The Ritz-carlton - St. Louis

I love this place. Chef really outdid herself this year. The sauces for the prime rib (some kind of wine sauce) and ham (wow that cherry sauce were out of this world. Wonderful food, gracious servers (every year I thank them for working on Christmas so that people like me can eat out and they unfailingly say, it is my pleasure It used to be open for Sunday brunch but no longer. We have been going for Christmas brunch for at least years. My ONLY issue is that the front desk always seems to be disorganized and a bit dismissive. I have never been seated earlier than minutes after my reservation time. One year they brought us a glass of sparkling wine while we waited which was quite gracious and appreciated. This year they told us there would be a minute wait (we knew that would be light as the people ahead of us were the to our and still not seated--front desk woman was not very apologetic. What is more irritating is I had to check back with them after I saw another couple get seated as they walked up. people at the front desk then looked at us, started talking to one another as I walked up to ask why we were not seated and viola, a table was ready. I don't think it's malicious, just wildly disorganized. I will be back next year because it's such a great experience once you get seated. Please play Christmas or jazz or something dinner-like or bring back the piano player!

I'm ambivalent about recommending it. The ambience in the grill is lovely. Fire burning in the fireplace was quite appealing. But for the price, the food quality was not up to expectations from a visit to the Ritz.

While the staff at the Ritz Carlton was top notch and the dining room very pretty and elegant, the breakfast buffet, overall was disappointing. It was an upgraded hotel breakfast' with an omelet station and cooked to order waffles but not worth the we payed. I have been to many Sunday brunch experiences at high end hotels and I guess, my expectations were not met. They had assorted small pastries that were rock hard...obviously not fresh. The mini chocolate croissants and sticky buns were not edible. The fruit was good. The omelet was good. The bacon and potatoes were okay. Obviously not freshly made and something you would see at a lower quality hotel.

Our service was slow. I’ve been several times before and never experience a slow server. The restaurant wasn’t that busy

Beautiful surroundings and well prepared food for a surprisingly reasonable price.