What a place. This is a classical dive bar in the simplest sense. Weird shit all over the walls and ceilings like bombs, a rhinoceros serving PBR, shrunken skull, weird torn up ceiling, cheese pool tables with one roof light kind of lighting it up. Back bar that looks like a cheap wedding hall reception bar like at an American Legion or Elks Club. Great service from the waitresses and at the bar we move to the bar a bit later in the night. Great cheap $1 drafts for happy hour and other mixed drinks for cheap. Then the wings we tried for a snack, whole wings three parts each. It's like getting two wings for the price of one. 8 full wings for $9 or 10 dollars. There not spectacular but tasty. Again this is a dive bar and this rating is biased on that regard. Be prepared to watch the hillbilly scuffles begin around 9pm. We'll be back for happy hour and plan to leave early.
Review Source:This is an interesting place. Â I've drove by hear a couple times and always wanted to know what it was like inside.
First off, this is a bar and should be viewed that way. Â Yes they have food, in the form of a self serve BBQ window, but in it's soul this is a bar not a restaurant.
Positives: Â Spacious interior with lots of room for pool, live music and an awesome patio (also with live music), OK beer selection, friendly staff and clientele (on a Sunday) with just the right amount of weird.
Cons: A little dingy...which can be a positive depending upon what you are looking for.
All in all I think this is an alright place to go with a group of friends for a couple beers (the BBQ is just OK)
Homeless people, druggies, and drunks. Â Its a good place for laughs. Â Be careful. Golden Police wait in the parking to arrest drunk drivers. The food is so greasy and salt is the main ingredient. Â Its prison food. Â The bathrooms are freaking nasty and the place just smells. Â The yard house beats this place by far.
Review Source:Back at the RR for a gradation party. This is the place to have a party,day or night. We love that we don't have to clean up or set up. Â There is no charge for the reservation. Jordan was our bartender and took great care of us. Â We had a family crowd with us from 2pm until abut 8pm then we had a"grown up" party until last call. I love this bar!
Review Source:SASHtastic Food - SASHfabulous Prices! Loved it!! I left some photos of our food, which was extraordinary! Our friend had the 1/2 chicken meal, (I forget the name, Rocking Rooster or something) but it was delicious and HUGE portions!! I had the chili tots and they were so good and the portion soooo big, I couldn't believe it.
The prices are rock bottom, seriously. Our entire bill, for 3 meals, a pitcher of beer and a 2 glasses of beer was $35. And EVERYONE took home food, because the meals were so large!! We could have split 2 meals and had all the same beer and been satisfied for four people for around $30. Feed four people, give them all beer, and leave for $30 bucks? You gotta be kidding me!
The beer selection is fair to good, not the most impressive I've ever seen, but above average, especially for the area.
The decor is extraordinary. I was told the building is a historical building, used to house troops in the 1800's and has since been a brothel and a restaurant. Everything that looks authentic, really is. So for these reasons, WOW! I love a place like this!!!
OK, here's the only reason can't give 5 stars. There was one waitress for the entire restaurant, and two bartenders. That poor waitress was serving over 25 tables, alone. She ran her behind off, all night. Food took forever to get us and waiting for the bill was over an hour. She did wonderful, mind you. It was not her fault. I would like to see any waitress do better. But 25 table with groups of 4-8 people, and one waitress? C'mon.
Overall, my complaint was that they were sorely understaffed and I didn't see a bartender come out to help her. That's just sad.
***Note: We are Californians. There is no smoking in CA at restaurants. So if you choose the patio, keep in mind, you've chosen the smoking section in CO. Don't sit outside anywhere if you don't want to sit in cigarette smoke. I'm allergic to it, so for me, that makes for a miserable experience. But I am not taking the star away for that. That's my mistake, not the restaurant's, for not knowing that. This is the same everywhere in CO.
Rock Rest embodies everything Colorado is pretty much known for:
-the old west
-pretty girls
-local brews
-killer bbq
Why you ask?
1. Upon arrival, I couldn't help but feeling as if I had was in the old west, with the building looking like a rustic log cabin, animal heads on the wall and occasional cowboy hat. [however, if you come around dinner time = biker bar. 9pm ish = dance club] This place references all three different feels equally!
