CHICA Aspen

Our family ate dinner here back in Feb 2022. The service was impeccable. The atmosphere in restaurant is awesome, clean and cool looking. The staff is friendly and great service. The food was delicious but def pricey but after all, you are in Aspen. The outdoor area is really nice too, they have heaters out there in winter. The bar is stocked and has EVERYTHING! The drinks were well made and tasty. I highly recommend it.

First and foremost: the food is exquisitely delicious and extremely flavorful. Although the menu is limited in a sense, you can rest assured that everything on it is packed with unique flavors and will please your pallette. The wine list, for those who enjoy their fine wines, is well stocked with great wines of varied ages and styles although heavier on the French wines due to the restaurant creator (slight bias but no complaints 🙂) Lastly, the place is cute, quaint, but very dimly lit. There is definitely a vibe to be had but die to the small space, it does get quiet noisy within a dark lit room. Final point: I would return.

Order the chicken sandwich!!! The best i’ve had in Aspen so far! It was a bit quiet today but the servers were incredibly involved, attentive, and socialised with us the whole time! The staff were all sooo friendly & communicative. The music was super vibey and it was so fun just relaxing by the bar!

Loving the the après ski vibe! We were looking for the place to après with DJ spinning house music and CHICA exceeded our expectation. Bouncer was friendly and bartenders were extremely nice to us. The price was surprisingly affordable. Highly recommended!

The bad news: it is very dark. You might need a flashlight to see the menu :) The good news: it is a vibe! And, the food is excellent. Our servers were also wonderful, with great suggestions on what to order. Check this place out! You won't be disappointed.

Terrible food! We come to Aspen every year and finally decided to check this place out (place opened in December 2021). I have no idea why people come here, price and quality is beyond reasonable. Whatever we tried was disastrous. Tuna tartare $28 aka ceviche style was way too overwhelming; crispy salmon poke $28 (3pcs) was fun but still ok; and the worse was anticuchos skewers $75 - how can you screw up chicken?! It's beyond our understanding. Ordered side of French fries - guess what? Those were FROZEN fries, I don't recall its price, but I'm sure it was outrageous. It's unacceptable. We would definitely avoid this place at any cost. After this dining experience we went searching for better food quality and thank God we found one and our Saturday evening wasn't busted completely.

The atmosphere it's awesome!!! You meet great people. I would recomend this place just to have a few drinks, dance and have fun...not really for the food my burger wasn't good.

This place was popping on a Saturday for apres.. pacifico had a large promotion going on and there was a bunch of pacifico beers. Great spot at the base of the mountain to watch people come up and go down. Nice easy entrance and exit and very close to the Ritz-Carlton

Amazing ambience, amazing service, AMAZING food & drinks! Thank you Vee for your amazing service and making us feel like at home. I highly recommend this beautiful resturant with amazing selection of dinner & appetizers! Thank you Vee again!

Ruben sandwich was good and they had nice appetizers. Drinks were good. Not a huge selection. Conveniently located in a great part of town.

Views | Portions | Half Chicken Views: If you get a table outside, you can see the mountains and the gondola. They have a lot of warmers for when the night gets a bit chilly. Also, they have a sizable outdoor bar outside, which is an interesting element. I would highly recommend getting outside and grabbing a drink or dinner there. Portions: The sides are sizable. We definitely underestimated how large the sides were going to be as a group. We should have gotten half of the sides because they were so plentiful. The main entree portions are pretty standard. So, be aware and ask more questions before ordering appetizers and sides. Half-Chicken: The half chicken was great. Tender, easy to cut, and had a unique flavoring. I would recommend it. It came with a salad which was light and airy. Nothing special or sizable. The meal is built around the chicken and is 90-93% chicken. The coolest part of the presentation is the skillet it comes out on. The skillet is sad inside a sizeable block of wood which gives the meal a substantial "cool" factor. Pro Tip: Make a reservation on Open Table. This place can get busy, so be sure to take the time to make a reservation. Pro Tip: The staff is very nice and accommodating. We had the standard 10-person party that 10 minutes before show time became a 4-person party because people flaked. They were very nice and understanding and sat the four who showed up on time at their table with no hassle. So they are very professional.

