The Boot Grill — Restaurant in Loveland

People of Color.....please read this entire review. I know it's long but it is informative and worth it. There was no option for ZERO stars. On 03-02-2024, my wife and I went to the Boot Grill in Loveland, CO as part of a birthday invite my wife received from a friend. When we got there, there was a live band and the bar was crowded. After approximately 5 mins, we located my wife's friend and the table they were sitting at. I don't drink alcohol or---take narcotics for that matter---but my wife wanted a cocktail. I walked toward the bar and saw a waitress coming towards me with a tray full of items she had just cleaned from an area. As she was passing by the bar, a patron turned to leave the "rail" and almost ran into the waitress causing her to quickly move to avoid a collision. I didn't want the waitress to spill the contents of her tray on my jacket so I stopped suddenly to let her recover and pass me to go into the kitchen area. I went up to the bar and the bartender asked me what I would like and I ordered an Absolut and pineapple. The bartender repeated the order verbatim and I said yep....that's it. There were two other bartenders or bar backs to her left and they were looking past and behind me and within a few seconds the bartender was as well and she said, I'm sorry I can't serve you, you've been cut-off. I told her I just got to the Boot Grill and that I don't drink. She said it wasn't up to her and pointed to a bouncer standing behind me leaning up against the wall. I asked him what he meant by cutting my off and he said that I was stumbling when I was walking so he cut me off from ordering drinks. I told him I wasn't stumbling, explained why I stopped like I did and he said, nope....you were stumbling and that he had to protect the licenses of the bar. I told him I don't drink alcohol or do drugs and that he was mistaken. I turned back to the bartender who asked me what he said and I can only assume that he gave some kind of signal to serve me. The bartender who had; not 2 minutes before, repeated my order to me, reached under the bar and got some unknown brand vodka or paint thinner and started to make the drink I ordered. I told her never mind and went back to the "birthday" table to embarrassingly tell them that the Boot Grill wouldn't serve me. They asked why not and I said look around...I'm the wrong color to be served here. One of the gentlemen at the table offered to buy my wife a drink and I said, No...I'm not drinking where they don't serve people of color. I'm a Black man who first served as an enlisted soldier and then as an Infantry officer in the US Army Reserve and National Guard in several states for 20 years, as well as retiring after 30 years in law enforcement. Although I have seen this kind of racism almost my whole life, it caught me by surprise that it was so blatant in 2024. This review is just a warning to any other Black person or person of color so they can think long and hard before going into the Sundown bar known as the Boot Grill in Loveland, CO. Especially with all of the hotels in that particular area. You may or more likely, may NOT get served, especially after sundown, once you get picked out by one or more of the racist "bouncers" employed by this establishment. I hope you've gotten this far in my review so people of color and others who believe our color doesn't make difference can make a more informed decision of where to try to spend money when visiting...

so 1st visit, a to-go order was slightly botched only in that it was missing the beef stroganoff, instead we had two orders of the chicken fried steak which mind you was actually fantastic and previous to deciding on trying the Boot grill that night. I had been so disappointed the previous month with restaurants in the Denver area that I was going to go to a popular chain from back in the south, and have their country fried steak instead we gave Boot girl try and wasn't disappointed. Other than I did not get my beef stroganoff tonight I was back in town and on that night they offered to correct it but I wasn't interested in it being fixed that night so they said let them know when we were back in town and I was here tonight and decided to give it one more try beef stroganoff is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods loved it when it was made when I was growing up as a kid, I've traveled all over the country. Don't need one hand to count the number of restaurants that serves beef stroganoff let alone don't need even half a hand count the number of good experiences with beef stroganoff, so I was very hopeful. I spoke to Melissa and placed my order. She was extremely friendly, very helpful and I let her know I'd be in route and since I'd recently celebrated my 50th birthday and I was tired from driving have a doctors appointment tomorrow I'd love a piece of cake. What did she recommend? I was taking my surprise when she said carrot cake so I was very looking forward to it. When I arrived, I only had a few minutes to wait and they were still preparing my order very friendly the moment she handed me the order the smell was amazing. Cannot wait to get back to the hotel room am blown away. It is amazing. Do I tell you this may be the best beef stroganoff I have ever eaten in my life and it is a huge portion plus you get garlic cheese bread and the carrot cake looks absolutely divine as well but it's gonna probably be a midnight snack tasting because I am super full from only half of my serving of this beef stroganoff but I can't wait to eat the rest of it. Oh my gosh it is so so freaking good. It is worth the drive all the way back here just for the beef stroganoff honest to God and thank you Melissa for making it a pleasurable experience both to come back and have the meal remade as well as not being a bad experience to inform you guys of the faux pas the first visit so thank you for great customer service and absolutely amazing food can't wait to try, something different next but I'll probably be stuck on trying this beef stroganoff for a lot of years to come. It is...

Extremely poor service. Went for our anniversary and when we walked in there was a sign that said seat your self so we did. Sat for 30 minutes without a single waitress coming and asking if we'd been helped. It took another table next to us that we were talking to to tell a waitress that we hadn't been helped yet. Took another 10 minutes for a waitress to finally come take our order. I ordered their "prize winning" prime rib cooked medium with a twice baked potato and my husband order the 12 oz ribeye cooked rare with mashed potatoes and gravy. When our food was brought to us it was obvious that it had set in the serving window for a while as it was Luke warm and both steaks were over cooked. The cheese on top of my potato wasn't even melted any more. I asked for butter and waited long enough to eat my whole steak, I was hungry and didnt want to wait even longer for a new one so didnt say anything about how over cooked it was, and half my salad before the waitress even came back to see how everything was. When she finally came over I asked about the butter and she said she forgot. The prime rib I would not say is award winning either. Besides being over cooked it was very thin and mostly fat with no flavor. I've had a LOT better other places. I work in hospitality at a local hotel and am asked a lot for good restaurants in the area. I can say I will not be recommending The Boot Grill to anyone and will not be returning. They basically ruined my...