2. Â The staff is all primarily women, who are quite attractive. Most wear short shorts, low cut tank tops and happily sport a smile. They were very attentive, prompt and friendly.
3. With a bar full of CO beers on tap, for  $4.50 a pitcher, what more could you ask for?
4. I came for dinner in celebration of a friends engagement and let me tell you, the bbq is outstanding. perfectly brushed chicken breasts, pork and wings were delivered and to die for! i'll always be a fan of southern comfort food [being a southern girl] so i munched it all up!
overall, this place is super unique, different and a place you must try before you die! :)
I went to the Rock Rest Lodge tonight. I had the best chicken wings in years. All of the other places who had hot wings, they lack flavor, hottiness, dry, and very small in size. I was very impressed with the wings there and it has good atmosphere with other things people could do there. Like pool, pinball, few video games. I rated this place A ++
Review Source:My unofficially adopted son Kevin had a craving for hot wings, one of his favorite foods, and I realized I had never brought him to the Rock Rest. I myself had only been here once before, several years ago. This turned out to be his favorite of all the many places we've ever eaten, so I know we'll be back. It's a surprisingly quick drive from Denver.
I was concerned when we arrived because the place was so parked up; I thought the crowd would be huge. Fortunately the Rock Rest is huger, because there was plenty of room, seating, and service -- and parking spaces, too. This is a funky, quirky dive bar with a great patio, a big dance floor in the back room, and a large, diverse, and interesting menu.
I ordered 20 wings, planning ahead for wings to take home, and we ended up with 13 left! These are big, meaty, full wings instead of individual wing joints; so an order of 20 runs about 5 pounds. Extra hot was a perfect choice, lots of nuanced flavor, not killer hot but a firm reminder of what "hot wings" is supposed to be about. Kevin likes seriously hot wings and said he is not tempted at all to try the "gringo killer" version offered here. The extra hot hit the spot. The wings come with a nice amount of impeccably fresh celery and carrot sticks, and the blue cheese dressing is full of -- gasp! -- blue cheese.
The tater tots were piping hot, delectably crispy, and kept their flavor even when they reached room temperature (which they did only because an order is a very generous basket full). The total for all that food was just under $22, a great deal.
Thirty taps of premium draft beer -- good, interesting beers -- in addition to taps of ordinary domestics which are very inexpensive during happy hour. Wow. I tried a Batch 19 (okay) and an excellent Tommyknocker Maple Brown. Kevin had a cola which was only $1 with free refills. Impressive.
Some of the reviewers of this place don't seem to get the service plan: Go order for yourself, pay in advance, and then sit and wait for your food to be brought to you. Same with the bar; walk right up. The bartender was really friendly, attentive, and efficient. Not showy like those yahoos who toss the bottles around, but she was literally fixing drinks with both hands and turning them out very quickly. (You can wait around for table service if you want. Sometimes it's super fast, sometimes it's slow.)
The music was very cool and not blaring like so many bars; we could converse with only a little added volume. It was modern, not country, but I don't know how to categorize it beyond that. The menu offers lots of tempting options -- the peanut butter bacon cheeseburger is reputedly awesome -- but it's going to be awfully hard to pass up those wings. I'm looking forward to my next visit.
Kicked me out because some girl claimed that I "touched her breast." Very sexist and has bad service. Always has too loud of music, which has given my friends migraines
Never had a good time here and, like I said, will kick you out if any girl has a problem with you. Would give 0 stars if I could.
This place is interesting. Â I have lived in the area for a little over two years now and convinced the wife we should check it out. Â Yelp reviews suggested that it was "family friendly" provided you were not there late or on the weekends. Â For the most part true, but keep in mind that this place seems to be 75% bar oriented. Â Food was okay, but a bit of a disappointment from what I was expecting given the reviews. Â My wife did not finish her sandwich, saying the meat was "chewy" in a way meat should not be. Â My meal (cheeseburger) was fine and my son ate all his as well. Â Decent beer selection and the waitress was attentive. I would not recommend bringing children unless they are older. Â I will probably try them again - trying their specialities which seem to be the source of their rave reviews.