The food was great, although the veggies were a bit basic and not cleaned as well as they could've been. One of the waitresses wasn't helpful but another took over for us and was much more attentive. The drinks were exceptional, great flavor especially the elderberry drink. I also ordered the hot chocolate to go and the chile in it added so much warmth to it. Overall, I liked the experience and enjoyed the food. Also, the uniforms the waitresses were wearing were extremely short and we almost got flashed a few times. Cute sweater dresses but very tiny on a lot of the girls. Some of them looked uncomfortable because it barely covered their bottoms.

Phenomenal dining experience. It's very much a Latin steak house! Must try items are the Crispy Octopus, Ora King Salmon, and Papas Bravas Smokey potatoes. Ask to sit outside when it's nice, the only thing better than the food was a view of the mountain!

One of the worst dining experiences I've had in a long time. My friend got food poisoning from the Korean chicken wing, they were undercooked and cold in the middle. Burgers were cold and overcooked. They ran out of fries. Oh yeah, and it took them 3 hours to bring out a plate of wings and 5 burgers. On top of the food being disgusting, the service was also terrible. Based on previous reviews, it looks like they may have completely changed the menu from a year ago

Wow, they changed the menu here - just sandwiches and small bar food bites. Had korean wings (sub par) and the world's worst caesar salad. Place was empty and still had to wait a long time for check. Skip!

This is the first negative review I've felt a need to actually write, but I can't recommend a single thing about this place. Currently sitting here and after ordering 2hrs ago they're finally bringing out food (other groups arriving an hour after us have come and gone during this time). To add further, the orders are all wrong and multiple items have "sold out" during this as we've watched them get delivered to groups that arrived long after us. They've tried to say they're backed up but the restaurant is mostly empty. They've also tried to ease things over by bringing out a round drinks (some of our group isn't drinking) and saying they'll take 30% off the bill, but at this point with the delay and wrong/sold out items it's a bit ridiculous. I've had bad meals and service, but this is the worst. Either choose a different restaurant at base or go into town over this place - would give it a zero if I could, but forced to give 1 star. **Update: We've now gotten the bill and things we didn't order are on it, and the "free items" we were given are also on the bill. Don't just walk, run elsewhere.**

Beware! Soup served with serving spoons. Barely fit in mouths. Lots of people with those custom cowboy hats. We waited a half hour from our reservation time to sit. Champagne seemingly delivered with sparklers and dancing servers. Festive.

The first thing that stood out was the ambiance, just fabulous! Service was great, the food was tasty, but it was way too overpriced for the portions. It was 4 of us, I didn't picture all the appetizers, but the bill was $700. We each had 2 drinks. I don't care if it's Aspen, it's a rip off.

The squash rings were surprisingly delicious and an amazing flavor you wouldn't excited. Highly recommend.

This is the most poorly run restaurant in Aspen. On March 20th I made a 7:30pm reservation for 5 people for April 6th - weeks in advance. I was in town for a film festival and had limited time between screenings for dining so wanted to have my reservations all set! I had to put a credit card down to reserve the table. On April 5th I got a confirmation request from the restaurant, which I promptly responded to with confirmation that my party of 5 would be there at 7:30 the next day. On the day of my reservation, while I was in a screening, I received a phone call at 6:00pm from chica. They requested I arrive in the next thirty minutes (an hour or more before my reservation) or they would have to cancel on me because they'd decided to close early. I was in a movie and didn't get the message until I got out. Obviously bothered by this and seeking further explanation, I called the restaurant and left a message. I received a call back from John (who was apparently still at the restaurant at 8...). John explained we were the only reservation on the books (which he apparently only realized at 6pm?) so he had to consider what was best for business... which meant closing early and canceling on us...um... what? This is a business with operating hours that confirmed multiple times with me. And if I had not shown up this restaurant would have charged my card 25 dollars per person for a no-show fee. So in light of their decision to cancel on me less than 24 hours in advance (with no reason other than *shrug* "it was slow") I am eagerly awaiting the 25 dollar per person fee I feel I am owed. It's only right. In the meantime, I intend to let everyone know that if you want to eat, don't make a reservation at Chica!

