Bill Sell's Bold - Altoona

This restaurant is my favorite in the Altoona area! I frequently visit the area for work and haven't found a place with better food than this. I've been here 4 times now and plan to return every time I'm back in the area. The asparagus salad is my favorite app that I've tried. The tuna was very tasty too! The salmon entree is AMAZING. I honestly never get salmon because I usually don't think it tastes that good but I took a chance here and it was sooo yummy! I would definitely get it again. The crab cakes were very good too. At my last visit just the other day they had just changed the menu and I got the flounder stuffed with crab and it was incredible!! They have this mango salsa they put on it that's delish. I can't say enough good things about the food here! I have sat in the front outside every time I've been here because It's quiet and bright and I love it.

Well this was a rollercoaster to say the least. Stopped here on a weekend night called ahead and made a reservation and overall they were accommodating, due to a monsoon on the commute, we were late which we again called to alert. Now here's the ebbs and flows: when we walk in the girl says there isn't physical menus due to COVID and we have to scan a QR code to get it. Which is annoying but ok. Scanned the code and the page won't load inside the building I only get one bar of service. So I ask what their WiFi is. The girl then says ehhh I don't think we do. Ok? If you're going to make people scan codes you should make arrangements so that customers can open it. Then miraculously there's a menu. We had a reservation for 2 and the girl asks if we want to sit up front orrrr? No decisiveness. Man I'm here to eat I don't care let's just get it moving. Waitress was nice, attentive and at the mercy of no menus and odd times with Covid. Ordered crab dip and a mixed drink. very very good. Came with plenty pita like points and the dip was very good. Problem here was there was no physical drink menu and there was a 5 minute search for one in the house. For the entree, I got the tenderloin which came with crab ravioli and on top of mashed potatoes and vegetables. Tenderloin was a little more rare than medium which was fine. Meal was a little lukewarm rather than hot. For dessert, ordered the Italian cake and a coffee. Dessert was very good. However we come to the issue. On the bill they charge a fee if you use a credit card.. WHAT?!?!?!?!?! Is this a flea market? That is the cost of doing business, just because a place has to pay a percentage on a card swipe doesn't mean you hand that down to your customer. Unacceptable and really unprofessional. Final thought: Good food tough logistics with codes and connectivity, and a disrespectful surcharge for using a credit card.

I have heard and seen this place tagged in several of my friends' posts. I have heard reviews of the crab dip and this place has always been on my short list for a few months anyways. Being out of town, its one of those that are too far to travel for dinner sometimes and it gets cut. Finally, we have had the energy to hit this place up with the mixture of places being open and closed, etc. It was a good weekend to do so. I drove, which could be tough. We did get there and of course it down poured and i took many wrong turns. We parked and we were there. I was worried that we would need reservations as this place appears to always be packed from photos and online appearance. We ran late through the rain, but they were very accommodating. It was a tough few first minutes. Since it was just us two, it seemed difficult to be seated. I would say that with COVID, sit us further away from folks instead of in the same area but then again it may be a sanitation thing for the staff so they don't need to sanitize many areas all the time. They did have outdoor seating which looking back maybe that would've been better. The inside looked so appealing though. Upon entrance I think they had artwork that looked like Jackson Pollock who is my favorite. They also had Billie Holliday on the sound system, another plus for me right away. Sadly, due to COVID there were no menus off hand so they asked us to bring them up on our cell phones. This is truly innovative, but there is no cell reception to do so for us out of Towners. The drink menu was also tough to locate. They do have a limited menu right now including a limited drink menu so wine choices were very slim. However, this kind of stuff leads to the spontaneous choices where you find new favorites. We shared the crab dip which was great and the appropriate amount of dip to pita triangles ratio. I ordered the crab ravioli because I didn't get enough crab. That was also great and perfectly portioned to where I could handle 2 drinks and dessert. (Almost) The drink was a Caribbean cosmo which, alcoholic of me, was the best thing probably. We had our own desserts and I am glad I chose the lava cake. It was great and perfectly sized just for me with all the warm choc. In the middle. I don't like maple or bourbon all the time, so it did come with ice cream in that flavor. But its just not for me. I would be willing to try this place again after there's no more pandemic and this place is thriving. The staff seemed frazzled with all thats going on, i can understand that. The hours are very limited which I see, too. Just call ahead to be sure is my best suggestion. I would not take kids or many people, it seems like right now there are limited choices so to make everyone happy would be tough. I say its a intimate date spot. All in all, cute place, with some areas to improve on IMO. I guess to get out of town now, means more than ever so I always have high hopes even more now.

So I am impressed. Why? Because this place exists in Altoona. As someone who used to venture to Altoona as a form of escape from college nearby there were never any memorable food places to eat let alone unique culinary experiences in the area But coming back, I'm pleasantly surprised that Altoona is trying and there are people willing to make restaurants like this happen to help expose everyone to different foods/experiences. The vibe IS a bit off in my opinion as it comes off as stuffy and upscale almost borderline gaudy with the red walls. It tries to be intimate but it's a large room where you can hear everyone's conversations so at that point....I'd just whisper. If you're looking for privacy/intimacy I would probably not come here. We had really great service and our waiter I could tell was new but pleasant. We had the fish tacos which I really wanted to try and the salmon for dinner. The menu isn't very big so you don't have a lot of options but I thought for how little they had, they executed well enough. I had the fish tacos but I thought it was a tad heavy on the mango salsa which also made it hard to taste the fish. The appetizer came with 2 tacos. I had the salmon for dinner which was grilled on a small cedar plank. I was very impressed with the tenderness of the salmon and how it literally flaked off my fork and the plank. It was really well seasoned and perfectly crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. The seasoning made up for the fact that my vegetables were bland but were perfectly grilled. They also had the option of a potato cake which looked just as delicious. For dessert, we had the creme brulee, my only regret. The custard was tasteless and had a chalk like texture I have never experienced before .....honestly that was probably the worst creme brulee I have ever had. Overall I wouldn't mind coming here again as a place to go out and try their other dishes! I do recommend this place, especially the salmon but maybe not the creme brulee.

Bill Sell's Bold NEVER disappoints!!! Excellent food and terrific presentation! I like fresh local restaurants over the already prepared frozen then cooked type of meals from chain restaurants!