Odelay Tacos

Meh. That’s how I feel about this place. The only reason it gets 3 stars is because the service was good and they have a solid beer list. Which can be said for most places in Denver.
Otherwise, the food was disappointing even though their menu looks amazing. Almost all of it was cold when it came out, overly greasy and had little flavor. We had fried mac n cheese, dollar tacos and a burger with bourbon bacon. The best out of the three was the fried mac n cheese but it’s pretty hard to screw up fried cheese.
It wasn’t an awful experience at the least but I don’t feel like I’ll be going back. Too many good food places on Colfax to spend my money on a sub par one.

Came here for a birthday party. I ordered two well gin & lemonade cocktails. Total came out to $ 17.00. That is ridiculously priced for well gin at any establishment, especially at bar located on Colfax. They were also pretty weak pours.
The bathroom is a unisex closet and was particularly disgusting this night as someone had poured beer all over the floor. Had to walk around with shoes smelling like rancid beer. Also, parking sucks like everywhere else on Colfax. The quality does not equal the price. No thanks.

Odelay is now under new management and now called southside. Tacos are still great and staff is exceptional. However the portions are much smaller. Use to only order 4 – 5 and the gf would do 2 – 3 and we would be stuffed. This time we had to almost triple our order. They also now require you to buy a drink to get the dollar tacos and raised the price of the steak tacos. I miss Odelays

Stopped in for Taco Tuesday. *must purchase drink for the taco deal* they offer 2 tacos for $ 1(chicken and pork) and for $ 2(steak or pork belly). The tacos were nothing to right home about, but they served there purpose. This place is by no means comparable to a Pinche, Machete, etc… Our waitress was very friendly and the tacos did come out very fast. Felt like I was back in college. Pay for what you get, so can’t be that disappointed

Sadly, this place was super fail. Empty and we had to ask for service for all things. Took forever to get beers, water, tater tots and the check. Again, pretty empty. The first waiter had a terrible attitude the one and only time he came to our table. Terrible.

When i asked for my favorite drink the bartender didnt know it but definitely went out of his way to hook me up! New bar love!

I’m not sure why it isn’t updated on Unilocal yet, but the new name of this establishment is Southside Kitchen or something like that. They now have live music!

So… we went here on Sunday for my birthday at the recommendation of my brother who lives in Denver. He had read a recent review that was singing Odelay’s praises.
When we walked in and found it dead that should have been a good clue that possibly the review was off.
The service was rather slow because the bartender was «wearing many hats». The next red flag was when the bartender/​server claimed the menu was «new» and had not had any of the food — oh but «it all looks good».
Chips and salsa were $ 4 – 6 depending on the salsas you wanted. The carne asada burrito was nothing special, and was jam packed with rice as a filler; I wouldn’t even call it «carne asada», but merely a steak burrito. The fish tacos were good, but not at all big like they claimed, and at $ 8 for two tacos it felt like we were ripped off.
So on to the highlights… The potato bombs were really great. Basically deep fried mashed potato balls. And the beer menu was good.
Whoever wrote that newspaper review must have had some weed inspired munchies. Pass up Odelay and head on over to Café Rio on Colorado.

Wow. Anthony was beyond nice and concerned about our happiness. He is great and the tacos are out of this world. Yum!

Recently reopened with new management, and I’m impressed. Taco Tuesdays are where it’s at. The tacos are all delicious. The asada has great classic taste, the chicken had a burst of cilantro and other flavors, the pork hits you with a bit of sweetness.
That with the drink specials makes this a great place to stop in and check out.

I’ve been here couple of times, and it looks like they remodeled in between. It seems like a good bar for hanging out, with pool tables and a patio facing the street. The tacos are very good.
I’d recommend either the nachos or the chips with guacamole. You’ll probably want to try a few different kinds of tacos, but make sure you don’t skip the carne asada taco or the odelay taco. The former is similar to the kind you might find at a taqueria, but with higher quality meat. The latter is deep fried.
The service here might be a little too quick. They were practically bussing our table as we were finishing our meal, but that might work out better if you’re planning on hanging out for a few hours and occasionally snacking as you go.

In the same building as Thirtyfourteen and I just saw a sign in there for Beetle Bar, this business seems to have several identities. It has a very good size patio that you walk through to get to the front doors. Inside, it’s decorated with dark slate blue walls, black trim, large vintage black and white photos, several TVs, and two pool tables. The Thirtyfourteen side has a full bar with Magner’s Cider on tap!
The menus are on strips of paper, like sushi ordering forms. The Thirtyfourteen side has a full bar with Magner’s Cider on tap! There are a few specialty tacos as well as more recognizable street variety tacos. I recommend the Odelay taco and the asada tacos. We also tried the fish tacos which are nice, and the Thirtyfourteen taco. I love that the chips are hot, and the guacamole is very fresh. I also saw a Huevos Rancheros and breakfast burrito on the menu Saturdays and Sundays.
The only complaints I have are that the AC was a little high, and the food all came out at once. I’m sure I must be the only person to ever complain about quick service, but it’s really nice to chill and savor the food. Maybe next time we’ll try ordering 2 tacos at a time.