Food was the good and the ambience is amazing. Went on a Saturday when they were closing for dinner so we missed the DJ and early brunch vibes. But the restaurant is super nice.

CHICA, great place for a drink and watch the mountain in Aspen. Highly recommended, very Aspen. As you would extend, pricey.

Ambiance is nice. Appetizers aren't out of this world. I think very overpriced. The entrees were good. I've gone to other Chica establishments and food is excellent, worth the price and I don't remember it being this steep in price. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't have mind but the food wasn't in my opinion worth the price they put on it. For example $92 for a small lobster Mac n cheese or 30 something dollars for 2 small empanadas. Drinks were good.

BEWARE SCAM Similar issue that Nicole experienced below so it seems this is a trend at this establishment. Ripping people off is part of their business model. I made apres ski reservations for 3 people via phone and they had informed me the policy is a $200pp credit card hold that will be netted against the final bill. My friend ended up putting his credit card down but they had forgot to net the $600 off the bill. They had told me the pending charge on my credit card would not go through though. A few days later, the pending $600 charge did in fact hit my credit card, in turn they were doubling charging us. I called the restaurant and they apologized for the mistake and said the manager would get back to me about the refund. I ended up having to call 3 times that week because I never heard back from the elusive manager. I went in person to the restaurant and the employee I talked to apologized again for the mistake and said he would email the manager and CC me to get the refund processed. A week later and I still had not heard anything. I had left Aspen at this point but after trying 4 times to get Chica to resolve the issue themselves, I turned to my credit card company to dispute the charge. After months of my credit card trying to resolve this for me, Chica would still not refund my money and my credit card closed the case. Congrats Chica! You were successful in once again scamming another innocent patron. Not to mention the food was meh, the service was slow, everything was overpriced and the employees are apparently in on this crime scheme. Do yourself a favor, avoid being ripped off and go to literally any other apres ski place in all of Aspen. One of those places that is likely not going to last long in Aspen anyway and I'll applaud the day they close their doors and allow for a better, more honest restaurant to takes it's place.

I'm not sure why the reviews are low. The food is absolutely phenomenal. The Grilled octopus is on par with the tavernas in Greece . The drinks are creative. The brunch here is also the best in Aspen. The menu has something for everyone.

Had a great experience dining at Chica during President's Weekend. Despite it being a busy holiday weekend, the service was exceptional and our every need was anticipated.

Small, dimly lit restaurant inside a hotel, right at the base of the mountain. Ambience was sexy. Unfortunately the food wasn't great. Empanada birria - the dip was super salty. Smoked ribs was extra sour and dry/stringy. Broccolini was under cooked. Corn flan cheesecake wasn't edible. Along with a beer, bill was about $160. Valet parking was $10/hour, but there was plenty of street parking.

We had brunch at CHICA and the food was wonderful. We had guacamole for the table, which I highly recommend. Also, you must have a Paloma - it was the best I've ever had. It is a bit pricey, but worth it. I recommend just getting a pitcher of them. The breakfast burrito was very good and huge. My husband ordered the chicken and waffles, and that was by far my favorite.

This unassuming comfortable Resturante was just outstanding!!!! The run away dish beyond belief was the Cazuela. I had expected a fish soup of a sort but this was so much more!!!! It had lobster, shrimp, octopus to die for and other pieces of boneless fish were all the flavors came together in a magnificent broth. A dish of season rice added was astonishing, and mixed with the broth left me wanting MORE!!! The other item that was life changing was the Mac and Cheese croquet side dish. It was more than a meal and was without question the best that all four of us have ever had. They were not afraid of spice to make this so very special. Do not pass the unique treasure up! You will love it. And if you are lucky you will meet one of the most welcoming owners and hospitality kings Greg!!!

