Running Rooster

We used to come here A LOT. But not anymore because the value just isn’t here anymore. Prices have taken another BIG jump (as have meat prices, to be fair). But they haven’t been terribly consistent except in one area (hence three stars)…and that’s service. It’s generally outstanding. If they didn’t have such wonderful servers, doubt we’d come much, if at all. But we’re not beer drinkers, and clearly that’s a big part of their business!
The good: homemade chips and guacamole — and the chips really are homemade and tasty. Go before 6pm and get for half price
The not so good: $ 24 salmon that’s sometimes very dry.
The brow raiser: $ 15+++ for a burger they insist on cooking medium well.
The ridiculous: the price of iced tea ($ 3) especially during happy hour — same as a glass of wine! Grrrr

First time back since the redesign and we are now huge fans! Where else are there toy trains and a track for your kids to play with??? The food is really good, although pricey. But ya get what you pay for. We will be back for sure!

Good family atmosphere and food is good but very pricey! Their chicken is always very salty, but other yummy options to choose from. One of the few trendy restaurants to go eat in Hollister. My low review is for the waitresses, always soooo bad. The first time one was extremely rude, she acted annoyed. Trust me am not a demanding person at all, but she forgot my order and I had to wait for my meal while my family finished theirs. I didn’t get to eat my meal, and she didn’t even offer me bag to go, oh and she never took the menus. she started to put our plates on top of them, I had to ask her to remove them. The second time there was a blonde hair (no one at the table had blonde hair btw) in my sister’s fries, and the girl just took the plate and did not offer to bring us a different set, but did charge us. We didn’t want to argue, we just left. Not coming back again ever.

Easily the nicest restaurant in Hollister, but really only because of the lack of competition. That isn’t to say the Rooster wouldn’t survive in a bigger city because the super clean, updated décor is really nice, but the prices and lack of proper service would definitely give it a run for it’s money. The menu is pretty standard upscale bar fare with the pleasant exception of a real rotisserie and made from scratch pizza. Everything my lady and I ordered from the appetizers, drinks, burgers and salads were all nicely prepared and tasted great. Even though the place was dead on a Tuesday afternoon the server we had seemed nice but uninterested in waiting on us, and spent most of the time huddled in a mass of employees around the bar talking to each other. The prices were a little high for the portions and the ingredients but it looks like they just did a remodel so I can’t fault them for trying to recoup some of that cost. We’ll definitely be back when we are in the area.

I love the happy hour, what a great atmosphere. Good place to unwind after a stressful day at work. The food is served fast and delicious too. Sheena is outstanding.

Too over priced for service and food quality. The floor is uneven and everything is wobbly. Which just makes an annoying meal time. Better before the remodel. There super discount lunch section is $ 10 and $ 12 sandwiches n such… Huge discount!

Mediocre beef in their hamburgers. Pizza and salad was good.

By far my best meal in Hollister thus far. The roasted chicken is their claim to fame and they do not disappoint. The burgers and desserts are tasty too. They also have Firestone DBA on tap which is a huge plus!

Stopped by here for desert with the kids. Waitstaff was amazing. The deserts were phenomenal. Coming back for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

I went here both before and after the reno. Sad to say but they were way better before the reno. The burgers were great and decently priced. After the renovation, the service is awful, prices have sky rocketed and food just isn’t the same. Two stars only because the burgers are decent still — or at least they were. They are pricey now and I haven’t been in ages. I am usually a generous tipper for good service. This place is the first (and only) place I’ve never left a tip. The service was truly that bad. I even contacted the owner and got an apology so I tried again… Not inclined to go back anytime soon.

Love love love this place ! The staff is always friendly and quick, and the food is always delicious. Their pizzas and burgers are probably my favorite thing on the menu. Very cool atmosphere with lots of beer on tap, what more could you want ?!

Visiting family and decided to try the Red rooster for lunch– ordered the fish tacos based on a recommendation from the waitress. For $ 13 you get 3 very average fish tacos in a flour tortilla. Comes with the typical cabbage slaw and tomato salsa topping which was fresh and flavorful. The fish was extremely average– greasy crust and hardly any meat — Not impressed. Rubio’s has MUCH better fish tacos for a reasonable cost. If I return I’ll try something else.

