Alpine Rose Cafe

Husband and I are traveling on a motorcycle from Richmond Virginia to the Grand Canyon and back. We'd been on the bike for a while and stopped here cause it popped up on Google Maps.

The restaurant is quite large and was quite empty, except for one table in the center. I noticed post cards for sale, on top of the jewlery case. Next to the lunch counter. Interesting.

We sat down and the waiter, who was very young and bubbly, brought us water and took our order: Two Cheeseburger Deluxes.

It took forever to get those burgers. We were enjoying each other's company so we didn't really mind, but the wait was noticeable.

What was really annoying was the one other table in the restaurant... one guy just talked and talked and talked very LOUDLY about all his buddies in town. Incessantly talked for the entire time we were there. Not the restaurant's fault, but super distracting.

When our burgers finally arrived, we ate them quickly. They were ok, nothing special. We just wanted to get out.

The waiter, we suspect might have been the owner's son because he seemed quite young. He was really kind and personable. Very pleasant young man!

The other loud dude, he gotta go!

I'm a non-local. I chose this place because of it's historic downtown location. It surely has to be difficult to keep a business going in a small town like this when the interstate directs people to standard fast-food destinations.

I appreciate that older places like this exist. It's clearly a bit dated but that is part of the character. I very much enjoyed all the old Broncos memorabilia.

Joseph was supremely attentive. The food did not arrive as promptly as expected yet I had time to kill and I can understand that perhaps only two people were working. This was not an issue.

Pricing was reasonable. I believe the hotcakes had a strong buttermilk flavor which I did not particularly care. I may not be a good judge here but I do think it's fair to note they're not what you get at IHOP.

Seems the person responding to these posts are busy icing over their reality than dealing with it. The truth is a child running the place like their personal playground. Plus, salty foods, 11 French fries, BBQ beef that looks like a cheep sloppy Joe, little meat for 9.50. I was floored. There us also severely chipped glasses and rank brown hot sauce, which I have included pic. There must be a going out of business sale because I see no other reason for a business in such a disarray.

Clean and casual but prices seem rather high for what you get. 2.50 for a mug of coffee? That's just silly. If it was a giant cup maybe, but it was a small mug of coffee. Ĵust too expensive for what is offered

I swear this was the absolutely worst service I have ever received anywhere in my life. First they were out of EVERYTHING we asked for. Some of the items were still being advertised as the special of the day. Then we finally just agreed to buy some thing we did not want. After 45 minutes we are told they messed up and are fixing it they bring out 3 plates. 20 minutes later they bring out another. Then 10 minutes later we get our food. That is wrong. . Then we were yelled at by the girl who took the order saying we lied bout our orders. I had to get up and find our own silverware and napkins as they were not offered. We wanted lemonade but they had none. Those who got water had one cup the entire meal no offer to refill at all. Those who go soda got one can for $2 and were not offered anymore because they do not give refills and they did not offer water. No one came and spoke with us about messing up our food or not having anything we asked for or the horrible service. Then on to the food. The green chili was cold the burgers were not good the lettuce was barely noticeable the one slice of tomato was the size of a quarter and I was too scared to ask for mayo because I was already extremely worried the girl spit in my food at this point. The fries sat in a puddle of grease yet we're uncooked on the inside despite looking well done. Lastly the ceiling was fully exposed with insulation hangout over my head. I have never had such a horrible experience. My friend and I sat there with our kids who were all sad and still hungry after $65 worth of food we felt duped for having to pay for.

We didn’t have high expectations but this place managed to disappoint nonetheless. We walked in to complete silence except for the door chime that unsuccessfully summoned the staff. We opened it a second time in hopes of a mere acknowledgement. Nothing. We had to ask the sole customer if they were even open. He said they were, so we went to the back to ask for a staff member. We found the disgruntled “grandma” sloppily preparing the sole customer’s food.

She seated us and asked me what I wanted to drink. I said water, and she walked away despite the fact that there were two people at the table. My friend had made a very audible utterance indicating she wanted something, but alas, our time with grandma was apparently up. Based on the mound of paperwork on the bar, I think she was doing her taxes and watching Days of Our Lives and didn’t have time for the likes of us.

We perused the menu—the typical NM/CO fare plus a few unexpected items like fish and chips. We soon realized the extensive list was mainly window dressing: What is the soup of the day? “We don’t have soup.” Ok…. But you have chili, right? “No.” So….we ordered two chef salads. They apparently use the term loosely. It was more of an $8 lightly thawed iceberg lettuce garnish. Like the quantity of veggies you get ON THE SIDE of a taco plate. But for $8. To add to its inedibility, the salad came topped with 4-5 rectangular strips that we quickly identified as American cheese slices chopped to look like cheese. The only redeeming quality of the salad was the 3 tomato slices that we hope won’t give us salmonella. The meat was likely ham but we can’t be sure. The menu said the salad had eggs, but none were to be found. I was kinda glad because I’m not sure my stomach could have handled an Alpine Rose egg.

As we write this, we are downing pretzels and water to fill us up and counteract the almost surely impending food poisoning.

Wonderful find. Great food and service. Real old time diner.

I stopped by the Alpine and I ordered the B.L.T and I was just so delicious and the help was just so amazing!

Great small town family-owned restaurant. Serving everything from salads to burgers sandwiches and some darn good green chili and other Mexican food.

Rose was phenomenal!
We stopped by for breakfast on our way to Pagosa. The restaurant was cozy and welcoming, the food was very delicious. Thank you Rose for cooking and serving us!