Pisco Sour

My suggestion is either do the buffet or do take out.
For start, the food is amazing. The pisco sours are even better.
I had the lomo saltado (salted pork) which was delicious, but a little starchy. The pork comes on a bed of french fries and you get a small mountain of white rice to go with it. Somewhat overkill, but still delicious. My wife had bife acebolado (steak with onions). It comes with a tasty sauce on a bed of rice. The steak is really thin, which is fairly traditional for this dish. The pisco sours that came with it were some of the best I’ve ever had.
Here is the catch:
a) The service isn’t great. We were trying to decide whether to do the buffet or eat off the menu, so we asked for some menus to see what there was. We didn’t get the menus for about 10 minutes. The servers were good, but the restaurant seemed severely understaffed.
b) Holy crap, the restaurant was soo hot. I don’t know if it was the booth my wife and I were sitting in, but by the time our food came, all we could think about was getting out of there. Walking out into the 90 degree Colorado sunshine was a relief, since at least there was a breeze outside.
You can mitigate problem a) by choosing the buffet, and you can mitigate problems a + b by getting take out. And it would be worth it, since the food is really good.

We have been here only twice but the food has been amazing both times. I had the bistec a lo pobre which is a steak with a fried egg, rice, cooked tomatoes and onions, and fried plantains. The steak was so tender and the flavors all went so well together. My boyfriend had the ceviche a tres colores which is raw fish in lime sauce. I don’t like raw fish but it had a very nice taste and texture.
Both times we have gone here the place has been empty. We went the second time to see the world cup game. Surprising how empty the place was especially with the giant tvs they have and great beer selection. It’s strange that not many people go here.
I believe the reason why this place doesn’t get more customers is the location. Pisco Sour is definitely trying to be higher class. But the location in east Colfax makes it difficult.
The service could be better but it wasn’t bad. It almost seemed like the waiter thought we were going to be cheap because we bought the groupon. But the food is great and is worth being tried a few times :-)

We got a groupon deal and the reviews were not so bad so we decided to give it a shot. Worst food ever! I had the pollo con arroz and my rice tasted as though it was old rice and re-​cooked. The chicken wasn’t bad, but I was hoping to have the green sauce, which they didn’t have. Super disappointed

Bought a groupon and made the long drive from Boulder to Aurora and it was worth every mile to drive here! The awesome person I was with had JUST come back from Peru and said that the Pisco Sour’s were as good as the ones she had there, and, it being my first one, am now forerever hooked and would come back just for that drink alone.
We had the Ceviche Pescado (Sea Bass) and every bite was this awesome amalgamation of lime and a red pepper of some sort and cilantro and fish and potato. We also had the Arroz con pollo and it was really good as well ! The cilantro rice had a GREAT flavor to it!

The seafood served is amazing and truly tradition Peruvian cuisine. I have been there a few times and have never been disappointed. The service is great and that staff is friendly. You must go and try any of their plates along with a volcano drink which is sure to get your night started.

My husband and I came here on a groupon or living social. If I were just rating the restaurant (looks, smell, area) I would give this place a zero. We parked in the parking lot — and were… cautious. We then proceeded to open the door to the restaurant and were assaulted with an awful smell! Not only that, but we were the only patrons there (the entire time we ate our meal, on a Thursday night). I will say that the food was fine — not super delicious and not terrible. But overall, bad experience. Creepy inside especially when you’re the only ones there.

We went to Pisco Sour last night. It was a little out of our way, but I had a $ 25 off certificate, and wanted some ceviche!
The bad: the place is very outdated, and the bathroom was freezing. Service was slow, but very friendly. Had our waitress been rude, it would have been maddening.
The GOOD: the ceviche was delicious!!! My husband and I both had the lomo soltado, and we were both pleased. It was very tasty, and reminded me very much of the dish when we had it in Peru.

