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Trail Dust Steak House
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
13 reviews for Trail Dust Steak House
This place took me right back to Texas. Okay, I've never really been to Texas, but the Trail Dust was close enough for me. They have lots of family seating, almost cafeteria-like. Luckily for us there was no band, there were a couple guys wandering around giving a personal performance for each table. It was cute. The kids also were tolerable, I just didn't watch them.
The food was deeeelicious. We started with stuffed jalepenos that were wrapped in bacon and then grilled until they were very crispy. They were awesome. And then? I went with the small, wimpy steak covered in mushrooms and bleu cheese. I couldn't even finish it. BF went with the bigger sirloin and had to unbutton his pants halfway through. The strawberry shortcake dessert was the perfect size, although the biscuits were pretty stale. The draft beers were $2 each, so I couldn't really argue about that.
The only annoying part were the bells constantly ringing and the constant "yeeeeee-hawwwwws" because it seemed to be everyone's birthday that day.
My friend and I stopped by for lunch today, 10.02.09. we were there at 1120am and the place was empty. Our server was a sweet young girl who tried her best.. The bar menu on the table states that domestic drafts are 2$. Yet on her cheat sheet given to her by the managers, it says 2.25$. Why the difference? And which is correct? The laminated menu or her card given to her by the floor manager.
We ordered two burgers. One medium and one medium rare. I kept looking back at the kitchen to see if the burgers were put down. After close to 20 minutes, I got up and asked the floor manager where our two burgers might be.. I let him know that I saw the cook grab about 10 chits that spit out from the machine and that he then started to throw the patties on the grill. That is just unacceptable. Our server shouldve gotten the manager to see where the food that she ordered was and why it wasn't on the grill..
The special burger is $4.99 plain with chips. I ordered off the burger off the menu with cheese and fries.. And that came to almost $8.00. Both burgers were the same size and weight. So for an additional three dollars, I get fries that werent especially hot and a piece of cheese? A thin cut piece of swiss? Our server didn't say that the chips were homemade or that the special burger was the same size as the more expensive one on the menu..
Im hoping that todays lunch was an abberation and not the norm. There were more employees than customers by 1130am and yet it still took an unreasonabley amount of time for two burgers. For that size of burgers, it shouldn't be more than three minutes per side for m/r and four for a medium.
When we got our bill, there was no adjustment nor any apology from our server nor the floor manager. Just here you go, enjoy.. We really couldn't enjoy it because we spent so much time waiting for the food when it was obvious the burgers hadnt even been starting to be cooked. If our server was qualified, she wouldve noticed that we had been waiting, come over to our table, gotten a manager, something to show that she is aware of her surroundings, not relaxing by the barback station.
Hopefully this can be taken as a learning tool for everyone involved with todays fiasco and that training steps can be taken to make sure that the restaurant runs efficiently and smoothly. For the amount of time for lunch today was just to long because of lapses in service and training.
The old Trail Dust, pre-fire, had a lot more going for it than the current. The atmosphere in the old place wreaked of old campiness and even though the steaks were mediocre beef at best, you did not seem to mind as much. The Trail Dust of today is too bright, too mediocre, too in search of an identity. Yes you can get a big steak for less than other places, but I eat my steaks bloody rare, and when you eat them that way, you can really tell the difference between quality and gristly average. The Trail Dust will see me on occasion because my son loves the slide, but there should be more to get me to come back. There is not.
I had a delicious burger at the Trail Dust.
I start this way because it's the only nice thing I can say about this place. I think if "Steak House" is part of your name, you should be able to cook a steak to the right temperature, especially if you get two tries at it.
We ate here when my mother -in-law was in town, as her midwestern preferences had already taken us to Chili's and Aplebee's during her stay, and I was hoping for something with a little more local flavor.
The Trail Dust certainly has that, with the wild west atmosphere, and the slide, and wandering singers. All that is fine, so long as the food and service are good. Sadly, that wasn't the case.
Our waitress seemed new, and rather lost and clueless. The salads and bread basket came nice and promptly, though the ranch dressing was rather flavorless. Before we could finish the salads, the entrees arrived. I had been hoping to finish my beer, and enjoy a second one with my burger, but no such luck. In the rush to get our entrees out (Why? It was 7:30 on Sunday and the place was half empty) they had forgotten to cook my wife's steak to the ordered "medium." When they brough out a brand new one (Why? Why not throw the raw one back on the grill for two minutes?) It was a nice bloody rare too! While I enjoyed the burger, the fries were criminal. Clearly they'd been sitting under a lamp for an hour, and were soggy, mealy and cold. The baked beans tasted like brown salty dishwater. These and the salad dressing would have tasted better if sourced off a supermarket shelf.
