Horseshoe Breckenridge — Restaurant in Breckenridge

The restaurant wasn't too busy when we arrived, and we were seated at a nice table in the corner. Overall, the restaurant has a great atmosphere. A man greeted us warmly, gave us a carafe of water and three glasses, then left. That was the end of our pleasant experience at Horseshoe Breckenridge.

We sat for 25 minutes waiting for our server while we watched a few additional tables come in and get their drinks and appetizers. When our young server finally arrived, he apologized and said it took so long because he had a 10-top upstairs. I didn't see how anything involving a 10 top could be so arduous that it would take 25 minutes before breaking away, but hey...at least he made it here. We ordered drinks and the kids' taco plate (beef and cheese only) for our son so he wouldn't have to wait too long for his meal.

10 minutes later, we had no drinks, but someone quickly dropped off the tacos and left hurriedly. The tacos were cold and did not have any cheese.

Another 10 minutes, and our server shows up with our drinks, sets them on the table, and tells us he'll be right back to take our order. All signs pointed to us not seeing our server again for a while, so I told him that we would like to place our food order now while we had him at the table. My wife ordered a salad, and I ordered the birria tacos. In an apparent move to prove correct my forecasting, that kid disappeared, and we quite literally never saw him again. I guess his buddies sitting at the 10 top were as much as he wanted to manage. A woman who I assume is the manager had to bring us our food and close out the meal to get this train wreck of an experience across the finish line.

Back to the food. OK, look...tacos are really difficult to get wrong. Bad tacos are often still good tacos. Cold beef tacos without cheese can still be eaten by an 8 year old with minimal complaining. But birria tacos served in cold corn tortillas that haven't been grilled and crusted in cheese is an absolute tragedy. No grilling, no cheese crust, too heavy on potato, too light on birria, and completely devoid of anything resembling what a birria taco is supposed to be. I managed to get through 2 of 3 and gave up on the entire experience. My wife said her salad was OK, but really light on the chicken.

At least the drinks were excellent.

Horseshoe has good reviews, and other people in the restaurant seemed to be enjoying the experience. Perhaps it was simply my family's day to have a bad experience. Perhaps the universe just decided to know our names and really put the screws to us. Or --stick with me here-- perhaps we just got an inattentive server who couldn't be bothered when his friends were at a table upstairs; then we managed to double up on our misfortune and get a cook who had no idea how to make tacos of any kind. Whatever it was, it was bad enough that we won't tempt fate a second time.

EDIT FOR OWNER'S RESPONSE: Being sarcastic and flat-out lying in response to negative reviews is a really bad look. My review is accurate and truthful, and I'd give you zero stars if possible. To be even clearer: We were in the restaurant at the end of November. Not only were birria tacos on the menu then, but there's also a December 2023 photo (reposting here in case you conveniently can't find it) of your menu in the Google overview that shows on the right side of the menu—wait for it—BIRRIA TACOS.

Clearly you don't handle criticism well and are willing to lie to customers instead of owning up to the shortcomings of your restaurant. You dismissively wrote in response to another negative review that "We do have a great sense of humor here too! 😉" Obviously, you do because your service, food, and responses are...

Where do I start? Myself and 20 other people with Jeeps came into town for our annual Jeep trip. Our first night in town we were starving and didn't really know where we wanted to go but we happened upon this Gem of a place. OMG. This place became our hangout place for the entire week. Literally the food knocked out taste buds out. The Mexican spaghetti was out of this world. I loved it like no other spaghetti that I've ever had. My brother had the sea bass and had the same reaction. The executive chef has put together a fusion experience like no other. THEN, THEN let's talk about the service. The portion were over the top but the service was exemplary. The first night Cassie and her smile drove us nuts. She was so engaging, so fun, so in love with her job that we ended up closing the place down just because we loved having out. What happened was, we ended up eating here for the last 5 nights in a row. So many choices in town but the flavor, the he portions but most of all the staff was what set this place apart. Ariana, she was so spunky and flipping us with her firey personality that we ended up closing the restaurant down again. We thought Cassie was the bomb and Ariana showed up the next night. As we made it in the 3rd night in a row Kiley showed us that someone has their A game on. Every person we came in contact with made it an evening to remember. Kinda like the Mexican Caesar, the Mexican spaghetti, the skirt steak, the sea bass, the burger, the tacos (had all 4). Each dish was unique and fill of pizzazz just like each server. They were so flavorfull. We just wanted more and more interaction with the staff. Ava smiled like a week seasoned hostess and we high fived each time we saw her and she looked forward to us like we were family. Then we meet her sister Luci tonight and even though we've seen her on previous nights we never really had any contact. Tonight though like clock work we bright in 12 other people from the Jeep club and we took over the roof top. We finally got to chat with her and we were like family to her too. Just then, Spenser popped in because we met him the other night and tried to get him to go wheeling with us but just couldn't coordinate with schedules but I sent him a picture that we were back at the restaurant for the 5th time. He came back in and said hello to the 12 people we bright in and tanked every one of them for joining us.

So, to the owner, my hat is off to you my friend that we've never met in the 5X times we've been in this because you are doing it right. Every single person from the hostesses, to the bar, to the servers are providing you priceless value. You are doing the hiring, training and support of your team like no other restaurant that I've ever seen. Great respect to you and your entire team. One more meal, one more day in town and none us have any desire to go anywhere else in town for dinner. No matter which dish we choose, no matter which server waits on us the first thing we all see is the same great smile. If I was richer, this is the kind of place I would tip these folks the same as the meal, 100%!!!!

Ok, gotta go make some money so we can come again. Please honor your staff with a great big WELL DONE FOLKS because as good as the food was, great portions and value, your staff was the real reason we kept...

Underwhelming food and poor management. I ate here with a group of 5. Steak sauce was requested immediately once food was dropped. The steak sauce was never delivered— by the time the server returned to the table, the majority of us were half way through our meals. The steak was partially eaten while hot, however not to our satisfaction due to toughness and absence of requested steak sauce. While awaiting the check, myself and a friend who was still hungry (due to dissatisfaction of their meal) went to eat off the remaining fries with ketchup; we discovered what appeared to be mold or rotten avocado (regardless of the black gunk, the bottles were not properly cleaned). We put the ketchup right on top of the fries resulting in us not being able to eat them. The manager stopped by the table and was told about not getting requested items and the unusable ketchup. The manager offered new ketchup and fries… this is not a solution as we were obviously boxed and paid up. They offered zero satisfactory options to remedy the issue.

Note the owners responses to poor reviews— they are dismissive, condescending, and entirely false. This is not an establishment open to feedback and looking to improve their costumer’s experience, hence their dwindling rating.

Edited for response to owner:

Your discussion with my friend implied they loved and finished their steak, which was beyond false, this is in addition to being condescending. If the humor you’re referring to is related to your responses— you’re falling short. Stating ‘everyone’ shares your view is inaccurate (otherwise, you’d have a perfect rating, right?). Nevertheless, I’ve worked in the restaurant industry for several years. I’ve worked under wonderful and not so wonderful managers, and have managed myself. I’ve left one poor review ever, and it is to your establishment.

I’d say cheers, as I do appreciate the sentiment, but instead I’ll offer a more sincere parting: wishing you growth and...