théa — Restaurant in Phoenix

After typing all of this out, I realized I should probably come back to the top and mention that I'm not a paid reviewer or anything. My wife and I had a great time, and i feel like credit should be given for the amazing evening José and Thea gave us.

We decided to come on our anniversary, and MAN did Thea and their staff deliver. We were about 20 or 30 minutes early for our reservation, but our table was ready early, so we were seated without issue; didn't even get a chance to sit at the great-looking bar at the rear of the restaurant (if we even could, I didn't get a chance to ask). José was our waiter, and he took fantastic care of us, even though he had, what seemed to be, a two-table 20-person party on the balcony. My wife and I joked about his service because it honestly felt like every time I mentioned wanting something, José was at our table not one minute later asking about that thing. Whether it be an update on food, refills, or drink recommendations. He's a mind reader, I swear.

Speaking of food and drinks: my wife cant drink right now, so she ordered the zero-proof cucumber lemonade mocktail, and asked to have the sparkling water replaced with flat, and loved it. José helped me decide between two of their whiskey/bourbon cocktails (i ended getting both, and they were delicious). We ordered the whipped ricotta dip, and holy cow was that amazing. José even had an additional pita brought out so we wouldn't have to pile the ricotta on the slices we had (looked to be one pita cut into triangles originally). My wife ordered the filet skewers, which were incredible. The taste of onion from the marinade was not over-powering like it can be at other Mediterranean-style restaurants. Also, the rice was buttery and delicious. I got the dry-aged ribeye, and it was cooked to perfection. The flavor was outstanding, and the accompanying arugula salad had the perfect combination of oil and lemon for flavor. I opted to add some ground pepper to get that hint of heat on top. We also ordered sides of Brussel sprouts and Greek potatoes with tzaziki. The Brussel sprouts were not charred, so there wasn't bitterness that offset the other flavors. I enjoyed them. The tzaziki was REALLY good, and had chunks of feta in the sauce, rather than on the potatoes. Was a great combo. When our food was delivered, José came by with two soy sauce ramekins. He explained that he gets the skewers regularly and loves dipping them in the truffle ponzu(?) sauce that typically comes with sushi. He was on the money with that recommendation, holy moly. (As an aside, we couldn't eat all the food, so I am literally typing this as I eat the air-fried re-heated potatoes, and they are just as good as they were last night. The insides aren't mealy/gritty like most leftover potatoes are.)

After I had finished paying, José came by for the last time, and I mentioned why we were there. He congratulated us, left, and was back within 2 minutes with an anniversary dessert! It even had a chocolate medallion thing that said happy anniversary on it. The dessert was like a light cheesecake with a spongecake base and lightly glazed berries on top. Was definitely the most epic end to the night, which is weird to say, but we just felt like we were appreciated as customers.

Overall, the evening was an absolutely incredible experience. Not including tip or valet, the whole dinner was about $230. With two little ones at home, we don't get out much right now, so I'm not sure how that ranks compared to other places, but I felt for the quality of food and service we received, it was well worth that price. Especially since my steak was almost 1/3 of that ticket anyway, hahaha! Plus, even while sitting inside, the views of Camelback Mountain and Phoenix during sunset were stunning. Thankfully this weekend got a bit cooler, as we were sitting next to one of the patio doors, which were left open, and the cool breeze kept the temperature pleasant the whole evening. 100/10 night. Will definitely be...

Yikes this did not go well. Our dinner reservations were at 7:30, we arrived a little early to check the place out and grab a drink at one of the downstairs bars. Drinks are awesome and we make our way over to the host stand to check in. We were told we could not bring our drinks (yes, the drinks we just ordered) upstairs, so we stood in front of the host stand and slammed our $20 cocktails (sadface). We get in the elevator with another guy who apparently WAS allowed to bring his drink upstairs and go check in again at the next host stand. It's a total mad house and we're told it'll be a few minutes before our table is ready (So we didn't need to hurry and slam our drinks? Hostess also looks totally surprised that the first hostess told us we couldn't bring our drinks upstairs) so we go order another round of drinks at the outside bar. Half an hour later we're still standing around (when we tried to sit in one of the lounge areas we were quickly told we couldn't sit there as they were seating people for dinner there and they had a reservation coming. Was it us? Were we the reservation?). Finally go back up to the host stand in front and ask for an update, hostess tells us people have just been camping at tables all night but they're trying to get some cleaned up (side note - why aren't they instituting some kind of dining time limit as i've seen in many other "hot new spots" in other large cities?). It's after 8:30 but we're finally seated. Our waiter gives us the run down on the menu and we put our order in. Around 9:15 our first appetizer arrives. A good sized bowl of whipped ricotta with a single piece of pita, cut in to 4 slices - no where close to enough pita for the table...or for the ricotta itself. At least we have spoons. We ask for more pita and are told there is a "pita problem" and they're out of pita but they're trying to make more. The manager comes by with a small bowl of vegetables for the trouble and says they're going to comp the dips we ordered. We ask about the status of the rest of our meal and were told the kitchen was holding everything until we'd gotten through our appetizers which had gotten caught up in the Pita Problem. We ask that they please just send out what they have. By close to 10 we are eating dinner, haven't seen our waiter or been asked if we'd like another round of drinks. I have to pause my rant on the service to comment that the food was actually quite good. We got a sampling from across the menu and really liked everything we had but from an execution perspective, it just seems that they're in way over their heads. Instead of hang and linger for more drinks or dessert at the property after the meal, we were just...

My wife and I enjoyed a wonderful weeknight dinner at théa, a Mediterranean restaurant occupying the roof of the new Global Ambassador Hotel. The cocktails and food were very nicely conceived but a bit uneven in preparation.  My cocktail (The Party Doesn't Stop) was excellent from start to finish.  My wife ordered the théa Old Fashioned which seemed more like straight bourbon (overly strong, very little sweetness, and no discernible bitters).  Both of our appetizers (Bazlama and Kopanisti) comprised excellent bread & pita with delicious accompaniment.  Our main course was diminished a bit by preparation, with our skirt steak underdone (ordered medium but decidedly rare) and three different vegetable dishes comprising mostly nicely roasted components but with several overtly burnt pieces.    Dessert was wonderful, with sweet and creamy Basque cheesecake and delicate olive oil cake accompanied by lemon curd and fruit compote.  The latter was a little cold from refrigeration and would have been fantastic had it been closer to room temperature. The service was excellent.  Our server was engaging and answered all our questions.  The support staff were always on hand for refills and clearing. No review would be complete without mention of the ambiance, which is nothing short of amazing. We sat on the Camelback side and we were quite struck by what a novel view of this familiar site we were afforded.  We watched the shadows creep along the rocks as the sunset transformed the mountain with a warm orange glow.  Seeing the evening lights after darkness fell was also a great treat and very romantic. During this time the restaurant and bar areas were bustling but it never seemed overwhelming.  Rather, it imparted an energetic Vegas-like vibe.  People were definitely dressed up for a big night and enjoying themselves. I would recommend going to anyone, particularly valley natives who will love seeing Camelback from a new perspective. We will definitely be returning and, although we hope the food preparation will be a bit more consistent, we know the overall experience will still be...