Carlos’ Bistro can provide the best dining experience in Colorado Springs.
But it’s really for two kinds of people:
Wealthy folks for whom money is no object. They can experience caviar and wagyu beef specialties that most mere mortals only dream of.
The other folks who can enjoy Carlos’ are smart diners who ask a lot of questions. Easy questions, like “how much does that cost?”
But then there are guys who want to impress their dates or guys who don’t want to make their spouses feel like they’re cheap bastards. Those guys could fall into some costly traps at Carlos.
(Really, a chocolate truffle dessert was richly exquisite, but $40?)
Carlos’ Menu Prices
To be fair, while most restaurants have been raising prices in the past couple of years, Carlos’ has lowered the price of many dishes.
Chef-owner Carlos Echeandia and his wife, Stephanie Springer, felt it was necessary, considering all the changes that have threatened the restaurant industry.
After all, Carlos’ was known as one of the highest of the high-end dining joints in town. Echeandia would boast about his $90 Kobe burger. And while the food quality made him the darling of the Zagat restaurant guide and attract a discerning monied clientele, COVID threatened to make that business model obsolete.
“We got killed by COVID,” says Springer, who worked for Echeandia as a waitress for 18 years before becoming his wife and business partner four years ago.
A long closure during the pandemic, followed by an industry-wide staffing shortage were bad enough. But as Americans cut back on dining, especially fine dining, that reputation as a pricey-but-worth-it experience worked against the bistro.
Springer and Echeandia went through the menu, lowering prices significantly. especially the salads (most now $10 or less) and pastas (most in the $20-$35 range.) The filet mignon is only $50 (that’s $18 less than The Famous’).
“Our prices are … wow, wow. I mean, you can eat here as a couple for $100,” Springer says.
She’s right, but it depends on how thrifty, smart and careful the couple is.
The specialty items go from extravagant to outrageously exorbitant. That $90 burger now comes in at $150 (a blend of Kobe, Wagyu and Prime beef crafted by a master butcher exclusively for Carlos’). Osetra Caviar comes in at $250 an ounce unless Echeandia does one of his special concoctions with it; then it’s $300. And he tells us he has the even more luxurious Beluga Caviar on the way.
These specials are not listed on the menu.
“We don’t print a lot of the higher end things because it scares people away,” Springer says. “They get nervous. So this menu is comfortable for everyone.”
Carlos’ High Standards
Meanwhile, Echeandia, with his tie whipped over his shoulder and his world-class charm dialed up to 10, is talking up the caviar and beef Wellington and chocolate truffles with English cream. It’s his passion, and although he was all for the menu changes that would help the place survive, his heart is in the finest, most transcendent dishes he can create.
In fact, he wants the city of Colorado Springs to pay so that he can compete for a Michelin Star. It’s not just about him and his restaurant, he says. It’s about the city’s reputation.
“I want Colorado Springs to be the city of dining in America. That’s my dream,” he says.
“I want to be a part of Colorado history, that a kid dishwasher could learn to cook and help Colorado Springs become a city known for the best of the best.”
Echeandia came to the United States from Lima, Peru, in 1978 at the age of 15 and got his first job as a dishwasher in a hotel near Disneyland. Now 61, he was born and raised in a wealthy family that employed a private chef. And as a child, he was schooled in world cuisine even more than Peruvian food and, of course, the importance of excellent service.
He moved to Colorado Springs in 1985, where he worked as a waiter, manager and cook when needed at Chili’s and as a waiter at Red Lobster and Marigold Cafe & Bakery. He also worked briefly at The Broadmoor before opening Carlos’ Bistro in 2002.
Since then, Echeandia has racked up many accolades, most notably from Zagat, which has named Carlos’ Bistro the No. 1 Restaurant in Colorado and among the top restaurants in the U.S.
And Carlos’ remains on our list of Best Restaurants in Colorado Springs.
Inside the Carlos’ Bistro Experience
Our experience at Carlos’ was delightful but suffered from the aforementioned sloppy ordering, hobbled by our embarrassment at asking for prices of everything.
We arrived promptly at 3 p.m. to experience the two-for-one happy hour. But we didn’t realize that we each had to order second drinks to get that deal, so we ended up paying $50 for a very good old-fashioned and martini.
Echeandia raved about his lobster bisque, which boasts a whole lobster tail, shell and all, in the middle of the bowl. It wasn’t on the menu, and he didn’t mention that it was $60, which is about $40 more than we’ve ever paid for soup. It was creamy with a nice citrusy tang, and the lobster was succulent. But that’s a lot of money for a soup.
We also had a spectacularly tasty, juicy tomahawk pork chop topped with an apple brandy reduction that tasted like grandma’s apple pie, well worth the $40 price tag.
By the time we finished the chocolate truffle, we received a bill that topped $200 (before a $40 tip).
Ouch.
Still, I respect that even as Echeandia offers pockets of affordability, he still goes to extremes to make every diner feel special, and when it comes to quality, he will never compromise.
Find Carlos’ Bistro on the Westside at 1025 S. 21st Street. Explore the menu or make reservations at carlosbistrocos.com.
