Rocky Mountain Diner

My company recently moved downtown and now everyone is super excited to have more options then Golden could provide. Yes, poor Golden, so dark and in the Middle Ages. Anyways, we now work about a block away from the diner. So for one reason or another, it’s like the hot spot for my coworkers. Everyone is there. If I didn’t know better I work here b/​c every booth is an HG booth. So of course I come here, b/​c I have no choice. 1^st time here: worst biscuit I’ve ever had in my life. So sad, b/​c I love biscuits, I love them so much I’d even eat a burnt one. I took 2 bites before pushing it away. 2^nd time super slow service.
I wouldn’t say the rest of the food is bad here, it’s just blah. There’s not exciting about it at all. Nothing besides gross biscuit and the fact I know everyone in there is memorable. The portions line up about right with price, but still doesn’t help how they killed that poor biscuit and made me late to work only a block away.

Love this place. We drove by in an airport shuttle on the way to the hotel and it looked busy and comfy and warm. As it was only a short walk once we got settled. The wait staff was great. The atmosphere was good. Very clean and an interesting menu. We actually went twice because it was so good. Husband got the buffalo loaf and I got the Poblano pepper the first night. The second night we both got the fried chicken. It was advertised as the «best fried chicken» in Colorado. I’ll say it’s the best fried chicken anywhere. Too bad we couldn’t eat it all. I’d fly back to Denver just to eat here again!

Some innocent cow gave its life, and nobody had enough respect to bury the poor bugger before Rocky Mountain Diner got hold of it. Ok, they cooked it the way I requested; but it was stringier than a chamber orchestra, and tougher than Survivorman. I spent over 20 bucks on a rib-​eye steak, only to have to spit out not one, but TWO inedible chunks of gristle – not counting the one that got away. I ended up not eating about a third of the steak because I do not have jaws like a pit-​bull.
I really looked forward to eating the REAL mashed potatoes on my plate. I might have enjoyed them were it not for the salty packaged «gravy» drowning the spuds. Next, I stuck my fork into the giant heap of veggies. To my delight, they were really good – for frozen peas and corn. Some caring person had actually mixed in some fresh zucchini, string beans, and several sticks of carrot.
My hubby had the catfish fingers, served with some very good house-​made coleslaw, and a huge pile of very average, mealy fries that mostly went uneaten. The pineapple upside-​down cake afterwards was pretty good. The young woman who waited our table was attentive and sweet and earned a good tip. The margarita was decent.
But I’m not planning to return in this lifetime. It’s pretty sad when the highlight of a $ 50.00 meal is the coleslaw and frozen vegetables. Besides, I can get a steak just as good as this one for less than half the price at Sizzler – and they at least have the decency to honor their cows with a statue out front.

Giant helpings are served up here at the Rocky Mountain Diner, so go hungry. The menu offers a variety of upscale diner food. I tried the buffalo meatloaf, don’t see that too often at your neighborhood grease pit. Some of their other atypical diner dishes are roast duck enchiladas, sesame crusted salmon or even a ginger chicken salad.
My dad really wanted to go here when he visited, I was reluctant. I’m not big on diner grub-​I have to be in a certain mood ie: hungover. But we went anyway to appease the pops. Everyone enjoyed their meal. Our service wasn’t bad. I seemed to be the only one not really happy though. This is the last buffalo dish for me. I made my decision on this one, that I just don’t like it. There are also dead buffalo hanging on the walls which kinda disturbed me, since I was eating one!
Anyway, not sure I will be back to this diner. When I’m in the mood for diner food ie: hungover, I doubt this will be my destination ;)

Big plates of food.
Really big.
Giant burritos, enormous chimichangas.
Hot sauce on the table, three kinds. Business people next to you, four kinds. Monaco hotel refugees at the bar, six kinds. There’s a buffalo head on the rear wall, (not painted) and a mural next to the kitchen, (painted) that has a cook with no feet, (quite the hot topic of debate, were they stolen by aliens? Are they supposed to be obscured by the grass? Were they angrily rejected and painted over in a fit of artistic rage?)
Once drunk and in search of one of those big chimmichangas, I visited and took photos with my toy lomo camera. Surprisingly, it photographed well inside. This story has absolutely no bearing on you.
There’s an enormous cheesecake in the display case up front. I’m scared to disturb the sanctity of it and ask for a piece.
The waitstaff is friendly, but aloof. Pilots who guide the enormous dishes from kitchen to consumer. They remind me of tugboat captains.
The dishes would be expensive, but they give you a goodly amount, so to round the difference down I’d describe the cost as, «it’s like buying dinner for 3 friends, one of which is the center for the New York Knicks». My only complaint is that the vegetables come out of a Sysco can. I know this because I, myself once removed vegetables from a Sysco can, heated them up and put them alongside other more primary foodstuffs for a living. I wish they had fresh vegetables, but then again I also wish I had a Ferrari and the balls to ask for a piece of that Jolly Green Giant cheesecake in the front.
Beer in a glass comes in two sizes. Child juice cup size and «royal chalice». Get the larger size, because if nothing else you can chuck it at potential enemies, (not the waitstaff.)
It’s a great mix between a corner place that masquerades quite well as a restaurant and poorly as a diner, but almost just as good as a kind of food-​based neighborhood bar.
With giant chalices of beer, equally large cheesecakes and plates of food, this is a great place downtown.