Lauren was are bartender /​wait person and was not only very pleasant was a wealth of knowledge regarding the menu, the beers and the general state of affairs in town… we had a great time eating and sampling… the onion rings are amazing … nice place to eat and try some different beers from all over… thanks again…

I loved this place when they first opened and recommended it to all my friends. However something has changed. Actually only one thing, the meat. The hamburger meat has an odd texture that’s kind of mushy and I order mine well done. Can’t explain it any better. The taste is off as well compared to the way it was before. At first I thought it was just an off day so I went back and had the same experience only this time a friend with me mentioned it. So whatever they’ve done to their meat is not a good thing. I haven’t had anything other than hamburgers there so I cannot comment on the rest of the menu.

Food was good but the service was horrible. Our waitress was inattentive and more interested in talking with other employees than serving.

This is the trendiest restaurant in Hollister that includes a beer/​wine bar with unique and multiple selections. The bar area has Flat screen TV’s set for watching sports.
I find them to be a little pricey so I prefer the lunch menu that has seven items $ 12 and under and includes a soft drink. I love the fish tacos on the lunch menu.
Lunch also offers some of the selections offered at dinner but the majority do not include drinks.
The menu includes burgers for lunch and dinner. I prefer the ¼ pound burger with blue cheese crumbles for $ 8.50.
The cedar plank salmon with a sweet potato is delicious! It is served on the cedar plank it is cooked on and comes with a side salad. The salmon is on the dinner menu but if you ask they may make an exception and serve it at lunch.
Make reservations if you plan to come on a Friday night.

The Running Rooster is just OK… They don’t have options for Gluten Free patrons, which would be nice. Also, the burger are quite expensive, and the sweet potato fries were not that crunchy and it seemed like the sweet potato fries at the bottom of the huge serving dish, were soggy, or undercooked. I really think they should stay away from those HUGE serving dishes that serve the fries. It makes me feel like I’m at some nasty Apple-​bees.

I’ve been going to the Rooster since before the remodel. (My Unilocal photo is me at the Rooster with my favorite shared combination of salad and pizza.) They managed to survive the downturn of 2008 and made some very interesting changes. It’s now a great brew pub with excellent roast chicken, terrific salads, very tasty pizza, good hamburgers, if you love garlic, try the garlic fries, I also love the sweet potato fries, and can get them to make me fish tacos even if it isn’t lunch. You can ask for half portions of salad or extra plates to share a meal. The quality is consistently good. There are TV’s for watching sports and background music which is sometimes good and sometimes not so much. As we go there at least 2x a week we feel we «own» the joint! If you go there a lot, you’ll see some times it’s totally packed and some times it’s extremely quiet. Some staff is new and/​or clueless but overall the wait help is exactly that, helpful. Just hold them accountable and they will try to meet your needs. Sheena who manages the bar knows her beers and does her best to keep things interesting. They have periodic special nights featuring different breweries if you like to try various beers. You can get a «flight» sampler of 4 for $ 5.
It’s a little pricey, some things I never order. I wish the deserts were more interesting. Happy Hour is great for discounts. They recently cut back the menu once again, which is disappointing for a regular like me. A little more variety would be nice. Would I bring friends here? Yes!

Giving them 3 stars because we like their food and normally have a good experience. The other night not so much. The waitress was not friendly at all and wasn’t very good at her job. There was a confusion on the appetizer order and she brought out the wrong ones and she wasn’t very forgiving on letting me know that i was in the wrong. She then brought our food a couple minutes after we got our appetizers, not even spacing it out. That’s basically the last interaction we had with her.…She also brought my dad a beer that she had poured that was 60% foam and set it down and walked away. my dad had to get up and take it to the bartender to have it properly poured. The waitress was there and witnessed the whole thing, but didn’t apologize or anything.
We will be back, but we will not have her as our server.

My drink was refilled three times. The waitress was on top of her service, 5 stars.
Food, spot on. Fresh, hot and delicious!!! Recommend the wings, great sauce. Good olé’ cheeseburger and garlic fries. Garlic cooked till it was sweet, fantastic flavor. :)