The Carlin Restaurant Tavern Inn — Restaurant in Breckenridge

After having a great experience the day before at the tavern underground (The Carlin’s basement cocktail bar) our bartender convinced us to make a reservation for dinner the following day. We had family meeting us in Breckenridge and we wanted to dine somewhere special.

We arrived 45m early to our 7pm reservation for 4 and decided to revisit the tavern underground. I won’t go into detail on that experience here, but as we took the elevator up to the restaurant we were promptly seated at a nice booth in the middle of the dining room which is well decorated with modern American decor that feels both nostalgic and contemporary. You do feel that this is a “nice” restaurant although you can feel comfortable dining in snow attire.

Being a Sunday, entrees were 50% listed price so we opted for a couple cocktails and a few appetizers. I opted for oysters which were fresh and up to par for a raw bar. My wife ordered the Gruyère biscuits and our guests went for the wood fired oysters and the smoked fish and scallion dip.

The biscuits were hard and crumbly, something I suspect comes from baking at high elevation and the provided compound butter was tasty but didn’t do much to salvage the texture which was unfortunately very grainy and not fluffy as most buttermilk biscuits are.

The wood fired oysters were great according to our guests, and the dip was good but the bread provided also had a similar texture issue to the biscuits.

My wife, one of our guests, and myself ordered the 8oz sirloin which was the “chefs cut” of the day. My wife ordered a medium well (she’s pregnant and is unfortunately stuck with fully cooked meats) our guest and I ordered medium-rare.

Our last guest ordered the catch of the day with the pea risotto.

When our food arrived after a long wait (45m+) all of our steaks were extremely overcooked, so much so I had to mention it. They provided another steak, which was extremely underdone, which I suspect was intentional in case I said it was too rare so they could quickly retire it. I ate anyway to save the line cooks ego and avoid making more of a fuss.

The cook delivered it himself and even mentioned that he knew our steaks weren’t right when they were going out, why would they go out if he knew they weren’t correct? I don’t know why he gave up the ghost with that comment.

Our side potato Rostis were burnt to a black crisp, and my guests risotto had the texture of baby food without any distinguishable rice grains, that along with the inclusion of peas did not provide a pleasant experience.

A gooey overcooked risotto, overcooked and poorly prepared & seasoned steaks, slow service and high prices (with a discount!) make this restaurant hard to recommend, and any line cook who can’t handle a medium rare steak needs to invest in a thermometer.

I feel that The Carlin is doing everything right to become a notable establishment, but unfortunately the food doesn’t meet the level of customer service, ambiance and...

Carlin Restaurant..

My wife and I went on a double-date New Year's Eve and had a 9 pm seating. The experience was a huge disappointment, considering it was $125 per person. That price tag will be accompanied by a certain level of service and food quality, but neither was even close to the mark.

Food-wise, our table ordered a plethora of items from the raw bar: shrimp, crab claws, and oysters. These items were all solid. Where the letdown started (as it relates to the food) was the first course. Our table mostly had the stuffed calamari. The concept was great, but the flavors could have been better. I expect more when I'm playing $125 per plate. For the main course, I had scallops. I was served two undercooked scallops over a cauliflower puree—the theme continued as the scallops were bland. I'm going to assume they were based in butter and garlic but I couldnt taste it. Huge letdown, and only two scallops? In my humble opinion, serving two bland scallops was inconsistent with the $125 per person price tag. Moving on to the lamb. My wife ordered the lamb as her main course, consisting of two chops that were primarily fat. In all seriousness, there were three or four edible bites. Out of curiosity, I saw the table next to us was also served the lamb, and their chops had a lot less fat. I wished my wife got that plate. I just expected more and was disappointed.

Let me touch on service real quick. Empty plates sat long as countless employees walked past our table. The lack of teamwork in relation to helping your co-workers pre-bus their tables was a bummer. Not to mention, no one enjoys staring at a dirty, empty plate. Drinks: my table ordered about seven drinks during the service. They took noticeably long to reach the table, but the drinks were good. I recall one instance where someone in our party ordered a drink about 7 minutes after everyone else, and he got that drink first. We mentioned it to the server, and the response was something to the effect of, "They're probably sitting over there at the bar." That's not the response for an experience that cost over $800 for the group. I'd suggest giving every employee a copy of Unreasonable Hospitality.

I don't know if we will be back. But I'd love an opportunity to view this experience...

I arrived at Carlin's at 3:45 and was the first in line to get in. We got seated for their 4-5PM Happy Hour with no issues with a party of six and they accommodated for us adding two more people (though told us when they needed the table by) which alone gives them a 5/5. Suggest you get a reservation!

I ordered: 1 Au Jus Slider ($4) (5/5) Best thing on the menu for value. I appreciate that they put pickles on the side. Order two and a cocktail for a truly great happy hour. Clam Chowder ($10): (3/5) Served Manhattan style so it's watery, not as thick as New England style. I thought it was a bit light on ingredients, not the best value. 2 Select Oysters ($2.50 ea) (4.5/5): Served with lemon, very tasty. I liked these more than the wood fired ones. 3 Wood Fired Oysters ($3.50 ea) (4/5): Very well cooked and very flavorful. My only critique is that the oysters used (from British Colombia?) were quite small. Brussel Sprouts (shared) (4.5/5): Good portions, little heat from the szechuan vinegarette but not too hot.

Tasted from friends:

Buttermilk Gruyere Biscuits (shared) (4.5/5): Four huge biscuits with a pretty good butter. The biscuits are extremely rich, buttery and cheesy. Great value for $7 for four. Hushpuppies (shared) (3.5/5): Tasty, just not my style. Grouper Fish and Chips (shared) (4.5/5): Solid portions for both fries and a huge piece of fish. Amazing value and also pretty sharable.

Tasted my friend's Manhattan and found it excellent. It's stronger than others we had on Main Street.

Oysters were served with a habanero pear sauce and an Ancho sauce. We all agreed the Ancho sauce is more flavorful.

I enjoyed the variety here and would say it stands up to some of the best happy hours in Breckenridge, way better than Aurum according to my friends. We rated it equivalent to Hearthstone but with more interesting variety. I'd come back for the fish and chips, brussel sprouts, and sliders over any other happy hour on Main. If I had one criticism I'd say the speed of food service is a bit strange. Four of our sliders came out quickly but I was waiting for mine for over 35 minutes. Maybe they...