Dirtwater Springs

Very friendly service, even with the mistakes in the delivery. Nice covered patio and dog friendly. The food is just not good. I do not recommend.

I love checking out new places to eat. this place is pretty cool, rustic, lots of eye candy on the wall. Pretty busy for a Wednesday night, that’s a good sign… I ordered a Philly, with their hand cut all you can eat fries, i was geeked! My bud ordered the dirtwater burger. After a pretty long wait we received our food. I dug right into the fries. I picked up one, and it drooped. wth?! The hand cut fries tasted ok, but were greasy and limp, zero crunch. what a freakin let down. the Philly was lackluster, i added salt, which is a rarity. Bland… I took a bite of my buds burger and it was heavenly! What i learned was avoid the fries and philly, order the burger next time

What a nice gem! Great place for $ 1.50 beers during happy hour. Food was great and generous. The staff was friendly and helpful. The bratwurst with grilled red onions and sauerkraut was fantastic. One of my favorite places in Apache Junction!!!

This place really surprised me in a good way. The food was good and the service was fabulous (thanks Judy!). Good people at this place. We had the speciality fries which were yummy, especially with mayo. We all ate more than our stomachs good handle. I can’t say I’ve ate anywhere else in Apache Junction, but if I’m in the area again, this is where I’ll go.

There are not a tons of eateries on the AJ side of town that are not chain. Dirtwater Springs is a countrified joint in the north side of Main, the old main route through town before the freeway. I imagine that back when it opened, it was great. Now it’s a bit… well, tired.
The fare is nothing special, but is always good. You can get a burger, fish and chips or a sandwich and have a consistently good meal. The iced tea tastes like dirt, and the water a mixture of dishwater and chlorine. Opt for a soda or beer to stay safe.
I’m quite olfactory driven, so the weird smell in here always turns me off. I can’t quite place it. A musty outhouse, unkempt tack room? I dunno. Its just a shame because the food is pretty good and the service always exemplary.

Good food, friendly people and good service at a reasonable price. I would recommend the restaurant to anyone…

Can’t beat their happy hour (2−6pm every day) — $ 1.50 for a mug (draft only, but they got Alaskan Amber and Blue Moon). I recommend the vegetarian for vegetarians and the vegetarian minus cheese for vegans. Love this place. Great hangout place after a tough hike or a bike ride.

Quaint and quirky, on the sight of what may be a haunted gas station… We thought that the photos on Unilocal looked OK, and we were looking for something different, It was «different»… Seated promptly, the staff was very nice, and courteous, that is the best part of our experience there… Ordered a coke and a beer, perused the menu… it seemed like the prices were a bit high for what was what we thought a roadhouse/​bar experience, but we rolled with it and figured the food was going to be home cooked possibly a hidden gem, something special in an unexpected place… I had the cod special, 17.95 it was ok the cod was cooked nicely and it was piping hot, the fries. not so much, the first batch was past their useful life as they were warm and stale tasting and a bit soggy, I do have to be fair and say the following fries were good hot and crispy, why they weren’t like that to begin with is still a mystery… What can I say about the cole slaw… tepid… bland I tried a bite and felt something soft… cole slaw shouldn’t have a «soft» component to it… was that fruit? pineapple maybe a grape… Whatever it was it fell outside the boundaries of the cole slaw that «SHOULD» be served with cod fillets. ok nothing special, almost reminded me of VFW quality or military «chow hall» grub… but not worth 17.95 by any stretch of the imagination…
The 16.50 «new recipe» fried chicken dinner… an unmitigated gastronomic failure, as the wife cut into the thigh… If you have seen National Lampoons Christmas Vacation the scene where the turkey gets cut and basically pops open with no meat inside… it was like that… it was dry, possessed no kind of flavor whatsoever, tasted like despair… the ghost was most likely the cook of this dish. The twice baked potato was baked twice… messy and tasted like processed cheese and bacon bits… NASTY, The half of corn on the cob was purchased frozen probably for pennies and cooked all day long… It was like creamed corn on the cob… is that possible… anything like that is possible at Dirtwater Springs… Avoid this one Unilocaler’s
Epilogue: As we were driving away we marveled at the crappyness that sixty dollars can purchase, we reminded ourselves that for twenty five more bucks, we could have had a lovely time at the keg where we had also an appetizer and cocktails, with our meals…

We’ve been here many times since I’m a local. We love to stop in for lunch. My daughter loves the burgers, my mom is a fan of the prime rib at dinner time. I’m pretty easy going and like just about everything on the menu. The service is good and the prices are just right!

