Riff Raff Brewing Company — Restaurant in Pagosa Springs

We picked this place out on a Friday night, noticed it had slightly mixed reviews but overall 4.5 stars, looked cute and had a small but diverse menu and was on the river.

We arrived about 7 pm, which I realize is peak dinner time. We were told the wait would be an hour and a half, and decided to stay. At 7:30, they stopped adding additional people on the waitlist. We thought this was weird for a Friday night, and never saw all of the tables fully sat at once (which was frustrating during such a long wait) but assumed they were short staffed and waited patiently. The hostess was visibly stressed the whole time we waited as she turned people away.

She finally asked us if it was ok to seat us on the patio. It was cold out, but we agreed assuming like most restaurants with patios during the fall and winter months they would have some kind of heat. There was no heat, we froze the entire time we tried to sit and eat dinner as it was in the 40s.

I was happy that they offered a non alcoholic beer on tap. The burger had pretty good flavor, but the patty was definitely thin and nothing special. The fried catfish tasted good but could have been crispier. The tartar sauce it was served with was inedible, it tasted really off, almost like eggs? Two of us ordered the nachos, one with chicken. The chicken was missing and only the very top layer of cheese on the nachos was melted. 90% was not cooked at all, literally raw shredded cheese on chips. The salsa and crema on top had a good flavor. But I was only able to eat a few bites before getting to the raw stuff, which was not appetizing. I would have asked for them to add the chicken and heat it up more, but our waiter never once checked on us after dropping off the food. I think we were sitting for an hour.

We were the last ones on the patio, the hostess was cleaning up, and we finally flagged her down and asked for our waiter. When he finally showed up he asked what else he could get for us, not how anything was or any apology for never checking on us. We asked for the checks and told him about the problems with the food. He did take the nachos off the bill which I appreciate, but I would have rather been able to eat dinner. It then took another 20 mins or so to get us checked out.

He apologized at the end for everything not being up to our expectations. As someone who used to work in the restaurant industry I told him we understood and it seemed like something happened. He responded that no, this was just a normal Friday night. That shocked me and I cant imagine they will last long if this is normal for service.

The place was pretty being on the river and the food had potential but I would never eat here again after...

The other night 4 of us stopped into Riff Raff for dinner. The host who sat us bearly grunted and pointed to our table (not a big deal, but it is the first impression).

Our wait person was friendly and nice, as was the bartender.  Our experience went down the tube when another wait person (Rachel) brought us our food..

I had ordered the sliders. They had several options and I wanted the the blue cheese and bacon sliders. My plate was delivered with the two sliders and a large pile of chopped romaine lettuce. To me and everyone else at the table, it looked like a side salad that wasn't dressed.

Rachel asked if we needed anything else. I asked if the salad was dressed or what kind of dressing was offered.  She replied in a very rude tone, that I could purchase salad dressing if I wanted. At that point my husband said  "we thought it was a salad", and she very rudely said to my husband " I am talking to him!" (Meaning to mind your own business). I was floored! Then in the same rude tone she said that the lettuce was for the sliders and not a salad! If that is the case it was enough for 6 sliders. Then she walked away.

This was our first time there, there was nothing in the menu description to indicate my meal came with lettuce, so my confusion was warranted. And even if it wasn't, there was no reason ever to speak to a guest like an idiot or chastise another guest who was trying to assist. All she had to do was explain what it actually was (and then she could walk back into the kitchen and call me an idiot).

I have never experienced anything or anyone like this before in a food service situation. We were all shocked by the highly unprofessional and rude encounter.

I took the picture after I had already...

I always take it as a good sign when the locals outnumber the tourists in a tourist-centric site such as Pagosa Springs. Located in a two story historic Queen Ann, for me as a real estate professional, the allure was near instant but the experience took it next level. My party of 2 plus my dog, were promptly seated outside in the vintage garden yard of the old home. Under trees and surrounded by a quiet conversational hum and within near ear shot of the tumbling waters that roll through Pagosa Springs, we felt our traveling bodies relax. I suggest start with a beer flight, Riff Raff has many selections, a small flight will help you decide on your "main" w efficiency. Food: portions are fresh and generous. We were nibble hungry not starving. Dave, our server, suggested the Nacho Bidness nachos (the menu is a happy movie riff trip in and of itself) to start. We added the beef (local ranch provided) but chicken is an option as well. Or no meat topping. Our pints arrived shortly after then followed by the eye popping tummy thrilling nachos. Highly recommend. Chips were fresh and crisp. Toppings were plentiful. Flavors popped. Sharing a full Naco Bidness (1/2 order is an option) - we felt we had plenty and skipped a main. Elected instead to order another round of beers. Here is the only ugh moment of our early evening meal. Ordering beers. I suspect that as we had ultimately decided no to additional food our guy Dave kind of forgot about us. We probably would have ordered a third round but after quite a bit of time (seeing Dave swing by other tables and missing us) we decided it was best to tab out. Put Riff Raff on your short list of must eats & drinks in...