Tiburon — Restaurant in Sandy

I came here with my wife yesterday for Valentine's Day. I was very excited. The pictures of this place looked great, and the reviews were fantastic. After visiting here, I feel the folks that reviewed this place, and found everything here acceptable, are customers who were taken advantage of due to their naivete of other options in the valley.

When you put yourself in the $35 to $60 entree category for restaurants, you're putting yourself up to some serious scrutiny because you obviously think you're pretty special to charge that amount in a city that is relatively inexpensive. So that being stated, nothing here was gross. It was all pretty good for the most part, however nothing that I had, deserves a price tag anywhere near what they're charging. The bread on their table, according to my server, is from Costco, and I was able to tell, that's why I asked. Their lamb was very mediocre, I would definitely avoid it, however the risotto cake that came with it was excellent. I actually felt the scallop appetizer was excellent and would re-order it. My wife's tuna entree was pretty good, but everything on her plate just tasted like teriyaki, still over priced in my opinion. The salad that comes with every entree is also pretty delicious. The location was fine, and the server was kind.

Why is Tiburon able to get away with the prices they charge? Well, in my opinion, it's because they're in Sandy, and a lot of folks living in the Sandy/Draper area think 20 minutes is far too long to drive downtown where the restaurant options triple. Therefore they come here out of convenience, but be aware, you're getting ripped off.

Here is a list of restaurants I feel strongly about being significantly better not only in taste, but also considerably cheaper than Tiburon:

In the higher end $20 to $30 range: Pallet, Valter's Osteria, Current, Market Street, Finca, Pago, Copper Onion

In the lower range $10 to $20: Dodo, Stella, Red Iguana, Twist and like 20 others I won't name.

Again, not a gross restaurant, just super overpriced for what they are and I would never recommend this location to anyone. But obviously, check out the reviews here for yourself. There are obviously people who feel these prices are worth it, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I just disagree wholeheartedly with those people is all. Also, the name Tiburon(Spanish for shark) is confusing to me since they aren't really a seafood specialty location nor a Spanish cuisine location, and their logo is...

I'm frugal.

I am working 12 hours from home, near SLC and after eating every meal at the BK lounge for the past two weeks, I thought I should try something special. The building is nothing special- it's nice, but not extravagant. The flatware was "good" Chinese- I was expecting Yamazaki or Henckels- nope and it was about 10 degrees too warm inside. You shouldn't be dobbing sweat off of your brown when you're "fine dining". That's the "bad"- and all of it.

The food was very, very good. I dined alone and wanted to try two appetizers so I struck a deal with the waitress. I ordered the Elk (I'm pretty sure it actually was Elk) and it was cooked to perfection. The "house salad" was literally the best salad I've ever had. Not typically a huge salad fan, but if the salad were and entree; I'd order it. I'm not fluent in wines so I had the waitress choose a red for me and it was beautiful. Deep aroma, just the right amount of bitter, but not overpowering for my tastes. Delicious. Too full already, but, with this being a treat and with the success I'd experienced thus far, I ordered the creme brulee. I would have preferred to watch it burn (if it ever was ablaze) then have the finishes applied at the table, but, it too, was delicious.

I was never pressed by the waitress. Check-backs were well timed and appropriate. The course service, if you will, was also timed perfectly; quickly enough that I never wondered if I had been forgotten and slow enough that I had time to reset between flavors. I was very pleased with the waitress; the well rehearsed mini-speeches for each serving and professional demeanor was only broken when I "demanded" it. Every casual question I had was immediately and candidly answered with sincerity.

I am pretty critical and was looking for mistakes during my meal but there just weren't any to be found. I would be so willing to recommend this place to a friend that I would even pay for it!

Take some Benjamin's and eat here. You'll probably love it-...

I'm from out of town and this place came recommended. Tried calling them, but nobody answered the phone. Decided to make the nearly 20min drive out there because I'd be arriving a half hour before their posted seating time cutoff and it was a Monday night so figured they wouldn't be packed.

Arrived and was flatly turned away. The owner decided to close early is what I was told. Looking around, about half of the tables we occupied - people were still getting getting their food and the hostess with bartender simply refused to seat a party of one. I asked for a recommendation and they gave me blank stairs. A few minutes later I figured out why: The restaurant is out in the sticks and if you want to go to someplace without a drive-thru, you're looking at another 20 minute trek. And on a Monday night, that's a tall order in SLC. Ruined my whole night!

Here's a few notes to the owner: You are not a private club - you are a HOSPITALITY business open to the public.

You've posted your hours online and it should not be too much to ask for you to stick to them. It takes a few clicks the modify those hours, even same day, if you decide that you want to close early. If you want to close at 8:00, close at 8:00. For that matter, you can just lock the doors for good and stay at home. But if you're going to advertise your availability until a time you chose, please kindly don't let down your would-be guests. That's just a crummy thing to do.

A lifetime ago I worked in a restaurant. There's absolutely no way with that many people still seated, that the kitchen staff was already out of the building. And even if the grills and the fryers were already shut down, there are always things that could have been offered from a limited menu to mitigate the...