rabbit hole

let me first say that this is my second time to dine at rabbit hole. the first experience (summer 2016) much better than the last (summer 2017). the first time was amazing, the food, the drinks, the waitstaff, the barstaff. everything was grand. i absolutely love this dark, underground, atmosphere. the ambience was and is still amazing.

this time, however, is a much different story. i'm not sure if they have a new chef, new waitstaff, new management or what, but this was the worst dining experience i've ever had (at a somewhat classy place). we made a reservation (which is a must), and the hostess was very nice and seated us promptly. then it went south... the waitress was completely dismissive, rude, and haughty. wouldn't even look us in the eye. we ordered drinks. i had the old fashion and i think they forget to add the rye. my wife ordered the white rabbit which she actually enjoyed a little. for an appetizer we had theporkbelly tacos. was awful. theporktasted like it had been fried 3 days prior and reheated in the microwave. for the entre i ordered the chicken and biscuit. again, it tasted like it was cooked days in advance and reheated. the biscuit was super dry and they gave a drizzle of gravy. seriously, the gravy was no more than a teaspoon. my food was so dry that i had to help it down with the whiskey flavored water. also there was absolutely no flavor in the chicken or biscuit. the gravy was good, but i needed 10 times that amount... my wife ordered the bacon wrapped rabbit meatloaf. the meatloaf, again, was incredibly dry and flavorless. there was a lot of bacon which is supposed to add flavor, but first the bacon must be cooked. the bacon that surrounded the hunk of meat was hardly cooked. it was inedible, and i never leave bacon behind. i couldn't even chew it. i had to spit it out in my napkin. i apologized to wife for being so rude as to spit food in my napkin. she said, "i had to do it too". needless to say we didn't even try dessert.

holy crap this place is awsome. amazing! probably the best place to eat in all of colorado springs! i went there with my wife, sister, and parents. the service is a little slow but they make everything fresh and from scratch and it is definitely worth it. i shared the butchers block for 2($35) with my dad. it came with duck wings, lamb shank, buffalo,porkwings, rabbit meatloaf, and i don't remember what was in the burger, but it was the best damn burger i have ever had. after that the 5 of us shared a german chocolate cake and a carrot cake. both amazing and the carrot cake was the best i've ever had! i forgot to mention i tried some of my wife's bacon wrapped chicken cacciatore and it was phenomenal! with 4 meals, drinks (including wine) and 2 desserts the meal came out to be about $100 a large chunk of witch came from that plate for 2 that was $35. deffinitly going back!

good first time. my husband and i ended our night at rabbit hole after first visiting both nosh and mackenzies chop house. we are new to town and so decided to do our usual - which is to say that we decided to have a drink and an appetizer a few places while we got a feel for the land. rabbit hole was an interesting place to end the night.
when we first arrived around 8:30 the sign clearly states to see the hostess for seating but upon descent of the stairs there is no clearly marked hostess stand. it's not a good first impression. there was a party of three also mulling around the center of the entrance. i went to use the restroom and upon my return the party of three was leaving and was more than a little irate - even towards strangers - telling us "good luck" because they had been waiting for a table for an hour and a half. i passed a newly empty table on my way to the restroom and it was still unbussed when i returned so i was a bit offput by this confluence of information/events. i soon realized that is because the hostess also helps bus tables - rabbit hole, you are obviously a successful place. on a friday night you should have a dedicated busser and a dedicated hostess (with a clearly marked hostess stand) hands down. while the hostess was quite nice that wait was supposed to be over an hour for a table so we opted to grab two seats that quickly opened up at the bar.
the bartenders were friendly and professional and know how to make nice premium drinks. i asked about a specialty drink made with a unique local product and was offered a taste of it before the cocktail was made and the bartender was able to tell me in depth info on the maker. i ended up ordering that cocktail which was made promptly and was delicious. my husband ordered a beer and it was delayed in coming to him so we had to ask a second time for it - unfortunate mistake, but the bartender has a great personality, apologized appropriately and swiftly got the beer. we asked after several of the menu items and the bartender was able to describe the foods in detail. we ordered the butcher's plate for two which is an assortment of their meat items - duck wings,porkribs, beef short rib, bacon wrapped meatloaf, all bacon burger patty etc. it was definitely a great choice for a first experience and everything was delicious and presented nicely on a butcher's block with added cheese, mustards, pickled beets, breads etc. my only "complaint" if you could even call it that is that the orange sauce for the duck wings is presented on the block with the duck wings arranged on top. while this looks very nice, it is actually very difficult to eat it that way. you end up either skipping the sauce or having to wipe your round duck wing on the butchers block to pick up sauce - it's awkward - and a drizzle over the wings would fix that. the sauce is delicious and was great with the bread dipped in it but i wish it wouldn't have been so difficult to get the sauce for the duck on the actual duck....
from my seat i had a perfect view of the kitchen window/expediter. the kitchen staff was quick and focused. the expediter seemed focused and organized when the servers came to pick up orders - although the servers didn't use trays, likely because of space, and they often seemed overloaded with dishes. the behind the window staff (i could see three) were likewise consistently busy but also seemed amped to be there and ready to make good food. you can simply tell by looking at how the employees in the kitchen and behind the bar work that there is an intentional and in sync food and bev program here.
the bartenders both were friendly, and seemed genuinely happy to be doing their jobs. in speaking more in depth with my bartender i came to learn that they are directly involved in both drink design and in picking and purchasing the high quality products they use in the drinks. as a foodie who was born and raised in new orleans i am impressed with a place that shows this kind of a progressive and innovative management and leadership approach. rabbit hole seems to understand that if you hire quality people with great skills and then let them do their job you will have a hit. i do think that the front of house (servers/hostess) could use a bit more support and some minor tweaking but i am looking forward to returning to rabbit hole to try more of the cocktails and food and it is a definite spot that i will be bringing all our visitors.

disappointing. the rabbit hole is one place i won't be going back to. i met a girlfriend for happy hour here. the place is really cute inside and they have a super cheap happy hour deal (50% off drinks and apps).... drinks are drinks, nothing special. i had an average glass of wine for $3. but the food...the food is awful! we orderedporktacos that were absolutely repulsive. inside the taco were slabs ofporkfat trying to pass as meat. theporkwas 95% fat, 5% meat. not exaggerating. i pulled the fat out and ate the veggies instead. gross! and the lettuce wraps...if you like fried meat wrapped in lettuce with glorified mayonnaise on the side, then this is your place. for those of us who enjoy food that actually tastes good...go somewhere else. yuck. disgusting. i will never go back.

fantastic happy hour- half priced appetizers before 6:00 meant that my wife and i never made it to the entrees. we decided to make it more tapas style and shared several delicious apps with our half priced draft beers. we tried theporkbelly tacos, game sausage plate, spicy blue cheese mushrooms, onion-gruyere raviolis, and the shrimp-escargot scampi. everything was delicious; exciting with interesting flavor combos. also enjoyed two desserts; the moon pie and the key lime layer cake. we'll return to the rabbit hole soon and hope to try something from the "eat me" menu then. i can't wait!

the rabbit hole.porkbelly tacos, caprese salad, and carrot cake. nuff said!