My new favorite restaurant in Aspen... Start with their margarita - super fresh and tasty. The bar is great, perfect for after ski. We tried a good deal of menu. I recommend the steak, the best is Aspen. The octopus and salmon are perfect - loaded with flavor. The skull hot lava cake is like nothing else - worth the experience. The service was excellent, ask for Jenn.

It's not Chica anymore. They totally changed the menu. It's not even called Chica. Most of the dishes are with fried and grilled chicken .

Pretty damn near perfect! Loved our Apres ski timing right at Aspen Mountain.... Amazing & friendly service, awesome views & decor, tasty culinary treats... definitely recommend! Perfect for Aspen.... Elegantly Colorado...

Very nice place good service as always guaranteed high quality and affordable prices. Thank you so much...

Totally rocks. She's a legit chef , with very creative dishes and preparation, and the steaks and seafood , smoked or other preps were just fabulous. Great space at base of aspen mountain with super great outdoor eating area. Ian was great waiter and very attentive. Mussels were excellent at really good size and tasty broth. Grilled dipping bread was nice touch. Try the chocolate flaming dessert to die for , super creative, but better have 5 to eat it ! We will be back for sure.

Go for the apres bar scene -- but go somewhere else for dinner. Mediocre food, at best. Effort at inventive dishes falls flat.

If you are in Aspen, I would highly recommend not going to CHICA. I am a firm believer that if you are charging 5 star prices ($95 for lobster mac and cheese), you should have 5 star food and service. For these several reasons, CHICA received a 1 star in my opinion: 1) I have a very minimal dietary restriction and the waitress told me I could not have anything on the menu when there was only 1 dish on the menu I could not eat. FYI TO ANYONE WHO COMES: they cross contaminate 99% of their food (this is a direct quote). In my opinion, it sounds unsanitary. 2) While the manager did come and clarify that I could have 3 items on the menu (overpriced deviled eggs, Caesar salad, and burger), they were subpar. I didn't have the deviled eggs ($16 for 3 eggs) but the Caesar salad was drenched in dressing and the burger was dry. I understand it is not their fault if their is cross contamination on their menu, however, the fact that "99% of the menu is cross contaminated" is appalling and disgusting. I genuinely believe that if the service was more hospitable, I would have been much more understanding.

There are many exceptional dining options in Aspen, and Chica is one of the best! Since Chica is located next to The Gondola, at the base of Aspen Mountain (Ajax), we had mainly thought of it as a place for drinks and appetizers, at Lunch-time or for Apres-Ski. Fortunately, a family member recommended Chica as a destination Dinner Venue, and we had an amazing experience! The layout and design has been recently updated, along with the menu...and the ambiance, the views of the mountain, the exceptional service, and most importantly the incredible food and drinks...all combined for a memorable evening. In addition, the entire staff is fantastic, and Soy & Sarah went above and beyond to make it a special evening for my wife and I. I would highly recommend Chica as a place to go during the ski day and for Special Events and Daily Live Music after skiing, as well as a destination Dinner Venue while visiting Aspen!

Love this place!! Great energy, views of the mountain, drinks, food, and the nicest servers(thank you Pamela!) I don't know why we waited so long to try this place. So happy we did. My favorites were the lobster sushi-served on these airy, light toasted brioche squares, the tuna tartare, the guacamole with plantain chips, and the parrillada(OMG!!). Great addition to the Aspen restaurant scene. Now, one of our top choices for dinner in Aspen.

Very underwhelming. Wouldn't suggest eating here. Maybe for a marg, but the food wasn't good. Fundido was served like fondue, with cheap raw baby carrots and stale bread. The guac portion was so small that 2 people didn't have enough to try. The marg pitcher was literally all ice, wasn't enough to fill three glasses. Never again. Don't do it.

