Echo Bistro & Wine Bar

A solid 3 stars. Can't give Echo any more or any less.

My wine here was delicious! Look, I'm a picky wino. I usually sample 2-3 wines until I commit to my glass. The wine list is actually huge and you have several options. It was so good, the next day I chatted up with everyone all about the wine here.

And what was with the bread and pesto for the table? Ohmuhgaww..that is so freaking delish! Pardon me while I eat all the cheesey bread over here and start drinking this pesto since it's so tasty. I'm that person who fills up on the bread and spoils my appetite by the time the main course arrives. Apparently the pesto is so good here people buy it by the package and the restaurant event ships it across the country as a gift. I believe it.

The rest is blah.

The onion gratinee was just alright. It was a ittle disappointing since the texture looked near[erfect. It tasted like broth without any more flavor. My salmon boxty was not good. The texture was too mushy and the taste was too fishy. The caprese style appetizer was good but they needed to serve more cheese and oil with the dish. My dinner date did not love the crab cakes. They were fine but not to die for.

Service is good and the chef will come by and say hi. The table settings are classy. I found it too dark in here with the painted black cielings but overall the ambiance is nice.

How have I driven by this joint a billion times and never looked twice at the place? My dad came to visit and wanted to go here - because he had found a guy he was on a submarine with in the Navy in Vietnam who was the chef/owner of Echo! Aside from the fact that it was very cool to be present for this reunion 40 plus years later, the menu was incredible and Seth the chef and his wife were so personable and welcoming to everyone who walked in the door.
The homemade pesto and breadsticks were out of this world fresh and delicious!! Our entrees - tuna, scallops, and a steak dish - were well prepared and seasoned perfectly.
If I could afford to eat here on a regular basis, I'd be one of the so many regulars who seemed to be there! It's also worth mentioning they do great service in the community for taking care of veterans.

Decided to finally give this restaurant a try. I made reservations a few days beforehand with no problems. I never noticed this restaurant on Kingston before - their sign is super tiny and not high.

We sat at a booth and received water with a scoop of watermelon on the bottom. It didn't give the water any flavor if that's what you were wondering. The watermelon wasn't sweet and I think it was more for presentation. I loved the concept though!

Then a plate of pickled veggies is placed on the table - I was never crazy about pickled veggies but I had one of each (string beans, mushrooms, carrot, pepper, and radish)

Then the best part comes, the bread and pesto! But wait, the chef comes out to talk to us. He asked what we ordered and he told us those were his best sellers. Cool. I appreciated the small talk and questioned if he did that to every table. I have to admit, I just wanted to eat the bread before it gets cold! The bread was warm, soft and topped with a few strings of cheese and herbs. The herbs didn't make a difference for flavor. I drowned the bread in pesto. Yum.


We ordered a bunch of appetizers because that's the best way to eat!

- Costal She Crab Bisque: probably the best out of all these appetizers we order. I guess you can't go wrong with a creamy soup!
- Pan Seared Ahi Tuna and Veg Spring Roll: not that there is tuna in the spring roll, it's separate. Nothing special and honestly not worth it. You're better off going to a Japanese restaurant for this. It also came with some veggies and deep fried wonton sheets which we didn't touch. Not sure what I was expecting when I decided to order this.
- Asian Pan Seared Sea Scallops: I just wanted a scallop dish, not really the Asian flavoring part. If I wanted an Asian dish I would go to an Asian restaurant. It came with 3 scallops, bedded in what tasted liked ginger dressing sauce, but a tad to salty because of the bbq sauce mixture and the ginger wasn't strong, and deep fried seaweed strands and white rice. I've had scallops that melt in your mouth before, this isn't one of them. On the bright side it wasn't over cooked!
- Grilled Oysters Maitre D: great flavor. I wasn't a fan of some tiny hard pieces when I chewed. Nice presentation though. I wonder if they waste all the sea salt underneath these oysters or do people actually use it when their oysters?
- Banana Banana Banana dessert: grilled bananas with sliced bananas, vanilla ice cream and a bowl of syrup sauce? I've had banana desserts before and eh this was okay. If you are debating between this dessert and another, you are not missing out on much. This was probably the second best item we ordered from here but hey, it's dessert. Who doesn't enjoy dessert? It's hard to mess up bananas and ice cream.