It was a chillllllllllly night in Denver. The wind was brisk, the clouds dark. Winter’s lingering approach of winter weighed on my subconscious like a relationship gone wrong…
Ok… so it wasn’t that cold. But we were in the mood for comfort food last night, and it seemed high time to try the Rocky Mountain Diner. They place has this cool «found an old building and loved it» ambience to it, and the staff seems to have assumed the same attitude.
We walked in to smiles and hellos from the staff, the bartenders, and even some of the customers. Hmm… I could get used to that. The place was just a little bit empty, though.
«What’s going on,» we asked…
«Harry Potter,» the reply came instantly. Wow. Glad we waited for that.
Anyhow, this place has a great atmosphere. It screams «home» from a mile away, and is reminiscent of a time when brass and wood prevailed, and plastic and formica were still decades away.
The food, for its part, was solidly solid. I had the baked mac & cheese, which was browned to perfection, and had a really nice flavor. Didn’t match the gourmet mac & cheese at Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but it was darn close for a diner.
Also had jalepeno corn bread. YUM. Just a hint of zing there, very tasty.
My wife, for her part, started with the turkey posole, which looked (and apparently tasted) very good, with biscuits on the side. Also tasty.
My one (recurring from elsewhere) hope would be that on chilly (or not so chilly) nights, they’d have chicken noodle soup as a staple. I mean, it’s COLD out there, right?
Overall, great place. Perhaps a new fav for the days when I’m feeling disconnected with the present, and have a hankering for something of the past…

Went here during lunch and they were pretty busy. Not a very big place, so our group had to be split up into groups of five. The hostess, a nice old lady, was very nice. Walked us to our table and back to the bathroom.
I ordered the chicken fried chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies. And it was huge! It tasted good, but it wasn’t anything special. My friend ordered baked macaroni and cheese with seafood in it. And it was delicious! I wish I had ordered that.

I learnt a lot about Denver on this trip — I knew it was a mile above sea-​level, who knew it gets 300 days of sunshine?! And who knew that Rocky Mountain Diner’s buffalo meatloaf would be the best thing ever?
I don’t eat much beef, but when it comes to buffalo I blur the lines a bit, after all it’s lower in fat and cholesterol and isn’t directly linked to BSE (Mad Cow disease!) This comes with mash, gravy and vegetables, but don’t let this $ 11 dish fool you. It’ll be the most memorable meal you have in Denver!
My colleagues had a variety of dishes, incl a bunch of vegetarian meals. No complaints. This very popular and efficient diner has it all. Attractive hostess, well-​run bar area and wait-​staff that can handle a party of nine business diners without breaking a stride.
Check out the menu here:

My friends and I really wanted to love this place, and were already thinking of making repeat visits as we sat down in our booth. A diner that’s part of something called «Ghost Building,» awesome! But we only wound up having one meal here during our Denver trip, and I don’t think I’ll insist on coming again if I visit the city again.
I ordered the Huevos Rancheros, with eggs over medium. Our food arrived very quickly to the table. The Huevos Rancheros were very soupy and should have come with a big spoon. I’ve had the dish at other places and know that the dish is supposed to have lots of sauce which you mop up with extra tortilla (which was provided), but this was a mess. It didn’t help that the eggs were over easy (way easy) instead of over medium as I asked. The dish tasted fine, but since we were going somewhere afterwards, I didn’t want to dig in and look like a disaster.
The portions are huge, and the prices aren’t bad at all. This is more of a yuppie diner than a greasy spoon diner, though. Greasy spoons don’t have caesar salads with blackened ahi tuna or pellegrino water. This place also opens later and closes earlier than «real» diners. The service was fine but not particularly noteworthy.
Come with some Pepcid or hope that your dining companions carry it. I have a hardy constitution, but got heartburn even though I only ate half of my dish. (Insert getting old joke here, but don’t say I didn’t warn you).

