Signature Grill

Came here for a birthday staycation, and ate at Signature Grill the first night. Started with chips and guac with salsa which was ok but lacking in flavor. I was a bit apprehensive about how our entrees might come out given how underwhelming the appetizer was, but was not disappointed — AT ALL! The short rib was TO DIE FOR! The meat was tender and flavorful, the cauliflower and gouda grits tied the whole thing together, and when I was done I thought I might cry because I was so sad the experience was over… I think I will have dreams about how delicious that was! The server was very nice, and the view of Tucson at night was gorgeous.

We had a late dinner here when we stayed the night at Starr Pass. I usually try to avoid resort restaurants since they are in my opinion over priced and the food is never the greatest. This place is the perfect example of that. We got in late and were hungry so we decided to give this place a shot since we didn’t want to get in the car again after driving all day. The place was pretty empty except for a few tables dining al fresco. We chose a table inside. The restaurant itself is comfortable with a pleasant ambiance. We ordered a couple cocktails. They were overpriced and weak. I could not even tell I was drinking any alcohol at all. Not a good sign. We ordered some appetizers. I ordered the Chili Lime Shrimp Cocktail and my sweets ordered the Bacon Fat Steak Fries. My shrimp were huge and looked delish. To my surprise they were not flavorful at all. It didn’t even have that nice sweetness that shrimp have and the texture was funky. I think they were overcooked. They described the cocktail sauce as a bloody mary cocktail sauce. It was nothing special at all. Might as well been regular cocktail sauce. My sweets fries were tasty but the potatoes were undercooked. We both ordered steaks for dinner. My filet was cooked perfect and the sauce was ok. My baby carrots were ok and the potatoes were eh. I liked the heat to them though. I felt bad for our waiter for having to work in such a mediocre place. He was so friendly and personable. I would feel bad charging guests so much for such average, if not below average meals. I would never go back or recommend this place. Save your money and venture off the resort and support a family owned restaurant.

I’ve always been a fan of this restaurant during past visits to the resort.
This time however was a different experience. I was dining alone and wanted to unwind reading a book.
I was ushered to a great table with an excellent view of the pool with the mountains in the backdrop.
While waiting he got me a wonderful assortment of bread and breadsticks. However the nut crusted ones also had big full sized rock salt rendering each bite unbelievably salty. I was left with the choice of picking out the salt crystals by hand or just leaving them untouched so I chose the latter. As I was leaving the restaurant later, I overheard guests at another table take a bite of the pecan brittle bread and deem it too salty to eat as well!
My shrimp and bacon wrapped scallops entrée was brought out without much delay. The shrimp was perfectly cooked as were the scallops, the bacon was done just right with a good bite yet not too crispy. The accompanying veggies however were quite the disappointment. The potatoes were undercooked, the grilled jalapeños not seeded leaving me to individually clean them out unless I wanted to keep chugging down water between each bite. The final straw was that I happened to notice a fine hair on a slice of grilled onion. I stopped eating my meal halfway and brought this to the attention of my server who promptly removed the plate. He returned in a couple of minutes with apologies from the chef, said that it was on the house and simply left.
I was left at my table without any offer to bring out the menu (main or dessert) considering I might still be hungry having only eaten half my meal.
Sorely disappointed to say the least and will definitely try other restaurants at the resort before this the next time.

Great food and service. Sat at the bar and we had an amazing bartender who was very knowledgable and made great drinks. Best bartender at the resort! If you come here try to have Alex make you your drinks!

I was skeptical about eating at a hotel restaurant. But I was pleasantly surprised by the food and service. The Ahi tuna tacos appetizer and the churros for dessert were excellent. The bacon wrapped scallops and shrimp were very good. The kids buffet was ok. With two drinks each and tip, the bill was $ 170.

The only way I gave this place a 3^rd star is for the view on the patio seating. Food was «meh».

A friend and I went in for lunch today and ordered the guac and the veggie enchiladas with the green sauce. We told our server we’ll be sharing the enchiladas and she was kind enough to plate it on two separate plates for us. The guac wasn’t impressive at all. We asked for lemons on the side and once we added lemon juice it was okay –probably wouldn’t order it again though. The enchiladas were delicious! And I’m so glad we were sharing because the portion is huge for lunch. I usually hate black beans, but they were made so well in the enchiladas that I actually enjoyed them. The meal tasted so fresh and wholesome.
You have an option to sit indoors or outdoors at this place. We chose to sit outside and had a great view of the resort’s pool. I highly recommend this place whether you are staying at the resort or not.

Great breakfast spot, I really enjoy coming here on the weekends and hanging out on the patio. Place is dog friendly which is a huge plus. Kids under 5 eat free at the breakfast buffet as well, which is great when I go out with my friends who have children. Prices are a little high, but you are paying for the ambiance and the experience of a lazy saturday morning at the Starpass.

