The food is great- perfect small town restaurant. The service started great but there was a small problem with our food order, I explained I have severe dietary restrictions and the waitress was just extremely rude about it making sure she made it clear it wasn't her fault. Â The food runner (wish I caught his name) cared and really did what he could to make it right. Â The dinner would have been ruined if it werent for him.
Review Source:As a Castle Rock resident I am ashamed to have the Castle Cafe in Castle Rock. WORST food I have ever had! I ordered the chicken fried steak. The meat was mushy. Bredding was bland. I could have fed it to my 6 month old! After sending it back, the waitress CHARGED me for it!! Tacky!! A friend of mine orderd the fried chicken, which is what they are known for. It was ok. Again, very bland, gravy was bland too. Very expensive. I believe it was $18 for a chicken dinner. Ended up going to mcdonalds after we left. Only reason why I am giving it one star is because zero stars is not an option.
Review Source:Anyone who can't acknowledge that this is the best panfried chicken in Colorado is suffering from cranial rectosis. Â We stopped on our way to a concert in Colorado Springs, and my brother had set the expectation bar very high. Â All 4 of us were floored by the outstanding chicken and sides. Â Was the wait staff great? Â Don't really remember as the food had my attention. Â I am a fairly picky eater, and have been to some of the great restaurants on the planet, in Italy, France, South America and all over the U.S. Â When it comes to fried chicken you'll find nothing better...And the rolls...they remind of my Grandma's homemade bread. Â My lovely wife and I will be there again tomorrow!
Review Source:Ahh man this place looks great.... The hostess is warn with a calmness about her. I promptly got seated in a nice and roomy booth.
No soda tonight?!? Bummer.... Okay I won't hold it against this reputable establishment. The bread is awesome. It looks like a mini loaf, plus it's warm.
The chic fried chic is a patty of chicken smothered in gravy. I sent it right back. I want the real deal. Show me what you're made of Castle Cafe!
The salad was cold and tasty on the cooled salad plate. They don't mess around here gauging from the nice hot bread which was served twice before the main chic dinner.
So I was in Castle Rock for training and certification the other day (all day mind you). As I don't get to the Rock all that often, I often forget how small it really is. Â Anyhoo, I was between sessions, hungry and had a little over an hour to kill. Â I jumped on my trusty Yelp! app and found this little spot that was down the street from Town Hall. Â I made may way over to this establishment and I was happy I did. Â From the outside, it looks kind of small, but once you walk in that is not the case. Â They have a decent sized bar, a dining room off to the left of the bar and then the main dining room. Â The main dining room has large comfy booths that line the wall and tables in the center. Â It had an old rustic feeling to it, animal heads on the wall, and my favorite part, the chandeliers were made out of cheese graters which I thought was really original.
I was greated by a smiley hostess and seated right away. Â The waitress came over after about 5 minutes or so and took my order. Â I was ended up getting the B.L.A.T. on grilled sourdough (yum!) as I didn't want to be in a food coma for the afternoon. I glanced at the drink list that was on the table, and it had your standard restaurant beer (Coors, Miller, Corona etc) and a few selections of wine. Â I didn't notice on the menu if they had an actual drink list anywhere. Â Although from what I could tell, they seemed to have a fully stocked bar. Â No complaints on service I was in and out of there in about 35 minutes. Â
I would probably come back here if I found myself in the area and in need of some food. I have seen all the raves about the pan fried chicken, so I think I need to check that out!
Happy lunching!
I've always enjoyed visiting Castle Cafe when in Castle Rock. Â Unfortunately, my lunch on 3/6/13 was a bit off. Â I ordered the pork tenderloin SPECIAL. Â The pork was served only partially cooked with red in the center. Â I asked the waitress to take it back and she seriously sniveled. Â They make it very clear as soon as you go into the restaurant that "no sniveling is allowed". Â Maybe she didn't get the memo. Â Anyway the meal was blah, the waitress was not happy if we asked her for anything extra. Â I may return but definitely will not order the undercooked pork.
Review Source:The place is such a dive, but seems to have historic significance.
The 4 stars is for the burgers. Â Can't get enough. Â There are so many chains that can't touch burgers from places like this. Â Â One of the best burgers I've ever had. Â (and there is a place just around the corner where the burgers are just as good - amazing)
Not open on weekends though... come on.
Ugh I cannot wait to move to Colorado in January and have this place practically in my backyard! I remember coming here as a young child when we would visit my grandma, and so of course while I was there on vacation in January 2012 we went, twice. The food is just as amazing as I remember. My boyfriend and I still talk about how excited we are that we will have this place right around the corner! Prices are amazing (at least compared to Alaska) Cant wait!
