Aquarium Restaurant — Restaurant in Denver

Most of our experience was not good.

The hostess was not profession and unhappy. I made reservations for a birthday dinner, near the tank. I made it early, 4:30 pm, because I thought it would be easier to accommodate the request. We checked in early and the tables were about 1/4 full. The hostess (brown hair and glasses) was in a bad mood. When I walked up to give her my name she simply said, " yes?". I gave my name, reservation time, and reminded her that we were there for a birthday dinner and wanted to sit near the tank. (3 people btw).

She called our name and asked if we needed a children's menu. (My 6 year old was standing next to me). I said yes. She asked if we wanted a table or a booth. I asked if I could see where the options were. She walked us directly to a table in the center of the restaurant while most of the tables near the tank were not sat and most of the booths were open. I asked which booth was the other option? Her response was that there were no booths available. I thought, "what the heck is going on?! Is this girl having a really crappy night or is she like this all the time?"

Since this was a birthday dinner I didn't want to let one miserable person ruin it.

We were sat without one of the menus so my husband went back to the hostess to get the other menu.

The manager/supervisor was sitting slouched down in the booth closest to the kitchen entrance. Servers would come to him in the "dining experience area" and he would call servers to him. It was a horrible look for a nice dining experience.

(* About 30 to 40 minutes into our dinner the tables near the tank and booths still remain unsat.)

My son got a meal off the kids menu. My husband and I both ordered the Restaurant Week special. A 4 course meal. Each meal took a little long but the brownie dessert took atleast 30 minutes. The waitress brought us our check and asked if we could pay it while we were waiting for our dessert. Our bill was $155, they charge my husband for the souvenir glass even though we didn't ask for it... we didn't even know that they sold the glasses. The waitress told us to take the recipt to the gift shop when we were done eating and they would give us a clean glass. (The gift shop was packed and we had to wait in line for 15 min to get the souvenir glass.)

When the brownie came it was too hard to cut in with our spoons.

I gave the waitress my credit card and she brought back the receipt there was an additional charge of $11. I waited 15 minutes for her to come back to the table to ask what the additional charge was for. She said she accidentally rang another dessert on the check when she was closing the check out. She had to go back to the manager to reverse the charge and correct the bill. (By this time the last 4 top table near the tank was being sat.)

I still didn't want the horrible dining experience to ruin the birthday. My family walked through the aquarium a second time before we left. We were happy in the end and didn't let the restaurant ruin our day.

I'm sure we will get the same "canned" response that the other bad reviews have gotten in the...

I have mixed emotions about the Denver Aquarium restaurant... I have been several times and the food has been okay. It is good food, but at times has just seemed as though it has set under the heat lamp too long - for instance, I got the stuffed catfish this past weekend and the shrimp on top had good flavor, but it was super dry. I'd just say it is hit or miss on the food. The cocktails though.. never had a "good one." I'm not sure that they hire experience bartenders to work there; I'd just get a beer.

Our latest experience at the Aquarium this last Friday started off a little undesirable but ended great. We had a rude hostess that wouldn't seat my husband who just wanted to have a quick beer (he was by himself - the bar directed him to the restaurant as they had a private event), because he didn't have a reservation... the restaurant was dead by the way.. so he left and came to find us in the exhibit - Then afterwards our whole group went down to the restaurant to ask for a table, my Mother-in-law is a Landry member and assured us we didn't need a reservation, especially at a restaurant that wasn't busy.. but the host told us she would put us on the list and that it would be 15-20 minutes before we could be seated. My MIL said no, I have priority seating and want to be seated now please; then, when an older gentlemen whose name I believe was Ron came over, the hostess finally asked if my MIL was a Landry Select member and they started to find us a place to sit. Ron was very nice and helpful to us and made sure that we weren't having to wait and that nobody was upset about anything. - Our servers name was Dominica and we absolutely LOVED her. We eat out a lot and she was one of my favorite servers I think I've ever had. She was attentive, patient, knowledgeable about the menu AND about the fish (we were at the Aquarium after all), and the kids just loved her. She told them the stories, the names and species of the fish (they really loved Barry the Barracuda) and even brought them a fish identifier booklet to look at, her food recommendation was great, and she was an outstanding server. She really turned our experience around for us! Lastly, the female manager working that day was very nice and helpful as well. She made sure that we left happy, which is very much appreciated it! We will come back...

Let me tell you how Landry ruined a nice afternoon out with my Sister-in-Law (SIL) and nephew (2) last Friday (2/17).

Background: I’m a student who has off/on been a waitress & manager in food service to fund school and life.

After a great time at Denver Aquarium with my SIL and nephew, I wanted to finish our afternoon with lunch at Landry Restaurant. We made a reservation for 11:30 am. We were one of many families with similar ideas. It was obvious earlier on, they were short-staffed, and most people tried to exercise patience, myself included. However, it was difficult as most of us were ignored till about 15-20 minutes after arriving at the podium. It wasn’t till 12:30 pm we were seated. This was only after I watch several families almost get into a fight about their reservations as their little ones were getting impatient and hungry.

Once seated, wait staff informed us they were short staffed which we were aware of. They grabbed our drink orders and didn’t see them for another 30 minutes. It was during this time I witnessed the conduct of management. He was unfazed and had no sense of urgency. He wasn’t assisting staff with making drink orders, taking out orders, seating people, calling in additional staff, or even taking a table himself. He was letting them run around like crazy as he sat at a table playing on his phone.

Just before my SIL and I received our water (30 mins later), my nephew decided he couldn’t wait any longer for food and it was time to leave. He and my SIL left. It was at this time I told the wait staff we would only take the drinks. She apologized and said she would only bring me my beer and have the other drink removed. This action would require a manager, who was gone. I was brought my beer while another 30 mins go by and the manager is nowhere to be seen. He finally shows up with a coffee. Coffee isn’t available in the Aquarium, so he had to leave his staff and restaurant to get some. My check was adjusted and my one beer cost $13. It was a Blue moon. I left a little after 1:30 pm.

Overall, one of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve ever had. For the cost of the food and the beer I had alone, you’d expect better. I would not recommend this restaurant at all. Just leave and go up the street to other better...