El Moro Spirits and Tavern — Restaurant in Durango

I walked in with super high expectations that were quickly and quite literally flung away. If I had been treated to the full and, hopefully, typical experience, I’m sure this would be a 5 star review. We stopped in Durango for a bit after dinner and were really excited by the lovely menu and reviews for El Moro. We were able to be seated at the bar immediately. That was wonderful. The bartender was pleasant and extremely knowledgeable about the menu, which was well rounded and beautifully extensive. We ordered 2 glasses of wine to start with and were ready to order some small plates. I was waiting to capture the bartender’s attention when instead, I received an earful of LOUD disgustingly misogynistic conversation to the effect of “women who drop their clothes for money are disgusting and something to be joked about in public places” between the bartender and a fellow patron who was obviously a regular customer they valued and intended to keep. I was shocked at first because the restaurant seemed like a really wonderful atmosphere that just wasn’t conducive to what I was hearing coming out of the patron’s mouth, much less from the BARTENDER! To a certain extent, his job is to entertain the bar guests but this was not a bartender merely pandering to a drunken guest’s ill-advised conversation. He was actively participating in the conversation. After a minute or so of listening to this, I pointed out that other people could hear their conversation and I was IMMEDIATELY mocked, cursed at and insulted by the patron. The bartender said absolutely nothing to this man as he continued his MINUTES LONG TIRADE. We decided to leave since nothing was being done and I no longer felt comfortable or even safe at that point. I waited uncomfortably while my partner paid and tipped the bartender (the bartender offered to comp our 2 glasses of wine as an apology but we declined on the offer), all the while, this fellow patron is screaming obscenities, including “uppity B**”, at me from a distance of less than 2 feet away. We paid and left while the fellow patron and his drinking mate followed me out, screaming “See U Next Tuesday” down the street at me. Buy me a new glass of Red and I’ll tell you the full and much more personally satisfying ending. edit upgrading my review: judging from the other reviews, they did indeed 86 the problem child. I’m happy to know they take disturbances such as this seriously and did not reward him for his abusive language and inappropriate behavior...

We wandered in less than 10 minutes after opening to find a lovingly restored dining room, mostly empty. The wood of the tables, chairs, and floors pretty much glowed, and we could all but see ourselves reflected in the rich, wooden surfaces. It was clean and quiet and even as the restaurant filled to near-capacity behind us, we could still converse in regular voices and hear one another across the table. This likely derives from the high ceilings, since the original, sound-dampening plaster has been stripped on all the walls to reveal the beautiful brick construction of this historic building.

We were tickled to see the KFC (Korean Fried Cauliflower) and decided to try the decadently vegetarian appetizer. We also had a self-built charcuterie board to offset any benefit gained from eating our vegetables. Our server was extremely knowledgeable about the whole menu, and offered a good many helpful suggestions where the charcuterie was concerned. When Raz was less than overwhelmed at a milder cheese I had selected, our server actually wrangled a sample of one of the sharper, more aged varieties we hadn't ordered so that Raz could try it. That was incredibly generous and gave a seriously lasting impression.

For our mains, Raz had the Grilled Hanger Steak, and I tried the Lamb Keftas. Our server warned that the lamb was pretty lambish, and that he had recently been subbing in some of the house chicken sausages. I stuck to my guns on the lamb and was super glad I did, since those Keftas were awesome. The champion of the whole main-course show, however, was the garlic broccolini that came with Raz's hanger steak. Not sure where the florets of the Broccoli went on the menu, but the spears, tossed in a buttery, garlicky sauce and made hot without losing their internal crispness were an awesome way to serve the part of the plant that normally gets wasted in restaurant cuisine. This statement is made not to undercut the amazingness of the perfectly cooked hanger steak, nor the artistry of the light prickly pear sauce, but to exclaim just how awesome the...

I am happy and grateful to say that we gave it another chance and everything was fabulous. My guests from out of town loved everything. Octopus was amazing. Green pea risotto was delicious. Burger was back to excellence. Charcuterie board was back to what I expected . Always have loved this place and was so disappointed by the experience previously reviewed. So glad it was a one off .

This place has been an all-time favorite. Came in for my birthday and was really excited. Then unfortunately had a terrible experience with almost all of our food. The beet salad was and always has been great. Our server Luke was very helpful and is always awesome but he let the manager know our complaint to when she stepped in she was less than helpful and actually kind of rude to me about my complaint. The steak we ordered medium rare was completely dry and mostly cooked through. The burger was also subpar tonight and it is usually delicious. I only ate half of it, which says something.The fries that came with the steak might as well come out of a bag and they probably did. ( texture and taste were of frozen bagged fries) We got the charcuterie board for an appetizer which is usually one of my favorites. The bread was completely dry.usually it’s delicious and soft focaccia.Only a couple pieces of cheese came with the dish. I hate leaving a bad review for this place because , like I said it’s been an all-time favorite, but I was very unhappy with our food this evening and worried that it might be going downhill. I also felt like the manager didn’t care when I told her about my experience with the dish and so felt like I needed to leave a review here. It just wasn’t the customer service experience I expected there. Hopefully the food quality goes back up because we send a lot of people here from the motel we...