Ellyngton's — Restaurant in Denver

There were a few positives, but primarily disappointments.

Upon entering, several staff members were dressed professionally, matching the theme. Another was in an odd sweater and very casual clothing. All we're polite and we were seated quickly.

There are several lights jammed into the ceiling to illuminate the stage area. It appears to be a fire hazard but my guess isn't he asbestos will likely abate any problems. The view out the window was nice until a man walked up with a "need booze" sign.

The price for the buffet was $60. Way too much for the selection. If you'd like some bubbles, expect to pay an additional $20-40 a glass. Various complimentary drinks are available. I attempted to enjoy the OJ and grapefruit juice, but both glasses had some leftovers in them. The coffee was decent and the water tastes horrible. I read a sign in the lobby noting the water was from a well. My guess is, a bit of Platte River flavor has gotten down into the well. My companion tried to order hot tea. The waiter forgot SEVEN times.

Onto the food. The buffet provides 1/3 the offerings and quality as other places like the Inverness, and at a higher rate. The salad bar offered two premixes very few compliments and two dressings. The seafood selection provided large shrimp, some shady looking oysters, chilled salmon and dried out sushi. The cheese and fruit offering was about what I put out for a small social gathering at my house.

Moving on to the breakfast selection.... Soggy breakfast potatoes, bacon and sausage, a stuffed french toast (where we each found a hair stuffed in) and an omelette/pancake station where the one kid cooking was clearly overwhelmed. The cooked to order offerings were of good quality.

Swinging around the corner, there was a bit of dried pork or flank steak and a random Mahi dish with a mixed veggies pan.

Waffles, and Eggs Benedict we're available by order. The waffles showed up cold and the Benedict was just ok. Apparently Bananas Foster Is available for dessert but the waiter didn't mention it. My companion did visit the dessert bar, but noted everything was dried out and hard to chew.

I'm very disappointed in what I expected would have been a premier brunch. Many other places have a much better offering.

Extra star for free valet and...

So unbelievably disappointing. We have been to Ellyngton's in the past for brunch and have loved it (pre-COVID). We do an annual celebration there for multiple birthdays, anniversaries, etc., so it's a big deal to our family. It was approximately $800 for 8 of us, which we expected and were happy to pay previously. However, if I am going to spend that kind of money for brunch, I expect top-notch food and service.

The buffet itself was drastically reduced (no salad bar, just one bowl of greens, a very small assortment of pastries, very reduced dessert options, etc.), I assume due to the move of the buffet from Ellyngton's to the dining room upstairs. Additionally, we were seated at 1pm and they evidently close at 2pm, which meant that a significant amount of the food and most of the desserts were gone by the time we arrived. If you are a restaurant charging $75/person for a buffet, make your last seating early enough that there is still food left for your last diners AND do not advise them that you "could make another round of the Creme Brulee (which incidentally was what everyone at our table wanted) but it would take two hours." Also don't stop water service as soon as the bill is paid.

Beyond that, the shrimp was not deveined properly (in some cases not at all), one of the servers was extremely put out when my mother asked for another napkin (hers had been removed from the table at some point), and it was less than enjoyable to have full cleanup operations underway while we were still eating.

We have had wonderful experiences in the past, but will probably not return. Ellyngton's has previously presented itself as a fine dining restaurant with a fine-dining price tag, but it is not fine...

The reason I gave this two stars is because I have had both positive and recently a really negative experience. I have been to Ellington's before for their brunch and it was amazing. I recently went there for Thanksgiving with my daughter and was extremely disappointed. For one, the menu that they had posted on their website was completely different than what they actually served even though they charged $20 more than what was advertised per person. Like many places during COVID, they use it as an excuse to charge more for less. Less quality, less service, and less of an experience. My daughter was really looking forward to Thanksgiving there because I had read her all my menu and when we got there, all they had was some rolls, about three salads, one meat/cheese plate, one fruit platter, some dry roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, fish, turkey, prime rib, gravy and cranberry sauce. There was a small dessert table. None of the menu that was and is currently posted on their website for Thanksgiving. I think if they were going to change the menu and the price from $50 per person to $70 per person even though they were serving substantially less than what is listed on their site that they should have at the very least, called and let us know. But we did not discover any of this until after we were there and the server told us that they changed their menu last minute because of covid. The food was poor quality and not very good but we did not want to make a fuss because it was Thanksgiving and we knew it was not the server's fault. But this was definitely a lot less than what I have come to expect from the...