Loungin' Lizard — Restaurant in Cortez

In town trying to "social distance" during COVID. Walking in they had a table set up at the front door to disinfect, sign in (if so inclined) & they will walk you in. We chose to eat outside & the ambiance was fabulous. Luckily it was 78° and gorgeous weather, so the patio was a good choice. My husband ordered the pork nachos and I ordered the chicken lettuce wraps and both were fabulous. Everything was super fresh, hot & super tasty! We also ordered the bloody Mary's which were on point with plenty of Tito's. My husband is on the cautious side due to Corona, & we felt this establishment went above & beyond to make sure everything was clean, including scanning in the menu so you’re only touching your own phone. Our waiter was (wish I knew his name, he had dark hair pulled back in a pony tail) super attentive & gave us lots of local things to do when we asked for suggestions. I love getting locals advice on things they recommend, & he was super sweet about giving us local breweries & wineries & telling us when they were open & closed (which is helpful during COVID). Food was great & service was amazing, so everyone give it a shot. You will not he...

I don't like to only share negative reviews; I do enjoy when I have an opportunity to share positive reviews. Today is that day, a few weeks ago, my wife and I stopped in after our day trip on the Mesa Verde. I was pleasantly surprised with the atmosphere, service and the food. Let's dive into that a little further.

The service: Absolutely fantastic, the ladies that served us didn't let our water run out once, stopped in constantly just the be sure we're still good, and were incredibly pleasant. They all acted like our primary waitress so well that I honestly don't know whose table we were at because they all were so attentive.

The food: I ordered a cheeseburger of some variety; my wife ordered the Frito pie, and we shared a white chili French fry appetizer. We were absolutely shocked at how amazing the flavor, temperature, and presentation was of all our items.

I would rate the cheeseburger as one of my top 5 best cheeseburgers of all time. It was seasoned so well, cooked to the right temperature and the flavor was just exploding in every bite.

We absolutely will return on our next visit,...

We're local and have eaten here since it opened. It was nice to have a new "finer dining" restaurant in town. Now, years later, the lizard is tired. The menu hasn't changed. The "specials" are listed on the menu board (always there). If you aren't a meat eater or steer away from fried, highly spicy food, you'll have a hard time finding anything on the menu other than the salads. Even the Brussel sprouts are fried.

Service depends on server (some friendly, some not so). We Server wasn't welcoming, didn't offer water. Went during happy hours and didn't get discount. "Oh, that's not on the weekend - only weekdays." (Mon and Thurs) Really? $9 for a glass of wine from a $10 retail bottle?

Food is overcooked, greasy, over-spicy and looks blah on the plate. Very little if anything for people into clean eating for health reasons. I had chicken lettuce wraps. 1/2 chicken breast, over salty and too spicy seasonings and 5 small lettuce leaves. $13?? And even that caused me some gastrointestinal distress later on.

Sorry, lizard, but we're not going back. I think...