So we’ve been here for over an hour and haven’t even gotten our chips and salsa yet. Granted it’s taco Tuesday ($ 1 only) so there’s a good number of people but only TWO servers. Even our waiter admitted that «the kitchen is a mess right now.» Apparently they just got bought out by a new owner and reopened four days ago but seriously. They also ran out of steak tacos so I can only get chicken now. Annoyed. Get it together Odelay and then we’ll talk.
Ok update ten minutes later: they said they’d pay for all our food, we’re just getting our drinks. So that will make up for it if/​when we get this food.

If I could do zero stars I would! Absolutely the worst service I have ever gotten. I am a post-​service industry employee and understand the kitchen gets backed up but goodness!
We went in at 8:15, sat outside and then decided we wanted the bar because we didn’t get greeted outside to order drinks. Went in and it took 10 minutes to get a drink and when we ordered food it took them 15 minutes to put it in. An HOUR AND A HALF later they tell us the kitchen has stopped making food and we won’t be served our dinner. UNREAL!
During that hour and a half there had been about 12 tacos that the servers couldn’t figure out who they went to so they just sat there and went to waste. And the server actually starting eating them! Like are you serious???
The manager never approached us and the server/​bartender avoided eye contact the whole time. We were overly patient because we knew the kitchen was backed up.
They need new management or the owner needs to step up and get this staff trained properly. It’s Taco Tuesday for Pete’s Sake — pull it together!
One nice thing to say is the server with big black plastic frame glasses actually was nice and apologetic. He needs to find a better place to work so his skills are put to good use.

Service, first of all was GREAT! Food however, was interesting. Tacos — everything is shredded, which makes me question quality. The tacos had good flavor, but the shredded chicken was best. Unfortunately, actually had to spit out steak taco. And I’ll eat about anything. Salsa, they say they have 5, I taste 3. The habanero was best. They have FRIED FLOUR chips as well as corn and they looked me funny upon questioning the flour, they were airy, flakey, but you know they are FLOUR and not good for. Well, not as healthy as corn, tho fried. Also, apparently, patrons are not accustomed to salsa bc I ordered 3 tacos and got 2 half portions in disposable ramakins. All in all, for dollar taco Tuesday in «Denver» not bad for Italians pushing den-​mex.

Food was good, service was only okay although the bartender did turn down the music at my request… I was the only one inside at the time. Patio was packed with a groups of all demographics, including families with young children.
I ordered some kind of fish tacos which were unexpectedly spicy but tasty. Server wasn’t very friendly, bartender was ok. I liked the outdoor patio, and there is a large space inside with TVs — good place to watch a game. Also some pretty cool artwork. I wasn’t super-​impressed but I’ll give it a second try.

I love margs and the Odelay margarita made me sad. Some talking points:
a) No OJ!
b) Its a taco place… the margs should rock. They are sub par.
c) I must repeat… NO OJ!
Servers didn’t seem that concerned with the quality of anything nor if anyone was having a good time/​enjoying themselves. Do I sound like an SF snobby a-​hole customer? I don’t care… I’ve been a server/​bartender/​host forever and you ALWAYS MAKE THE CUSTOMER HAPPY. Okay climbing off high horse.

Alright, Odelay. You’re slowly winning me back.
I finally got around to revisiting the receipt situation, and Odelay was completely and totally awesome about it. It’d been several months since *the incident*, but they still completely refunded the bogus tip. High-​five!
And, the deliciousdelicious tempeh taco was back for a $ 1! Or… maybe they just made an exception for me? Either way, I ate a ton of tacos with my ridiculous-​tip-​overage reimbursement.
But, sadly, my order of chips was forgotten and took a lifetime to arrive, so the stars do not yet align for Odelay. I’ll be back to reassess shortly, but come on Odelay! I wanna love you so so so much!

Pros: The chips. Oh my god, so good. Some of the best I’ve ever had — fresh baked, huge, and delicious. We got a trio of salsas which were all spicy and awesome. The fish taco I got was also very very good.
Cons: Everything else. I like that the tacos are only $ 1 on Tuesdays but it’s only 3 different kinds. The steak one was cold. Meh… also I asked if they had good margaritas and the server said no. I ended up getting a glass of wine which was $ 7, pretty overpriced. I might go back to try some of the other tacos

The tacos are SO good, but the service is SO meh!
The caramelized pineapple on the carnitas in particular is just the perfect touch. Never has a taco on our table gone undevoured. And the option for flour tortilla chips?! AMAZING.
But why does it never take less than 40 minutes for tacos to arrive and THEN the waiter keeps your change without asking (and assumes a 30% tip??)?
I’m sure I’ll be back, because my interest in deliciousness will inevitably outweigh my other concerns, but if you are really hungry or care more about service than the food, this (so sadly!) probably isn’t the right choice.