I love Peruvian food, and this place does not fall short with it. They love making it, and don’t teeter from authenticity in order to satisfy the gringo pallet. Yes it’s in a weird location on a seedy block of Colfax, and yes upon entering it is a bit awkward navigating to the, um, hostess stand? But once you’re seated by a nice woman, given a frothy pisco sour (watch out, these are $ 8 a pop and they probably will not mention this 411 unless you inquire), and relaxing into the quirky atmosphere, it all starts to come together and it feels good. As a lover of potatoes, my favorite small plates are the Causa Rellenas, Papa Rellenas, and the Papa A La Huancaina. The Causa Rellenas here is chilled mashed potatoes molded into a cylinder with basically a ‘chicken salad’ of sorts layered on top, and a few shrimp placed pretty and perfect for sopping up the sauces left on the plate. The Papa Rellenas is a potato pocket that is stuffed with meats and other goodness, then deep fried. A great comfort dish indeed. The Papa A La Huancaina does not disappoint whatsoever and it is served very typically, sliced potatoes topped with a savory cream cheese and yellow pepper sauce.
If you can get past all the awkwardness of this place you are in for a real treat.

«Heading east» in my neck of town usually means wading through a sloppily-​curated assortment of seedy motels and strip joints. So I did not expect to find this gem of a restaurant.
My family and I have enjoyed Peruvian food since our trip there about ten years ago. Though there was no Kingfish ceviche or Alpaca on the menu, the food was excellent. Our group of four all ordered something different and bragged our way through our respective dishes.
Admittedly we were there a tad early in the evening (4:30pm) but we did not suffer from any disadvantage. Waitstaff was attentive, friendly and knowledgable– quick to offer suggestions and ferry over more drinks.
So head east, watch out for the dodgier sights, and enjoy some Peruvian food.

Nothing displeases me more than when I go to an establishment and the food is awesome but the service is atrocious.
And I am now displeased with Pisco Sour after our experience there last night. I had a Google Deal for them for $ 25 for food and drink that was going to expire soon so in best use or lose it fashion, we made our way up to east Colfax to get some ethnic food loving into our lives. They have a parking lot and the place is dated and run down looking. On the front door it has a sign about no restrooms to the public which kind of threw us off wondering if that was really the bathroom entrance. We walked in to a small hallway which led us to the dining area which again, dated, stuffy and hot. They were a few tables there watching the football (soccer game) and while they all just stared at all, we had no idea if we seat ourselves or wait for someone. After a minute or two one of the only servers working that night came over, sat us down and brought us menus. The booths were lumpy, sticky and there wasn’t a lot of air circulating which made me regret wearing a dress because soon my legs were sticking to the booth!
We ordered waters and two entrees and he brought over our waters and that’s all we heard from him for 30 minutes. No refills, no follow up or remarks to let us know when the food was coming out, nothing. I even had to break out the water bottle from my purse to refill my own water since he passed by a couple of times with no inclination for refills. We finally got our food and thank god we did because I was about to suggest we walk out. I ordered the Ceviche Mixto with sea bass, shrimp and squid with two servings of potatoes. It was a light, refreshing meal and perfect for a hot summer night and it was definitely a dish I would recommend if anyone in their right mind would want to chance it with the bad service. My boyfriend ordered the Lomo Saltado and it was out of this world! The steak was succulent and perfectly grilled and seasoned and there was a nice hot dipping sauce on the side plus with fries and rice, I was in carb heaven! We both cleaned our plates and then were in a bad mood again because we remembered the bad service we would soon encounter again. Dine at your own risk…

Upon walking in, there was no one at the front desk. Then we walked into the corridor that has a super fuzzy fur rug hanging on the wall. I saw maybe 3 – 4 tables seated, all happily drinking and watching Chile play another team in football (soccer). Almost the entire dining room looked at us, including what would turn out to be our waiter.
Food is fantastic. Comes out flavorful, hot and the portions are great. I would not recommend bringing your kids. The food took about 35 minutes to prepare and we were constantly ignored. The only waiter (also the bartender) was a guy with slicked back hair who liked to jabber with patrons about the game going on. He spoke mainly Spanish and those were the guests he spent most of the time with at their tables. We never received refills unless we asked for them.
Our entrees get five stars without hesitation. Service gets a lousy one star. I figured two stars is a fair assessment. If we hadn’t read any of the Unilocal reviews, we would have left after fifteen minutes. This restaurant has great potential to be five stars easily. The food speaks for itself but otherwise I would not go back after being there almost an hour and merely waiting on the food.

