Hubby & I ate our anniversary dinner here! A very unique experience in a beautiful log cabin style establishment! The courses of food just kept coming...mountain gourmet is the perfect description for the food, service and ambience. The table for 2 was cozy and by the window...fresh mountain air blowing in the whole time.
Review Source:I love this place overall. Â The building is amazing, the staff is great, and the $35 for six courses is an unbelievable deal. Â My only complaint is that the food is somewhat underseasoned. Â They are sticking to old school American food and are not ashamed of it, and I greatly appreciate it.
Review Source:I guess it isn't fine dining if the restaurant is a log cabin, if there are no table cloths, if the owner/host wears jeans, and the wait staff works communally,  but it sure comes close. The food and service are  excellent, if a little out of the ordinary.
The prix fixe menu has been updated a little, to now offer a less expensive 3 course option to the traditional 6 course. I guess it is good for an introduction for some, but though I eat smaller meals and I can never finish everything here, I still need the 6. There isn't a course that I would be willing to skip. And it is still an excellent value. Lots of good wine choices too.
I have been eating here for over 30 years, and everything in my review from 2011 still holds true. My entree tonight was roast duck (half a bird!) and I do not remember ever having it here before. The meat was tender and excellent, the seasonal rhubarb sauce a cool  change from traditional  cherry or orange glazes, and I brought half of it home. The skin over the breast area could have been crisper, if you wanted to eat it, but I can't anyway, so I slid the sauce off directly onto the meat.
The mashed potatoes were homey and buttery. The salad, an interesting mix, with spinach, jicama, green pepper, red onion, tomato, cucumber and parmesan cheese and the house Casey/Caesar-ish dressing. For dessert, I had the chocolate mint cup, a little denser than a mousse, more like a truffle or ganache consistency, great balance with the mint being subtle. My husband had the flourless chocolate torte, my usual go-to dessert here. More than ample in size and tasty.
But to back up to the beginning. Fresh from the oven, whole grain, seedy bread, a half loaf for a table of 2. Brought some of that home too. I had the cold cucumber/dill soup, loved it, and my husband loved the hot salmon chowder. Usually the appetizer is more unique than tonight's, an herbed cheese with fresh apple slices. This sort of surprised me because they also end with a fruit and cheese plate after dessert, but maybe this was a substitution for something else that ran out, or a teaser to the 3 coursers who won't stay for the last one. But it was tasty. Apparently, they had an enormous walk-in crowd on short notice tonight following a special event in town, and they had a contemporary blue grass string band (The SheSaids) playing in the bar area too. Yes, the music was really good. People were having a lot of fun, the porch and the dirt street out front were packed. Glad we had reservations. And when you call for reservations, they will ask for any dietary needs, and will make you something to accommodate.
Since I have such a long standing sense of their kitchen and menu skills, I won't fault the very minor issues tonight. It was pretty close to perfect and way above 5 stars on every other point.
The Gold Hill Inn is a mountain-fresh experience well worth the trip! And I give them extra bonus points, because it's perfect if you're on a gluten-free diet (which I am).
I've been going here for over 20 years and have seen the menu change a little to reflect "new" dietary needs, but the basic idea is the same: great home cooking for a reasonable price. And on Sundays you can even order some "small plates" from the bar menu while you enjoy bluegrass music in the bar  ... without getting totally pixelated before you travel back to wherever you call home.
And the inn's side yard is a great spot to send your kids to work off some energy (or boredom) while the adults enjoy the six courses, wine, and conversation; my kids  always liked being able to leave the table, run around for a while, and then return for the next part of the meal.
If your usual dining spot is Frasca, then this ain't fer you-- but if you enjoy great music, hearty portions and seasonal mountain fare, head on up to Gold Hill!
A step back in time for sure, and a six course meal for $35 is clearly the best deal around. It's a fun experience from beginning to end. A scenic ten miles from Boulder, a cozy old inn and a fun feast. The food is honest and very fresh and so is the service. We go once or twice every summer. Tonight's highlight was the smoked, stuffed trout!
Review Source:This is a review for the dinner, not the bar.
Going for the bar or music at Gold Hill is phenomenal, 6 out of 5 stars.
The dining experience is exactly a 2 star, "meh".
The atmosphere is fantastic, and that's why I keep going back to grab some drinks.
