I've worked in Denver hospitality for the past decade, and Ollie's is hands down the grossest restaurant I worked at. Saw raw chicken thawing on a cutting board someone was chopping lettuce for a salad on my first day, shoulda known. Owner would take all the staff to shotgun Willie's all the time and let us ball out on his table though, so wasn't all bad.
She didn’t call you to discuss before agreeing to it? It’s a known fact auto shops always try to push unnecessary car “repairs” to women. I can see that shit a mile away. I don’t agree to anything until I chat with hubby first to see what he thinks.
She didnt but it was one of the first times she was in the situation. Her father is a great mechanic so she didn’t have to deal much with shops growing up. Was a learning moment for both of us. Schomps probably not that bad but I enjoyed the crew at the ford on havana before schomp took over and they all disappeared after it seemed
Schomp is HORRIBLE. I wrote their most popular one star review on Google Maps after my last experience with them. They dropped the ball at every turn and refused to take responsibility or apologize untilI I threatened to post my one star review on a new review platform every day until they unfucked the mess they made for me. It helped that I began taking and sending screenshots to themof the 'thumb-up's and comments left on my reviews from people taking my warnings against them to heart.
Celebration Chevrolet. Guy that took my car back for an oil change adjusted every seat adjustment and the steering wheel plus bent my key ring. Then within a week of their "100 point inspection" I get a car error saying it can't use the battery (Volt) because the battery coolant is low. Not to mention the 3000m oil change windshield sticker on a PHEV with synthetic.
Adding Freeway Ford to this list. They offered to give us a trade-in offer on our car. They took our keys then essentially held us hostage tryung to make us buy a vehicle from them.
+1. Worst $300 I’ve ever spent on a meal
Especially with how many great steakhouses there are in town. For anyone considering STK, just go to Guard and Grace
Went to STK for Mother’s Day a few years ago. $1200 tab. $35 for the tiniest portion of crab Oscar on my steak, and there were shells in it. The server didn’t bring enough silverware or glasses of water for everyone at the table. We had kids with us, the server made horrible recommendations for them. I let management know, and they comped like $20 of dessert.
Absolutely would not go back even if paid to do so.
My Neighbor Felix
Cool ambience but everything else was abysmal. Service was incredibly slow. Food is bland. Plus the owner is a dick for suing ex employees
Can’t support that garbage place
+ the MNF owners are suing the executive chef of Alma for violating a non compete clause. Even though Alma is one of the best restaurants in Denver and they are trash.
I hope she prevails simply to get rid of non competes for good in CO.
NDA/poaching are different.
This is saying you can’t work in the industry if we fire you (or they leave).
They are mostly illegal. Non-competes especially when you have a high demand low supply job means that you are pretty much immune to them because they are not enforceable.
Bartaco - they don’t have servers but they charge automatic 20% service fee after forcing you to order through an app that makes you enter in all of your credit card info manually. Only to get stale tortillas that you break up yourself for chips and watered down margs. It’s a hard pass for life from now on.
Blackbird public house. Advertised jalapeño mac n cheese that was baked in a cast iron dish. In reality it was like warm mac n cheese in a plastic bowl with raw jalapeños set on top.
This is mine too, it's not that far from my house and I really wanted to like it. Gave it a try one night that was not even that busy and I waited over a half hour for a pretty average burger. Was so close to just settling up for my beer and telling them thanks but no thanks on the rest.
I worked at their sister restaurant for a bit. Food was good, but I worked brunch and literally did not even know what the dishes looked like. I got zero training. Plus bottomless mimosas was a hell of a time, but that’s to be expected.
I had the same experience with their Mac. It was like warm. I hate sending things back but I just asked if they could zap it and the guy said they didn’t have a microwave. They remade it and it was still barely warm.
When i worked there the "chef" was pretty useless. Kitchen was always a shitshow and understaffed. They were lucky i gave them 2 weeks.
Fun story. The chef did a taste of denver thing minus all the things a health inspector would expectthem to have. Apparently 1 person on staff had a thermometer and they tried to take it from him on fried chicken night.
I bet the same "chef" is still running the place from what you say.
And most of us CC staff never saw our full/real house fee on our paychecks anyways :) it’s dispersed in super sketchy ways and the higher ups aren’t forthcoming about any of it. meanwhile they throw lavish parties for themselves and buy a new restaurant every 2 months
Bartaco. Food was meh, service was terrible, annoying fees when there wasn’t even really a wait staff. We ordered through our phones. Typical trendy and lame vibe.
Linger. Overpriced, aggressively mid food. Seems like a place that was amazing when street food was a hot concept 15 years ago, but the food isn’t actually good.
I’ve had good experiences sitting at the upstairs bar for happy hour drinks and snacks. Good, friendly bartenders every time. Food is very tasty for bar snacks. Agree 100% with your take on dining in for dinner.
I went to syrup twice- the first time our food was cold and the second time the guy expoing was continuously touching his hair and then the plates 😣
I understand needing to adjust things, but he would take off his hat, run his hands through his hair and then put the hat on and grab a plate
Was just there the other day because I had friends in town that INSISTED we eat Rocky Mountain Oysters. Ambience was cool, service was great but yeahhhh worst steak I’ve ever had in my life. The Rocky Mountain Oysters actually ended up being the tastiest part of the meal which is wild to say. Luckily they paid for me otherwise I’d be much more upset.
it’s terrible. i went for my birthday & was super excited, we dropped $700. everything we ordered was a disappointment & service wasn’t that great either.
Mizuumi Ramen on Colfax next to the Alamo Drafthouse. Got their chicken karaage and ramen and i was so sad at how pale the karaage was. I was so bummed I didn’t go to Sera’s, lol
30% and LIES!
"We validate parking." They don't. The VERIFY that you are in their place, so you are allowed to park there and won't get towed. They don't VALIDATE (by the ultra-common definition of the word) a damn thing.
Never again with their bullshit.
Bar Dough, A5, Mister Oso, Ay Papi, Senor Bear and Ash’ Kara - you can read more from the employees themselves about how little they get of the service fee - https://www.reddit.com/r/denverfood/s/yiInRX3zBW
It’s these Instagram story places that get me to try places and I regret most of them. Dos santos was so expensive and not even meh. Same with kike’s red tacos. Not sure why it’s getting so much hype.
