We wanted to love it, really we did, but it just wasn't much to be excited about.
It was our only date night while there and our friends had made reservations because they said they loved it, but they got sick so we took the reservation (not that it was needed because there was no one there).
We got the bruschetta and didn't read the description because we thought we have had it enough to know we love it. Wrong. it was literally SMOTHERED to the point of soggy bread, with Kamala olives. It was so bitter and soggy and nothing like bruschetta.
I got the steak and loaded mash potatoes. The steak was steak, nothing fancy and the potatoes were pretty dry. Hubby got the burger...It was a burger.
Menu was incredibly limited and besides what I got and some crab legs I saw at another table I didn't see much to be desired.
Its a nice little setting but for the cost it was incredibly disappointing.
Headline:Skip the appetizers on this historic restaurant
It's the start of our annual week  in Breckenridge, and we haven't been to The Dredge before.  I doubt we will be bad due to the epic fail on the appetizers.
Let's start with the restaurant itself. Â It's historic, in the middle of the creek, and has a bar side plus a dining room. Â You go in different doors. Â Hint here: take the left hand door going to the bar or make sure you get a four-top. Â The two tops are badly positioned and camped.
As is the norm, the bread course comes first - in this case, it was almost frozen butter and French bread that was hot on one end, but frozen on the other. Â This is not a good start.
My wife liked the idea of The Dredge Sampler figuring it can't be bad if you put your name on it. Â It wasn't just bad. It was terrible. Â In fact, I will name it in the worst five plates I have ever had. Â The platter comes with two types of wontons - Asian beef and king crab, calamari, bruschetta and crab cakes. Â The best thing on the plate was the condiments, especially the chili sauce. Â The wontons were both flavorful with the Asian beef ones being the better of the two. Â The wontons were crispy on the edges, but soft elsewhere. Â I like my wontons crispy. Â Going down the quality spectrum, the bruschetta bread was soggy, but it had reasonable flavor. Â The crab cake didn't even attempt being crispy and didn't have much flavor either. Â The calamari were an absolute disaster - the word gummy comes to mind, and you never want food described as gummy. Â
If we had stopped here, this would be a one star review. Â It was terrible. Â
But we were hungry, so we ordered a portobello mushroom sandwich. Â The bun was nicely toasted, the marinated portobello mushroom was nicely flavored, the pesto that decorated the bun added a nice spice. Â The steak fries were perfectly crispy, yet still soft in the middle. Â Hd we just had this dish, it would be four stars.
So this restaurant is a bit hit and miss.  I certainly wouldn't recommend it over other, better restaurants in Breckenridge, and  the appetizer was such a n epic fail that I cannot give this one even an average score.
Sorry Dredge - fix the problems. Â I may try you again next year, but its unlikely.
Was there in early DEC before the big crowds and didn't try the bar. The pear/walnut salad was very good. Very good mussels, sauce was on the lighter side. Sampler was good, loved the crab cake and the wantons. The steak was good. Â Our waitress was awesome, very attentive but not pushy. Excellent service, too bad I can't remember her name. She made a great dinner and evening just more memorable.
We were the only customers that night so we were incredibly pampered so I can't tell if the comments apply when they are jammed.
Considering the quality of food and quantity was ample, we both thought the price was reasonable.
I had my wedding rehearsal dinner here and it was an absolute nightmare. We are restaurant managers and could have forgave the confusion. However, the way we were treated by Victoria, whom I believe is one of the owners, was absolutely horrific. Being in the industry we frequent many restaurants and I have never been talked down to or treated more rudely than at this establishment. Having been a restaurant manager myself, I know that if I ever treated my customers that way I wouldn't have a job. Instead of trying to work with us to fix the problem, all blame was placed on us and I ended up in tears the night before my wedding. They ruined the whole night for us! The food was fantastic and it has great atmosphere but we will NEVER eat there again and we will do our best to make sure that other don't also!
Review Source:I had heard so many mixed reviews about this place that I took me four years to try eating here. Â Sadly, even with expectation low, I was still disappointed.
The low for the night was definitely our server, Paul. Â We were there for 10 minutes before he finally got around to bringing us some water. Â 10 minutes later he finally takes our drink orders. Â It was another 10 minutes before we got our drinks.