Also, the wait-staff is equally as impressive, they're all super friendly and you can know them on a first name basis.
The food was a potential 4 star experience marred by errors, mostly highlighting a lack of balance in the taste and some poor prep decisions.
The bread and jam are super good. I will go back when I get drinks and see if I can order just this at a reasonable price. Hopefully I can.
The stuffed avocado appetizer is a joke. It's a sixth (SIXTH!) of an avocado with the shell still on and walnuts sprinkled on it  -.-
The melon soup was great , the tomatillo soup was not.
Tomatillos are sour and acidic, and there was nothing in this soup to balance that. It was tomatillos sitting in a thin tomatillo broth. I didn't finish it.
The salad was good, but super small.
The entrees were mostly good. I had the duck and my girlfriend had the steak. The steak was cooked well, but the sauce was just OK and the bacon was kind of funky and not crispy enough.
My duck wasn't crispy enough as well, leaving a too soft skin floating over too much fat that hadn't been rendered out. It was still a good chunk of duck though. BUT, it was smothered in cashew sauce. Let's think about this: one of the fattiest meats covered in a sauce made out of one of the fattiest nuts. Again, -.-
And there wasn't much to balance this. Some good yams and spaghetti squash with some mushy broccoli.
We only got the three course so this is all we had. I probably won't get dinner here again, but I will come back for music and drinks. That is what the Gold Hill Inn does best!
This place is an absolutely fantastic place to visit! The experience of visiting the town of Gold Hill and in particular the Gold Hill Inn restaurant is an absolute must-do for out-of-towners as well as Denverites/Boulderites. Â It is so charming and the service was great. Â The food was very good, but not great. Â We ate a 6-course meal and some aspects were better than others; my halibut came out overcooked and the chef did offer to re-cook it, but I was too full to take him up on the offer. Â Much of the food was good, but in general, I'd say just being there was what it's all about. Â My overall verdict: worth it!
Review Source:This place makes me so happy!  I have always had an excellent experience here.  I make a point to visit the Gold Hill Inn each time we travel to Boulder (which is at least once a year as we have family there!)  The food served here is amazing.  I am a vegetarian and they always handle this with such ease.  Each course is delightful and over time I have been happy with everything-but here are a few favorites-the bread, avocodo with raspberry vinaigrette and walnuts, the watermelon soup, the mashed potatoes, the veggies are always fresh and amazing, the mint cup, the strawberry dessert and the list goes on!  The service is excellent, very friendly and accommodating.  The only thing that might be confusing for the first timers is that it's a collective effort so oftentimes different staff will work with your table at different times throughout the evening.  They are all very friendly though and no  matter the person they will accommodate whatever it is you need!
In addition, the drive up to Gold Hill is pleasing. Â On clear nights the views are amazing!
We took our family up to Gold Hill this past weekend and I have to say, this place is just so cute! The rustic decor really makes you feel like you're in an old cowboy movie, which is a fun treat.
The service was pretty good, although once it got busier in the evening, people kept forgetting to bring what we were asking for.
We all ordered the 6 course meal and most of it was great. The lamb shank I ordered was served at room temperature and another person in our group was served a steak that was nearly raw. She was never asked how she liked it cooked and just couldn't even eat it, but didn't have the heart to send it back.
Other than that, we enjoyed the experience.
You know that idea you have about creaky, wooden cabins at the tops of mountains filled with bearded locals and knee-slapping banjos? Gold Hill Inn offers just that. Mix in a handful of well-heeled Boulder savants and you've got yourself a party.
After what feels like an endless drive up a paved and then not so paved mountain road, you'll find some yellow lights emitting from the hippity shack. Park along the narrow street dotted by fellow wooden cabins (it's quaint, really), and then step on in to the largely open receiving room. There's a few tables for beer guzzlers to clink glasses and then there's the stage ready to welcome one of the many musical acts that filter through these historic doors.
If you're in the mood for dinner, everything here is homemade and to my knowledge you can opt for the 3 or 6 course meal (decently priced around $30). They weren't serving any bar menu-like items, so my friend convinced them to sell us a loaf of homemade bread (simple, rustic and satisfying) along with some homemade soup (Tomatillo I think?.. again, simple, awesome). It felt like we'd been camping for days and stumbled upon rations we might not see again in days!
