Canyon Creek has really gone downhill! I checked out their Winterlicious 2015 dinner menu last night with 11 friends, and it was mostly misses.

Food

• SINGAPORE CRUNCH SALAD (made with grape tomatoes, cucumber, puffed quinoa and brown rice, radish, coriander, red onion, chickpea crisps, sesame seeds, with Thai dressing) – the one person that ordered it took two bites and would not consider taking a third. His exact words were, “what the hell is this?! Disgusting! I can’t eat this!” And this person is not a picky eater. It did look interesting though.
• ROAST CALIFORNIA STRIPLOIN (garlic marinated striploin, chili roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli, with horseradish carrot puree) – was chewy, fatty and bland. This is the first time I wanted ketchup for my potatoes, salt for my broccoli, and a gravy for the meat. It was such a disappointing dish. Canyon Creek used to be so talented at cooking meat. Such a waste.
• STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRUMBLE (freshly baked fruit, oat and brown sugar streusel, with vanilla bean ice cream) – 7 people ordered it, and only one person finished it – the one that finished said she did so because she loves jams and super-sweet desserts.

Drinks

• Sangria – it was wine, water and ice. No fruit, and very bland. Worst sangria we have ever had. EVER!

Service

• Service was very average. There were several complaints about the food from our group, and our server showed his annoyance and frustration. Trust me buddy, I was plenty embarrassed for having chosen this restaurant for dinner!
• Also, although there were 4 people bringing the food out, they still managed to forget my main, and remembered it 10 minutes after everyone else got theirs

The few positives

• The butter is still delicious
• The chocolate dessert was creamy, chocolaty, with a good chili kick

Overall

Never going back. I should have known that this chain was going downhill the minute they removed the Canyon Creek Dip from the menu and replaced it with the new version with caramelized onions.

**If you are obligated for one reason or another to visit Canyon Creek for Winterlicious, I suggest that you get the chicken or shrimp main, the soup or kale salad as the appetizer, and the chocolate option for dessert.