Morrison's Upstairs

This entry refers to a departed business that has closed or left town. All information here is for historical reference only.

 

Morrison's Upstairs is one of the more upscale restaurants in Woodland. The menu features mainly fresh fish, steak and chicken entrees in the $16-$25 range. The atmosphere is just like at Grandma's house, but the food makes up for the folksy decor. They specialize in steak, fresh fish & seafood, appetizers, salad, chef's specials, cajun prime rib, leg of lamb, fine wines & cocktails. They also offer catering.

Their motto is "Step Back Into the 1800's".

• See also the Woodland Wiki entry

Photos

The pumpkin cheesecake is beyond excellent. - BrandonKeene

They also have great crem brulet. -jr

Read more about it, and see pictures from InsideWoodland here: http://insidewoodland.com/morrisons.cfm

2005-12-29 08:54:41   Decent food, but not spectacular — not worth the cost, in my opinion. Restaurant is on the third floor, so be prepared to walk up a lot of stairs (or just take the elevator). The seating is tight, but service is always excellent. —AlexPomeranz

2006-10-02 16:02:05   The food is excellent, extensive menu, fairly high prices but 4.5 star. Lots of stairs - but its good for you. —AaronDarling

2006-10-02 17:09:17   This may have been luck of the draw, but I had one of the best wine pairings at the suggestion of one of the waiters at Morrison's! And where else in the area are you gonna find lobster... not surf & turf, but lobster with loads of artery-clogging anti-Davis butter! —AlphaDog

2010-01-26 18:48:11   Looking forward to trying this place for our first married valentine's day. Moxie was already booked up, which is a bummer, but it'll be fun to try out a new, tasty place. Doesn't hurt that it's a little closer! —TomGarberson

2010-01-26 18:57:49   Morrisons is a great restaurant and in woodland, the ambiance is 2nd to none. It's a lot of fun for a romantic evening, and the food is usually quite good. It isn't cheap, but the prices aren't crazy like high end dining in Sacramento can be. —rfrazier

2010-02-15 10:48:21   So, we went there last night for Valentine's Day. Really great atmosphere. The building is beautiful, and tastefully decorated. They used paper place mats, which was a little surprising at a nice restaurant.

Service: B-; Service wasn't terrible, but it was sub-par for nice, fairly pricey restaurant. Everyone was extremely friendly and professional. They only came around about twice to refill water during the meal, though. On the plus side, they came by 3 times after the meal, in the 5 or 10 minutes before we left. They were also a little slow coming by to take our order. I'm not sure on time frame, but we had already perused the whole menu (including a page of nice Valentine's Day specials) by the time our waitress came to ask if we'd like to start with some drinks. I also didn't get a steak knife with my prime rib, which was a little peculiar. No one on the staff came by until I was more than halfway done with it, so I didn't bother to ask for one.

Food: B- The food was really tasty. Bekka ordered a "berry baby" salad with bleu cheese, blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries, mixed baby greens, and a really nice balsamic vinaigrette. I started with their crab cake and rock shrimp. The crab cake was absolutely delicious, one of the best I've had, but the "rock shrimp" were basically just popcorn shrimp. If they'd served it with cocktail sauce instead of a nice red pepper aioli, the shrimp could have been from any pub or bar.

My wife ordered crab-stuffed salmon with a creamy lemon-dill sauce. It was served with some asparagus and long-grain rice. The rice and asparagus seemed rather uninteresting, but the salmon was absolutely divine. It was perfectly cooked, incredibly tender and delicious, and the sauce complemented it perfectly. The crab stuffed inside was excellent—that beautiful, strong dungeness taste. If the sides had been a little better, it would have been the perfect entree.

I got the prime rib, medium rare, which I wouldn't order again. Don't get me wrong, it tasted good. But it came out medium, maybe even halfway to medium-well. The meat was tasty, but it had no seasonings; even the outer edge didn't have any signs of a dry rub or marinade. It was served with a tasty horseradish sauce, but no au jus or anything of the sort—a bummer, since it was cooked quite a bit more than I like. Unlike Bekka's salmon, my prime rib came with great sides. Instead of a baked potato, they give you potatoes gratin. I'm normally not a big fan, and meant to ask for a baked potato instead (they note on the menu that you can request one), but I forgot. It ended up being delicious. It also came with a generous portion of roasted veggies - carrots, zucchini, broccoli, red bell peppers, onions. They were lightly seasoned and perfectly cooked. It's rare to find a roasted veggie mix where the carrots are fully cooked and nothing else (especially the broccoli) is over cooked, but they nailed it (I'm betting they par boiled the carrots before hand).

Presentation on the food was very simple, but I generally prefer it that way.

Wine list: B+; The list is moderate in size, but it had a great range of options. There are a lot of bottles for $30 and under (most of them, actually). No wine by the glass that I saw, but they do have half bottles. The thing that bumped them up to a B+ is the fact that they have a 2005 Hall (note: not Robert Hall) Cabernet Sauvignon, one of my all-time favorites, for $32.

Bottom Line: Morrison's is a nice place, but for a total of $96 for two people before tip, there's definitely better in the area. I recommend Moxie if you want significantly better food and service, with equally good atmosphere.—TomGarberson

2010-10-01 08:05:48   We heard the other day Morrison's may be closing. Anyone know for sure? —RichardL