Grill and Vine — Restaurant in Denver

The Good:

They'll fix you a tasty cocktail and, despite what some others here have said, not every wine they carry is mediocre; there're some good ones on their list. Some others leaving reviews have had bad meals here, but I haven't. They roast their vegetables perfectly, and I've had some delicious main dishes.

What really makes this place worth visiting are the views and the location, right above the train line at DIA, though you'll get better views one level up in the hotel lobby (which also has a bar). I like coming here when I travel but, being a Denverite, I admit I've taken the train out to the Westin simply to work for the day. As a writer, a change of view is nice sometimes.

The Bad:

FFS, the prices! Yes, it's an airport hotel catering to corporate drones with seemingly unlimited per diems, but good God. $18 for a run-of-the-mill Tito's martini?! That should cost more like $11. A tiny jar of fries will set you back $6, and the burgers are definitely overpriced. The wines, while they can be good, are all very much overpriced. Some of these bottles, calculated by price per glass, could be had for 30% of Grill and Vine's prices. Grill and Vine charges $8 for beers which can be had for less than $2.50 a bottle at home.

Every restaurant marks up its alcohol at least 100% above liquor-store retail prices, but this is beyond sane.

The Ugly:

The staff are trained... but not well. For a place with excellent fixtures, decent food, and high-end positioning, the staff are no better than you might find at an average low-priced chain. Think Chili's. Think Red Robin.

I've never had a waiter, host, or bartender act rudely to me here, but they haven't overly impressed me either. They're all nice, and they're all trying hard, but this isn't The Kitchen or Urban Farmer. A better-trained staff would seriously elevate the experience, but I doubt that's...

I dine here when I come through to Denver on business.

Pros: located on the ground floor of the Westin Hotel. It’s convenient and the ambiance is bright and airy.

The menu is varied and there is a nice wine list with some cocktails offered.

Cons: it wouldn’t hurt for the servers to crack a smile and exude better customer service skills, especially the older, short blond haired female server. Most of the time I come in, she looks half constipated and angry. Relax. Smile. Be approachable. Try and have a conversation with your customers.

People are traveling, and everyone has a story. She is not friendly in the slightest. How she works with the general public when she possesses no people skills boggles my mind.

A glass of wine ranges from $16-21; a smoked old fashioned is $24. Quite overpriced. You could buy a bottle of the same wine for a lot less than what they charge you for a glass.

The pan seared halibut I had just 2 weeks ago (8/22/25) was absolutely delicious. Light, delicate, and the veloute was flavorful. I decided to have the same dish again today (9/5/25). Unfortunately, the veloute was dark yellow in color compared to a creamy white from two weeks prior. The flavor of the sauce was also lacking. The fish, though cooked perfectly, lacked actual seasoning. I had to add black pepper, salt, and even went so far as to ask for a side of chimichurri.

For $45, I expected BETTER. And what I really expected was the same wonderful flavors I experienced from two weeks ago. It’s the same dish for the same price. Why did the sauce change, and why was it BLAND?!

The chefs need to taste prior to sending dishes out and keep things consistent. Today’s halibut was...

We come here often to eat. We came here for brunch at 10.50am and was told we had to choose breakfast or lunch. It was not busy maybe 4 other tables being served. We choose the lunch menu. I choose the Seared salmon with butternut squash and quinoa. The salmon was cooked great but the roasted butternut squash was still hard and comes with skin on. It was hard work to remove the skin because butternut was not cooked properly. Also the quinoa was not drained properly and was very wet. I am happy to pay for a meal that costs $37.00 plus tip but not when it is not cooked properly. When the waitress came and asked if the meal was good I mentioned that the butternut squash was not cooked properly. There was no sorry only a "Oh". then she went off to the kitchen muttering to another waiter that my squash was undercooked. At the end of our meal she came and gave us the bill. Nothing was discounted and nothing mentioned about it being undercooked. If they are not going to address concerns of the food don't bother asking if it is good. My daughter had the Penne pasta which also had the the roasted butternut squash which was also undercooked and was hard. We ended up taking it home and recooking the butternut squash so we could eat it. Sad to have to pay such high meal prices for average food. Pick up your game, it is disappointing when a home mom can cook better than the chef. When this happens I don't want to tip. We are generous tippers when we get a good meal but we only tipped 20 percent yesterday as it was not good. Do these places even...