I must have been a hillbilly mountaineer in a past life because man, this spot really resonated with me. I think I'll just have to come back one day.
I had my wedding at the Gold Hill Inn -- what a wonderful experience! Â The staff is courteous to a "T", the location is beautiful, and the price is so much more reasonable than most other catered locations. Â They were so supportive and helpful. Â They allowed me to add just two special vegetarian meals, and the owner worked with me every step of the way. Â The food was really good (though honestly it's not quite four stars). Â It's a shame that they don't store any of the wedding decorations from their many weddings each year and we all have to buy our own. Â Otherwise -- fabulous!
Review Source:We were lucky enough to have our wedding at the Gold Hill Inn - what a spectacular venue! Our out of town guests were blown away by the beautiful drive and rustic atmosphere. The Owners and staff could not have been more kind and helpful, they gave us the freedom to do what we wanted and provided us the tools to do it. We were 100% satisfied and we cant wait to keep going back to the Inn for years to come!
Review Source:This is a great place to take visitors who are in Colorado a short time. Â The drive up sunshine canyon is beautiful (best timed so you drive up during daylight, and back at night), despite the fire damage. Â Give yourself plenty of time to get there. Â If you arrive early, the front room is spacious, with a decent bar. Â It's a good place to hang with a martini to get into the dinner mood.
It's casual, fixed price / psuedo-fixed menu, and with enough choices to satisfy most. Â They finish with cheese and fruit, as it should be. Â You really can't go wrong. Â I suppose if you're overly anal, you could get weirded out by mismatched tableware and easygoing servers. Â
A plus is the wine list.  it's very limited (20 choices or so, many by the glass) but they have some very  nice surprises if you want to pop for a serious bottle, along with several completely serviceable ~$30 bottles.
Half hour drive out of Boulder up through Sunshine Canyon to another world. Â It's a great place to take out of town guests because of the scenic drive and historic mining town. Â The ambiance of the Inn itself is wonderful and authentic. It's been the same since I went there as a college student in the 70s. Â The menu also seems not to have changed. Â I wouldn't go for the food--it's more like a friend who is just an okay cook is having you for dinner--maybe too ambitious but made with care. Â Go because it's a completely unique place--a treasure really. Â Enjoy having a drink outside or in the front room where they often have live music acts. Â It's nice if there's a chill and they light their large fireplaces. Â This place is an original.
Review Source:I must say, I am shocked that this place has 4.5 stars. Â Yes the atmosphere is amazing and the drive up is beautiful. Â BUT the food is absolutely terrible! Â Our first course was dubbed "albacore salad". Â Sounds yummy, right? It was literally a small piece of lettuce, topped with canned tuna. Â Ick. Â The lentil soup was OK, not great by any means. Â I ordered the lamb "venison". Â This very well may have been the oddest meal I have ever eaten. Â It was served thinly, almost like sandwich meat and covered in some of the most disgusting buttermilk, juniper berry sauce. Â To top that off, they offered us three sides, yams, bok choy and cucumber. Â All not bad choices, until you realize they spiced the bok choy in Asian flavors (I am guessing mirin was involved). Â That was truly odd as no other item on any of the entrees had anything Asian going on. Â It just did not work and really stood out. Â The filets at the table were not cooked to order, some too much, some not enough. Â The desserts were OK, nothing too spectacular, nothing terrible. Â The cheese course is a nice touch until you realize the cheeses are your basic supermarket bought Gouda, cheddar etc. Â And the fruit on the plate was aging terribly. Â On a positive note the staff was super friendly and helpful and the bar had great choices.
Review Source:Since there doesn't seem to be any wedding reviews and we had our wedding here this past summer, I'm writing to provide that perspective.
Us- we live out of town, so all of our planning had to be done from a distance. Â We were looking for our wedding to be "an experience" rather than a "mall" wedding that you could get anywhere/any time (don't mean to offend). Our priorities: excellent food, fun experience, low/moderate cost, inclusive menu (kosher, vegan, and diabetic folks were included in our guest list).
Getting there: As others have already noted, it's about 30 minutes outside of the city of Boulder, but is still in Boulder County. Â We had balloons and signs marking the way up so folks wouldn't get worried that they'd not gone far enough, or took a wrong turn at the fork in the (sometimes dirt) road. Â As you pull up to the little havel of Gold Hill, you can't miss the Gold Hill Inn and Blue Bird Inn next door, as they're the tallest buildings at a towering two stories.
