Cowboy Star Restaurant And Butcher Shop — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

I would give this place 10 stars if I could. My husband and I were up in Colorado Springs celebrating our anniversary for the weekend. Friday night we did some google searching and watched several TikTok reviews and ultimately decided to take our chances with Cowboy Star. We made a reservation for that same evening and hoped for the best. Upon arrival the hostess was kind and the decor was breathtaking. Fancy and elegant with that perfect hint of Country. They have an open kitchen which is amazing to get to see everything in action. The wine and cocktail selection was impressive and our wait was short. When we reach our table, there is a rose and a "Happy Anniversary" card which had been hand-signed by the staff. Our waiter Josh was off the charts informative, polite, attentive, and made sure our experience was just amazing start to end. We were handed custom printed menus that read "Happy Anniversary" on the top. (WHICH THEY ROLLED UP AND TIED WITH A RIBBON FOR US AT THE END AS A KEEPSAKE!) We ordered the Steakhouse Slab Bacon as an appetizer and let me tell you, this was not merely your average crunchy little bacon slice. This was magical. Juicy, tender, exploding with flavor. Like nothing we had ever tasted. We were brought a delicious gift from the Chef consisting of four very random sounding things stacked on a spoon, they should not have worked together as well as they did but oh boy was it delicious. I wish I recalled what it was called but it was a cracker with some sort of pistachio creme, prosciutto, and a blackberry. Random, but phenomenal. We then were served a yummy bread roll and butter while our meals were being prepared. We shared the 40 oz Porterhouse Steak for two as our main course and also ordered a lobster tail for the table. They brought us individual plates with mashed potatoes and broccolini (both of which were delicious) and brought out our steak on a skillet. The steak was out of this world delicious. Juicy and tender beyond our wildest dreams. The Chimichurri sauce paired with the steak literally transported me to another planet with each bite. The lobster was also delicious and very fresh. To say we were stuffed is an understatement but given the occasion and how delicious everything had been this far, we ordered desert. We had the Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding paired with the Espresso Martini. IT WAS AMAZING. The bread pudding is warm, soft, gooey, and paired with fresh strawberries and creamy chocolate ice cream. Your leftovers are boxed and kept warmed for you until you are heading out. This place is just all around fantastic beyond all words. From the ambience and decor, to the food and selections, to the sweet, warm, and over the top little details showing they truly care about what you are there to celebrate. We will not only be recommending this place to everyone we know, but are also seriously considering this to now be our go to anniversary tradition henceforth. 100% worth the drive from Denver, or anywhere else. 100% worth the high prices, you cannot beat this wonderful experience and phenomenal food. Outback could never!!!! Treat yourself to this place at least once in your lifetime!...

EDIT - After speaking with Ryan I am moving my review up to three stars from one, given the way he took ownership over the situation, listened to my concerns, and took the situation seriously. That speaks to the leadership I would have liked to see during our dining experience. Thank you Ryan! I look forward to a redo.

I am disgusted by our treatment at Cowboy Star this evening. It was supposed to be an evening to celebrate a good friend's birthday, and we endured bad service and an extremely poor attitude from our server, Chris Jolles, who, from looking at Cowboy Star's website, appears to be a person in leadership.

We weren't sat at our table until 15 minutes after our reservation, even though the restaurant was not busy, and when we were finally sat, we did not receive menus until another 30 minutes had passed. We made our displeasure known to other front of house staff because Chris was nowhere to be found, and we still waited another 5 minutes to receive menus. After Chris caught wind that we were not pleased, he navigated our evening with a petty, passive aggressive attitude. He consistently made excuses for his poor service that put us at fault. He left empty glasses on our table that would never have been removed had they not been specifically requested to be picked up. He regularly avoided our table and seemed to intentionally drag out the evening. While there was a plethora of staff working, the vibe was of an unorganized and chaotic restaurant. The general manager, clearly identifiable by his pinstripe suit, stood 5 feet away from our table for most of the evening and failed to check-in with us regarding how our evening was going. The kitchen seemed to very much have their affairs in order while the front of house staff allowed plates to boil under heat lamps and ran frantically from table to table focusing on details that were unimportant, like folding napkins, instead of ensuring their guests had an enjoyable experience and that food came out correctly.

With such a clear emphasis placed on leadership based on their website, you would think that the leaders in the restaurant would ensure their guests, who pay between $60-$100 for a steak, were provided with the service that makes that price point appropriate, but sadly this is not the case. While we have been repeat customers at Cowboy Star, this will no longer be the case. They have clearly let other priorities interfere with their customers' satisfaction. Not only will I not be eating here again, but I will be sure to inform everyone I know about how my latest experience unfolded. In the hopes that an owner or somebody who truly understands what leadership is, reads this, I would love to speak with you about these concerns. If Chris is somebody who others report to, he is setting an incredibly low bar for how service should be handled at a restaurant of this price point.

Unfortunately, my guess is that nobody will care about our experience or this review. Please prove me wrong.

I guess the good news is that now we know who you are, Cowboy Star, and we can wisely spend our money elsewhere...

I would like to say that if I was able I would give this restaurant 10 stars in every category! My wife and I went here from a local recommendation to celebrate my birthday and from the very first moment we arrived at 4pm on a Thursday we were so impressed! We were greeted by a smiling hostess who explained that we had a choice of seating outside or in the bar for happy hour or seating in the dining room which we selected. When we were seated we were promptly greeted by our waiter Alex at which time he thoroughly explained our drink options and gave us each drink menus, he also explained water choices and we selected tap water. He left briefly while we contemplated our drink options. While we were deciding a very sweet assistant brought us tap water and she was very kind and smiling. During our time there she never let our water get less than half full and was always clearing dirty dishes and super attentive! When Alex came back we placed our drink orders. I ordered a Pinot Noir and my wife ordered a rum drink I think called outlaws oasis.They were great. We ordered the shrimp appetizer, and each of us had salads. For our entree we each ordered a 14 Oz Ribeye which was accompanied by garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli. The timing of all the appetizers and salad and entrees were perfect. Enough time for conversation without waiting too long.The food was astounding with the steaks literally melting in our mouths and exquisitely prepared with beautiful presentations and hot. We also had added the grilled mushrooms as a side and they were delicious! Afterwards we had the Mudpie with coffee. Again a home run! Upon finishing we took our leftovers with us which the assistant kindly packaged for us. After settling our check which was a tremendous value we left and again the hostess kindly smiled and thanked us for coming in to dine with them. One last detail I would like to point out, 2 times my wife had got up to use the restroom and both times she laid her napkin on the seat and both times another waiter and the assistant had been watching and came over to refold her napkin. Now I don't care who you are that much attention to detail tells me that these people enjoy their jobs and those little details mean a lot to customers. The other things I noticed was how well they were organized like a fine tuned machine. My compliments to the managers for watching over things and checking with us to make sure all of our needs were met. In closing I would just like to say that if this was not the best dining experience I have had it is without a doubt in my top 5! Thank You So Much for a wonderful birthday experience! Mike...