Arlene's Beans — Restaurant in Colorado

I went here for the first time today because my favorite place, Jarrito Loco, was closed :( ...they are moving to their new, much larger location! Yay!

I was excited to try one of Arlene’s vegan options that I have read so much about in reviews and the restaurant description. I was on the verge of ordering the vegan tamales (wish I had) as everything else “vegan” was basically a menu item with no meat or cheese, which is just beans and rice and a tortilla and Chile sauce.

Instead, the person helping me, who was super nice and friendly, suggested a veggie burrito smothered...and I opted for that because he said there were lots of grilled veggies inside and rice and beans. Sadly, he left right after I got my food.

I appreciate that the rice and beans are made without lard, but apparently they’re also made without flavor. My burrito was 70-80% rice and had no taste, same with the bland beans, and the only veggies inside of it were onions and bell peppers that were simply just grilled, also no flavor.

I didn’t care for it AT ALL and when I asked to get something different (with almost a full plate of food left), the young lady at the counter apologized and said she could get me something else, but would have to charge me for it! Whaaaa? For real?

I was shocked and went back and choked down some plain beans and rice, avoiding both Chile sauces, also not anything what I expected from the descriptions, to help offset the sting of my $10 burrito price tag.

I also got chips and salsa...great chips, but the salsa was so thick, like mud. I LOVE salsa, but I couldn’t even eat more than a few bites. Everything just didn’t make sense given all the 5 star reviews. Maybe the flavor is all in the meats?

All it would have taken to help remedy things was to be offered a replacement meal of equal value, like every other restaurant I’ve ever been to, but without even that, I’ll...

My review isn't about the food exactly. The re-fried beans and are really good (I'm pretty picky being from Texas)! My issue with Arlene's is 2-fold.

1. The hours are not consistent with any other restaurant that I have seen (aside from Japanese restaurants that close typically from 2-5pm). Especially being closed Friday nights (in addition to Sunday) is odd to me. That means if you want to come on the weekend options are slim. It's annoying and I'm sure you lose potential business.

2. The ENVIRONMENTAL ignorance. Nothing bothers me more than this. It's not something I wanted to bring up in person because it was a bit busy when I was there (and you don't want to piss off the person making your food). I get it, you want it to be a "casual experience" with paper plates, but have you considered what those paper plates are lined with to keep the runny food from seeping through?!? You haven't? No problem, I'll educate you. The linings are based on fossil-oil or synthetic polymers which include polyolefins (polyethylene), waxes, ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC). So PLASTICS! Now, you put HOT FOOD on these chemicals. What do you think that does? These chemicals LEACH into your food! Don't believe me? Look it up.

Not only are they not good for our health, but serving on these paper plates is HORRIBLE for the environment! Each plastic-lined plate is estimated to take 20-30 YEARS to decompose and are NOT recyclable. So PLEASE serve customers on REUSABLE dinnerware!!! Also, the added benefit for the restaurant using proper dinnerware is that it would perhaps boost your image enough to support your prices.

I won't even get too far into to-go boxes...but STYROFOAM is even worse (1 million years to decompose is the estimate). Let's create a better life for our kids and...

Love this restaurant and location and great food, but the menu is awfully confusing, and its too easy to rack up a fat bill. Especially in regards to tacos and a la carte. So confusing that half the time my lady and I order its not exactly what we thought we were ordering. Can the taco plate be street style? Do I have to order a la carte with beans and rice on the side? And the carne asada seems pricey. 3 street tacos almost $20 with carne asada. My lady paid over $30 for a $20 lunch at most. The food truck off Sante Fe trail is looking more desirable. The taco plate here is $11.99, but they better not be street style. Also, the place gets pretty chaotic when its busy. We have eaten here since they were in their Palmer Lake location. I think we're going to stop coming for awhile. Why is it so difficult to order something so simple?

EDIT: I changed my 3 star to a 4 star for the thoughtful reply. Thank you for laying out the pricing for me; I don't have a problem paying extra for high quality ingredients. My lady and I have a lot of food service experience and won't shy away from tipping 25-30% as a standard tip. We've had great experiences at your restaurant and want you to rise and stay above the other Monument fare. I still, however, feel like a more streamlined and organized menu would be beneficial to your customers. Especially since there aren't hand out menus, and time is limited to figuring out what to order while standing in line. We love the family-oriented business and passion that stands behind your food. Keep up the good work and hope to try your...