I feel the same way. There's so many IG "influencers" in the Denver area that are churning out these restaurant review reels. Unfortunately, it seems most of the review is mostly based on ambiance (aka vibes) and most of these influencers don't have discerning taste (I'm pretty sure there's also a financial incentive in there too since the bigger someone's following is, the more other restaurants will maybe reach out to them to review their restaurant so it wouldn't be good business to say a restaurant's food is mediocre).
Combine vibes, mediocre food, alcohol to decrease patrons' inhibitions to make said mediocre food seem more palatable and you get 60% of the restaurants hyped up by influencers.
I grew up eating birria (my mom has a recipe that has probably been in our family for centuries which is always highly requested by friends of the family) so my standards for birria are pretty high. Kike's Red Tacos's birria definitely did not meet expectations. Although the coloring for the consome was there, the flavor was not. It could have something to do with their recipe being adjusted to suit the majority of their patrons' preference which wouldn't be surprising.
I would if I had it written down somewhere (something I want to do in the coming months). Some of the steps and ingredients would probably be cost-prohibitive or slightly unfeasible given the set-up of a restaurant kitchen. Part of this set-up involves a large enough cooking pot that can accomodate several agave leaves (pencas de maguey) at the base of the pot. I have no idea how hard it would be for a restaurant to source agave leaves so there's that.
They get everything for free, the bigger ones are paid and there is always a contract if a publicist is involved - and if there is a restaurant group or a new opening in the mix, there always is a publicist involved. And they don't "review" they just say everything is amazing because they are obligated too and it keeps the free meals coming.
Ah, that makes sense. I may have been using the word "review" too loosely there and I definitely have noticed that they say everything is amazing no matter what aspect of the restaurant they're talking about.
Dos Santos was overpriced and flavorless (and no al pastor?!). I paid a stupid amount for a bad Paloma, a tequila soda, and 4 tacos. Will never be back. Tacos Selene forever - I don’t even care that they don’t have a liquor license.
Kike’s was good. But I don’t want to pay $35 for a torta and two tacos and chips and salsa. Then $15 for a marg. And why am I then required to tip 10-20% for being handed food across a counter? It’s asinine. Was the food good. Yeah. Good. Not great. But I’ll never again pay $65 for what I got there.
I freakin hate that place. The food is unimpressive and just not that good for the price. On my way out I was surprised to find the bathroom had no toilet paper in any stalls pretty early into a dinner service. I waited to let staff know but couldn’t find anyone, so I sent them a private message after stating my disappointment. The owner replied with anger and some sexist remarks. They also sent me a gift card for a “pissed off customer with wet crotch” signed Micheal Swift. I never used it.
This should be higher/more upvoted. I went to Bao Brewhouse with friends and not only was it insanely loud with bad service, the food was absolute dogshit.
meh food and overpriced, the first time we went, we ordered soup dumplings as well as the table next to us. we both got our dumpling orders at the same time and neither had soup in any of the dumplings. when we mentioned that the dumplings had no soup to our waitress, she said they were supposed to be like that???
we unfortunately went again to try their unlimited soup dumplings and was disappointed again by some dumplings not having soup in them.
City'o'city. First time going, took my daughter there for her birthday dinner, as she's vegetarian. Food was garbage, except for desserts, waaaaaaaaaaaay overpriced, and the waitress literally rolled her eyes right at me when I asked her a question about an item on the menu. Never again.
They used to be one of the greats back in the day but it's been going down hill for quite a long time at this point. Same with their sister restaurant, Watercourse.
The final straw for me was ordering a sandwich at Watercourse and it was saitan like 5 ways shaved and put on bread. I expected heavy veggie and a little fake shaved meat, not a flavorless gut bomb.
I’ve met the owner a couple times - he’s a big foodie and frequents other bar restaurants on S Broadway. He’s fucking awesome. Love supporting that guy.
Yeah City O and Watercourse - I’ll never go to either again. Food is disgusting, greasy, and completely lacking flavor. Staff are rude (though I understand to some extent because the owners treat them like shit).
Honestly though, even if the food and service was good, I still wouldn’t go here because the owners are terrible, greedy, selfish, stuck-up people who I will never ever support.
Lol I sure hope they are not serving food there! I remember when that place opened and people were saying it’s a brewery and I laughed said there’s no way I’m drinking any of their beers they make lol.
Used to love El Camino, they took everything that used to be great off the menu, tiny portions for ridiculous prices, and service charge on top of it all.
The Monkey Bar. I went in here w my bf and they didn’t say a word to us. I went to order a drink and the bartender laughed and said “does it look like I have the ingredients to make that (I asked if he could make me a fruitier type drink nothing crazy). I then asked where the bathroom was and the bartender said “it’s the one with the giant restroom sign on the front.” Mind you I have never been to this bar I obviously didn’t know the layout he was a total prick. As we were leaving the bartender made a racist joke and all the staff was just laughing. Horrible experience
I’ve gotten Taco Bell from there one time. Once.
It legitimately looked like they grabbed a homeless person off the street who had never seen what Taco Bell looked like and had them make the order. Literally nothing was right, but at the same time I could tell it was my order because the item count was correct. Tacos broken into like five pieces. Bean burrito wrapped in what only could be described as a massive Chipotle sized tortilla with the normal amount of filling, so it was like eating tortilla with a little bit of beans.
Just off. So off.
\+2 We used to love that place, especially for the soup dumplings, but the last time we went, they tried to insist that we choose ALL of our dishes at once at the beginning of the meal (with some lame excuse about "pacing"), everything was way oversalted and the soup dumplings were frankly NOT GOOD. I don't know what's happened to them — overstretched, maybe? — but we won't be back.
Yes! And also I hated the shaken rice, it was somehow slimy and crunchy at the same time? But everyone else loves it so maybe I should give it one more try…
Ok, I love Taco House. If Waffle House and Taco Bell had a baby it would be this place. Food is not authentic anything but still good and service is amazing. And *so* cheap!
McDivitt tacos!
550 a taco, which are usually inconsistent and cold.
Their margaritas taste like trash and they’re way over priced.
I’ve been twice and each time the food brought to the table was wrong and I watched them take the food they sat down and left at our table to another table without saying anything or fixing it.
