Carlos Bistro — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

PHOTOS ATTACHED ARE ALL THE ASSOCIATED DISHES FOR REFERENCE :)

This evening my girlfriend and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice Italian Restaurant, after looking around for a little, we settled in Carlos' Bistro. This has been by far one of the best experiences I've had at a restaurant. We had the pleasure of being serviced by Carlos and accompanied by his wife Stephanie, Carlos was incredibly welcoming from when we first entered to up until we left. Stephanie was assisting the other tables, but also came to greet us and assist with whatever we needed as well.

We started off with a couple of drinks, I can't recall the names of them, I just can best describe them as Lemonade Martini's, one with Gin and the other with Boka. Those were pretty good, very good flavor with a tinge of alcohol flavor at the end, although I personally do not drink much so my sensitivity to that is pretty high. After taking a long look at the cocktail menu, my girlfriend decided to try a professionally made Vesper as she's always loved James Bond, and she was not at all dissapointed. It was pretty strong for my liking, but she absolutely loved it.

As for our food, I have personally never been to a fancy Italian Restaurant before, so I was very new to the menu, but Carlos was gracious enough to tell us about his specials as well as answer any questions we had about the dishes! At our table came water, a bowl of bread, and some butter. The butter's texture was very smooth (like butter) only proven to be even better once Carlos came and added some sea salt to it. The bread was also very good, they had (what I believe to be, at least) some kind of raisin bread that is absolutely to die for. The other bread is more so what you would expect at a restaurant as this, very crunchy exterior, but very soft interior, very good.

What we decided to go with for our appetizers were the Lobster Bisque (which Carlos was hyping up) and the Ratatouille. Firstly, the Bisque was absolutely worth all of the praise that Carlos has received for creating that, the flavor was amazing, the Lobster was a perfect combination, and combining it with the complimentary bread made it very, very good. Secondly, the Ratatouille was very delicious, I've never had this before, so I don't have a frame of reference unfortunately. However, it was absolutely splendid.

For our entreè, we decided to go with pasta. I got the Filet Mignon Stroganoff w/ Medium Rare meat and my girlfriend got the Lobster Fa Daviolo. As for my dish, the sauce combined with the juicy and tender steak really sold it. The combination of all of the vegetables along with the noodles was also a very nice idea, especially as I'm someone who likes to eat my food individually. The Lobster Fa Daviolo I didn't try because it's quite a spicy dish, my girlfriend described it as being a 6-7 with immediate spice and a 2-3 lingering after eating a bite. So I imagine that was quite worth it, just not my cup of tea.

For a desert we decided to go with the Raspberry and Mango Sorbet, which I can't recall the name of, but that was the gist. The desert was just as good as the main meal, incredibly full of flavor, great display, and included assortment of fruits. Things like Blackberries, Raspberries, some Blueberries, and raw mint leaves were all in the dish, which was a thorough surprise.

All in all, I'm incredibly happy to have chosen this locally owned and operated restaurant, and definitely going to be telling others this place for their own delight as well. We're incredibly happy to have had the experience dining here, and we certainly hope to do so again in the future!

Thank you Carlos &...

My fiancé and I had an absolutely beautiful time. Before going to any new restaurants I always look at their 1 star reviews first so we can go in with full knowledge. After going here I truly feel like the 5 most recent 1 star reviews weren’t true on any level and did not set the scene for what is truly there. (The gentleman comparing this bistro in Colorado Springs to a diner in Naples is just ridiculous and how do you roast someone’s entire menu without trying the food? How pathetic) Despite many reviews about price gouging I found it to be affordable for the quality of service and the meals. (Total cost of meal at the end) The staff is attentive without being invasive, Carlos is personable, friendly and charming. I love that every server greets you by name throughout the entire service. We started our meal inside at a table and ended with desert out front by the fire they had and it was stunning. For drinks I had a glass of champagne and a glass of Riesling, my fiancé got a drink called the green mountain fall (that was to die for) the green mountain fall was an absolutely stunning drink with notes of peach and apricot and made with angels envy whisky, that drink alone is a $95 drink which is definitely pricey for a drink but very delicious. We personally wouldn’t order again because I don’t find value in a $95 drink but again very delicious. We ordered fried mozzarella and ratatouille bruschetta for apps, the mozzarella was fresh and salty and stringy and pulled apart so beautifully. I do wish it came with more because if I recall correctly it was 5 pieces. I read a review claiming the food was too salty and Carlos must have fixed it because it was all beautifully seasoned. Next we ordered a filet with risotto and then a filet al la Oscar (which had crab meat and hollandaise sauce) both were cooked to perfection and beautifully seasoned, I LOVED the sauce and felt like they gave nice portions. I also read another review complaining that the plating was messy but I truly believe that everything was lovely, I would however tone down the spring greens on the top but still lovely. Ours were both played with spring greens, fried strips of carrot, asparagus and a squash or zucchini. Lastly for desert we ordered both their cheesecake crepe with a whisky sauce and the crème brûlée. The cheesecake was wrapped in a sweet crepe and was about the size of a cigar, topped with a blueberry(?) whiskey cream sauce that was so rich and creamy with a bold whisky flavor. The crème brûlée was rich, creamy and tangy with tons of specs of vanilla beans throughout topped with blackberries and raspberries. For 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 2 deserts, 2 glasses of wine and a $95 drink and our total was $316 which I honestly find very affordable especially if you take the $100 drink out of the factor.

Carlos, thank you for such a beautiful experience we...

For all the hype and good reviews, I can't say we were all that impressed with our first experience at Carlo's. Although Carlo is a very friendly and attentive owner and chef, we found that attentive service to be a bit high pressure. To be honest, there were times we kind of felt we were on a used car lot with Carlo and his staff repeatedly trying to sell us on his made to order lobster bisque and beef wellington. Carlo came to our table 3 times telling us about these dishes and even asked us at one point to poke some phyllo dough that he uses for the wellington to show how soft it was. We were there to celebrate our anniversary and wanted to spend our evening together enjoying each other's company, but we found ourselves constantly interrupted by these high pressure sales pitches. I appreciate that Carlo takes a hands on approach to his business and that is to be respected, but I don't want the restaurant owner sitting with me while I eat or while I'm trying to enjoy the company of the person I'm dining with. I would like to give a shout out to our waitress Stephanie, however, as Stephanie was very knowledgeable about the menu, timed our meal well and answered all of our questions with great attention to detail.

The appetizers were good. I'd recommend the beef tartar and the octopus was good as well, though there was hardly any octopus on the plate. The steaks were delicious and very tender, but the entrees overall were a bit underwhelming. Looking at other tables' orders, all the entrees were served the same. Protein with micorgreens on top served atop a mashed vegetable.

The restaurants atmosphere was small and nicely decorated, but I certainly wouldn't say it was romantic or even intimate. We were seated in the corner and could hear the loud music that was being played on the empty patio. And speaking of music, the music selection in Carlos was...eclectic. Christmas music in the middle of May was certainly an interesting choice for dinner.

Overall, for what we were charged for the meal and for the constant interruptions at the beginning of the meal, combined with the fact that aside from a quickly stated "Happy Anniversary" which seemed like more of an afterthought than a genuine sentiment, I can't say we'll be returning to Carlos for any future...