The Friar's Fork & Sanctuary — Restaurant in Alamosa

UPDATE....The Friar's Fork in Alamosa has blocked me on Facebook because I gave an honest review of my experience. This is probably why they maintain a 4.7 rating. They only have 12 ratings since 2022. Take that for what you will. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I get the feeling that they delete any negative reviews. But they can't on Google or Yelp.

We usually eat breakfast at home because there isn't a good breakfast place in our town, in our opinion. But we have been seeing the advertisements on Facebook for The Friar’s Fork. Benedicts are my favorite breakfast/brunch dishes because they are so sumptuous, easy and wonderfully flavorful. I was excited that The Friar's Fork was doing a Benedict breakfast. However, I was extremely disappointed.

We were greeted by a friendly young woman and seated. She was also our waitress. She was absolutely wonderful. We were the only people in the restaurant the whole time we were there. The restaurant is very clean and lovely. The two owners were walking around as were 4 other employees.

We ordered our meal. I ordered the crab cake Benedict and my husband ordered the green chile Benedict along with mimosas for each of us and a Diet Pepsi for me.

When we received our plates, which the head chef/owner delivered to our table, we were hopefully but concerned. The best part of the Benedict is the oozing, runny, delectable egg. Ours were both pretty much hard boiled.

My husband's English muffins was not toasted, the sausage was a premade Jimmy Dean type and a premade hash brown and very possibly green chile sauce from a jar. It was basically inedible. But since we were paying $15 per person he ultimately ate part of it. He didn't touch his severally over cooked eggs.

I didn't have an English muffin but my crab cake was very likely a premade crab cake that was purchased with tasteless hollandaise sauce on top. The egg was inedible because it was so overcooked. I ate one crab cake. My bacon was a weird texture and I didn't eat much of it.

10 minutes or more after receiving our food the owner/head chef came over and asked if there was something wrong with our food because she could probably see we weren't eating it. As she approached the table she saw the eggs were very overcooked and said so. She offered to replace the dish but we declined. Nothing other than the premade hash brown cake was worth eating.

Ultimately we ordered a cocktail each that were very good. They were the only good things we consumed there this morning. We really truly expected deliciousness from a James Beard nominee. If I hadn't eaten a fantastic James Beard restaurants in the past, I would assume James Beard awards were a joke. I really would love to support our local restaurants but being that we've never had a good meal here (this was our 3rd time) we will not go back.

We paid $85 for the worst brunch we've ever...

Three stars isn't necessarily indicative of the entire experience... but if you're only giving me five stars to work with,...7 out of 10 just looks better... but let's get to the review. I had heard much about this place. Let's face it... there's not much Italian cuisine in Alamosa or the valley, for that matter. What there is in Alamosa is the equivalent to a high-end frozen dinner, so this place has a definite buzz going. Honestly, it's tough to be too critical a place that is really far above the other options in town. These folks are obviously trying hard, they've chosen a path that isn't easy...it's much easier to be mediocre, and there's probably a larger market for less risky menu choices than there is a demand for truly unique and diverse Italian cuisine. I had no idea what the menu was like walking in. Friends had enjoyed their meals and their experience...so I was looking forward to the meal. Very attractive building, comfortable (I was disappointed they hadn't made booths out of old church pews...or the bathrooms didn't resemble confessionals) all in all...the place is clean and comfortable. The young man who took care of us was a delight. Helpful and knowledgeable. Kept us feeling like we were in good, capable hands. Never hovering or rushing anything. Definitely an asset in this world of lackluster customer service. So here we go...and please remember...these are merely personal observations, on the whole, across the board...there is nothing to report negatively about this place. When I got a menu...I just felt like half of mine must be missing...there were very few choices for anyone hoping for something interesting. I was hoping perhaps the menu would reflect the name and the building...the 'theme' if you will in some way. What I found were very few, very safe choices by the owners. The place was packed...so obviously it works for them. The food was fine. It was good. It wasn't bad, but it was in no way impressive. That doesn't mean I expect fireworks, but I would have been thrilled with something that made me want to come running back again and again. Maybe safe is a better way to go in a small market... but I believe they could have a little bit of both. Pricing was fair...portions were fair. My other two friends were also unenthusiastic. Really good restaurants are few and far between. Those places you need to call ahead for a table are a dying breed, I suppose. These people have invested in the intangibles that make for a great place...I would love to see them take that menu and their food to the next level. I wish them all the best. If you live in the area... support this establishment... they obviously are putting in the effort. Give me something of your own that I can't get anywhere else. That's what I long for...

I was very excited to try this place. Waited for my sis to visit as we both love Italian food. Love to cook it and go out for it. But this is seriously the worst Italian food experience I've ever had. The bread? Very reminiscent of Sister Shuberts yeast rolls from the grocery store. The oil served with the bread was so pale and tasted nothing like olive oil. The bagged salad was pretty fresh. The Eggplant Parmesan pretty much fell apart when attempting to eat it. Coating came right off and was rather tasteless and watery. The dish made my guest sick. The Chicken Marsala was hands down awful. The menu described chicken cutlets. It was strips of chicken breast and maybe 3 mushrooms along with most unappetizing sauce I have ever seen and tasted. The more I tried to eat the dish, the worse it got. Couldn't even get through half of it. The marsala sauce tasted like it had been thickened with corn starch slurry. And no seasoning. I am baffled by the reviews raving about the food and how this restaurant ended up a James Beard finalist is beyond me. The waitstaff was minimally attentive, mostly chatting with each other. The building is lovely but that's not enough to bring me back. Ever.

Update: Since they blocked me on social media, allow me to also share that I was extremely civil to the waitress and told her of the dissatisfaction due to the meal, she didn't apologize or discount the bill but asked if we wanted dessert. So we paid full price for...