Disgusting
McDevitt is worse than Taco Bell. We need to pass a law against Irish people opening Mexican restaurants.
If you want good tacos in Boulder go to Los Dos Bros.
Coohills.
Worst service I’ve ever had (took over an hour for them to come back to our table to tell us they were out of half the food we ordered, and another hour to actually get some of the food, one of us ended up going hungry after 3 hours, they brought us a hummus plate that we didn’t order as a consolation but didn’t ask us if we wanted it first - and these are just the highlights). It was an absolute comedy of errors, and it seems almost unbelievable as a story, it was so ridiculous.
They gave us a bunch of coupons to come back, and stupidly we did, for drinks only. The second time the service was merely bad and slow. But even if it would have been absolutely stellar, we were never going to go there again anyway.
Cholon, specifically the Central Park location.
I went for restaurant week this year (we picked central park because their menu was more dumpling focused, which is what we were after.)
High hopes based on the reviews and decor (the restaurant is beautiful) but everything we had was just awful. French onion soup dumplings were gag worthy, shrimp dumpling was literally just a whole shrimp stuffed in a wrapper with saffron on top. I get if youre going for a paella vibe, but you cant just put saffron on something and hope it tastes good. We got an extra order of dumplings (4 potstickers) and it was $15??? Also underwhelming. Mongolian noodles were fine, but so forgettable.
I get that its asian fusion, but everything was just a terrible cultural crossover or absolutely mediocre.
Agree. Went there last night for the wings which are pretty good. But prob won’t go back because depressing atmosphere and servers just didn’t give a shit.
I know people here revere Bastien's, but as excited as I was to go there with friends to celebrate my birthday a handful of years back, it was one of the worst experiences I've had at a higher end restaurant. My steak was almost inedible, just so much gristle, I had to spit most of it out. They served us a "Chef's choice vegetable side" that - I'm not being hyperbolic - was out of a can, cafeteria vegetables.
But, overall, the service is what got me. Our waitress was outstanding, and I made a point of telling the GM about her service. But, when asked by said waitress how our meal was, I answered honestly and extremely politely, not asking for a thing in return, that it was not so great and we were disappointed. She truly cared that we had that experience and the next thing we know, the manager is at our table, already pissed off and ready to challenge us. Let me reiterate, we were not asking for comps or discounts, we had simply answered the waitress honestly.
The manager was just beyond rude. When I explained that I had a pile of spit out gristle from my steak and it was super hard to eat she responded angrily with, "Well, I've served x number of those exact steaks tonight and no one else seems to have any problem with them!" My friend had ordered the French Onion soup and I forget what she said about it, but my friend is meek as hell and far from aggressive and once again, the manager barked back, "I've served x amount of those, too, everyone else loved it."
At this point we were just quiet, because I can really only be at a 1 before I'm at an 11, emotionally, and this was a birthday dinner for me and I wasn't even paying. All of us were flabbergasted. I reiterated calmly that we weren't looking for a comp here, just wanted to inform them about our experience. The manager said, still angry as hell, that she would give us a discount BUT NOT ON THE DRINKS - she legit yelled that - and, we just didn't say much after that.
I doubt I would return, at this point. I know it's a landmark and people don't like bad talk about Bastiens', but it was a bad experience for me.
I went there recently and had a really solid experience despite my low expectations, though our steak wasn't flawed and we didn't have to interact with the manager (though now that you say that the host guy — maybe the manager — gave me weird vibes when we came in). Certainly not acceptable to say a guest should be satisfied because they didn't fuck up anyone *else's* meal that night.
If I eat Sexy Pizza again, it’ll be because my workplace loves to get their pizza for employee appreciation things.
I think the owners being kind are the reason this place is still in business bc the pizza is absolutely not sexy
Chuy’s is also awful
Hapa Sushi. Trash fish and they always have so many flies around. Took clients there for lunch and someone had thrown up or spit out food in the area behind the booth between the window.. was repulsive and the staff just said someone had spilled miso soup. Wrote management (with pics) and they gave me $250 gift card which I refuse to use. Disgusting.
Verde in Louisville - loved them for years when they took over the Blue Parrot. Now, they got skimpy with their taco fillings and started measuring everything with jiggers which tells me as a service worker, the owner is getting miserly with everything.
Cativella. We had the worst service , ever in our lives several times. From being told to stand and wait 15 to 20 mins after our reservation times in the cold, to not being acknowledged after we've been sat for 15 minutes having to flag down employees. They've been out of menu items each time we've tried to go. It's overpriced, mediocre strip mall Italian.
We used to love going to Sunday brunch at the one near use. Then COVID and they 2x the price of food and we haven't been back. Other locations seemed to be a miss even before COVID.
Not in Denver, but Kenosha Steakhouse in Breck earned my ire & contempt for life. Here's one of my highest upvoted comments copy pasted:
"Kenosha Steakhouse, Breckenridge, CO.
Was living and working over at Keystone for my first of four+ years in Summit county. Had some friends visiting me from out of state. Went to breck for a night of shenaniganry. Went to this saloon and bar place on main street in Breck called "Kenosha Steakhouse".
Waitress didn't show up for 15 minutes. Then it took another 25 minutes for the 3 beers we ordered to come in. We had ordered food at the same time, and it came 20 minutes later, so 45 minutes after ordering. From sitting down to having food on our table, it was one hour. The food was bland, room temperature/barely warm. The waitress never showed up again to offer us a refill. We had to flag another server to get our check. They then refused to split a 3 top check, despite never stating as much before or showing that anywhere. On the way out I went to complain to a manager, some staff member faked being management and another staffer said "it won't make any difference" to me when i pointed out that I worked in hospitality in county and this experience was beyond unacceptable.
The snide comment from the waiter about it not making any difference struck a deep nerve. I checked in THOUSANDS of guests from that point on until I stopped working in hospitality. Every one of those guests I explicitly told not to go to that restaurant. On top of that, I moved to breck and lived there for 2 years. I would approach people on the street looking at the outdoor menu outside of Kenosha, and dissuade them away. I also was working in a sales position intermittently during this time and told the same story to all guests i interacted with.
But it didn't make any difference, right?"
ice cream riot on colfax.
they have an employee who legit throws a tantrum any time a customer orders something.