Like another reviewer I was tempted to give this spot 5 stars just to balance out the negative reviews which I cannot understand. Having just moved from Philadelphia to Denver I was dismayed by what people here in Denver consider «ghetto» or dingy «hole in the wall.» Some of the best ethnic food I’ve eaten has been at hole in the wall spots in Philly and in NYC (mainly outer Burroughs for the real «hole in the wall» experience where most patrons speak broken English) and I think that many of the reviewers should just stick to suburban chain restaurants. The neighborhood is hardly bad at all (although definitely not the least bit posh) and Pisco Sour is hardly sketchy by my standards. But. then again I am from the East Coast and lived in cities with large ethnic immigrant populations.
The décor is like a throwback to 1970s Latin Supper Clubs and it for sure feels old even though it probably isn’t. It was pretty clean when I went and I didn’t detect any «funky» smell or anything of the sort, a common complaint by many reviewers. The pisco sours were mixed to perfection and the food was very tasty with large portions. I was content considering I got two solid meals from one entrée order. Our server Victor was fantastic and even gave me a little extra container of the spicy peruvian salsa to take home thereby allowing me to experiment with my own little culinary steak creations.
My fiancé and I were so satisfied that we are taking our friends out there tonight. The service may be considered a little slow it was well worth it. However, I don’t consider it slow compared to my restaurant experiences whilst travelling in Southern Europe and South America.
We went at 2:30 on a Weds afternoon and the restaurant was understandably pretty empty. The clincher for me was the fact that the other patrons appeared and sounded to be South American and believe me when I say that they knew what to order. Our server Victor made a point to stop by our table and show us one the dishes a South American family ordered (for the life of me I can’t remember what it was called) which consisted of a few layers of stacked fish and other delightful ingredients.
I usually like to go to a place at least 2 times before writing a review because experiences can vary time to time. This review might be slightly premature but I’m going with my gut because if the food is good enough for South Americans local to the area, then it’s good enough for me. i will update this review if my experience tonight is at all any different.

Pisco Sour has to be one of the strangest restaurants in Denver. This Latin club/​bar/​restaurant hybrid could only exist on Colfax Avenue and for that reason alone I have to love it.
But I also have to love the food, which is also very strange. But that’s to be expected since the food here is Peruvian, the world’s oddest combination of flavors in one cuisine. Take the bistek al pobre, a steak served in a very Asian-​tasting soy based marinade grilled fajita style with onions and peppers but then served with white rice and fried plantains and for some reason two fried eggs. It’s a very peculiar combination but it works deliciously together. Less odd is the rotisserie chicken served with French fries. The chicken was a phenomenally flavored bird that made me want to suck every big of flavor of its bones. The fries were like fries anywhere except they were served with three interesting sauces: A mustardy-​mayo, a spicy sort-​of chimichuri except a lot less chunk than I’ve seen elsewhere and an odd sort-​of salsa but more almost gazpacho-​like than spicy.
This venue itself is as odd as the food. It’s basically divided in half with one part of a large room set aside as a bar/​dining are and the other as a dance club complete with DJ booth and parquet dance floor. I was here years ago and there were people dancing merengue with a very club like atmosphere while eating dinner. This time around, the club area was reserved for «Pepe’s birthday party.» The whole area was decked out in what looked like a party for a 12-​year old: colorful streamers, balloons, a table full of cupcakes, a DJ mixing up reggaeton and merengue songs. Yet apparently Pepe was one of Pisco Sour’s adult cooks, so he just likes to have a good time.
That’s pretty easy at Pisco Sour.