After the manager took my wife's steak off the bill, the waitress dropped the check before we had finished eating. Can I interest you in dessert or coffee? Guess not.
MUST AVOID!
A nice, fun, family-friendly restaurant.
We had dinner and dessert, for less than we pay for just dinner at a lot of places. The portions are extremely generous and the quality is very good.
A lot of "character' here. I like the "this is a dangerous place for a necktie" motif--complete with necktie "victims" posted all over the restaurant. The slide is a nice touch, too, as are the cowboy/cowgirl nicknames given to all of the staff.
A definite recommend and definitely some place we would go back to. (in fact, looking forward to going back and trying the chocolate fondue!)
So despite the annoyingly loud kids roaming around the restaurant like they were raised by Neanderthals, Trail Dust is still one of my favorite steakhouses in Denver. Every time I go there, my teeth automatically transform into a carnivorous machine and my stomach extends to accommodate the large upcoming beef load. My teeth and stomach have never been disappointed. I love the wood-grilled flavor, the buttery Texas toasts, and the laid-back atmosphere all for $20.
1 star off: the Neanderthal kids, especially the ones on the indoor slide...please go to an outdoor park with your cave moms
Justin W. said it best "It is what it is."
Just walking in the door makes me want to eat lots of beef, the more rare the better. My Interior Design friends would call this a "destination" restaurant. The place is loud, the kids are out-of-control maniacs, service is only adequate - probably because they are dodging shrieking children while holding hot food, and it is always packed. The steaks are very good, nice and beefy, the sides are good too, the salad is fresh and they give you a stack of Texas Toast. This is the kind of steak joint where they don't get offended if you use A-1, which I do, don't judge.
This is more than good steaks, it is truly an event and that is both good and bad - you don't go there to have a romantic lunch or dinner and you can leave feeling kinda exhausted but I like to think of it as a free show with dinner.
Appetizer = Rocky Mountain Oyster....Awesome
Main course = 52 ounce juicy steak with cold beer
This is a real Cowboy Steak house in Colorado. Four and a half star for me.
I miss the Trail Dust in Westminster. I loved that place. This one is still good, but the 2 times I've been since the other closed have been less than stellar.
Rude hostesses, inattentive waiters, and poorly cooked steak. And they raised their prices a LOT since the last time I went.
That being said....it's probably my favorite steakhouse around. So I will get my hopes high that it will be better next time.
Where else can you order a 52 ounce steak, see live country music, and go down a giant slide. Woohoo.
CONS:
1. Overwhelming volume of the band.
2. Little kids running around like chickens without heads
3. Highlands Ranch Soccer Moms sporting the latest FUPA fashions on the dance floor.
4. Food oozing with grease in an attempt to make the lowest quality meat, acceptable.
PROS:
1. Live band
2. An indoor slide.
3. Interesting people watching. (It'll only take a few minutes before some kid breaks out "the sprinkler", then the whole crowd will get into it. I think i even saw a kid make a new move..."The Horizontal Sprinkler". Nothing like shining the floor while sporting a new move.
It is what it is.
A crazy, rowdy Coloradan and Texan steakhouse that's high on the volume, cowboy hats, electric slide, balloon hats, and most importantly, quality steak.
Yes, the live band can drown out any semblance of a conversation, and the 90 minute wait on a Saturday night definitely knocks it down a star (why can't they take reservations?), but you go there because you're craving a tender, well-seasoned, mouth-watering, wood-grilled steak, right?
If it's an option, I'd highly recommend sharing the Bull Shipper, a 50 oz. fully satisfying porterhouse that easily fed my wife and me (and we've got fairly healthy appetites)
C'mon it's the damn Trail Dust.
I've been coming here ever since I was a Kid (A.K.A. BEFORE the place burned down) and have enjoyed the damn slide ever since.
Okay so It's family friendly, it's over-run with the OC style HR people and it's loud at times but let's be honest....
Has anyone of us ever really bitched about having a bad meal here??
The food is AWESOME! Even at 26 years old, I still look forward to having a good ol' Cowgirl (yeah, I said it) for dinner and filling my waistline up on the oh....so....yummy Texas Toast.
I've been twice. I guess it's okay. Food is mediocre. One of my trips was on a weekend, it was head splitting loud. Children screaming and a really horrible cover band. The wait was average for a place on the weekend. I guess kids love the slide, I kinda wanted to try it myself but resisted the urge. Staff wasn't bad, but the service didn't stand out as exceptional.