We went here the other evening for dinner and walked away with that "aha that's why we don't come here often!" response. Â For starters, the waitress and manager were very friendly and attentive. Â The place was rather empty and they definitely took time to make sure everyone felt welcomed and taken care of. Â The building's unique character is highlighted--making the atmosphere interesting and authentic. Â We loved our food. Â The stuffed burgers are terrific and the calamari was perfect. Â
So, why the three stars? Â Both our appetizer and our meal took 30 minutes to come to our table. Â These items are fried and grilled so why the wait? Â We were kindly informed that our calamari had been burnt the first time but please, give me one reason why it would take 30 minutes to prepare a burger or hot wings.
I will return here for the food, the atmosphere and the service but the wait? Â PLEASE FIX THIS! Â I'm not sure if this issue is in the kitchen or on the floor but it really puts a damper on the entire dining experience.
Admittedly, I have never "yelped" about anything on here before, so I completely understand about anyone's reservations about accepting my opinions on much of anything. That said, my dinner was so god-awful at the The Lobby this week, I felt compelled to create a profile to write about it.
First off, we had made a reservation for a group at 8:30PM. When we arrived, we were told by the hostess "Um I'm pretty sure that reservation was made for 6:30". We refuted, and she seemed somewhat annoyed that we were even there to dine in the first place. We waited while they took their time setting up a table.
Drinks were ordered with no issues, however, our waitress was clearly overworked, exhausted, and unhappy due to a lack of servers in the restaurant on a busy night. Â We made several attempts to order food, but were brushed off because she was too busy running around the place trying to take care of all the tables. Water glasses went empty repeatedly. Eventually they just brought some carafes of water over, which seemed to solve the problem.
I questioned her about a possible substitution for the mashed potatoes which came with my chicken. They were offering "onion mashers" which didn't sound remarkably appealing to me, so i asked if they could swap them for the other mashed potato offering they had on the menu. I was told that there were no substitutions, but I could have my meal delivered with no mashed potatoes and order a side of the other mashed potatoes for an additional $4. I did so reluctantly.
We finally got our order in, and anxiously awaited for our food to arrive.
Most had ordered individual salads or appetizers to start, however, when the appetizers arrived, they had plated any duplicate appetizers together on the same plate. Not knowing this was the case, some were eating other people's food, plates were delivered to the wrong people, wrong ends of the table, etc, which resulted in mass chaos. The appetizers... eh. Personally I though the deep fried blue cheese balls were creative, but they were just greasy and lacked enough of the blueberry preserve to cut through the richness in any way whatsoever.
Dinner service was absolutely terrible. Our server disappeared at some point, and a new team of a man and a woman arrived to tell us they had to relieve our server so she could get some rest, which is fine, except clearly neither of the new servers were ever told who had ordered what, resulting in the same confusion as the first course. I received my chicken with the mashed potatoes I had asked to be omitted, there was supposed to be some kind of spinach, which clearly was omitted, and the chicken was covered with a gravy that was so salty it made the entire dish almost inedible. The additional side of mashed potatoes arrived and were dry, lukewarm, had a handful of shredded cheese thrown on top, and were slathered in a similarly inedible salty, smokey, gravy. It looked like something I would have received at a dingy, low-class diner. My fiancee had ordered a Caesar salad with steak, cooked medium rare. Easy enough, right? The salad first arrived with no steak, and was sent back, then came back completely undressed, the steak cooked to a hockey-puck-like-well-done temperature. She bit the bullet on the steak, but explained that the salad was undressed. The male server stated, "I'm pretty sure it's on there" (This was one of several salads that arrived undressed). She re-insisted that it was not "on there", and he agreed to bring over a side of "Caesar" dressing. I intentionally put Caesar in quotes, as the dressing that arrived was what I can only assume to be straight mayo with some kind of garlic seasoning in it.
I could go on about the other entrees as well, but instead will assure you that they were all equally terrible. One entree was forgotten altogether, and they attempted to bring this out after everyone else had pretty much completed their meal. My friend who had ordered the entree asked twice about the status of her food, and was told by the male server "it will be here in a few minutes, lady". They were cordial enough to remove this from the bill, fortunately, as what did eventually arrive tasted like Lipton instant noodles with the same tough, hockey-puck like steak on top.
That night I felt like I was watching an episode of "Mystery Diners" or "Restaurant Stakeout" unfold in front of me in live action. I assure you that Willie Degel of Uncle Jack's Steakhouse would have had some choice things to say about both the food and the service at The Lobby. Overall, I haven't had worse food or service at a restaurant of this "caliber" in my life. The food at The Lobby is more reminiscent of something you would get from from a bad chain restaurant, like Bennigan's. A close friend who also attended this meal had planned a meeting at The Lobby with several board members of his organization, and actually moved the meeting afterwards for fear that the experience might embarrass him. Awful.
My man and I ordered a stuffed burger, we also order some fries with dip as a appetizer, after a long wait they finally brought us our appetizer, yet the table next to us was sat 15 minutes after us yet they get there order 1st and we had to wait over 30 minutes just to get our burgers WTF!?
