Elevation LVK — Restaurant in Livermore

I recently visited Elevation LVK yesterday 1/25 after hearing so many great things about it and decided to give it a try with a group of ladies. Initially, I had planned for a larger party of 12 but unfortunately, not everyone was able to show up. We ended up being a smaller group of five, which was still fine.

Service The gentleman in the gray sweater who took our orders and brought our drinks was overall very sweet, friendly, and helpful. I don’t want to take that away from him, he really tried to make the experience pleasant. However, one thing I would recommend he work on is the strong cigarette smell on him. It was clear he had recently smoked, and no effort was made to mask the odor before returning to work. This was a bit off-putting and impacted the ambiance, but his attitude and service were otherwise great. The young lady at the bar was also very friendly, although we didn’t interact with her much. When I first walked in, she greeted me warmly and showed me to our table, which I appreciated. She even took a photo for us, after i asked which was a thoughtful gesture. I have no complaints about her. she was cool and professional.

I will also add that the staff needs to be more proactive, I did have to flag them down a few times. The one in the gray sweater and the girl at the bar were looking at something on their phones at the bar, engaging with each other a lot.

The guy that brought our food out was cool too.

Food Now, let’s talk about the food. For weeks, I had been eyeing the green beans on the menu. I had looked at the menu online in advance and thought, "Yes, the green beans I’m definitely getting that." So, when I got there, I ordered them, and they came out looking all nice and appetizing. But I was so disappointed when I took that first bite. I even shared them with a few of the ladies I was with, and they all agreed that they were awful.

What made them so disappointing was the fact that the batter had absolutely no flavor. These are deep-fried green beans, so the batter should at least have some seasoning or taste to it, but this one had none. To make things worse, they came with a dip that was just as unappealing, definitely not a good pairing with the green beans. It felt like no thought went into the seasoning or the sauce.

To salvage them, I had to ask for salt, as there were no salt or pepper shakers on the table (only utensils). Once I got the salt, I added a generous amount and ended up dipping the green beans in ketchup (which came with my fries) because the provided sauce was simply inedible.

As for the fries, they had potential to be good, but they were overcooked to the point of being extremely hard. I couldn’t enjoy them at all and ended up leaving more than half of them on the plate because they were too hard to eat. This was frustrating and felt like a waste of money. Whoever the cook was in the kitchen needs to work on not overcooking the fries.

After trying the green beans and the fries, I regretted not ordering the LVK burger or the Caesar salad instead. Three of the ladies in my group ordered the LVK burger (with an egg, I believe), and they thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the ladies ordered what I think was the Caesar salad with blackened chicken, and she said it was delicious. Based on their reactions, it seems like those options were much better choices, and I’ll definitely keep that in mind if I return.

Overall Impression I’m going to give Elevation LVK one more try before forming a final opinion. Perhaps I need to come on a different day, where there might be different servers, or even at a different time of day. Maybe I’ll have a better experience with another cook or even a repeat visit with improved consistency. As mentioned, I’ve heard great things about this restaurant, and it seems to have the potential to be a solid dining spot. The area is nice, and the setup inside and outside looks appealing. I want to see if they can live up to their reputation, so I’m willing to give them one more shot before making a final decision.

I'll update...

Wow…. First and last time here. Terrible experience. I’m not sure why it shocks me how rude people are for absolutely zero reason. Two tables in here at 1:45pm on Saturday. The two of us made three tables. We waited at the door and were greeted by a man. He told us to sit wherever we like. I asked if outside was okay and he said yes. We proceeded outside-only one table out there. After waiting and waiting and another table came (another two top-makes four tables) and they received menus and water. We still didn’t have any of this. Finally I went to see if we missed something. The man behind the bar asked if he could help me. I say to him I’m looking for water and menus. We have been here for a while and didn’t have these things. He begins speaking to me in such a manner I was in complete shock. He accused us of not speaking to anyone to not letting anyone know we were there etc. I informed him they do know we are there we DID check in etc. I am so sure we would do something like that when there is a sign PLAIN AS DAY saying to wait. I went out and told my spouse what transpired and we immediately left. We came here today for a specific life event, something very important. This was how we were treated. I am literally one of the nicest people you will run into especially in a restaurant-I’ve done all this work for years myself so I go out of my way to be understanding-to be spoken to like this from this random man was just absolutely wild.

P.S. Even though we checked in and were told to sit I want to add- we walked right by this dude to go outside. He brought food out to the other table and saw us then too. We were the only people in there like us so maybe that...

I hosted a day after wedding brunch for my daughter and son in law. We were a party of 23 adults, and 4 littles under the age of six. Talk about grace under pressure! Our server Lauren anticipated working with another server, but she was “flying” solo! She was awesome, and was hustling the entire time. Two families melding = noise and preoccupation! Lauren was fantastic and made sure everyone was served in a timely manner, with a smile, and a great attitude. Stupendous! The food was gorgeous in presentation, and delicious. If going, bring your appetite. More than generous portions. I could only manage to eat about 1/3, I nibbled on the rest the remainder of the day once returning home. I was not the only one. I ordered the country fried steak because I would not prepare for myself - it was delicious! I requested a mimosa table with a selection of juices - absolutely perfect. Everyone, including kiddos, enjoyed immensely. In addition to wonderful entrees, and lovely cocktails/juices, the manager invited our littles out to the tarmac to watch the planes land and take off, and gave a tour of a helicopter. My youngest (just over a year) was enthralled with watching the planes and seeing the chopper. When they came back inside he would point at the planes taking off/landing point and squeal! So precious! This was a lovely, happy way to send off the newlyweds to begin their life together! Thank you Lauren, Harmail! We had a wonderful time. I highly recommend! A special occasion celebrated beautifully! Now back to my boring...