Leonora

Fabulous food, décor, and service. Varied menu worked for some picky eaters, while providing delicious, creative options for those with more flexibility. We appreciated the round table booth for the 6 of us. Beautiful presentation, with average-​for-​Vail prices. Highly recommended!

This is a great spot. Excellent food, great service in the beautiful Sebastlan hotel.

One of the best meals I have ever. had. Everything was cooked to perfection. The mussels, the octopus, the scallops absolutely to die for.

We had dinner at the restaurant recently with a mixed review – there were some big wins and some misses on the menu. We had a larger group and ordered tapas as well as drinks and entrees.
For starters, the wine list was excellent with great wines at lots of different price points. We were very pleased with several of the lesser expensive Spanish reds. The cocktail menu seemed a little limited – while the cocktails were well made, the menu lacked the creativity as other venues in town.
In terms of tapas – we enjoyed the croquettes, flatbread and ceviche. The fried cauliflower lacked flavor and the mussels were a little bland. Portions were generous for tapas – easily shareable by four.
The entrees were mixed. We had filet – which was burned (not seared) on the outside and undercooked in the center. The porcini gnocchi was so salty it was almost inedible. Our party did enjoy the seafood risotto and short ribs.
All in all, good meal. Would recommend, but stick to tapas.

We went to dinner here with a very large group, there was 15 of us. Most of who have dietary restrictions. The service is not up to par for the prices they have. We’ve enjoyed some amazing 5 star dinners with exceptional service. But this place just didn’t quite do it. They tried! People were nice enough. So overall regarding the service I’d say 3.5 stars.
Now onto the food. In retrospect, I think their specialty is the tapas. We ordered, jamon Serrano– it was DELISH! Probably the best out of everything we ordered. Calamari –we returned them they were very chewy and dry-​yuck! Shrimp tapas– yumm! Octopus-​eehh just ok. We ordered eggplant soup– WOW DELISH, a must! Seafood risotto-​again we returned it, risotto was undercooked & too cheesy for our taste.
Our friends also returned their salmon dishes! One had pork –what? Who puts pork on a salmon dish and doesn’t list it on the menu-​they eat kosher so definitely can’t eat pork. The other salmon dish was raw!
The chef did come out and apologized about the whole misunderstanding and offered to make anything we wanted on or off the menu. But by that point we just wanted to get out! We thanked her and left.
It was definitely an extremely expensive dinner for such an unpleasant experience!
Stear away from here.

Food was delicious. Ordered a bunch of tapas with our entrees, and every single one tasted great! The service is also top notch!

We dropped by Leonora for a last minute New Years dinner. Food was pretty good, but what really made the night was the spectacular service we received from our waiter Steve Callahan (hopefully we got the name right). Thanks for making our night!

My friend and I came in for a glass of wine and the food looked so good we decided to stay for dinner. We shared a salad, the cobia appetizer, and the mushroom gnocchi. All were delicious and the service we received was very friendly. We were very satisfied with our experience here!

I am a fan of this place for breakfast. There is not a buffet, however I am not a fan of $ 30 buffets in Vail anyway. If you are the Sonnenalp next door has the best on in Vail.
If you want everything done extremely well for breakfast, Lenora is the place. They honestly have one of the best huevos rancheros I have ever had.

Good tapas but I had a terrible meal and the service was bad; I ordered the diver scallops and had a greens salad before that arrived.
I asked for fresh ground pepper and the waitress brings me the mill; instead of grinding it for me but that’s ok I can do it myself. I grind and grind and nothing comes out; the mill was out of pepper! Didn’t she bother checking it out?
Then, the scallops arrive. I was excited but as soon as I cut one in half, a pungent smell of ammonia hit me! Two others had also ordered them and theirs also smelled of ammonia. I cars the waitress and told her; she just looked at me and went to get someone else. No apologies. The other waitress comes and I told her what was going on; she takes the plates and no apologies. She comes back a few minutes later and offers another dish; ordered the pan-​seared salmon. It was ok, at least it did not smell.
Clearly, the staff has absolutely no manners especially in a place like Vail where everything costs a pretty penny.
Not going back.

Delicious, rich tapas. Lots of options to choose from and I would say something for everything. They have a lot of wine choices that are also displayed in a cool wine case. The cocktails are good. The service was really slow and the table was awkwardly large so the server had to reach over everyone to refill waters, etc. It’s in a hotel and the bathroom is pretty far away from the restaurant (compared to most restaurant bathrooms). There did seem to be a child care room down the hall — unsure if this was open to hotel guests only or restaurant patrons in general.

We have visited this place twice now. Both times the service was expectational. The wine is always great. The tapas are fantastic. We will return to this place if we come to Vail again for our family ski trip. Every time we visit Vail, we review Unilocal,and I feel any negative reviews are really people being too critical. When we came to dinner, they were already aware of a birthday for one our guests, and not only provided him with a free dessert, but the chef sent us home with brownies for the family.

Leonora, in the Hotel Sebastian, is a great restaurant with tasty food, although service was a bit lacking.
I recommend starting with drinks at Frost bar downstairs. It has a fun vibe and plays good music. At Leonora, sharing tapas (small plates) is a great way to go. We especially enjoyed the raw salmon, pulpo, shishito peppers, ceviche, and salad with apples.
Our only issue was the service which was erratic and sometimes forgot us for long periods of time.

