Media Grill + Bar

I had a great experience at the Media Bar + Grill. A colleague and I made reservations for a lunch meeting during a trade show (Wireless Infrastructure Show). We were immediately seated, and the waiter remember my colleague’s name from his dinner there the night before. Service was expedient and excellent, the food was great (a bit overpriced for a burger but that’s to be expected).
I highly recommend making a reservation during busy events — while waiting I saw plenty of people turned away with a 1 – 2 hour expected wait time.
I disagree with other comments about the staff — everyone was more than curious, and the greeter at the door was very enthusiastic, polite and professional. He made everyone leaving the restaurant laugh and greeted everyone with a smile and a handshake.
Overall, this is a go-​to in my book if you’re staying at the Hilton Anatole or happen to be attending an event. Not the type of place to go to just-​because — the hotel charges $ 13-​$ 25 for self parking and $ 23 for valet.

Server kept insisting we couldn’t order and the chef told us otherwise. The bartender was very rude when we tried to order. So we asked our server for food and he was also very rude. We finally got someone who was willing to take our order. I have worked in the restaurant industry for 5 years and this is not how a customer should be treated. Very disappointed. I will not be coming back, maybe you will have better luck.

This review will be similar to the others, the service… if you can call it that… is pretty awful. We sat at the bar with about 7 total people, all besides us already had drinks, and we were blatantly ignored. We were greeted by a bar back who said the bar tenders were in a meeting and gave us waters and told us he told the bar tenders we were there. They walked past us and checked on every other person besides us and the other bar tender was counting his tips. We ended up just leaving. too bad because we were gonna buy a nice bottle of champagne. Not sure what happened but they saw us and decided we weren’t good enough to serve, even though we were dressed nice.

This review doesn’t reflect the pricing as everyone should hopefully be aware that you’ll always pay a surcharge for anything inside a Resort Hotel, Hotel, Motel, BnB, heck even a brothel if that’s your cup of tea. No judgment over here.
However I’MA have to pull a Kanye and throw an erratic «ya hear me» because the service here is horrible.
Every person who seemed to be affiliated with the restaurant was just very unprofessional. From service rolling their eyes, our servers at different times and eats forgetting to check up on us, and blatantly making comments, under the breath and backhanded remarks, if we understood gratuity would be included and such.
Gratuity for parties of 6+ is something I’ve grown up with as I have four siblings alone. (My parents didn’t believe in televisions I’m guessing lol) We were dressed nicely as we went shopping at the various malls and such and wanted a late bite. It wasn’t even a –don’t judge a book by it’s cover– moment, so it was very disappointing to have this perception impressed onto us. (We still tipped additional because tips are their livelihood btw)
My family, including myself, are very patient as many of us have at one point in our lives been in the service industry. We’re fully aware that establishments may be understaffed or backed up. But… when we are the only consumers dining and the staff is conversing in a huddled position (think the water hole in Lion King) when we’ve kindly asked for a refill of our waters and alcoholic drinks is just crazy to me.
Another incident was how it took a while when wanting to enjoy drinks around 8:30pm on a separate occassion. We wanted to sit in the lounge area as we knew it turned into a 21+ area once it turned 10:00pm. That’s an 1.5 hour turnaround for a table that simply wanted to order a few bottles of wine and additional beverages. We were literally handed off to multiple servers until my Dad luckily showed up and they realized he had a «Platinum Status» with Hilton due to an earlier tab he opened at the bar.
The food is decent don’t get me wrong but it’s not anything that can make up for the lack of optimism, professionalism, and just plain common courtesy from the staff. Staying at the Anatole was the best option for us as we had a family holiday trip during Thanksgiving and we all needed to stay at the same place. Think Madea’s Family Reunion (Hispanic Edition). It really is a beautiful hotel and that was an awesome ⁴⁄₅ star rating (review to soon come).
Media Grill + Bar is one of the few options that is open late and has a great general location within the resort for everyone to meet up. There is plenty of seating that is extended into the resort lobby and inside with lounge, bar, and table options.
I will say this place is nicely set up and the décor is decent. Tons of wood furnishings and leather seating. I really enjoyed the lounge area with the tv’s built into the wall. It was great getting to seat with everyone and envision we were all at a true lounge with my Grandmother and all.
Welp lesson learned and noted. Hope this ended on a positive note by highlighting the positive. Cheers!