What bugs me is this place is dead right now WTF?! I could understand if they were slammed but DAnG!!!
I'm not sure if it's the sketchy neighborhood or what but this place is always dead. We've been here a number of times as they have a gluten free item my SO likes. The food is usually decent but the service is as sketchy as the neighborhood usually. This place is really cute and trendy and has tremendous potential. If they don't pick it up they won't be in business much longer :(
Review Source:One of the worst dining experiences I have had in a long time. Â The service was terrible. Â The waitress forgot our drinks twice. Â We had to remind her to pick them up from the bar on both occasions. Â The food was beyond horrible. Â We had chicken wings that tasted like they put sweet and sour sauce on them (and they were cold). Â My husband had a chicken burger. Â It was teeny, with a teeny generic bun. Â Little or no toppings. Â I had an Asian salad with wilted greens. Â Our beers were flat. Â Some homeless guy kept peering into the window, making me feel guilty about sitting in the warm restaurant eating crappy food. Â I can't think of another restaurant that has NO redeeming qualities. Â Ugh.
Review Source:Went here with some friends celebrating a birthday. Food took AN HOUR AND A HALF to arrive. They did buy us drinks and shots till the food came out, and desserts. Steak sandwich was okay, meat was a little tough. This was my second time here and both times i had to wait a while for my food. Beer column idea was a cool idea. That's about it. At least my friend had a fun birthday
Review Source:Went here for breakfast this past weekend. It was a lot of fun. The atmosphere was pretty fun. We got the bottom less mimosas which were pretty tasty. Granted alot of my friends thought it was weak. We waited about an hour and a half for a table, which was pretty long, but since the patio was so nice we all sat out there catching up while drinking our mimosas. Granted we brought a huge party with us, so it took a little longer for us to be seated. My friends and I split 3 items which were all very tasty! I got the Brunchwich which was on an unglazed donut with mashed potatoes and gravy. We also go the breakfast burrito which was amazing, and then the Santa Fe sandwich. Make sure to get their sweet potato fries or their tater tots with green chili sauce and cheese!
Review Source:I'll concede that every restaurant occasionally makes a mistake and waiters have off days, but our experience at the Lobby on New Years Day was a complete travesty characterized by inedible food, poor service, and outright bizarre behavior from the staff.
First the service. Â For some reason we all had to share one menu. Â The waiter said he'd bring more but didn't. Â One of our meals came out late. Â They forgot a salad. Â Getting water or coffee refills was like pulling teeth. Â At one point, our waiter brought two drinks that we didn't order and then stood there awkwardly babbling about his growing collection of Seinfeld DVDs. Â And finally, after bringing the food, instead of asking if we needed anything else, our waiter said to himself "look like we need ketchup" and placed a ketchup bottle right next to the full one that was already on our table. Â Then he disappeared for 45 minutes, leaving us to deal with what they call brunch at the Lobby.
Which leads us to the food. Â Between four of us, we received undercooked eggs, blue cheese dressing that tasted like mayonaise, one of the worst cups of coffee I've ever had, a BLT with no bacon, cold mashed potatoes, and flat soda. Â In the end, we waited so long for our waiter to come back to the table to check on us that we lost interest in even complaining.
I was so happy to find a place for brunch on New Year's Day that opened before 10 am. I wake up early and I wake up starving. I made a reservation on my phone before I even got out of bed, and then rolled in just before 9:30. The place was empty when we arrived (which is why most brunch places don't open until later...) but hoppin' by the time we left.
Everyone was friendly and helpful and our server gave us some good suggestions for vegetarian options. Our food was delicious, and I enjoyed mimosas while we waited. As other reviews have mentioned, the mix is kind of weak, but they were delicious. My sourdough bread for my sandwich was so good, and the bite I had of my mister's burrito had an awesome peppery flavor.
One teeny tiny gripe: The bench in our booth was missing a spring or something, and one of the chairs at our table was wobbly. I ended up trying three different seats before settling in.
I understand they will be closing for ten days for some renovations. I'll be curious to see the finished product.
You know that jealousy you get when you read reviews and you say to yourself, "my experience was nothing like that... what gives!?".
What made my trip so different?
- The food was absolutely terrible the Saturday we went in. Neither my +1 nor I ate more than two bites of our food. Our waiter didn't even ask if there was a problem.
- It was raining and cold outside. There were many open tables but the hostess seated us right in front of the door. Every single time someone came in or went out we got a nice blast of cold, wet air.
- The table had not been cleaned off when we first sat down.
- I left feeling unhappy and hungry.
Pretty good but not the best. Food is okay - the tater tots are great and the stuffed mushrooms were good. The pork medallions were so-so - tough and somewhat undercooked in the center. The Brie mashed potatoes were dry and chalky with an odd flavor. The food needs to be a little but better for the price points. We were with a large party so the service was a bit slow - the main waiter for our table "Tetris Master" (according to the check) was great, but the waiter bringing out the plates just walked up and started yelling - it was obnoxious - are we in a sit-down restaurant or a hot dog stand? I like the atmosphere and the patio looks like a nice place to be when the weather is good.
