A big city modern American restaurant in lil ol' Elkhart. Impeccable service and cuisine. From the moment you enter you feel taken care of. They pull out all the stops to make sure every step of service is perfect. Warm and knowledgeable wait staff provide every comfort available from bread service to fresh silverware for each course. They perfectly time every course to your speed and preference. For the level of service provided it never feels stuffy. You feel at home in what could otherwise be a stiff atmosphere at other restaurants. The ever changing menu is tantalizing, tasty, and beautifully presented. The cocktail program would please any palate, and the wine selection is staggering. Easily the best meal around. read more

My husband and I had a "fancy" date night last night, we were celebrating an early anniversary. I just have to say that this place did not disappoint!! The lil extras they do are meaningful and thoughtful! We had such an amazing meal and the dessert!! OMGOODNESS!!!! The chocolate cherry mousse was so delicious! Thank you Brad and your amazing team D&J read more

Great experience great food and drink. Highly recommended it to anyone in the Elkhart area! Planning on returning here soon!

Great evening at Essence. Always impressed with the menu and the presentation. Jorge was a great server with attention to detail.

Recently I went to Essence for dinner. Leta start with the hostess, absolutely a delight. I accidentally made reservations for a Tuesday and walked in on Friday night thinking my reservations was for 645pm. She was so sweet called over Brad ( the owner, which I had no clue) and he did some rearranging and got us in at 7:45. We walked over had a drink at Brass elk till we could get seated. Once we came back they sat us , offered to hang our coats, and explained the menu, apologized that our waitress would be a few mins and offered us drinks to hold us over till she could make it to the table. One of the best parts was she informed us of where the bathroom was also. Brad the owner bopped around talking with the tables but never to long, helped with napkins, food / drinks being served and was an absolute pleasure. He helped make the experience even more enjoyable. Our waitress was absolutely amazing! Very informative and helpful with the pairing of the meal with drinks. I was at all with how down to earth the restaurant was with such class and professionalism. Then the food comes out!! What can I say but heaven in my mouth! The potstickers was perfect, best crabcakes I have ever had! The steak cooked perfectly and melted into my mouth. My tastebuds were dancing I swear! We did get dessert to go and the presentation of mine was speechless, it looked just like an apple , but it was white chocolate filled with apple crumble and something else. But wow!! Brad came and laughed with us and razzed us a bit which again was great to see the owner put in that much work and to balance things very well. He even greeted us as we came in and said goodbye as we walked out. The whole staff worked as a team, from bringing everything out to making sure we had a great experience. I highly recommend going here and enjoying the food. The menu changes often, which makes it even more desirable to return. read more

Essence Restaurant + Bar - New American Near Me - Elkhart, Indiana

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The best ambiance and dining experience around. Delightful staff and atmosphere. Elegance and relaxing.

How lucky are we to have such a high caliber restaurant in our area! Everything from the delightful, taste sensations of the menu to the top notch and intelligent servers and hosts/hostesse, and the gorgeous decor, you just feel special when you are at Essence! So special in fact, we wen back again, and ag, lol! I highly recommend the Japanese sweet potatoes and it's just Chilean Seabass! And 100% get dessert! Absolutely delightful! read more

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Recently opened, menu is still being adjusted/created. Nicely redone interior from the preceding establishment. Fine dining atmosphere, but less formal than Artisan, for example. Excellent drink menu, wine list, spirits. I tried their watermelon mixed drink, and it was great. We had oyster Rockefeller as an app (first time I've ever tried this), which were excellent, flavorful. My wife had carbonara, which she said was very creamy, excellent, better than most others she's had. I had the halibut, with a clementine beurre blanc, duckfat potatoes, grilled fennel. Amazing flavors, halibut was prepared perfectly, not overdone like it easily can be. Dessert was sticky toffee pudding, walnut ice cream, caramel sauce. Also amazing! I was unable to get a reservation, as they are still understaffed, and working on getting up to full service. The owner, Brad C., was on the floor, at the door, in the kitchen (they have an open kitchen, you can watch the food being prepared), helping serve. For all that, he was still happy to chat, welcome guests. He was able to get us seated (at the bar) as we arrived, though. Service was outstanding from all the staff we encountered, particularly the two bartenders who were our primary servers. An excellent choice for fine dining, and definitely will go back, though probably for special occasions, as it was a bit pricey, like most fine dining places are. read more