Very nice layout with a thumping center bar area and another area to watch sports on multiple tvs. The dining area thankfully was located away from the commotion on a pseudo patio that faces the hotel lobby.
The only vegetarian entrée, the black pepper tofu, did not seem to appealing so I went with a veggie burger with guacamole which tasted fine. The shoestring fries that accompanied it was luke warm though. I also tried the cream of broccoli soup which had the right amount of richness. Overal, the food was typical of the average fancy hotel restaurant.

hilton anatole is a huge hotel and deserves a real bar vs. some shitty hotel bar that closes at 11pm. media grill & bar fits that need, and is open every night until 2am. media is fancier, but since you are in hotel, it’s not like that should be intimidating… there will be plenty of poorly dressed business men in the bar. enough craft beers to make most happy. pours are just average, but i’m told the fancier cocktails are tasty. plenty of large TVs to catch the big game, including a huge one on the wall with lounge seating right in front.
square bar in center of space with a stone bar top with awesome padded bar face. center of bar includes bottle shelves and TVs. service is above average. various seating options that surround the bar.
though i’d recommend either starting or ending your night here, i could understand hanging here most of the night to watch the game, then stumble up to room. would love to give media 3.5 stars.

We had a bite to eat here after checking in to the hotel the night before leaving for vacation. It wasn’t very busy, but it still felt as if the service was a bit slow. The menu lacks more familiar staples found at most restaurants, especially when it comes to children. We did enjoy our food, it was ok, just ok. There really are not any restaurants near enough to walk to. No other places nearby to go to, so this had to do. The staff was nice enough and were able to accommodate our requests. Located in the Atrium of the Hilton Anatole, fun people watching.

Standard food… Had the fish tacos which were the same fish tacos you would get at any restaurant. The low score is due to the massive amount of fruit flies around the bar where I sat. Key indicator of a dirty bar. Staff was nice and friendly… However they never asked why I was swating at my food all night. Beer was… Cold.

I ate at Media while attending Dallas market week. The first night I had the burger and it was ok. The next night I had the lettuce wraps and they were great. It is a good choice if you want something tasty and light. My last night at the Anatole I was starving! I looked at the menu and did not see what I wanted and I told my waiter Triet I just wanted a big fat steak with potatoes and vegetables. He said «I will make it happen for you honey, I’ll get you ribeye». The service at this hotel has been great and this was the best meal I have had at a restaurant in quite a while and I am picky because I can cook my ass off. Triet was a wonderful waiter and really made my experience great. The Hilton Anatole is a classy place. If you are heading to Dallas give it a try.

Cool spot if you’re lounging around or staying at the Anatole to come grab a quick drink and bite to eat. I loved sharing some nachos with a nice bold glass of malbec. Aside from that it is mostly bar food with a few more upscale options. Our waiter was a bit hit or miss. It would have been nice to have more attentive service. But I like the dark atmosphere and there are a few tv screens to watch the game. I would probably return if I was in the area just to walk around the lovely hotel and kick back a bit.

I strongly don’t recommend the Media Burger here. It’s basically a thin frozen patty they thaw out. The fries are nothing to brag about either.
The drink menu is fine, as well as the service. But if you want a «good» meal, keep looking.

food was definitely not spectacular. we ordered maybe 5 or 6 plates. the only thing that was enjoyable was the lettuce wraps. the rest of it, we ate as… substance. just to get something in our system because we were starving by then.
overall, i’m really disappointed with the food offerings in this beautiful hotel.

Media Grill was an overpriced disappointment, as is too often the case with large hotel restaurants that take advantage of captive conventioneers.
The menu was much shorter than I expected. Portions were much smaller than I expected.
I ordered the beef short rib entrée, which was alleged to have a chimichurri sauce.
I would have to say that it was not chimichurri (which I have enjoyed many times) but more like a random green sauce ruined by adding Vinegar. Well I hope it was vinegar and not just rancid oil or bacteria. I scraped it off the meat.
My colleague said his dish was «just OK».
Another hotel guest told me the Media Burger was good, so that is what I will try if I go back during my stay.
Good thing that we sat near the outside edge of the place, right off the atrium, because when I explored the bar and the rooms in the rear later on, the noise level was a major turnoff.
The selection of beers was fine.

A friend and I stopped by here for a quick lunch before a conference and found the food to be pretty average hotel/​bar food — underseasoned and overpriced. I did really enjoy the décor of the restaurant, which was very modern and had a panel of mirrors in the entire back wall. Service was decent as well, but alas, the food was just okay.
I ordered the shrimp spring rolls as an app — they were nice and crisp and came in a decent portion size, but I couldn’t really appreciate the shrimp flavor. The mango dipping sauce was probably its most redeeming quality. My friend ordered the chicken tortilla soup as a starter and it was also lacking flavor and wasn’t as cheesy or thick as I would have liked. We both ordered the fish tacos as an entrée, which looked better than they tasted. Loved the nice big chunks of avocado but I don’t think the fish itself had been seasoned at all, and I had to add a good amount of salt, pepper, and lemon to make it not bland. I ended up eating most of it with the mango dipping sauce that came with my shrimp spring rolls actually.
Overall, I was quite underwhelmed by the food for the price we paid.

