Steak House No. 316 Aspen — Restaurant in Aspen

Horrible experience, wanted to leave but their $150 per person penalty forced us to stay and order. My husband and I were in Denver on vacation and our daughter and son-in-law came from Grand Junction to meet us in Aspen for dinner. We wanted it to be a special night so we made our reservation, fully aware of prices and reservation "rules". What we did not know was that this restaurant was not kid friendly, for our grandson, and had a multitude of problems with the building. We arrived early and it was very hot out so we asked if we could sit inside to get out of the heat, they said "no" because they weren't open yet... ok, that's fine, understandable - but they saw that we had a child with us... this would've been a good time for them to tell us they could not/would not accommodate him. When they let us in we were greeted with an extremely rude lady. She was an older lady with blond hair in a pink blouse. The first thing she said to us, rudely, was "there's not enough room for the buggy (stroller) in here" and asked us to leave it outside. We looked at each other, stunned at her attitude, and proceeded to enter WITH the "buggy". She told us we needed to sit in the back, it was obvious she didn't want us there. We made our way through the incredibly dark building and sat in the back of the back where there was a foul odor and the heat was unbearable. The waitstaff was very professional and kind and we complained about the smell of sewage and they said they would get some febreeze. We were told the building is old and had "problems". Apparently, the air conditioning wasn't working and there, again, was a smell of raw sewage. At this point we wanted to leave and go to a place with air conditioning and the lack of rude hostess/owner/manager... we don't know who she was but she was a jerk. We were reminded of the $150 per person "cancellation fee" and even though we didn't cancel but we just wanted to leave, we would've had to pay - even though we were made to feel like we weren't welcome there. We tried to order as little as possible just to get the hell out of there. My daughter ordered a beer... it came warm and when she asked about the temperature of the beer were were told there was refrigeration issues. We ordered mussels and crab cakes, against our better judgement (because of "refrigeration issues"). 3 of the 4 adults ate the mussels and crab cakes and those three of us all got sick later that night. I can honestly say this was the worst experience we've had at a restaurant and I would urge others to avoid this place at all cost.

For the price of the food you'd think the place would have a friendly hostess, air conditioning, cold beverages and no smell of...

Well, sorry to be posting this. Steakhouse 316 used to be our favorite restaurant in Aspen. Been going there for years, have recommended it to countless newcomers to Aspen and always have a great dinner. It was for that reason that I booked it for this past Saturday night to celebrate my daughter's 18th birthday and my son's 21st. We saved it for the "special dinner" of the trip. Somehow, the time of our reservation got mixed up. I had it down for 7:30, they had it for 6:30. Oops. It happens. Arrest me. When I arrived, the self important host barked at me "You're AN HOUR LATE!" I was surprised and showed him my calendar event which said 7:30. He (with another snotty host staring me down) condescendingly responded "Well maybe you're from a different state so it has the wrong time." I apologized and asked if there was still a table available. He looked at the screen and snidely said, "uhh in AN HOUR." It was at that point that I'd had enough of being so rudely disrespected, not to mention humiliated in front of my wife and kids on what was supposed to be a celebratory night. We left. The lovely coat attendant (who saw it all and looked like she was cringing) followed us out, attempting to diffuse things and said "Maybe you can try our sister restaurant Monarch Steakhouse?" (PS we have also eaten there many times along with their other restaurant the Wild Fig.) No thanks. Luckily there is Catch Steak now so don't need to return to Steakhouse 000. What a shame. I hope the owners read this. I'm a foodie that frequents great restaurants around the globe (and also an executive at a major Hollywood studio) and trust me, I've seen this movie before. You're the hot place... until you're not. The way you treat your customers matters. I'll be sharing this...

We were in Aspen for our 1st wedding anniversary and were looking for a special place to have dinner. This experience exceeded our expectations. This is not your run-of-the-mill steak house. Most high-end steakhouses pull in an older crowd with decor and music to match. This experience was wholly different. The ambiance is just gorgeous. I would call it 1950's meets 2020. You get this "I want a martini or a Manhattan" vibe. It's dimly lit with really cool framed black and white photographs of old actors and exposed brick walls. There are candles on all the tables and amber colored lighting for the bar. The music playing was just perfect. It was this super chill down tempo, trip hop, electronica. For instance, one of the tracks playing that really set the vibe was Finally Moving by Pretty Lights. You know the one with the Etta James sample and scratching record. My husband and I will remember this dining experience for a lifetime. The food was outstanding. I had the cowboy ribeye. He had the wagyu flatiron. He said it was like eating butter. My ribeye was cooked perfectly. You know when the fat is all perfectly carmelized. Mmhhm. We chose wild mushroom risotto and whipped garlic mashed potatoes for our sides and they didn't disappoint. Seriously, this place was the pinnacle of our Aspen Anniversary weekend. It really set the standard for all other anniversaries. Thank you, Steakhouse no.316! Don't ever change....