We all had such an EXTRAORDINARY experience at Essence! Not only was the menu deliciously diverse with choices but the food was presented to each of us so beautifully. Our dishes were absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS and prepared perfectly. The owner and the staff went ABOVE and BEYOND making us feel at home and cared for. From the very moment we entered the restaurant we were greeted by people who clearly found JOY in OUR JOY!(IF you know / you KNOW!) If you have not yet had the opportunity to dine at Essence I whole-heartedly recommend you treat yourself and make a reservation asap. We sincerely cannot wait to go back for more! read more

Where do I begin? I could honestly rate this place higher than a five. From the second we entered we felt as if they were waiting for our arrival. From the hand picked table for us in front of the fire place, the professional and exquisite service, the food to the dessert- EVERYTHING exceeded our expectation. It did not feel as if we were in Elkhart, Indiana, but somewhere with a downtown feel. The entire menu with our chosen courses was a culinary experience. We highly recommend and can't wait to go back again. Congratulations to Brad and his team! read more

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Went here about a month after it opened and was very impressed. The drinks were very good and the menu, which is still experimental was also very good. The best thing we had was the barbecued carrot appetizer. Service was outstanding as well. One quick note, please update the restaurant name to Essence** on yelp! read more

Soft music, excellent food selection fresh decor, amenable to talking, trained and energetic servers, full bar with creative drinks. Would definitely go again. Name is Essence Restaurant + Bar. read more

Incredibly good food. Fun, friendly staff. Exceptionally attentive service. Classy yet hip, decor. read more

Had our anniversary dinner here tonight and it did not disappoint. Everything was superb, from the service to the food to the cocktails. One of the best meals we've had around here. Highly recommend and we will most definitely be back! read more

Food is spectacular! Service is exemplary! And the ambiance is very nice as well, not to mention an impressive bourbon list. We will certainly be making this a regular stop! read more

The food was excellent I had some Chilean Sea Bass fish my piece was so small I was shocked how small it was 3 bites And My fish was gone If I go back I won't order the fish again I didn't say anything because we were with our friend the service is excellent and nice cozy place read more

Amazing taste. Small portions enough to get full but not stuff you. Oysters were top notch. Very clean and smooth. Friendly staff. Good atmosphere. Definitely recommend on a date night or out with the girls. read more

Great food, amazing service, unique drinks and food dishes you can't find any where else! Always a pleasure, and always something new to try! Can't recommend enough! read more

The best thing in Elkhart. Great food. Incredible staff. Fantastic experience. Wonderful ambience. Great job Brad and Juan.

The food was excellent, service was the best we've had in a long time and the atmosphere was perfect for the occasion. We couldn't have felt more welcome and taken care of. We will definitely be back!! read more

Excellent food, service, and drinks... burrata was delicious for an appetizer. Wagyu Wellington and pinwheel lasagna were spot on. Fun drink menu and everyone ... server, hostess, bartender were a delight. Brad was everywhere ensuring a good experience. Cheers! We will be back. Reservations are highly recommended! read more

Excellent food and great service, we had a large party and they did a great job handling everything.

We arrive at 5:00 pm. There was only two customers at the bar. We were told, do to the prom they wasn't any tables available and also we could not order dinner until 6:30 as the kitchen couldn't provide dinner until then. Way to go for the first impressions. When my husband and I started our business we did any and everything to make a potential customer happy. It was beautiful inside and the owner was nice however I would not make this an impulse hey honey let's go out to dinner place. Make sure to make reservations. read more

We had a wonderful meal and all around experience. Food was great and the service was perfect. Brad is a great host!

Absolutely the best dining experience I e had in the Michiana area. The food was superb, the staff friendly and attentive and the atmosphere was great. read more

We selected this restaurant to celebrate our anniversary and it was the best decision. As soon as we sat down they poured us champagne that we didn't ask for along with a sweet hand written card on our table. We knew this was going to be a great evening! First off the ambiance was fantastic. Very elegant yet fun. We started our meal with BBQ carrots and the Brussels bruschetta. Both of which were creative and delicious. We would order them again in a heartbeat. Next we ordered the rib-eye fettuccine and the Wellington. Both had layers of flavor and again we would order on our next visit. Lastly we planned to order two desserts as this was our first time at the restaurant and it was our anniversary. Our sweet waitress stated our one dessert would be covered by them for our celebration (so sweet!) and when she brought her desserts out she brought out a third (we were debating between two when we were ordering). It was the sweetest gesture and made us feel so special. The owner of the restaurant stopped by multiple times and acknowledge our anniversary and made small talk. What is also so fun and exciting is the rotating menu. Overall we would recommend this restaurant and you have to check it out! We will be back! read more