Mercantile Dining & Provisions — Restaurant in Denver

Be forewarned: the best thing about this restaurant is its aesthetic and you should not judge this book by its cover. It's possible I caught them on a bad day, since this review is based on a single visit, but I have a hard time believing my experience can be that much of an outlier. While I was there, I was neglected by service staff, served moldy fruit, and overheard one of the chefs lie about the food to a diner. The level of care and attention is simply not acceptable for the pricetag on this restaurant. I ordered the steel cut oats, a cup of fruit, and a coffee, which came to $30. Unfortunately, I received quick oats floating in milk with a couple slices of banana that seemed a far cry from the stated banana compote. The fruit was a decent mix of melons and berries, but I had to remove several blueberries that were disgusting looking and one that had white mold oozing out of it. Someone really needs to take quality assurance seriously! On to their offenses related to eggs. I sat at the counter in front of the kitchen and watched as they used generic cartons of eggs to whip up the scrambled eggs to put on sandwiches, which ranged in color depending on how much attention the chefs were paying attention - some had so much browning I thought for sure they would toss them in the trash, but they went on the sandwiches and out to the tables without a blink. At one point, a server inquired with the chef about whether the eggs were cage-free and he laughed and made a careless remark. She said she didn't know if that was a yes or no and he said something that was a confirmation. As a consumer of cage-free eggs, I can tell you that those cartons they use would likely say in loud and clear in big letters if that were the case, which leads me to believe they were straight up lying about the ingredients. Obviously airport restaurants tend to be pale imitations of their primary location and inconsistency is a trade-off when the volume is high and speed is imperative, but I would recommend the airport Root Down and Snooze locations well...

Do not go this this restaurant! I came in on Thursday morning. I ordered the fresh fruit salad. This is what they served me?!

Let me explain what these pictures are of. A bowl of “fresh fruit”. But the bowl was filled these pieces of soggy and sour strawberries. Pineapple pieces that were moldy and brown, and the other half of the pineapple was turning pink . Cantaloupe that was sour and slimy. etc !

They entire “fresh fruit” salad was filled with fruit that had moldy fruit, rotten and sour fruit. I took one bit and the fruit was definitely not fresh and expired. So I didn’t eat it. I politely sat and waited for someone , ANYONE to come check in with me .

Not only that . Not one person came by and asked me about my food or asked if I wanted anything to drink besides water. After my food was dropped. I noticed the manager looking from the other side of the bar at my disgusting rotten food. The manager(male) and two male bartenders both would address or check in with everyone else at the bar top. But they repeatedly ignored me or any attempt I made to grab someone’s attention.

I waited more than 15 minutes. Then gave up and just just put down $20 on cash . Then had to wait another 10-15 minutes until I finally got the bartenders attention to ask for change . I had to wait . Not because he was busy . I had to wait because he went out of way to not walk past my seat , look at me or even say one word to me. Neither did the the manger.

I shouldn’t of paid for rotten moldy food . (Yes the entire bowl was filled with mostly inedible fruit) . I even tipped . I shouldn’t have . But I am a black woman and I felt pressured to leave a tip. Do to certain stereotypes.

The way I was treated and ignored. Then on top of that . They handed me a bowl of mold, sour and rotting fruit. Felt very race driven. It felt like because I want black . They thought they would serve me that , ignore me and it wouldn’t be an issue.

They keep trying to delete this review. I’ll keep reposting and until I...

I think it’s hard to convey experiences with bad service - something just gets lost in the telling. But I felt treated badly in a situation that I’m sure happens regularly. Being a first time visitor, I didn’t know the system for using a lounge pass to pay. I gave the server my credit card thinking they needed that to cover any extra cost. Turns out you need the tiny receipt you get at the entrance when you scan your lounge card to pay.

When I asked the server about this, they got frustrated and stormed off, saying only they needed to wait for the manager to void my credit card payment and take the lounge pass payment. I waited around for about 10 minutes without any action - although I heard the servers talking about waiting for the manager to come up from downstairs. Honestly, everyone seemed stressed and unhappy. The server didn’t make eye contact with me or say anything as time passes. (I was also holding a baby car seat and a bunch of bottles for my cranky infant). When I asked how long I could expect to wait, the server snapped that they had absolutely no idea.

Finally, I just started asking other employees if they were the manager - a responsibility no one wanted to admit to. Finally the bartender - “most certainly not the manager” - showed the server the code to void my transaction. The server did what they needed to do to close out my bill in about 30 seconds and handed me my receipt without any sort of acknowledgement of the confusion or their rude treatment.

I honestly don’t blame this individual, since it looked like everyone was stressed, maybe partially due to the absentee manager hanging out “downstairs.” If it’s that hard to deal with a simple misunderstanding with a little humanity, then there is something seriously wrong with this place.

…food was still...