I just recently went to The Orchid for the first time and love their food. I know this may sound odd but their mac & cheese with shrimp is wonderful. I love their lunches which includes a salad...

I just recently went to The Orchid for the first time and love their food. I know this may sound odd but their mac & cheese with shrimp is wonderful. I love their lunches which includes a salad and it has the lightest dressing with a slight sweet taste. I would recommend to anyone that is looking for a nice place to have lunch and enjoy the food.

This is mine and my husbands new favorite resturant.  We love everything we've ever eaten there.  My personal favorite is the walnut glaszed garlic shirmp and the garlic shirmp pasta. ...

The Orchid is without a doubt my favorite Bakersfield restaurant. While I have never been for lunch, my husband and I have been many times since they opened and have taken friends to both...

The Orchid is without a doubt my favorite Bakersfield restaurant. While I have never been for lunch, my husband and I have been many times since they opened and have taken friends to both dinner and wine/appetizers in the wine bar. Not once have we had poor service. The food is always fabulous, unique, and well presented. The wine list is above par with several REALLY good wines. It is overall a great place for a fabulous dinner.

For Valentine's Day we wanted unique, fine and local dining.  My 5 year old daughter and I had once had lunch at The Orchid.   I remembered the place as half-empty with an esoteric menu and...

For Valentine's Day we wanted unique, fine and local dining.  My 5 year old daughter and I had once had lunch at The Orchid.   I remembered the place as half-empty with an esoteric menu and service that was a little slow.

The thought of returning hadn't crosssed my mind, until my wife saw a listing on Restaurant.com.

There were people waiting, but our 5:30p reservations were honored and we were sat immediately.  It took about 15 minutes before somebody came to take our drink order and I was starting to recall Bakersfield.com reviews. 

I had the macaroni and cheese ($16) and my wife had the Glazed Walnut Shrimp ($14).  We weren't sure how big the appetizer would be and mistakenly ordered only one to share (Shrimp triangle.  Very good, but only two of them.) 

The Wild Horse merlot was served flawlessly.  And my wife's Thai iced tea was authentic and served in a half carafe. 

By the end of the evening we were blown away by how much we enjoyed it.  The final bill was $47.00, easily less than half what we pay when we go to T.L. Maxwell's or Mama Tosca's.  With a packed house all night, the staff and the kitchen really turned out a superior product.  I hope they can be consistent, because it was our first meal out in a while where our expectations were exceeded.