Wild Standard

Was hesitating between 1 or 2 stars. Decided to go with 1 because couldn’t find anything positive to the experience:
1. Very short menu — very few selection items. They don’t even have any salmon entries on their list
2. VERY OVERPRICED entries compared to some other seafood places in town like Jax for example
3. Appetizer, which was just fried calamari, was very greasy, not flavorful and did not come with any sauce.
4. Service was terrible, they forgot to even serve silverware until asked.

After three attempts at Wild Standard we have come to this overall conclusion: Mediocre.
My husband and I have come back primarily because we like the reasonably good acoustics (we don’t have to shout at each other like at many other Boulder restaurants) and we love fresh seafood, but we’ve been sorely disappointed by almost everything else each time.
Specifically:
Drinks
We’ve had a drink «mis-​hap» every time we’ve been. Either something was out of stock, the beer was flat, or we waited over 10 minutes to get a drink.
Food
While we agree that the food is good, it isn’t great. And it’s overpriced for the portions.
We’ve received oysters that weren’t cleaned well every time and being interrupted every three to five minutes for more dim sum-​style offerings when our table is clearly already full is annoying at best.
Thankfully, we can say that the seafood is fresh.
Service
It’s just not very good. The staff doesn’t seem invested here — more like «just doing their job.»
We often have to signal our waiter to get something (and we’re pretty patient folks). Pacing of check-in’s and food delivery is consistently inconsistent.
When there was a mistake with our order and we were told that they’d take it off the bill and then didn’t — twice! — it didn’t add to our experience.
Atmosphere
As I wrote earlier, we do like the atmosphere. Not too loud. Comfortable. Good music. But this doesn’t overcome the other stuff, which is way more important to us.
Too many other options in Boulder with excellent service and excellent food for the price (we are willing to spend $ if it’s worthy). We aren’t likely to return to Wild Standard unless we hear about big changes for the better. Hope they can do it.

I was exploring Pearl St. and my friend got all excited about the Happy Hour special posted outside of the restaurant, so we decided to give it a shot. While the Happy Hour Special did seem pretty good on paper, it didn’t do well when the dishes came to us.
1) The Banh Mi slider was horrible! Both the meat and bread were dry! It completed sucked out any moisture from my mouth. I had to down my tiny glass of water and refill it.
2) The Octopus was the best item, but the other items I’m comparing it to weren’t great.
3) Seared Ahi Tuna was okay, but I still don’t think it was worth the Happy Hour price.

Walked in randomly while shopping on Pearl St. Their happy hour is amazing, great drinks and food at a great price. Food was unreal, doubled up on few menu items because they were so good.. . oysters with watermelon mignonette, chicken banh mi, snow crab, cauliflower. .. 4 of us had plenty to drink and ate a ton but the bill was $ 130. Great service as well

Wild Standard is an elegant and cozy little restaurant at the heart of Boulder. I spent a lot of time here when I was in town for a local event about a month ago, so I have to start by saying how friendly and accommodating the staff were. It’s never easy to have a bunch of people tromping through your space at odd hours of the day, but they handled it gracefully, which I very much appreciated.
We had drinks here a couple of times during the week but stayed for a hearty happy hour during our first day in town. The food was delicious and artfully made and I enjoyed the variety of selections they offered. Portions were rather small, but forgivable considering that it was a happy hour menu.
The Bahn Mi slider was definitely my favorite out of the dishes we tried. The meat was so tender and juicy and the sweet bun was fluffy and delicious. I’m salivating just thinking about it.
To the staff of Wild Standard, thanks for being such accommodating hosts!

Service and employees were great, however the food was a huge disappointment. Ordered «The Rail» for $ 72 we got crab and lobster that should have been thrown out many days before. Don’t bother with this place if you’re looking for seafood. Jax is down the street and amazing. Take the 3 minute walk and save yourself the chance of eating awful seafood.

Wow. Just stopped in for a bite and glass of wine. Awful service and expensive average food. The «crispy cauliflower in red curry sauce» was basically just fried cauliflower with tomato sauce. We sat at the bar cuz that’s usually the best service. It took 25 minutes to get a dozen oysters and there were only 4 couples at the bar. The waitress brought our first app and we had to ask for plates. She looked at our empty glasses and walked away without asking if we wanted a refill. The best thing there was the octopus salad and the décor though. Would NOT recommend this place.

THE BEST HAPPY HOUR EVER!!! The most delicious mussels, Brussels sprouts and beyond amazing deals. We stumbled upon this place and what a gem we found!!! Phenomenal service as well. Must go on a trip in Boulder

Wow awesome 3 – 6 daily happy hour with excellent appetizers per photos. mussels were so good we ordered two orders, tuna, Brussel sprouts and peel your own (6) large shrimp. For $ 31 it was a great value (5 appetizers + one wine), great food, great service… wish I could come once a werk.

