Several years ago I discovered a remarkable restaurant tucked away at 26 East Kiowa Street in Downtown Colorado Springs. I would often meet friends there for lunch because the variety and quality of the food was the best around. Whenever we had a special occasion, it became our ‘place of choice’ because they were so accommodating, and the food was always delicious.
But this intimate restaurant never really hit the ‘big time,’ even though it was voted “Best of . . .” in different categories for several years in a row. One reviewer even wrote at one time, “Don’t let this marvelous restaurant die,” and that has been the feeling for many years of those of us who love it.
Always trying to drum up business for them, several times in the past few months I have invited friends to lunch there, and the response is always the same, “No, thanks, let’s go somewhere else, I don’t like Mexican food.” Although the name might lead you to believe that might be the case, nothing could be further from the truth.
Mike and Tammy Pinto (Executive Chef and Manager, respectively) started their Bistro de Pinto in the Spring of 2006. Offering casual fine dining in their intimate surroundings (it only seats 32 people), they offer the best beef dishes around (from steaks to beef tips), with a cuisine that includes Continental, Italian, French, Seafood, American, specialty salads, oh, and yes, Mexican. They are wonderful at providing you with individualized and specialized dishes at your request, and serve only the freshest, highest quality ingredients with steroid, antibiotic, and hormone-free meats.
Originally from Panama, Mike’s combined 14 years as an Executive Chef at the Woodmoor Pines Country Club and the Garden of the Gods Country Club have made him one of the best around. If you are looking for a truly delicious meal, I would suggest you stop by during the week and give them a try. “Don’t let this marvelous restaurant die.”
To find out more of what is happening in Downtown Colorado Springs, please read other posts by Mimi Foster, Colorado Springs Realtor www.RealtyCOSprings.com
I will try to go there soon to try the food. I drove by last week and remarked to my wife that “Apparently, it is some of the best haute cusine in town.”, because that’s all I ever hear. My wife asked, “Mexican haute cusine?”, and I replied, “that’s what I thought, but no.”.
So, if this place is doing poorly, and it isn’t the food that is failing them, perhaps they should consider changing the name. I’m Irish, but I am by no means going to call my eventual haute cusine establishment anything that pigeonholes it to be something that a.) It is not and b.) Confuses the potential clientelle. So, there will be no “Paddy O’Brien’s House of Fine Dining” in my immediate future. You mentioned the reactions of yor friends when mentioning the name and I feel that, after 12 years in the downtown market , seeing the places that come and go, I can tell you that all anyone has is the ‘face value’ opportunity to capture your customer base. Word of mouth helps when explaining what a place is, but my experince is if it looks mexican it likely IS mexican. I wish your friends luck and I will certainly make a stop in soon. But the name is tragically deceptive.
I worked at Bistro de Pinto for Mike and Tammy and all I can say is AMAZING! I am going to keep this short and sweet. The best thing about working there was that I could honestly recommend EVERYTHING on the menu. The food is of the highest quality and is always fresh. The atmosphere is warm and familiar. I absolutely love this place and I still go back whenever I can. Its funny because I often joked with Tammy that I would work for food! ( thats how much I loved it!) I hope you all will give this gem a chance, I promise it will soon be one of your favorites~!