I was staying at the Anatole and ended up eating here a couple of times. Let me cover the following, atmosphere, service & food.
Atmosphere:
For a hotel restaurant not bad — although it was a bit «crowded» in the lower area in the back. The bar was fine and on some of the evenings the bar was very «energetic» and fun. But like many hotel restaurant/​bars the restrooms are a good walk to get to which is a pain.
Service:
Our service was pretty good, they were pretty prompt and provided us the basics, telling what they had and so forth. None of the servers made me think «wow» on either occasion.
Food:
The food was tasty but the portions were a bit on the small side. The only issue I saw was the menu is very limited and I struggled to eat there twice in a row and not end up with the same thing.
Overall it was OK as a restaurant/​bar but better than average for a hotel restaurant/​bar. If I stay there again I may eat there one of the nights if I need to stay close.

I agree that Media Grill + Bar has good food for a hotel restaurant. However, it has the typical issues of being overpriced and lacking in atmosphere.
I also was disappointed at how small the serving was on the fish tacos; I had to order a side dish to make it a reasonable dinner. I think it should have been on the appetizer portion of the menu.
I enjoyed a Texas beer sampler with five options and can’t complain about the drinks.

This bar was wonderful! I came to the Hilton Anatole for Akon, an animé convention. My boyfriend and I loved coming here for late night drinks and lunches! They have really good filet mignon, and it is even better if you substitute a side of garlic mash! Their garlic fries are also so delicious! And the cooks make a mean cup of hot cocoa! Definitely hit this bar up of you have time, the food and staff are outstanding! Dallas is definitely a friendly place!

The actual food was decent, solid, three star territory. Not bad for a sports bar at a mega-​hotel. The service is friendly but really, really slow and yet frantic. It took us almost 2 hours to have a meal in the bar area, when all we wanted was a quick dinner. One of my co-​workers actually called in her order to-​go, a very smart move.
Dishes ordered: tenderloin beef skewers = two slabs of fajita meat on sticks. Small size (very glad I didn’t offer to share) and a bit too much gristle to be true tenderloin. Call them fajita bites, it’s cool.
Dish 2: Bacon flatbread. What arrived was mushroom pizza, and for once, in my exhaustion, I said NO, BRING ME MORE MEAT. The waiter had ordered it correctly on the ticket, the kitchen just handed him the wrong one. About ten minutes later, I got some bacon pizza. Really good, actually. Covered in a layer of raw arugula (but I love salad), and sliced into nice portions. Polished the whole thing off.
Drink service was really slow, but our waiter did try to keep up. He refilled our waters, but after many minutes where we saw him handling all the other tables. Mega-​Hiltons need Mega-​Waiters. This place would be a great option for a second meal if we hadn’t all walked out in a daze of having wasted two hours for about 10 bites of food. Our co-​worker who was tending a 14 year old gal actually left at the beginning, as the menu was a little too complicated for teenage tastes.
So, think fancy bar bites, not deep fried wings and sides.

My mac and cheese had so little flavor, I sent it back. I sent back MACARONI AND CHEESE. I eat Kraft shells and cheese, for crying out loud. I feel like someone ran over my puppy. How does a restaurant screw up mac and cheese that badly?
That is Media in a nutshell. Horribly bland food, mediocre service on its best night, and the bizarre nightclub it turns into at night is just blasphemous.
BONUS:
The cauliflower side dish was very flavorful with almonds, dried fruit and spices.
And old guys in Dockers like to get down like no one is watching once Media turns on its party lights. It’s embarrassingly awesome.

Media Grill + Bar was my destination for both lunch and late night cocktails during a multi-​day conference at the Hilton Anatole. For on-​site dining in the complex, it is probably your best bet unless you are having a splurge meal at SER.
One part bar sports bar with large plasma-​screen TVs, one part café and one part dance club.
During my multiple visits, the best thing I ate was the Grilled Cheddar & Provolone Sandwich with a butternut squash bisque. The sandwich was a little heavy on the mustard, but otherwise a perfectly fine combo.
The bar and dance club is open until 2:00a, so it was typically the place folks would close out the night. If you were ready to party, you’d head to the Media Grill + Bar. But if you want to have an actual conversation and a more intimate venue, then the Gossip Bar is your best bet.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone comes here unless they are a guest or attending an event on-​site. But, it wasn’t a bad place to pass the time.