915 Manitou Ave

Manitou Springs, Colorado

I had been referred to this restaurant by a Twitter follower when I asked where would be a good place to eat in Colorado. It is in a BEAUTIFUL town reminding me greatly of NY towns in the Lake George region, and has many great reviews. I am sad to say that my review will not be one of those. Mike and I were highly disappointed to say the least, and this is big seeing as I am typically a rather positive reviewer. 

Mike and I got there mid afternoon, around 1. It took the staff, who were walking by us consistently, 5 minutes to ask if we wanted to be seated, at which point we opted to sit outside to enjoy the town. This was a big mistake as we were seated right near the dumpster and were consistently annoyed by flies. The waitress came out about 2 minutes after seating us to ask if we were ready, and when we said no it took her half an hour to come back. I am not kidding, I timed it. I was considering going back in to let her know we were ready but I wanted to see how long it took for her to get to us. When she came she took our order and we also moved back inside to avoid the flies. 

We ordered one drink, the Veggie Burger with Truffle fries, and what we thought was a Cajun Shrimp Crepe. What we got was two of the same drink order, the correct burger order, and shrimp over rice. I can understand the confusion about the rice vs. crepe but after the wait and stress already we were disappointed. To add to it, when we told her that we had only ordered one of the drinks she rolled her eyes and stated “Well, YOU are missing out”. This attitude, as did the ordering mistakes, continued through out the rest of our meal. Seeing as we wanted to try desserts we chanced it and got a Crema Strawberry Crepe and a cupcake with Lavender Buttercreme frosting. This order again came to us wrong, and with more attitude. I’ll also note that the restaurant was also full of flies…

Being from NY, and wanting to escape that type of environment, I don’t do well with attitude or rudeness. The place was not busy while we were there and the entire atmosphere was just an odd mix of laid back but impatient. They wanted to take your order and get you out, with no consideration of effective service with a smile, but they wanted to do it around their time. NOW you don’t always have to smile but you certainly don’t imply that the patron made a mistake and roll your eyes.

The only saving grace of this place was that the food was good quality. Everything was of good quality and flavorful, although a few things just seemed ‘off’ in a way I can’t explain. The Truffle Fries, really home fries, were delicious and unique, and the cupcake has become something I have strived to make several times with no success. In addition, there was a variety of gluten free menu selections you would often not see at other restaurants.

All together this has to be one of the most disappointing restaurant experiences of my gluten free travels, not because everything was horrible but because  it was something I had wanted to live up to the review standards. It’s just another example of how a place functions can make food disappointing. I am not sure if we were there on an off day, had the wrong servers, or their reputation has gotten the best of them but if you do decide to try it out don’t get your hopes up. Or maybe you are someone who can tolerate the above better than me, in which case I give you a big thumbs up.

Food Quality: .5

 TOTAL: 2 Shamrocks

Celtic Celiac @ http://celtic-celiac.blogspot.com/