Review Source:I give The Lobby one star for its drinks and three stars for its food. Â
I kept hearing good things about this place and, since it's but a short walk from home, finally decided to try it for brunch. Â I started with a cup of coffee, which was barely warm and extremely weak. Â I also got the bottomless mimosas; they are only $10, so that's a good deal. Â Unfortunately, they too were extremely weak. Â I drink mimosas often and wasn't even able to taste champagne in these. Â In fact, I saw a table of folks getting "topped off" with champagne, as they obviously complained about the lack of it in their drinks. Â I would have done the same if I hadn't been a bit hungover from the night before. Â
I ordered the Santa Fe breakfast sandwich with a side of tater tots and a small side of veggie green chile. Â All of the food was pretty good. Â My "small side" of green chile was huge, and when the bill came I noticed I was charged $3 rather than that $.75 it showed on the menu. When I brought it up I was told "we only have one size." Â So I had to tell the server that no, your menu clearly shows two different sizes. Â
For two people at brunch we spent almost $60 with tip, so it wasn't really worth it. Â I would probably pick up food to-go from here, but that's it.
HOLY OVERPRICED BREAKFAST, BATMAN!! Went here with some friends for brunch, and was pretty disappointed. $10 for a bottomless mimosa seems steep, but when I tried to order just a single mimosa, the waitress informed me that it was "tiny, and still cost $5"...so...I was pretty much forced to get the bottomless option so I didn't look like a complete moron who would spend $5 on a tiny glass of OJ with a tiny bit of champagne. Annoyance #1.
The green chili tots are NOT the orgasm inducing delicacy that most people on here seem to think they are. I mean, they are tots....with cheese...and green chili...which sounds like an amazeballs combo, but they were just OK. Kind of lackluster. And soggy...and cold.
The waitress was nice, but the guy who brought out our food was obnoxious. He must have been having a bad day. He literally came out carrying plates and just started yelling out each item, several times in a row, until someone claimed it. I forgot exactly what I ordered (since it had been somewhat of a long wait since we had ordered...), and after everyone else had "claimed" their breakfast from the obnoxious yelling waiter, I realized I was missing my food. He didn't seem to notice, and walked away. Then, several minutes later when our waitress came to check on us, she realized I didn't have food. Turns out, my order had been somehow forgotten by the kitchen. They had to throw together my food, and when it came out, it was basically a few scrambled eggs with a chopped up pepper and some sausage pieces thrown in...totally looked like something I would have throw together in my college years. NOT WORTH $10.
I had (not so good) scrambled eggs and a mimosa, and spent $27 including tip....WOWZA. That's just too expensive for mediocre food. I would have rather waited an hour in line at a nearby breakfast hotspot and spent half as much money. I'd only eat at The Lobby for dinner...their burgers ARE delicious.
Went here with the family on Halloween, perfect time to go btw- the place was pretty dead. The restaurant itself had character. The outside patio was nicely lit. I made a reservation through yelp, and also got 10% off for checking in!
The food was delicious. My husband and mother-in-law had the cuban and fries. I had the fried chicken. We were all really happy with our choices. Our waiter was dressed as Hunter S. Thompson which my husband loved. He was great and attentive. Also, the manager (I'm assuming) stopped by our table to see how everything was- which is great customer service. We would go again for sure.
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the beautiful patio and the food most of the time. But..... I've had the same server the last 3 times, and have had to ask him about gluten free options on each of those 3 visits! It's not printed on the menu, and he hasn't gotten to know the options and has to ask the chef each time. Â After how many repeat questions should someone in the restaurant biz start being prepared with the answers? I'm sure I'm not the only guest inquiring. I've also served before and gotten had to know all of the allergy items and which plates can be adjusted to accommodate food allergies - it's not that hard. Aside from lack of menu knowledge, there was also a shy and zero personality situation. Some people are good at serving, others just are not. Perhaps management needs to start some menu trainings? It would certainly help enhance (and speed up) the customer experience.
Review Source:I was here for a bday party on Sat. We had the entire basement for our party. This is a beautiful space with great architectural details & an awesome patio. I remember coming here a long time ago when it was a very good French place, I forget the name. Old age, I guess? Anyway, I've always really liked this space.
Now on to the food: My group didn't order off of the menu. We had chicken fried steak sliders, sliders, artichoke dip, shrimp tempura and the cilantro shrimp. The food was all tasty. My friend who threw the party is a big fan of the place. She swears by it and I will definitely return to try the real menu vs. Â the buffet for an event. Looks like happy hour is a good choice. I'll be back.
Oh and the service was terrific. They were running up and down the stairs to make sure we didn't run out of anything, well done!
My wife and I had been here a few times for lunch. Â The mashed potatoes are awesome. Â The courtyard and ballroom were so nice we decided to book it for our wedding. Â The venue was great and the service was top notch. The bartender, the waiters, and the entire staff went out of their way to make sure we had a great night.
Review Source:Had to update my review. I must have been basking in a food coma from their green chilli tots when I wrote my last one.
Is the place good? Yes, some really good food, including "Denver's hottest hamburger". Pretty good brunch menu, and their chicken-fried-steak sliders at happy hour are amazing.
