Frenchman and a Redneck

Sorry to see the Frenchman close its doors, they had the best food in Elko

I’ve been here a few times and have had great service and never a bad meal. The music has always been a good mellow and fun listen. The servers are all friendly and able. The décor isn’t anything mind blowing but who cares when the foods good and service doesn’t suck.

Had dinner and it was excellent. Service was wonderful and the food came promptly. Steaks were perfectly cooked and very good. Would eat here again.

Dinner was horrible, food was cold, waiter was unprofessional, didn’t have any of the beverages that we wanted. When we asked for hot food, it still came back cold, again! Had to go and find the waiter to get food and drinks. Wish I could give it 00 stars! Will never go back!

If you’re looking for one of the best unexpected meals of your life, you are going to find it here.
A creative array of appetizers and an extensive wine list will get you off to a good start.
Mariah described the choices of sauces (frenchman) ranging from a honey merlot reduction to a brandy cream sauce and made well informed recommendations to accompany the 28 day dry aged beef (the redneck) seered to unbelievable perfection.
The crown jewel of this establishment is chef Rick, with culinary talents that match the best in the west. He came out to meet everyone and was genuinely curious and open for input.
As the dancing personable Andrew put it, «We’re fancy but not pretentious.» I would have to concur. I will stop there every time I drive through Elko.

For Elko, this place is tops. For most cities, this place is tops. It is rare in rural USA that you find people who are as concerned with the product that comes into their kitchen as much as they are concerned with the product that comes out. I was pleasantly surprised by this fantastic establishment and will definitely be back again and again. Service at the bar was more than great. The chef came our to take our order himself. Wine was good. Couldn’t be happier in Elko!

Nice atmosphere and pretty good food too. The food is really good but I do miss the larger portions and variety of Biltokis. Although you can tell the food is better quality.

Great atmosphere, great service… Luc has done well with the new menu. Would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a nice sit down restaurant in this little town!

I was told that they just reopened recently after closing for renovations. The inside was nice and clean and was clearly just renovated. I ordered the steak sandwich for lunch and was not disappointed (my mouth is watering now just thinking about it). It came with the traditional Basque soup, salad and bread then the sandwich came out with the delicious fries. If you have the opportunity to stop by for lunch, I suggest you do so. It was affordable at about $ 15 including a generous tip!!!

Don’t confuse the bad reviews for the old restaurant with the new. Biltoki is under new management and ownership and they have made great changes. No old carpet but clean cement floors. The bar area is open and inviting as well as the dining room. This was my first time since new management and what a difference. Food and atmosphere are great. Only slight and easy recommendations to improve this new restaurant is expand dessert offerings. The wait staff will get with the new changes, however, we had good service so no complaint. There were three of us and all enjoyed the meal. We will be back.

Overrated

I love Biltoki! Basque food is some of the most cultural and tasty Elko has to offer! Everyone starts with their signature cabbage soup and bread, then they bring out their salad, and then comes spaghetti, beans, french-​fries, and then the course you chose from the menu. I would suggest their Lamb. Lamb is the signature Basque meat and it is always done right here.
Im sad to say that new management has taken over and from what I hear they will be changing the menu. Not something I am looking forward to.

Don’t go to biltoki’s it was one of the worst meals I have ever eaten in my life! I recently visited Elko a place I lived at 15 years ago, and the food back then was very good. This was an embarrassment to the worst dive diner in existence.
My husband had pork chops that had been cooked some other day, my son had a steak that he ordered medium, the brought him a charred piece of meat with smothered with some kind of cheese that tasted like it had come out of a shoe, I ordered paella, and was served Lipton cheesey rice goop, with a hot dog cut up in it, two old shrimp and empty mussels that they actually stuffed the rice into because the mussels were empty! What a rip! They should have their license taken to serve food.

I love Basque food — real Basque food, that is. I didn’t find it at Biltoki! The bread most likely came from the grocery store; very much like Wonder bread, bland, no chewiness to speak of. The soup had potential, rather thick with cabbage, but a good flavor. I missed the beans and salsa that comes standard with Kern County (CA) Basque fare (I know, this is Nevada!, but a sheepherder is a sheepherder…), and Tabasco is not a good substitute for the salsa. The salad was very overdressed — thickly mayonnaise-​y and cloyingly goopy. (Have some iceberg with that mayo?) All that aside, I really looked forward to the lamb shanks. I mean, how can a Basque restaurant screw up a braise? The meat was cooked nicely, falling off the bone, connective tissue meltingly succulent. But that was it – a hunk of meat, dried out on the edges, no sauce of any kind (not even the braise liquid!). I asked the waitress if the plate had gone out of the kitchen too soon. She assured me that there was no sauce since the new management took over, and would I care for some mint jelly? (What — am I in England?) How difficult would it be to reduce the braise liquid and create a sauce? Other restaurants can manage it. There was no spaghetti («we don’t do that anymore») and there was a baked potato instead of Basque fries (oh – like Sizzler!). The zucchini was one of the giant ones left too long in the garden (or, most likely, the cheapest Sysco has to offer), bitter, and cooked to mushiness.
The upside — our waitress was friendly, the service, while a bit slow, wasn’t bad. The portions were generous. However, to repeat — I love Basque food, the kind prepared with integrity and decent ingredients, where the food is central. I certainly won’t return to Biltoki.

Great Basque food and service is always pleasant.

