Historic Ute Inn — Restaurant in Woodland Park

Overall I would probably rate this establishment a 3.5, if half stars were an option. Best: Food. Worst: Service. Details below:

Food: FIVE STARS: HOLY MACKEREL BATMAN IT'S GOOD!!! My wife had the quesadilla, it was really good, but if you're coming here I recommend the burgers. The False Summit was hands down one of the best burgers I've had.

Atmosphere: 3 stars: Cool woodsy/vintage decoration with a view of Pikes Peak from most tables. There's a bar side and a restaurant side that are completely separate, so you can take your choice. Gets pretty crowded and noisy when the dining room is full, but that's the cost of eating someplace with good food! Definitely can feel the stress of customers waiting too long for their food, and rushed wait staff.

Service: Only 3 stars here. Positives first: Our waitress was never rude and provided a cup of animal crackers for our toddler as soon as we sat down, which was nice since he could eat right away and give us a moment of peace. Negative: DON'T come here if you are short on time or hungry. Took a good 15-20 minutes before we got to place our order, and didn't get our food until about 45 minutes after we got there. The dining room was full , but 2 waitresses were working nine 4-person tables (most of which only had 2 people) and one party of ten. I'm not normally critical, but I've seen waiters/waitresses with more tables than that still have time to talk to customers and make the rounds to keep drinks topped off. Since everything was running so slow that one table even got up and left without ordering food we felt the wait staff's stress, and it seemed any questions we might have for them were a big inconvenience. Wait staff weren't lazy; they were running around working like mad, but never seemed to have time for customers. Management needs to fix that. Maybe hire a busboy so wait staff don't have to clean tables? I dunno.

Price: 4 stars: Entrees are a buck or two more than I would expect, but the quality mostly makes up for it. There's a $2 up-charge to split an entree between 2 people, which rubs me the wrong way... If I pay for it I should be free to share it with someone if it want to. Kids meals are cheap, so you don't have to blow the bank to feed your miniature human. Not sure if drinks are free or our waitress didn't charge us for them to make up for the glacial service. By the time we got the bill we just wanted to pay and get going.

Overall: Food is great! I would come back here on a weekday or if I had some time to kill. Definitely not on a weekend or if I wanted to order, eat, and get back to enjoying the area. If I make it back this review could significantly improve if the service...

I can only really speak for the restaurant portion, as we did not partake in the bar side for cocktails. We went just after the main lunch rush hours on a weekend, walked in and helped ourselves to a table as no staff could be seen. We sat for about 10 minutes before our waitress came to us.

The Good The food was really delicious. The beans and fries were well-seasoned and just special enough to set themselves apart from your typical experience. The fish filet sandwich was also well-seasoned and a large portion. Unfortunately the ribs were unavailable (being smoked at the time) but the brisket had a good crust and the ring you would want to see. The prices were reasonable for what we got, we thought. My only minor complaint on food was the coleslaw was a little underseasoned and the brisket was cooked just a little longer than a personally prefer... but still, really good to eat.

The Bad The only reason this is a 4-star review is because the restaurant did not appear to have enough staff. Our waitress was the only person taking orders, running food (with one exception where she got kitchen staff to help), bussing tables... for three entirely different sections of the restaurant (including outside). We are pretty sure her name was Jill and she absolutely killed it, but kept apologizing for the slow service and long waits. We skipped refills and minor corrections on food (like a missing bread roll) because we only saw her for the order and the check at the end.

We would love to come back and try another day, as several of the menu options sounded worth a shot. We would recommend this place to any folks...

I'm not quite sure how this restaurant is highly rated. This is the worst restauraunt I think I've ever been to. I'm from Colorado Springs and pass through Woodland Park often for hiking. After a backpacking trip my grandmother and I were starving. So ready to get food in our stomachs, we thought anything will do.We took a chance and headed to the Ute Inn for lunch.

Firstly, the service was underwhelming. When we walked in we were not greeted by any employees. We ended up seating ourselves. I made eye contact with a server as we waited at the table, but we were not acknowledged. We waited for at least 10 minutes before I had to get up and search for a server.

Secondly, even after a long backpacking trip, the food wasn't appetizing at all. We both ordered burgers. The burgers were nearly flavorless. All the food looked like it was popped right out of the freezer. In addition to that, the uniformity of the cut vegetables were so haphazard there was no consistency at all. It made me feel as if either the chef was either improperly trained, or didn't care about their job/product. All the food seemed of low quality/care and was not priced accordingly.

Last but not least, the place was filthy. Yes the restauraunt is in a cool, old, historic building, but that's no excuse for it to be dirty. The salt and pepper shakers ,for example, were covered in dust from top to bottom.

I love food, and really appreciate a good meal. I would never go here again, and I always tell friends to steer clear. Perhaps this is a better place to visit if you're looking for a drink rather than a...