Leadville's restaurant choices are limited, and perhaps the spottiest is The Grill Bar and Cafe. It's not just that the food is average, it's the generally poor quality of the service that is most frustrating. Until my last experience here, The Grill was the go-to restaurant in town. Not anymore, however. First the good stuff: The Grill has one of the best beer selections in Leadville, and the menu features a wide range of choices.
My last two visits have been the most frustrating. When we ate here in December, I ordered a beer, asked the price, and was told $4. I was charged $5, but after pushback from the waitress, I paid what she charged me and left. On my last visit at the end of June, I ordered a beer, was quoted "about" $4, and was later charged $5. I asked the waiter about the charge, and he promised to give me 10 percent off the beer. But then he came back a few minutes later saying he can't give me the discount because I had the same issue six months earlier and should have known better. The staff's suspicion seemed to be roused when I told them this was the second time in a row I've had to dispute a price they quoted me for a drink. I asked for the manager, who proceeded to bring in the hostess and the waiter and held a tribunal about what I said when I ordered my beer and whom I said it to. She said it's not the staff's responsibility to know beer prices because they're in the computer and they shouldn't have to check when asked. Tired of the argument, I said I'd pay the extra buck, but I won't come back. Then the manager argued with me about whether it's my prerogative to never return. This is some of the worst treatment I've ever experienced at a restaurant. The wait staff made me feel like I've tried to pull one over on them --twice!
The bottom line: The food is mediocre; the service is very poor. The experience will go just fine for you if there is no problem with your food or your bill. Otherwise, you're in for a frustrating evening. It's clear The Grill doesn't go out of its way to earn patrons' business.
I really enjoy the food here, and the margaritas! Â It's still my go-to spot in Leadville. Â Unfortunately, the last time I was here, the kitchen was just ridiculously slow. Â I've never had particularly speedy service here (you know that when there are signs on the wall saying 'Good food takes time, please be patient,' you might end up waiting) but last time it took 40 minutes to get 2 enchiladas and a tamale out of the kitchen. Â All in all, the food is a solid 4 stars, but be prepared to spend some time waiting for it.
Review Source:We're locals & used to go to The Grill all the time. The food is good to great! LARGE portions! & Decent prices for what we get. BUT... they used to accept <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> certificates, but not anymore. We presented our last one to the server, placed our order (there was 7 of us), got our drinks and chips & salsa, & right before the meals were brought out our server told us the manager, who was standing a few feet away staring at us like we had the plague, was no longer accepting the certificates. We told him that they ALWAYS did before, we were regulars, AND we paid for the cert already. Our server, directed by the manager, would not reason with us. We were stuck paying the entire bill.
Service is always just 'okay' there. I always felt like the owners kids were waiting on us & getting their allowance at the end of the week. The owner is snobby & usually rude to everyone coming in. Its unkempt & looks like a dive, but for Colorado, it has great Mexican food. The artwork is done by one of the owners & is fantastic, they should open a gallery, & forget the restaurant biz. How do you say "Disappointed" in Spanish?
We told them we won't be returning & they don't seem to mind. Even though we have 20 members in our family, MANY friends, living in this tiny city, & most of my family have been here 30, 40, 50 years. But they don't seem to care they're loosing ALL of our business. So we make tacos at home now! Cheaper & taste better!
(If you DO go there anyways, avoid the ice tea, it tastes like poison! I don't know WHAT they do to it... I'm afraid to think about it!)
I would hardly call this the best food (or even Mexican) in Leadville, but it wasn't bad. The service was good but the environment is kind of bleh and our chips and salsa were brought out cold. It was obvious they were straight from a bag and the fridge, neither were fresh nor particularly tasty.
The meal redeemed the starters a bit. My boyfriend and I split the stuffed sopapillas especiales. We chose shrimp as our meat (beef, chicken, and veggies are also options) and it was tasty. I just wish their was a bit more shrimp (I only had 3 in my side of the sopapilla), but maybe if we hadn't ordered the especial with all the extra filling I would've gotten that.
The one thing that was really great were the margaritas! They were super tasty and smooth and for $2.00 more than the cost of  2 regular house margaritas, you can get a 1/2 liter (turned out to be about 6 drinks worth). That was a great deal.
Overall an okay experience. I would come back if a friend wanted to meet me here but it probably wouldn't have been my first choice.
I was in Leadville for business, and my co-worker picked this restaurant based on some recommendations. Â I really don't have high expectations when it comes to Mexican food (I am from Michigan after all!). Â But the Grill Bar & Cafe food was utterly unimpressive. Â It started out OK with the chips and salsa. Â The salsa has a nice flavor and spice level, tomato and onion dominate, good overall. Â The chips were a bit salty, but not terrible. Â I ordered combination #1, which came with a beef taco, bean burrito, chicken tostada, red chili covered enchilada, and rice. Â The taco was very good, but the burrito and tostada were just horrible. Â The chicken was VERY dry and the burrito literally tasted like they opened a can of re-fried beans, plopped the whole thing on a tortilla, and rolled it up.
It wasn't a complete disaster though. Â The service was friendly, although a bit stingy on the chips and salsa refills. Â Our order (big group) was quick and accurate. Â We decided to order some Sopapillas for desert and they were quite good. Â The restaurant seemed pretty clean too.
Your choices are fairly limited in Leadville, but I wouldn't go back to the Grill if I had a choice.
DO NOT EAT HERE!!!! Â Although the service was friendly, what they boast as authentic New Mexican food is NOT good (I was born and raised in New Mexico). Â The red chile was a grit-filled, powdery mess that tasted horrible. Â Got food poisoning and felt terrible for hours on end. Â Save your money and go elsewhere!
Review Source:I was very pleased with this place! Went on a busy saturday night, but had reservations so sat right down. We were asked for our drinks immediately, and they were brought out quickly ($7 grand marnier margarita? Can't get that in Denver! and it was strong - props to the bartender.) After the drinks came, close to 10 mins went by and no one had come back, we had to ask who our server was, but this gave us time to look at the menu and that kind of thing does not bother me. If they are busy, just ask!
Our server was awesome! I was debating on whether or not to order extra guac, so she suggested I taste it first. She was prompt, had great suggestions, knew the menu and had a smile on her face all night. Love that!
Food was great. Our table had the chicken fajitas (awesome), chile rellenos (cheese was not completely melted inside, but really great flavor), chicken quesadilla (awesome) and the fruit pie/cobbler, served in a hot fajita pan w/ ice cream. All really good and great prices. I would definitely return.
I ate at this place once about ten years ago and I still remember it. Some of the best Mexican I have ever had. Kinda a dump of a place, but that's a sure sign of a good Mexican restaurant. Huge portions, everything cooked the right way with a lot of grease. Did things to my intestines the likes of which I have never seen since. Amazing.
Review Source:
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