Review Source:I have only been to rock rest for drinks/nightlife. I have never had a bad experience...the people are quirky, decoration os eccentric, there is a lot of room for dancing and just walking around, for those who don't like standing still. There's also a lot of seating options (booths, bar seats, high tops). The guy bartender is my favorite (don't remember his name), he is always very nice, and the rest of the staff is friendly as well. They have a great beer selection, and you can get 2 dollar pints on tuesday, so great deal! I only had the wings after drinking quite a bit, so i don't know about the taste....but they sure are big.
Review Source:A buddy & I went looking for wings and beer. Â This place has such character, it's a shame that the service was awful. Â
We sat out on the patio where a server informed us that our server would be right with us. Â It took close to twenty minutes for our server to get around to us and take our order and even longer to get our food. Â The place was less than half-full so I'm not sure why we had the experience we did. Â
Fortunately the wings were served piping hot and were very good, but both the blue cheese and ranch dipping sauces were so watered down that they were inedible! Â Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.
I've mentioned to my friends that curious pandas may probably get nuked one day, and that came here with Rock Rest's 4-pound Peanut Butter Burger Challenge.
Basically, if you can finish a big burger laced with several days' worth of peanut butter and a plantation's worth of curly fries in 30 minutes or less, you'd get the $12 meal free, your picture on their wall, and a $25 bar tab. A great way to make some new friends if you prevail.
The burger also has four 1/3 lb. patties, four slices of cheese, eight strips of crispy bacon, and your usual burger veggies. A dill pickle spear is placed on top of the burger, and all held together with a skewer. Roughly 2.5 to 3 lbs, I'd reckon.
It's a pound of COOKED curly fries. I thought I read somewhere that since the uncooked potatoes lose water when fried up, it could amount to four pounds of uncooked spuds. FML. At other places I've been to, their version of a pound is nowhere near as large as Rock Rest's portion. Yay for a very large greasy and heavy food-porny challenge!
Only 5-6 people have won to date. A woman reportedly finished in 9:24. WTF. Must be a competitive eater.
For the record, the food was insanely awesome. The fresh beef patties were cooked perfectly, very juicy and seasoned well. Initially, the fries were a sexy golden brown. The peanut butter oozed out of that burger and blanketed my favorite meat crack (that'd be bacon, folks). Admit it, peanut butter-covered bacon is foodgasm material.
Then flavor fatigue and heaviness (especially from the peanut butter) set in. The Cinderella-like food transformed into very ugly stepsisters. I mean, we're talking a trillion times worse than WWE's Mae Young here.
My pace slowed to an agonizing crawl for the last half of the challenge. I never got very full, but left about a quarter of the burger and maybe less than half the fries. Ugh. I guess it's respectable for deciding: "let's do this for no other reason than to defile a spicy panda!"
(I even put up a video on my YouTube account: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DS7RUVhpKIYs&s=144d6b6d4b9203a069949aa4f5d2fc5ac5f791a49cfad75ce0bb63c3c8ccc003" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/w…</a>)
The staff was great and I loved the decor. For $12 you can't beat the price and the quality. Heck man, that challenge could feed 3-4 "normal" people.
Admittedly, I goaded my friend into doing a couple of spicy challenges the previous few days. This was basically his revenge to get maximum entertainment value. I know he's now happy and laughing at me for this stunt. You're welcome. Don't worry, I only took ten gigantic leaps closer to heart disease.
Speaking of my sadistic friend, he got some delicious-looking mozzarella sticks and really loved them. He also tried some of my burger after the challenge was over and enjoyed that as well. Somehow, I would like to see him screwed over on a food challenge...don't know why.
"Peanut butter, why does it have to be peanut butter...?"
OK, so my buddy treated me to some sorbet later. Maybe I was still food drunk. But did he playfully offer me some peanut butter ice cream? Argh.
The Rock Rest is a great place for happy hour, fun pretty much any night of the week. It's wonderful break away from the stereotypical "uppity" crowd. Just down home good people!
Great old west rustic atmosphere cheep pitchers and good food. You have to try the wings, on top of the great sauces to choose from 1 wing = the whole wing ( all three parts) and its not one of these small chickens that so many places serve!
Huge outdoor space, great for spring, summer and fall happy hours!