The Venue: Despite it's name, the Gold Hill Inn isn't an Inn, it's a restaurant; however, there is an Inn next door- owned by the same brothers- the Blue Bird Inn. Â A little aside on the BBI- you can only rent the entire place, not separate rooms. Â There are nine bedrooms and two rustic bathrooms. It's quite dated, but has great character and was a great way to spend some time with family and friends before the big day.
The Gold Hill Inn (GHI) has two rooms. It's an entirely wooden building, and is a former miner's dining hall, so think campy and charming! Â The front room has two fireplaces with ample seating for cozy fireside chats, and a lovely saloon bar where Tony serves up wonderful cocktails to refresh the cowboy spirit. For the wedding, we used this room for dancing, cake service and appetizers.
The main dining room seats about 70-90 and has quaint wooden tables with mixed wooden chairs, lace doilies, and mason jar candles. We rented table cloths and replaced the mason jar candles with dorky heart shaped ones. The head table was off to the side and the buffet was at the back of the room. Â Buffet was the best way for us to go given our numbers and their staffing availability.
Service:
Brian and Chris are brothers and owners of the BBI and GHI. Â Brian is the front of house guy, who we worked with most of the time. Â Chris is the back of house guy, the chef extraordinaire. Â They were able to accommodate our every request. Â For us, this meant prosecco for the toast, kosher meals, and a vegan entree option for some of our guests. Â They were even very helpful when it came time to plan and order the alcohol for our group and were amenable when the numbers changed.
Food: We went to the GHI six months before our wedding to try their menu and to really get a sense for what we were in for. Â Boy, were we surprised at how great the food was! Â We knew we'd made the right decision. Â We felt pretty comfortable letting them select our sides and went with seasonal vegetables, which were perfect. Â We decided to go with the brisket and the smoked salmon. Â Holy cow! Â They were so amazingly wonderful! (Here we are nearly six months later and people are still commenting to us about how good the food was at our wedding.) Â The bread is a wonderful soda bread that's served with their home made strawberry jam- yummo doesn't begin to describe the deliciousness! Â It tastes like home.
Site:
We used the vast side yard for the wedding ceremony. Â We rented 100 chairs and set up the huppah in front of the stage. Â The day was glorious and everything went great. Â Our guests loved the unique town and all that it had to offer. Â There are great vistas and wonderful opportunities for photographs with rustic broken down trucks and wild west dirt roads and front porches...
We were a little concerned about our elderly relatives being able to be comfortable, but the buildings were accessible and they were able to get around and didn't have any troubles. Â
For the music, we had Hal Aqua and daughter play during the ceremony and got his klezmer band from Denver, Los Lantzmun- they were the best! If you decide to go this route, watch out for the beams! Â
Okay, I know this review has sounded like a love fest- so here are the cons: they charged us full price for the band to eat (typically that's in the cost). They also charged us full price of a meal for reheating the kosher meals (they didn't mention that when we signed the contract).
But, since the meals were so affordable, it's not really a big deal. The price was great for everything we got ($36pp+t+t!).
Need to order your own cake, table cloths, center pieces, and set up your chairs. Â No big deal! Â Â
Would do it again in a heartbeat! Â LOVED LOVED LOVED having our wedding here, but we know it's not for everyone.
The Gold Hill Inn. A wonderful Colorado experience. Maybe it's just the town of Gold Hill that I'm in love with, but the you can't beat the atmosphere. I've been going to the Gold Hill Inn for special occasions since I was a little kid.
The place isn't super fancy, but it is definatly worth the price you're paying. Eating a full five course meal is fun and exciting. You get to choose what you want from four or five options. Which may seem limited, but it just means the chef is preparing it new and fresh.
The fire place...is amazing. The building...is amazing. It's beautiful and rustic.
Gah, I'm salivating!
I went to the Gold Hill Inn on a recent visit to Boulder. Â I have to admit that I was nervous about a 6 course meal but ended up eating every bite! Â As a vegetarian, my entree course was quiche. Â The best course was the appetizer which was avocado with red pepper vinaigrette and walnuts. Â The only thing I didn't really like was the soup course, the vegetarian option was a cold potato leek soup. Â Other than that, the whole meal was so tasty!
