Laurel Brasserie & Bar — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

We had a great time. Your service was adequate but when the waiter asked, 'how we were enjoying our meal?' We were honest and sincere and we thanked his offer to make something else, and chose to just eat what we liked. However, it seemed to affect him because we only offered genuine and honest feedback, but he stopped checking up on us or refilling beverages. We were very kind and always nice to staff, but he really was stand off-ish but we tipped him extremely well so he would understand we are patient, respectful and nice diners always.

The food was not at all impressive or at least made well.

1st. The cauliflower was deliciously flavored, but the 'au gratin' was actually a milky liquid. It lacked any type of thickening agent, corn starch? Roux? Or simply not fresh and the augratin sauce broke in reheat and turned to liquid when in the salamander? It was sadly a dish not worth the price and a let down from the menu description.

The salamander is fine to brown the top when adding the crumb-herbs but why isn't it thicker? Maybe add much more cheese that the menu does describe it comes with?

2nd. The Chicken with vegetables was also liquid and a broth. No sign of thickening and worst was the saltiness. It had so much salt... it completely masked any flavor at all of the veggies.

The dish had huge chopped green onions that I found. The presentation of roughly cut veggies to make it rustic is great. But onions should be smaller rings than the 1/2 inch huge cuts that shock the pallet.

Whether you're using Chicken base or bullion to seasoning it. You should consider cutting back or using a low sodium brand.

You should consider using the technique of "reduction" by reducing the broth to a more thicker consistency and it would require much less Chicken base and be a more slightly thicker than the water consistency it was served.

It would also coat the chicken,  vegetables and the reduction would increase flavor but cut the sodium. The sauce would be a  much  better presentation. You're in desperate need of a talented Saucier chef?

It honestly looked like a soup rather than a stew. Maybe starch it up naturally with diced potatoes? Or a dab of roux when sauteeing the chicken and veggies? Anything to cut the heavy chicken base saltiness.

3rd Your Yukon puree potatoes were delicious and amazing flavor. I also agree with many diners that you have the best French Onion Soup outside of France. Amazing flavor and carmelization of the onions.

4th Your Red Beet salad was a perfection of sweet and tartness. I will absolutely order that salad again.

In our previous first visit we enjoyed your T-bone Steak dish and this was our second visit.

But disappointing and clearly lacked any culinary talent in preparation of the 2 dishes aforementioned

They do have potential and a better prepared dish by a trained or knowledgeable Saucier Chef would dramatically improve your culinary offerings.

It is a French themed establishment with beautiful deco and a breath taking dining room. So the expectation of basic sauces is expected.

Thank you and we will return but be more selective on ordering only dishes we have tried and have enjoyed. We wish you success...

I’m giving 3 stars simply because I am taking the ambiance and service into account here. This morning I walked into the Grand America to go to Sunday Brunch. I had a reservation at 11:15. The Laurel is aesthetically pleasing with the marble checkered flooring in it’s entrance and stylish waiting area. In said waiting area is a gorgeous cafe with pastries and drinks to purchase while waiting to be seated. We were first seated at a crowded bar. However, in my reservation I requested a table. When I asked the hostess if we could switch she was very accommodating and sweet to work with us. We were sat at a small table behind the band. The band added to the classy atmosphere with their upbeat music. The live band really elevated the experience to feel like it was more of a special event than just brunch. We were greeted promptly by our server who took our drink orders. We ordered orange juice- which I will say was the highlight of my meal.. truly the best orange juice I’ve ever had. It must have been fresh squeezed and tasted like it came from Mandarin oranges. Our first plate we got the house made crepes with Nutella cream and berries. I was disappointed because my crepe was very overdone and messily assembled. I will say the homemade whipped cream on top softened my disappointment slightly. I paired this with the fried potatoes and sausage links. The sausage had the same old nostalgic Grand America taste like they always have had. I was sad to say the potatoes fell short. They were soggy and flavorless. After the crepes, we went to the next room over and got shrimp cocktail with specialty spinach salad that was topped with goat cheese and candied nuts. While the shrimp was great- it had me missing the old Grand America Sunday brunch that included an entire sea-food table of crab legs, shrimp, sushi, and more. The salad was decent and fresh. Next I tried the garlic mashed potatoes and the prime rib with sauce. While it had great flavor, I was disappointed that the heat lamps seemed to not be working for the meat, as it was cold. Next I got the famous Grand America bread pudding with rum sauce. It was delicious- but unfortunately also cold. After this I tried the pizza and after a couple bites I was done. It had good flavor but was a bit soggy from sitting under heated lamps. My overall experience was good due to polite staff and enjoyable atmosphere, but I was truly disappointed with my food. I grew up traveling to the Grand America Sunday Brunch for special occasions with my family. I miss the signature potatoes, the baked French toast, the eggs Benedict, the seafood table… I felt the food used to take priority over the looks of the room and now I feel as if the quality of food has taken a backseat. Not only the quality but the quantity. There are such limited options compared to what once was. Overall I was longing for more- especially after spending $150 for two people after...

Went to Laurel Brasserie as a guest of the hotel after traveling all day. Cassandra was our server and to say that this was the absolute worst service we have ever received is an understatement. She had no other tables aside from us and spent the first 5-6 minutes after we were sat playing on her phone. Once she noticed we were there she ran around the bar and came out the other way mumbling something along the lines of “it’s been busy.” I might have believed it had I not worked as a hostess in my younger days and had I not paid attention to which tables she was taking care of. She then proceed to take our drink orders and bring the drinks from the bar. After we gave her our food orders she came back with 2 knives and 2 forks (pictured here) and she pretty much threw them at the table, no linens, no napkins, just as you see them in the picture. She never came back to give us anything else, because someone else brought the food. That someone else also didn’t care that we had no napkins or linens. I had ordered the wedge salad and it was foul. You could see the hard part of the stem where the cooks had visibly removed other pieces of lettuce was still attached. The bacon was not chopped-they literally threw a piece of cold soggy bacon on top of the lettuce. My husband’s tomatoes were not cleaned (not even going into details there.) So we didn’t touch the food and we asked Cassandra to please take it back and that we would just pay for the drinks. She was none too happy and instead of asking what might be wrong with the food (it was visibly not touched or eaten) she asked rather loudly and with an attitude “why is that???”(why are we returning the food). I tried to calmly explain to her why, but she tried to school me about what a wedge salad is and when my husband discreetly told her he is a chef she just stormed off with the plates, no apology, no offering to bring back menus, nothing. I then got to watch her throw a fit at her manager who then had to come and apologize for her and take out drinks payment. For a restaurant that claims to be a classy place to eat this was an absolute burning trash heap. Save yourself the trouble, as we waited for Cassandra’s shenanigans we saw the rest of the food come out- looks like Denny’s is trying...