Chile Colorado — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

I went to Chili Colorado for a lunch meeting with my boss today. When the wait staff took my order, I asked that they leave the chili off or put it on the side. I explained that I wasn’t trying to be difficult and picky but I’ve had stomach surgery and some spicy food can cause pain so I just avoid it. The wait staff took my order but then came back and said the chef wouldn’t allow me to leave the chili off. I was surprised so I asked if the chili was something that just goes on top of the food or inside. If the food was premade and the chili went inside, I could understand not accommodating my request. The waiter said no, it goes on top of the food. I commented that I cannot understand why you can’t just skip putting the chili on top of my food. He went back to the kitchen and another wait staff member came back to the table. She apologized but said the chef would not allow me to leave off the chili because it messes up his presentation. My boss was appalled that the restaurant wouldn’t accommodate such an easy and simple request. My boss stood up and said, let’s go. We didn’t stay for lunch and we went to another establishment. As we were leaving, the hostess apologized again. My boss commented that it was a shame that the ego of a chef outweighed a reasonable and easy request of a customer. The request seemed pretty simple to me. For those wondering, I couldn’t just scrape it off because it would seep into the bread of the item I ordered. I won’t be returning or recommending this restaurant for future work meetings or to family. Neither will my boss. I’d give the establishment zero...

Walking into the restaurant, everything looks clean and well cared for. Decorated well. Our larger party was seated quickly.

So far, so good!

There were 3-4 other tables that were seated, mostly 2 people. There was one waitress taking care of all of us. She took our drink order quickly, but it took 20 minutes to get our drinks. It took an additional 30+ minutes to get our food. Half of us thoroughly enjoyed our food and the other half picked at it and greatly disliked it (I think this comes down to the authenticity of the food. Maybe they are just used to more "Americanized" Mexican food.) I mean, really, really disliked it.

Anyways, we were in a hurry to get to our next location. We asked for our check and were clearly ready to go. At this point, we'd been there much longer than we should've been. By the time we left, there was one table (2 people) who were also finished. She was MIA. We waited another 20 minutes for our check and she never came. Finally, we went to the register to pay. (Again, the restaurant was practically empty).

We should've asked for paper/ itemized receipts, because when we looked at our bills, we were all floored. My family of 4 should've cost around $65 dollars, maybe $70 with tax, but instead we were charged $92!! She included the tip, she said. There was no mention of an automatic charge with a party over X size The other two parties we were with were also overcharged.

With so many good reviews, we were disappointed in our experience. If you go here, expect a longer than normal wait time, potentially sub-par food, and...

This was my third visit. The first was in the evening with family and was an ok experience. Cool place and nice people. The food was not real good but I was able to finish my plate. Second time was breakfast and the food was better as was the service. This time….. I was dining alone for lunch. It took an hour to get my food and I am being as nice as I can by saying it wasn’t worth the wait. I ordered their flagship dish “chile colorado” which is fried potatoes, beans, tortillas, and red chili. First the tortillas- Store bought and tossed on the fire to warm them up. I was almost able to finish a whole one before the smell of the food ruined my appetite. The beans- Terrible is the only word to describe them. I have never tasted beans like that before. I hope I never do again. Potatoes- These tastes like vegetable oil and I had to use several napkins to soak up the grease that was literally dripping off of them before each bite. These were the only things I was able to eat. These red chili- It looked like dog food dropped on the plate after pouring a half cup of cooking grease on it. I tried to eat it but it was not even remotely tolerable. I don’t know who’s “mom’s recipe” they used but it should be replaced with an actual recipe for red chili. I will be surprised if I don’t have stomach problems for the rest of the week even though I only took a couple of bites.

The staff is very friendly and the atmosphere is great. Looks like someone really invested a good deal of money...