This place has become a bit of a tradition on my family. Whenever someone comes to visit, we always make sure to bring them to Dirtwater. The food is always great, we’ve never been disappointed! When they’re busy, you might wait a little longer than usual for you food, but you can be sure it will come out hot and fresh!

We had a large group and called ahead. The woman checking people in seemed disoriented. A manager came out while we were asking about timing until we were seated and she was pretty dismissive.
The water was absolutely disgusting. Our waitress didn’t seem to know the menu. Food was pretty eh.

Eat here on Thursday night. Ate early to avoid waiting. Serve was still slow and the food was not the best. Two of us had the Cod (all you can eat) special. I had a hamburger. The burger was good, and the cod was ok, but the French fries should have been sent back. They were under cooked, limp, and cold.
I won’t be back.

I really was looking forward to going here since it had a 4 star rating but ewwww! The food was terrible, the water tasted like the name of the restaurant. The service is ok but the taste & quality of food really takes away from everything else. Highly NOT recommended. Bummer…

Gotta love the name of the place and the old school waiting room complete with girl scout cookie sales and all the local brochures and magazines you can read. We just randomly showed up during primetime on Valentine’s day and only had to wait 30 minutes for a table (bar was available). They had about five Vday specials and we tried the 10oz Ribeye ($ 22) and the Baked Chicken breast with Risotto for $ 14.50. The chicken was crispy and succulent and the risotto was prefectly cooked as was the steak. The only miss was the twice baked potato which was prepared with only half the potato. The free chips and salsa hit the spot and the salad dressings seemed homemade based on taste. The place has some interesting decorations on the wall and alot of memories and regulars. If in the area I would return again.

Great food and real people. Being from the Midwest, I’ve been homesick for a restaurant that had a true blue fish fry and down to earth service. From the taxidermy on the walls to the amazing fried cod and waitress who called me «hun», I felt truly at home. Thanks! We will be back!

A true Apache Junction gem. Don’t let the outside deceive you, this place has good small town atmosphere and excellent food. This place is packed in the winter with the snowbirds (unfortunately) but any other time the wait is always reasonable. Locals know of this place but if you’re visiting, it’s worth the stop.

This is becoming a habit! Amanda is terrific & the owner Dick is such a nice guy. The Rippin Chicken has become my favorite. Be sure to get their preferred customer card and build up points and get $$$ off future meals. My husband really likes the Turkey burger w/​green Chile. a must try.

Went here in a big group. This place gets busy so be sure to get here early! The ambiance and non-​commercialized feeling of the restaurant/​bar is great! Its nice to go somewhere with some character.
Service was friendly and quick. Even with 7 people all our food arrived at the table together. There is no music on inside the restaurant and sometimes it got awkwardly quiet like the table of old people next to us were purposely evesdropping. Music would help!
Blue Moon on draft… yep…that will only be $ 1.50!!!
Prices were average on the food and so was the quality. I would go back for sure and try different items while having a few beers. The crowd is a little older but I had a good time! Filly’s roadhouse has better food and music.

Service was good. Chips and salsa were welcome as we hadn’t eaten all day and were quite hungry. The salsa was very bland (ala Pace picante sauce). The club sandwich was fresh and tasty. The burger was also very large and flavorful. My personal favorite was the coleslaw made with pineapple. Very refreshing on a hot day. I always enjoy reading/​hearing stories of reportedly haunted sites. I wouldn’t rush back but wouldn’t hesitate to stop by if we were in the area.

We had family visiting from out of State. So Rawhide is closed on Monday and Tuesday now days. I guess they are not doing to well lately.
So instead we went somewhere that I have never been either. A Ghost town out in Apache Junction. I never knew, but it is a real Gold mine.
Anyway, back to the restaurant. This place was recommended to us by the Train conductor. We were so glad that we listened.
It was a very cool little place with an interesting history. They too claim that it is haunted by the past owner of an old Shell station that used to be there.
That is a fun little story that you can read about while there.
The menu has a lot to offer, all sorts of different choices. They have something for everyone. The server comes to your table with chips and salsa and your drinks.
We all got something a little different and all of it was really good.
They have a full bar, and even chocolate milk for the younging we had with us. (She was very happy).
We had the Philly with steak, Hamburger, Cheeseburger, and Prime Rib. Everyone really liked all the food. They even have a child’s menu.
After the kids are through eating they bring them a Vanilla ice cream cone. AWESOME!
The prices are very reasonable as well. Plenty of parking in the front and the back.
Decorated with lots of cool old things and it is clean in there as well. A major plus for an older place.
I would go back any time. In fact we are looking forward to it.