Bistro Nautile — Restaurant in Fort Collins

I saw several photos of the dishes on Instagram, very tempting, and excellent reviews on google. Right from the start I thought it was overpriced but raised my expectations as a result. I'm not saying I expected Michelin star restaurant level but a duck at $57 has to be among the best ducks I've had, especially if it's the most expensive dish on the menu. Instead, it was tough, stodgy and overcooked, not to mention the part with the skin that both my husband and I tried to chew and immedialy spitted out, an impossible bite to swallow. The waitress picked up the plates with food still in them without even asking us if it was all right. Before the duck and the beef bourguignon we had 12 oysters, but we left two of them as there was a thick white, pink patina/ layer in the oysters. We told the waitress that there was a strange mucous patina and in response she said " it's up to you guys if you want to eat it or not " and we were just left speechless. Normally the correct answer would be "I'm sorry can I bring you two more instead?' , to which we would have said no anyway because I've been eating oysters for 20 years all around the world and I've never seen such a thing inside an 'oyster. Or she should have explained what that patina is and told us that it is normal and that the oysters are fresh. Instead she acted like nothing was wrong and presented the full bill as if nothing happened. My husband was nauseous all night, and we don't understand whether it was the oysters or the beef, which by the third bite had already nauseated him from how greasy and seasoned it was. Our opinion is that there is someone greedy there : two waiters for a whole restaurant, poor quality raw materials and way too high prices especially if you compare with quality/price you get in other Fort Collins restaurant like Rare or Jax of which we are regular customers. As a customer, I felt cheated. I wanted to try this restaurant and as of last night I am unnerved by the painful and rude service, the money thrown away and this morning by finding out my husband was sick all night. I wonder the people who go there and leave these 5 stars reviews what cognizance do they have of the food, service and prices? It seems to me that this place is just trending, but it would be nice for people to apply some critical sense. Terrible experience, you lost two good potential customers. Too bad. Ps. Really review the policies and customer service because I've never heard a response like that and not being asked if everything went well by seeing food left on the plate. I think what happened it's pretty bad. Especially when you spend $100 per person at a minimum, drinking only one glass of wine each, 12 oysters and 2...

As a retired restaurateur and consultant, I and my wife are more often disappointed when we dine out rather than satisfied. Sometimes it’s the food/drink quality, sometimes the service, and sometimes it’s the ambiance, or lack thereof. It doesn’t really matter how many years an owner, and their employees have been practicing the profession, if all three of these elements don’t align it results in a disappointing experience for us. That was our experience last night as we attempted to celebrate my 67th birthday at 6:30 on a Wednesday evening. We were in the building not more than a few minutes when we looked at each other and said, “should we leave and go somewhere else?” It takes quite a bit to make such an initial impression on us, but we could already see what was about to happen. No one was at the door to greet us and in the few minutes we stood there we only saw 1 FOH employee. The dining room was in shambles; dirty tables everywhere and the bar top looked like it was used for a bussing station. It was covered with dirty glassware and dishes. Had we wanted to sit at the bar like we often do, we couldn’t have. The tables and the bar remained in this condition the entire 45 minutes we stayed. We had intended to spend a couple hundred dollars on multiple small plates to taste several items verses a couple entrees, but we made our decision to have a couple small plates to sample the food, one martini, and a glass of pinot noir then leave. I’d give the service a 3/5. I ordered a martini and had to remind the server after 10 minutes that I had ordered it. Chilled vodka in a glass is hard to screw up. And the two servers communicated with each other by yelling across the small dining room. I’d give the food we had a 3/5. The Rockefeller was unimpressive, oysters with bacon. The cheese had set up because it wasn’t hot. The ahi egg rolls were fried too long, and they skimped on the sauce although the flavor profile was good and the ahi portion inside was generous. The ambiance was 1/5. Aside from the disastrous condition of the dining room and bar top, the back bar, bar displays (Knick Knacks), and general dining room lacked any type of theme design or accent lighting that would let one know they are in a...

Bistro Nautile on the outset was lovely; the restaurant space was cozy and clean, the food was very good, and our waitress was lovely and kind as well as attentive and quick.

Unfortunately, my fiancée’s and my experience eating here was taken down several notches (and honestly, almost ruined) by a person working there.

He was abrasive, loud, and talked nearly constantly to himself the entire time we ate there. I found myself feeling more uncomfortable by the minute, and felt like I had to keep my eye on him as he moved about the restaurant. I want to be honest here— I was disturbed enough by this man’s energy and actions that I felt almost scared of him, and definitely deeply unsettled. This in itself is fine; not everyone gets along and everyone is different; I understand that.

However, what really pushed me to leave this review is at the end we chose to buy our server a shot. We liked her, and wanted to do something for her. When this man saw that we had bought her a shot, he started loudly complaining about how we hadn’t bought everyone working there a shot, and that it was unfair of us to do that. On top of that, he pointedly exclaimed how we ignored everyone working there, including how we did “a real good job of ignoring” him at that moment.

Look—we came to your restaurant. We spent money on your food, we decided to treat our lovely server and also left a reasonable tip. We did not need to be shamed for not buying a shot for everyone else. We did not need to be yelled at in the restaurant, publicly, and then be told you were “just joshing”. This isn’t hospitality. It was rude, abrasive, and only served to raise our initial discomfort.

Normally, we would have returned to this place. Now, though, I wouldn’t risk returning. I don’t want to feel that way again in a restaurant, it’s not worth it. Fair warning to all who dine here—while many aspects are good, you may be in for a (literally) rude surprise in the form of this...