The Rock Rest is a fun time pretty much any night of the week. Tuesdays are $2 pint nights (everything on tap!!! Even Alaska Brewing Co, New Belgium, etc); Fridays they have a "booty-shaking contest" (haven't personally been so I'm not sure how it is; heard great things though) and Saturdays are ladies' night, featuring $1 long islands and well drinks. They have plenty of entertainment: loud music, foosball, pool, and shuffleboard.
If you don't go on any other night, be sure to go on Saturdays. You will get an eyeful of liquored-up MILFs attempting to dance on the stripper pole they strategically placed next to the dance floor. You can either laugh at them or try to get one of them to go home with you, depending on your preference. I knocked them down one star only because the service isn't always the friendliest (however, the guy who usually works Tuesdays is plenty friendly to make up for the rudeness other nights of the week).
The music is loud, the drink selection is wonderful, there is plenty of space so you aren't rubbing up against anyone you don't want to be, and the women are (usually) hot. What more do you need in a bar??
There are a couple of things that I like to have in a bar that I frequent and Rock Rest has them all:
-Funky Decor (About as funky as you can get)
-Great Beer Selection (Some 30 Draft Beers!)
-Great drink specials and deals ($2 beers after 8p on Tuesdays)
-Great Bar Food (PB Burgers, Wings and TaterTots! Unbeatable Food)
-Good Patio
-Great Service (Bartenders are spectacular and waitresses are spot-on)
-Good TVs for the 'Big Game' (They are numerous and are always willing to change the channel to something else).
Yep... That about says it all. Go there! You won't be sorry.
They are one of the only places that has good food and drinks at decent prices in golden. Â They're away from the tourist trap of washington st which is why. Â However, I'm tired of poor service so I won't be going back. Â I usually sit at the bar and there are two great bartenders, but the others should not be employed. Â They can't remember drink orders or food orders and its not worth my trouble or money to go there anymore. Â The reason I give 2 instead of 3 stars is that a friend of mine refuses not to sit at the bar due to poor service.
Review Source:Went last night for a few drinks and apps on a Friday night. They've got designated motorcycle parking out front +++. Place is a lodge themed roadhouse with good bar food and loud dance music at night. Wings are "full" meaning drum and wing and tip are one wing. Basically double orders. Buffalo sauces are HOT. Made with Ghost Peppers. Ordered their hottest Gringo Killer sauce. Was a little hotter than Buffalo Wild Wing's Hot flavor and was great. The heat from the Ghost peppers takes a minute to hit you, then stays for awhile. Love 'em. Also ordered potato skins with bacon. Good as well. Food is self serve at a window. Bartenders may also order for you if you start a tab.
Staff was fine for a party house kind of atmosphere. Don't expect to be catered to. It's a roadhouse, not a restaurant. Pole dancing competitions on Friday nights. Lots of good burgers. Other specials too. We'll be back for the patio scene during the day and more of them tasty wings!
Always a good place to stop if you're in the neighborhood, service can be skethchy from time to time but the food is awesome, the wings are huge and meaty and the beer is cold!!! Great patio scene, usually can catch a complimentary BBQ on Friday nights in the summer that kicks butt, decor is unique to say the least and is entertainment in itself, owner is very cool and appreciates his patrons.
Review Source:What a find!
Yelp inadvertently led us to Rock Rest Lodge. Â We were on our way to the Alpine Slides, but needed lunch first. Â Yelp had directed us to a sandwich shop, but we passed this place before we got there. Â Umm... vacation day in Colorado, how can you pass up a saloon???
The place was definitely a saloon, and we loved it. Â We sat on the outside deck in the gorgeous Colorado sun and ordered ourselves some cheap beers. Â The old-timer regulars kept checking us out (not in a sleazy way, I just don't think they were used to three young ladies frequenting their establishment on a Tuesday mid-afternoon). Â They gave us a friendly good-bye when we left. Â
The food was SUCH a deal. Â We ordered two meals for the three of us and would've had dinner to-go if we weren't headed to the airport that night. Â I think it was the cheapest meal we'd had all week. And it was a value, too. Â The fries were yummy (one friend ordered an extra basket), the chicken was really a WHOLE tasty chicken, I never order baked potatoes but was totally glad we did (butter and sour cream are essential to a vacation meal), and the burger with avocado was... well, it had me at avocado. Â We left there sated, to say the least. Â
Oh - and they were totally sweet about splitting our check with three credit cards. When you're trying to get reimbursed, this is essential, and I know it's a pain in the butt.
