Cottonwood Kitchen

On our 6th visit, things changed for the slightly worse. The supervisor, bartender and servers are doing their best. I think it's a managerial dilemma. Arriving on a lazy Monday afternoon about 4:30pm, the bar was not packed for happy hour. The bartender seemed slow but she was serving everyone at the bar and some of the orders coming in from the dining area. There was a new supervisor named Tim. He has his server's license and has tons of experience from Ojo Caliente Spa and Resort. But management needs to empower their supervisors. He is a new hire and not allowed to serve alcohol until he's been at Tesuque Casino for a longer period of time. Why would management hobble the staff especially during happy hour? The couple next to us waited 20 mins before getting asked if they ordered. It made service so slow. The wings, Korean style ribs, guacamole and chips were all good. Tim and Lynette were doing their best. Let's hope management gets them some help. The evenings, views and ambience are all beautiful. The architecture and site design are elegant and impeccable.

The Cottonwood Kitchen has the best happy hour in town. That said, they are inconsistent regarding service and food quality. It's very hit and miss. For example, a few weeks ago I went and one of the new servers was being trained. The service was very good and I ordered a French dip. The food was very good and freshly cooked. Yesterday I order the French Dip and it came out very quickly but was disappointing. I think they served me an old one and microwaved it. The french fries were not hot and fresh and the sandwich was a bit soggy and looked as they made it hastily. It was room temperature. So they were definitely having an off day with both the food and the service yesterday for me personally. Still, it's worth a try. The hit and miss is about 50/50.

Overall this was a really good experience from a casino restaurant. This restaurant is located inside the Tesuque Casino. I can't say I've ever had a bad dining experience at a casino and this experience didn't change things. They had 1/2 off appetizers and drinks which I'm assuming was Happy Hour. I was amongst a group of 6 we dined socially at one of the lounge tables. The wait service was very attentive, friendly and offered recommendations which is always notch on the good customer service belt. I ordered the chicken wings, chips & salsa and Korean BBQ ribs, all which were exceptional for casino food. Casinos invest in highly skilled cooks, so I wasn't surprised. The cocktail drinks were poured in nice sized glasses, so even if it wasn't Happy Hour the servings were pretty large for cocktails. Overall this was a very good experience and I will visit again when in Santa Fe.

Decided to stop and check the Casino out and to try out the resturant. I have to say that things started off well, but my problem with the upfront pricing of my dinner was not clear and very aggravating. I will start by saying that the resturant is nice, server friendly and food was good. Probably would have gave this establishment a 4 star at the beginning of my dining experience. The issue I really have is with the advertisement of the daily specials. As you can see from my photo, it does not state that these specials are only valid during a specific time period, but actually implies that they are all day. I was going to just have the burger, but decided to ask my server what the price of the daily prime rib special was, and she told me it was $19. I asked her this specifically because it was not posted anywhere, nor was it a normal item on the menu (the closest thing to it on the mene was a ribeye for $38). My reply was that I would take the special since it was only $3 more than the burger. I gave the server my debit card at the end of dinner, and she brought me back the bill to sign. At this point I noticed my bill was $43 total for the prime rib and an iced tea. I asked the server why it was so high, she went to look at the register, and came back and told me that I had placed my order after 6pm so I was being charged the normal price (note that the normal price is not listed anywhere on their menu since it was a daily special and not a normal menu item). At this point I asked if there was a manager I could talk to about the situation. The manager also insisted that the daily special price was only good during the social hour which ended at 6pm, and I told her I did not come their for any social hour rather normal dining (guess I appear to ba a local?). I asked the manager why the server did not inform me of this 6pm time when I asked the price, and why it is not posted anywhere on the daily special sign or on the menu. The manager proceed to make excuses like they aren't always aware of the time since they don't all have watches or watch the clocks (here I am thinking what does that have to do with not clearly advertising the valid time period for the daily special?). I finally tell the manager that the server outright told me the price was $19 and she proceeded to ask the server if she did, who finally says that she did quote me the price of $19. At this point I am thinking they just expect to pay this price that is not posted anywhere. The manager then continues to insult me by telling me that this one time she will discount may prime rib, but in the future she will not (at this point I am think WTF, do you think I go around and try to scam discounted dinners on a regular basis?). This really then makes me angry and I tell her, most likely I will not be dining here again, and her reply is, in that case, she isn't going to give me the discount and is going to make me pay full price (again I am thinking WTF, you can't be serious, and I am wondering at this point if she thought maybe I had ordered the ribeye steak). I finally got my new bill which $23 , and I ask the manager, what about the bill they ran on my card for $43, is that cancelled? She tells me not to worry about it because they just won't finalize it and I won't be charged for that bill. Of course, this is not setting well with me since I see on my bank account there are both charges that have been pre-authrorized at this point. So now I am just waiting to see if only the $23 charge gets posted or if the other one for $43 also gets posted (meaning I will have just paid $66 for a daily prime ribs special). I guess only time will tell if I am going to have to dispute a charge with my bank. I would not dine here you are treated with more respect and take seriously if you have an issue at a fast food reasturant.