Great ambience! Great food ! Nice view ! Great service, its a bit on the higher end , our tab in the picture came close to $350 plus a 60 tip we left because the service was amazing, overall great experience and w must try when in aspen !

We were very disappointed in our experience. We were sat and didn't have a server come to our table for 30 minutes to greet or take any type of order. This poor service continued throughout the night forgetting orders and failing to do anything in a timely manner. They also refused to make any accommodations to allergies in our party. The server was apologetic but the manager failed to ever to apologize or come to our table. We finally brought it to the managers attention but he did nothing to rectify the situation. They charge a top dollar for a very average meal and even worse service. I would not recommend anyone spending their time or money in Aspen on this restaurant.

The food was good, but this meal won't be memorable for the food. And while the inexperienced server was in over his head - we waited 15 minutes for drinks after he'd accidentally mixed up two parties' bills, among other minor errors - we totally understand the staffing shortages and occasional lapses in service, industry-wide. (Even if we're paying outrageous Aspen prices.) This meal will remain memorable because of two ridiculous additions to our check on top of the subpar service. Looking at the bill, we learned that we were charged twice for ice. One of the charges, added to a mixed drink that was already $18, was $6. For ice. This wasn't noted on the menu. Nor did our server inform us that we would be charged extra for drinks on the rocks. After the fact, he repeatedly tried to explain to us that when people order cocktails over rocks that they add extra alcohol. Again, this was not noted on the menu, nor did our server inform anyone in our party about the extra charge when we were ordering. This resulted in another delay as our server returned to the kitchen to speak with who I presume was the manager. The restaurant eventually removed the cost equivalent of the ice charges, with our server telling us more than half a dozen times that he didn't want to see us "leave with a bad taste in [our] mouths." The verbatim repetition of this line, as if it was read from a script, made it seem insincere. The manager, or whomever he had spoken with, never came to our table to apologize for the poor service and ridiculous extra charges for a meal that with a tip included cost over $800. (The chips and guacamole cost $26 here, for context.) Our party really enjoyed the food; we still had a great time. The beef empanadas, brussels sprouts, corn and al pastor ribs were all excellent. We understand the staffing shortages and overall state of the restaurant industry over the past two years, and can largely forgive the server, who was trying his best. But the charges for ice, and the restaurant's unsympathetic and defensive response, are the real issues. That this is a two-star review is incredibly generous and influenced by how good the food was. Avoid CHICA until such practices are smoothed out - strange to be saying this about an upscale chain - and if you do eat here, make sure to check your bill closely before paying.

SO welcomed by Kiran Maruche on my birthday! atmosphere is amazing. DJ will stoke the vibe and keep the party going . Food top notch and service impeccable. Food is top notch!p Love this place.

MUST AVOID. Aspen has so many phenomenal restaurants (French Alpine Bistro, White House Tavern, etc.) and this one is really terrible on all accounts. We ordered the Spanish Octopus (drenched in some creamy pico de gallo sauce), the Empanadas (they were served cold inside and not freshly cooked), and the seafood cazuela (lobster was chewy and fishy, seafood not fresh, and rice on the side was oily and crusted in some parts). I'm writing this review as a PSA - go to literally any other restaurant in Aspen. Sorry, but it has to be said.

Wow!!! What a cool place with super amazing views at the base of Aspen Mountain! There is not a bad seat outside or inside! The food is super tasty with a Peruvian spice and flare. I am a huge foody and the flavors are on point and the presentation is something to compete with the best! Don't fret over the almost hidden entrance! Find it, go up and elevator, and get ready to experience Aspen!

Apres ski scene is great ! Drinks are delicious, service is ok but they are super busy, food is maybe 2 stars !