Wow, who is writing reviews of 5 stars here? Honestly, the only thing I was going to order off this menu (which is a disaster) was the burger. I think the intention of the place is to come across sophisticated and upscale, but they really didn’t get anything right. Down to the waiter not understanding our likes/​dislikes and giving us a lecture on what we should have on the menu. Couldn’t get out fast enough. Further, the «truffle fries» were OK, just OK. 5-​Guys has them beat by a mile, as does McDonald’s.
In fairness, the burger was good, the plating was good, and despite the difficulties we had an ok time. 2 stars, no more.

Very confused with the reviews here. Very.
If you aren’t a little thrown off at your seating from the size of your wine glass, let alone saddened by the pittance pour you later receive, then perhaps it was just our «really» response. As in… really?! Surely it gets better from here.
It didn’t. The food was drenched in salt. Being 8,000 ft in the air, the idea of purposely dehydrating someone with that amount of salt is borderline cruel.
We had the brussel tapas to start. We honestly thought it was just a dish that wasn’t a particular «hit» for the chef. Surely, better things would come. It’s also a dish that is missing the other half. Order one and you’ll see what I mean.
We then had the gnocchi, which was in a bath of oil. A bath! Salty oil to boot. Another miss on what’s usually a safe food play.
My wife had the seafood soup (may have been called something more fancy) and for the first time in 8 years she sent back a meal. Bland, without any «power,» and shy of any notable highlights. She opted for the shrimp flatbread instead, which was a salty mediocrity at best.
Love tapas, love Vail, do not love this place and am at a loss with the reviews. Biggest 4-​star miss we have yet had with Unilocal.
Sorry, folks. This just isn’t worth the dollars or time.

This was one of several restaurants my wife and I tried during our week in Vail. Food was decent, service was great, but unfortunately it paled in comparison to everywhere else we ate. We tried the octopus, curried cauliflower, and fried olives for appetizers. The cauliflower was delicious, the octopus was cooked perfectly but we weren’t crazy about the sauce and accompaniments, and the olives were a miss. I had the lamb, which was prepared well, but nothing memorable.
The punchline is at this price point and below there are better options in Vail.

Beautiful establishment with an amazing wine list! We had a party of 8 that was taken care of very well. The lamb filet, duck, and lobster entrees were perfect. All appetizers were lovely. Beignets are a must for dessert! This will be a pricey meal, but it is worth the splurge!
Only word of advice… Stay away from the paperadelle. Its an underwhelming butter noodle dish with some filberts thrown on top to make it seem like an adult meal. ²⁄₈ people that ordered this were very disappointed. I was obviously not one of them, so 5 stars!

Had a fantastic meal here last night. Located in the swank Hotel Sebastian (was told FLOTUS and her girls stayed here last year) this restaurant is newly branded with the Chef from Terra Bistro — so no wonder it was delicious.
The room is beautiful and comfy. Front desk staff was attentive and our server Charlie rated a ten, easily.
We had lobster, scallops, pasta and greens. Greens, typically a bit overpriced and dull even at the best restaurants, were note worthy. A huge bowl with a thin slice of yummy cheese as garnish and exceptional dressing had a remarkable variety of vegetation, including kale — like every leaf was hand picked.
Didn’t touch the bread but it looked made in house and disappeared.
Scallops looked nicely done — the portion a good size. Pasta with a poached egg in a unique sauce got gobbled up by two of us. Lobster tail entrée was a small, lady sized portion with spinach gnocchi in an amazing butter sauce with hot peppers and garlic. I avoid butter sauces always but this was so perfectly done I wanted every drop.
Considering going back to the bar for tapas. Ditto the two other hotel bars, both of which looked amazing.

I would have never known that Leonora existed if it weren’t for Unilocal.I was searching for a hidden gem where I could escape the crowds. Lo and behold, I found Leonora. And it certainly is hidden, the front desk agent even insisted on escorting us there. Apparently people get lost, well, maybe not if you enter the back way but whatever.
It was quiet the night that we went but the atmosphere is lovely and it was nice to relax in a quiet place after a long day’s work. We started with the scallop crudo which was light and refreshing. My friend ordered the calamari, which was the absolute best calamari I’ve ever had. Light, delicate and not even remotely greasy. I usually don’t care much for calamari but I couldn’t stop eating these. So good. For dinner, I had the halibut, which was very good as well.
The standout of the evening for me was the sommelier. He made a visit to our table, sat down and chatted with us for awhile about different types of sherry. He even brought us a few tasters so that we could choose the perfect one for us. I really liked that he took the time to find out what we were looking for and even give us some background on our choices. It put a personal touch on the service which I liked.
I would definitely go back to Leonora. Especially if I’m looking for a peaceful evening.

I agree, this place is really a hidden gem. We’ve eaten here twice late at night and the staff really does care. The sous chef came out a couple of times and we really enjoyed talking with him. They really care about their food. We had a big sampling the first time from the wagyu beef to their amazing risotto with summer truffles to their Colorado cherry dessert. Loved each one and took lots of photos.
Plus they have a terrific wine list. We went a second time and it was just as nice. Coming at 9PM on a weekday during the summer is like having your own staff. And like the rest of the Sebastian, they are super friendly and geniuine. Can’t wait to try the winter menu!
The ambiance by the way is wonderful. It is built around a glass enclosed circular wine cellar and beautiful appointments. Wonderful and romantic.