Stone Cellar Bistro — Restaurant in Arvada

This is an honest review. My visit date was Friday October 21st. My girlfriend and I went here based on the rave reviews that we've read. I've recently moved back from Arvada after living in Littleton and Capitol Hill for many years. I love the Old Town Arvada area, grew up here in the 90s, graduated from Arvada West. So naturally when I saw such a unique place in Old Town opening up getting stellar reviews I had to try it. I made a reservation on OpenTable via credit card. Upon our arrival I asked the hostess if there was a chance for anything by the window, or at least nothing by the kitchen with a lot of traffic. My request was met with some hostility, her saying essentially, you'll get what you get. I told her we'd be happy to wait longer if necessary, she didn't have a response for that. All that aside we did end up with a nice table somewhere in the middle. Our waitress was very accommodating and very pleasant, I cannot recall her name but she was a taller gal with blonde hair and a ponytail, but she deserves props for her attentiveness. At least one or both of the owners were behind the bar and served us the majority of the food that we ordered, also incredibly pleasant. We ordered the bacon biscuits, a version of fried chicken, and a trout dip with some Ritz crackers, and a pumpkin cheesecake of sorts with some raspberry sorbet for dessert. Outside of the dessert the food came out very quickly. All of it was tasty, I think the trout dip was the best. However there was nothing that made me go oh my God I need to come back here tomorrow!! I understand that this is essentially a rotating menu but I do believe you need to find something that keeps people coming back. I had a $17 Manhattan and I've had much better for $8-10. That is a ridiculously priced drink and I'm mad at myself for ordering it in the first place, but it was date night and I wanted to splurge, my mistake. Also just FYI most of the cocktails there are north of $13. The atmosphere of the place is nice enough but the lights above the tables are incredibly bright.

All in all my girlfriend and I had a nice enough evening there, but it's probably a one and done for us, just a little too pricey and not enough "flair"...

To start, food was AMAZING!!!! I am not a reviewer, but feel compelled to share my experience. Like many folks going to this establishment, my wife and I were there for her birthday and this is a "special" occasion for us. Looking around the room, there were several other couples, some on "special" occasions others you could tell might be able to afford this restaurant as part of their daily lives. There was also a group of guys who looked like they were there for a business meeting. I say all of this to ask why is the music that is being played a 90's-2000's rock playlist, with the likes of Offspring, Incubus, Red Hot Chili Peppers and why is there a TV on playing a cartoon? Seemed way off and not what I or I would say most folks expect when going to an upscale restaurant. Service was also not up to par in my opinion, mostly due to a staffing issue I believe. There was one server, one manager, and one bartender and simply put, service was bad. Ordering wine and having to ask if it was coming, waters not being refilled, having empty drinks for 10 minutes, when I wanted to reorder, but the server simply couldn't get around to all of the tables. Don't get me wrong, I can fill my own water glass and at a casual dinner, if you leave the pitcher I am happy to do so, but for a restaurant charging what you do(again food was well worth it) I would expect waters to be filled and not have to ask for service. We also ordered dessert and I am guessing, this took 15 minutes to arrive. Again the apple dessert was amazing, but just seemed so off that it took so long to arrive. I also do not mind the Kitchen Gratuity, but it gets added to the subtotal and you pay taxes on it, seems wrong. I'll end with this place is amazing and has been my where my wife and I go for special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, or when family is in town and always had a great experience and food. I hate being a Debby Downer, trust me, but again we can not afford to eat here regularly and our experience was...

I did not look at any reviews prior to our experience, and still have not, but I am interested to do so after I write this one.

We had a reservation a week in advance of our dinner (4 people). Upon arrival we were immediately seated which was nice especially since it was prime dinner time (7ish on a Saturday night). Our server was polite and he brought water a few minutes after we sat. About 10 minutes passed and he came back to take drink orders. About 10 minutes after that (25 min after being seated) he returned to let two of our party know they did not have the ingredients for the drinks we ordered (French 75 and a ranch water). We ordered alternative drinks and he left. About ten minutes passed and he returned with our drinks and as he turned to leave I asked if we might order an appetizer (40 minutes in).You can see where this is going...an hour and 45 minutes after arrival we received plates and began to eat an actual dinner (steaks for 2 of us with a minimal serving of 1 side for each, a tenderloin w/ a minimal side as well, and an order for the fried chicken (doesn't come w/side). The food was okay but not remarkable, as a matter of fact, no one mentioedned anything about their food. So 2 drinks each (8 total) and 4 small plates and a charcuterie with sad service came to a total of about $450 (incl gratuity). I think there's potential for a great restaurant but this experience wasn't great...certainly not for the...