I haven’t been to signature grill since before the renovation. The updated décor looked very pleasing to the eye but I do miss seeing all the pastries in the front by the hostess stand which they had before the remodel .
okay, let’s get to the food … Sadly I was expecting a whole different menu because we checked the Marriott website and saw signatures menu on there. We were excited and hyped our selves for certain menu selections on our way to dinner but when we got to the table and reviewed the menu it came to our surprise that the menus were different. So, for a second we were disappointment but found other menu selections that caught our eye .
Bacon wrapped scallops and scrimp with grilled pineapple and calabacitas was … am-​azing !! I was perfectly cooked and the sweetness of the pineapple brought out flavors in the seafood .
My husband got lamb and scallops, he enjoyed it very much and stated it was cooked just right .
The issues we had with dinner were slight bit dull kinda bugged us … The menu needs to be updated on the website to prevent confusion, the table bread needs to simmer down on the salt. Way to salty, overload of salt and the Guacamole and chips appetizer needs more chips. Not enough. We left a glob of guacamole due to limited chips. Otherwise delicious meal !

Ordered the cheese plate and a glass of wine. Couldn’t have been more disappointed in both. Cheese plate only had 3 different types of cheese, one of which was, quite literally, pre-​cut jack cheese used for a sandwich (the triangular kind you buy in a pack at the market). Wine was mid-​priced and recommended by server. It ended up being pretty awful. Service was overall good though. Hugely overpriced for terribly low quality food.

HOLY AMAZING BREAKFAST BUFFET! Oh my gosh. I love buffets. Love them. And once I came here for breakfast during a conference at the JW Marriot Starr Pass, I was hooked. It’s pricey, so I just got the continental buffet. To my absolute great delight, this included not just the pastries, breads, cereals, nuts, seeds, and oatmeal, but also six different types of fruits (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and three kinds of melons when I was there in September) but also the SMOKED SALMON BAR! Endless smoked salmon, capers, sliced grape tomatoes, diced egg, onion… I was in complete heaven. Everything was fresh, the wait staff were friendly, and they’ve got a great patio overlooking the pools and mountains, although I only took advantage of this twice, as the rest of the time I wanted to be as close to that amazing buffet as possible. Oh yeah, the non-​breakfast buffet options were good, too– I went there for lunch once and enjoyed whatever it was that I had, which was not nearly as memorable as the AMAZING BREAKFAST BUFFET. I don’t suppose I mentioned that I liked the breakfast buffet? Yeah.

We were staying at the hotel and had dinner here. The kids buffet was great for them and they enjoyed the selection of items. The New York Strip and corn entrée that both my wife and I had was very good. The steaks were cooked to a perfect mid-​rare and the sauce was a perfect compliment to the steak. Though we are used to eating spicy food the corn’s aioli had a good lick to it. The only down side to our visit was the only adequate service, it took a little too long for refills on our drinks. Overall, a pleasant experience.

When looking for a nice little stay-​cation, Starr Pass is always a treat to escape the dog days of summer. We usually come for a night or two every summer.
This time we decided to give the Signature Grill a try for dinner. Had the white sangria (too sweet for my taste, nothing special), a beer and started with a Knife and Fork salad split into two portions. Butter lettuce, blue cheese, tomatoes and bacon made for a tasty dinner start. Then my husband and I split a burger (over cooked a bit but still okay, again nothing too special). Our daughter ordered the salmon off the children’s menu. Pretty ample sized portion for a kid’s item. She said it was pretty good.
Now comes the best part… dessert.
Ready?
Get the churros! Don’t hesitate. Just do it. Wow, crispy pillows of delicious air filled fluff. Served with a Mexican chocolate sauce, a fruit compote and coffee crunch ice cream (delicious in itself).
We also had the roasted pineapple crème brûlée which also was a delightful treat. Creamy, not too sweet and a yummy flavor of fresh pineapple that you don’t see often.
Service was attentive and friendly.

Definitely a 5 star restaurant! Everything was AMAZING! The service was great to boot!

Overwhelmingly disappointed. I’m at a loss of words. Service was alright…, but the food was really sad. Flavorless steak and burned scallops with a cafeteria risotto.

Hostesses were very friendly and accommodating! Jonathan was our server, we had a party of 7, he was awesome. Food was mediocre. Small portions. I had a chicken sandwich. It was good but dry, would have been better with cheese. My husband had a chorizo omelet that was tiny!
Local beers were excellent! I had the amber ale.

The chipotle chicken salad Is delicious! The outdoor seating is highly recommended. You can’t go wrong with the view. Came back for breakfast and dinner, both times the service and food was excellent! Fresh and tasteful! !