After many great reviews and some non-​Yelper encouragement I convinced a fellow Unilocaler to join me for lunch here.
I borderline 3 and 4 stars for Pisco Sour.
The place is a bit dingy if I have to say so myself. I like all the dive bars and hole in the wall type places but the place may be a little too far dingy on the inside, Robert Irvine would definitely gut the inside of this place.
We decided to order off the menu. We shared the stuffed potato, stuffed with beef and veggie mixture. This was a a delicious concoction of Peruvian proportions. Then because the chicken is the talk of the town my companion ordered the half chicken and I ordered a beef and veggie dish the Peruvian name is escaping me at the moment. The stand outs for the meal was the chicken, this is 5 star chicken, it was juicy and tender with crispy flavored skin that just melted in your mouth. If this is how Peruvians do there chicken, I want chicken every day! The accompanying sauces were delectable, each one with unique depth and flavor. The beef dish was just alright not great. If you come here the chicken is a must have.
I also tried a Pisco Sour drink, my first, so I have nothing to compare it to. It was definitely delicious, maybe not as much as they charged me for it, but decent.
If you don’t do the buffet the lunch can get very pricey. More than one would like to spend for lunch typically.
Service was hit or miss. Sometimes it was good, and sometimes it was like we weren’t even there and we were looking for anyone to help us.
I’m coming back for the chicken and sauces and you should too!

We had never tried Peruvian food, so we did not know what to expect. We had an early dinner tonight before it got dark on E Colfax using a Groupon. There was one other couple having dinner and then 2 more couples came in. The server explained some of the favorites and showed us the new items on the menu.
I ordered the Tacu Tacu Con Bisteck Encebollado (Rice and beans mixed, served with steak topped with sauteed onions and tomatoes) which was excellent. My husband ordered a shredded chicken dish over cubed potatoes with a side of white rice in the shape of a pyramid. He said he would order it again.
The internet menu and the restaurant menus were different. They no longer serve breakfast, only weekend brunch buffet. Service was good with our water glasses filled frequently. The 2 condiments came in 2 ounce plastic cups, nothing like the photos posted.
When the bill was brought to the table, the server explained that the 18% gratuity was not added to the bill. Then when I tried to charge $ 4 to my credit card, the waiter made a comment that it costs more to use a credit card.
We liked the food. We would be back for the buffet to try a little bit of everything.

Look, you will not get killed here. What is with all the reviews saying this place is super sketch, like you left Nordstrom’s and somehow ended up on Colfax?
Anyway. :)
This place IS sketchy. But not because someone will try to sell you drugs in the parking lot (I mean, you don’t have to buy it). It’s because this family-​run place keeps an outdated website, will go on lunch break during their lunch hours, and have really slow service because they only have one real server who always ends up waiting in the parking lot for them until whenever they feel like opening. Poor guy.
Now that you know this, you can be aware if you go. I’d call ahead before coming (seriously) and take plenty of time for lounging while you eat. The place is outdated but it’s always packed on Friday and Saturday nights when it turns into a hoppin’ dance club.
Really I only go for the delicious food. It’s fresh, tasty and well worth it, especially if you are doing take-​out and not sitting in. For the restaurant as a package, two stars. If we’re only judging food, it’s a solid four.

This is perhaps not a fair review because I really don’t know much about Peruvian food. My boyfriend summed it up pretty well: this place about did it for us in terms of «lounges». I mean, from now on, we’ll probably stay away from «restaurant AND LOUNGE». There’s a weird smell as soon as you walk in, the business hasn’t even been opened that long, but it looks old and kind of… dirty. It was lunch time and there was a buffet set up, but the food served did not look appetizing and definitely not worth $ 13 per person!
My friend had told me I should try a Pisco Sour cocktail even though I’m allergic to alcohol — it’s that worthy! But unfortunately I was dealing with a cold so I didn’t get a drink (that’s right, my nose was so stuffed up I could still smell the carpet or whatever it was inside the restaurant!). I started doubting the cleaniness of food and couldn’t bring myself to order something like ceviche. To be on the safer side, we got the Jalea — fried seafood combo. The shrimps were really good, perfect breading. Fried fish was good with the tarter sauce but the calamari rings were leathery and had too too much breading, I felt like eating fried flour most of the time. Underneath the mountain of fried seafood were some fried yuca, I think. And on top there were a lot of pearl onions or what looked like pearl onions, that was pretty interesting. This dish was more American than Peruvian.
We also ordered the Supreme Combo thinking that would be a good sample of several things. We later agreed that we should’ve gotten a whole roasted chicken because the quarter that we got was so yummy I truly don’t mind eating the same thing for the next few meals! How could they make the chicken so tendered and seasoned so well while the pork chops were very dry and the steak too chewy? I did not dare to try the grilled veal hearts. All of these meat sat on top of a bed of fries which tasted barely fried. There was a salad on the side to balance everything out, so the portion of the dish was large.
The people that worked there were as professional as can be with limited Enlgish. The ones who spoke fluent English were very helpful too. Guess I must not be adventurous as I thought because a place like this does scare me a little…

