We came into Estes Park in order to find a nice restaurant for dinner. We were hoping for somewhere a little nicer than a bar and grill, but since selection is limited in the town, we chose Wild Rose Food and Spirits. There was a nice special’s menu displayed outside of the restaurant, and since it was Friday, they were having a fish fry. We went inside and asked if we could be seated at one of the outside tables. Our waitress brought our menus and took our order within minutes. I ordered the fish fry and my husband ordered a sirloin with mushroom gravy sauce. The people sitting behind us also ordered off of the special’s menu and they were told to help themselves to the salad bar. After taking our order, the waitress disappeared without bringing us drinks or anything else. My husband had to go back inside to find out if he was supposed to also get the salad bar. While he was inside asking, another waiter brought us our food. I told him that we had not gotten our drinks yet and that my husband was not told that he should get salad. The waiter semi-apologized and told me that the waitress was fairly new. My husband finally came back out with his soup and salad to see that our food had been at the table for a while and was getting cold. The waitress finally brought us our drinks and also apologized for the mix-up. No one ever offered to heat up our food or compensate for their error in any way.
The waitress never gave us our bill because she had again disappeared. We had to go inside the restaurant to hunt her down and get our bill in order to pay it. While deciding how small of a tip to leave, we discovered that she had charged us for the salad bar which a) should have been included with the special, and b) she never told us about. My husband complained and she had to redo the whole bill, which took her another 20 minutes. Finally she got it right; we paid and started to leave when we saw the manager (the waiter from before). He said, "She's new. You know, that happens sometimes."
The Food:
The food was below average and the portions were small. My piece of fish was over cooked and the breading was burnt. I also got fries with the meal, which were cold by the time I got to eat them. My husband's steak was a bad cut of meat smothered in bland sauce. We were not impressed.
Not only did we have to struggle through the entire dining process, but we never got a fair apology from anyone.
I would not recommend this restaurant.