Patio is perhaps the best in Denver too.
Only problem? I've had good service there twice, out of over 10 visits. They somehow continue to find the most unfriendly and/or inefficient servers in town.
Sigh.
This place is GREAT.
A group of friends and I took a taxi here for Sunday brunch last weekend. We got here around 9:30 and sat on their glorious patio. I wasn't expecting it to be quite so lovely given the neighborhood it's located in, but this place is SERIOUSLY a gem.
We all got bottomless mimosas, and there was only one point at which they were actually empty - for which the waiter apologized profusely. After that we had a hard time keeping up with how full he kept them, and were very glad for the fact that we had taken a taxi!
The food was fantastic. The standout item was the salmon omelette that my friend Kim  got. Holy CRAP I had never tasted something quite so divine.
We hung out for a good solid 3 hours and not once did the staff make us feel rushed to leave. I can't wait to make it back here for some more espresso rubbed bacon and mimosas!
This place is a great joint for a Fall Brunch. Â We had a huge group of 30 for a friend's birthday and were able to get a boatload of tables, decorate a bit and get a bunch of great food and bottomless mimosas for god knows how long. Â
The service was fantastic, especially for such a large group. Â Normally I don't call out servers by name, but Jermaine blew it out for us (hehe) and was incredible. Â The patio is a cute little patio with shade, but they also have a big inside with some TVs, a nice big bar and ample seating indoors. Â
I ordered the tator tots with green chile and a breakfast burrito. Â Oops! Â The tots were killer and I kept trying to get everyone at my table to eat some cause I could have just had the tots for breakfast/brunch...if I was on a starch only kick. Â The burrito was also very good, but everyone raved about the tots and the green chile. Â
Overall, this is a nice, cool place that I'd like to check out for dinner but great for brunches and can handle large parties.
2012 Review #261:
Ate here before a brewery crawl. Arrived around 10:30 on a Sunday and except for the patio, the place was mostly empty. We had a party of around 10 yelpers but were told they don't seat incomplete parties, despite having a reservation. I can get not seating incomplete parties, but even with a reservation? They said they'd give us 15 minutes and then start taking the tables and giving them to other people. I don't mind that, but what I do mind is this: Instead, we had to occupy 3, 3-seat bar tables because our "whole" party hadn't arrived. They gave one table away, but when our whole party had arrived, there was still enough seating at our originally reserved table. Not only that but our table remained empty for our entire meal. Why not just come over and say "looks like we're not busy after all (despite claiming they would be swamped within minutes of our reservation)" Why not go to your reserved table? It was just weird and left a bad taste in my mouth.
I had a Beermosa (lovely) and a bacon/gouda/red pepper/mushroom scramble. Scramble/omelettes do not come with toast, which for $9-11, is ridiculous. They come with potatoes. Mine were irregularly cut but still seemed pre-made, but fit the bill and were seasoned appropriately. My scramble said it would have gouda, and it did; it had about 1/2 cup of chunks of gouda. Completely unmelted, actually almost cold chunks of cheese. I dont' know how cold the pan of eggs has to be for it to not melt cheese, but that is pretty hard to screw up honestly. Why are they using cubed cheese, for one thing? That will always take longer to melt than shredded. So, it wasn't a cheesy, gooey scramble, it was just scrambled eggs with cut up cold cubes of cheese. That is not appetizing.
I'd come back to sit on the patio and maybe for happy hour but for brunch or breakfast there's way better options, where the food is more reasonably priced and is actually made as it should be.
I'm not sure what exactly is happening here. But the Lobby has been slowly, consistently sliding into mediocrity.  If this review  was based 100% on my last experience here; it would be one star. Â
We used to frequent the Lobby often, especially during the summer. Â They have an awesome patio, great for a pre-rockies game drink or a weekend brunch. Â I remember when the mimosa towers were first brought out. Â Oh the good times we had.
Those days are gone I'm afraid to say. Â On my last visit there I could no longer allow the fond memories to hide the truth behind what was really going on here. Â In a nutshell; the service was terrible, drinks came out slow. Â After waiting over 30 minutes for our french toast and breakfast sandwiches, I was told the kitchen is running at a 20 minute turn-around. Â (Impossible: Fine Dining doesn't even run at this sort of time, we're talking eggs and french toast here) Â At this point we are late for our Sunday softball game. Â The manager offers us a discount and will give us our orders to go. Â The result was total bullshit and is the reason I will never go back here. Â
We get a total of $10 taken off our bill, and when we open up our food, the eggs are uncooked and the french toast is raw in the middle. Â It doesn't take a genius to figure out we were 100% lied to. Â They forgot our order. Â Plain and simple.
So that's that. Â Goodbye Lobby. Â There are a ton of other restaurants that do it better and classier in Denver that would be happy to have my business.
First visit was last Friday for a friend's b-day/engagement celebration. We were lucky enough to have a table for 20 on the patio. The service and food that night were fabulous. I had the tater greens - tater tots smothered in green chile and cheese. YUM! The blue cheese balls are lovely, as well, as was the calamari. The drinks were served cold and continuosly, and our server Nicole was awesome enough to break out our tabs without us even asking.
