Spice Bistro

Great meal! Calamari was tender and flavorful. Julie had their signature dish I t have halibut, artichokes, and cheese. Rich and yummy! I had the salmon which was spicy (I had been warned). Drinks were well done and weren’t kidding around. Last, but not least, the service was excellent. Friendly and very helpful. Overall, a fantastic experience!

Ate here with 2 friends Saturday night. We all agreed the food and service were top-​notch. We shared the scallop appetizer with the fried leeks. Absolutely delicious! We all ordered the halibut which was very reasonably priced and fresh. No room for dessert but they looked good. Great service from our server, Toni.

For all our friends in the Willamette Valley… this place is for real, folks! Just opened in November in Florence, just east of The Firehouse Restaurant. How fortunate we were that Firehouse and Bridgewater were closed on Tuesday, or we wouldn’t have happened on this new gem. Be sure to spend some time chatting with the owner, Tim. First Class comes to Florence!

Our family enjoyed an amazing dinner here! I would highly recommend! Sheena was a lovely and knowledgeable server and help us make excellent choices for our wine, meals and dessert. We will definitely be back!

We happened upon Spice Bistro while on a leisurely trip up the Oregon Coast. In summary, the food was amazing and the service spot on. Tim, the chef/​owner, is passionate about sourcing, preparing and presenting every item on the menu.
We split the salmon tacos and the surf & turf burger, and were stuffed. The plates were gorgeous and portions extremely generous. The burger was made with meat ground in house to control content and quality. We chose brie and scallops to top it off — a fabulous combination!
We wish we lived locally to be able to make this our «go to for every occasion» restaurant. We hope that the community and visitors in the area find this treasured spot and keep it hopping until we can take another trip to Oregon!

Eat here if you can get in. In summer, book well in advance.
There are good restaurants and then there are great restaurants. The difference is in a good restaurant there is nothing negative, but it just does not have the je né sais quoi. In a great restaurant everything moves from strength to strength. Here begins with greens kept in their own refrigerator with recirculating cold water. Next come first quality ethically and sustainably produced ingredients. It continues on to perfect presentation through sauces that perfectly compliment the entré.
This is a GREAT restaurant.

I’ll start by saying this place is a must ! From the service from Mica, Ruth, Torrie & a gentleman we didn’t get his name but they all were non stop checking on us/​attentiveness. …The Food/​Chef Tim is off the charts. .For starters prosciutto wrapped scallops with fried leeks was something you must try ! Almost forgot the amuse ! (See pic) I had the 14 day aged New York was my favorite ever ! My wife had Tornado she ate it all… that never happens, my son had the Caprese stuffed Chicken that was very moist & delicious. .A+ across the board ! Great Job Chef/​Owner Tim !

Third time back. Still awesome! Salmon tacos were awesome, but the prochuto (sp?) blue burger was best burger i have ever ate hands down. Caution… its a big burger!

The waiting staff really took care of us. Food is awesome. Had a good strong 10% IPA beer to start off. Forced mom into coming here. She loved it. I had the halibut and she had the scallops. They started us off with a moon shaped plate of various veggies. I actually liked the crispy kale. That’s strange in itself! I was able to swipe Mom’s leftover scallops as she is a light eater. Yummie! Go for it!

The experience here was not even average and not a pleasant experience. On a Saturday night the place was busy, the service was good, but due to the bar being in the small dining room, the noise level was excessive. The blackened salmon was too spicy, and the rice served with entrees was bland and boring. I would not return here.

My wife and I decided to meet a friend at Spice Bistro just to talk and catch up. No expectations. Just a small quiet dinner and drinks. The food caught us off guard, everything was amazingly good and impressive. From the appetizers to the main entrees, even the burgers and fries. Ignore any negative ratings before Jan. 2016, as there is a new owner and chef. As a local we frequent all of the restaurants in town, while several are good, none have excited us as much as this one. If coming to Florence for the first time, please put Spice Bistro on your list. You will not be disappointed.

Best food in Florence and such an amazing staff and chef

I had the blackened salmon. It was fantastic. Spicy but not overly peppered, and just the right balance with the vegatabes and the rice. I was very pleased to find such a great place in Florence. We came for a great sunset, and found a superb dinner.
Highly recommended!

