Elevation Restaurant, Aspen

Pricey, but worth it. Very thoughtful treatments and always tasty food. Always come here when we are in Aspen.

This has been a favorite restaurant for several years. We visit every time we are in Aspen. The menu is slightly different every year, but always excellent. We love to go in a group so that we can taste as many items as possible. The atmosphere is elegantly casual. The art work is tasteful and cool. The service is always very attentive, yet discrete.

Let me say that Elevation is one of my favorite restaurants in Aspen! There are four things I consider when I dine out that make my evening what I want it to be: the food, the service, the atmosphere, and cleanliness. Food: I have eaten at this restaurant at least a few dozen times and have had a fantastic meal EVERY time. The steaks are cooked properly, the fish is cooked perfectly, the flavors are all distinct, the presentation is artwork, and the menu is great fun! What more can you ask? Service: Just to highlight one example of exceptional service - My last visit, the server was kind enough to acquire a liquor from a neighbor restaurant that they didn't have in the bar at Elevation to make the drink as my date had ordered it. EXCEPTIONAL! Atmosphere: While this is a casual restaurant, the dining room is so elegant I like to dress up a little bit. White table cloths, perfect lighting, and subtle candles make this a restaurant to enjoy with friends, family, or dates (especially!). The bar section of the restaurant is fun with great music, and a wonderful color-changing liquor shelf that, admittedly, is even more mesmerizing when one is ...slightly inebriated. ;-) Cleanliness: The table cloths are always clean, the silverwear polished, the glasses spotless. I've never worried here about someone else's lipstick on my drink! Overall, an incredible dining experience. If you find yourself there, may I suggest the wasabi-caesar salad with a strip of grilled salmon... This is the perfectly sized meal to save a bit of room for dessert! The second-best creme brulee I've ever had! If you are willing: order the tea pannacotta (sp?). It will pleasantly surprise the palette and goes amazingly with a glass of the muscato!

3 of 4 meals were prepared poorly - maybe a bad night (Sunday). Good location, but downstairs dining room was tight fit and those waiting to be seated were on top of each other, and periodically forced to shuffle to avoid drink servers cutting through from the bar. Service was mediocre at best. This group of 4 immediately decided we would not return.

The black cod entree was amazing. The chicken faux gras appetizer is a MUST!! A very friendly and knowlegable staff. If you visit Aspen, you have to make this a stop.

My fiance and I ate at Elevation for his birthday this past weekend, we both love great restaurants; the reviews were good and the menu was nice, so we were extremely disapponted by the quality of food and the service. We ordered starters which were decent, for our entrees, I ordered the scallops and he ordered the Cod; both were not only bland and ill accompanied; but they were served less than luke warm and my scallops were gritty; I told the waiter and he whisked my plate away and brought back the same entree replated and reheated; still gritty- I told him that I didn't think the scallops had been washed because all of them that I tried were dirty; he only commented that they were cleaned- in addition, He did not offer to do anything about my fiance's entree. After we finished our desert and received our check, the Manager came to the table and apologized for forgetting about the birthday and offered to buy us a cocktail; it was hardly an enoyable experience and I suggest trying elevation at your own risk; We felt like we were a bother to the waiter and our food was simply awful; I've had better experiences at most chain restaurants.

I have been to Elevation a dozen times or more only to enjoy the exquisite cuisine of Chef Drew Scott. His creativity is unlike any I've ever experience in other restaurants. The staff is friendly and professional.

This is a must when visiting Aspen. I have been coming back year after year and it seems elevation is not only becoming moore and moore popular but also better and better. The decor, menu and overall feel reminds me moore of a downtown New York eatery than a mountain lodge. Upbeat and fun staff, outstanding food and it sems the winelist is getting bigger every time I go there as well. Sometimes, towards the end of the night, the music is a little loud but I always leave happy.

In our group of six, everyone was extremely happy with the quality of the food except the one who ordered to monkfish entree and the shrimp appetizer. Everything else was superb. The young Australian waiter was nice and attentive but professed total inability to produce separate checks for the three couples, You needed your own flashlight to read the menu but - aha! we had brought one. The windows open onto a shaft, but are cleverly landscaped with rocks, etc. The place is down a long flight of stairs with no elevator, which was tough for the member of our party with a leg in a brace, but overall we would go back and avoid the monkfish and shrimp.

Elevation represents the best of Aspen minus any of the attitude. Tommie and John make you feel like part of the family. Hip atmosphere, upbeat crowd and excellent food!!