Second visit was Sunday around 11:00 for brunch. We were seated right away inside, and served our drinks right away. I had the beermosa and GF had coffee. I have dreaming about that beermosa ever since. It's Dry Dock Apricot beer with pineapple juice. It was SO GOOD! Our server was really nice, but the kitchen was really slow and it was bloody hot in the restaurant. People, including me, were sweating. How about some ceiling fans, at least!? Anyway, I had the eggs portobello and she had green eggs and ham. They were both pretty good, but my skillet potatoes were awful. They were hard/stale and not worth the calories. The tater tots were perfect.
I'll go back, but only if we are seated on the patio and probably only for the beermosas and tater tots.
What is a great way to reward yourself after a 5k?
-A tower of bottomless mimosa's! duh.
What is better than a $9 Salmon omelet with goat cheese, grilled onions & pesto?
-Nothing.
How does the staff say Happy Birthday to a guest at our table?
-With free shots & a round of applause...that's how!
How do you start your weekend off right?
-By getting a seat on one of the best patios in Denver!
What place offers not only superb service, delicious food, an awesome atmosphere & the biggest tower of mimosa's this girl has ever seen?
THE LOBBY.
I have to admit, this place is pretty much the <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbomb.com&s=bb4f996415a9c2f21137e27cfb68f439a48cec2652b53e9b50dd7e766dbe177e" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://bomb.com</a>!
Ahh...The Lobby. Â
With a patio as a refreshing, green respite from the crazy hooker dressed in red who verbally assaults passersby outside of Great Divide (my hunch is she is not the woman Chris De Burgh sings of in his 1986 easy-listening classic) and the generally scruffy area of known as Arapahoe Street, The Lobby is a cute restaurant and bar in what used to be a historical hotel. Â The interior is cozy, yet spacious, with brick-covered walls and ceilings supported by high wooden beams. Â The outdoor patio is also one of my favorites in Denver, a collection of about a dozen iron-wrought tables and chairs hidden by an ivy-covered fence and twinkling lights strung overhead.
The lunch and dinner prices are quite reasonable, and the warm weather which broke out during the winter months inspired a quick brunch trip out to The Lobby. Â Our party of two arrived around noon on a weekend and found no wait and were seated outdoors. Â I opted for the bottomless mimosas ($10), which weren't very good (the champagne/OJ ratio was off and the OJ tasted pretty watery) but it'll get the job done. Â We also started off with the French Toast donuts ($6) which were pretty tasty and I ordered the Huevos Ranchero con Camarones (sllightly overpriced at $12). Â The Huevos were alright...the shrimp didn't pack a lot of flavor and the corn tortillas I received to wrap up my eggs and shrimp were somehow extremely greasy. Â The dish was also delivered cold.
Service was good, though our waitress seemed a little frazzled (probably because a lot more people started showing up). Â She spilled a fair amount of my mimosa while pouring it, but hey, as long as it was filled to the top on a frequent basis, I was fine.
I should also add during our service, as I brought a donut near my face, a massive "KABOOM" fired off (upon which I accidentally smashed the donut into my right cheek), right outside of the restaurant. Â The entire patio was stunned, silent, and I'm pretty much sure we were all thinking the unthinkable, "DID SOMEONE JUST SHOOT A GUN???" Â Seconds later, we heard an engine rattle and saw a car scuttle off, and everyone had a good laugh and went back to drinking their towers of mimosas.
Only at The Lobby.
Would I go here again? Â Yes. Â Though the food was only okay (I suspect it will taste a lot better next time if served warmer), the patio provides a wonderful atmosphere (with an occasional added dash of suspense and excitement) and the prices of the food are pretty good. Â But, mostly, I want to try out the towers of mimosas at brunch again and some beer towers for their happy hour.
Who wants to join me for a tower?
I went to the Lobby last Saturday with Wanda C and Alicia H for a post workout brunch and basically undid all the good I did from my workout!
The Lobby has an extensive and reasonably priced brunch menu. I split the Blue Cheese balls and had the green eggs and ham scramble. I love that they have several scrambles as I have always preferred them to omelets and this one didn't disappoint! It was eggs scrambled with pesto, ham and brie. Delish. The blue cheese balls were ridiculously good as well. Blue cheese deep fried in a fried dough-like batter with blueberry preserves to dip them in. What's not to love?!
Perhaps the one thing that could have been better was our service. Our server was friendly, but a bit slow. It took her a while to get us things like silverware and coffee refills.
The table next to us was sharing a starter that smelled heavenly. Â We asked what it was and they told us it was the glazed donut french toast. They said it tasted even more amazing than it smelled. I will definitely be returning to The Lobby to try that as well as some other brunch items.
Packed walking in the door with Saint Paddy Day party goers, with staff was running around like mad men, but the hostess greeted us with a smile to take our names. The wait was long, so we got a drink at the bar while waiting.
FYI- $10 bottomless mimosas are a good deal, but my 2nd was flat. Not sure how that could've been with a packed bar and restaurant, but it was.
