Kelvin

Had breakfast here in the morning. Was very convenient located next to the hotel. Actually connected so you use the hotel facilities if needed. The space is modern light bright and colorful. The food was very good although we just ordered standard eggs and bacon. The service was a bit slow and the place was kinda empty.

Had the best Caesar salad and sea bass dish. Jeff Iburg, our waiter, was very nice & accommodating. My friend and I were having a hard time trying to decide on what to eat and almost left. We stayed since my
coupon had already been entered but thanks to Jeff offering his services to accommodate in every way he could, we had the best meal ever and so happy that we stayed. I’ll definitely return with my husband on special occasions or just to treat ourselves. Thank you again, Jeff!

The not-​so-​great reviews about this restaurant are pretty accurate. The gratuity charge for two people seems unnecessary. $ 5 for an iced tea, food is mediocre at best with odd flavor pairings that make it overall an uncharming experience. $ 50 bill for two tapas plates and two drinks. Unforgettable. Service was good but that’s all this restaurant has to offer

Came here with Wife and kids with a TravelZoo voucher — Exclusive Dinner & Drinks for 2, Reg. $ 133.
We came by on a Monday evening and sat on the patio. There were only a handful of diners at the time. Our waiter Brian was quick to help us set up our table with the high chairs for the kids. I like restaurant’s ambiance and also the location at the iconic Gaslamp district.
We were lucky to get a metered parking just outside the restaurant, not sure how the parking situation looks during peak hours.
The Travel Zoo deal included an appetizer to share upto $ 18 and we ordered the $ 14 *K*ARNE Asada Fries which were o.k.
The deal also allowed two entrees (up to $ 38 each) and we ordered:
$ 18 Kelvin Burger which is topped with fried egg — nothing special
$ 26 Chef’s market Fish — Bay Salmon, this was a little rubbery, but the bacon and confit carrot sides were great
$ 7 Kids Peanut Butter and Jelly –nothing fancy.
For drinks:
$ 11 Champaigne Mohito — this was refreshing
Overall, the food was really not that great, we ended up leaving a lot on the plate, I think for the Bay Salmon, the seasoning was not right and it tasted a little rubbery and chewey. Wife left a lot of the Kelvin burger on the plate. The service was good, but they may need to improve on the quality of the food for the price of what was charged. We also had questions about our bill which didn’t make sense, we had a Travelzoo Voucher worth $ 133, but we ended up paying $ 45 more on top of the voucher. The food that we had was quoted as ($ 105) and drinks ($ 24) which does not even come close to what we had above (food ~$ 65, drinks $ 20). We were just too tired to make a fuss and paid up what was on the receipt. My wife and I left with a feeling of having been jacked. Next time, double check and question your bill should you have a TravelZoo or any other discount voucher.

Went there for breakfast and we got the Works. The food was good. Server was friendly. There’s also the patio section for those interested. It wasn’t too much food but it was enough.

Ok, where to begin. Really wanted this place to be great. Two of my best friends planned my bachelorette here last weekend. When we walked in the place looked great, loved the décor, loved the lighting. THE PLACE IS EMPTY! Literally, empty. Took ten minutes to see if someone wanted to help us. I had to ask the server every time for another drink, water etc. NOT ONCE did this guy ask how we were doing and can I get you anything. Food came out quickly, app was great. Here’s what peeved me… Our entrees came out before our app plates had even been cleared. Had to look at the girl that stood there all night doing nothing to please clear the plates so we can make room for dinner (she was struggling). We even got to the point where we were stacking the plates and empty glasses at the end of the table like, «hey check out this pile of used dishes you may want to clear». NOTHING! Food was decent but holy crap the service was so bad I would not dare go back. The place was empty for the love of God and you still got it wrong. Finally, the check… I get it party of 6 you’ll add 20% but come on. This guy deserved nothing. Also, this same fool decided to charge 20% tip on a round of drinks that my friend ordered from the bar. We actually told hime no and we refuse to tip ($ 20) for a round of drinks, they took it off. Get it together W this place is bringing you down.
Thankfully, the rooftop service redeemed the W for that night. This place. SKIP IT!

Just look over all the reviews before going here. They do a 20% gratuity charge even if you’re dining with just you and one other person. The menu and the online website states that they only charge a 20% service charge for parties over 6 people. When I saw the bill and saw that I was charged a «Service Charge» for me and my date, I flagged the waiter down and the waiter states «we charge everyone like that.» So I paid the bill and something didn’t sit well with me, so I looked up their website and read that the 20% is only for parties 6 or more…
TIP: DON’T go here unless you want to be overcharged.

