Vertical Detroit — Restaurant in Detroit

Not Worth the Money

On the recommendation of a friend, I made reservations here for my girlfriend's birthday dinner before a performance of Wicked at the Opera House. The location was convenient and the menu looked promising. Walking in we had high expectations for our meal.

The restaurant's outdoor seating felt very European. The decor and environment inside was very pleasant. We chose to sit outside because of the nice weather, but we would have been equally happy with the atmosphere inside.

The host was professional, friendly, and an overall delight. So far our expectations had been met or exceeded.

Initially our waiter appeared professional, but as dinner progressed we realized he was more interested in telling us and the tables around us how some members of The Roots were dining inside and hanging out with a group of friends at the front table.

We started with drinks and a the charcuterie board. It wasn’t the best charcuterie I’ve ever had, but it was good enough. So far everything is going well.

After ordering the Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin and the Strip (medium rare) we proceeded to wait. As other reviewers have mentioned the service was slow, but we were in no rush and were enjoying the weather. If you do choose to spend your money here I suggest giving yourself a solid two-hour window.

When the entrees arrived, the meat on both plates was luke-warm. I had ordered a glass of wine to go with the steak that never arrived. At this point we had experienced such slow service that we decided to finish what we could and then head to another bar or restaurant to wait until the start of the show.

The Strip steak came pre-cut from the kitchen and looked closer to medium well than medium rare. There was no red in the middle. There was a surprising amount of fat for something billed as a premium cut--this might have been OK if the food had been warmer.

After receiving our food our waiter took so long to come and check on our table that by the time he did we had finished most of what we could stomach and I was able to ask him to remove the glass of wine I’d ordered for the steak from our bill.

Another thing to note is the location of the bathrooms in the dining room. They are immediately off of the main dining area and next to several tables. Entering and exiting them we pretty much joined the tables of those who were sitting there. If we had sat inside there would have likely been a problem with proximity to them.

To pour salt in the wound we ordered a $20 salmon fillet from a local pub the next day that outshone both of the plates we had from Vertical the...

Vertical Wine Bar came highly recommended from a family member. We were visiting from Grand Rapids and planning on a nice dinner out before a play at the Fisher Theatre. We were seated at 5:00 (we were told our reservation was from 5-7) with a 7:30 curtain time for the play.

The good; the restaurant is very pretty, the wine list is extensive with many wines by the glass and bottle and truly impressive. We had a small charcuterie plate, which was good, and I then had a frisee salad, which was average, and my husband had foie gras, which was very good. Our waiter was attentive and helpful with wine suggestions.

We were concerned that the courses were coming quite quickly and that we may have an excessive amount of time to wait prior to the play. Not to worry - we ordered our entrees and 50 minutes later were still waiting for our food. It was 7:00 and we still did not have our entrees. We asked our waiter where our food was and he told us it was being plated. The table next to ours had two couples who were attending the Opera, and were in the same situation; they only had salad and had to leave for the Opera with no dinner.

When our dinner came, after 7:00, we asked to speak to the manager. I am not sure if it was the manager or owner who came by our table. We told him that our dinner was so delayed we had only 10 minutes before we had to leave for the play. His response; "Well, that should be the worst thing that happens to you today." Seriously? He said, "Sorry the kitchen is having problems, the people next to you are in the same situation". Was this supposed to be a consolation or misery loves company? At any rate, we told him we did not expect to pay for the entrees (a large NY strip steak and pork tenderloin) that we didn't have time to eat. The food was taken off the bill and we paid for our wine and left our waiter a generous tip. Any restaurant can have an off night, but the attitude of the manager was totally unacceptable and he should not be in the service industry. I would not recommend...

Rude, Insulting, Greed:

I normally try to look at the good experiences at an establishment and give obvious suggestion for improvement if necessary. Posting this low review I hope will bring light to their only objective and it’s not the patrons.

My wife and I returned to the Vertical for our celebration dinner prior to our annual DSO home for the holidays concert. This was planned to be a very special celebration meal to celebrate her journey through 18 months of cancer recovery and celebrating the beginning of a very special meaningful Christmas with family and friends - celebration of love and life.

The Vertical restaurant was our very first restaurant we celebrated the holiday many years ago and thought returning there was a great place to begin the holidays.

The hostess did greet us with asking about our evening plans and welcomed us to our “Two hour” dinning experience. From our experience in many fine dining restaurants in the area like the Statler, Apparatus or the Prime and Proper this question has always been asked. The question is asked so they can focus on our meal and service plan to assure we are not late to our next engagement, contrary to the Vertical.

Our dinning experience began as any meal would as expected. The wait staff was very attentive helpful and pleasant. After finishing our main course we asked for a dessert menu as we were looking forward to a dessert and an after dinner drink to finish off this wonderful evening. Instead we were asked to leave and pay our bill.

The Vertical’s beginning greeting, enjoy our “Two Hour” experience, unknowing to us the timer has started and we would be asked to leave a few minutes before the alarm rings. In retrospect the operational flow of this dinning experience was very out of sink and cumbersome. Our celebration was interrupted by rudeness, insulting overtones and obvious greed to turnover a table.

Not an establishment we want to patronize. Be aware the timer starts and if it goes off you will be...