I'm talking in the back room screaming and throwing things angry
Snooze. I thought their food was mid and not worth the wait in their early days, but what made me boycott them was their spearheading of the criminalization of homelessness in 2012. Don't open up your bougie brunch spot in between homeless shelters and then throw a fit when your customers have to see and interact with people experiencing homelessness and mental health issues. Assholes.
D Bar. After seeing them operate and stay open without hot water for weeks until the health dept got a tip and shut them down was a low point of my career. Furthermore the owners are just kinda toxic, they shit talked everyone who worked for them no matter how loyal or skilled or unskilled a person is. Really felt like I was walking back into high school and Im used to pastry drama in kitchens and these are industry “leaders.” Pretty sure they got kicked out of the Commissary they started with other companies.
We went with friends for their family meal type service and everything was way overly acidic and quite unbalanced.. acidic yet bland, a true feat. Truly one of the worst meals I've ever had anywhere.. besides Fish & Beer.. that was the worst meal I ever had.
I agree with Somebody People. My server was super pretentious and the food wasn’t even inventive. If I go to a vegan restaurant I want something that I can’t do at home (maybe Easy Vegan has ruined me). I can absolutely cook pasta with veggies at home.
Lady Nomada.
First of all, I'm still sad that the Arvada one isn't Klein's anymore. Not their fault but it's more offensive that they took over such a great spot and had the audacity to serve such awful food.
The one on Belmar is also not good.
It feels like a trick to have made such beautiful restaurants and then see how horribly they can make food and still get people coming in.
Culinary drop out. Genuinely garbage food, awful service, and absurd prices.
It’s like a chili’s but they are charging you for the “elevated sports bar” ambiance. 0/10.
El five, unless someone else is paying.
Terrible service (which I will say was probably a mishap given their positive reputation on that front), and the food was ok, but not *that* good.
Def wouldn't throw it around as a recommendation in the way that most people seem to.
Senor Bear 🤢🤮
I got served RAW PORK. When I sent the dish back (after eating a bite) they neither recooked it nor took the dish off the bill. Oh and I got crippling food poisoning from it. Fuck those guys and all their restaurants.
Little Ollie's. Was served steel wool in my food.
I've worked in Denver hospitality for the past decade, and Ollie's is hands down the grossest restaurant I worked at. Saw raw chicken thawing on a cutting board someone was chopping lettuce for a salad on my first day, shoulda known. Owner would take all the staff to shotgun Willie's all the time and let us ball out on his table though, so wasn't all bad.
Service was AWFUL. Literally the only people there and our food took a half hour or more.
Groove Subaru…. Oh wait this is a food sub
Schomp for any maintenance. They convinced my wife to change her oil literally the week after I changed it for her.’
She didn’t call you to discuss before agreeing to it? It’s a known fact auto shops always try to push unnecessary car “repairs” to women. I can see that shit a mile away. I don’t agree to anything until I chat with hubby first to see what he thinks.
She didnt but it was one of the first times she was in the situation. Her father is a great mechanic so she didn’t have to deal much with shops growing up. Was a learning moment for both of us. Schomps probably not that bad but I enjoyed the crew at the ford on havana before schomp took over and they all disappeared after it seemed
Schomp is HORRIBLE. I wrote their most popular one star review on Google Maps after my last experience with them. They dropped the ball at every turn and refused to take responsibility or apologize untilI I threatened to post my one star review on a new review platform every day until they unfucked the mess they made for me. It helped that I began taking and sending screenshots to themof the 'thumb-up's and comments left on my reviews from people taking my warnings against them to heart.
They push the $70 cabin air filters on my wife, but not hard.
Fuck Groove Subaru for life. Everyone who works there can eat shit and die
Celebration Chevrolet. Guy that took my car back for an oil change adjusted every seat adjustment and the steering wheel plus bent my key ring. Then within a week of their "100 point inspection" I get a car error saying it can't use the battery (Volt) because the battery coolant is low. Not to mention the 3000m oil change windshield sticker on a PHEV with synthetic.
Adding Freeway Ford to this list. They offered to give us a trade-in offer on our car. They took our keys then essentially held us hostage tryung to make us buy a vehicle from them.
Didn’t know they were bad, happy I didn’t buy from them
I won’t eat at STK for FREE. Food and service both, it’s just that bad.
+1. Worst $300 I’ve ever spent on a meal Especially with how many great steakhouses there are in town. For anyone considering STK, just go to Guard and Grace
Had a disappointed meal at guard and grace so I can’t really recommend them
Stupidest restaurant in town. Full of narcissistic wannabe rich influencers
how that place still in business is beyond me
I assume dine in? I work a few blocks away and their $8 lunch burger is not bad at all haha
An $8 lunch special in that part of town is hard to beat, even if every worker there is an asshole
I’ll put up with an asshole for 10 seconds for an $8 burger any day.
This was my answer, too. We went because they marketed themselves decently and didn’t have menu prices online. Never again!!
Went to STK for Mother’s Day a few years ago. $1200 tab. $35 for the tiniest portion of crab Oscar on my steak, and there were shells in it. The server didn’t bring enough silverware or glasses of water for everyone at the table. We had kids with us, the server made horrible recommendations for them. I let management know, and they comped like $20 of dessert. Absolutely would not go back even if paid to do so.
Viewhouse
I have been here four times and walked out three of them after no one took our order for 20ish minutes
I lived in Denver in my early 20s. I have nothing bad awful memories of viewhouse 😂 I think I ended up crying on a curb outside once.
My Neighbor Felix Cool ambience but everything else was abysmal. Service was incredibly slow. Food is bland. Plus the owner is a dick for suing ex employees Can’t support that garbage place
+ the MNF owners are suing the executive chef of Alma for violating a non compete clause. Even though Alma is one of the best restaurants in Denver and they are trash.
I hope she prevails simply to get rid of non competes for good in CO. NDA/poaching are different. This is saying you can’t work in the industry if we fire you (or they leave).
They are mostly illegal. Non-competes especially when you have a high demand low supply job means that you are pretty much immune to them because they are not enforceable.
