1933 Lounge by St. Elmo - Carmel — Restaurant in Carmel

This feels like such an awkward review to write. So many things went right with our experience, and yet on the flip side, I felt like I was in a two star diner based on the hospitality. When we walked in, neither of the front desk staff greeted us. They didn't look up, smile, or anything. I initiated by giving our reservation, and we were seated super far away from the rest of the diners (like literally on the other side of the restaurant). While it was nice as a private experience, but also made it difficult for our waiter. It felt odd when the host handed me the Devour Indy menu and said, "This is our sale menu." which based on the tone instantly made me feel like they determined we could not afford to be there, even if it was meant to be helpful. No explanation was provided about what Devour Indy is, which I am aware of as a local, but given the level of advertising and attempts restaurants make to promote the event it felt like a missed opportunity for our tourism sector.

We waited about ten minutes and our server arrives. We were rushed the most of the night -to the extent that I felt like we were an inconvenience to be there. Our waiter didn't introduce the restaurant, ask if it was our first time (it was), or walk us through anything. We tried to give grace the whole time, having to watch him rush back to the other tables he was covering, but in fairness to being guests it was just bad hospitality.

The food was great, we cook at home all the time and never go out, so we splurged on four courses. The food and drinks from ordering to delivery were great on timing, I never felt like we had to wait long. We ordered steaks and they came out perfect the first time (bone-in ribeye was awesome). I really liked the navy bean soup (comes dairy free), and my husband finished half of his lobster bisque before giving up. He's a New Englander. I ordered an alcohol-free Prosecco mocktail, and think it's a new favorite. We ended the night with a shared chocolate mouse cake (super decadent, recommend splitting), and it was lovely. Recommend removing the toffee crumble entirely or mixing it with the crust base, as the texture interferes with the mouse.

You might ask, "If the food was so great and came out timely, how was service bad?" When our waiter was at our table, it felt like he was antsy, and that we were bothering him with any questions. He hardly smiled and kept checking the time, to the point that I asked if he was ending his shift soon. We tried to be brief, and quickly learned we needed to try and order multiple things if we had interest given the pace of check-ins. He later gifted us the dessert which was a nice gesture given the evening (and also celebrating a special occasion).

While we tried to give grace for the situation our waiter was in, between the attitude we had in our interactions both with him and the host staff, we felt let down by the experience. It's a beautiful restaurant with inspiring designs. If you take the time to observe the glass chandeliers, you'll notice the bar incorporates champagne glasses into the large statement chandelier, which felt...

Let me start off with the positives.

I really like the overall decor, vibe and aesthetic at 1933. It’s unique, while still elegant, and inviting. The cocktail menu is equally interesting, with twists on classics and some new cocktails that you won’t find just anywhere. Having lived on both coasts and traveling a ton for work, I appreciate places that try to do things a little differently and don’t copy cat chain steakhouses. If you want that, this is not the place.

Unfortunately, after coming here a couple times I won’t be back for a meal (a cocktail perhaps). When you are paying for a fine dining experience, you expect it; from services to the food. It can’t all be the venue, as great as it is.

It started with being seated a table top even though we had reservations in the main dining room. Not the end of the world, but certainly not the place to enjoy a premium dining experience. Our server (who wound up quitting/fired mid shift) certainly seemed disinterested in being there, and we had to hunt down the manager to have our order taken, even though we all had our heads on a swivel looking for help sitting in the middle of the restaurant. The server who stepped in was great, attentive and did his best. Not all the food we ordered came out, the server was apologetic and did his best to get a rush on what was remaining. What did come out of the kitchen was solid, but nothing remotely close to the price tag.

After miscues through our service, we were presented our bill- without any consideration for the substandard experience. When I raised it with a manager she apologized and offered to comp something, but at that point it felt a little late. Another manager offered to do the same, we declined and I did contrast our experience here to the many we’d had at restaurants they are compared to locally, and she admitted our experience was up to their standards, but reading some other reviews this doesn’t seem like an isolated instance.

We’ve been to Anthony’s many times and have always had a tremendous experience from ambience, service and food. If you are going to spend your evening out and want to treat to an amazing dining experience...

Had dinner here last evening. I was super excited as I’ve eaten at the 1933 in Fishers many times in the last few years, and it’s always been outstanding…service, food, drinks, always top notch. This site was a different experience. The good: It’s beautiful inside and out. We were greeted by a very nice young man at the host stand. We were early for our reservation, so we made our way to the bar to have a drink. Bartender was great…walked us through some fun options and we had great drinks. We were sat at a really cool 4 top table with a rounded soft couch on one side, and two soft beautiful chairs on the other. Very comfortable…

The bummer: Our waitress did not make it to the table for 15 minutes to greet us. When she finally did, she wasn’t all that pleasant. We made drink orders and appetizers, which all went fine. Apps came out pretty quickly, but drinks were slow. We didn’t see our waitress again for quite a while. She finally came back to take our order, and all went fine. Our dinners came with soups…25 minutes later, the waitress comes to the table with soups, and as she is putting them down, our food comes right behind her delivered by food runners. So, now we have soup and dinner all at once. I had ordered the prime rib, which I’ve had at least 10 times at the other location, and asked for it to be medium rare. Mine came out medium, to maybe even over medium. It was dry…and that herb crust that is so amazing was not hardly there on this cut. My baked potato was not cooked through and hard in the middle. I’m not one to make complaints at the table…but I should have. For these prices, and their reputation, this was a let down.

I’m not sure I’ll go back. Everyone deserves a second chance, but I would think they’d have these things buttoned up already. It was not overly busy, as tables were open all around us…so this is just bad service and poor execution on the food. Again, at these prices, kind of a bummer. They...