Denver/Lakewood Stockyard Saloon - The Yard Bar — Restaurant in Denver

So this review is an update from many years ago where I gave them a 5 star review. As of 9/3/24 I now give them this new score of 2 stars. Reasoning is because I walked in and learned quickly from the lady owner of the establishment who was a bit abrasive from the start that they fired Jesus a couple of weeks ago due to not liking how he was handling things (I disagree with their decision since he'd been working there for 17 years! I disagree with her on this because he always had excellent customer service skills and did a phenomenal job but hey, it's their business 🤷‍♂️ so I shut up about it and everyone has a bad day on occasion so I let the abrasive attitude slide, my mistake) but every first Tuesday of every month my nearby union hall has a meeting many of us workers gather up here for dinner prior to the meeting so I told the owner that many of us should be showing up. She explained they no longer "split checks" and wanted to know how we wanted to handle it (rather odd for many reasons, we always pay for ourselves, and rarely pay everything on one tab) so I decided to only order for myself and not wait for others since she impressed upon me that if anyone sits with me I'll have to pay their way too.

I asked for my usual dish and requested it to be spicy which she said it only comes one style (Jesus always gave options for level of spice but this lady insisted that should've never been an option) The food came out and while tasty it didn't pack the heat I was used to, rather underwhelming. After a little bit, one of my union brothers came in and wanted to sit with me, I was fine with it but told him of the changes that had been made of the owners so he sat at a different table, the lady went over and barked at him because he had to have a large party to sit where he chose. He felt disrespected but decided to sit with me again and then she made this back handed comment about "I guess you just do whatever you want" which both of us had enough now, he tossed his menu on the table and left and I paid my tab and left promptly as well. Word of this lack of customer service is spreading throughout our union and the several hundreds of us who have been coming here for over ten+ years will be finding another place to dine at from now on. Thanks but no thanks. Jesus built your restaurant a great reputation with us, and now you are...

Quality of meat was good however there was no flavor on anything. Quite literally, no seasoning, not even the bare minimum of salt and pepper. So that didn’t really justify the high price to me. Plus why is chicken more expensive than beef items?

Service was good after the original sub par greeting upon entry but I still didn’t feel welcome there, lots of customers giving the side eye and I felt like I didn’t belong, maybe a real old western “Saloon” vibe?

It is sad when a frozen McDonald’s or Burger King hamburger has more flavor to these handcrafted patties. Same for the chicken and beans from Taco Bell or Del Taco versus what was given here. Refried beans tasted like a can of mashed up pinto beans, no salt pepper or anything added.

All in all I would say I’m not returning here anytime...

if I had not been taken by someone that had previously been there himself, and I was trying to go alone, I'd assume that Google maps had the location incorrect. not sure how this place stays in business solely due to location.. but once you get there, it's not a bad spot! definitely what I consider one of those hole-in-the-wall bars, that also happens to serve pretty decent food. nothing is "OMG its amazing!!" but nothing is terrible either, at least not that I experienced. had a pretty good french dip, would've been even better with a hard cider to wash it down..but I'd forgotten my dang ID, and I respect their need to follow rules, so I settled for a Shirley Temple. not blown away by any means, but I'd come back and eat there again...if I could manage to...