We went with a large party for a birthday...and if you come Wednesday be ready to wait in line it's their busy night with the prime rib special. So about an hour wait in line, then we're told no we can't seat your party together when clearly there were tables being cleared and they could have worked with us. The manager with the bun was walking around saying NO No can't do that. Terrible customer service. We brought a cake and we're told we can't allow that no outside food and we charge a fee to cut it fine. Overall our server she was great despite it all and have a large table who wanted to split checks she was nice and accommodating unlike the manager man with the bun. He was terrible and wouldn't even smile, maybe get a job that isn't customer service. The prime rib, it's decent there isn't a lot of flavor but I did not expect it to have a lot for the price. Maybe try coming here for another night when the manager or host with the bun isn't here.

Was visiting from out of town and was seeking a nice place to have some drinks & turned out that the bar/lounge area has a "social hour" from 4-6pm. Was 3 of us, 2 drinks each and an appetizer of "diablo wings" all for 36 bucks! Phyllis was our server and she is da bomb! Very courteous, friendly, and provided excellent service. Decor and ambience is very nice and I appreciated the comfy seats and tables rather than the stools in the bar area.

Native American Tesuque Casino restaurant, perhaps a step above the typical NA casino. Not a Player, but looked nice. Opened 2018. We were there to have Thanksgiving on a NA Reservation..Most annoying: Open Table Reservations give FALSE directions: Address is NOT 7 Tesuque Rd!!! Pretty annoying if you're from out of town, driving in snow at night. Need to get this fixed, but no one at Casino cared. O-Kay?!?So almost every site gives the terribly wrong address "at 7 Tesuque Rd." EVEN the Casino!!?? The Actual Address is:US HWY 84/285, Exit 171 (Flea Market Rd).Food was plentiful and tasty. First time a prime rib carver asked me how thick I wanted my cut! Wow, and it was perfect. Service was really disappointing. Steak knives? "Oh, right!" More Water? "Oh, yeah." Check, please?.....hey anyone wanna take my money in a casino? "Oh, sure!"

#81 for 2019I'm not much for casinos but when my dad wants to throw some money their way who am I to complain? Instead, of wasting my hard earned money on slots I I seek out the eateries, looking for donuts! I stopped at the hostess stand at Cottonwood Kitchen to glance at the menu. All the noms sounded good so I decided to step in, have a seat near the huge picture windows and explore the menu since I have plenty of time on my hands! Wow! That's a rarity in my busy life! It was a tough choice for me! I was stuck on two plates. The seafood cobb salad or the Chopped Chile Chicken Salad! What to do...what to do?? While I was trying to decide on my dish for the night I had excellent service from the koolest server!! Darn, I should have asked her name! Who doesn't love to be #yelpfamous! She answered all my Foodie questions!I chose the Chopped Chile Chicken Salad!! I won't go into too much detail because it is so good you all need to stop by Tesuque Casino and try it! What I will share though is that it's big enough to feed a family of four! Ok ok I exaggerate maybe it's a family of three! Through my questions to my server I found out they use local ingredients in alot of their dishes including this delightful salad! You know the NM Donut Kween is all about #thinklocal #supportlocal #buylocal #eatlocal so to find out the tomatoes and greens are locally grown has made my heart happy!!!Next time... I'm ordering the Prime Rib! I hear it's pretty darn good!! *wink*

Great find driving back home between Taos and Santa Fe at the Tesuque Casino. We stopped for Sunday brunch and sat outside in their peaceful patio overlooking the vistas. We had the chopped salad and the fried chicken sandwich with chipotle bbq sauce. Both were great and the French fries were spot on that came with the sandwich. The highlight was the donut holes which came with 3 delicious dipping sauces. Service was also very attentive. Located in the casino, and not across the freeway as the google maps direct you. Worth a stop and not your ordinary casino restaurant. Oh the shrimp cocktail looked amazing but we didn't order it...for next time!

We love this place! The prime rib special is a great value. Always cooked the way you order it and generous portions. We liked it even better when it was $14.95 but that's inflation for you. For some reason service was very slow on our last visit but that's unusual. Save room for the chocolate cake. It's awesome.