The Dish Room Restaurant in Burlington, Colorado – 2020
If you ever happen to be in Burlington, Colorado around meal time, make sure to stop at “The Dish Room” for a meal. Highly recommended.
We were road tripping from Los Angeles to Saint Louis and back in a little over a week because we wanted to visit family but in the COVID-19 world we didn’t feel like flying. Yes, that’s quite a driving trip. Picking locations to spend the night can be tricky as you want to hit a chain that allows accumulating points and is the right length of driving for the day. As we were planning to stay in Beaver Creek at the Park Hyatt for a night, we wanted to get as far West as possible on the first day so we could have a shorter trip to Beaver Creek and be able to enjoy our stay at the Park Hyatt. I considered Hays, Kansas (not far enough), Colby, Kansas (ok, but no preferred hotel chains), and Limon, Colorado (too far). I asked Tomo to investigate more choices, and he found a Fairfield Inn in Burlington which was just right.
We assumed our meal choice was pretty limited, and I had already settled on Denny’s. Yes, Denny’s. Tomo did a little more scouting and found “The Dish Room” and I’m glad he did. They note on their website, “We are proud to feature locally sourced produce when available, family raised Wagyu/Angus & locally raised Berkshire pork.” Reading the reviews online convinced us –
We were told by the locals that this is the best restaurant in Burlington and one of the best restaurants in the entire area so we had to try it. We were not disappointed. The menu is extensive and creative, based upon the chef’s travels around the world.
Michael H, Cherry Hills, CO
Amazing! We could not believe this restaurant was in a small town in eastern Colorado! The restaurant itself is cozy and welcoming, the service as friendly and attentive and the food was creative and perfectly executed as were the cocktails.
Regina S, Kansas City, MO
As we are practicing social distancing, we ordered our meal as takeout. We ordered the “Chicken & the Egg” salad ($14) and it comes with chicken, egg, sweet corn, crispy onions, pico, cheese, chilis with sides of bbq sauce and ranch dressing. Honestly whatever was on the salad was enough and I didn’t need the bbq sauce or ranch dressing. I think either of those would have covered up the flavor of the salad.
We also ordered the “Butternut Squash Enchiladas” ($18) that comes with ricotta cheese, zesty pool of salsa verde, served with a sweet corn tamale & fresh pico. Ours was also topped with walnuts. I’m a sucker for anything butternut squash and it did not disappoint. It was an interesting mix of pasta and Mexican food. A surprisingly good combination. And the tamale was great too.
The chef, Ezra Gutierrez’ bio on Yelp states, “I’ve worked in a professional kitchen since I was 15 years old. I’ve been on the operating team of 6 successful restaurants. I’ve done everything from food trucks & high volume to fine dining. I trained with international Chef Gerardo Moceri. The Dish Room is my take on southwest, Italian & new American dishes. I’m constantly pushing myself to refine the craft & try new methods with endless research & development of recipes and new dishes.”
What is amazing to me is that Burlington has a population, based on the 2010 census, of 4,254. It is, however, the county seat of Kit Carson County (!). It is great that a restaurant like “The Dish Room” can be supported by that population and the travelers like us rolling through. Perhaps being the one place that people in the region recommend has some benefit.