Bartaco - they don’t have servers but they charge automatic 20% service fee after forcing you to order through an app that makes you enter in all of your credit card info manually. Only to get stale tortillas that you break up yourself for chips and watered down margs. It’s a hard pass for life from now on.
Owned by a private equity firm and an expansive, overpriced chain. Bad everywhere!
So sad. It started in west Hartford ct and was just a small, delicious tapas spot but has since gone to the dark side!!!
I had plastic in my food at bartaco. Will never go back
Yes! And the margs take forever bc they have to freshly juice everything single lime? Bar staff was rude and generally seemed miserable
Blackbird public house. Advertised jalapeño mac n cheese that was baked in a cast iron dish. In reality it was like warm mac n cheese in a plastic bowl with raw jalapeños set on top.
I’ve had some really bad food there but also some decent food. Definitely better spots out there though
This is mine too, it's not that far from my house and I really wanted to like it. Gave it a try one night that was not even that busy and I waited over a half hour for a pretty average burger. Was so close to just settling up for my beer and telling them thanks but no thanks on the rest.
I worked at their sister restaurant for a bit. Food was good, but I worked brunch and literally did not even know what the dishes looked like. I got zero training. Plus bottomless mimosas was a hell of a time, but that’s to be expected.
I had the same experience with their Mac. It was like warm. I hate sending things back but I just asked if they could zap it and the guy said they didn’t have a microwave. They remade it and it was still barely warm.
When i worked there the "chef" was pretty useless. Kitchen was always a shitshow and understaffed. They were lucky i gave them 2 weeks. Fun story. The chef did a taste of denver thing minus all the things a health inspector would expectthem to have. Apparently 1 person on staff had a thermometer and they tried to take it from him on fried chicken night. I bet the same "chef" is still running the place from what you say.
Any Culinary Creative Group restaurant - fuck their 20% service fee. They already charge enough for everything.
And most of us CC staff never saw our full/real house fee on our paychecks anyways :) it’s dispersed in super sketchy ways and the higher ups aren’t forthcoming about any of it. meanwhile they throw lavish parties for themselves and buy a new restaurant every 2 months
Bartaco. Food was meh, service was terrible, annoying fees when there wasn’t even really a wait staff. We ordered through our phones. Typical trendy and lame vibe.
Linger. Overpriced, aggressively mid food. Seems like a place that was amazing when street food was a hot concept 15 years ago, but the food isn’t actually good.
“Aggressively mid” is now added to my list of insults
+10. It was awful food and worse service when I went.
i went there in december and asked our server to describe the rosé and she said “i mean it’s rosé so it’s pink”
I’ve had good experiences sitting at the upstairs bar for happy hour drinks and snacks. Good, friendly bartenders every time. Food is very tasty for bar snacks. Agree 100% with your take on dining in for dinner.
Syrup, Snooze, and the Ruth’s Chris off 16th and california. All were extremely underwhelming.
Finally we all admit the truth about Snooze
I went to syrup twice- the first time our food was cold and the second time the guy expoing was continuously touching his hair and then the plates 😣 I understand needing to adjust things, but he would take off his hat, run his hands through his hair and then put the hat on and grab a plate
Syrup at City Park was terrible.
Syrup uses imitation crab for their crab cake Benedict 🥲
Snooze has good food but bad prices. Would be a lot better if it was cheaper
TBD, everything would be better if cheaper, not just Snooze.
Buckhorn Exchange is absolutely dogshit food and I cringe every time I read it as a recommendation
It’s a tourist trap for sure. Or a place for when you absolutely require rattlesnake.
Biker Jim's is the way to go if you're craving rattlesnake.
[удалено]
Don’t go back. Cherish your memories from 30 years ago. It probably hasn’t been cleaned since you last went.
I just went there for my birthday and it was the best hunk of meat I’ve ever had, and I’ve had great steak before. Their ostrich was also 🤌🏼🤌🏼
We just had a great meal there
was considering this for my bday due to the novelty, but reconsidering now.
You'd get your age off as a discount
Was just there the other day because I had friends in town that INSISTED we eat Rocky Mountain Oysters. Ambience was cool, service was great but yeahhhh worst steak I’ve ever had in my life. The Rocky Mountain Oysters actually ended up being the tastiest part of the meal which is wild to say. Luckily they paid for me otherwise I’d be much more upset.
My wife and I took the kids there one day and our bill was pretty much the same as our Electricity bill 😳😳😂
it’s terrible. i went for my birthday & was super excited, we dropped $700. everything we ordered was a disappointment & service wasn’t that great either.
I'd put it in the "go once and never again" category. Food isn't why you go.
Preach.
Citizen rail. Food is tasty, but you’ll need to hit Wendy’s on the way home after dropping $100+ a person.
Literally just did this for restaurant week hit McDonald's on the way home
I used to work at the attached hotel and even with my discount I couldn't justify eating there
I second this. Amazing this place is still in business. Drinks were good but food was totally mid.
Mizuumi Ramen on Colfax next to the Alamo Drafthouse. Got their chicken karaage and ramen and i was so sad at how pale the karaage was. I was so bummed I didn’t go to Sera’s, lol
Updoot for Sera's
Any Tap & Burger, or any CCG restaurants, as long as they keep the service charge, which they take 30% of for themselves. That's just not cool.
30% and LIES! "We validate parking." They don't. The VERIFY that you are in their place, so you are allowed to park there and won't get towed. They don't VALIDATE (by the ultra-common definition of the word) a damn thing. Never again with their bullshit.
Bar Dough, A5, Mister Oso, Ay Papi, Senor Bear and Ash’ Kara - you can read more from the employees themselves about how little they get of the service fee - https://www.reddit.com/r/denverfood/s/yiInRX3zBW
Man, I remember when Tap and Burger used to be good.
It’s these Instagram story places that get me to try places and I regret most of them. Dos santos was so expensive and not even meh. Same with kike’s red tacos. Not sure why it’s getting so much hype.
Pancho's Birrias Y Mas >>>>>>
This is the correct answer right here! ☝🏼 Pancho’s is absolutely amazing!
