Jill's Restaurant & Bistro — Restaurant in Boulder

I am amending my review based on our most recent experience at Jill's, but leaving the original one in place below.

We went to Jills for a celebratory dinner recently as we had such a great experience the last time we were there (see original review below) By contrast, our most recent experience was quite negative.

The problem was not with the food nor the service; both were excellent. The problem was that from the moment we sat down at our table, we were continually overwhelmed by fruit flies. Not just one or two, but dozens over the course of the night, landing on our food and flying around our faces. It made for a very unpleasant and unhygienic dining experience. After a while we asked our waiter what was going on. He was apologetic and said that the owner had a 'no-kill' policy that extended to fruit flies. I could scarecly believe this so we asked to speak to the manager, who came over and confirmed that this was the case. He was very gracious and apologetic but he was very clear that there was nothing he could do about this because this was the owner's policy.

We understand the idea behind not killing bugs. Whenever we find the occasional bug in our house we make every effort to trap it and take it outside. However If our house was overrun with bugs - which would present a health hazard - we would take more active steps to resolve the problem. And fruitflies do contaminate food, per Web MD: "Research shows that fruit flies can transfer germs from a dirty service onto a clean one. Some of the bacteria they may carry include salmonella, E. coli and listeria. These three germs each cause food poisioning."

Because the waiter and manager were very gracious and apologetic, I decided to reach out to the general manager by email rather than immediately leave a negative review. I explained our dissapointment and asked what they could do to ensure a bug-free environment, otherwise we would not be returning to Jill's. It has been two weeks and I have not gotten a reply, so I am updating my original review to reflect this more recent experience. My hope is that others who would be equally disgusted by fruit flys flying around their food in a fine dining restaurant will avoid the unpleasant experience that we had at Jill's.

Please note: I have lowered the rating for the services NOT because of the waiter, but rather for the complete lack of acknowledgement of/response to my email from the general manager. Original Review from about a year ago: Although I’ve lived in Boulder well longer than Jill’s has been around, I’d never eaten there until yesterday. We went for happy hour, and although the regular dinner menu is quite pricey the happy hour menu is very reasonably priced and there were lots of great options. Everything the three of us ordered was unbelievably good. In particular the salmon tacos and the crispy brussels sprouts were the best I’ve ever had. The service was also top-notch and the atmosphere is great. We will be going...

The OOH LÀ LÀ LUNCH BUFFET simply outcompetes other vegan buffets. The food approaches fancy/gourmet without being pretentious, while still hitting all those comfort food feels. Jill's uses no "faux" or "imitation" meats, yet remains extremely filling -- a detail that my non-vegan family found very refreshing (some of their wood-fired pizzas have imitation cheese, but they have options without these too).

As a foodie and cook at a nearby restaurant, I found myself constantly analyzing each dish to discover what ingredients were used to make everything so scrumptious. My family members were a little alarmed/amused when I came back with a plate full of desserts, but I maintain: you are utterly missing the point if you don't sample at least half of the desserts the buffet has to offer. Truly gourmet, the sweets range from light, refreshing coconut cream + fruit puddings, to decadent chocolate espresso tortes and cakes. The "oat bars" were actually my favorite!

My only quips are... • Jill's raised the price from around $17 to $18 (even though the website still advertises $17). Although it's a fantastic experience, the value of it contributes to that experience and I don't want the establishment to think they can keep upping the price without suffering from reduced business; • They don't provide an equally fancy non-alcoholic substitute for wine (the price of the wine is included in the buffet price, according to our server). My family doesn't drink and it seems like common sense that a non-alcoholic substitute should be offered if we're paying for wine in the ticket. • The first time I went, there was a delicious chai offered on the buffet, but that wasn't included in my most recent visit. They had flavored water, but the chai was much better -- bring that back please!

We will be back for more of this casually fancy and delicious vegan buffet if the price holds and the drink options improve!

P.S. Eric the pizza guy is awesome! Very friendly and he whipped up some flavorful BBQ pizzas with a house-made sauce that...

Would have been 5 stars except for the service. Our waitress Denisa was curt and seemed to be dismissive of our experience in general. We explained that we would be sharing everything (my wife's request from me as it was her birthday dinner). We ordered the Jaimacan popcorn and fried artichokes as our appetizers and explained that, depending on how hungry we were after those, we would be getting the pumpkin pasta and, maybe, the walnut salad. The apps were delicious, but our server wouldn't know if we enjoyed them or not because she never came back to ask how anything tasted. Instead, it wasn't until the pasta arrived that we were able to explain that we would indeed be wanting the walnut salad (which didn't arrive until after we had finished our pasta due to the lack of communication). After finishing the salad, we were presented with a check. We were not offered dessert and our waitress seemed surprised when we asked to see the dessert menu: "oh, you wanted to get dessert?". Once we received the menus, we decided on something to take back to the room, but our waitress was nowhere to be found. Eventually, I tired of the waiting game and found her at the bar, handed her some cash to cover the check and tip and left to order room service desserts. Our food was tasty, the tables were nice and comfortable and the restaurant had a pleasant, quiet vibe (just what we were looking for). Having both worked in the service industry for many, many years, the service left a lot...