I read on yelp (after we'd ordered) that this place is good for its nightlife and wings. Â I really wish we'd ordered the wings! If I'm ever back in Golden, Colorado, I shall return!
Same as the rest of the reviews on this place I have to say the wings are huge and awesome.I got to be in a few wing eating contests here and had a blast.I have never had a bad meal here and always have a blast especially with the cheap drink specials they always run.The front part as you walk in has pool tables,tons of seats and a walk up ordering window if you want to use it or they have a great waitstaff..The back has a very very overused "pole"overlooking the dance floor powered by a live d.j. with another full bar a some more tables.
I think Toby Kieth wrote a song about this place..
 Love the atmosphere and will be back soon..
I've heard how good the wings were here, I mean...Food Network showed up here because of them. Â So I come with high hopes. Â It all went down hill from there. Â First the server couldn't get our drink order right. Â We both ordered a pint of Coors Original, and she brings us PBR. Â Ok, not a bad beer, but not what I ordered.
Then, it comes time to order the wings, and mind you, we have never been here before so have no clue what they are like. Â I order 20 wings thinking that should be good for 2 people. Â Half an hour later (Wings should only take 5-10 minutes to cook) Â They show up and HOLY COW these things were HUGE. Â One wing is the wing AND the drumstick, so it's like getting 40 wings. Â They were pretty good, don't get me wrong, that's why they get 2 stars instead of 1. Â But the server should have told us that maybe 20 wings might be too many. Â That would have been the right thing to do. Â So they screw up the drink order, take forever to bring out the food (and we went at 3 in the afternoon, they weren't busy) and didn't mention to us that perhaps 20 wings would be a bit too much food for only 2 people.
Good wings, horrible service.
My first experience having Peanut butter on my hamburger anywhere. Â It was good actually. Â Writing about it makes me want to have it again, soon.
We sat outside on their patio on a Sunday. Â Their was a live band playing, mostly to their friends that showed up. Â They did not have an organized set, they just played whatever they felt. Â Just an additional bonus while eating my peanut butter burger.
Their service is sub-par. Â Even when we were inside, the bartender passed off all responsibility of ordering, even with an empty bar without customers. Â Well, I take that back, there was that local town drunk that was extremely needy sitting next to his full PBR watching NASCAR. Â We ordered through the kitchen window and had an interesting conversation with the "half-there" cook.
I took it in as their Rock Rest Lodge "atmosphere." The type of atmosphere that comes along with their large cabin feel, biker bar image or a honky-tonk personality.
I sometimes forget the differences between Denver's dive bars and the surrounding mountain or suburbia dive bars. Â I enjoy them, but I am also a paying customer and would like decent service to go along with my meal. Â Without comparison to other places, Rock Rest Lodge must have been on break when my girlfriend and I were there.
But, back to that peanut butter hamburger. Â Yes, that was good.
I'm fairly certain this place is a biker bar/ hip hop dancing bar hybrid. By day it's a sweet little place to eat wings and hang out with any sort of crowd. By late night I think you need to come ready to bust a move.
Nick and I came here for some dinner before a concert at Red Rocks because I had heard they have tater tots and I have decided it is my destiny to sample all of the tater tots Denver has to offer. I really like the bar's atmosphere. This place is huge and there are a few separate areas like a pool table room, a back room and the patio. Everything is wood and there are some strange paintings and animal hangings for décor. You get your drinks from the bar and your food from the kitchen window. I think someone else compared it to the Dark Horse and I can see that similarity but this place is much bigger and brighter.
I ordered the infamous wings and could only finish 2 out of 8. Well, more like 2 Â 1/2. But, that's because I'm happy to say I ate a shitload of deliciously prepared tater tots. These aren't fancy, just regular flavor, but they are oh-so-crispy and that's all that matters to me.
With tons of beers on tap (even a fancy one Sir Nicholas ordered that took about 15 minutes to pour), inexpensive prices, and friendly service it's easy to see why the Rock Rest is a favorite of lots of people.