Vibe 10/10, food 10/10 and drinks are 10/10 , it gets pretty busy so def need a reso! Must try are Brussel sprouts and guacamole . Meats weren't great so wouldn't suggest them

From my son's point of view: The food has such good taste. I recommend the food and mostly the ribs and the Mac and cheese was very nice and good, and what I recommend the most is the dessert the flaming skull,they put RUM in a small pot (A flammable alcohol) and they let it on fire then poured it on the flaming skull and it burns down.

Chica is a welcome addition for aspen locals! Great flavors , love the plantains and guacamole, bbq mushrooms , and the mussels and sour dough were perfect broth. Very nice staff that is attentive and tries hard to please.

Beware, scam ...... I made a reservation for Happy Hour on Resy and on their website it was not clear the cancelation policy. It wasn't until I received the email saying that I couldn't cancel, and I had paid over $600 for 3 people for HH. Once I saw that, 30 seconds later I immediately canceled my reservation and I called to make sure that I would get a refund. The woman I talked to on the phone said no problem we will refund you and talked to the manager. She even took my credit card information to refund my account. 10 days later I didn't have a credit so I called back ... I had to leave 8 messages till I finally got someone. Again they told me over the phone they would refund my money. 10 days later again no refund. I finally got to Aspen and went to the restaurant during the day. When I went there, I explained the situation and talked to the manager. He apologized about the issue and said he would refund the money. At the time he said he couldn't do it, but would do it later that day. Again 10 days went by and no refund. I finally went to my credit card company to dispute the charge .... I went through the process and the company would still not refund my money. This is unacceptable for an establishment like this to take over $600 for nothing.

They close at 10! Double check before you waste your time going down there. I asked if they closed at 10 and he ignored my question and shut the door.

I've been wanting to try Chica for years and finally we went on Halloween night which happened to be pretty quiet. However I love the atmosphere of the restaurant and the ambience and unexpectedly the food was very very tasty which these days you never know since after corona everything has changed so drastically!! So we were very pleased and plan on going back soon!!

First time in after hearing some positive buzz about it. Have been coming to Aspen for 12 years and this is a great new spot! Relaxing vibe, casual but nice. Food was very fresh and delicious! Got the Baja breakfast burrito and the paisa breakfast bowl. Flavors were perfect balance of spice and comfort! Want to come back and get the açaí bowl! Would highly recommend!

We had a great time at Chica. A group of 6 of us shared about half of the menu. Portion sizes are large (especially the flaming skull chocolate dessert which we couldn't finish) and the food was delicious. Highlights were the lamb chops, papas bravas and corn.

Very good food ...chicken outstanding...ribs divine ...street corn superb...drinks well prepared snd perfectly presented....space is attractive enough...but zero vibe on a Friday night at 7:45...maybe total of 10 patrons inside and 6 outside...read the reviews from Miami ...lots going on there...don't know how you fix this ...maybe advertise a local special on which you make no profit but it fills he space up...otherwise the great food and service won't make it if there is no one there ...the skull flaming dessert is one of the most creative I have ever seen...with the 59 bucks 5 stars for good but vibe takes it down to a 3...

Loved the drinks. Loved the food. Short rib was perfect. Not fatty at all!!! Salmon was flavorful and fantastic. Guacamole and plantain chips were excellent. The restaurant decor and bar is beautiful.

First word that comes to mind with Chica: disappointment. I came here with friends for my birthday brunch. I have celiac disease as well as another person in my party. Nothing was truly gluten free except the tropical fruit platter which was actually mostly berries. If you think you're getting $16 worth of papaya, think of Safeway's blueberries instead. Apparently nothing could be substituted out due to what the chef said. That removes half the food on an entree but paying the full price. A trendy, fancy, pricy restaurant on the mountain in Aspen should be able to cater to food allergies. No substitutions at all? What am I paying for? Really odd since Latin American food is typically gf. My friend without allergens had a breakfast burrito and said it tastes like one she could get anywhere (and she had GI issues afterward). Lastly, the patio was nice as it was right next to the gondola, but also listening to loud mechanics of the gondola didn't set the vibe for us. Will not return.