Aritza — Restaurant in Beaver Creek

This place is not worth what it cost. we had a charcuterie board for $38, it had paper thin meats and 3 cheeses, no bread and a small plate with 10 crackers from a Toll House box. The patatas bravas were raw and when i told the server, he said that purple potatoes never cook fully, they should always be hard as a rock. Half of the dish was dark potatoes, we did not get a discount or a new serving. Finally, the paella, what a disaster. It was like someone went to aldi, bought everything frozen and dumped it on a paella dish (btw, i’ve never seen a teflon paella dish, the rice is supposed to stick to the bottom). The Paella is bland, no saffron, did not taste like broth or wine, nada. unfortunately, im from Spain and know very well what each dish should taste like. This would not be served in Galicia and if it were, it would cost $20 euros at the most. I cannot believe that this dinner cost me $175. I don’t care about the money, I do hate the feeling of being taken advantage of. I could have had a nice steak instead and saved money. Not recommended, will not return, go elsewhere...

Vacationing in Avon and we love Spanish cuisine so decided to check out Artiza. Was happy to see a 25% off "sale" for our bill -- nice touch given how quiet it is at the moment. The food very tasty. Particularly the paella. However, the service left a lot to be desired. And the service can't be blamed on crowds b/c we were the only diners in the place except for one other table. We ordered a potato appetizer that was supposed to come with chorizo. It arrived at our table w/o the chorizo. When we pointed out to our server he asked if we wanted our dish returned to the kitchen for chorizo to be added. Um, no. Seems like a weird way to handle this (versus re-preparing the dish). The items we ordered were served in an odd-order as well. Server awkwardly refilled water in a way that was super intrusive. Additionally, at the end of the meal, the server didn't clear the table all at once. Rather, cleared a plate, came back to clear another, etc. Just constant interruptions to clear a table. We also were never offered a dessert menu. Just really...

Enjoyed the food and the restaurant. For our appetizer, we had Shrimp Pintxos. I would say that was the only thing that was "OK." Didn't mind it but would probably try a different appetizer next time.

For our main course though, we had the Paella and it was delicious. You may see the $65 and think it's expensive compared to other items, but the portion is great. Two of us enjoyed as much as we wanted and still had some leftovers. It had very good flavors and a good amount of each ingredient.

Finally for desert, we had the churros and they were awesome. I'm picky about dessert because I'm usually not a desert guy but those were so tasty and fresh on a chilly night. Good amount of them as well. Could have gotten two orders of that.

So all in all, I'm happy we went and had no problem with the money I spent there. Felt it was fairly priced with the flavors and portions...