Pine Creek Cookhouse

We have been going to the Pine Creek Cookhouse for many years. It is a wonderful setting and the food is delicious!

I went to Pine Creek Cookhouse last Sunday night and I am just getting to my review. It is a very unique concept from the horse drawn sleigh ride through the woods up to a beautiful cabin (with amazing views). We were greeted by the manager (Steve) and he was very warm and inviting. We all got seated at the same time. I have read the reviews, but was shocked to hear some of the bad things people had posted. My husband and I truly enjoyed our meal. We were not rushed one bit and each dish was really great. I loved the smoked trout! So fresh and truly enjoyed each bite. I had the fresh salmon and was very pleased with the portion. The price is worth every bit. If you want to have a beautiful experience (or romantic experience), this is the place. Very rustic and amazing views.

The sleigh ride which can be part of the experience of dining at Pine Creek is probably the best part of that experience but it doesn’t reflect the restaurant so exercise caution in reading the reviews, and pay particular attention to the most recent reviews since restaurants often change over time.
We came for our anniversary dinner on 2÷22÷16, having been here previously about 10 years ago. The atmosphere is cozy and inviting in a very rustic, log cabin type structure. The food is fair and no where near worth the $ 70/​pp price tag. I had very bland trout which was served, as all the dishes were, over the most miniscule side dish portions you could ever imagine. It wasn’t awful, but nothing special. My spouse had the steak and gave it the same review– not the best steak you ever had, but not terrible. Certainly the worst steak meal, however, at that price. Appetizers were pretty good. The soup was awful– some sort of corn and parsnip chowder. Who could even tell? It was pureed something, completely lacking in seasonings, and served lukewarm. The salad was a better choice and it was good.
You’ve spent a lot of money, it’s a special occasion, the sleigh ride was wonderful, the atmosphere is cozy (especially after the cold sleigh ride)– you WANT to like it. You want it to be good. You are looking for the bright side and trying to make the best of it. You hope it will get better but the bad service just seals the deal. Before we were finished the appetizer, you could tell the tip was going to be included in the bill because no one cared. No one seemed worried about a tip or if we had what we needed. Sure enough. I have never in my life had a gratuity automatically added to a bill for just two people. Larger groups, sure. A couple? No. An «Adjustment» (as it was called) of 20% as a «service charge» was added to our tab. Wait, it’s not just 20% of the dinner tab. They include the cost of the sleigh ride ($ 110 for 2 people) in there so you’re paying 20% on that too. I won’t go into the items we requested that were never brought to the table or the items that were on the bill that had to be removed because we never ordered them– you get the idea. One final insult is at the very end of your tab which has this undeserved 20% already added on– there’s an additional line (hoping you didn’t notice you were already charged?) with recommended gratuity amounts at 18%, 20% and 22% with the corresponding dollar amounts. They do funny math on that one too. The amounts are based on your tab AFTER the 20% service charge that has already been added on. It’s just insane. I’ve never seen anything like it.
I’ve recommended this place to many people over the years. Now I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. In fact, I’d recommend you stay far away unless you enjoy mediocre food with barely passable service at outrageous prices. Then, by all means, you should go. ;-)

I lived in Aspen for five years and always went to Ashcroft for hiking, picnics, etc. I finally decided to treat my boyfriend to an anniversary dinner at Pinecreek knowing it would be a special treat for us. Our experience was horrible! Having worked in the service industry, to charge their prices, they should do everything and anything to accommodate their customers. I worked for a five-​star hotel as a waitress in Aspen (where prices are comparable) and the training that goes into their customer service, makes Pinecreek look pathetic. They have been trying to sell this restaurant/​property for YEARS and I heard the family who owns it are under some financial stress. Prices are ridiculous, service is horrible, food is average for Aspen and the owner is a nightmare! I experienced his wrath first hand in some aggressive emails. My advice, drive up and pack a picnic during the day. Night time will provide little views unless you have a clear night and a full moon. You’ll probably end up having a more enjoyable experience on much less of a budget.

Food, atmosphere, and experience overall were great but our group was treated incredibly poorly by one very rude staff member. And when noting it to the owner he told us we were lying, bad people, and should just leave. Was shocking actually, given how friendly the rest of the staff was to us. Solely based on a bad owner, I wouldn’t support this business, unfortunately.

What a magical memory on Christmas day! We snow shoed along the beautiful creek to get there and had one of the best meals of the year here. It was prefix for Christmas, but the options were fabulous. The trout must be had and dessert was AHmazing!

Magical lodge accessed by cross country skies (and headlamps) or horse-​drawn sleigh ride. Menu is well executed classic American featuring some game. Vegetarians and vegan’s, notify the kitchen at time if reservation.