Review Source:Yes, fried chicken and ribs are an individual thing. We ate here last night and I have to say the fried chicken dinner was amazing. Chicken was full of flavor, hot, juicy not underdone with a light crisp coating. Rolls were yeasty and delicious and the mashed potatoes were lightly mashed with their skins on with a nice gravy. You know how many times meals like this are quite salty? Not here. Finally the whole meal came out hot on the plate. Think I like this place? A real gem..........
Review Source:This is a quaint little place right in the heart of old town Castle Rock. It's home cooked goodness, like pan fried chicken and mashed potatoes. They also have really crispy and great sweet potato fries. The service is great and offers a cool small town feel without being too old timey. A great place for a family dinner or a cold brew with friends.
Review Source:Went here for lunch because I work down the street. I loved the old historic building and liked reading a bit about it's history on the menu.
Lunch was a little pricier than some other places, but not much so I just had a caesar salad and cup of cream of mushroom soup. The waitress was friendly and quick and I had my very well mixed salad and cup of soup in no time.
Can't wait to try more of the menu when I have a few extra dollars to spend.
Castle Cafe is located right on the town square in Castle Rock in a beautifully restored historic building that served as a hotel and cafe dating back the the 1890's. Â I love the atmosphere and historic architecture of the wonderful old building.
Enough about that, most people come here to enjoy great food and their famous pan fried chicken made to order using their well perfected Kansas City recipe. Â Each order of chicken is hand dredged and than lovingly fried in a cast iron skillet just the way Mama used to do it on Sunday afternoon following church.
The meals are served with fantastic homemade Parker House Rolls and choice of soup, salad or Nana's Cole Slaw. Â You have got to choose the Cole Slaw! Â It is so creamy and rich that you will be wishing you could get more!
The Fried Chicken takes about 20 minutes to cook and comes straight from the frying pan to the table served family style on a big platter. Â It was crispy, delicious, and not at all greasy. Â It also came with unlimited family style vegetables, fresh mashed potatoes, and cracklin gravy.
This ain't KFC so be prepared to drop $17 for half a bird. Â Believe me once you taste everything you will understand why this is really a fair price to pay. Â Don't think they serve fried chicken at lunch time during the week so you might call ahead and check if that's what your craving.
We eat here whenever we get to Castle Rock. Â This last visit was a bit disappointing. Â I usually order the chicken fried steak, but this time I ordered the chicken fried chicken. Â Usually, when I order this dish it is chicken pieces breaded. Â This was a flat thin slab of chicken that looked like it was breaded in a thin tempura sauce. Â Because I usually order the chicken fried steak I asked if it was the same breading used on the chicken fried steak. Â The server said she asked the cook and the breading has not changed. Â Excuse me, we have been coming here for years. Â How do you make cracklin gravy if you do not have cracklin? Â Redemption was the apple pie ala mode. Â Delicious.
Review Source:Pretty typical pub/comfort food.  At lunch they emphasize burgers, sandwiches, and a few entrée items.  At Dinner I've had the Fried Chicken, which is quite good.  But otherwise the food is middling.  On my most recent visit I had a Mahi Mahi sandwich.  Ok, three small slivers of Mahi on a very large buttered toasted roll.  There are multiple side dish choices, though effectively your choices are grease, grease, grease, and oil carriers.  The only "healthy" side is cottage cheese (and no doubt the fattiest variety of that).  Veggies?  Aren't the tomato and onion slices for the sandwich enough veggie for you?  Ok, I give, I'll take the soggy French Fries. Yeah, if I keep going like this I'll talk myself into reducing the rating to two stars.
As long as you realize that you aren't going to find much (if anything) healthy on the menu then Castle Café is an ok place.  Service is friendly and efficient enough too.  But I'm still searching for that one place in downtown Castle Rock that makes me want to be a regular at lunch.  This isn't it.
first i would like to say that i did not try the fried chicken,  this is there house special that everyone recommends.  Service was good, atmosphere was nice, food was good.  I had the Boss Burger, comes with bacon, jalapeno cream cheese and fries.  Wife had grilled chicken sandwich  came with red chile mayo, and fries.  sShe said that it  was really good.  We can not wait to go back and try the fried chicken.
Review Source:Fried chicken, like BBQ and other regional specialties, always seems to divide people. Â Some folks will rave about a place's food, while others will say it's not worth gracing their fork. Â Stop the craziness people. Â Can we all just enjoy some good grub here?