We had the mussels and crab cakes, which arrived after we had been in the restaurant for a solid hour.  They were OK.  The mussels didn't seem very fresh, but that is to be expected  when you are a thousand miles from the nearest ocean.  The sauce was good, but very heavy.
About 30 min after our apps, we got salad. Â The sever suggested a lime vinegrette, but I felt like all you could taste was the acidity from the lime and vinegar.
90 minutes into the night we got our main course. Â Every few minutes Paul would come by to explain why everything was so slow, (he was training a new server, the kitchen didn't know what they were doing, the other servers were hiding is trays, and countless other excuses that were never his fault.) Â I couldn't help but think if he spent less time apologizing, and more time actually serving, it would have gone faster.
The entrees were a bit hit or miss. Â One of us had the eggplant parm. Â It was ok, but the sauce tasted like it came straight from a can. Â For $25, you would think they would make their own sauce. Â Someone else had the shrimp and crap stuffed trout. Â Again, ok except that it was practically floating in heavy cream.
The two losers tonight were my wife and I. Â She had the salmon that must have had a cup of balsamic vinegar on the top. Â I had the absolute worst dish, the ahi tuna pasta for $28. Â The tuna was a very cheap cut, and I am not even sure it was ahi. Â It certainly wasn't sushi grade. Â The fish was very tough and stringy and was covered in a a soy glaze so all I could taste was the salt. Â It was served on bean thread noodle pancake, which was really more like a hash brown. Â It was burnt, not browned, on both sides, and was cooked in more soy sauce to the point where it was just a charred salty mess. Â Completely inedible. Â
My overall impression of the food was that there was a very heavy handed cook. Â All of our meals were either swimming in canned tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, heavy cream, or soy sauce to the point of being overwhelming. Â There wasn't the tiniest hint of subtly in any of the dishes.
Getting back to our sever, when I told him how displeased I was about my tuna, he did offer to remove it from the bill. Â He would have nearly redeemed himself if he didn't go on for five minutes about about the radiation from Japan is harming tuna which is why it was so bad. Â Seriously? Â He also claimed to be a manager, but he just wasn't professional at all. Â In fact, I think he might seriously have been stoned.
Lastly, I think I might have been less upset if this place wasn't so expensive. Â If these meals were in the $10-20 range, I could have been more forgiving, but all the meals were between $24 and $28. Â For that money you could eat at any of a number of quality restaurants in town like Ember, Relish, or Hearthstone.
Skip this place when you are in Breck. Â I asked the bartender what the cheapest draught beer was since pay day wasn't until the next day for me. Â She stared at me like I was an idiot and pointed to their "drink specials" list and said, Â "These are our specials." Â The list had a single item on it; an irish car bomb, not a beer. Â She then walked away before I could say anything and I waited 4 minutes until the next bar tender came over. Â I asked the same question of her and she corrected my pronunciation of draught, which I have never been corrected on before. Â I guess the bar tender was under the impression she was in the UK that night. Â Shitty service and straight up rude bar tenders. Â Why waste your time? Â There are so many better places to go to.
Review Source:Wow. We spent four hours in the upstairs bar on a Saturday evening and  kept raving to each other about how impeccable the service was, and how accommodating Steve and his team were. Exceptionally well done - a great time. The food and drinks were standard bar fare, but the great staff and service really set The Dredge apart. We will be back.
Review Source:Fruit flies in my drink. Twice. We visited on New Year's Eve and were severely underwhelmed with the food and service. The place needed to decide between catering to 30s and 40s with money, and the Breck 20-somethings with beer drinking money. Elk medallions lacked flavor and were somewhat gamey. Desserts were good. The fruit flies in the drink, though, were brutal. They came with the oranges in my Old Fashioned, and when it happened once, I'd think the server would check the second time. Worst, the drink I then changed to should have been comped, in my view, but that might not be how management wants to run their restaurant.