On East Colfax, a little west of Yosemite, the Peruvian eatery Pisco Sour is full of surprises. From the moment you sit down, Victor Luis or one of the other charming waitstaff will tend to your every whim, including some you probably didn’t realize you had.
Begin, of course, with a glass (or if you’re like certain people I can think of, two or three) of the cocktail for which the restaurant is named… rich with grape brandy (called Pisco after the Quechua word for «bird»), tangy from lime juice and topped with an egg-​white foam. Then, it’s time to select an appetizer. I personally love the mashed, then fried, beef-​and-​raisin stuffed potatoes called Papas Rellenas and the thick skewered slabs of grilled veal heart called Anticuchos.
But hang on! I haven’t even gotten to the main courses yet. Aji de Gallina (featuring chicken in an unctuous, vividly yellow pepper-​walnut-​Parmesan sauce and sided with a structurally sound pyramid of moist white rice) is always a popular fave, but then again, so is the Italian-​influenced tripe dish Mondonguito, packed to the brim with tomatoes and onions. Seafood lovers, don’t fret — there’s something here just for you too, whether it be the savory stew Parihuela (filled with octopus, shrimp, clams and other goodies) or even the fried-​fish extravaganza Jalea. And yes, if you have a hankering for Pollo a la Brasa (marinated roast chicken) they can help you out there too.
End on a super-​sweet note with some Alfajores (buttery shortbread cookies stuffed with a version of the sweetened condensed milk popularly known as Manjar Blanco) or even the purple corn pudding Mazamorra Morada. And just wait ’til you hear this! The eatery’s proprietress was indeed the former owner of Latino Market (see previous review) and has moved her entire inventory to the front of the restaurant! So have a browse on your way out, and see what looks good.
See? There’s much to explore at Pisco Sour.

Pisco Sour is a must for any lover of amazing, fresh, enticing flavorful South American cuisine! The interior is reminiscent of the Regal Beagle and the music made me salsa in my seat.
We started with out of this world Picsc Sours — the best I have had outside South America! For appetizers — Choros a la Chalaca (mussels) in the most spicy, savory, accompaniment of garlic & onions/​tomatoes that you can imagine. We enjoyed the more mild Papa Relleno as well.
Don’t be put off that the Mahi Mahi is lightly breaded — it complements the Mahi completely! My mountain man devoured the Supreme Combo, and believe me, it is SUPREME! The pollo brasa was delectible, melt in your mough goodness!
The BEST part of the meal was our attentive, informative server Victor. Kudos to his enthusiam over the cuisine and his knowledge of this amazing restaurant!
We plan to make this East Colfax gem a monthly dining experience.

A grildfriend and I tried out the significant
coupon out on this restaurant on a Thursday night. Yes, it was further along on Colfax than I expected. However– it was an intriguing experience!
We were seated immediately and there were a few other tables and the resaturant had pretty good business. The waiter was charming and obviously has old-​school restaurant charm and concern for his guests. He brought us Pisco Sours right away which were amazing! Frothy and uniquely delicious. Go for the drinks if nothing else!
I tried the mahi mahi, and my friend ahd the Loma beef dish. We also tried a chilled mussel appetizer that had a spectacular and HOT and very fresh salsa. Yum. The Mahi was an enormous serving with a little bitter richer sauce than I am used to these days, and ditto on the beef dish. These may be Peruvian authentics, but both dishes were a little too rich for the two of us.
I would go back and try something different, and I may even crave those fabulous Pisco Sours on their own. I’d say, if you are in the neighborhood, give it a try! If you can get the coupon, you eat for practically free!