Hunters Chop House

Pretty good food, a bit pricey for what we received. Would have been 4 stars had the drink my wife ordered been full instead of only two thirds full and 90% ice.

Oh, where to begin? I am actually having a difficult time putting into words how horrible this was. We had a party of 12 there for Christmas Eve dinner, because all the other restaurants were booked. This was by far, the most disappointing restaurant experience we’ve ever been subjected to and a horrible way to spend Christmas Eve!
After we ordered, we noticed a wafting odor of what smelled like raw sewage coming from the hallway where the bathrooms were located. As the night went on, the odor became stronger and did not dissipate.
Ten of the 12 orders were messed up in some form or fashion and in the end, only the people with burgers and rocky mountain oysters actually finished their food. The french onion soup was actually sour, like vinegar, and cold with a hunk of bread covered by a piece of unmelted swiss cheese. The wilted salads were served after the meal, the wrong sides came with the wrong meals… it just went on and on. The rib eye steaks were thin, about ¼-​inch thick, similar to those found at a cheap breakfast diner, and were 70% fat and gristle.
On the good note, the servers were nice. We all felt sorry for them as they handled not only our complaints, but those of other tables.
To sum it up, this is spectacularly over-​priced, poor quality, badly prepared food served in a malodorous dining area, all under the watchful eyes of dead animals, some of whom probably donated the meat on our plates. :-(

I would give this restaurant a solid 3 ½ if I could. The dead animals didn’t really bother me, the cheap silverware wasn’t horrible, the salad dressing wasn’t fantastic, even the waiter not writing our order down wasn’t too disturbing. The food was decent and the waiter was really nice. The list of alcoholic beverages was impressive. They really should be rated higher than a 2 ½ star. I order the ribeye which was good and my partner ordered the rib and chicken platter. The bbq sauce was good and the horseradish sauce that came with the steak was good.

My last visit was a bit of a let down. The food was still very good. I enjoyed the marinated steak salad. No complaints. The service was sub-​par. The hostess was rude. I’ve been eating there often. Being a regular shouldn’t mean you get any less service.

Super slow service although he was nice when he did come by. The food was not good. Like terribly over fried/bland…not a good taste to it :/​the worst part of the entire meal… I was in the restroom and the hostess comes out of one of the stalls and doesn’t wash her hands. I was so disgusted. I definitely won’t be back.

After months of emailing and calling to set up a rehearsal dinner, I had to show up unexpectedly to finalize our meal. The owner is not very responsive so it was the only way to firm up a price. We had 30 people to feed and needed a place in Estes that could accommodate us. Most of the other restaurants in town were booked on the day we needed, so we didn’t have a lot of choices in town.
The place has a nice fireplace with animals everywhere, but it needs a lot of deep cleaning and friendlier and faster wait staff. The waiter who seated us said he needed to wipe the tables off, but never bothered to come back to do that. The service was very slow and they wanted to cook all 15 of our steaks medium to get them all done at the same time! I firmly told them NO, who does that?! We repeatedly asked for our bill so we could end the 2 ½ hour ordeal.
I only gave it 2 stars because the cheesecake they served us was amazing. The rest of the food was mediocre at best. We had new York strip (tough for $ 30), the bbq chicken (over cooked), and shrimp alfredo (not bad for $ 16).
When we were leaving, the whole lobby was filled with people to be seated and there was no hostess around to take care of seating. If you like good food and great service, don’t bother coming here. They don’t have either!

Yuck! Nice service the environment has a nice mountian feel. (Except for sticky table) But the food is not good I had the chicken fried steak took one bite and was DONE! Frozen patty that someone poured mushroom soup over. My mom had the fish she said it way ok nothing special. Tasted the green chili that we were told won the town chili cook off for two years. Umm I am not sure how that happened because although it was edible it was not good had much more of a southwest truck stop taste to it. My advice is pass on this place.
NEXT DAY UPDATE. One of people in our party who did eat the chicken fried steak got sick last night!