Meh. Decor and menu is very Dark Horse bar but the food not so much. I had the peanut butter burger and wasn't that impressed. The burger and bacon were essentially flavorless and the onion rings tasted underdone with more than just a hint of Coors light in the batter. The music started out as a nice mix of mid 90's alternative and country but devolved into modern dance rubbish including that one with the girls muttering unintelligibly over gunshots (I've heard it in at least three different bars since February. I don't know who "sings" it and don't care) The music also got about 20dB louder so my crew had to yell to be heard. The digital trivia was fun until the third round where it seemed to take five minute breaks every other question. I'd be a great place to be wicked drunk at but sober it's really lame.
Review Source:I mainly went here to check out their wings. Â And all those other people were right - they serve some damn huge wings here! Â It's the drumstick and wing together, with the tip still attached. Â You get 8 of those in an order! Â I couldn't get over how huge they were.
And they tasted good! Â They were super crispy (which I love in my wings) and the buffalo sauce was so nice and tangy. Â We also got some onion rings, which in theory I should have liked, but the beer batter had been fried on there a bit too long so they weren't as chewy as I like. Â They were simply all crisp. Â Their sliders were just a bit sub-par. Â I just don't think they were really trying, but they will pass for bar food.
I'll go back to soothe my buffalo wing aches should it ever cross my way again.
This is the bar I would come to before I was 21 to sneak some drinking in and I still return. Â I have never been to dissapointed. ITS CHEAP. Â And I like cheap food and drinks. Â I used to come in for "cock" fest on thursdays a few years ago and shake my little butt on the bar hoping to advance to the next round.... Sorry mom. Â There are so many guys at this place...(cock fest ... get it) Â 50 cent pool, Huge wings that I crave all the time... bucket o 50 please! Â
So many bears on tap and for a while there all the bar keep did was see me and hand me my drink... that was nice... I only felt like an alcoholic just a little....
Salads are made with iceberg...beware....
blue cheese is watery
but I do love anything on the menu
love the patio in the summer
i miss living so close to this place.....
O the wings.... they are SOOO good....
did I mention that
Went to the Just Wingin' it Jam Party! , put on by Doug Y. yesterday. Â The music was awesome! Â Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon sipping beers and enjoying the beautiful weather. Â Had their wings for the first time, and they are huge! Â Nice and crispy on the outside, juicy meat on the inside. Â The buffalo were my favorite, but the Teriyaki we also very delicious. Â Next time I would love to try the super hot flavor, since I love me some spicy wings! Â
My husband and I also split the Peanut Butter Burger: creamy peanut butter,bacon, and jack cheese. Â It was surprisingly delicious. Â Something about the bacon flavor mixed with the creamy p.b. was amazing. Â For our side we had the tots, of course. Â They were not nearly as good this time. Â VERY overdone, and I like my tots crunchy....but these were way too crunchy. Â My other issue with our visit, was that our burger came out without the bacon and the cheese, so I had to walk it back into the restaurant for them to add it. Â Which leads to another point: our waitress came by progressively less frequent as the day went on. Â I had to go inside to order the last couple drinks and food because she was nowhere to be found for over 20 min. Â Now the place is usually self service on the patio, but we had a server assigned specifically for this event, so you think she would have been more available than she was.
Overall, it was a perfect setting for some great music, chill company, delicious food, and yummy cheap beer. Â Thanks Doug Y. for throwing such a fun event!!
So I think this is a fun eatery which is the epitome of "no frills" dining. Â You order your food at one window get all your drinks from the bar and someone will bring it out in little red baskets or in a metal Coors bucket. Â The first time we visited we sat outside and every wait person that came out had a cigarette in their mouth. Â
Interior decor is stuffed animals (as in were once moving), oar fans, dark and euro-y and a pole to dance on. Uneven wooden floors and I'm pretty sure some large barrels serving as tables? Â They also have a Jaegermeister dispenser with tap and a fair amount of beer on tap. Â All the bartenders were knowledgable about the stuff they were serving and although they aren't overly friendly I don't think the place prides itself on only its service. Â
The wings are amazing. Â The mediums are covered in little chili flakes and the bottom of the bucket has its own little pool of the stuff. Â Did I mention that their wings are in fact the entire freaking wing of the bird so you get the drumstick and a "wing". Â Their onion rings and chicken fingers are not only eat-a-ble but pretty tasty and you can order their tater tots to be extra fried so you get that almost painful crunch of hardening arteries from the extra fry time. Â Their curly fries are not the normal overly battered red spiced nasties, but actual fries which are curly but more close related to their spuddy relatives and only dressed in some salt and pepper. Â The BLT is another artery stopper with oil soaked pieces of toast covering what must be around 12 pieces of pretty thickly sliced smoked bacon (actually smoked according to Lo) some veggies and everything slathered in mayo. Â Delish.