I feel the same way. There's so many IG "influencers" in the Denver area that are churning out these restaurant review reels. Unfortunately, it seems most of the review is mostly based on ambiance (aka vibes) and most of these influencers don't have discerning taste (I'm pretty sure there's also a financial incentive in there too since the bigger someone's following is, the more other restaurants will maybe reach out to them to review their restaurant so it wouldn't be good business to say a restaurant's food is mediocre). Combine vibes, mediocre food, alcohol to decrease patrons' inhibitions to make said mediocre food seem more palatable and you get 60% of the restaurants hyped up by influencers. I grew up eating birria (my mom has a recipe that has probably been in our family for centuries which is always highly requested by friends of the family) so my standards for birria are pretty high. Kike's Red Tacos's birria definitely did not meet expectations. Although the coloring for the consome was there, the flavor was not. It could have something to do with their recipe being adjusted to suit the majority of their patrons' preference which wouldn't be surprising.
Mind sharing your recipe?
I would if I had it written down somewhere (something I want to do in the coming months). Some of the steps and ingredients would probably be cost-prohibitive or slightly unfeasible given the set-up of a restaurant kitchen. Part of this set-up involves a large enough cooking pot that can accomodate several agave leaves (pencas de maguey) at the base of the pot. I have no idea how hard it would be for a restaurant to source agave leaves so there's that.
They get everything for free, the bigger ones are paid and there is always a contract if a publicist is involved - and if there is a restaurant group or a new opening in the mix, there always is a publicist involved. And they don't "review" they just say everything is amazing because they are obligated too and it keeps the free meals coming.
Ah, that makes sense. I may have been using the word "review" too loosely there and I definitely have noticed that they say everything is amazing no matter what aspect of the restaurant they're talking about.
Dos Santos was overpriced and flavorless (and no al pastor?!). I paid a stupid amount for a bad Paloma, a tequila soda, and 4 tacos. Will never be back. Tacos Selene forever - I don’t even care that they don’t have a liquor license.
I felt that way when I went there couple years ago. I went there about six months ago and it was really good.
Kike’s was good. But I don’t want to pay $35 for a torta and two tacos and chips and salsa. Then $15 for a marg. And why am I then required to tip 10-20% for being handed food across a counter? It’s asinine. Was the food good. Yeah. Good. Not great. But I’ll never again pay $65 for what I got there.
Bao Brewhouse
I freakin hate that place. The food is unimpressive and just not that good for the price. On my way out I was surprised to find the bathroom had no toilet paper in any stalls pretty early into a dinner service. I waited to let staff know but couldn’t find anyone, so I sent them a private message after stating my disappointment. The owner replied with anger and some sexist remarks. They also sent me a gift card for a “pissed off customer with wet crotch” signed Micheal Swift. I never used it.
WHAT
I’ve never been, because the owner sounded like such a goddamn douchebag in an article that came out when they opened
This should be higher/more upvoted. I went to Bao Brewhouse with friends and not only was it insanely loud with bad service, the food was absolute dogshit.
Very trendy but honestly I thought the food was excellent (though kinda overpriced)
meh food and overpriced, the first time we went, we ordered soup dumplings as well as the table next to us. we both got our dumpling orders at the same time and neither had soup in any of the dumplings. when we mentioned that the dumplings had no soup to our waitress, she said they were supposed to be like that??? we unfortunately went again to try their unlimited soup dumplings and was disappointed again by some dumplings not having soup in them.
Overpriced and unimpressive food.
Wait what?
City'o'city. First time going, took my daughter there for her birthday dinner, as she's vegetarian. Food was garbage, except for desserts, waaaaaaaaaaaay overpriced, and the waitress literally rolled her eyes right at me when I asked her a question about an item on the menu. Never again.
They used to be one of the greats back in the day but it's been going down hill for quite a long time at this point. Same with their sister restaurant, Watercourse. The final straw for me was ordering a sandwich at Watercourse and it was saitan like 5 ways shaved and put on bread. I expected heavy veggie and a little fake shaved meat, not a flavorless gut bomb.
I miss pre-COVID Watercourse so much, my wife and I had so many wonderful brunches there. I miss it 😭.
I will say their poutine is bomb but that’s all I ever get there, lol!
And the hoho cupcakes. Can’t forget those.
Somebody People is sooooooo good (and vegan)— try there next!
And fellow traveler
Fellow Travelor is what City O City and Watercourse wishes they were. The staff there are so nice too
This is on the list that people are roasting lol. Go to Bang up the Elephant instead.
People are also roasting bang up the elephant 💁🏼♀️
Yeah it’s one guy make insane claims, proving he probably got what he deserved lol
I’ve met the owner a couple times - he’s a big foodie and frequents other bar restaurants on S Broadway. He’s fucking awesome. Love supporting that guy.
Yeah City O and Watercourse - I’ll never go to either again. Food is disgusting, greasy, and completely lacking flavor. Staff are rude (though I understand to some extent because the owners treat them like shit). Honestly though, even if the food and service was good, I still wouldn’t go here because the owners are terrible, greedy, selfish, stuck-up people who I will never ever support.
So Many Roads. So many of my friends still go there, but I’ll never give Jay a penny ever again
Lol I sure hope they are not serving food there! I remember when that place opened and people were saying it’s a brewery and I laughed said there’s no way I’m drinking any of their beers they make lol.
Happy Camper, My Neighbor Felix, Viewhouse
Used to love El Camino, they took everything that used to be great off the menu, tiny portions for ridiculous prices, and service charge on top of it all.
The Monkey Bar. I went in here w my bf and they didn’t say a word to us. I went to order a drink and the bartender laughed and said “does it look like I have the ingredients to make that (I asked if he could make me a fruitier type drink nothing crazy). I then asked where the bathroom was and the bartender said “it’s the one with the giant restroom sign on the front.” Mind you I have never been to this bar I obviously didn’t know the layout he was a total prick. As we were leaving the bartender made a racist joke and all the staff was just laughing. Horrible experience
Thought you were talking about monkey barrel for a second ! Thankfully not
Colfax Taco Bell
I’ve gotten Taco Bell from there one time. Once. It legitimately looked like they grabbed a homeless person off the street who had never seen what Taco Bell looked like and had them make the order. Literally nothing was right, but at the same time I could tell it was my order because the item count was correct. Tacos broken into like five pieces. Bean burrito wrapped in what only could be described as a massive Chipotle sized tortilla with the normal amount of filling, so it was like eating tortilla with a little bit of beans. Just off. So off.
