Bird's Nest — Restaurant in Estes Park

My wife is on a gluten free diet so we ordered one of their specialty pizzas on GF crust ($5 adder for 12” gluten free crust). That seemed a little bit high but what the heck, I figured for the price it must be a very delicious gourmet crust that they made from scratch. After paying for the pizza + tip on my credit card we found a table and sat down. After a couple minutes the lady working the register called us over and said there was a party upstairs and they wouldn’t be able to make our pizza because there were 20 pizzas they had to make for the party. No “sorry for the inconvenience” was offered. I handed her my credit card for a refund. She said she wouldn’t be able to refund my money until the next day. I looked at my wife with disbelief. What store in 2024 does not have the ability to do a refund on a credit card purchase? The lady must’ve sensed some doubt in my expression so she printed me a receipt and said here’s proof that you bought a pizza. The receipt did not include the tip that I had put on my card. Nor did it have any note explaining the situation. By this time, I was getting a little frustrated and quite “hangry” so I just decided to accept the receipt and leave and find something to eat elsewhere. She must have realized how bad this looked to the other people coming in and as a consolation prize she handed us a very small round loaf of sour dough bread for our “trouble”. The sourdough bread was good so we figured worst case we recouped maybe a fourth of the cost of the pizza (?). For the next two days, we checked with our credit card company and the money was not refunded “the next day” as the lady promised. That evening, we decided to go out and eat and we were driving past the Bird’s Nest and we both said at the same time, “maybe we should go try to get the pizza that we paid for”. So we went in and there was a new lady working there. We explained the whole issue and she seem very skeptical although she took the receipt that I was given and told us she would get our pizza and use the receipt (along with the novel she wrote on the back of it explaining our situation) so she wouldn’t get in trouble for giving us a “free pizza” to compensate us for the one we never got. So we found a table and sat down thinking, “ok things are looking up, we’re finally getting our pizza!”. But the surprises kept coming: Next we couldn’t help but overhear the cashier arguing (in our favor) with the pizza cook who didn’t agree we should get a pizza. He told the cashier, “well if you give them a pizza then anyone can bring a receipt in here and demand a pizza.” So now here we are sitting there feeling like criminals after the pizza cook concocted a story that we were just trying to scam a pizza. After some back-and-forth, the pizza cook reluctantly agreed to make our pizza. I could see him unwrapping our “gourmet, $5 extra, gluten-free crust” from plastic wrap that looks like it had come from a freezer. The pizza came out and we went upstairs to try it out where we found it was still cold in the middle probably due to the frozen crust. The crust tasted like cardboard. It was one of the worst pizzas we’d ever tasted. I have no way of knowing if the cook, who didn’t think we deserved the pizza in the first place, intentionally sabotaged it or not but we’d have been way better off at Domino’s for 1/3 the price. We hope the Bird’s Nest owner will read this (and other reviews) and fix the problems. We really want the...

Interesting place.

Arrived at 0658 and placed my order. They had four baristas manning the front, as well as a separate dedicated kitchen in the back. The barista who took my order was kind, welcoming, and softly energetic. Background music is tasteful and at an appropriate noise level.

Prices (particularly the food products) are congruent with its elder sister dine-in restaurant, Bird and Jim, so slightly more upscale, but not incongruous considering the area, their brand, and types of products they sell. Good variety of baked products, hot drinks, and artisan pizza.

I ordered a breakfast burrito and cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls were 4.5/5 - freshly baked with flaky exterior crust, airy and soft interior, and somewhat tangy cream glaze topping. Burrito was 4/5 - very solid and well seasoned. The pizza options seem well designed.

A few housekeeping items.

1. For a to-go burrito, it took far too long to complete. There was one party ahead of me who had ordered hot drinks, but I’m fairly certain I was one of the only customers present who had ordered food. The cinnamon rolls in the display case were promptly packaged, but I waited 20 minutes for a to-go breakfast burrito. Based on their menu, internal layout, and website, my general impression is that this establishment values high-quality products with expedited service, so the disconnect between expectation and reality was a bit jarring. I would prefer not to order online ahead of time, as there is a 6% third-party surcharge, and there is always the possibility the product won’t be as fresh compared to in-person ordering given the variability of online ordering vs pick-up times.

2. It would have been nice if the 2nd floor was open to the public. I understand this is primarily used for private events and even when not in use they may be prepping the area, but BOY would it be wonderfully delightful to sip on coffee and munch on baked goods in the solitude and warmth of the loft area, while gazing outside the large viewing windows at the mountains, even if just for a few minutes. They likely have their own justifications, but even trying to be empathetic, it was hard not to feel a bit disappointed. There is limited seating on the 1st level (some stools and a couple tables) and it’s too cold to sit outside in the early morning and winter, so it makes the 2nd floor that much more desirable. I’d be fine with just a stool, or even just standing up there.

3. While it only marginally took away from the overall product, the boxes they used to package the cinnamon rolls was a bit small from a height standpoint. When I opened the box, the cream glaze on each cinnamon was plastered to the top of the box. The barista was fairly delicate when packaging, so I suspect this is just an unfortunate oversight between the structural dimensions of the package and product. This did affect visual presentation and to a lesser degree, taste.

For now, this will be a once-in-a-full-moon kind of place, but I’m hoping with some adjustments and fine-tuning, this location could turn into a more regular...

Atmosphere, architecture, coffee, juice and pastries were fabulous. I'm sure this is a lovely venue for events, but a shame they don't open the upper level for normal patrons when there isn't anything else being hosted since space below is quite limited.

Service was sub par - it felt like the hipster staff were "too cool" to greet you upon entry or wish you well upon exit. There was one person ahead of us in line and the young woman behind the register didn't acknowledge us for a good 10 minutes while she slowly fiddled with the equipment behind the desk presumably getting the customer's order before us together. Which wouldn't ordinarily be so frustrating but there were two other staff members that had come over and also didn't acknowledge us at all as we were standing there patiently trying to place an order - for 10 minutes - an eternity when you're in line waiting after the people in front of you have already taken their seat.

The flow was also a little weird, because the register is in the corner you can't really see beyond the chest and leads you to a dead end. If I were the owners, I'd change the layout of the register area to be more accommodating.

If you're looking for coffee, juice, and/or pastries, this place would suit you fine. But my Lord, the margarita pizza was without a doubt the worst pizza I've had in my life - not hyperbole. (I always order the margarita as a litmus test for any wood fire pizza place) Thick, soggy sandwich tomatoes completely saturated the thin floppy middle, which caused all the ingredients to slog off as you attempted to pick up a slice. (A review I've now noticed is common) The bread had ZERO flavor, bland as could be - honestly domino's crust is better (which is a sin to say). I REALLY wanted to like this place - especially since they "specialize" in pizza. But I'm afraid my Italian ansestors will haunt me if I even consider this "pizza" again. I wish someone had told me not to bother before I went and stick to the pastry chest - so here's my word to the pizza-wise:...