Hillstone — Restaurant in Denver

Hillstone was one of my favorite restaurants from when I lived in the Cap Hill area. An upscale casual chain that I would frequently walk to because the food and service was always top-notch. For this reason, I chose Hillstone as my birthday dinner this year, and unfortunately, that was a huge error in judgment on my part.

I had been craving their Spinach and Artichoke dip for weeks, which was probably the main reason I chose this for birthday dinner. Immediately upon arriving I ordered the Spinach Dip - which came out very quickly. At that point, we placed our order. The Spinach Dip was excellent - we were off to a great start. I ate the whole thing like a real fat boy - but it's my birthday, so I was going to eat as much as I wanted. While I stuffed my fat face we ordered sushi and burgers. Nom nom.

About 3 minutes into gorging myself on Spinach dip, the waitress asked if we needed anything. I asked for a refill on my club soda. This is where things started to go downhill fast. 10 minutes later, there was no club soda, and our waitress had disappeared. Not a word to us - just a missing woman. Perhaps she was abducted? Perhaps she got injured on the job? Maybe she had to go somewhere else to retrieve my club soda.. the possibilities were endless - but the waitress never returned. She simply vanished without a trace. I was very concerned because I'm a big fan of first 48 so I knew time was of the essence for her sake - but no one came by to check on us. We were basically left there with an empty plate of Spinach Dip - waiting at this point for about 15 minutes + on sushi.

Around 15 minutes in, the manager came by asking if we needed anything. I requested club soda again. I told him about the disappearance of our waitress - and he basically said he wasn't sure where she went. Maybe she was sick - maybe she just left - no one knows. Talk about anticlimactic - to this day I'm still not sure what happened to her.

What I do know - is that the sushi finally got to us about 20 minutes after our order. It was mediocre - probably because it had been prepared way earlier and just sat there waiting for our missing waitress to pick it up. The burger also eventually arrived, but wasn't as hot as usual. The manager apologized, but really, the entire experience was ruined. I mentioned again how disappointing the service was on this occasion - but it must have fell on deaf ears, because even the apology was pretty subpar.

At this point, I have to say, I probably won't return to Hillstone. It's a shame - because I really loved that restaurant and their spinach dip - but I think the waitress and managers really missed the mark in making things right for the customer and birthday boy on this occasion. In closing, I hope the waitress is ok and not on a carton of milk as a...

Hillstone has truly gone downhill. 11 health violations in the last 14 months. (This is public record. Can be found by a google search for Denver restaurant violations.) Gross, but not surprising.

10/25/2022 - 1 violation 3/24/2022 - 6 violations 9/21/2021- 4 violations

I'm writing this message to share my displeasure with Hillstone and the customer service provided to me today. I am a regular patron of Hillstone (it is/was my favorite restaurant) and have been eating in your Cherry Creek location since I moved to Denver in 2013. It would be a conservative estimate to say that I have spent $2500+ in your restaurant in 2022 alone. The food is fantastic, our regular server, Dan, is excellent, but given my experience today, I will never spend another penny at Hillstone. I called the Cherry Creek location at about 4:30pm on Tuesday 11/22 to place a take out order. My mother is in town visiting, so we were out and about and unable to place an online order through the automated system or in person. The employee who answered the phone, Audri, had a poor attitude from the start. Her attitude toward me was that I was an imposition and was wasting her time. I asked to place an order over the phone due to the circumstances, but Audri refused. I understand that there are policies in place, but as a customer facing business owner, I know there are times to accommodate a request. As such, I asked politely to speak to a manager to see if they would be able to make an exception. Audri rudely responded, "He's going to tell you the same thing". Audri then put me on the phone with a manager named Will. Will was no more helpful than Audri. He was unaccommodating with me, short, and made no effort to solve the problem. I was even willing to provide my credit card over the phone to pay ahead of time. This leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. The restaurant is not busy at 4:30pm on a Tuesday night and there is no logical reason why Will couldn't help us. Customers are not an imposition but are the reason your business exists. I don't know if it was the "B" team working tonight since it's a Tuesday, but it was horrifying customer service. I proceeded to call Capitol Grille and spent $350 on a pickup order. They were happy to take the business. Maybe Hillstone will reconsider like the time they stopped taking reservations, upset all the regulars, and then started taking reservations again.

Hillstone dislikes customers, treats them poorly, and doesn't value their health or safety. Notice that they also don't take the time to respond to any reviews.

Tldr: There are lots of better restaurants that will treat you with courtesy, won't put your health in danger, and will be grateful for your business....

Really expected to like this spot but definitely was let down. We visited Hillstone after having a reservation issue with a different restaurant. Called and spoke with Audrey (apologize if I spell this wrong) and she informed us that there wasn’t anything she could do to get us on a waitlist without being there, (we were still 10-15 mins out). No sweat. It is what it is. We arrive check-in with Audrey and her lack of understanding and communication to what we wanted/expected was concerning. We stated we would like to sit at a table, and if we could wait at the bar. To which she responded I still have a few parties waiting to sit at the bar. Alright no problem, we find a place to wait, as I sit uneasy I go up to her again and confirm, “Hey I just want to clarify we do want and will wait for a table” sometime later she comes back and let’s us know there are two bar spots available to which we decline and communicate again we would like a table. Some time passes and we get sat at a table. While we were waiting we had ordered a drink, drinks meet us back at our new table and upon first sip my Beefeater (Cheap stuff) Gin and Tonic was extremely flat and Gin forward. I let my server Holden know and he took care of it right away. We order sushi and deviled eggs before our entrees and we’re more than happy with the rainbow roll and the measly 3 eggs for $7. Lol. they were good, but no value. The new Gin and Tonic arrives and is way better than the first one. We enjoy our food and wait for our entrées. My date ordered the Rotisserie chicken which I got a chance to try and I thought had good flavor and perfectly crisp skin, good job there. I ordered the double cut Pork chop, which I was not ecstatic about. Food Safety requires a minimum of 145°F and a 3 minute rest for Pork. That’s MINIMUM. I don’t even know if my pork met minimum food safety requirements. I have never cooked Pork rare/medium rare, nor do I plan to. Hillstone lastnight apparently did/ does and they don’t give you a say or let you know that’s how it’s cooked. The sear was fantastic and the flavor was there but the cooked temperature of the meat was not, I really had been wanting to come here for a while and was extremely dissatisfied. I ordered a second Gin and Tonic and it was the same as the first one, flat and overpowered with Gin. I’m not a binge drinking college student I don’t need 3oz of liquor in a 4oz glass. Didn’t finish my entree, didn’t finish my 2nd drink and still happily paid for it all plus making sure Holden(who was great) didn’t leave empty handed. $184 bucks for 2 people to have a mediocre experience in Cherry Creek. Thank...