Hotrods Old Vail

We were sadly disappointed here. It was noisy and felt like a noisy little cafeteria.
I was looking forward to going there because we love old cars and the old time atmosphere of some of the restaurants we have visited in other towns along highways such as in Williams, so maybe we were expecting to much.
The noise levels we experienced during our visit was pretty high. We were not served right away and felt like the servers younger crowd aged customers were more important than we were.
We were not happy with the food either. Very disappointed with this restaurant.

Beer was cold and the selection was vast. The fries were excellent. I think the pulled pork had a nice flavor, but is a little dry. The mushroom burger was very good, as were the baked beans. Our server was very nice, and was relatively quick, but did make one mistake that he corrected. He did keep the soda glasses full, which was awesome.
Overall, I’d try it again.

Such a fun dining room experience, old cars being restored and a road painted on the floor, dirt bikes and race car seats decorating. Great bar area, and great dining room. Staff is very friendly and a great place to watch a game with friends. I always feel like we are getting a steal when the bill comes. The portions are generous, the prices are reasonable and the food has never been less than great. I usually get one of their huge salads and the kids always have leftovers from the kids meal. Great family place.

I only gave them one star because you have to put something but they don’t even deserve that so I’ve been hot rods around 20 to 30 times The menu is tired and the food quite frankly is disgusting the only thing that hot rods had going for it was karaōke on Friday or Saturday night and a very talented bartender/​magician in the upstairs bar while I just heard that they fired Mark I can safely say that I have visited hot rods for the last time and I don’t see them being open by the end of the summer if they don’t get rid of the current management and turn the place around

This place has the best food. We have been here on several occassions and have never had anything that was not perfect. ANDREA’S service is always prompt, and she never misses a beat. Kelly and Mikey

Stood outside for 10 minutes waiting for them to open even though the website said they were open. Finally a gal came out to say they didn’t have enough staff and they weren’t sure what they were going to do. Not good :(

Well I’ll get down to it, the food is bland and there is nothing special about the menu. Granted it’s and American based selection but the burger I chose had absolutely no flavor at all. I also tried the sample platter and although all the items were fried they tasted better than my entrée.
I would like to say that the lemonade was delicious and the overall design and theme of the facility were intriguing.
Sadly I would not recommend eating here based on the over priced menu and the boring flavorless food.

We took my mother in law for mothers day, the service there was no service. We ordered food 45 minutes later we asked the waitress if our food was ready, she said yes. Found out she had lied yo us, our food order never made it to the kitchen. We will never eat there again.

We love the food and the service is always great. Prices are very reasonable. Vail is a tough crowd to please but I like to support local businesses and will continue to go to Hot Rods!

Nice concept, too bad the food and service are not to par. It was also pretty pricey!

We’ve tried and tried and tried again. At least they are consistent: the food is consistently mediocre and overpriced and the service is consistently awful. I should mention that we haven’t been here in about 18 months, so it could have improved.

Tried and tried since day 1. Every time is a fail. SERVICE and MANAGEMENT are the worst. Gave it a 2 star, not 1, only cuz food doesn’t suck. It’s every other aspect.
I blame mgmt, down, cuz they can’t keep great staff; instead, promote worst staff who have no clue. Managers «showboat» and never really serve.
TVs for sports? Great if you can hear them. Wait 20 mins for a drink, 1+ hrs for food. ?? Don’t waste your time. Native is opening soon, closer to the road.

Had the open faced roast beef sandwich and the chopped salad. Roast beef was tender and delicious with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. Salad was fresh and large with chopped carrots, cucumber, eggs, cheese and meat. Will definitely return.

Worst place to eat in vail. Service sucks food is horrible. Wait time is for ever I will never go back.

Pretty solid food with amazing staff. Good waiter as well. The bartender also gave my little 2year old bro a candy cane and one of the staff gave us a stuffed animal.

This is my fourth attempt at Hotrods. The last time it seemed like it has improved. We know the place is not doing well so we tried it once more. What a mistake. When we arrived there were three other tables all had been served. Our waitress came we ordered and more than 45 minutes and we were still waiting for our burgers. No customers, I noticed five female staffers standing around while the male waiter and busboy who seemed to be the only ones doing anything. We had to ask our waitress several times for lemon for our water, no, luck. The busboy got it as well as being the one that served our Meal. My burger was not the one I ordered but what the hell after 45 minutes. They could have not mixed up the order as there was no other patrons.
The busboy told the manager of our displeasure but she never came buy. Guess she could not tear herself away from conversing with the other females who were doing nothing. I can see why this lace is doing poorly while it should be booming in a place with few restaraunts and many families. Never again.