Case in point: Â the fried chicken at Castle Cafe. Â Reading through the reviews you aren't sure whether it's finger licking good, or totally overrated and gross. Â I'm pretty sure how you feel about it is ingrained somewhere deep inside your DNA, so if you haven't tried it you'll just have to learn for yourself. Â
Okay - I'm off my soap box now. Â
Personally, I love the fried chicken at Castle Cafe! Â It's pan fried, juicy and has just the right amount of crispy coating for me. Â I like it best dipped in the cracklin' gravy, which I think is UH-MAY-ZING. Â You could dip anything in that gravy and I'd give it my seal of approval! Â The mashed potatoes are always good, and the veggies, well they're nothing at all exciting but you're not really ordering the meal for the veggies, are you? Â Pour some gravy on them, they're fine. Â The fried chicken is made fresh to order, so be patient. Â It's served family style, so do what I do and order it with some friends and then steal all the drumsticks for yourself! Â I'm pretty sure family style means you better be fast or you miss out on the good stuff. Â
I have had other food at Castle Cafe, and it's always been quite good. Â I'm a big fan of their fish dishes, such as the salmon, trout and walleye, which are all delicious. The buffalo meatloaf and ribs also look good, but I've only had a bite or two of these when I sneak them off the plate of unsuspecting dining partners. Â I'm sure the burgers are good too, but if you want a burger, go to the bar Next Door, which is connected to the Castle Cafe and serves up even more burgers in a much more casual atmosphere. Â
Go, give them a try. Â Apparently you'll love them or hate them. Â If you love them, great... I'll see you there. Â If you don't love them, that's fine too. Â All the more fried chicken for me!
I got the fried chicken because I really wanted fried chicken. It's not the best chicken i've ever had, but not bad either. Didn't like that I had to pay $17 bucks for 4 pieces of chicken though....
the staff was nice, loved the ambiance. I like local places. Hubby said his salad was good, but he thinks everything is good.
3 stars for food, 4 for ambiance and service.
We went online looking for a place to eat lunch after going to The Barn. Â We were going to try another cafe but they were closed. Â We looked across the street and noticed alot of people at the Caste Cafe. Â This was a good sign to us so this is where we ended up. Â We got seated right away. Â I ordered the Jalapeno cheese soup which was really good. Â The rolls that every table gets were awesome. Â They reminded me of what the cowboys probably made when at the campfire. Â Don't miss the rolls because they are a must.
We will be back.
*Fried Chicken Dinner Review Only*
There are few restaurants that still do Pan Fried Chicken. Â Most places are lazy and do the tasteless "Chicken Fried Chicken" thing. Â Eww. Â I've been to Castle Cafe a few times and have only ever ordered the chicken. Â
Their chicken is nothing special. Â Not bad per se, not terribly good. Â Although the skin is crispy and not overly greasy it lacks in flavor. Â I don't really understand this. Â If you're going to go to all the trouble of pan frying chicken on the bone, why wouldn't you brine or season the effing meat?? Â My mother thinks they under season it on "purpose" but I don't really understand why they'd do that. Â It is also a tad on the dry side each time I've eaten here. Â
The chicken is also expensive at $16/plate. Â It is a lot of food though (1/2 chicken). Â The dinner comes with a nice sized dinner salad, mashed potatoes, a vegetable medley and rolls. Â The rolls and mashed potatoes are very good and so is the cracklin' gravy. Â The vegetable medley could use some help, it's pretty bland and seasoned only with a bit of butter. Â And if you're not a glutton and cannot consume 1/2 of a chicken and want to split an order, they charge $8 extra.
For a place that is supposed to be "known" for their fried chicken, this is a disappointment. Â FIGURE IT OUT, Y'ALL!
Fried chicken? Yeah that's about the only thing I was interested in on the menu and I'm not a huge fan to begin with. Meh. The cost is a little ridiculous. Waiting for 15 minutes to be seated when there are several larger booths open because we are only a party of two? Even more ridiculous. (Especially when you are the only two people stupidly waiting.)
Pleasant service. Bitter salad, with loads of ranch dressing. Do you wash your lettuce? More dressing than leafs. What's the appeal here people? Is it these "Parker House Rolls"? I never was a biscuit kinda girl. Come to think it of it, I decided I'm not a big fan of comfort American food in general. The salty mashed potatoes and gravy at KFC are better.
I think the only other place I've paid this much for fried chicken is White Fence Farm and theirs was better. Granted, you do get a lot of chicken.. but still I wasn't impressed. All and all, underwhelmed. Too small a menu to bother coming back, and waiting 30 minutes for "made to order bird" just isn't my cup of tea. Paid a lot, enjoyed too little.