I have over the years had 2 great dining experiences here and was hopeful for another. Not so much. The setting as always was lovely, especially with the fall foliage almost at peak. The service was a bit slow, but oddly surly, especially since there was a small dining crowd. Most disappointing was the food. I recommended the trout to my wife, since previously it had been exceptional. Tonight, it was not even average. Overcooked and bland. A good piece of fish is not that hard to cook. My Buffalo Tenderloin was good, but not special and barely worth the price. It’s most unfortunate when a setting that elevates moods and palates is squandered.

Most of the times when you go to a restaurant for the view, the food lacks severely — NOT at Pine Creek. For starters we tried the trout, which was completely delicious and I wish I could order something like that at home (you’d think in Miami that type of dish would be available!). For our lunch, we had the burger, bratwurst, and the mushroom and spinach crêpe. The crêpe was delicious and tasty but a bit oily. The bratwurst was probably my favorite dish out of all of them and although I didn’t try the burger, my husband liked it. The service was good. So, yeah, I’m a fan! You can’t beat the view and a good meal.

Dined here for lunch during peak aspen foliage season on the patio, and what a stunning experience! Wonderful, creative menu and service. A reservation is a must for dining outdoors. Good selection of Colorado craft beers.

Sixteen of us dined here and couldn’t have been happier with the service and food. Salads are large enough to share; the wild game dumplings were very tasty; the elk chop flavorful; the buffalo tenderloin was excellent. The location is beautiful, as well.

We had a wonderful lunch on the patio. The 2 day old wild salmon was one of our best meals on Aspen. The manager told us where it was caught and a interesting story about the fisherman. Afterwards he kindly drove us on a supercool all-​terrain vehicle to the start of cathedral lake trail. Could not have been a better afternoon!

The views are stunning, the food was average, but beware of the Aspen attitude. We were sitting at our table, ordered drinks only to be told we had to move because a very important group wanted to sit at our table. Then the wait staff catered to the important group and completely ignored the rest of the clientele.

1^st issue, red wine all over chair. 2^nd issue, food caked onto my glass. 3^rd issue, food still on bread plate. I then asked the waiter what he recommended the elk brat or the patty melt. He told me about them stating that the patty melt was like a burger. He never did give me a recommendation. I ordered the patty melt, it came out way under cooked, ordered it med well, was cooked to a med rare. It was also open faced on a tiny tiny piece of toast. I have never had a burger like that before. You had to eat it with a fork and knife… I also think we saw our waiter all of 4 times. I won’t be going back.

Great food, very accommodating service and kitchen. The view is 2^nd to none so arrive before sunset. Also very good for lunch or afternoon drinks. The drive is part of the wonderful experience.

We are in shock.
After having confirmed reservations through the Little Nell for 4÷3÷2015 with taxi and sleigh for the birthday of my husband, we get cancellation this morning. We see an ad in the Aspen daily today 4÷3÷2015, we call to try again and get the message you are closed since ³⁄₃₁!!! You can be sure this is nit the end of this…

This is a fun adventure. The cabin is in a beautiful location. However the service was slow and marginal at best. The up charge for some items on the menu after paying $ 100 for the «four course» meal was not acceptable. Probably worth the experience, but the food was not five star for the price.

Came here on the advice of a tour guide who told us we had to came here while on vacation at Aspen. We got the lodge where we took a sleigh ride to the actual restaurant which was included into the fixed price. The sleigh ride was cold but totally worth it as we got to see the meteor shower!
When we got there we were immediately seated in their cozy dining room. Although the restaurant is famous for their menu which included wild game, I ordered the steak which was probably one of the best steaks I’ve ever had! We were treated a sleigh ride back to the lodge after dinner. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ Would come again and recommend to anyone looking for a fantastic experience when visiting Aspen.

This place is aaamazing!!!
This is my first visit here and hopefully will not be the last. The food, the people, the view and the road that leads to this winter wonderland is what makes this place beautiful and unique.
We took the cat mobile to the cookhouse and the sleigh ride on our way back. Just getting back and forth in itself is an adventure worth the visit. The meal we had was fresh, healthy, filling and cooked to perfection. We were in a group of 4 and we had quite the selection: smoked trout, mushroom soup, fresh salmon, buffalo burger and the elk. As we dined — the view of the snow capped mountains can be seen through the large windows.

This place is expensive, but worth it. After riding our bikes for a couple of hours, we stopped here to grab lunch. We chose a table outdoors and were able to just look at the beautiful scenery while we enjoyed our meal. There were four of us and our lunch came out to $ 72.69 (Trout Roll Sandwich, Elk Bratwurst, Cookhouse Tofu, Berry Apple Crisp, & coffee). The dishes are large, so two of us shared the trout roll sandwich. It sounds gross, but it was actually very fresh and tasty. Since we still had to ride back to our hotel, we didn’t have any alcohol. We just had water, which helped keep our bill pretty low.
If you’re looking for a special and remote place for a nice and quiet meal, this is the place.
(We were here during the summer. I don’t know what this place is like during ski season.)