Came here with my boyfriend for dinner on a Friday around 7pm and realized that we were the only one in the restaurant. Okay, weird. Didn’t realize why it’s so unpopular until our food and check came out. I ordered the «chef’s special» which was extremely disappointing; two tiny pieces of trout on top of sliced apples for $ 30. It was also extremely hard to swallow because of all the oil. As if the food wasn’t disappointing enough, the check came out and we were charged $ 12 for «service charge.» What service charge? We were a party of two and didn’t order a drip of wine. Just an FYI for anyone who is still interested in going here: they’ll calculate your tax on top of your tips. Never again.

Ask for Brian. He is succinct and efficient in his orders. Served us our mimosas and drinks at the appropriate times without being too pushy. The food wasn’t too memorable — I had ordered the egg white omelet with a side of smoked salmon. Tasted decent, but it was the patio that was lovely! Mimosas are like $ 13, yikes. A bit pricey but convenient if you’re staying at the W.

After a amazing Father’s Day dinner at kelvin I would highly recommend coming back. Kelvin exceeded my expectations in terms of quality of food and service. I had the meat and potatoes dish with the 8oz filet mignon. The steak was cooked exactly the way I like and the the crispy Brussels sprouts were so amazing. The service was very good, only problem was that one of our friends meal took about 10 min longer after everyone else’s meal was delivered. The server was very apologetic and gave us a free Desert that made it all better. The dining room is small but the décor is interesting and their is lots to talk about. Overall I would recommend kelvin for anyone looking for a hip cool restaurant with excellent quality and service.

We came here for Sunday brunch and left very full and happy. Endless mimosas and tapas-​style dishes, all of which were tasty. Really enjoyed the fresh fruit juice mixers for the mimosas… kiwi, orange, passion fruit, or blueberry. Can’t wait to come back for those shrimp & grits… and sweet potato pancakes… and caesar salad… and BLT… and everything on the damn menu!
Almost forgot to mention how friendly and attentive the staff was. They made us feel right at home.

I had lunch this week at Kelvin @ the W in downtown on B Street. My experience was not what W would be proud of. I chose a Caesar salad with grilled shrimp and ordered it half dressing and no croutons and added a glass of wine. The wine was nice — a Pinot Grigio that was light and crisp. The shrimp was grilled nicely, but that’s pretty much the only good part. Thankfully I ordered it half dressing. But I’m not sure they got the concept. Half the salad was drenched in dressing. I was able to scrape it off much of the leaves, but some of the salad was just inedible. I would have complained or sent the salad back, but neither the server nor my waitress made an appearance until I was done with lunch, and frankly, I’d rather read my paper and eat my lunch than track down some clueless waitress.
On my «Caesar» salad, I had halved cherry tomatoes — OK, never had that on a Caesar before, but maybe I misread the description. Also had bacon. I don’t remember that on the description either or I would have said «hold the bacon.» Who the hell puts bacon on a Caesar? The Parmesan cheese was OK but there was a ton of it. I literally had to fish the white anchovies out of a bowl of dressing drenched shaved Parmesan surrounded by a mound of fatty bacon. Yuck. I do appreciate when a chef puts a little special touch on a well known dish, but this did not work. I tried though, I tried the tomatoes and they were quite bitter.
Why do I say the W would not be proud? The complaints I mentioned here are arguably attributable to taste. Someone might love a Caesar salad drenched in dressing, with cherry tomatoes, anchovies and bacon (I should not like to meet this person, but he or she may, in theory, exist). But besides the fact that the wait staff did not check on me even once between delivering my food and clearing my plate, the waitress never bothered, not even once, at any point, to ask me how I liked the dish. I see notes from various restaurant management all the time that if we’d just tell them on the spot what the problem is, they’d fix it. Well, back at you folks. What I have noticed is there is a direct correlation to how interested the wait staff is in my happiness to how well the food comes out in the first place. If you don’t train your staff in basic service concepts, like remembering how the salad was ordered and checking to see that it was done correctly, then you are going to get slammed on social media. Oui la démocratie.