Best dinner experience I’ve had in a while. I ordered the lamb chops which came with a pile of mixed veggies and some mango sauce. Everything was cooked and seasoned perfectly! I even tried the crème brûlée even though I don’t usually order dessert and it was literally the best crème brûlée I’ve ever tasted. What made the experience worthy of 5 stars was that the head chef and current owner, Tim, made it a point to visit our table every so often to check on us. Will definitely be coming back here!

Found this place wandering Old Town Florence. Very personable with chef visits. Wonderful ambiance. Presentation is great. Red curry Salmon is superb.

Whatever reviewers write below, good or bad, is irrelevant because Spice has a new owner and chef as of mid-​November, 2015. My husband and I went on November 25^th which was only a couple of days after the opening. We were taking a chance because there were no reviews, and there was nothing online to prepare us for what we experienced.
Inside there were a few specials on the chalkboard. I am not sure what menu there is as we did not ask. We simply ordered the salmon from the board, figuring that whatever the new chef was excited about making for us we wanted to try.
The restaurant graciously accommodated my pescatarian spouse by doing the whole dish in olive oil, including for him all the non-​dairy ingredients in the dish I got (which doesn’t always happen).
The dinner was just terrific, perfectly cooked salmon on a bed of leeks with a reduced chanterelle sauce. It was accompanied by some wonderful vegetables with just the right amount of crunchiness. Our server recommended first a stacked salad that was filled with crab and a slight;y tropical dressing that had sweet, savory, salty, bitter, perfectly balanced. Excellent. The dishes were not only delicious but also beautiful. My husband’s taco appetizer was very good though not the stand-​outs of the special salmon and salad of the night.
The ambience was calm and pleasant, conducive to conversation and concentration on the food. Décor is eclectic; our table was comfortable. There is a bar with a TV above quietly playing a basketball game. Different CD’s played, mostly decent jazz, and when one CD with a heavy– beat rock piece came on, we frowned towards the music, and the server immediately made a change for us. Nice of him.
Service was welcoming and attentive. The two servers’ excitement about the new restaurant was obvious. My one suggestion would be that they tone down their enthusiasm just a little as their voices (not those of customers) really carry, could be heard taking orders at tables across the room. When the restaurant does get full, their volume might elevate the noise level of the whole restaurant to a point that would make a difference, at least for us in our enjoyment. It wasn’t a problem the night we came, and we understood their energy.
We didn’t order any dessert, so we can’t comment. I bet it is good if this new chef makes them.
We don’t live in Florence, but as we have moved to Corvallis, we will return and we wouldn’t consider trying anywhere else after the meal we had. Congratulations to Florence for the new restaurant.

The atmosphere: Very dated, dingy and cramped. Décor makes no sense, no real theme, just a hodgepodge. Felt like the Brady Bunch would walk in any minute. Small bugs like fruit flys constantly in our faces.
The food: Overpriced. The crab cakes had almost no detectable crab in them and were mostly bread. The dill sauce they came with did not match them at all. The crab encrusted halibut was essentially covered in flattened crab cake and again seemed to be missing any crab. The halibut itself was very thin and overcooked. It came with Caesar salad, and the dressing was very watery and bland.
The service: Spotty. We almost felt ignored. When clearing the appetizer plates, they cleared some and left some behind. Took forever to get the check, and when we asked a second time for it, the server said «I didn’t know you were in a hurry. It’s not like you have anywhere else to go, everything is closed «
Slow service, snide waiter, overpriced and poorly made food with bugs in the air = a waste of time and money. Won’t be back.

Fusion style café in old town Florence. Tried it due to the good reviews. Population skewed to the older crowd although kids are allowed. Food just okay, not sure why the good reviews. Worth trying once.

Awesome tapas! I had the lettuce wraps and bacon wrapped scallops and my friend had the fish tacos and Dahl. We shared a piece of the coconut cream pie for dessert, and no joke, every item we had was utterly amazing. Even though they were short handed (we chatted with our waiter Craig) we were seated quickly and he took care of us with a smile. Food came out fairly quickly as well. We were there on a Tuesday night and they were open until 9pm (summer).

All is perfect here. Don’t miss the Crab Encrusted Halibut.
Servers are great too… although one is not a Yankees fan :-).
Call for reservations early if you plan on having dinner here.