Oh and I didn't even mention the views both in the town and on the ride up from downtown Boulder.
We go here every year sometime around our unknown anniversary and even though we're only four years into our relationship it makes me  (happily) feel like an old lady. I know what to expect when I go. A unique setting, a beautiful drive, a comfortable welcoming atmosphere and good food at a great price.
Things don't change much at the Goldhill. The price is always around $33 for dinner and there are always 6 delicious courses. The menu changes slightly, but ultimately it rotates pretty much the same 6ish things.
I love the Gold Hill Inn's location... up one of 2 picturesque switch back roads from Boulder in the town of Gold Hill where it appears maybe 30 people live and dogs wander the lone street through town. I think it's a great Colorado experience and the 2 brothers who own it are so warm and kind that I always feel like I belong there. It's a pleasure to visit...
I've eaten at a lot of fancy places in Denver... some of which charge around $30 for just your entree and most of which are worth it. But $33 for 6 courses is just unbeatable. The entree won't go toe to toe with anything at Fruition or Z Cuisine or restaurants of that caliber, but it will be well worth your $33.
A great place to take out of towners, but a unique and fun experience for everyone.
Very cool experience! The restaurant is a long way up a dirt road. From Boulder its about 30 minutes to Gold Hill. The restaurant is all original log construction, the floors creak when you walk across them and the decor is nicely worn tables and chairs.
The menu is presented on a large blackboard just as you enter the dining room. They serve a Pre-Fixe menu that includes appetizer, soup, salad, entree served with 3 different sides, Coffee/tea, Desert and Cheese/Fruit all for just $33 per person. They offered 6 different entree choices the evening I went.
I'd give the food a score of 3.5 and the restaurant a 5 for personality. Its a great place to visit especially if you are entertaining visitors from outside the CO area. They have live music on weekends with a small cover charge and even host Murder Mystery dinners. Overall it was a fun evening.
Actually went there for the Murder Mystery performance and stayed overnight. It was a fabulous and inexpensive experience, considering high-quality entertainment, dinner, overnight accommodations and breakfast were included. Yeah, some corners were cut, but everything was still executed well. Â A bit challenging to organize, but I highly recommend for a larger group of people.
Review Source:To get to the Gold Hill Inn you have to travel up a twisting dirt road east into the mountains from Boulder but the great food and atmosphere is more than worth the drive. They serve up an always changing 6 course meal for the fantastic price of just $31.00 per person. The food is plainly presented so don't expect fancy pretty plates but what you can expect is great food served in a rustic lodge with a fantastic atmosphere. For a much more detailed review with pictures see my blog.
Review Source:Ah, memories...
A lovely wedding and reception, seems like lifetimes ago. Â A friend's wedding, not mine :). Â Such a romantic place.
A nonprofit benefit barbecue in the courtyard, many years later. Â The food is creative, always top-notch.
A romantic-seeming date, in the lounge area, on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Â The drive up and back, remembering the smell of fresh rainy mountain air. Â The smell of Sambuca...the very drunk date...but he didn't drive on the way back down.
Dates aren't that romantic when one person is drinking a lot and the other is the designated driver!
I love the Gold Hill Inn. Â Must attend one of their Murdery Mystery events sometime....
A little taste of civilization in the mountains. If you didn't know this was up here, you'd think you were lost on the winding mountain road that leads to the Gold Hill Inn.
This is a great place to stop after a killer bike ride! Also, it's a great place to see some cool local music. If you find yourself in the neighborhood on a night that Danny Shafer is playing, make sure you stop in for some old-school, tear-in-my-beer honky-tonk.
This is an absolutely gorgeous spot on earth that should be discovered by anyone who can find it. The drive up is spectacular. Snow covered mountain views in June.
I was here for a party that rented out the whole place. It was an ideal setting for a big group of people with lots of kids and dogs. Lots of space for the kids to play inside and out. Rustic decor. Simple comfort food. The turkey was great. The flour-less chocolate cake was amazing, but they could have sliced the piece a little wider. The kids all went for the rhubarb crisp simply because the pieces were bigger. Shirley Temple bunch bowl prepared for the kids and the young at heart. Iced tea flowing
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