Kachina Cantina — Restaurant in Denver

This review is going to be a little unusual because I didn't just get their regular takeout, I had a holiday meal. I ended up spending Thanksgiving alone unexpectedly, so my wonderful family ordered me a single plate for pickup, along with a slice of pumpkin pie.

The short version is that it is on the pricier side for a holiday meal but that's not a complaint, I think it was worth it.

I can imagine it's tough to find parking nearby sometimes but the streets were empty, so I was able to park really close and and pop right in.

The restaurant has a warm convivial atmosphere, and the friendly staff greeted me as soon as I approached the host stand. I only waited a few minutes while someone went to grab my order but in that short time, another staff person approached me to make sure I had been helped.

The bag they handed me was surprisingly heavy! I dashed right home.

The meal itself was delicious - all Thanksgiving classics with a little twist. There was a lot of extremely well cooked and seasoned turkey (I'm normally not a huge fan of turkey but this was unusually tasty), mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, and apple sauce (the only item that surprised me). I had a bit of a drive so I had to replate and heat it, which was a little awkward because the meal was in a takeout container lined with aluminum foil. I left the applesauce cold and I didn't think I would really like it but I ended up loving it. The cranberry sauce was extremely tart and a bit thin but very tasty and I think a little orange zest went a long way. Having the sweet apple sauce and the tangy cranberry sauce kept the heavy meal from being overwhelming. Everything was well seasoned and extremely well prepared, the only real disappointment was that I probably only had about six tiny green beans. As a huge fan of mashed potatoes, I have to admit I was definitely surprised at how much the turkey stood out - it wasn't your typical dry Thanksgiving turkey, but a mix of light and dark meat that was super flavorful! The stuffing had a little bit of crunch to it and some of what I think is the traditional sage flavor, just a little bit brighter. I also have to admit to rolling my eyes a little bit at seeing applesauce on the plate but it turned out to be such a yummy option! It was a natural thick applesauce that was sweet without being overwhelming.

The pumpkin pie was a basic pie, nothing unexpected, but the real star was the candied pepitas. A yummy little bite of crunch that added something new and tasty without being too much of a twist on a traditional dish. There was also some extremely dense custard or cream that I think was meant to replace whipped cream but it wasn't great, extremely dense (about the same texture as mashed potatoes) and grainy so it didn't add anything.

Overall, I was extremely happy especially considering the fact that the staff worked on such a big holiday making sure people had somewhere delightful to go and holiday meals. Even with those tiny caveats, I would absolutely order again and can't wait...

I was the table of two sitting next to the person who wrote the review before this. The restaurant was huge, and totally empty. The waitress, I think her name was Jen, sat a family of 4 next to us about a foot from us. Lovely family but the space was crammed and we were having a very personal conversation, so we moved tables. During this time, she also let me know that the menu was outdated, and that the items marked gluten free had gluten, while others had gluten when they said they didn’t… she ended up giving me food contaminated with gluten that she claimed was gluten free, and I have a horrible rash now.

The waitress came out (this is after she was ignoring us for a very long time, and forgot the chips and salsa order we placed..) and literally rolled her eyes and scowled at us and mumbled something rude to us under her breath. She then aggressively grabbed all of the silverware and napkins off our table and left us with no napkins and no water refills, once the food came. We had to grab napkins and plates off the neighboring empty table. A group of people came in, she seated them, then just walked away. Another couple came in. Same thing. We were all left with no beverages, no table service to order food or as questions. She forgot half our order and never returned. We wanted more tacos, but weren’t able to order them. When she dropped off the check, she hadn’t event asked if we were ready to close out. We weren’t, but then she stormed off and was folding napkins while several tables were turning their heads to look for her to order. We had to walk up to the host to close our check.

The tacos were good, but not good enough to justify the horrific service. That waitress is losing the restaurant money, customers, and intentionally giving patrons food that contains disclosed allergens. She is a walking liability for this local establishment. Do not recommend until the owners hire competent management and waitstaff who know how to treat paying customers. Reading the reviews, staff mistreatment of customers dates back more than a year, so ownership is aware of the issues and chooses to look the other way. There are many fine restaurants in Denver to spend your hard earned money. This is not...

First time being here and will not return.

The management was disrespectful to say the least, the wait staff was inconsistent and most of the time absent, and the food was okay at best. Any other restaurant serving the same cuisine could have been better.

It all started from the beginning when we were sat down by the host who was actually the manager for the evening, Jeff. My wife had to greet him but he would not acknowledge her, he sat us without saying a word.

It took the waitress, Jennifer, nearly 10 minutes to even see us and asked if we needed anything to drink. There we're only two other tables sat at the restaurant at this time, they were not busy. The food was all right, but my wife had a taco salad that did not have beef as written on the menu and the "taco" aspect was a few tortilla chips on top.

Jennifer took really long times between asking us if we needed anything else. When we did ask for water, instead of servicing us, she cleaned off tables first, and then went and got our water. All in all it took her about 5 to 10 minutes to come back with just water.

Before we left, another table was sat next to us, which consisted of all men. Jennifer took immediate action and took care of their food orders and their appetizers well before she ever even noticed us or dropped off the check.

Before we left, I went back to the hostess stand and asked if he was the manager, Jeff, and he said yes. I told him our concerns and he smirked with a little bit of a sarcastic chuckle while asking me "what are the actual concerns." This was obvious he wasn't listening and didn't care. I said directly to him "you don't actually care do you?" He said "he did," again with another sarcastic smirk and chuckle. I told him, "no you don't" and said "we won't be returning, have a good night."

To whoever runs / owns this restaurant, you're going to be losing business left and right. This is who and what's representing your establishment. Crap rolls downhill (starting with management such as Jeff) and affects everything else within your business.

I recommend you start taking a closer look before things get worse.

Do not recommend,...