Ultreia — Restaurant in Denver

I have mixed feelings feelings about our experience here (visited in August 2024).

We ordered the "Chef's Feast," which was certainly good value. The portions were extremely generous for two people.

The actual dishes were a bit hit or miss in terms of flavour, and we wondered whether there were possibly elements missing (for instance, we received an order of the shishito peppers, which was just a GIANT plate of shishitos and no accompaniments, even though on the menu it says they come with tahini). The bacon-wrapped dates were really good, as were the patatas bravas with octopus (although the potatoes-to-octopus ratio was skewed very heavily in favour of the potatoes). The roasted mushrooms were pretty forgettable, but the Moorish ribs were excellent. We didn't come close to finishing our food, and found ourselves wishing that there had been more of a focus on quality over quantity.

The service was definitely the low point. There were mix-ups with our table and our drink order from the get-go and our server was oddly rude about both of them. The table next to ours accidentally broke a glass while we were eating appetizers and it still had not been cleaned up by the end of the meal. We also had a lot of trouble getting our receipt after the meal, despite multiple attempts to make eye contact/get the attention of the server for our section. The restaurant was not especially busy at the time, and I don't think we had committed any faux pas that would have warranted the attitude.

I will say that the ambiance was very nice. We happened to be there on a night where there was some kind of bicycle event towards the end of the evening, and it lent a really charming, spontaneous, and fun atmosphere to our dinner. The location is nice, it's very easy to get to, and the outdoor seating is a nice space. I feel this place has a lot of potential, but overall our experience was not as good as it...

I hoped to be able to share this terrible review privately with the restaurant, but they have hung up on me twice and now refuse to answer my calls.

I went to Ultreia while visiting my friend who lives here. When we placed our order, I informed our server Terry of my tree nut allergy. Usually, waiters say “I’ll put a note in, but there’s always a possibility for cross contamination” which I fully understand. Terry, however, said “I can try to put a note in, but there’s really nothing that can be done. If this is a severe allergy, I am nervous and don’t want to serve you.” My friends and I stared at each other, and I was getting ready to leave, when a friend asked if they couldn’t simply omit the tree nuts from the specific things we order. Terry said again “we can try, but I’m really nervous and don’t really want to serve you.” I understand trying to convey the fact that cross contamination happens and you never can really ensure something is allergy free, but to be told repeatedly that someone didn’t want to try to accommodate me or serve me was really off putting. We stayed and ordered food anyway, though I didn’t eat much since I was made to feel so uncomfortable and obviously unwelcome.

Two days after our uncomfortable dining experience, I received a charge onto my credit card which is over double what we paid. Luckily I have my receipt and can dispute the charge with my bank, but I have called the restaurant multiple times to try and correct this and they keep hanging up and not answering. The man who answered the first time said he would go grab the manager, then promptly hung up. We spent about $130, and my receipt reflects this, but I was charged $300. I’d like to think that this was a mistake, but the poor customer service leads me to believe that there is something shady going on. I’d recommend keeping your receipts and double checking your charges if...

We got the chef's feast, and unfortunately it was extremely disappointing. Most of the food was incredibly bland.

The first course had bacon wrapped dates, pan con tomate, croquettes, and a grain salad. It's kind of hard to mess up bacon wrapped dates so those were fine. The croquettes had a strange tomato powder that kind of tasted just like bad cheetos. The grain salad was fine, nothing to write home about. The most disappointing thing was the pan con tomate, which was during the height of the tomato season but the tomatoes were bland and acidic. Not the quality you'd expect for that price. The manchego that came with it was the cheapest manchego I've ever had. It was gritty and had no flavor.

The second course had Morrocan ribs, shishito peppers, and papapas bravas with octopus. The ribs, while tender, were completely flavorless, and have none of the warm lovely spices you'd expect from Morrocan spices. The shishito peppers weren't blistered or charred so the skin was unappealing and it needed either more salt or a sauce. The potatoes were cooked fine but again were bland and the octopus was poorly prepared. It needed to be cooked longer as it was chewy and seared hotter to get a nice char on it.

There is also a note on the menu that the automatically add 5% tip to all bills because they "believe all employees should be paid a livable wage". Which is true. Pay your employees a liveable wage Ultreia, don't put it on the customer to. I happily tip %20 wherever I go, but that's something a waiter deserves ON TOP of a liveable wage.

Overall it was disappointing. It was a $150 and there are way better tapas for cheaper in Denver. Heck, even Barcelona wine bar, which is a chain, has better flavor and is cheaper. Save your money, get...