Gold Belt Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Telluride

Well, this is a bittersweet, mixed review. We ate her at the beginning of our Ouray stay for lunch. One of the owner's daughters was our server. They were super busy but she was awesome, took her time, checked on us multiple times. The food was great, came out quick and all at once (we had 2 kids with us and two friends for a party of 6). Probably would have warranted a 4.5 star at this point.

Fast forward a few days and we decided to go back for dinner because of the excellent first experience. Bad idea. We were seated inside towards the back. We sat for probably 10 minutes before a lady came by and just dropped two bottles of water and a stack of glasses on the table and walked off. OK, not big deal. Server finally comes by maybe 5 minutes later, she was very nice but didn't seem to offer much time. They were busy but didn't seem as bad as when we were there for lunch. We give a lot of grace and patience. Ok, so drinks finally come another 10 minutes later, still waiting to order. Drinks finished before server comes back to take order. Other tables are being seated, getting food, and leaving during this time. More patience. Asked two different people walking by for refills, yep we're on it, ooops, no refills. In the meantime, the server looks over from a distance a few times and when she does get close enough to the table it's rushed, such as oh, you guys good? Ok great, and walks off before we can say anything. Food comes out and one order is totally wrong. Finally get the correct cheeseburger, cheese not even melted. Rest of food was ok but nothing like the first time. Server comes over, still no refills so we ask again, didn't seem like she wanted to hear that, she come across as a little put off. Forgets drinks again, finally remembers, brings wrong drinks. OK whatever, let's just get out of here. Wait forever to track her down for a check....

PSA: Check comes and has 22% auto gratuity on it. I asked her about it and she very rudely says "it clearly states on the menu that we add 20% for parties of 6 OR split checks". Ok my bad, I failed to read the tiny print at the bottom of the menu, on the side of the menu I didn't look at. She was so rude at this point I asked her why it then said 22% instead of 20%. She started making excuses, they are busy, she's got a lot to do, etc. Look, I get it, that job is hard and we normally tip 25% - 30% for great service. But don't slide in an extra tip amount when your service and attitude was terrible. She finally got me to the point where I politely said tips should be earned and she stormed off.

We are always very fair and reasonable but being rude when I ask about something isn't my way of doing business. She could have easily said before we ordered that there was an auto gratuity. Ironically it wasn't like that when we ate for lunch, with the same group of people.

Because of this server we will not be back. (Thank you too our first server,...

Every time we go to Ouray we mean to stop here and check this place out. It's always packed and with the balcony seating area, looks like a lot of fun. Usually we're traveling through and don't have time to stop, but on this day in July we decided to make the time. The menu is very eclectic, much more unique than I anticipated. They also have a decent children's menu which was nice as we usually have the grandkids with us. The atmosphere is amazing, very casual and relaxed. We were lucky enough to arrive towards the end of the lunch set, performed by the fabulous Dave Mensch! I would go back to Ouray just to listen to him for a while! The employees were running around like crazy because, like most places, they were very short-staffed. Everyone we encountered was very kind and was doing their best to ensure our experience was a positive one. We expected a long wait however a family had just left so we had our table in about 10 minutes. It took a little while to get water and even longer to get someone to take our order. The water is served in fun, glass bottles but was tepid. Being it was so hot out we quickly drained the first bottle and it took a bit to get a refill. The food menu is eclectic, with pizza, sandwiches, salads, and a very extensive adult beverage list. The grandkids love macaroni and cheese so we ordered them each a plate. I had the black bean veggie burger and my son-in-law had a sandwich. My veggie burger was yummy, albeit cold on the inside. My sweet potato fries were nearly burnt, but edible. My son-in-law said his sandwich was good and his fries were cooked well. The macaroni and cheese tasted like Kraft in a box but the kids loved it so I didn't really care about this. The ranch dressing was excellent! It tasted different in a very good way! My veggie burger was served on a tasty, soft roll of some sort, which I loved! There was also a side cup of dipping sauce that was the perfect accompaniment to my burger. My side salad had good, healthy lettuce, with chopped tomatoes and cheese but my plate was dirty. It looked like there was some kind of pizza sauce or something dried on the corner. When I mentioned this to the lovely lady waiting on us she quickly replaced my salad and apologize profusely. We asked for a water refill which took a while but we did get it. The hostess/manager tried to be attentive but was very overwhelmed. Our server checked on us a couple of times but was literally running to take care of all her customers. Took over 25 minutes to get our food but as I said they were very busy and short-staffed. I do not hold this against anyone and will most likely...

I visited this location in June of 2022. I'll say this: the pizza was ok, nothing special. I'd be willing to give the business the benefit of the doubt since I'm sure it can be tough getting better quality ingredients at a location this remote.

However, the big negative: they conduct business very dishonestly here. I checked the menu online and ordered over the phone. They did not give me an order total. No big deal, I knew how much it would be from the menu prices. When I arrived to pick up my order, the bartender took my card and didn't give me a total. I had to yell at her to come back and give me a total before she ran the card. The total? $74.01, for two pizzas and a salad. I was speechless. This was at least $22 more than I expected. Before I could say anything, she ran the card and brought my receipt. But not a detailed receipt, just the credit card charge. I asked for a manager, and a teenage-looking young lady came and asked what I wanted. Managers come in all ages, so I didn't think anything of it. I asked for an itemized receipt and she gave it to me. The prices did not match what was on the website. They were all higher. I asked her about this and she said "oh yeah those are wrong". No apology or explanation. But the kicker was a 20% mandatory gratuity for carryout orders! I could not believe this. Nowhere on the website did it mention any kind of mandatory gratuity, nor did anyone tell me when they ran my card. I didn't know about it until I asked for and reviewed the itemized receipt. I told her that as the manager, she should really look into updating the prices or at least letting customers know when they order that the prices are incorrect. I also told her it's ridiculous to charge such a high mandatory gratuity, or any gratuity, without a notice either on the website or at the register. Her response: "well I'm not the manager, I'm the owner's daughter, so I can help with that", and that was it, she just stared at me. If it wasn't for us just finishing a 10-hour drive and being exhausted and starving, I would've asked for a refund. This is absolutely ridiculous. I feel like they actually stole from me. I guarantee they do this all the time and either no one notices or doesn't bother to complain. I don't think I've ever dealt with such a dishonest business. It's bordering on criminal, or at least unethical. Never coming here again. I would advise everyone to stay away or they will rip...