windows could use an upgraded shade to block the sun from beating down on guests seated facing west.  It just got too warm and we were practically sweating.  The drinks are a 3/5.  The cocktails look better than it tasted.  Mine tasted more like a limeade.  I ended up switching to a glass of wine after and it was so much better.  The food is a 4/5.  The presentations of all the dishes were amazing.  All were very tasty but portion size for some were much smaller than expected and left some of us still feeling hungry!  Desserts were very good.  Value to price ratio is about a 4/5.  Overall experience is about a 4/5.

While we all had a great time at Hawks, the overall experience was mixed. With the small dining space the noise level got up there and made it challenging to carry a conversation especially as the evening went on.  I felt like we had to raise our voice and yell in order for us to hear each other.  Do ask about portion size before ordering so you don't go hungry.  It's unlikely you'll have left overs.  For drinks, stick with the wine instead of the cocktail.  I've had my fair share of cocktails and Hawk's cocktail fell short of expectations.  Plan to pay a premium for the overall experience.   Make sure you're with good company to make it worthwhile. I certainly was.

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Olivier C.

Fantastic gastropub with delightful options of meat (duck liver mousse, NY steak) and fish (lobster spaghetti, cod fish and chips...) Smiling and happy staff. Cool setting, good vibes. Some decent wines and interesting cocktails.