Review Source:The food was good as was the service. Â We've been there before and were excited when we made reservations online for New Years Eve. Â We were very surprised though when we arrived and were abruptly informed that they had a fixed price menu that evening of $85.00 per person. Â The hostess did a very poor job of handling the situation. Â She explained that there was a problem with the online system and then basically said, "take it or leave it". Â Since it was 6:30 in the evening on New Years Eve in a resort town there was no way we were going to get in anywhere else, so we were stuck. Â For the 3 of us, my wife and daughter and I the bill was $350.00. Â They automatically added an 18% gratuity which they also did not tell us about. So while the food and service were good, they were not great and not worth that kind of price. I would comfortably pay $50.00 per person for what we received. Â We might go back, but I will not be surprised again. Â
However, watching Breckenridge's New Years fireworks show from the upper deck of The Dredge was fantastic.
I would agree with Andy B. on this one.
I can forgive the hit or miss redness of burgers, but tonight I was served cold, raw, coconut shrimp, not once, but twice! Â The server's response was I can get you crab for the same price????
Seriously? Can I pay for another fried seafood dish that comes out raw?
No thanks.
There are plenty of other "fine" dining places in Breck that will not disappoint and certainly won't rub disappointment in the face of their customer, like:
Relish
Blue River Bistro
Ember
The Hearthstone
I would rate negative stars if possible, where do I start? Wrong apps, wrong entrees, the waitress suggested Pinot Grigio as a good red, we ordered steaks medium rare and they came well done, our wine came after entrees and half of us got a carrot for our veggies. Despite the fact there were 17 of us but only 2 other tables and they were this bad is beyond me. We asked for the manager and the bartender came out who lied to us and then some guy in a jersey (probably the cook) came out proclaiming to be the owner. The staff was defensive, had zero accountability, and my entire family all agreed this was the most pathetic service and food we have ever experienced. Now I understand why the place was empty, despite the fact the town is packed. Unless you like horrible food and service don't go here, consumers don't deserve to be treated this way and places like this don't deserve to exist. If you are going to charge $30 a plate because you are in Breckenridge then you better know how to cook and take care of the customer, unfortunately this place has no clue.
Review Source:According to their website, the Dredge is a "two million pound floating restaurant. . . a replica of one of the largest and longest operating dredges in Breckenridge." Â Needless to say you really cant miss it. Â Nor should you.
This review is for the bar only. Â You enter the Dredge via a little bridge. Â Fine dining is on the first floor. Â The bar is upstairs and you can reach it by the outside or inside stairs. Â The patio upstairs offers some lovely mountain views and a nice vista of the surrounding town. Â The actual bar upstairs is nothing special though we found much to like there. Â First, the service is great - friendly and quick. Â The drinks are tasty and the happy hour is delightful. Â Also my friends are unanimously convinced that the Dredge makes the best Bloody Mary EVER. Â While I'm more of a mimosa kind of girl, the few sips that I managed to steal would convince me that they aren't too far off - a lovely simple Bloody Mary with just the right amount of spice and heat. Â
The upstairs offers lots of cozy and varied seating - tables, booths, nooks, etc. Â It also boasts pool, darts, big screen TVs and Foosball. The happy hour crowd is varied and fun - locals, folks straight off the hill, tourists, you-name-it.
My husband and I ate dinner here along with 8 of our family members to celebrate a 50th birthday. Â Overall, our food and service were very good. Â The soup of the day was the loaded baked potato, which was delicious. Â My sister in law found the French onion soup to be mediocre. Â All entrees were delicious and plates were cleaned. Â I had the crab-topped filet while my husband had the salmon: Â both were delicious. Â Dessert was by far the best part of the meal. Â We had the chocolate ganache wontons with cinnamon ice cream, which just made us want to fall out of our chairs with enjoyment. Â After dinner, we threw some bread into the pond from the walkway and fed the fish for a few minutes. Â The service was also very good and our waitress attended to us on a regular basis. Â
If you have the budget, I would suggest giving it a shot. Â Plan on dropping around $50 average per person.
Experience is everything. If you go to a restaurant/bar and have a great time and the prices/quality of food is good and well priced then the establishment deserves five stars. When you go to an establishment and the manager insults you, then it receives one star. It doesn't really matter how good the service is or the food is, but when someone introduces you to the manager and they insult you then it doesn't matter how good the food is or how cold the beer is. If you are looking for a nice place in town for a beer or something to eat, they are plenty of other places that would appreciate your business.
