elements at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain

Review summary

1. G

   Guy

   VIP

   Phoenix

   38 reviews

   5.0

   38 reviews

   Dined today

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   The menu was extensive, the food was delicious and well-presented and the service was outstanding
   

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2. C

   Chris

   VIP

   Seattle

   3 reviews

   2.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   We really liked this place...a gorgeous setting and fantastic food. Perhaps we hit it on a bad day, and this review demonstrates how service can ruin an otherwise great experience such that it eclipses all the good stuff. It's expensive (no surprise there) and portions are small. We were one of two tables occupied in our section. With a reservation (and only one other table) it still took 5 minutes to be seated. Once seated, our order was taken, we waited 45 minutes to see our food. My meal, the crab cake (singular), was listed in the entree section. I don't know why it's considered an entree. It consisted of one crab cake (4 inch) with no accompaniments. 45 min wait, 5 minutes to finish. Tasty. But small. $40. Our server didn't come back to check on us more than once. She saw that my water glass was empty and promised to fill it. She did not. Mind you, we were still one of only two tables filled. The other table obviously had issues with their order as well. We've had good experiences and excellent service at Elements before. Perhaps it was an off day. We probably won't return again.
   

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3. D

   Dina

   VIP

   Portland

   12 reviews

   4.0

   12 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   The restaurant was almost empty so noise level was very low. The food portions were quite filling. The food tasted great and the presentation was outstanding. Service was outstanding. The only negative was price. Lunch for 3 with no alcohol was $120. Probably reasonable for a lovely restaurant but still a little spendy.
   

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4. J

   Joyee

   VIP

   Minneapolis

   5 reviews

   1.0

   5 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   We dined here for Christmas dinner and to celebrate a birthday. It was disappointing. We were sat about 30 minutes after our reservation time which is understandable because of the holiday. Food was great and wine menu was vast. Kudos to the hosts up front for dealing with a busy night. The Somm and busser were great, they were the only two redeeming people who served us. Our server never introduced himself so I could not get you his name. He said all but 15 words to us prior to our main course. When he took our order it was a “what will you have?” There was no explanation of the prix fixe, the items of the menu, or even a warm welcome. He had no problem chatting up the table next to us, offering recommendations and checking in on them as they were eating. Our server would pass our table, check in with the table next to us, then walk right by us with out asking if we were enjoying our food, if we needed anything or even to take another drink or wine bottle order. Our sever made a poor attempt to apologize and make small talk as our entrees came out. We got the managers attention between entrees and dessert. This was not the interaction we were hoping for. The manager told us he was newer, had only been there for a couple of months. We explained the service we were having, and his response was “well in his (the server) defense, he’s had a rough night with bad tables and groups” there was no apology from the manager, nothing done to right our dining experience. After spending about $850 for a dinner for two, I am left disappointed. I had a fantastic Christmas dinner here last year and this year left little to be desired. I will likely never return to elements for a casual dinner and especially not a special occasion and will be sure to dissuade others from doing so.
   

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5. J

   Josh

   Los Angeles

   3 reviews

   2.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   Went to dinner to Christmas night. It was a set menu and the restaurant was full but they were either woefully understaffed or the manager doesn’t know how to run a kitchen on a night like this. We were seated 20 mins late and no one came to the table to greet us for another 20. After we made our menu choices, we got the bread course (just bread and butter) fairly quickly. After that it was over an hour before our second course arrived, numerous tables were suffering through the same issue and everyone was getting more infuriated. Neither our server or the GM bothered to tell us what was happening until I finally got up and flagged someone down. We did not get our appetizer and soup until we had been seated for almost 2 hours! Completely unacceptable when you’re paying $170/person excluding tax and gratuity. Terrible experience all around. Chaos all over the restaurant. The entrees were actually quite good once we finally got served. While experience took almost 3 hours and not in a good way. Can’t imagine what people with later reservations went through in terms of waiting.
   

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6. J

   Jessica

   VIP

   Tampa

   6 reviews

   3.0

   6 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   I feel the food was overpriced. Service and ambience were amazing.
   

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7. P

   Phoenix

   Denver

   3 reviews

   1.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   Poorly run kitchen with extremely delayed and very low quality food
   

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8. A

   Alexis

   San Francisco

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 4

   We booked the four course Christmas Dinner ($180/pp) for 5:30pm. We were sat by 5:30pm and ordered our food by 5:45. Our very first course didn’t come out until 6:30, and our mains didn’t come out until 7:30. We told them around 6:50pm that we had a car booked for 7:30pm as we were attending the basketball game. At 7:20pm, when our mains still weren’t out, we once again inquired on the status of the mains and were told there was “one table ahead of us”. About 10 minutes later they brought out a blue rare steak (was supposed to be medium rare), my partner could barely stomach it but ate it because we were starving and needed to leave. We didn’t have time for our final course (dessert) so they packed it up for us. We asked a manager for the bill, didn’t come. Asked the server for the bill, didn’t come. We had to walk to the front to grab our bill. After all of this, we thought the very least they would do was take care of our drinks (a beer and an espresso martini), but no. The server was kind and apologetic but the entire experience was awful, especially for the price. This was a $500+ dinner after drinks and we didn’t even get to enjoy our mains or dessert. I understand that it was busy due to Christmas, and having worked as a server myself for many years, I know the server does not have much say on when the food comes out – but receiving your mains two hours after seating is ridiculous. Again, it would’ve been nice if they had atleast comped our drinks.
   

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9. M

   Mishell

   Phoenix

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 2

   Our Christmas Dinner was disappointing, especially for my daughter’s first visit to Elements. Initially, the service was promising, but it quickly turned unacceptable. We were left waiting over 30 minutes without seeing our waiter. When he finally returned, it was with a hurried and dismissive attitude, tossing items onto our table while shouting to a hostess, “I can't take any more tables!” When settling our bill, we had to get up and go to the hostess stand ourselves. This experience felt more like dining at Denny’s at midnight than a Christmas celebration. We will not be returning.
   

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10. D

    David

    VIP

    Phoenix

    109 reviews

    5.0

    109 reviews

    Dined 2 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5

    Christmas prix fixe menu very well designed, and chef was able to modify dishes for one diner with a no sodium requirement. All courses well prepared and beautifully presented. Comfortable banquette seating for three, with Mummy Mountain views. Very festive!
    

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