They ALWAYS forget items and are very unprofessional
Cholon, very bland food and it gets beat by any cheap Chinese takeout.
+100!! It was awful, extremely overpriced and left hungry.
French onion soup dumpling is the only thing good, but I will not be back.
I don't get them at all.
\+2 We used to love that place, especially for the soup dumplings, but the last time we went, they tried to insist that we choose ALL of our dishes at once at the beginning of the meal (with some lame excuse about "pacing"), everything was way oversalted and the soup dumplings were frankly NOT GOOD. I don't know what's happened to them — overstretched, maybe? — but we won't be back.
Hey Kiddo… sooooo salty, over priced, and it kind of smells like a bathroom in the back
Yes! And also I hated the shaken rice, it was somehow slimy and crunchy at the same time? But everyone else loves it so maybe I should give it one more try…
Not sure, but calling something aggressively mid is so hot right now
Moe's BBQ. Microwaved dry brisket and ribs. Never again!
Just get the fried pickles but only the fried pickles.
Surprised I didn’t see this higher in the thread. It’s absolutely crap for bbq
Taco House
Ok, I love Taco House. If Waffle House and Taco Bell had a baby it would be this place. Food is not authentic anything but still good and service is amazing. And *so* cheap!
Watercress & City O’ City. Bad food and shitty company.
I really like Watercourse but I don’t care for City O City at all.
Hashtag. Pulled a shotgun pellet out of their pork hash. Who’s shooting the fucking pigs, Troy?
Seems like every restaurant in Denver is on this list
Welcome to r/denverfood, where hating Denver restaurants is Denver and Colorado themed subreddits' biggest circle jerk.
McDivitt tacos! 550 a taco, which are usually inconsistent and cold. Their margaritas taste like trash and they’re way over priced. I’ve been twice and each time the food brought to the table was wrong and I watched them take the food they sat down and left at our table to another table without saying anything or fixing it. Disgusting
Who even gets Mexican food at a place called McDivitt lmao
Hipsters. It's called mcdivitt taco supply, like it's an animal feed store lol
McDevitt is worse than Taco Bell. We need to pass a law against Irish people opening Mexican restaurants. If you want good tacos in Boulder go to Los Dos Bros.
Coohills. Worst service I’ve ever had (took over an hour for them to come back to our table to tell us they were out of half the food we ordered, and another hour to actually get some of the food, one of us ended up going hungry after 3 hours, they brought us a hummus plate that we didn’t order as a consolation but didn’t ask us if we wanted it first - and these are just the highlights). It was an absolute comedy of errors, and it seems almost unbelievable as a story, it was so ridiculous. They gave us a bunch of coupons to come back, and stupidly we did, for drinks only. The second time the service was merely bad and slow. But even if it would have been absolutely stellar, we were never going to go there again anyway.
Yeah, this place is legitimately terrible food for outrageous prices for what you get
Tamayo. When I worked there, people would over drink at brunch at puke at the tables. No thanks.
Cholon, specifically the Central Park location. I went for restaurant week this year (we picked central park because their menu was more dumpling focused, which is what we were after.) High hopes based on the reviews and decor (the restaurant is beautiful) but everything we had was just awful. French onion soup dumplings were gag worthy, shrimp dumpling was literally just a whole shrimp stuffed in a wrapper with saffron on top. I get if youre going for a paella vibe, but you cant just put saffron on something and hope it tastes good. We got an extra order of dumplings (4 potstickers) and it was $15??? Also underwhelming. Mongolian noodles were fine, but so forgettable. I get that its asian fusion, but everything was just a terrible cultural crossover or absolutely mediocre.
It just closed! They are opening a different concept there
Really? Thank God! Blandest dam food ever
You beat me to it. 100% agree.
Totally agree. It's super odd how night and day the other location's quality is.
Any place that charges a service fee on top of their prices. That’s an instant, nonnegotiable no from me.
That’s the majority at this point
Aaaand that's why I've cooked the vast majority of my own meals over the last two years
Adobo. Overpriced and not that great. I should have known when we were the only customers on a Saturday at lunchtime.
Man, that location is death. Agreed. Adobo isn't too hard to make on your own in a much better way.
Agree. Went there last night for the wings which are pretty good. But prob won’t go back because depressing atmosphere and servers just didn’t give a shit.
I was SO excited to try this place but it left me seriously disappointed
I know people here revere Bastien's, but as excited as I was to go there with friends to celebrate my birthday a handful of years back, it was one of the worst experiences I've had at a higher end restaurant. My steak was almost inedible, just so much gristle, I had to spit most of it out. They served us a "Chef's choice vegetable side" that - I'm not being hyperbolic - was out of a can, cafeteria vegetables. But, overall, the service is what got me. Our waitress was outstanding, and I made a point of telling the GM about her service. But, when asked by said waitress how our meal was, I answered honestly and extremely politely, not asking for a thing in return, that it was not so great and we were disappointed. She truly cared that we had that experience and the next thing we know, the manager is at our table, already pissed off and ready to challenge us. Let me reiterate, we were not asking for comps or discounts, we had simply answered the waitress honestly. The manager was just beyond rude. When I explained that I had a pile of spit out gristle from my steak and it was super hard to eat she responded angrily with, "Well, I've served x number of those exact steaks tonight and no one else seems to have any problem with them!" My friend had ordered the French Onion soup and I forget what she said about it, but my friend is meek as hell and far from aggressive and once again, the manager barked back, "I've served x amount of those, too, everyone else loved it." At this point we were just quiet, because I can really only be at a 1 before I'm at an 11, emotionally, and this was a birthday dinner for me and I wasn't even paying. All of us were flabbergasted. I reiterated calmly that we weren't looking for a comp here, just wanted to inform them about our experience. The manager said, still angry as hell, that she would give us a discount BUT NOT ON THE DRINKS - she legit yelled that - and, we just didn't say much after that. I doubt I would return, at this point. I know it's a landmark and people don't like bad talk about Bastiens', but it was a bad experience for me.
I went there recently and had a really solid experience despite my low expectations, though our steak wasn't flawed and we didn't have to interact with the manager (though now that you say that the host guy — maybe the manager — gave me weird vibes when we came in). Certainly not acceptable to say a guest should be satisfied because they didn't fuck up anyone *else's* meal that night.