Visited Castle Rock again. Â Went back to Castle Cafe. Â Ordered the ribs and a goblet of Fat Tire again. Â Had the same great waitress who is actually prettier than Susan Sarandon. Â Same amazing service, same finger-licking good ribs. Â Actually, I think we sat in the same booth!
ME HAPPY.
My wife's sister & husband seriously bragged on this place, saying that they make the best fried chicken ever. Â We went in on a Tuesday night with 4 adults and 2 young kids. Â I split an fried chicken order with my bro-in-law. Â One whole chicken (8 pieces) comes with mashed potatoes, cole slaw and mixed veggies. Â It was pretty doggone good. Â I've had better, but only in places that specialize in fried chicken. Â This place does several things well, like a skirt steak that my wife absolutely loved, and pork ribs that were excellent as well, according to reports from my sis-in-law. Â
Perhaps it's because we were there on a quiet weekday evening, but the server was quick and and showed courtesy and friendliness to strangers. Â On this road trip across the western U.S., we learned not to take courtesy to strangers for granted. Â Good experience all around. Â Kudos!!!
Went down to Castle Rock because I had read that they had some of the best fried chicken in the area. Â The reviews were correct.
I found it funny that their website says that from time of ordering that it will take 29 minutes to get your fried chicken. Â
Great service and down home feel.
Two words: Yuppie-I-O Dip.
Does that count as two words? Â Whatever, I'm telling you from experience, (grew up here, ate here a lot) it is one of the best things on the menu.
This western stylized place is known for their fried chicken but come on people, Yuppie-I-O Dip - how could you resist such an awesome named platter? Â It's the best artichoke dip I've had in my young life. Â I moved away after high school and came back four years later - it still tasted the same and after I scarfed it down I ordered another.
So, that being said I'd say come here mid-afternoon or even lunch. Â Order some dip, and a Shirley Temple, and you will leave happy. Â
They should just rename it to Yummie-I-O Dip...okay, that was lame, but the dip is not. Â Try it now!
After reading all the reviews about the friendly service and good fried chicken
I decided to take my family(myself,my husband,my 12 year old stepdaughter, and my 6 week old daughter). We met two of our friends there.
The hostess was a complete witch. We walked in in a Sunday evening(it was not busy) and she had a complete attitude when I told her it was 4 adults,1child,and 1 baby)
She informed us that it would be a 30 minute wait because our party was so large and that we had a baby with us and walked away
Once we were seated- they didn't have anyplace for the baby carseat- the hostess told me I would have to put her on the floor or just sit it on a chair unsecured.
The server was decent
My husband and I shared a fried chicken plate. The food was decent but the employees left a bad taste in my mouth
I will not be returning!
Gotta agree with a couple of the other reviewers. Â It is really not good. Â It is okay at best. Â I asked to sub something simple and the kitchen flatly refused even though I would have paid extra for the substitute. Â In theory, I could have purchased the brisket sandwich and taken the meat off and put it on my salad for $10, so why the problem?
When the food came, it was very bland and not exciting at all. Â Won't be going back.
Nothing to write home about, but good place to experience once.
The food is absolutely straight up comfort food - chicken fried steak, mashed taters, fish 'n' chips, mac 'n' cheese and other items with 'n' in the title. I tried the BBQ Pork sandwich and was fairly disappointed. The meat was very very dry and the sauce had little flavor to it. The fries were good though.
Our waitress was friendly enough, but rarely checked on us - which is particularly frustrating when you actually do need something. And she didn't exactly have a hustle in her step. Things seemed to take forever.
The building is beautiful and has a neat history to it. Will more than likely opt to try other restaurants in the area next time I'm in the old Castle Rock neighborhood.
I like the historical aspect of the Castle Cafe (supposedly used to be a rough-and-tumble bar back in the late 1800's for quarry workers, with numerous fights on payday), and you can get that sense when you're there.
The food is plain-old comfort food. Â Chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, you name it. Â Is it a modern place with a modern menu? Â Not at all. Â But I don't think it's trying to be, either. Â
I've only been there for lunch, and had the beef & cheddar sandwich, which was really good (although that's hard to mess up). Â My son's mac & cheese was pretty good, too.. it was more than a box of Kraft.
Service is usually a tie-breaker for me. Â Our waitress was attentive, friendly, chatty with my son, and prompt.
Could the food be better? Â Yep. Â Could the place be updated? Â Yep. Â But if you're from the Midwest and want some good chicken fried -insert meat here-, I think you'll be happy with the Castle Cafe.