That aside, we got a apple almond salad on order first and it came out fast and really good. Then came our stuffed burger. I am a fan of the stuffed burger with blue cheese & caramelized onions. And try the sweet potato fries.
I regret that this review will be a sad story, of a strange and unsettling experience, dining at the Lobby this past Thursday evening. I'd much rather had reported to you all that I'd had a wonderful meal and outing, finding a new favorite haunt. Unfortunately, it was quite the opposite of wonderful.
I think it's most fair to blame our waiter, Owen, for much of what went wrong. So, we will start with him, and address the food after. If friends, family or coworkers of Owen happen upon this review, I urge you to encourage him to find another calling. It took him three attempts to get our drink order to us correctly. When I offered to lend him a pen so that he could write things down, he stared at me blankly. And while he offered to pay for the drinks he messed up, they still appeared on our bill, sans one glass of wine. He repeated over and over that "I bought a bunch of drinks for you." Â Apparently to Owen, a bunch means one. His math skills are as clever as his service skills.
We had to chase down staff for things like plates, utensils, condiments, and our water was never attended to post seating. And though we'd had a reservation for weeks, even with empty tables throughout the restaurant, we were perched just above the lower level, which was flooded with a noisy, private event for realtors. It was difficult to maintain conversation over top of their awards ceremony. Â That's the only time we saw Owen smile whilst serving us. He thought it was funny that we were struggling with that. Â What a guy. At least we held his attention for that moment.
It appeared that he had 3 other tables. Maybe he felt overwhelmed. But, as service goes, we were underwhelmed. I would rate Owen the worst waiter in all of Denver.
Our food was alright, but nothing special. We were very unimpressed by some very bland shrimp and pablano pepper croquettes that were served with mayo. The salad was the best thing we ate. We waited over 40 minutes for dessert and my attempt to cancel it or change it, or even just get the bill, was brushed off by a present but disinterested manager.
I know that restaurant staffs get stressed and despondent during restaurant weeks. And maybe that was what was in play here. Still, I would argue that the event is supposed to be a marketing event to cultivate new clientele. Â My experience at the Lobby will discourage me from ever trying again. I feel as if they owe me time and money. Â I've never had to calculate what 15% was before, to make certain that we tipped the bare minimum. Owen should have tipped me.
The biggest shame of all of this is that the Lobby is an awesome space. And my date and I sat down, planning a future brunch there. Â A brunch that will never happen, because neither of us have a desire to pay money to be treated that way again.
I'll take a little blame here too, and give two stars instead of one. I should have been less polite. I should have made a stink to the manager and demanded satisfaction. Â But alas, even though I felt as if we were being treated rudely by the staff of the Lobby, I couldn't find it in myself to be rude back. Somebody had to take the high road.
So close, yet so far away. Â After looking over the menu for The Lobby I had really high hopes it would be a new addition to my list of go-to joints in Denver. Â However after meeting a group of friends there a couple of Fridays ago I'm pretty sure I won't be back anytime soon. Â There were 8 of us in the group and not one person was overly thrilled with their meal.
I first heard about The Lobby in an article discussing how they had real deal pork tenderloin sandwiches. Â It mentioned that one of the owners was from Iowa and that there was finally a spot in Denver to get a good PT sandwich. Â Well, it most not have been too great because it's no longer on the menu. Â If you read this and know of a place in town to get one please send me a message!
I liked their drink menu, plenty of good ales to choose from and a decent wine list. Â I also thought their cocktail menu was cool in that you could put together any drink you could imagine. Â
We started out with some blue cheese balls (pretty good, needed better blueberry jam as it was fairly tasteless) and some risotto balls (much better, good texture with plenty of tasty fillings).
I went for a burger "stuffed" with bacon and cheddar. Â I've had Juicy Lucy's (and Jucy Lucy's) in the Twin cities, so I know they can be done quite nicely. Â Unfortunately the one I got only had a couple of small pieces of well done bacon within the burger. Â It did come out cooked to a medium level, which the waiter said was the least they could cook it. Â It just lacked any cheese, which if you've had a real one you know can be quite messy, in a very good way. Â I got the tater tots as my side, however they were not cooked nearly enough. Â Soggy, not crispy like they should've been. Â The one bright spot was I had to try the hush puppies, and they were great.
The one thing all 8 of us had in common was getting food that was left in the window WAY too long. Â Or more likely set on table without any heating lamp because we all got cold food. Â One of my friends got the shrimp penne pasta and the only thing hot on her plate was the shrimp, which I'm guessing they spaced putting on it the first time - and was possibly the reason all of our dinners sat and got cold. Â We mentioned that our food was too cold to a manager and he didn't even say sorry, I guess it's the standard response he gets when he asks people how things were.
I should only be giving 2 stars, really. Â I guess I still have hope that The Lobby doesn't totally blow. Â Who knows, maybe sometime after a Rockies game I'll give it another try, with much lower expectations.
