The Wapiti Colorado Pub — Restaurant in Estes Park

To begin with, I want to say that I realize running a restaurant is incredibly difficult, especially in this post-pandemic era of worker shortages. And I’ll also point out that until recently Nicky’’s had been a favorite stop for me whenever I visited Estes Park over the past 10 years.

Unfortunately, the quality of the food was dreadful the last two times I visited in 2021 and 2022. In addition, everything was overpriced (even by Estes Park standards), and the service was almost comically bad, although my server on my most recent visit did a perfectly adequate job.

In 2021, I was served a sirloin steak that tasted.and smelled old — not “aged,” but seemingly well past the expiration date — and it was woefully over-cooked. I could not eat more than a few bites of it. My salad had lettuce in it that, even at a glance, was obviously turning brown, and my baked potato was brown inside, as if it had been sitting in a warmer for several hours or had simply been overcooked.

During my more recent visit, in 2022, the food was even worse. The chicken parmigiana had a very odd, bitter aftertaste (the culprit seemed to the sauce, not the chicken) and the baked potato was clearly old: It was tough and dark brown inside, and it appeared to have been reheated at various times before being served to me — oddly enough — quite cold. I sent it back and the replacement was much better, but it had the texture and appearance (with its unseasoned and unbuttered skin) of a potato cooked by microwave and tossed onto a plate.

In addition to all this, as other reviewers have noted, the prices at Nicky’s seem unreasonably high. If you’re going to charge people $40 for a steak, with absolutely no sides or garnishments, it had better be a very good cut of meat expertly prepared. Nicky’s doesn’t meet that standard —at least not consistently, judging by my experience and those of other reviewers. (In fairness, meat prices even at the wholesale level have gone through the roof lately, so Nicky’s isn’t entirely to blame for any recent price increases seen on the menu.)

And while my most recent server was quite competent, the hostess who greeted me on that same visit was borderline rude and refused to seat me, explaining they were completely booked for at least the next 90 minutes. (I later checked both dining rooms. One was entirely empty and perhaps decommissioned, and the other dining room was about one-third empty.) The woman who appeared to be the manager intervened as I was walking out and had me seated in the lounge area, which was largely empty.

While waiting for my meal, I noticed a few of the other customers had some trouble getting their order taken, and one woman questioned whether she’d been served the correct meal. At the same time, three employees stood against a nearby wall, talking at length to each other and ignoring customers’ empty glasses.

After finishing what I could of my meal, I checked the establishment’s inspection reports from the county. I’ve certainly seen worse inspection reports in my time, but these reports on Nicky’s — they’re readily available online — are discouraging. When I left, I asked the woman who appeared to be the manager if they had posted their most recent inspection report on site. She initially said yes, but then quickly corrected herself and confirmed they were not posted anywhere in the building. They were posted, she said, “at the corporate office.” I can certainly understand why that would be the case.

I am rooting for Nicky’s to bounce back, but I don’t think I’ll be returning. As much as I like the old-school super club ambiance, that alone can’t make up for the shortcomings related to food,...

We had about a 10 minute wait for someone to talk to us about being seated. Once we were seated, we were quickly given water. Our waiter took another 12 minutes or so to come take our order -Loaded fried for the appetizer, Kids chicken fingers, The Cowboy Burger, The Rocky Moutain Oysters (as the meal), and two side salads.

The salads were...different. A "spring" or "field green mix of lettuce" a carrot stick, a red bell pepper, some red onion, some roasted corn, peas, craisins, and, croutons. The ranch dressing was fine; the thousand island was a thick paste.

The loaded fries were fine but our entrées arrived only 4 or 5 minutes after the appetizer was served.

The burger was served on a very skinny plate. It was ordered as a medium cook but came out well done. It had no flavor to speak of. The onions rings served with the burger were fine.

The chicken fingers were run of the mill chicken fingers thought they were overcooked.

The Rocky Mountain Oysters were a total disappointment. I suspect the waiter didn't communicate with the kitchen (or the kitchen didn't listen) to the fact that this was to be served with the meal and not as an appetizer. They were not fresh, were overcooked (likely from sitting under the heat lamp waiting on the rest of our meal to be prepped), and were just about room temperature heat when they came to the table.

The waiter never inquired on the satisfaction of our meal. I had to ask for a water refill. My husband was never asked if he wanted a soda refill.

All in all, this is the most disappointing meal we have had...

The new location of Wapiti Pub is very nice and offers a dining room, bar area, and outdoor dining stream side. We were looking forward to trying this place as it is right next door to the lodge we're were at. I ordered the Big Ol Salad. It was tasty, but not really big at all. For an extra $2 I had them add bacon, which looked like one strip cut up. My daughter ordered the Cowboy Ciao, which looked interesting as a kind of cowboy pasta, unfortunately, our server thought she said Cubano Sandwhich and that is what came out. Since it had taken quite some time to get our food, and she did not want to wait, she decided to just eat the sandwich. Bad idea for two reasons, if the server makes a mistake then they need to correct it and insist on doing so. In the end the Cubano was a disappointment. There was roast pork and ham on the sandwich, but no pickles or mustard. A Cubano without these are one dimensional and heavy. Note to the chef, try this and see the difference it makes!

The kids meals are well priced and have good options. My granddaughter liked the chicken wings and fries.

Overall, probably new restaurant troubles. These can be fixed. The staff seemed new and a bit confused. Our server admitted it was her first day, which also contributed to my daughter's decision to not ask for what she actually ordered.

I would give them another try, but insist on having the order related back to us to be sure...