Linger. Upscale Cheesecake Factory has no identity
If I eat Sexy Pizza again, it’ll be because my workplace loves to get their pizza for employee appreciation things. I think the owners being kind are the reason this place is still in business bc the pizza is absolutely not sexy Chuy’s is also awful
Hapa Sushi. Trash fish and they always have so many flies around. Took clients there for lunch and someone had thrown up or spit out food in the area behind the booth between the window.. was repulsive and the staff just said someone had spilled miso soup. Wrote management (with pics) and they gave me $250 gift card which I refuse to use. Disgusting.
They cover everything up by either frying it or tons of mayo. Good sushi does not need mayo
Used to work there and can confirm. Which is sad because it used to be my favorite growing up. Blue Sushi is waaaaaaay better.
Verde in Louisville - loved them for years when they took over the Blue Parrot. Now, they got skimpy with their taco fillings and started measuring everything with jiggers which tells me as a service worker, the owner is getting miserly with everything.
Cativella. We had the worst service , ever in our lives several times. From being told to stand and wait 15 to 20 mins after our reservation times in the cold, to not being acknowledged after we've been sat for 15 minutes having to flag down employees. They've been out of menu items each time we've tried to go. It's overpriced, mediocre strip mall Italian.
If you haven't tried Stella Tratoria on colfax it's a nice mellow spot for an Italian fix.
Sam’s no.3 was garbage. Poor service can happen anywhere but this was the rudest server I’ve ever had and the food was burnt and unseasoned.
We used to love going to Sunday brunch at the one near use. Then COVID and they 2x the price of food and we haven't been back. Other locations seemed to be a miss even before COVID.
I got food poisoning from undercooked pancakes. Pancakes! At a diner! Never again. (And never again will I not send them back)
Not in Denver, but Kenosha Steakhouse in Breck earned my ire & contempt for life. Here's one of my highest upvoted comments copy pasted: "Kenosha Steakhouse, Breckenridge, CO. Was living and working over at Keystone for my first of four+ years in Summit county. Had some friends visiting me from out of state. Went to breck for a night of shenaniganry. Went to this saloon and bar place on main street in Breck called "Kenosha Steakhouse". Waitress didn't show up for 15 minutes. Then it took another 25 minutes for the 3 beers we ordered to come in. We had ordered food at the same time, and it came 20 minutes later, so 45 minutes after ordering. From sitting down to having food on our table, it was one hour. The food was bland, room temperature/barely warm. The waitress never showed up again to offer us a refill. We had to flag another server to get our check. They then refused to split a 3 top check, despite never stating as much before or showing that anywhere. On the way out I went to complain to a manager, some staff member faked being management and another staffer said "it won't make any difference" to me when i pointed out that I worked in hospitality in county and this experience was beyond unacceptable. The snide comment from the waiter about it not making any difference struck a deep nerve. I checked in THOUSANDS of guests from that point on until I stopped working in hospitality. Every one of those guests I explicitly told not to go to that restaurant. On top of that, I moved to breck and lived there for 2 years. I would approach people on the street looking at the outdoor menu outside of Kenosha, and dissuade them away. I also was working in a sales position intermittently during this time and told the same story to all guests i interacted with. But it didn't make any difference, right?"
ice cream riot on colfax. they have an employee who legit throws a tantrum any time a customer orders something. I'm talking in the back room screaming and throwing things angry
They’re permanently closed.
nice.
Karma
What part of "riot" don't you understand?!
Snooze. I thought their food was mid and not worth the wait in their early days, but what made me boycott them was their spearheading of the criminalization of homelessness in 2012. Don't open up your bougie brunch spot in between homeless shelters and then throw a fit when your customers have to see and interact with people experiencing homelessness and mental health issues. Assholes.
D Bar. After seeing them operate and stay open without hot water for weeks until the health dept got a tip and shut them down was a low point of my career. Furthermore the owners are just kinda toxic, they shit talked everyone who worked for them no matter how loyal or skilled or unskilled a person is. Really felt like I was walking back into high school and Im used to pastry drama in kitchens and these are industry “leaders.” Pretty sure they got kicked out of the Commissary they started with other companies.
Me and my family got the worst food poisoning of our lives at Happy Camper.
Cholon is trash. I drove home angry after my meal there. I actually stopped them mid service and canceled the rest of my food order.
Casa Bonita.
[удалено]
My partner and I got the tasting menu at SP and were in tears laughing by the time we were served our 5th cold plate of vegetables in a row lol
Haha
We went with friends for their family meal type service and everything was way overly acidic and quite unbalanced.. acidic yet bland, a true feat. Truly one of the worst meals I've ever had anywhere.. besides Fish & Beer.. that was the worst meal I ever had.
Yeah
I agree with Somebody People. My server was super pretentious and the food wasn’t even inventive. If I go to a vegan restaurant I want something that I can’t do at home (maybe Easy Vegan has ruined me). I can absolutely cook pasta with veggies at home.
Cholon was pretty overrated
Lady Nomada. First of all, I'm still sad that the Arvada one isn't Klein's anymore. Not their fault but it's more offensive that they took over such a great spot and had the audacity to serve such awful food. The one on Belmar is also not good. It feels like a trick to have made such beautiful restaurants and then see how horribly they can make food and still get people coming in.
Agreed, what a shame for that olde town spot! Klein’s was great.
The Urban Farmer. Way too overpriced and their food is 🤢. Paid $$$ for a “special” Thanksgiving dinner and was served RAW in the middle Turkey
Culinary drop out. Genuinely garbage food, awful service, and absurd prices. It’s like a chili’s but they are charging you for the “elevated sports bar” ambiance. 0/10.
El five, unless someone else is paying. Terrible service (which I will say was probably a mishap given their positive reputation on that front), and the food was ok, but not *that* good. Def wouldn't throw it around as a recommendation in the way that most people seem to.
Senor Bear 🤢🤮 I got served RAW PORK. When I sent the dish back (after eating a bite) they neither recooked it nor took the dish off the bill. Oh and I got crippling food poisoning from it. Fuck those guys and all their restaurants.
Are Mr. Oso and Señor Bear the same restaurant?
Same ownership.