Oh, beware the veggies that come with the wings. Â They were a little far gone.
I remember Bryan M telling me about this place when the Elite met at Alta but of course it slipped my mind until someone in "talk" mentioned it again. Well the stars aligned because my brother took us up here tonight. He used to work in Golden and said that this was the place for wings. Now I had wings on my mind.
The room looks like a big a$$ed western bar with lots of wood and a huge dance floor (complete with the aforementioned dancing pole). There's a small window into the kitchen with an unlit neon sign above it that says, "Order Here". There were five of us so we ordered 20 wings ( I figured that would get us started), a rack of ribs, an order of sliders, fries, tater tots, and a BLT? We grabbed a pitcher of IPA and headed out onto the large deck and waited for the food. Not much later it arrived, the wings in a beer bucket full to the top. You don't get the drumette and the two-bone as separate pieces, you get the whole shabang from drumette to tip and they are as large as everyone has been talking so 20 pieces here is like 40 anywhere else and these puppies were big.
I grabbed a rib first and it was large and meaty (not enough smoke for my liking but still pretty good). Then I had at the wings. They are killer good. We got the medium hot and it was just that (although my brother's girl friend must have got a hot one because one was enough for her). This isn't just a louisiana hot sauce butter mix, there's more flavor and heat on these wings. This would be a great place for a big gathering or party or just someplace to hang on a weekend afternoon. This is a blue collar, lots of Harley riding types of crowd place so if that puts you off then you probably won't like it unless... you love them wings.
Sometimes I can get a touch on the side of long winded.
I can hear my wife sigh, roll her eyes and mutter, "Sometimes?"
So be fore warned, I am going wax a little philosophical before I get to my actual review. Â If you would like to read just the review, scroll down and skip this crap (look for ACTUAL REVIEW).
Life is about expectation. Â Everything. Â So many times you are either disappointed or pleasantly surprised based solely on your expectations. Â Movies, relationships, jobs, and most often... food. Â If you read 17 great reviews about Frasca, go there and have a server who is obviously not happy to be there and makes your experience less than it should be, you will be disappointed at all the 5 star reviews. Â 'Sure the food was good,' you'll say, 'but the service was shit.'
For this reason I try to look at each meal and each establishment with as much of a level head as possible, but sometimes a place gets past my "bias defenses." Â The Rock Rest Lodge is one of those places. Â Had a number of people told me it was the most amazing bar ever, I would have been sadly disappointed at the self service, the dim-witted bartender and the not-fastened-to-anything flyaway umbrellas on the deck (we had to dodge three of them while we were there). I could have easily written a 3 star review.
But because I found this place by accident... I loved it. Â I went in with zero preconceived notions about the service or food quality. Â
ACTUAL REVIEW:
The food portions and quality were great... and at the price it felt a little like I was robbing them. Â They have something like 36 beers on tap, including Barmen, a rare treat for me. Â
The baked beans were good. Â The croutons for the salad were home made. Â The pork sandwich was cook slow as were the ribs. Â If you love BBQ like I do, you can tell when it has been handled with some care and when it was thrown together to please the masses (cough... Brothers... cough)
The atmosphere was classic pub... open areas to not sit, but stand. Â Some games tucked away in corners. The deck was big and open and when its a perfect day in CO, I have a new place that I would like to go sit outside... because I can't blame the server for being slow... I'm in charge.
I only have experience at the Rock Rest for their nightlife. Â I usually arrive here for the post-midnight dancing. Â All I know is the pole gets a lot of action, and the music is so loud and the bass is so invasive I think my heart struggles to keep its own rhythm. Â The drinks are expensive, the decor is like my treehouse from my childhood, and the bartenders are snobby. Â
But if it's late-night in Golden, you've got a buzz going and a DD to take you home, and you get that craving to go dancing then head to the Rock Rest. Â Just be warned that you'll start to reminisce about frat parties back in college...
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