Left Bank - Vail

One of my husband's favorite Vail restaurants. We began with Lobster Bisque and French Onion Soup--both were excellent. Followed by a whole Dover Sole (for 2) sauteed in delicious French butter until crispy; succulent asparagus (also sauteed in butter), a complimentary house salad with lemon vinaigrette dressing, chunky mashed potatoes. We shared a Grand Marnier souffle, which was perfect for 3. Espresso and a plate of meringue cookies and fresh chocolate wafers ended the meal.

We were a table of two enjoying the elegance and ambiance of this establishment. We even helped our server laugh off her mistake of asking us how we wanted our Beef Tartar prepared. The food was good. The portions were more than we expected/needed, and there was an overabundance of heavy sauces with our entrées, but we figured that is to be expected in high end French dining. Sadly, our dining experience and service quickly crumbled.A large, loud, obnoxious group took over the entire dining room. They invaded our personal space to take photos and videos. Women’s butts were literally next to my face, I am sure I ended up on their Instagram post! They spanned 3 tables with our two top in the center. They yelled across us to each other as if we were not even there. It was appalling.What was more appalling is not only could The Left Bank servers and management not control this group they actually gave all their attention to this group. Essentially encouraging the abhorrent behavior. We were forgotten. We waited ~30 minutes for the remainder of our meal to be served. We then had to wait 10+ minutes for our check wine glasses empty.When asked, by the manager, if we enjoyed our meal we explained our disappointment in how our service plummeted. We got a lame excuse of it being a busy night. Not true, there were several other empty tables in the house. If you can’t handle this capacity, then how can you possibly handle a full house?Dear The Left Bank, you are not responsible for people who do not know how to behave in public, but you are responsible for customer service. You must not provide service based on group size. The per/person ratio of money spent is equivalent. In fact our ratio was likely larger given our 100% drinking age and the larger group was 75% underage. Shame on you, your customer service is subpar and unacceptable at this price point. We visit Vail each year. Sadly, we don’t think The Left Bank will be included in any of our future visits.

We've been to Left Bank several times, but this evening's experience was unpleasant. They accommodated a group that was too large, interfering with walking room in the restaurant our table was in the center of the room, next to this large extended table. One of our guests was asked by the hostess to get up and step out of the way, so she could seat another party, rather than taking them a different direction! The evening went downhill from there. Final insult, after rushing us at every step was they added a 20% mandatory tip, onto a party of four $800.00 bill), with no authorization from me. I was embarrassed by this treatment, and feel taken advantage of.

We were a table of two enjoying the elegance and ambiance of this establishment. We even helped our server laugh off her mistake of asking us how we wanted our Beef Tartar prepared. The food was good. The portions were more than we expected/needed, and there was an overabundance of heavy sauces with our entrées, but we figured that is to be expected in high end French dining. Sadly, our dining experience and service quickly crumbled. A large, loud, obnoxious group took over the entire dining room. They invaded our personal space to take photos and videos. Women's butts were literally next to my face, I am sure I ended up on their Instagram post! They spanned 3 tables with our two top in the center. They yelled across us to each other as if we were not even there. It was appalling. What was more appalling is not only could The Left Bank servers and management not control this group they actually gave all their attention to this group. Essentially encouraging the abhorrent behavior. We were forgotten. We waited ~30 minutes for the remainder of our meal to be served. We then had to wait 10+ minutes for our check wine glasses empty. When asked, by the manager, if we enjoyed our meal we explained our disappointment in how our service plummeted. We got a lame excuse of it being a busy night. Not true, there were several other empty tables in the house. If you can't handle this capacity, then how can you possibly handle a full house? Dear The Left Bank, you are not responsible for people who do not know how to behave in public, but you are responsible for customer service. You must not provide service based on group size. The per/person ratio of money spent is equivalent. In fact our ratio was likely larger given our 100% drinking age and the larger group was 75% underage. Shame on you, your customer service is subpar and unacceptable at this price point. We visit Vail each year. Sadly, we don't think The Left Bank will be included in any of our future visits.

This was our best meal we have ever had in over 20 years coming to Vail. The food was incredible and the staff ... excellent. We celebrated a birthday and we are so glad we chose The Left Bank. We will be back!