Do not let the name fool you. This is not a chop House. We were a party of 6. Four of us returned our rib eye, filet and elk medallions. These were undercooked, overcooked and a plain poor cut of meat. One of the rib eyes was an inch thick. Most were less than ½ inch. I would say it was sizzler caliber but that is an insult to sizzler. When we sent four meals back they weren’t apologetic. More defensive than anything. And the cheeseburgers didn’t come out much better. The décor was very nice ish. You are much better off eating at the Estes Park Resort. Do not waste your time or money.

Stopped for an early dinner tonight. I had the ribeye and DH had the elk medallions. The ribeye was good, not fabulous. I had a loaded baked potatoe and Cole slaw as my sides. The potato was ok but the Coke slaw seemed to be a premade from somewhere else. DHs medallions were ok, I think because we had awesome elk the night before at Twin Oaks. He had a side salad and baked beans for his sides. Our meal was $ 70. (Our meal the night before was $ 80 with an appetizer and 2 sodas so that is why this is a 3 star.

We were staying at the Coyote Mountain Lodge just down the street (see my review of that if you’re interested) and the desk clerk had recommended this place as a great place to eat. Unilocal reviews were less than spectacular, but we wanted to just walk to dinner and the Grumpy Gringo down the street didn’t look too appetizing.
Ambiance (3.5 stars) — If you’re turned off by stuffed animals (cougar, elk, fox etc) and antler chandeliers you’d best try somewhere else. The seating arrangement is mostly fairly uncomfortable booths (the angle of the backs is somehow off, and the padding on the seats themselves has been worn out beneath the Naugahyde exterior. If you do it right you can look out a window at a spectacular mountain setting with a lake in the foreground — beautiful as the sun sets behind you. The bar is wedged in behind the dining room with one too many bar stools at the 10 foot or so bar. Good selection of bourbons and whiskeys including some nice single malts. Three beers on tap — not sure of the bottles, didn’t look at the wine list.
Service (2.5 stars) — Welcoming greeter — helped us find a place at the bar for the 20 minute. Bar tender was engaging and attentive. We were parked at the table for about 15 minutes before water appeared — no rolls or bread offered. They checked with us several times during the meal, but never offered to refill the water. Finding our waiter proved problematic, until it was time to go when he abruptly asserted we were done and he’d get the check (no offer of coffee or desert — not that we were going to get any, but still.)
Food (3 stars) — The waiter warned us off the house salad (one of the available sides when you order a meal), saying that there’d been «a lot of complaints» that evening. For appetizers we got the assorted wild game sausages (wild boar, jalapeño venison, buffalo and pheasant) that came OH (I hope the sarcasm comes through on that — let’s try it again…) OH! so attractively coupled with some whole leaf lettuce, Carr’s crackers and little cheese cubes. A shame because the boar and pheasant were really something to write home about. The buffalo was meh, and, although they didn’t seem too interesting that evening, when we had them for lunch up at Emerald Lake the next day, the venison was really quite good. I had the elk medallions with a berry preserve and asparagus and mashed potatoes for sides. The elk was a little tough, four medallions about palm sized, but they got the medium rare perfectly. By the time we got to our mains I was already quite full so only ate half of it — the other half reserved for lunch the next day when it was spectacular (perhaps 4 – 5 miles of hiking at 10,000 foot altitude had more to do with it than the food itself, but it was quite good.) My wife had the trout, which was spectacular — I was envious as I watched her devour it. The asparagus had great prospects — they served some very tiny ones which, unfortunately they had forgotten to trim before they grilled them — the stems were quite woody and unpalatable.
Total check with tip (20%) ran about $ 70.
A note on my rating schema
Rating system
1) I wouldn’t feed a dog I hated here
2) I’ll give it a miss
3) Good food — I’ll definitely go again
4) Really good — I’ll recommend to business colleagues and connoisseurs of this cuisine
5) Completely worth a trip — I’d book airplane and hotels to go there again.