It might be because it’s 8am & I am starting to write this review before my food arrives, but upon first impression this place pisses me off.
Sure, the décor is super bright, colorful, sleek and cute. But the hostess is weird, the servers are slow, the food comes out even slower & the breakfast options are limited… not to mention the music is turned up WAY TOO LOUD.
I came in for breakfast by myself & after I walked in, everyone working just kind of stared at me like deer in headlights… and with each interaction with a member of the staff I felt like I was being talked down to.
Everything from being seated, to ordering a glass of water, to ordering a hard poached egg was met with catty attitudes and snide remarks. During the course of my meal, I then watched as the hostess greeted everyone else warmly and asked literally everyone that walked in (except for me) if they were saying at the attached, W hotel. Kind of left a bad taste in my mouth…
Aside from all that, I got the eggs benedict and the hollandaise sauce was PERFECT, the ham was tasty, the avocado fresh & the english muffin it rested on was a perfectly balanced mix of buttery toasted crunch while still being soft and fluffy.
I also had a glass of orange juice. It was good & tasted fresh squeezed but I noticed it came in a one gallon jug that they then pour into the serving carafes… either way, it was good & had I not seen that… I would have thought it was made on site.
The benedicts came with some roasted potatoes and peppers and they were aggressively mediocre. So much to the point that I didn’t even eat more than four or 5 little potato pieces.
Overall, I would return if I was staying at the W and didn’t want to leave the hotel for food, but aside from that I probably will not be returning.
At the end of my meal the hostess asked me how everything was, & I told her the truth. I let her know the way that her actions made me feel & she was extremely apologetic. She went on to explain that she was feeling overwhelmed when I walked in & that she didn’t intend to treat me poorly. I was stoked that she acknowledged her unprofessional behavior and it could have ended there but it didnt. She ended up having my server comp my entire meal even though I told her repeatedly that I had no problem paying. I sincerely appreciate that she LISTENED to what I had to say and then decided to take an action to make things right & for that alone, I bumped this up to 4 stars.
If you are in the area & go here, I’d strongly suggest the eggs benedict… their hollandaise sauce is life changing!!!

NOT a good deal from Travel Zoo!
Last weekend my family took advantage of a deal on Travel Zoo for a $ 69 3 course meal including drinks, normally valued at $ 122 at Kelvin’s at the W. The W is a world famous fancy place, right? Our first impressions as we entered the lobby were that if we were in our 20’s, single, and ready to drink and dance the night away in a Vegas style atmosphere that we would be in the right place. Unfortunately, we are none of those things. Well, we might still be hip but we are a few decades older. Even the restaurant had the hipster house music playing throughout the evening. Alas, we were really there to be dazzled by a high end venue’s food however. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to impress. The salad had some sort of soggy warm meat on it and the tempura avocado was so simple it was you could easily make this at home boring. The risotto was bland and the rabbit ragout was also boring. The Amish chicken wasn’t bad, but again, no wow factor. Even the desserts failed to stand out. But the worst part was the teenage waitress who at every opportunity (seriously like 20 times) reminded us that if we ordered drinks valued at over $ 12 or additional drinks, that we would be charged to our bill for the difference. When the bill came it included tax and gratuity and of course the additional drink charges. This was $ 90 for my parents and $ 120 for me and my wife. Wait, what!!! Apparently they got my bill wrong. 30 minutes and 3 managers later, my bill was reduced to the correct amount of approximately $ 50. So do the math, $ 90 + $ 50 + $ 138 for the coupon = $ 278. Dinner for 4 with one bottle of wine and 1 drink per person should not be this much unless the meal and the experience are both very positive. I can think of countless restaurants where this type of money would go a long way and you wouldn’t be forced to choose your menu selections from a limited «special» menu. More importantly, you would get professional service from an experienced wait staff, the food would be time tested excellent, and the ambiance would be warm and friendly and inviting. This restaurant is one cocktail away from a chic rooftop pool party with bikinis and sunburned college kids. If you happen to be on that block and hungry, try Karl Strauss around the corner. Much better and ¹⁄₃ the price.

