Aspen Public House — Restaurant in Aspen

I am sorry to admit that I had initially dismissed this place from the outside as a tourist trap, given its central location and proximity to the Opera House. I am so happy to report that I was wildly wrong, and had one of the best meals in Aspen yet.

While some places may turn away a lone diner looking for a dedicated table instead of bar seating on a busy Friday night, I was warmly accommodated after a (relatively painless) ~20min wait in the queue. After that, service was FAST, getting my order and bringing it out in what must have been around 10-15 minutes tops. Their menu is creative yet focused, and and frankly for the quality, highly affordable. An amazingly prepared double stack Angus burger on a pillowy brioche bun with fries for $18.75? A side of truffle potatoes for just $11.75?? This is frankly ridiculous affordability for 2025, especially for the quality. The only thing on the menu at a more "normal" (read: mildly painful) price are the cocktails, but even there I felt I got a lot of bang for my buck - excellent quality, fun recipe (Cucumbers in Space), and a tall, wide glass that didn't skimp on the alcohol.

So, yeah. Maybe I shouldn't call attention to the affordability + quality of this place, lest they decide to hike the price... but for once, it just felt like my dollar was ACTUALLY paying for a great portion of high quality food in a delightful and unobtrusive atmosphere. This is how you do a decent night out without breaking the bank. Everyone else......

After hiking to crater lake in Maroon bells we stopped in the town of aspen for a late lunch/early dinner. We chose this place because the food looked good and it wasn't as fancy as some other places since we were still in our hiking clothes. We asked to be sat outside because we had our dog with us and we had to wait for availability but it was quick. They took my phone number down and texted when our table was ready.

I ordered a drink to share, it was delightful. Not too sweet but definitely strong. I cannot remember the name of it and can't locate a drink menu but it had the word aspen in it. We also shared the chicken tempura, we didn't know what to expect but we were pleasantly surprised. Fried chicken wings with no bones and the ranch is home made, very good.

We both ended up ordering the steak sandwich with truffle fries. The meat was perfectly cooked and tender. Easy to eat and the bread was crisp but soft. The truffle on the fries was a bit overwhelming but easily removed. We devoured our food quickly and left bellys full and happy.

Our waiter was very nice, he got our orders in quickly and the food came out so fast! He answered any questions we had and gave a great recommendation on the drink. I truly appreciated them adding me to a waitlist specifically for the outdoor seating as they were not full indoors. I highly recommend this place, great food...

Our service was so bad I will not return to this restaurant. We were a party of 8 who ate here on 9/30/23 for lunch and our server was "AM B." Our server seemed genuinely mad that we were there the whole time. We spent over $200 and were not picky or unkind to her. She was rude while taking our order, rude while bringing our drinks, rude while clearing our table and rude while giving us our check. She did not know about the beer selection or food selection. She did not tell us the specials or help familiarize us in any way to the menu. After our food arrived, we had to flag someone down to get silverware and napkins. She cleared everything off our table even while we were still eating some of the food, but then took over 20 minutes to return to bring us our check. The food was really very good, but not worth the tension and anxiety related to the experience of the meal. We ate at another restaurant at a similar price point the next day and had such an amazing experience and amazing service that it really emphasized how negative our experience was at the...