Bad Food; Good Bar… They should seriously invest in a legitimate Executive Chef, and revamp the Food Menu. Otherwise, cool place. If you’re a Gear Head, you definitely wanna come eat here.

Nice large location for big groups. Food is Average not great not bad. We had a good time and enjoyed checking out the race car and garage through the window.

AWEFUL. Such a great idea, and a really cool place. Of the 7 at our table, 2 meals were actually eaten. GROSS. Service was horrible as well… only 3 tables occupied, on a Friday night, and drinks can’t be refilled without asking. SLOW doesn’t describe how inefficient the service was. Can’t imagine what they’d do if they actually got busy. If you are looking for a great alternative to a traditional restaurant, this is definitely (zero doubt), not it. FOOD AND SERVICE ARE HORRIBLE.

The food is terrible. Such a great looking place, but without good food and great hosts/​wait staff… is a no go. I have tried 3 different times over the past years hoping that things get better… but nope.

The food at this restaurant is actually quite good. I thought that the french fries were perfect!
The atmosphere is obviously really cool. You get to look down on an automotive shop as you dine. I took my 3 and 5 year old boys here for lunch and they really enjoyed themselves. The kid’s menu provides plenty of options for your little picky eaters.
The service is the reason that I am giving three stars. We were sat immediately and ordered our drinks and then shortly thereafter we ordered our lunch. We then waited for what seemed like an eternity for our food. (Okay, I have two small, antsy boys. It wasn’t an eternity; more like 30 minutes.) The restaurant was almost completely empty so I found this pretty agitating.

As a resident of Rita Ranch I have had a love-​hate relationship with Hotrods since it opened. I want to love this place, I really do, but every time I think it’s turned a corner and redeemed itself for previous failures, it lets me down with cold food or terrible service.
That being said, it does have a pretty decent bar that is open late (for the area). It has a variety of food on the menu. It has a fun theme that lends itself to cool car-​based events. And the management does seem to take suggestions to heart (even if they are slow to improve on things).
All in all, I keep Hotrods on my back burner when it comes to eating out, but will stop in if they’re hosting a fun event or if I need to accommodate a large group.

I hope you like crap, because that’s what you’re getting. They get 1 star for having beer and working TVs. But then again… How can you mess up beer and TVs? Go there to watch the game and pay close attention because it makes the time go by faster as you are waiting for someone to acknowledge you being there. Hold onto those low expectations and be pleasantly surprised if you get your order taken by halftime. You might get lucky and one of the servers that you won’t often see will accidentally deliver somebody else’s food to your table. Worst combination of food and service in town.

Such a gorgeous building, but to bad the owner’s do not know what they’re doing. They have some kid Britney running the place and the girl is as rude as can be. She seems to be bothered that customer’s are coming in and it’s due to she has to take care of them. Not that she’s taking care of them very well. The times I’ve been there she takes off for twenty or thirty minutes at a time. The food all seems to come in frozen and they just microwave it. No need to go back there.

Boyfriend and I came to check it out randomly one afternoon since it is down the street from our house and we just moved here. We sat at the bar and got a draft Dos Equis. It was on special for that day. The place is HUGE and decked out in car décor. The dining and bar area overlooks a garage where cars and bikes are worked on. I enjoy the concept very much and think it’s cute. Would have to go back to try the food, but from the reviews, maybe not. Perhaps for another random beer on another random afternoon.

Love their gluten free options and tasty salads and fries too. The guys always love the Mac n cheese big portions and watching what is being restored. Very convenient location

Food Is Mediocre at Best … The Service Matched The Food: Mediocre !
The Waitresses Seemed Like They Wanted To Be Elsewhere & I Don’t Blame Them The Place Was Deserted … They Couldn’t Be Making Any Money.
This Place Is Run Like It Is Somebody’s Hobby But No A Serious Business … I Doubt This Experiment In Dinning Will Be Open Next Year At This Time !