I could give our waitress who served 16 people with a smile on her face and we all got our food within minutes of each other 6 stars. Â There were a few mishaps on the seperate checks but no biggies there. Â One of our friends was celebrating his birthday and I made mention of this a few time s but nothing happened. Â Oh well. Â They are forgiven. Â
The place was crowded and people were waiting in line to get in. Â This is a good sign. Â It was a young crowd but denver seems to ba a young city? Â Or maybe I am getting more mature. Â Anyway iI am ok to go wherever the reviews on yelp are good.
The towers of Mimosas is such a cool way to serve so many folks. Â However tasty they were not but they did have some effect. Â Why else drink. Â I usually have Bloody Mary's but I was not so hungry and they are very filling. Â So I decided mimnosas before I even got to the place. Â Big mistake. Â The BM's with jalapeno and bacon are spicy and very tasty. Â Shoulda woulda.
Now to the food. Â I had green eggs and ham with tater tots. Â This was good but not exceptional. Â I shared with a friend and he ordered bacon risotta. Â This is a new item on brunch menus. Â It also was ok but it needed something. Â Everyone seemed to have a great time and all said the food was ok. Â
I hope The Lobby makes it in this location. Â Seeing all the peopel there it might just be the one.
I was reeeeeaaaallllllyyyyyy hovering between 3 and 4 stars on this one. Ah, The Lobby. It was our first visit on Friday - we intended to go for restaurant week but (surprise!) that didn't start til Saturday.
Excellent location, good parking, nice venue. The Lobby has all the makings of something great - including a kick ass outdoor area - but something was missing. I just don't know what.
First, our server Vince is what took The Lobby from 3 stars to 4. Honestly, he rocked. He was pleasant, personable and way fun with our group (there were 8 of us). He made the experience great with personal anecdotes and opinions. Thumbs up. And thanks for grabbing the cucumber for my Hendricks and tonic!
The food on the other hand was a bit of a different story. I'd like to start by saying I think I could go to The Lobby again and find something I love. It just didn't happen Friday. The blue cheese balls were fantastic. But  the blueberry jam did not make par. It looked like blueberries but it didn't taste like it. It just tasted...sweet. I needed more blueberry flavor to balance out the salty cheese. It was a valiant effort. The risotto balls I would not do again. Too dry - good flavor but felt a little like glue in my mouth.
I selected a 1/2 order of Shrimp Prosciutto Penne and while the shrimp and prosciutto were excellent, the pasta was a little over done and the sauce a little too thick. The flavor was there but the texture just wasn't.
I'm rooting for this place. The location, decor and staff are great! I'd go back in a heartbeat and check out the stuffed burgers and a few other tasty looking things. Thanks Lobby!!! I'll come back for round two - I know there's a star on that menu.
The stuffed burgers are okay here but the beer-battered deep fried blue cheese balls with blueberry jam were the star of the show!
I ordered the stuffed mushroom and Swiss burger with fries and the BF ordered the stuffed monterey jack garlic burger with tater tots. Our burgers were cooked med-med well and i don't know if we had the choice or not because our spacey waiter never asked us. The burgers were a bit too dry for my taste. My fries were thin shoestring fries and super soggy from the grease. My BF's tater tots were really good but i kept picturing in the back of my mind was some dude dumping a bag of frozen tater tots into the fryer.
If I come back to this place, it would be for the tots and the balls. I want BALLS!
I've been to The Lobby thrice now: once for a downstairs twitter event, once for dinner on a double date with the cousin and her BF, and most recently for an impromptu Christmas eve workout buddy brunch.
I was not wildly impressed by dinner but impromptu brunch changed my mind for the following reasons:
- inexpensive brunch appetizers that you can share such as green chile and cheese smothered tater tots for $4.50 or a mountain of crispy donut holes and dipping sauces for $3
- inexpensive brunch drinks (with options) such as pint sized bloody mary made with pepper vodka for $5 or beermosas made with Dry Dock Apricot Ale and pineapple juice for $3
It reminded me of happy hour but in brunch form. Â We weren't inhaling down the benedicts/bottomless mimosas, but just enjoying drinks and snacks at 1:30 in the afternoon which is a perfect time.
Why three stars instead of four? Â Dinner was really underwhelming (my cousin had a pretty flavorless risotto that was only made palatable by adding copious amounts of salt; my entree came with a different risotto as a side with the same problem, in addition to being super oily) and the wait staff I've encountered don't seem super thrilled that you're there, mainly dinner guy server, but it was earlier this year.
It'll take a some extra bowls of tater tots and a few more beermosas, but I think I could warm up to this spot! Â And when it warms up, they have the perfect patio to bike to.
Burgery deliciousness. The stuffed burgers can't be beat - they are monsters! Not a bad deal for $10 when you get two meals out of one as I can't personally get through more than half in a sitting.
The beer selection is good too, they have strongbow and pbr cans as well as a sampling of the local brews. They have the ridiculous tower and bottomless during brunch. The wines were a little pricey for my tastes.
The patio is lovely, and they should open it in the winter with those large heaters they have. But, I will just wait until it is nicer out I guess.
The layout is spacious and comfortable. There was some great Southwestern female biker artwork inside last time I was there too. The clientele varies from yuppies to families to hipster goofballs. My experience with the service is good, brunch was slow, but they were well staffed on the weekend. You also get 10% off of food only if you check in on Yelp.