What happened to this place? I remember we used to happen in here for meatloaf and catfish all the time, moved from the neighborhood for a few years and now that I’m back downtown I was excited to head back. After two big misses, I may not be able to risk it again.
Visit 1: Baby Back Ribs were dry and not very meaty and the gravy on the potatoes tasted off. Sent it back for Fried Catfish, which turned out to be a stingy portion of two small filets that were hard on the ends from being overcooked.
Visit 2: Fried Chicken was excellent, but once again, the gravy tasted off and this time was thick and gloppy. And for the third time it appeared the vegetables were prepared from frozen.
What a heartbreaking slide off my table, I used to love this place.
Visit 2: Asked about the Pot Roast

Two words, Huevos Rancheros. I have had a few other menu items from RMD because they have a great menu selection, and they were always good. But one thing that always brings us back is the Huevos. Today’s was especially tasty and just the right HOT level, not to hot, not to mild. And as always, the service is fast and friendly!
OK, one ding… You have to go early because the busier they get, MAN does it get loud. Don’t go here at noon planning on having a conversation at a table of more than 2. You won’t be able to hear each other.

I’m surprised to find several poor reviews of the RMD. I eat lunch there probably more than once a month and have been doing that for over 3 years. It’s reliable, with adequate to very good service (once you’re finally seated, since they’re very busy during lunch), and good to A-​OK food. The people are nice, the atmosphere’s vintage Colorado diner, and the place is always busy after 11:45 a.m. and before 1:30 p.m.
They’re in a neat old 2 story building (The Ghost Building), across from the federal court of appeals, Qwest’s headquarters and the Marriott City Center Hotel. Plus, they’re next to a light rail stop, so they’re very convenient. Each day has a repeating special. For example, Thursdays it’s always turkey pot pie, which many of my friends like a lot.
As for me, I usually order their BLT with avocado or their Boorshead ham and Jarlsburg cheese sandwiches. Their buffalo chili is good, as are their burritos. They’ve got a small outside patio on Stout St.
I wouldn’t consider this place as anything particularly wonderful or worth going to for a special occasion, but if you’re in the area and want some comfort food then this certainly provides a good choice.

I used to work across the street and I would call in orders, pick them up and go eat somewhere else only because it was overwhelmingly busy during lunch.
That all stopped one day when I went in and got a sandwic. I bit into a piece of lettuce… there was something hard in my lettuce. I opened it and low and behold… a grey feather. I about barfed on the table.
My extremely polite and professional waitress came over, I showed her the feather, she took the sandwich off the check, and offered me a replacement.
RMD gets 2 stars because I can’t get past the «Feather Incident».

We had dinner at the Rocky Mountain — which is located in downtown Denver — on a Saturday night in ⁵⁄₀₄. It’s in a historic old building and the diner opened in 1990. I had the glazed salmon, which came with «real» mashed potatoes and cole slaw plus a sourmilk biscuit. My husband had the rainbow trout and everything was delicious. The service was very friendly & efficient, the ambiance was good and we had a great conversation with the operations manager (a fifth-​generation Coloradan). She told us that her staff had worked there for a long time.

I wish 3.5 was an option here!
We stumbled upon this place last night for the rainy night, Craig’s kitchen still isn’t complete version of Sunday family dinner. Everyone’s food looked so good and everyone really seemed to enjoy the food but I could not get on board with their buffalo burger. I know a burger is a burger is a burger, but what about flavor? I must have burned off all my taste buds recently because that is the number one concern I have with most of the restaurants I go to.
The service was pretty average but you definitely got the feeling that the waiter wanted to go home.