BTW, if you go in the evening, be sure to check out the "Next Door Bar". Â It's a bar with a similar atmosphere (heck, they have the same owners) - straightforward, lots of wood, bar.
I enjoyed a Sunday night fried chicken dinner here with three great friends last weekend.
First off, I had some artichoke and bacon soup. Â It was very tasty, and I like that they did not overly salt the soup, as is so often the case in restaurants. Â My palate is delicate and does not need to be... hold for it... wait for it... ahhh-salt-ed. Â Sorry about that, I could not resist. Â I then enjoyed the fried chicken which was cooked perfectly and most importantly, was not greasy at all. Â Three of us ate the fried chicken and the plate was overflowing with golden goodness when they brought it out to us. Â I thought I had hit the fried chicken lottery. Â Large thighs and breasts, meaty wings and drumsticks (and yes, I am talking about the chicken still). Â Served with mashed potatoes that were the right texture of not-too-creamy-not-too-chunky and skin on, just the way I like them. Â Again, not very salty. Â Other restaurants should take note, I can always add salt if I want to, I just can't ever seem to remove the extra salt you put on. Â Delicious dinner rolls and boring frozen vegetable medley (corn, pea and zuchini mix).
This is very good food and a wonderful atmosphere. Â I will definitely be back when in the Castle Rock 'hood.
I really want to like Castle Cafe more than I do. Â It has all the ingredients to be a place that I love: Â cool old building in historic downtown, lots of local flavor, locals seem to love it here....yet it always falls a little flat for me. Â
Each time I've gone to the Castle Cafe, I've found the food to be mediocre. Â They are supposedly famous for their fried chicken, but their chicken fried steak is bland and flavorless! Salads and apps are completely run of the mill as well.
I wish it was better, I really really do. Â But, it's not, and I say save your money for another local restaurant (try the Old Stone Church or Union!)
I'm not really that impressed with this place. I've been here a couple times now and everything is just "meh" with me. We went here tonight since we had some family in town and I had the Pot Roast. Now this wasn't my mom's pot roast by anymeans but dayuuumm it was good! The side dishes were mashed potatoes and some corn/pea/zuchinni mix... it was decent, but I could tell it was a fancy dancy bag of frozen mixed veggies they nuked and tossed on the plate.
If there were 2 complaints that I had it was the lack of service with my drink. I mean, I shouldn't be waiting for you to refil my drink. Now I don't like the overly attentative waitress where you take one sip and they refil the drink, but it was 3 times when my glass was empty and I sat there waiting for a new drink. Granted there were 9 of us... but still.
My other complaint is I had my daughter with me and anyone who knows how a 7 month old is will understand the need to "entertain" them at the table. So I pulled out some cherrios along with several toys. My daughter was dropping the cheerios on the floor more than making them  in her mouth and I kid you not the waitress made a rude comment about it! First off, I'm sure the resturant has a broom so cleaning up the 4 cheerios that ended up on the floor isn't going to break their backs, and 2nd off how rude! Maybe she was trying to be funny but her attempt to be sarcastic went horribly wrong. You never make a comment to a mother who is attempting to entertain her child to avoid her screaming at the top of her lungs during dinner!
Our family has enjoyed the chicken dinners at Castle Cafe a number of times -- Â their specialty. Â They do get busy and sometimes there's a wait but so is every other restaurant in this town. Nice ambiance reflective of this small town in a historic building.
I don't know about these other silly reviews about being over 60 ... we are WAY under 60 and DO enjoy the restaurant. Â In fact, we've been there ONLY with people WAY under 60 ... I don't think I even know anyone over 60. Â ANYWAY, it's a nice menu with "comfort food" choices. Â Try the chicken or other dishes when you're in the mood for it in Castle Rock. Â Recommend!
Do not come here unless you are over 60 or you have no taste buds. The food is very boring and bland. Â When we were there on a Sunday afternoon 90% of the customers seemed to be elderly. Â I do not know if it is just because this is where they have been coming for years but this place definitely doesn't attract many new customers. Â I had a salad that didn't come with any salad dressing and even worse it was just gross. Â Adding the bland dressing on top of it didn't really make it much better. Â We will definitely never come back.
Review Source:Dunno. Â
I have to say...be weary of any C-Rock establishment for fear of becoming brain-washed into meat-eatin' + NO recycling! Â (I know folks here that do make the former faux pas). Â So watch out, but not to say that you shouldn't eat at the Castle Cafe because it surely has something divine to offer. Â A shame it comes in Castle Rock form though, no? Â Well, the food is...American. Â I knew a guy ... who worked here. Â It is a bar, too. Â Eat your heart out!
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