Review Source:Ate at the Dredge last night with a group of 10, and food and service were terrific. Â The ribeye exceeded my expectations...very tender, flavorful, and hardly any fat. Â It's rare to find a ribeye that's perfect on all counts. Usually the really flavorful ones are quite fatty, or the really lean ones aren't tender. Â But the Dredge seemed to find the perfect cut. Â The onion soup was outstanding, as was the shrimp appetizer special. Â We even ordered an extra entree of elk tenderloin, to split amongst us as we haven't tried it before. There were 4 good sized pieces, with my friend and I eating two of them, and my 10 year old son devouring the rest. Â Overall, I was very pleased, and would go there again if I had a taste for steak.
Review Source:I have been coming here since 1996 and I have to say that most of my dining experiences have been great. The Dredge is a replica of the original dredge boat that was in service here in town until the 30s/40s. The atmosphere is unique for sure. I like walking down the little bridge over the water that leads to the side door. The view across the pond is great in both winter and summer.
The food here is standard American fare. This is also a bar on the upper level. I love the spinach and artichoke dip that comes with garlic-seasoned pita points. The dip itself is very thick and creamy and the seasonings are just right. The shrimp and bowtie pasta is always tasty and the husband likes their steaks. The martinis here are good and the beer selection is decent.
The waitstaff are always friendly but the hostess stand can seem a little aloof at times. The noise coming from the upstairs bar can be loud, especially as the evening progresses. Â The vintage mining era decor is but I think the restaurant itself may need a little update.
Overall, the Dredge is a good bet and the wait times are less than most places in town.
The Dredge is a great spot off the beaten path in Breck. Â The food is better than 95% of the restaurants in town and you won't have to worry about battling large groups and long waits. Â The steaks are awesome in the dining room and the burgers in the bar are a great way to go if you are just looking for something quick. Â Prices are very reasonable and the service is always friendly.
Review Source:I have never had such an awful experience at a restaurant. Â We went to The Gold Dredge for a friend's after-wedding dinner. Â They had put together a limited menu for us which included a salad. Â When the server was told that there were to be seperate checks (which the bride had explained at the time of booking), she informed us that the salad would no longer be included. We then asked if that meant that we could order off of the original menu. Â She said "no" and we ended up speaking to the manager Steven. Â After a bit of debating with the manager, he finally agreed that we could order off of the original menu. Â
The food came out over-cooked (burnt) and awful. Â The food was not fresh at all. Â The meat, veggies, even soup were poor in quality and "over-ripe" Â Everything was very salty too. Â The waitress did not know what scotches they carried and when she came back from checking, of what she listed off many were bourbons. Â She then forgot to get them altogether after they were ordered.
The cleanliness was appalling. Â One of the kids in our party had cheese in his coke, my water glass had a huge crack running through it and another woman's had writing all over it. Â Her glass had "bisq" written in permanent marker which led us to believe that it was not supposed to be a drinking glass. Â The silverware still had food on it too.
The last straw came with the bill. Â The menu said that it would add 18% gratuity on to all large parties. Â Pretty standard. Â Our checks, however, had 20% gratuity added on. Â The bride and groom even had an extra glass of wine added on to their tab. Â
The manager never reappeared when he heard that we had problems. Â They never even acknowledged our friends' wedding. Â We left utterly amazed that an experience could be so very bad. Â After spending over $100, we went back home and ordered pizza.
Really cool place to walk into/onto.
We had a few drinks at the bar upstairs- super nice and attentive bartender, a few locals laughing and joking around.
Dinner was quiet and well presented- service was terrific. I had the Chicken Fettucini (something I would never normally order) on the recommendation or our server, who said she ordered it all the time and also found it impossible to reproduce at home- it was pretty good. Not too heavy, very tasty, perfectly al dente pasta.
Tricia had the crab and filet dish, which was a little heavy on the sauce, and was overall pretty average.
The bill was reasonable, but I would recommend the upstairs bar for a beer before I would recommend the restaurant for dinner.
The bar upstairs gets 4 stars, the restaurant 3- overall, I would say 3.5 stars.
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