Truly forgettable experience with quite mediocre food and lousy service.
We dined at 6p on a Thursday evening. There «hip» place was empty. There was only one other table, yet our server was inattentive and got our order wrong. The two servers were watching tv and on their phones behind the bar and rarely came by to check if we needed another drink or some water. The waiter actually bussed the table and while scraping the remains of one plate onto the other so he could stack them, managed to spill egg and sauce on the table.
We were dining on a set menu from travelzoo for my Birthday. The food presentation was good, but that was the only decent part of the meal. It came with 2 cocktails valued at $ 12 each. They were tasty but very small. The ice must have been very expensive.
The appetizers were laughable. The avocado tempura was tasty but almost nonexistent. There were 3 miniscule slices (About a quarter of an avocado total) that were deep fried and served atop a ranch like dressing. This was priced at $ 12. The mixed greens with pork belly consisted of possibly 2 types of lettuce and a few tiny pieces of pork belly.
The first entrée was a market fish, which turned out to be salmon with no seasoning or sauce served atop faro. It was a decent piece of fish but had very little flavor.
The second entrée was a braised rabbit ragout served with tomato basil pasta. Olive Garden makes better pasta (it was nothing special) although the rabbit was tasty and unique, it was very difficult to find any mixed in with the pasta sauce (Ragu was more like it.)
The desserts looked to be presented nicely. The only problem was that each dish had ice cream that was so melted, it was more like soup. This is especially problematic when one of the dishes was an ice cream sandwich, that squirted and dripped when you picked it up.
When they brought the check they added a $ 25 gratuity (21% of the regular price) and taxed us on the full amount as well. There was no mention of automatic gratuity and 21%? Are you kidding me? The service was terrible.
DO NOT EAT AT KELVIN!
The portions were tiny, the food was mediocre and the service nearly nonexistent. Obviously it is extremely overpriced.
If you have to go, have a drink there, and walk around the corner to just about any other restaurant.

So beautiful. Dare I say, swanky? In that sort of Virgin Atlantic Airlines and Austin Powers sort of way? Oh, behave! And the food is righteous. The avocado apps were cooked perfectly and had an amazing mystery salsa. My Pastrami Reuben was out of this world. 1000 Island dressing? No, 2000 Island dressing! Twice as good. Yes please!

Came here for breakfast while I was staying at the hotel. Good coffee, service, cute décor. I had an omelette which came with breakfast potatoes. Not a plethora of options but good food. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here but it’s a nice option, especially for a hotel restaurant.

The restaurant is beautiful and intimate. The seats are couch cushions and oh so comfortable. We were greeted with a good start of cucumber water and a delicious bread basket. I ordered a glass of Prosecco and my guy ordered a beer. They were out of Blue Moon, so the server came out with a suggested replacement. I thought that was a nice touch rather than just saying «we’re out» and leaving it at that.
I ordered the avocado tempura (plated as three wedges), which was as delicious as it sounds. You need to eat all components of this dish not just the fried avocado on its own to really enjoy it to its fullest. I I also ordered the mac ‘n cheese, which was decadent, and my guy ordered the chicken and waffles, which were delicious and beautifully plated. We ended the meal by splitting the S’more dessert, scrumptious.
The food was a good portion for me since I am prone to eating smaller bites, but it left my guy hungry a few hours later. I do agree with some of the reviews regarding pricing. It is rather expensive for the amount of food you receive, and would not be my choice for a full meal as the menu itself is a bit limited, but rather for cocktails and maybe an appetizer or two.
Note: I also tried the lemongrass vodka cocktail later on the rooftop, which I highly recommend!

The staff at Kelvin was excellent, the portion size correct, and the quality of the food amazing. However, the pricing structure is too high for a hotel that is not actually set inside the Gaslamp district.
We ate breakfast here twice during our stay, and both times our cost out the door was over $ 80 for two people, and that was for a pair of breakfast entrees and two delicious smoothies.
Same thing for dinner. We had friends in town one night, and the dinner bill four entrees and 2 adult beverage was over $ 220.
While the food was always excellent, after eating there for the third time we decided to seek nourishment elsewhere. I noticed that each time we visited, there was never more than three other customers in the place. Again, staff and cuisine at Kelvin were perfect, however, I think that if they lowered the pricing by a good 15%, it would bring more hungry patrons through the door.

When I walked in my first thought about the décor was someone really likes ikea. I think they were trying a modern and trendy motif and it just looked a little weird. We got our menus and then I thought this place is definitely trying too hard. The menu doesn’t have to have items that are that complicated. It was like mexican food with a modern american twist… sometimes a french twist. For example we ordered the duck confit quesadillas. I feel like they didn’t know what type of restaurant they wanted to be so they tried to get creative and it was just too much. The quesadillas were very bland by the way. I tried to make it better by adding squeezed lime, pico, sour cream… it wasnt happening.
Its supposed to be a fancy restaurant I assume, and because the menu was so all over the place I settled for a $ 15 «Kelvin burger». This was angus beef, caramelized onions, cheese, and bib lettuce. It was just ok, it was a burger. The side of fries however gave me my salt intake for the next 3 days and no doubt some serious hypertension.
On a positive note the lemongrass drop is a delicious cocktail, as well as the complimentary bread. Unfortunately that’s not enough to make me return.