This place has a good vibe, great burgers and caters to the boozers quite well.
Fellow Yelper Fia R and I were looking to grab a quick lunch when the Yelp App led us The Lobby. The vibe and décor were distinguished by a gorgeous enclosed outdoor patio followed by a spacious hardwood red brick interior, flat screen TVs, and a full bar in the back. It has a mix of sports bar and gastropub feel that attracted a good number of hipsters and young professionals.
For appetizer, the Bleu Cheese Balls ($7) arrived with five whipped blue cheese held together by its golden beer battered exteriors and blueberry jam dip. The beer-fried flavors were detectable with swarms of thick creamy blue cheese down to the last bite. As a dip, I thought the blueberry jam was too subdued for the combination blue cheese and beer batter, but it was still worth the experience.
For the main meal, the Half Pound Stuffed Burger ($10) that came out medium with a thick charbroiled patty tucked with Monterey Jack Cheese and bulky pieces of garlic at the core. There was a decent amount of juiciness in the patty and the stuffed ingredients were impressively delicious. The warm buns were soft and tasty too. I highly recommend it.
Came on the side was a nice serving of Tater Tots. It was hands down the best bunch of tots I've had to date. The potatoes were not greasy, tightly put together, came with perfect bite of crispiness, and perfectly salted. They have other sides such as Hush Puppies and Sweet Potato Fries that are equally tempting but the choice of Tater Tots were stellar.
Our server, Zac was absent throughout our meal and only inquired if we needed anything else when the bill was getting settled. I had to ask someone else for a set of fork, knife, and condiments; and it took a while for the food to arrive at our table. My experience was sparked by a degree of creativity underscored by a mix of good flavors and fresh ingredients. I'm not a big fan of burgers but would be interested in coming back. Not yet a fan, 3.5 stars for the overall experience.
I have been to The Lobby now for two separate events. The first was after a Starz Film Festival movie and the other was for a Manahattan cocktail contest. Both times I was really impressed by the staff here. In the downstairs "event" area, the bartender, a gent with glasses both times, is exactly what you would expect of a bartender. He's charming, outgoing and makes a great drink.
Upstairs, the bartender was not *as* friendly, but was still very good at making a mean extra dirty martini. Oh, and the food was delish! While the beer selection is good, this is one of those bars that's hopped on the hops wagon and a majority of the beers that they serve are IPAs, which I have a strong disliking for. But they did have a good selection of Great Divide beers, which made me happy.
I would really like to come back again in the spring or summer to experience the astoundingly huge patio they have.
From our weekend Denver trip Daniel L & I have been stuffing ourselves with burgers for 3 consecutive days x/. Â One of them happened on Saturday late lunch at The Lobby.
Located close to Coors Field & found last minute b/c of the Yelp App & 5-Foot Famished Frenzy, we sat under modernistic, brick-walled décor--rather than outdoor patio due to gusty wind--for that contemporary, wooden feel.  And after meticulous decision & thorough foodie discussion we shared the $7 Fried Bleu Cheese Balls & the $10 medium-cooked Stuffed Burger, i.e. Monty Jack & Roasted Garlic, with Tater Tots frequently ordered & observed from other eaters.
Well, for that appetizer, I think it's certainly for bleu cheese PHILES. Â I chose this highlighted item all b/c of that luscious blueberry jam, but I wished that either the very creamy cheese wasn't so extremely tangy, or the blue-purple condiment could have had more oomph in tartness to give a tolerable contrast. Â Generally I don't mind eating blue cheese, but man it was too strong for my palate =/.
But, to my burger PHOBES I advise you NOT to click on this NC-17 rated pic due to the extremely explicit content.  <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7dWpW0EzgRh5EuhPbHwOvg?select=3OL3fACrPlS1g17aFLDpxA">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>.  It had the polite & pink juiciness for this 1/2 pounder cooked medium, topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion & big pickle slices.  I could easily taste & savor the packed, gooey cheese, with the respectfully added, perfectly cooked garlic cloves.  This burger was my kind of Gushers, only more than 100x bigger, not so sweet at all, much more gush & simply more satiating.  Well, I FCCed warned you -_-**.
To add more injury alright, I felt even more sensual w/ those affectionately salted Tater Tots. Â I normally would pick typical fries (regular or sweet potato) as my included side, but whoa. Â Plentiful. Â Warm bite. Â Crisp & devoid of slick grease. Â Addictive. Â Regretfully irresistible. Â On their own & more than the worded descriptions they're over 5 stars to me. Â Should you decide to pick this side over the fries, red beans, or salad--that's up to you.
One last note: overall service was minimal, yet it needs improvement on attentiveness & attitude towards 2 people ordering a shared appetizer & shared entrée; in other words, DL & I felt slightly awkward when our waiter brusquely replied, "That's it?!" towards 2 platters.  So for my buddies passionate for food, traveling, endless mimosas, sports (IF there was one occurring at our stay), & getting stuffed, take several blocks from the I-25 down towards The Lobby.  Close to 4 stars from me =).
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