The Elbow Room — Restaurant in West Hartford

On paper, The Elbow Room looks amazing - good beer and cocktail selection, reasonably priced comfort food, two bars, rooftop drinking and dining space. In practice, though, everything fell apart on my two visits.

My first time here I was with a couple of buddies for some drinks in the main bar area. The speed of the service was nothing to write home about, but it wasn't anything that turned us off either. What did turn us off, however, was the fact that despite the bar being relatively empty for a Saturday night (we're talking several vacant bar stools and a couple empty booths), our beers were served in plastic cups and our shots in ketchup containers. That wouldn't be a huge deal if the place were packed and the bartenders running out of glasses, but that wasn't the case and we could plainly see clean pint and shot glasses behind the bar throughout our visit.

For my second visit to The Elbow Room I came with my girlfriend for dinner. We opted to eat in the rooftop dining area, but were somewhat disappointed to be seated next to a wall in the back of the space with no view whatsoever. Still, I couldn't complain about that on its own, considering there was just the two of us. What we did take issue with was the service. We were seated fairly quickly, and our waitress came over to take our drink orders right away. But those drinks didn't arrive for 15 minutes. When they did, our waitress didn't stop to take our orders - she just dropped the two beers off and walked away without a word. She finally came back to take our orders after we'd been seated for nearly half an hour. The food didn't come for at least another 20 minutes, by which point we'd polished off our beers and were ready for refills. Unfortunately, it wasn't our waitress who delivered our food, and the guy who did didn't offer to top off our drinks (no blame on him, that's not his job). In fact, our waitress didn't even make another appearance until we waved her down to ask for boxes for our leftovers. She took another 10 minutes to grab those, and finally asked if we needed more drinks once we had our food all packed up and ready to go. I was hoping to give the girl the benefit of the doubt - maybe there was something going on behind the scenes keeping her from moving quickly. But when we declined refills and asked for the check, she had it to us and processed almost instantly, almost as if she couldn't wait for us to leave. From sitting to standing, we were in the restaurant for almost two hours.

On a positive note, I will say good things about the food. My pulled pork macaroni and cheese was delicious and plentiful, and my girlfriend's grouper fajitas were some of the best she's had. But does the food make up for consistently poor service? I think not.

All-in-all, The Elbow Room left a sour taste in my mouth. I'd be fine coming again for drinks if I'm not looking for something upscale, but I can't say I'll ever...

It's hard to even give two stars. I honestly don't even know where to begin with this place. They messed up our order at least 4 times. They gave my friend the wrong drink, and when they went to make a new one, they said they didn't have it. The waiter then came back and told us (I kid you not) "the bartender is too busy right now and he's getting aggravated." We all looked at each other in shock because of how poorly this was going. My friend ordered a dish with NO TOMATOES, and he made this very clear, said it multiple times. I believe it was a simple grilled cheese. He sent it back, and the dish comes back properly made, after we've already eaten our meals for 20 minutes. It took 20 minutes for them to remake a grilled cheese. My friend didn't even want it anymore because we were about to leave. When we got the check, they charged us for EVERYTHING, even the drinks we never got or had to replace with beers because they didn't have them. PLUS the incorrectly made food. We then had to dispute this with the manager because they apparently were "unable" to take the drinks off the order because of something with the bartender needing to do it. At this point we all kind of lost it and took turns providing our feedback. Mind you, we were literally the only table seated in this place. There was a decent number of people in the bar area, but no one eating. Please note, this was before COVID happened. So there was no reason why there weren't any other tables seated. They just didn't have any customers. Our waiter barely spoke English, and didn't even know what a Tito's and soda was, or what a Baybreeze was. I had to give him directions on how to make each drink. Literally. My friend had ordered a frozen margarita, which came to us looking like a frothy cup of orange spit. The tequila had separated completely from whatever they had blended it with. It was absolutely disgusting. Then when we sent that back, that was when we were told they didn't have that. And again, that the bartender was too busy. It was a nightmare. And word of advice, don't use such a fancy decor and setting for a place that serves basic AMERICAN dishes. When I sat down and saw the short, basic menu, I thought it was just the appetizers. It wasn't. Why do you have waiters wearing formal attire, black and white button up/tie style, with fancy dining tables, when you serve Mac and cheese, burgers, fries, and grilled cheese as main dishes? I really needed some "elbow room" after eating here.

To the owner: yes this was from a long time ago. About a year. But thank you for your swift response....

From the moment we walked in, I had a strange feeling—and by the end, I knew why. This wasn’t just a bad dining experience. This was a warning disguised as a restaurant.

We were seated instantly. Not even a “give us a moment”—just ushered straight to a table like they were relieved to see someone. A zero minute wait during dinner hours in a trendy spot should’ve been a good sign. Instead, it felt like walking into a party no one else showed up to.

Turns out, there’s no wait because no one wants to eat here. And after what came next, I don’t blame them.

The water tasted… wrong. Like plastic, old pennies, and maybe a little bit of mold. It was warm, cloudy, and had a metallic bite that made my stomach turn. I actually thought it was a fluke until we got a second glass—and it was worse.

When I asked about it, the server didn’t even pretend to care. Just said, “Yeah, it’s like that sometimes.” Like what? Poison?

Every sip was a gamble, and I genuinely stopped drinking it halfway through the meal. That’s how bad it was.

Despite being one of only three tables in the building, it took nearly 45 minutes to get two plates of food. I’d understand if they were cooking everything from scratch on a wood-fired rooftop—except we ordered a burger and a salad. Not exactly a Michelin-level challenge.

Our server was nice but overwhelmed, clearly running the entire floor alone. We barely got refills, had to flag her down just to ask about the food, and when it finally arrived—it was barely warm.

The burger was overcooked, dry, and somehow still greasy. Fries were soggy and limp like they’d been microwaved from yesterday’s batch. The salad had ingredients missing and was tossed with the enthusiasm of someone who hates vegetables.

The presentation was lazy, the taste forgettable, and the price? Absolutely not justified.

We tried one of their famous rooftop cocktails—$14 for a tiny glass of melted slush with the alcohol content of a Capri Sun. It looked great on the menu and tasted like regret.

The bathrooms were the final straw: broken lock, wet floors, no paper towels, and a smell like something had died behind the wall. It felt like walking into a gas station restroom—except you’re not supposed to pay $20 for mac & cheese at a gas station.

The Elbow Room looks great online and sounds trendy. But in reality? It’s a ghost of what it maybe once was. Dirty, slow, overpriced, and serving water that tastes like it came from a haunted pipe.

Don’t be fooled by the lack of a wait. It’s not convenience—it’s abandonment.

Save your night. Save your appetite....