I don’t really know anything about Basque food, but as for overall quality this place was laughable. When we arrived we saw a gentleman sitting by himself surrounded by huge plates of food, and I made the comment that maybe he was a food critic. Well, it turns out that ridiculous portion sizes are the only thing this place has going for it. Every single order comes with an enormous plate of three or four different sides. Personally, I think it’s a tragic waste to see that much food going in the trash, even if it is poor quality food, which brings me to my next point.
The food was poor quality. I didn’t even try the vegetables, because they looked like they were either hideously over cooked or like they came right out of a can. Which is what most of everything else tasted like. The spaghetti was absolutely nasty. The noodles were overcooked and mushy. The sauce was almost certainly canned (and I wouldn’t be surprised if the noodles were, too). The baked beans were similar: canned. The French fries weren’t really anything special, either. The steak was OK – it was cooked the way I wanted it but it’s hard to get a steak wrong unless you truly should not be in the restaurant business.
I don’t really know how «Basque» this actually was, but I’m guessing not very. And we really couldn’t find any other place in Elko that looked interesting, either. So if you’re on a trip on the Lincoln Highway, Elko might be a good fast-​food night.

Stopped in for lunch with Classy Mike during our road trip from New York to Los Angeles.
We arrived in Elko knowing nothing about Basque food, and I’m afraid that after going to Biltoki, we still don’t know a damn thing.
I’m going to have to echo Spoon G.‘s review here — all of the ingredients they use were decidedly average or a bit below average (grocery store bread nets an immediate star subtraction), yet all of the locals seem to be enjoying the food immensely. I had a chicken sandwich which supposedly came on some sort of special Basque roll, but as far as I could tell was a regular garden variety chicken sandwich.
I think a woman sitting at the table next to us put it best: «I don’t know why they don’t fire me, I keep screwing everything up!». And «You wanna come over and watch the Hangover? I got it on DVD!»
Food: ⁸⁄₂₅ stars
Ambiance: ¹⁶⁄₂₅ stars
Service: ²¹⁄₂₅ stars
Bathroom: ¹⁴⁄₂₅ stars
Probability of going back: 0%

Pretty mixed on what to put in a review for Biltoki. I have always been told that The Star has THE best Food (Basque or otherwise) in Elko, but I have never tried it due to limited time and what seemed like a long wait.
I asked the gal at the desk of the Hotel what she thought of other options, and she told me she preferred the Biltoki over the Star. That pretty much set my plan.
Well, first impression is the place is «charming», clean, nice. I wanted the Family Style Basque Chicken. The waitress told me what comes with the Family Style dinner, and it just seemed the list of sides went on and on and on…
Started with a big basket of bread, then a bucket of cabbage/​tomato soup, then on to a salad, just before getting spaghetti, greenbeans/​carrots, and baked beans (see uploaded picture).
Then, a big plate of french fries and the Basque Chicken.
The bread was good, the soup seemed to be a bit watery, overcooked which turned out to be a theme from the rest of the dishes.
I was afraid that I had made a wrong choice due to the over cooked spaghetti, vegetables, and chicken. But, after reading a few reviews of The Star, it seems to be the same description of food at The Star.
Now I am beginning to wonder if Elko gets QUANTITY mixed up with Quality.
The food was «ok», the service was OUTSTANDING, the atmosphere good. I did feel guilty with all the waste because there is no flippin’ way that a person could eat all that food.
I will likely try The Star before I return to BilToki, just to see the comparison.

After a long hike in the Lamoille Glacier area, was really ready to grub. Naturally, we turned to Biltoki for a huge Basque dinner. Great service and swift seating. Got a kick out of the red menus with the calligraphy writing.
Thoroughly enjoyed the starting items, particularly the soup — it packed a ton of flavor when you didn’t expect it; I almost asked for some more, but didn’t want to overdo it. Good salad and savory sides. The green beans had a lot going on with some extras like carrots and potatoes. Even the dish of beans and side of spaghetti were better than expected! The entrees were very tasty and hit the spot. I had the shrimp, which were lightly battered and came with an unusual, semisweet dipping sauce. I can’t quite place what was in it, but it was good and different. Got to try a piece of the fillet, which was tender, but a little overcooked. Good food and would definitely recommend it if you are looking for dinner in Elko.

If you are ever driving through the vast nothingness that is Highway 80 in Nevada, be sure to stop in Elko. It’s a cute little town that somehow doesn’t feel like it’s in the middle of the desert 50 miles from the nearest town.
If Basque food is your thing, then Elko is your place. We drove by 3 Basque restaurants within a few blocks. We chose Biltoki because there was a shaded parking spot nearby (we had our 3 doggies with us & wanted to make sure they didn’t get heatstroke).
This is definitely a local’s place. Lots of friends & families meeting for lunch. I ordered the roasted pork & my hubby ordered the lamb chops. As noted in earlier reviews, it is more food than you can eat, even at lunch. The salad was just ok, definitely overdressed. But the clam chowder was to die for! They brought us a crock of it & I ate almost the whole thing. I knew I’d regret it cuz I wouldn’t be able to eat my main dish but I couldn’t stop. As my hubby said, my «eyes were smiling». Then the large plate of french fries came along with the main dishes. My pork was 6 thick slices in yummy gravy. The lamb chops were so huge that they dwarfed the little plate they came on. Needless to say we were both stuffed & had to take doggie bags home (guess who got the leftovers??).
All this for $ 25. Beats the hell out of McDonald’s.