Food was wonderful (5 stars). Service/​timing left a bit to be desired (1 star). So a 3 star average. Calamari, tuna, and pork belly were delicious. Our appetizers showed up before our drinks, notwithstanding having ordered the drinks first and long before the food order was taken (with multiple inquiries each time the waitress returned to our table to check on us). One person at our table didn’t get her appetizer until the rest had all but finished theirs. Will return with hopes the service improves.

Pretty good food in a heavily derivative, decade-​and-​half old Brooklyn hipster atmosphere — i.e. «handcrafted» this, «bespoke» that, leather tooled aprons, mustachioed yada-​yada, exposed brick blah blah blah, try our ye olde tincture libations, special ice, owl tattoos, geek glasses, Pabst is cool, we-​ride-​fixed-​gear-​bikes-​to-​work-​with a-​U-​lock-​in-​the-​back-​pocket-​of-​our-​skinny-​jeans, yawwwwwn… c’mon, it’s a tired uniform — find your own voice. But the food and drinks are good, if on the pricey side.
A– for food and drinks
D for lack of imagination in décor and vibe.

I have been a couple times to Wild Standard and overall the food was good.
The atmosphere is definitively trendy and eclectic, with exposed bricks and interesting lighting.
The ingredients are fresh and well prepared.
Although I am a fan of dim sum, I dont think the tray concept really works in such a place. The interruption of the person bringing the tray can be annoying when having a conversation with friends. Plus, to me part of the fun of dim sum is due to the fairly modest prices which allows to try lots of small plates without having to worry about the final check. This is definitively not the case at Wild Standard where prices are more on the high side.
I like the option of customizing you own cocktail (Siren Call).
Wild Standard is a nice place, especially for seafood lovers.

2^nd time there. Waited 1 hour for entrees to come out from the time apps came out. Bar made 2 drinks wrong and fixed them in poor taste. When I called and asked for a manager, I got a woman named Adrienne on the phone and was treated so poorly, I can’t even begin to type it here. She was both *extremely* rude and unprofessional. I hope Bradford can clean up from top down. It seems to me his places aren’t run the same way an Oak or Med is for example. His people have a relaxed, no problem attitude and if you bring something up that is substandard, they look at you like you’re the unreasonable one. I’d like to see this place survive. Hope it does (for the prices). I’m telling all my friends about the experiences and Adrienne however.

BUYER BEWARE!
They will scam you out of every last penny you have. Went there with a group of girls — first time there — love the atmosphere with exposed brick and oversized wooden beams and wrought iron fixtures but nothing else.
Not sure about the cart service thing because we went during restaurant week. The server basically told us our entire party had to order the price fix menu or no one could order it (we all choose it) yet they still tried to upsell with their cart service. We finally had to tell them we didn’t want to a) be interrupted (girls getting caught up and all and b) knew that we already had a sufficient amount of food with the price fix menu.
The biggest issue came though, when we specifically ordered several carafes of the House Red wine ($ 30), but the waiter said the keg blew or something and suggested a different one (without telling us the price), we of course assumed it would be comparable. Check came and come to find out the several more carafes of wine we ordered were $ 45 each.
$ 70 per person for 2 glasses of wine and subpar food. No thank you.

I’ve eaten here twice, and also come once more just for a drink.
I’m glad that they have toned down the food-​cart aspect. The first time I was here, that was the main way to get fed, and it was a slow and frustrating process. Now they have transitioned into a more traditional style menu, with occasional chef-​specialties coming around. So think of it as a creative way to get your apps. Then order some of the entrees. The chicken was outstanding. I know, chicken, right? but seriously folks, it’s a perfect fry of dark meet in a sweet and spicy glaze. Many pieces.
Raw bar selections are good. Kumamoto prices not the cheapest in town, but ok.
I’m glad they abandoned their cocktail-​choose-​your-​own-​adventure idea that they started with. The program has been changed to a very simple list. But with not much thought towards what pairs well with seafood (how about some nice clean crisp gin drinks, like a corpse revive?), and mediocre ice cubes, I’ll stick to wine. The have a house white for $ 6 that’s easy drinking.