This place used to be good. I don’t know what happened they must’ve change management because it’s terrible. I am not even talking about the food you can’t even get in the place even when it’s empty. Nobody at the front desk to wait on you. The couple before me left too then I finally left.

This place is literally HUGE. I’ve never seen so many tables in a restaurant before. It’s definitely not a bar. The bar is one small section facing away from the auto repair area (is this supposed to be entertainment?).
Other reviewers are spot on about it being run by teen aged kids with no visible adult presence or any obvious trace of management. While it did take unusually long for the kitchen to throw some burgers together and fry up some shrimp (billed as «jumbo» but definitely not, see pic), the server was professional enough and a polite young girl.
I wouldn’t have minded the wait if the food was good but it wasn’t. It was technically edible but lacked any real flavor. Burger patty=bland as hell, might as well have been unseasoned tofu. Cole slaw=soupy flavorless mayonnaise goop with a little cabbage in it. I know jumbo shrimp is an oxymoron but Hot Rod’s menu planner/​cook is the real moron for misleading their customers with these frozen little shrimplettes. None of the food was very hot either which there was no excuse for since we were one of four parties in the giant hot rod museum.
This place needs to drop the claim of being a restaurant and expand the complicated NASCAR/​Hot Rod museum and automobile customization «show» thing they kinda have happening. Even though that part of their convoluted concept looked like a ghost town when we were there for dinner. Rumors of some labor law violation and lawsuit? DO NOT COME HERE FOR A MEAL. A disappointing waist of time and money.

I normally don’t write reviews, but diner beware– It’s only a matter of time before this place goes out of business. We had to wait 10 minutes to get a table in a mostly empty dining room… Really? When we were seated, the bartender takes our drink orders and whispers to herself at least twice to remind herself to make and bring our drinks to the table as she makes her rounds, and then that takes at least 10 – 15 minutes… when we are sitting 30 feet from the bar… really? Fast forward an hour and we are still waiting for our food, and when My wife gets her Philly cheesesteak sandwich that has meat tasting like barbecue sauce and greasy raw fries on the side, and I get my greasy Big Texan burger on toast that was falling apart on the bottom, with the cheese coated on the bun which I specifically asked not to have, and raw greasy French fries that had potato rot on multiple strings, I realized that I was served the rock bottom horrible meal that will ensure I or my lunch guests never return.
I can’t believe the bartender/​server even put the food in front of us– she even said she wouldn’t eat the fries when we brought the disgust of them to her attention. The cook in the kitchen is –clueless– when it comes to kitchen skills, point blank. I’m not interested in the sob story about why things are slow and how staffing is short handed and computers are working super slow– do the responsible thing and call people in to work or shut the doors until u can offer a meal experience with staff and cooks that are worthy of what people are paying for. I do appreciate the bar manager doing the right thing and comping our meals, but unfortunately it will not stop me or our lunch mates from changing our decision never to return here for food again. Don’t waste your time or money here.

This place is just awful. It’s such a shame too because the facility looks great and has such a cool design. It’s just that it’s so poorly managed and the food is so bad that it’s not some place that you want to go. The food honestly looks like it was delivered from a hospital cafeteria and the service is just dreadful. My wife decided to give it another try just to have a drink with a coworker after a meeting last night, and they literally turned the lights out on her and her friend… at 9:15 pm! They weren’t even done with their drinks!
Seriously, if you can go anywhere else, go there instead. Skip this place.

Was there for lunch today. Must be run by pre-​teens who must be former McDonalds employees. No evidence of any management. Almost an hour to be served. Two bowls of French onion soup delivered cold. Slices of cold swiss on top. Sent back and came back lukewarm. Salads delivered with no dressings. No silverware on table.
Place should not try serving food until they get management and help capable of it.
Interesting to see but pass on the food

The setting is interesting and unique. The food is okay, not great but good, with decent variety. But the service is so lackadaisical as to be almost non-​existent. The only grown ups here seem to be the customers, with the staff comprised of unsupervised teenagers. They’re not bad kids, but they haven’t the faintest clue about customer service. And no one has taught them. And nobody is there to check on them.
If this restaurant fails, they will have deserved it for not paying attention to the most important ingredients, the PEOPLE. And that includes both the customers they ignore, and the poor kids they inflict upon them.