OCC Brewing and Restaurant — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

If I could go zero, I would. I went online and found this place to be one of the best places for food and drink. It had high reviews. When I arrived, I parked on Colorado at a meter. I used the park-mobile app which costed $2.44 for an hour and a half. When we entered, we were greeted by Cameron who was standing behind the bar with two patrons. There was no one else inside the establishment. It was self seating and we chose to sit just to the left of the entrance. A short time later Cameron came over and provided both the food and drink menus. For drinks, I ordered the Paloma and my wife ordered the Rye OCC fashioned. To eat, I ordered the Bahn Mi sandwich with a side of regular fries. My wife ordered the OCC burger with a side of regular fries. We got our drinks first at a decent amount of time after ordering. My first sip and it overpowered my palette with grapefruit with a strong squeeze of either lime juice or a couple of limes. I didn’t get a taste of the tequila or the bubbly water that was supposed to be in it. My wife’s Rye OCC fashioned was okay but it was served in a dirty glass. It had a decent taste but not your typical old fashioned. Let’s just say we left both our drinks on the table when we left.

We received our food and the bread to my Bahn Mi sandwich was already soaked and spongy. I took a bite and the chicken was definitely frozen. It had a horrible taste and the chicken was not tender nor did it have flavoring. The sauce that was used, dripped out of the sandwich after each bite. My wife’s burger was flavorless and very dull. There was no “catch” when biting into this burger. It wasn’t dry and had a good moist to it. Our waiter Cameron never came to check on us so, I could not give him a review of how everything ended. The only time he came over was after someone else (a female) picked up our plates and it was time for our check. The price for what you get is a little extreme. There needs to be more tweaks to make this place worth the price. I definitely won’t be back and will not recommend our friends...

Okay, so first off I was looking forward to coming here since we moved to town...

For starters, we put an hour on the meter when we arrived. Parked right out front so no walk time... And sat ourselves at the only table available (which hadn't been cleaned and was sticky - not the biggest deal to us usually but I'm pointing it out for reasons listed below).

We sat for 15-20 minutes before even receiving menus which were plopped down without a "sorry for the wait" just "here's your menus" Cool, thanks, but we were already looking at the digital ones provided but it didn't really matter because they left immediately after setting down the menus without asking if we had an idea of what we wanted (hint : we did, we were waiting forever.) if we wanted drinks, nothing.

After nearly 40 MINUTES waiting for food goes by YAY we get it, about 5:50 almost 6. I KNOW THAT because we had to go put more money in the meter at 5:55pm and the food arrived while doing so.

The food? Was completely cold. Sandwich? Cold. Fries? Cold. Soup? Cold. Bread bowl? Dried out and uh oh yea, COLD. SO USUALLY when this happens to us, no big deal. We have an air fryer and can heat food back up at home.

BUT THEN you wanna corner my partner outside of the bathroom because you got a low tip? Pat him in the shoulder and explain how tipping works? We both worked food service for years - we know. Which is why we usually tip heavily and don't cause issues when we aren't fully pleased with the meal.

For one, we were barely served, no water, no silverware, had to ask for napkins TWICE, AND OUR FOOD WAS PRACTICALLY FROZEN.

So yeah, you guilted my partner into leaving more of a tip that %100 was not deserved or earned.

We will not be coming back for this point alone. You want a better tip? Try giving better service, because this was not it.

Beer...

I have waited to leave this review for a long time because I really, really wanted to have a good experience here before writing. It's a cool place with a great atmosphere, but it just misses the mark every time I am in. I know things happen, bad days are always a possibility, and so on. No worries on all that. But I just cannot seem to find a good experience here. I believe today was at least our 4th or 5th time stopping in, and it has gotten worse with each new trip.

The worst problem has been the service (all rooftop). I understand things can get crazy during a rush, but I have been here during slow times as well and it is always the same. Probably the worst service I have had anywhere in town--and it's consistently horrible. That said, staff are friendly and personable, so that helps. But just awful service. I think they've missed at least one ordered item every time we've been here (two today), and it's unquestionably the longest wait times for food I have seen in a modern restaurant/pub. If you have plans to go somewhere after eating/hanging out, make sure you come wildly early.

The food has also seemed to decline in quality as well. Today's food was atrocious by every metric (Mother's Day Brunch menu). Quality and taste were lacking across the board (how do you mess up poutine?). There's usually at least one thing that's pretty decent. Definitely not today. 4 entrees and an appetizer; all of which were a waste of time, calories, and money.

The views and the vibe are superb though, so full marks for that. But, man, I am so disappointed. I have spent hundreds of dollars here hoping for a redeeming visit only to be let down more and more each time. I will probably try it again in the future just because I want it to work out due to the location/vibe/etc. Here's to...