If you’re staying at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa (good lord that’s a mouthful), you won’t want (or need) to step foot off their beautiful property. Okay, okay, definitely go into the city because it’s fantastic and you’ll find really amazing local businesses. BUT, if you don’t feel like driving down, I assure you that you’ll find lovely food, drinks, and ambiance right here at the Signature Grill.
The Signature Grill is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s a pretty huge restaurant located downstairs (same level as the wondrous patio), and you can sit inside or outside. I happily sat outside to enjoy the breeze and mild weather during both of my visits. For my first meal here, I ordered the large pozole (which really isn’t that large), but it’s definitely delicious. The flavors are bold, with a nice and subtle heat, and no lack of meat. Heh, a pozole haiku by Kendall.
The next day I enjoyed a lovely breakfast here at the Signature Grill. Hash browns, two eggs over medium, bacon, and a side of fruit. It wasn’t the most incredible dish in the world, but the portions were perfect and I seriously ate every bite. They also brought around these adorable little granola/​yogurt/​fruit parfaits in tiny mason jars. I didn’t eat any because I have to eat GF, but it was a lovely and thoughtful gesture that just makes you feel even more welcome.
This is a hotel restaurant you guys, duh, so it’s going to be pricey. Definitely overpriced, I’d say. $ 14-​$ 17 for a basic breakfast plate, $ 12 mimosas!!, $ 10 for a large bowl of soup that isn’t exactly large, $ 17 for lunch tacos, $ 15 shrimp cocktail appetizer, and about $ 30 for a dinner entrée. The food is good, yes, but expect your meal to be costly. You better sit outside to cash in on the gorgeous view.

So recently I learned that the JW’s Signature grill frequently hosts special classes on food and wine pairing (every Saturday). They also have other events throughout the year that focus on a variety of pairings. I attended the Kentucky Bourbon pairing «class». Sounds like fun, right? Well, it was a blast, and I plan on going back for more of these events in the future.
This class was lead by the head/​master bartender who very enthusiastically imparted knowledge upon us. When I first walked in and saw the glasses I thought «hmmm that’s not a whole lot», however, after the 2 out of 5 of the tasting glasses I started to wonder if I would be able to finish the flight. We walked through how to appreciate the color and aroma and then how to taste the different flavor notes in the bourbons.
Then we moved on to pairing the bourbon with food. Each round was carefully paired with a creation by the head chef. The bourbons went from light/​sweet/​simple to dark and complex. To start of we had a mushroom seared beef tenderloin with stilton blue cheese and gaufrette potato. The meat was extremely tender and the strong bold cheese was accepted and broken down by the bourbon selected.
The second, and my favorite, was the pecan crusted scallop with ginger orange cream, chives and arugula. The scallop was perfectly cooked and the creaminess/​brininess contrasted well with the earthy, nutty, crunchiness of the pecans. For me, the bourbon brought out the peppery aspect of the arugula and the nuttiness of the pecans. This was my favorite pairing.
Next we had a piloncillo braised pork with picked shallots on a jalapeño biscuit (basically a really fancy pulled pork sandwich). Needless to say it was awesome and a classic pairing with bourbon. It’s something I would definitely order.
Next we had a NY steak and beet skewer with goat cheese, which was good, but not being a steak fan I didn’t appreciate it as well as everyone else did. We ended with a sweet savory dish of serrano ham wrapped fig with grilled peach and maple syrup. I loved the not-​overly-​sweet ending, and it paired well with the strongest and most complex bourbon of the day.

This place was packed due to it being Labor Day weekend. It was almost as expensive as Primo, yet it was way more crowded. The setting is not very intimate. There were kids running everywhere and playing. The patio of Signature Grill gave a great view for kids to wave at their friends down below close to the pool. So, is this place family friendly? It sure seems so!
I’ll try to be brief. My hubby and I got to skip the 20 – 30 minute wait if we sat at the bar, so we did. On the plus side, we got to watch U of A play Toledo and beat them in their season opener. The bartender was our server, so he definitely had his hands full making all the drinks for the restaurant, and taking our orders in the bar. Despite these circumstances, he kept his cool and was very friendly. He even offered to make a special martini for me since the jalepeno martini was a bit much for me, and I was going to order a champagne peach drink.
The grilled swordfish was good. I ordered it because I didn’t want to be a lemming and order the same Paella dish as my hubby, which looked and tasted better. I really liked the swordfish, but I should not have been stubborn and ordered what I really wanted which was the Paella. The pork posole soup was good as well. (We each had a cup of the pork posole as an appetizer).
I cannot remember what I ordered for dessert. Is that bad?
I guess the point is. Our bartender/​server was really nice and attentive. The food was good. I just don’t think anything really stood out as really memorable, and typically being a self-​proclaimed foodie, I remember these things.