Dos Santos — Restaurant in Castle Rock

Let me start by saying that I am all for supporting local places in downtown CR so I was super excited to try this place out. Sadly, it did not deliver.

We arrived around 6:30 on a Saturday night and were told that it would be at least an hour and a half wait with no guarantee that they could seat us even then. Not 10 minutes later we get a text that our table was ready. By the time we finished our dinner the place was 3/4 empty. Either they don’t know how to properly manage their wait system or they are tying to hype it up.

Started out with the guac and chips and a margarita. IMO guacamole is the best judge of any Mexican restaurant. If they can’t get the guac right then there is little hope for anything else. Unfortunately, there guac is so “done up” that you can barely taste the avocado. Not a good sign. Also, we had to order the salsa flight to work on the abundance of chips that we got and even that was rather disappointing to be honest.

As for the drinks, not bad but my margarita had so much salt on the glass I needed about two pitchers worth of water to combat it.

On to the tacos. We ordered a variety of tacos to try and while none of them were bad, none of them blew us away either. Take their al pastor tacos. I know of food trucks in Los Angeles where I can get 10 times the number of tacos for the price of one of these tacos that are 10 times better.

My wife ordered a cauliflower taco that sounded good on paper but came out cold.

By far the best taco was the tuna poke but come on…tune poke on a tostada? Hardly ground breaking stuff here.

To top it all off they were also sold out of all their deserts.

At the end I was left with a hefty bill and a feeling of disappointment.

I hate to say this but without major changes I don’t see this place surviving more...

We've been here only twice (so far), and both times were just walking up to the window from the outside to order breakfast. Both times, unfortunately, took a very long time after ordering to get our food. We are talking at least 20 minutes, standing outside, and with no update from anyone either, and even with 2 others who ordered after us getting their food first. This all being said, the first time we ate, the food tasted just okay. This last time we went (2 days ago), the food was excellent! We will definitely go again, and maybe even try going inside this time and eating lunch or dinner items, because the food was so fresh-tasting and authentic. I hope they keep it up. Judging by all the positive reviews though, it looks like they are! My suggestion would be to them to have a sign up that lets customers know, before they order, that these menu items are MADE-TO-ORDER and homemade, so it will take longer than your average fast-food joint turnaround. AND have the cashier/order-taker (at the window at least) let the customer know as well, verbally, before the order is taken, so the customer has the choice, AND so they don't misunderstand the longer wait for being forgotten or management issues, etc.. I believe most will still be happy to wait longer for such yummy food. I know we will :) . Also, if the town allows, it would be nice to have a couple of benches or chairs out front, where the order window is, for customers to sit down while waiting 15-20 minutes possibly for their food.

Keep up the good...

2025 Update!

This has now become one of our favorite places. Some changes have been made to portion sizes, items, and the margaritas are great! Cheers to a restaurant that takes feedback and improves. Go check them out!

2022: I really want to love this place. I can tell there is love put into their food, their ingredients, and their drinks. That being said, the prices are absolutely astronomical. Someone next to me ordered a draft beer and it was $9. Yikes. My husband and I went to brunch and each had one taco, shared an appetizer of guacamole, two margaritas, along with a small neat pour of a decent tequila. Our bill after tip was $150, including a $5 kitchen appreciation fee — you can easily go to Tribe across the street for a really fancy meal and spend around that or less. The prices on the check were approximately a dollar more on each than what was listed on the menu, too. We didn’t battle for it but that felt a bit shady. It seems like these are Denver prices in a still growing suburb and I’m afraid I can’t visit as much as I would like because there’s just so many more reasonable and delicious options around. La Loma is honestly more cost effective, portions are bigger, and the experience is totally different and much more worth it. Hopefully Dos Santos can adjust because I’d love to see...