Wow. Where do I even start?
The fact that a reservation for 4 was seated 30 minutes late?
The fact that a gimmicky dim-​sum concept dominates the dining experience, with constant interruptions by various runners auctioning off food to your table?
The fact that this dim-​sum concept results in your having to turn down food every 2 minutes, cheapening the experience, despite the fact that these small plates are $ 6 – 12?
The fact that if you do opt to take one of these small plates, that server has to chunkily locate your write-​on menu from somewhere on your table and put a mark to add it to your bill every time, further interrupting the experience?
The fact that you only see your real server a few brief times during the meal, resulting in a diffusion of responsibility for your table and subsequently, mediocre service? This translated to a bit of uncertainty on the concept at first as well, which was never even mentioned to us until we were forced to ask.
The fact that these $ 12 small plates, because they’ve been carried around to other tables before it got to you, may be lukewarm (~1/​3 in our experience of ordering 9 plates) and also likely had multiple other diners hover over it before passing it up? This is not appealing.
The fact that the seafood, with the exception of the Tuna sashimi dish, was all sub-​par in execution?
The fact that a small raw oyster order took more than 20 minutes, and came to the table after the cooked items that had been ordered after them?
The fact that the seafood risotto entrée, which costs nearly $ 30, came out severely uncooked? Not just al dente — not just a little crunchy. When raw rice dominates the flavor profile, you have not cooked it enough. This is not rocket science.
The fact that at the end of your meal, sticker shock sets in when they tally all these overpriced mediocre small plates?
The bottom line is, Bradford Heap’s new restaurant feels like a calculated but poorly executed money grab. The dim sum concept is fine, and interesting if done properly. But the execution here is completely broken and results in a severely disappointing dining experience, especially considering the wealth of experience in the restaurant industry brought to bear. This was not just an «off night». The concept itself is broken and needs a serious overhaul to change things for the better. In addition, the quality of the food needs to reflect the price — right now, it doesn’t. The Mahi Mahi curry dish was somehow lacking flavor, which I suppose is some kind of accomplishment. I’ve already mentioned the Risotto. The lobster roll was fine, although it was served Northern style (cold mixed with mayonnaise) which is unappealing (and wrong) to me.
The tuna sashimi dish, on the other hand, was executed nicely, with quality ingredients and inspired and well-​balanced flavors. The highlight of the night was the bartender, who was both incredibly knowledgable and adept at mixing drinks for us based of our preference. But, the rest of the dining experience was so poor in contrast, that a couple positive notes do very little to offset an otherwise incredibly disappointing (and costly) evening.

I came here a few months ago and had dinner at the bar. The place was pretty packed and without a reservation, only bar seating was available. The concept is also a bit unique (think dim sum style): while you can order off a limited set menu, there are servers that come around with plates and explain what they are and how much they cost. You then decide on the spot whether or not you’d like to order them. I enjoyed this way of eating because it allowed me to try several different items (think tapas portion size) and not feel overly full. The oysters were also super fresh and the variety was appealing. I’d definitely recommend this place if you like seafood!
–L.

Start with the good since it won’t take too long. The place looks great and the bar is really well done with the oyster counter and stone countertop. Downstairs bar is cool as well and there is a nice mix of hard and plush seating.
Well that was it.
Now the rest:
1) We sat down and It took over 10 minutes to get anyone to greet us at the oyster counter.
2) Ordered a glass of wine which took about 15 minutes… maybe slightly under that.
3) Food was served and for happy hour prices the portions were on par with others, at full price would be hilarious. Oysters were fine and fresh. Marinated octopus lacked depth and spice covered it up. Mussels were ok and had good garlic flavor, however there was a underlying smokiness that I found displeasing. Cauliflower had a decent sauce but the texture was tough and dense.
4) Desert was a chocolate cake with dates and a sweet cream sauce and was actually my favorite part of the meal.
5) Was offered the same mussel appetizer again by someone with a cart just as I finished dessert???
The last time i visited here in November it took 15 minutes to get my first drink. I understand craft cocktails but if it is just glasses of wine that time is absurd.
Sigh, this place has the appeal to be a great place but outside of happy hour the price point is not worth the trip. The restaurant was not busy and it appeared to be plenty staffed so these huge lapses in service are inexcusable. Not a well oiled machine this place.
Also, do not be suckered in by the lobster roll… it will hurt your feelings.

I’m honestly surprised by the current rating. The SO and I came by the other night for our weekly date night and had a wonderful time, so enjoyable that my better half reminded me to write this review for the restaurant.
I’ll talk about the concept first and then get into the food, I think it’s equally important to acknowledge. I fucking love this concept, not another farm to table, eco friendly, vegan, gluten free clone so prevalent in Boulder, a restaurant that’s actually adventurous and eager to experiment. Asian influenced dim sum set up and food, kaya toast creations reminiscent of Singapore, curried cauliflower, wisps of saffron, the restaurant sources inspiration from every location. The dim sum style service encourages creativity, experimentation from its chefs, open mindedness and spontaneity from patrons. Where else can you find a place in Colorado that doesn’t have a tightly curated menu, a perfected local pitch, one that isn’t afraid to pair unconventional flavors, fuck up some time in pursuit of that bomb unexpected flavor combination?
The food was so enjoyable but a few dishes really stood out from our experience. Curried cauliflower struck the right balance in heat, mussel slider unabashedly sea tasting and hearty, seacuterie a unique curing experimentation. The desserts left more to be desired, flavors seemed more disjointed than their savory compadres, but small price to pay for this playful restaurant.
If you are tired of typical Boulder fare and want something different, an executive chef who actually motivates his team to reimagine dishes and focuses on developing his team’s culinary prowess. One of our best date nights and I have no doubt we’ll be back soon.