We decided to try Hunters Chop House after getting a referral from some locals and in spite of the ratings on Unilocal.
To provide an overall summary, the food was great, our server was knowledgeable and gave good recommendations, and we had multiple waiters keeping our water glasses full. After a week of dinners in Estes Park that were not memorable, Hunters Chop House very much met our expectations of what a good dinner could and should be! And this included lots of choices to accommodate a preference for gluten-​free, including dessert options.
We came in after a day of hiking, in need of liquids. While the whiskey menu was diverse and inviting, we opted for home brewed iced tea and water. The tea was fresh and definitely brewed on site; not instant or from concentrate. We were very pleased with the fresh flavor and glasses that were kept full by our wait-​staff.
For dinner, I tried a bison filet, medium rare, at the suggestion of our server. It was prepared perfectly, arriving medium rare as requested, and hot from the grill. The blackberry demiglace added just a hint of berry sweetness that went perfect with the bison. I had opted for asparagus and mashed potatoes with my meal and was not disappointed. The asparagus was fresh, and the potatoes had a cheesy flavor I really enjoyed.
My wife went more traditional and ordered a burger with Swiss cheese and french fries. The burger was juicy and had good flavor. Her fries were crispy outside but meaty inside, and proclaimed perfect.
While we decided not to indulge in dessert, we thought long and hard about the dessert menu’s gluten-​free vanilla cheesecake and (non-​gluten-​free) molten chocolate cake.
After a week of mediocre dinners elsewhere, we were pleased to get a great dinner in a very nice lodge-​like setting on our last night in town. I just wish we had found Hunters Chop House earlier, as we will definitely stop again on our next visit to Estes Park.

Went with a group of 8, everyone loved their food! I got the ribeye and it was a great cut of meat. The waitstaff were Great!

The ribs were awesome! The service was excellent and prompt, even though the place was getting more and more crowded as the night went on. The décor was unique, as I can’t think of any other place that has taxidermied animals around the restaurant. I really enjoyed this restaurant, and would come back again!

Excellent service and delicious food. The drinks were well made, and the appetizers came out quickly. Trying the game foods (elk, bison, phesant, and boar) was a fun way to start the meal. I came with 3 teenage boys, and they couldn’t finish the meals. We happily took home leftovers to snack on later. The tables on the patio were clean and it was a great night.

Mark had the porkchop which was good enough. I had the shrimp fettuccine. Not very many shrimp. My margarita was awesome though and service was good. They play good music too, old time jazz

Yes, it is not a all you can eat place, and it does not want to be.
I got seated at the bar and had a nice chat withe the manager/​barkeeper. I totally understand (and agree with) the concept of serving high quality instead of just masses of something.
I liked what I got, was it expensive? Well, probably. Was it good? Oh yes, absolutely. Does the owner know his bar? Absolutely.
Will I come back? Absolutely!

Kinda pricey for the quality of food. Used to be better in years past, but seems kinda touristy food now. So-​so

We came with a party of nearly 15 people near closing time and the staff accommodated us and did a great job. The waitress and cook worked their tail off to cover our table and were very attentive considering how large our party was. The food was good, I had the elk medallions which were great. The apps we ordered were tasty as well. Thank you for accommodating us you made our night.

Visting estes for the weekend, thought we would try this place and since reviews were bad but the fact they just got new owners we thought about giving it a chance.
3 stars because the steaks well over priced like all there menu items and not cooked correct. We tried the sampler which was a nice try of different meats but for what you get to high of price. How ever there Raspberry dipping sauce was amazing. Made in house and needs to be canned and sold by the owners.
Service was great and prompt 5 star there. But in the end the food is about a 2. And price a 1. Two people dinner drink and appetizers $ 90 +

I have been a long time fan of this place but our meal here last night for Valentines day was an utter disappointment. Immediately when we entered it appeared they did not have adequate staffing to wait tables and we witnessed one party get up and leave it was so bad. It appears this place is under different ownership or management now.
They no longer serve free homemade bread while you wait for your meal. The portion sizes were way too small for a meal that came to almost $ 50. I ordered the BBQ chicken breasts and they sent out 3 mini sized pieces of breast meat that were an embarrassment to the large plate it was served on. The salad I had barely had anything to it like they were running low on food and were rationing portions. Our server was not very attentive and didn’t seem to care if our experience was good or not as we had to force him practically to get things we wanted.
There are many other places in town to eat and we won’t be in any rush to come back in here again in the future after this night and what we experienced.