New Oakdale restaurant serves Wagyu steaks, plenty of salads with ‘elevated casual’ vibe
Oakdale’s newest restaurant has the city’s history hanging on its walls, quite literally.
Bistro 120, which opened in late July on North Yosemite Avenue, proudly displays the city’s name on one of its back walls. The large block letters came from the old Oakdale Theatre, which closed in the 1960s, said husband-and-wife co-owners Matt and Kelly Budine. The longtime Oakdale couple wanted to reflect the city’s history while giving residents a new, modern place to eat and gather.
The result is Bistro 120, named for the highway running in front of its doors, an “elevated casual” restaurant they hope will appeal to tourists headed to the Sierra Nevada and locals fresh off the farm.
The new eatery, in the former Cafe Bliss space across from the House of Beef, has been completely remodeled and expanded. When the long-running cafe closed amid the pandemic in summer 2020, the Budines saw an opportunity. Matt Budine is co-founder and CEO of the successful Oakdale-based dairy nutrition and management company Progressive Dairy Solutions, which feeds 11% of the cows across the country.
Kelly works at the company in administration but said they were looking for a business they could own together. Initially, they were silent partners on the project, but then with the scope of the changes, the pair took over the renovations and business as their own in the fall of 2020.
The Budines hired a restaurant consulting firm to help them capture their vision. The interior has been rebuilt, with a new kitchen, 16-foot ceilings and back expansion that nearly doubles the restaurant’s seating capacity. The Highway 120-facing facade and entrance have been redone, and a larger main entrance has been added, facing the back parking lot along Third Avenue.
About a year into working on the remodel, the next-door hobby shop also became available. The couple snapped up the 2,000-square-foot space to transform into an accompanying event center. Once completed, that space is expected to hold around 80 people and be rented for private and business events. Currently awaiting plan and permit approvals, they hope to have the center done in December.
While that phase of the project is in the works, the restaurant has made a grand entrance onto the Oakdale dining scene this summer and already has attracted repeat customers. That includes Oakdale resident Kim Leverett, who has eaten at Bistro 120 five times since it opened a little more than a month ago.
“The food is super good and the service is excellent,” she said while lunching with a friend who was visiting the restaurant for the first time.
The Budines said they wanted a high-quality, flavor-packed menu that featured a diverse selection of small plates, entree salads, sandwiches, burgers and dinner options. The restaurant uses only U.S. prime cuts and has a selection of upscale American Wagyu beef dishes as well. All the dressings, sauces and soups are made in house.
The priciest item on the menu is the $68 surf-and-turf featuring a filet mignon and jumbo garlic prawns. The selection of half a dozen entree salads ranges from the all-vegetarian Farm Fresh ($17) to the seared ahi tuna salad ($22). Most burgers and sandwiches, including the popular Cowboy Capital Cheeseburger and Prime French Dip, run $16 to $21 and are served with fries.
The restaurant also has a full bar with a selection of specialty craft cocktails, as well as about 30 varieties of wine. The Budines plan to add to the wine list, eventually increasing it to about 100 options.
Matt Budine said that to him, “elevated casual” means an attention to detail in the food, with a welcoming atmosphere.
“We welcome everybody, no matter if you just came off the ranch or just got done working the cows or if you have a fun cocktail dress and a nice dress-up shirt. Come in and experience a great vibe here at Bistro 120,” he said.
The restaurant is also one of the few full-service, sit-down spots in the city that’s open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Its extended hours, coupled with the planned event center, should help make the restaurant popular with area regulars, businesspeople and travelers from out of town.
“As you come in and experience the waitstaff here, it’s about consistency, about hospitality and making sure that the guest has a complete five-star experience from the moment they walk in the door to when they leave,” Kelly Budine said.
Bistro 120, at 152 N. Yosemite Ave. in Oakdale, is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 209-845-6080 or visit bistro120.com.
This story was originally published September 11, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