FOODIE VOYEURISM
A last-​minute plan to dine out for a friend’s birthday prompted me to book Boulder’s latest restaurant concept, and since the early buzz among locals was so ‘positive,’ I was surprised that a prime time was available on OpenTable (Saturday night, 7p). I thought myself lucky and snagged the reservation!
…well, to cut to the chase I think the early buzz is more of agitation than accolades. Here’s why:
We were seated promptly. The restaurant ambiance is super cool, with exposed brick, vintage chandeliers and well-​designed lighting. All good with look and feel.
Our server, Nick, was friendly and readily explained the concept by explaining the small set menu, but also that various trays/​carts would be presented throughout our dining experience and that the numbers on the signage on each tray/​cart was the price of that dish. Easy enough! Things are going smoothly so far.
We’ve been to dim sum restaurants where you point at items that appeal to you, and then they tally up the dishes to sum your final bill, and we are familiar with the Brazilian steakhouses where food just keeps coming and you choose whatever appeals to you. and this is sort of a hybrid — albeit without one fixed price. All items are a la carte so as you select items, your server (s) mark your menu with a tick mark which is then tallied at the end of your meal. When you are slowing down or ready to stop adding new items, your server puts an oyster on your table and they stop approaching your table with food items.
The first tray featured a tuna crudo marked with a ‘12’. Hey, we get this…$ 12 for that dish. Cool! We’re easily trained. The small plate was beautifully garnished and the tuna (three slices) was super fresh.
Then, we passed on the next couple of trays. Skate — not my favorite. Smelt? Ditto.
We were thrice offered a lobster gnocci ($ 12) described as ‘macaroni and cheesey’ but we didn’t want something so creamy and fattening. (What is it with the mac and cheesey thing, we wondered… why are they pushing this on us?)
We did try the three little cubes of polenta over a mushroom cream sauce ($ 4). It was so-​so, and not really sure the flavor profile made sense, but chalked it up to a difference in taste.
We ordered crab off the menu and sought advice regarding the $ 13/​$ 34 menu option. The difference was explained as ‘large’ versus ‘small’. Ok… so we ordered one ‘large’ portion and what appeared was one snow crab cluster on ice with seaweed, melted butter and a little condiment cup of mignonette. We deduced that had to be a ‘small’ portion, so we immediately ordered another. Unfortunately, the crab was accompanied with a crab cracker, but you really also needed a crab pick to get to the meat within these petite legs. None available, we were told.
Soon, another tray appeared this time with a Copper River smoked salmon dip and an ahi tuna poke. We opted for one of each at $ 8 a piece. The petite portions were placed on our table in individual 2−3″ bowls along with four (4) taro chips. Logically, that meant that each bowl yielded four (4) bites. Both dishes were very tasty, but if I wanted more than a bite — as in a proper ‘appetizer’ portion out of either of these — I would have had to order at least 6 of each of these bowls. At $ 8×6 = $ 48…the portion sizes seemed to mock appetite in favor of foodie voyeurism.
Since there is no bread/​crackers provided, we ordered a mini loaf of bread ($ 4). It was devoid of flavor and most of it crumbled into inedible particulates upon touch.
A small 2−3″ bowl of mussels ($ 6) served with two slices of rustic bread… the mussels were very, very small — I had never seen such small mussels. Are baby mussels the new portobello? (Foodies: do you know the difference between white, cremini and portobello mushrooms? Marketing. They are the exact same mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, cultivated at various stages of growth/​age.) It didn’t really matter because I think I wanted it for the two little wedges of bread, anyway.
Now, I’m a fairly petite size 2, so I don’t think my food portion expectations are out of line… but the portions along with the lack of standout dishes left me yearning for other restaurants. There are simply too many good seafood/​raw bar choices nearby with better food and value… Jax, Japango, Sushi Zanmai… Brasserie ¹⁰⁄₁₀.
We paid our $ 150 tab and went to another restaurant to finish dining. Not kidding.
The bottom line? We think this will definitely be a hit with those who ‘pretend’ to eat. Maybe it’s a perfect first date restaurant for that reason. You can pretend to eat while devouring every word of your lovely comrade’s captivating conversation. Yep — I alliterated. Probably because I am grouchy… because I am still hungry. Fun concept, but too little food-​to-​cost-​ratio to call it dining.