Okay yes convenient, I realize they have fairly good reviews on here, so I am just going to relate what happened to myself and a friend today and let people draw their own conclusions.
Waitress was «officially polite», if you know what I mean. Said all the right things, just conveyed somehow behind it she really didn’t want to be there. Fair enough yes some customers suck, and retail has long days.
The food tasted decent.
The objectionable part was the bus server. I generally have no problem with non-​English speaking help as long as they are friendly, smile and are trying. This woman wasn’t. Right as I leaned over my plate to deal with a rib half in my mouth, she barrelled her hand through and snatched away my spare rib plate on the far side of me without asking or letting me at least lean back first, or asking me if I needed it. Really kind of shocked me. And she was gone before I could say anything. This also really offended my friend, so she called a waitress to complain, we thought that would be the end of it.
Then beeyotch does the same thing to my friend after supposedly being asked not to.
This time we called over the manager with the really bad hair dye job (get the roots done again honey) and let her know about it. My friend was polite but firm, doing all the talking UNTIL manager-​ette says «She doesn’t speak english, and you don’t need to go there».
Well, if she didn’t want that to be an issue, she shouldn’t have brought it up and then told us not to talk about it. I think it’s wonderful people of all sizes, shapes, colors, languages and flavors are here, but there is one area where I’m sorry, you have to do and know a little more. When you handle other people’s food, and you are in proximity with them, no you should not have that job if you can’t speak their language. Period. And even if you do speak the same language, you should try at least to communicate when you are taking away plates. That is a basic of any waitstaff, period. A GOOD manager knows that.
For the manager, who to be fair, said she would address it (whatever that means) make a racial thing out of it where there was none just to try and make us feel bad for complaining is unbelievable.
So I asked her then and I“m asking her now in this review. What are you doing hiring people who are not qualified to work with customers and don’t speak the customer’s language and putting them in that position?
Just because she is a manager doesn’t mean she should be.
Not everyone who doesn’t speak English in a restaurant got here last week and just got a job. And gee, some people actually try to learn the language BEFORE they get here — that’s a thought! I mean, I would certainly take a French course before trying to go to work in Paris, wouldn’t you? And don’t try to tell me there aren’t people in Mexico or her neighborhood here in Denver that don’t teach English.
Listen, when you hire employees dealing with customers, that is not like doing inventory, sweeping the floor or cooking in the back. They need to know, speak and understand English here. If you care about them and want them to do well, you don’t put them in those situations if they don’t.
The restaurant clearly has served some other good meals as per the reviews, but this is a basic. If this is the kind of management they have, they are slipping, don’t waste your time. The best cooked meal in the world is worthless if you are just shoved around by waitstaff that can’t or won’t respond or listen to you.

five stars? por que? THE CHILE RELLENOS.
seriously. i’m used to chile rellenos wrapped in egg roll material and fried, and, to be clear, that is my favorite thing in the world. HOWEVER. out of nowhere come these chile rellenos, which are battered and fried not unlike fried chicken! they may not be following the footsteps of their chile relleno forefathers, but screw it, they know what’s up. flakey, cheesey, delicious, and served with spicy rice-​y. har har. anyways.
i also like the jones’ soda containers used for the ketchup, and the goblet in which a large beer comes.
and they’re famous for their fried chicken & mashed potatoes, which i really do enjoy, but will never go back to after those ridiculous rellenos.
downside however: really smelly and weird smelling at that salads, and the steamed veggies are not so good.

I first read bout RMD over on
in a thread regarding Fried Chicken in Denver. So I made a note to stop by when I was going to be in the area. Too bad I didn’t realize that this is a part of the same chain as Castle Café which I have eaten at dozens of times…
It was kind of weird going in RMD… same napkins as Castle Café, same Jukebox and same style of silly slogan — Castle Café’s is «No Sniveling» and RMD’s is «Brush Your Teeth After Every Meal» … the menu’s even looked the same (layout, colors). RMD has more items on their menu.
And the most disappointing part… The Fried Chicken. I know they hang their hat on it but it’s just plain bland. No taste. They must not brine it or marinade it in any flavorings.
Had I known this I could have saved the trip. I don’t even order the Fried Chicked @ Castle Café anymore.
Oh well. I’m sure others enjoy this place but when you’ve seen one «fake homestyle restaurant,» you’ve seen them all.

I thought the Rocky Mountain Diner was fun. We went here before watching Parade of Lights downtown, and now I think it’s going to be an annual tradition!
Buffalo Burger, French Fries, Wings, and Fried Chicken were all delicious. I even ate the cole slaw and I HATE cole slaw! Just watch out for the lumps of blue cheese in the wings dip.
Restrooms are in a funny location because they’re part of the building next door. Exit from inside, down the stairs, over the river, and through the woods.

I LOVE home cooked food. Maybe it’s because I like home. Maybe it’s because I like food. But Rocky Mountain Diner is the best down home pan fried chicken I’ve ever had.
Don’t mistake this with KFC deep fried chicken, this is PAN fried… very different. The coating was seasoned fantastic and I could go on for hours about the REAL mash potatoes with skins still in.
Cracklin gravy… it’s on the menu… but what IS cracklin gravy??? Who the hell knows, all I need to know is that it is unlike any gravy I’ve ever had. It is creamy and thick and flavorful and … yummy yummy yummy!
The vegetables, surprisingly, weren’t overcooked and mushy like mixed vegetables at any other diner I’ve eaten at. Clearly these weren’t sitting in a steam pot for half the night.
I really wanted dessert, but after my huge fried chicken I had to settle for drooling over the table across from me.