Eloise — Restaurant in Wayzata

NYE at Eloise When the team behind The Grocer’s Table opened a new restaurant, I was eager to try it. After navigating scheduling conflicts, we finally secured a reservation. While the staff was kind and professional from the start, unfortunately, that was the highlight of our experience.

The entire dinner felt rushed. The food came out unnaturally fast, creating a sense of urgency that made it hard to enjoy a relaxing night out—especially at an upscale restaurant.

Starters: We began with the Jambon Croquettes and Beef Carpaccio. The croquettes, made with prosciutto, were imaginative and tasty. However, they arrived not quite cold but definitely not hot, as you’d expect for croquettes—two per order for $10.

The beef carpaccio, on the other hand, missed the mark. It had an unexpected fishy flavor and lacked a sauce to balance it. The crostini, supposedly flavored with brown butter, was overly thin and fell apart easily, making it difficult to enjoy without consuming it in a single bite.

Main Courses: For entrées, we tried the Dungeness Crab Spaghetti and Grilled Chicken Shawarma. The spaghetti suffered from an overwhelming amount of sauce, leaving the bottom half of the dish more like soup. The crab content was minimal—comparable to the amount of chicken in a can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup—and consisted of shredded pieces rather than chunks.

The chicken shawarma was unremarkable, with the only standout being the pickled fennel slaw. In fact, the slaw was so flavorful it deserves to be offered as a standalone salad on the menu.

Dessert: We finished with the Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Torte, which was rich, flavorful, and exactly the level of quality one would expect from The Grocer’s Table.

Final Thoughts: While the service was the highlight of our evening, the rushed pacing and disappointing food overshadowed the experience. Pricing was on par with upscale dining, but the quality didn’t match. I’d be curious to know what dishes inspired the glowing five-star reviews because nothing we tried deserved more than...

We were very excited to hear that the team behind Grocer's Table was opening a restaurant next door with elevated food and cocktails, and had been impatiently awaiting it's opening. After dining at Eloise tonight, I'm sad to say that while the interior is beautiful and sophisticated, and the service was wonderful, the food left much to be desired, especially given the high price point.

The meal began with complimentary nuts and olives. They were good, but it was a very small portion for three people. Next up, we tried the charcuterie board which was ok, but nothing to rave about and we wouldn't order it again. The cracker to charcuterie ratio was definitely off.

For dinner, we ordered two Wagyu Meatloaf Wellingtons and the Dungeness Crab Spaghetti alla Chitarra. We were very excited about the wellingtons as we are always on the hunt for the best wellington in the Twin Cities.... these were not it. While aspects of the wellingtons were tasty (the side of tomato jam was wonderfully flavorful as was the duxelle cream), the actual wagu meatloaf wellington was, I am disappointed to say, extremely underwhelming and practically flavorless. The decision to make the wellington have a meatloaf consistency we all thought was a mistake as it was essentially just bland mush. It hurts me to review a wellington so poorly, but it did not live up to expectations.

As for the Dungeness Crab Spaghetti alla Chitarra: 1 out of 3 of us enjoyed it. It was way too salty and fishy (not in a good way) for me. I couldn't eat more than a bite.

Now for something positive: the warm sticky toffee cake was quite lovely. I wish there had been a little bit more caramel, but otherwise zero complaints!

I really wanted to love Eloise, but for the high price point and the mediocre food, I can't see...

Venue was really nicely decorated and inviting. The BIG chairs were very comfortable, but unfortunately made navigating the space very difficult for both customers and wait staff.

Food was disappointing across the board.

We started with the bacon-wrapped dates. They came out within 30 seconds of being ordered - even our server couldn't believe how fast it was. They were lukewarm and quite dense, as though they were not freshly prepared.

Our next course was the Parker House Rolls with three butters and the pear salad. The rolls were fresh baked and hot, which was nice, but they were far too dense for a traditional Parker House roll. The rolls also stuck to the bottom of the cute cast iron dish they were baked in. The three butters were tasteless and we could hardly distinguish one from the next. The pear salad was nice, save for the disgusting fried cheese disc that was on the top - overpoweringly pungent.

Our main was the Wagyu Meatloaf Wellington and the Lions Mane mushrooms. The Wellington was over-salted and ratio of meat to pastry was way off (too much pastry). The pastry had a solid crust on top that was difficult to cut through without mashing the meatloaf inside. The mushrooms were meh...fairly flavorless.

Our server was pleasant overall, but had a few misses when it came to clearing plates and replacing utensils between our starters and our mains.

I had really high hopes for this new place, as the menu reads phenomenal and we always had great experience at The Grocers Table next door. Not sure we'd give Eloise another try, and hoping The Grocers Table still shines now that it recently...