221 South Oak — Restaurant in Telluride

My husband and I came to this restaurant a decade ago and had great memories. We just recently went back to Telluride and were hoping to recreate the experience. Unfortunately, we never even made it to our meal. I only gave as many as 3 stars because the food may still be good. We don’t know (however we were given 5! different menus, when we were seated. A cocktail menu, a full wine list, a dessert menu, and 2 different dinner menus that were each 2 pages. So while we didn’t try the food, I’ve never been to a good restaurant that didn’t have a simple, concise menu of the chef’s strongest showings.) Back to the main complaint…We arrive with a reservation, sit down on time, and then were promptly ignored. After 15 min having no one come to the table to even offer us a drink request, we asked where our server was. A girl came to the table who was not supposed to be our server (we figured out later) and took our order but did not seem overly sorry about the wait (and mostly looked like she had gotten thrown under the bus to come help us, which I’m sure she had). We give her our entire order from drinks through entrees and then another 15 min goes by, still not even our simple drink order has been delivered and we’ve been seated half an hour. When I get up to let the bartender know we’re leaving and to cancel our order, she also doesn’t apologize for the wait, but says she’ll get our server so we can pay for the bottled still water the host brought us when we sat down. This is how we knew it was an older waitress who was supposed to be in charge of us and who took my card to charge me for water before the girl who came to take our order ran out of the back, apologized for our wait and said we didn’t need to pay for it. While I was at the bar having this interaction, another customer came up to complain about the same older waitress. She said “she gave me a wine glass, but no wine” . The bartender basically yelled at the customer that she had to wait for the waitress to get the wine from the basement. The customer looked at me and quietly said, I have been waiting. There was no apology to her either and clearly no explanation when the empty wine glass was set down by the waitress. Every staff member in there looked like they hated where they worked. I don’t know if it was the day or a consistent problem but it certainly ruined our view of the place. We will not...

Perhaps one of the biggest dining disappointments I've ever experienced - except the dining experience part. The atmosphere was perfect - charming restored Victorian, window table with a cool mountain breeze and an excellent glass of tap water.

We have followed Chef Eliza for some time and looked so forward to making this meal a part of our first trip to Telluride, and I was certain it would be a perfect birthday dinner for my partner.

We arrived right on time for our 5:30 reservation and were promptly greeted and seated and the gentleman who seated us seemed professional. We are fine with tap water and that was promptly delivered. We read over all the cocktail, wine and dinner options - we had plenty of time, as we would sit for a little more than 20 minutes with not one of the 6 staff we counted showing up to our table, though they had plenty of time to pass by and notice us, but never make eye contact and time to congregate. We had an event we had to be at at 7:00 and we knew, given the way things were going, that we would not have time to enjoy the meal we'd hoped for. We chose to leave quietly, not wanting to make a scene and possibly ruin someone else's dining experience, and out of respect for the well-regarded chef/owner, Eliza Gavin.

When I called to let them know, the manager Luke let me know he was aware and that our server was very busy and arrived at our table just as we were leaving - yet we left completely unnoticed… If Chef Gavin reads this, I hope you know how incredibly disappointing this whole experience was and we will remain fans from afar, for now. And once we sort how we feel about this evening, we will consider making another reservation on our next trip. Meanwhile, I highly recommend the tap water. And you couldn’t drink it in a...

Nestled among breathtaking mountain scenery, this charming spot offers a welcome respite from Telluride’s otherwise lackluster dining scene. After experiencing a string of disappointments in town, we finally found a place that stands out—for the better. The ambiance is warm and inviting, and the service is attentive without being overbearing.

We started with the Bay Scallops & Pork Belly with Crispy Brussels Sprouts, accompanied by plum butter, peanut salsa macha, and shiitake mushrooms. This dish was a solid 8/10—well-balanced flavors and beautifully executed. For the entrée, we opted for the Rocky Mountain Trout with a Duo of Ravioli, featuring fried capers, brown butter, and microgreens. While the fish itself was expertly seasoned and cooked to perfection, the ravioli portion was, quite frankly, underwhelming—just two lonely pieces on the plate, and the sweet potato filling wasn’t quite hitting the right notes for me. The contrast in textures didn’t work as well as I had hoped, making this dish a 7/10 in my book.

I recognize that this restaurant is helmed by Top Chef Eliza, and while the execution is undoubtedly polished, I wasn’t completely blown away. That said, in a town where mediocrity seems to be the norm when it comes to dining, 221 Oak Street Café is a breath of fresh air. It may not have delivered a knockout punch, but it certainly holds its own as one of the better options...