After my Waterton Canyon hike I made my way over to the Waterton Tavern. The tavern is actually really close to Roxborough State Park as well if you find yourself over there. I spoke to the owner and he said they have been open for 7 years in the location in Littleton. The tavern was doing dine-in which was great because I was dragging after hiking in 95 degree heat.
The first thing I have to point out is how amazing the staff was. The main server who helped me, whose name I failed to get, had such amazing energy and it was exactly what I needed to stay awake after the hike, and more importantly she kept my glass filled with Iced Tea constantly which was a challenge since I was in serious re-hydrate mode.
The first thing I had to order was the fried mushrooms. I am a sucker for them and I can’t seem to find them in the downtown area because they must not be trendy enough. As anyone who has ever eaten a fried mushroom knows, the first bit usually shoots a burst of million degree grease directly into your mouth that instantly burns every surface it touches. I have to hand it to the kitchen staff because for the first time in my life that didn’t happen! The mushrooms were plump and the breading was thick enough to encase them but not so thick that it hid tiny little mushrooms. I was really happy with this choice.

Now to the entree. The server said they were known for the burgers, so I got a patty melt, and when I ordered the coleslaw on the side she explained that the coleslaw was special and a “love it or hate it” item. So of course I had to try it. The patty melt was really good. The bread was toasted and tasted buttered and wasn’t overly thick as to hide the flavors and not too thin so that it fell apart. the onions looked super fresh and tasted really good but again they didn’t over power the flavor. They did taste a bit more raw than caramelized. The burger patty itself was cooked perfectly and had a nice flavor to it that still came through even with the onions, cheese and dressing. Job well done on the patty melt.
Now to the “love it or hate it” coleslaw. I absolutely loved it. I will say it was different. It had the chopped cabbage and looked like some apples. It wasn’t very creamy like some. The difference was the seasoning that was sort of smokey (cumin maybe?) and spicy (cayenne?). I couldn’t really place it all but it I really liked it. I can see how people may be a little shocked by the flavors at first but with the warning it was a nice little side dish.
All in all it was a really good meal and was perfect after a hot day of hiking. If you find yourself near Roxborough or Waterton you should check these guys out. I have also added them to my map section.

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