The waitress was also trying way too hard for tips. At first it was nice and friendly but girl give us some privacy! She talked to us way too often and long. But when it came time to order dessert she was MIA. I guess it became busy? The restaurant wasn't packed though. At the end, she made a long speech about having a great weekend and such. We are social but we felt that was a tad too much.

Overall, I'm glad I finally got to remove this restaurant off my bookmarks. Maybe the entrees are better than the appetizers? I listed out what I ordered so you don't end up ordering what I ordered and hopefully have a better experience. Cheers.

What a beautiful hidden gem! These guys are creative yet approachable menu wise! And always ask for the specials and/or "off menu" chef specialties!

Another great meal by Chef Chip. It was a hot evening and the cheese and fruit appetizer platter and glass of wine hit the spot, with plenty of leftover for lunch the next day. Looking forward to the upcoming Shrimp 7 Ways later in July. Service was great as always. My dinner companion had the paella and said it was awesome.

phone number doesnt work on any review/search site. My guess is this placed closed. I even tried to connect with facebook. No response. Went elsewhere.

This is a good restaurant but I wouldn't say its great. Everything is al acarte and dinner can get pricey. Thought the grilled oysters were flavorless and not cooked properly. The squash soup on the other hand was great. Those that had steak (other than bison) thought it was a little fatty. My lobster, scallop, shrimp entrée was good but lobster was overcooked and tough. Scallops and shrimp very good and cooked perfectly. My son's bison steak was very tasty and surprisingly tender. I didn't understand the bread on the table, I would have expected some crispy French bread not fazoli-ish bread sticks. The banana desert was excellent.
I think for the price of the meal(s) I expected a little more consistency. This is still a very good restaurant. Service was very professional.

Yummmm is all I can say! One of mine and my husbands favorite restaurants. Perfect quaint atmosphere, great cocktails and excellent food. It is always a nice surprise when we go in and they remember us!

Straight-up I'm giving them 3 stars because they just opened, there is room for improvement, and there was not an option to give them 2 and 1/2 stars.

The bread here tastes like it sat in the frozen section at Sam's way to long. It was not very good.

Here is what I tried: Shrimp cocktail, trio of soups, trio of salads, escargot, bison, beef wellington, and the classic mangoes cigar dessert.

Shrimp cocktail - the slaw that was served with this in a martini glass was okay but the shrimp themselves were not good.

Trio of Soups - French Onion soup was way off, asparagus (the one I liked the most but still not great), and a salmon chowder of some sort. None of these were great.

Trio of Salads - my favorite part about this was the large tomato that came with the wedge, the caesar was just okay, and the last one was a spinach and crab meat salad with diced eggs. You could not tell a difference between the crab and eggs because there was so much dressing on this salad.

Escargot - was all wrong. Sauce was way to heavy. It tasted to be frank, SICK.

Bison - was extremely tough, and not that flavorful.

Beef Wellington - mashed potatoes were cold and chunky. Where I come from Beef Wellington is served in a pastry not 2 little pastry like crisps standing by the beef. I was one of the only females at the table and they served me this first. I waited between 5-10 minutes for them to bring out everyone else in the party's entrees. That is a bit ridiculous. You cannot expect me to dig into my plate with a table full of men waiting for their food. Echo you need to work on that.

Mango's Classic Cigar Dessert - this was actually decent. I like the idea that they put this dessert on their menu allowing the late Kenny Siao who owned the restaurant Mango, which was in this spot for years, credit for his work. It is definitely a sign of respect and a great marketing technique.

Prices are reasonable, staff was friendly, service wise they need to step it up. I saw a table trying to get a servers attention because they were served a soup without a spoon. I really want this restaurant to succeed. There needs to be more competition in the Bearden area and I like this place. I have always loved that location.

I will go back to this place again because like I said, I want this place to succeed. Don't try any of the items I have listed but try something else. It might be better. Enjoy and Cheers.

The crab cakes were great! Once a month they host local charities and sell the crab cakes and give back. You can't help but appreciate this!