Maggie’s Kitchen — Restaurant in Colorado

On Friday 10/4, me and my sister visited Ouray for the first time. My sister is a local in Durango, but has never stopped by - so she wanted to show me the neighboring cities, since I drove 7 and 1/2 hours to visit her. She brought her dog Sophie with us, so that way she wasn't left at home alone and so she could go out and adventure with us - Sophie usually loves adventures and we thought she would love the hiking areas that are very close to Ouray.

When we got to Ouray, her dog was experiencing high anxiety from the hot sun and from the new environment, so we decided to stop at a restaurant to get her some shade and some water.

We decided to go to Maggie's and Ourayle House Brewery (now Mr. Grumpy Pants Brewery) because they had a shaded patio. We already had a negative experience at the Ourayle House Brewery, but decided to sit down and try to calm down her dog before getting food at Maggie's. We got her a water bowl, and a nice patron who was sitting next to us helped us fill up the water bowl with water - understanding the situation that our dog was having severe anxiety. We were trying to get her to drink water, but something seemed amiss when she refused to drink the water - so my sister picked her up to better asses her and to see if she was okay. My sister ended up accidentally knocking over the water bowl when she picked up her dog - and we both had planned on telling the staff about it soon, but we were more worried about her dog. We were both just stressed out and overwhelmed.

Granted, we were sitting down for a while instead of informing employees of the spilled water bowl - but our priorities were very much so focused on making sure her dog was okay. We figured that we were outdoors and it was just water, so we would asses to make sure her dog was okay first.

Not even 5 minutes later, an employee came out with a whole roll of paper towels, and started passive aggressively cleaning up the water while giving me and my sister the side-eye. My sister was so embarrassed and ashamed, that she even got up out of her seat to help the employee clean up the water and was profusely apologizing. The employee didn't speak a word to my sister even after she got up to help him, and continued giving her the side eye. Another older gentleman employee came out a little bit later with another roll of paper towels - and the two employees started to make snide remarks to each other while me and my sister were right there.

I understand the inconvenience, I understand what it may be like to deal with tourists day in and day out and be exhausted from the job itself. I understand the spilled water was probably quite the annoyance for the employees. It may have been a long day for these employees and the spilled water bowl was the "icing on the cake" But what I don't understand is being so frustrated that you would make a potential customer feel unwelcome- because we did not even purchase food at this point. We wanted to purchase food from the restaurant, but we also wanted to make sure our dog was okay first and foremost. Also, why didn't the employees just grab a dry mop, instead of using two whole rolls of paper towels? It just felt like a passive-aggressive stab to make my sister feel guilty for spilling the water and for giving the employees "extra work"

After the silence, passive aggressive energy, side eyes, and rude remarks to one another - me and my sister felt so uncomfortable to the point where we ended up leaving to get food somewhere else, rather than get food from Maggie's like we originally planned.

I am very disappointed because the food does seem to be a hit amongst the locals, and the shaded patio area seemed to be the perfect spot to decompress and asses the situation with our dog - but two employees were having such a bad day that they made us feel like nuisance. I hope those employees have a better week, but after the negative experience at BOTH the brewery and restaurant, we will not be...

Bottom line: if you care about customer service, do not eat at Maggie’s.

Full story: we just rolled into town today and I was so excited about this charming town. I read dozens of Yelp reviews and chose Maggie’s based on reasonably priced, yummy looking burgers. My husband, my 2 year old son, my one year old daughter and myself showed up around 6. We spent the first 10 min trying to find a place to change my son’s diaper because there is no changing table in the restroom. You walk up to the counter to order. It took us a while to order because my husband was reading the whole menu and asking questions (and my son ran outside and he had to go get him.). My husband asked what the stars on the menu meant and I said it meant it was hot (because I was looking at hot). A man walked by and very rudely said something along the lines of “read the board.” There was a starred disclaimer off to the side about not eating undercooked meat. The man walked out and back in. I asked him if he was the owner and he said yes. Then I asked him if he was Mr Grumpy Pants because there is a sign on the wall about it and I genuinely thought we may be in a place like Dick’s Last Resort where they are rude to you on purpose. I told him I didn’t like the way he talked to my husband and he should have better customer service. He said he wasn’t talking to my husband. He was talking to the girl behind the register. I told him I didn’t want him to talk to his employees like that either and if we didn’t have 2 little kids with us that needed to eat, I’d rather not spend our money there. I went outside with the kids and took our seats. A lady nearby told me she’d heard the whole thing and thought he was rude too. My husband sat down while I was still talking about it with the lady. The owner walked out so my husband was trying to shush me. After another brief confrontation with the owner, he told me he was going to refund our money and “kick us out.” He then said my two toddler children had been “running around like heathens” which is a major exaggeration. They were being children in a very low-key establishment. There is writing all over the walls and tables. It’s not like I let them run around in a 5 star restaurant. I was really taken back by the whole series of events. I can’t believe any restaurant owner in a tourism-driven town would act like that. I’m sure he’ll just say I was rude but I’m not in the restaurant business. If you care about the way employers treat their employees, I would advise you to skip this place. There are plenty of other places to...

The visual vibe is very 1990s burger shack. Graffiti on the walls and some unfessy fresh-made burgers cafeteria style ordering/dining process. There is also a condiments bar for toppings. The burger was as expected and nicely seasoned. My partner was disappointed in their ribeye sandwich. The fries were quite good. We thought it was going to be the perfect place for a casual, quick bite.

The overall, atmosphere was chaotic. Expected in a tourist town. Tons of people, loud, and packed. Seating is limited and is designed for a quick dining experience.

What wasn't expected and completely killed my experience was the customer service. The staff lacked patience and were rude when customers did not respond quickly enough or questions were asked. Staff replied with snide remarks and demeaning criticisms towards multiple customers, on occasion even loudly chastizing them. Comments such as "take your food already" ,"if you have any questions don't ask me", or telling an older gentleman "to open his eyes" when he asked about were to return trays in the crowded building. Plus the constant yelling and negativity took away from any enjoyment of the experience.

If sarcasim and ruddness ste supposed to be their gimmick...they nailed it. If not, I hope it was an off day. The food is fine for a quick bit but I won't go back strictly due to the...