Airport Dining: Timberline Steaks & Grille, Denver Airport

Airport dining.  Ugh.

While sometimes I have fun with these types of "adventures", and sometimes I do find some gems, often dining at an airport is an act of necessity.  Which, my first adventure to Timberline Steaks & Grille was.  My second visit was just to give it one more shot, as I saw a little potential the first time.

So, my first visit.

I ended up taking a later flight than I wanted to Denver, CO, with a final destination of Boulder, CO, about an hour away.  I knew if I waited to eat dinner in Boulder it would be far too late, and at that point, I wanted to just check in to my hotel anyway.  So ... airport dining it was.

I was lucky enough to land in Concourse C, which I believe has the most dining options.  I opted for a full service restaurant, although in retrospect, I think I would have been happier just grabbing something at McDonald's or Einstein's bagels ...

"Timberline's menu offers organically raised natural beef and buffalo burgers, all natural chicken and USDA prime steaks, sandwiches and salads served in a log cabin atmosphere with 30 wines and 40 beer selections to choose from. Desserts include Kosher options and Haagan Daz ice cream."

Instead, I went to Timberline Steaks & Grille, a sports bar meets steakhouse, in the airport.  It was exactly what you'd expect.

Mediocre Dining: Visit #1.

Having just come off a flight, I was a fairly queasy, so opted for a rather boring lineup: a non-alcoholic drink, a salad, and of course, dessert.

The drink was awful, the food mediocre.  

The staff however were quite friendly, accommodating, and efficient.

Mediocre Dining: Visit #2.

My second visit was when I was leaving Denver, and had allowed plenty of time at the airport to get dinner before my 6:55pm flight, arriving at the airport before 5pm.  It ... was barely enough time, as security lines were very long, and I had quite a wait to be seated.

The food ... again mediocre.  The staff ... less friendly, although they work hard and it shows.

Setting

Storefront.

Timberline Steaks & Grille is a full service restaurant, with a bar, located right near the main food court and train entrance to Concourse C.

Bar.

Like many airport establishments, the bar was a hot spot, filled with people, and of course, their luggage.  Most were watching "the game", whatever it was.  I heard some guests requesting to be seated somewhere they could watch.

Seating.

It was dark outside, but I think the restaurant has a decent view out the large glass windows that wrap around most of it.  The decor was a mix of practical (easy to wipe down tables, good space between tables to allow for all the luggage, etc) with a bit of flair (nice light fixtures, slight "mountain lodge" feeling).  Decently attractive overall, for a airport restaurant.

Food & Drink

Timberline has a fairly large menu, with all your typical sports bar style appetizers (I saw a lot of nachos, wings, and quesadillas going by), burgers and sandwiches galore, and ... a full steakhouse menu, as it is a steakhouse after all.  They also have a large drink menu, with plenty of cocktails, including some interesting sounding boozy ice cream floats.

Club Soda with Lime: Visit #1.

I was planning to get wine or a cocktail, but, alas, I was feeling fairly meh from my flight, and decided that alcohol would not help me out.  Pepsi based soft drinks were the option, along with fruit juices.  I just wanted sparkling water though, and I was pleased when I was told that was an option ("we have club soda, will that do?").  I was even offered lime, which I accepted.

I was not pleased with what I got though.  It was clearly just sparkled tap water, with a bad flavor and aftertaste.  The lime did not help mask the murky flavor.  Maybe it was the ice, but, since I wasn't charged for it, nor was I given a bottle or can, I am pretty sure it was just sparkled tap.  I'm glad they have free sparkling water, and aren't going through so many cans and bottles, but ... I did not like this at all. 

Club Soda with Lemon: Visit #2. $3.

My next visit, I again asked for sparkling water, was correct that they had club soda, and this time it came with a lemon.  The lemon masked the flavor a bit more, but it still tasted pretty bad.

This time ... I was charged $3.  Hmm.

Visit #1: Mountain Wedge Salad, Large.  Add Glazed Pecans. $9.

"Crisp iceberg, Peachwood smoked bacon, Affinee Bleu Cheese crumbles, red onion and grape tomatoes."

For my savory item, I was planning to get the sweet potato fries, but, after flying, I felt pretty blah, and fried food actually did not sound appealing.  Salad did.

I was trying to decide between the spinach pomegranate salad and the wedge salad, but realized that I actually didn't want most of the toppings on the spinach salad (feta, pomegranate seeds), and I didn't want the vinaigrette it came with, and really the only thing that was catching my eye there was the glazed pecans.  So ... I asked for them on my wedge salad instead.  My request was easily accommodated.

The salad was ... decent.  The huge wedge of iceberg was fresh, crisp, classic steakhouse style served as a full wedge.  It was nice and refreshing after my flight.

The red onion was ... entirely missing.  Ooops?

The grape tomatoes were very generic, basically the flavorless kind you expect on a fast food salad.  Eh to those.  Blue cheese was also fairly lackluster, just a few crumbles.  The bacon ... I really didn't care for, kinda oily, with a bad aftertaste.

But the glazed pecan were excellent, I appreciated the crunch and sweetness.

I'd actually consider getting this again, just leave off the blue cheese, tomatoes, and onions, and add the nuts again.  And, um, hope they gave me the red onion that time?  Or I'd get the spinach one, leave off the pomegranate and feta, and opt for different dressing?

I was not asked what size I wanted, but when I got my bill I saw that this was the large, rather than the small for $6.  I'd also just go for the small next time, this was a lot of lettuce for one person.

Honey Mustard / Wedge Salad Dressing.

I wasn't sure which dressing would come with my wedge, I assumed some kind of blue cheese or ranch, but I knew enough to ask for it on the side in case I didn't like it, or in case they were prone to overdressing.

It was ... fine.  I'm still not sure what kind it was actually, I think this was their play on ranch, it seemed to have a slight tang, perhaps buttermilk?  Herby I guess.  Thick, creamy, rich, flavorful, whatever the flavor was.

After about half my wedge though I was hoping for something different, so I asked for the honey mustard.  It was very sweet (hello, honey!), slightly mustardy, and very, very thick.  I did like it though, particularly with the nuts.

In the end, I ended up combining both dressings, and that worked really well.  Creamy dressing + sweet thick dressing resulted in a fairly pleasing blend.

My final creation of iceberg + nuts + both dressings satisfied me enough.

 Spinach Pomegranate Salad

. $9.

"Baby organic spinach tossed in vinaigrette and topped with pomegranate seeds, glazed pecans, feta cheese and thin sliced red onion."

My next visit, I opted for the spinach pomegranate salad, since I had liked the glazed pecans before that I stole from it.  This one also came with the promised red onion slices, plus pomegranate seeds and feta chunks.

It was ... ok.  Fine.  The spinach was reasonably fresh, larger spinach leaves than I was expecting, not baby spinach.  The red onion was quite harsh.  The sprinkle of pomegranate seeds seemed fine, not too underripe.  Feta wasn't exactly flavorful, but it was there.  These elements, all, fine.

But not fine?  The dressing.  I HATED it.  A very, very unbalanced vinaigrette.  I'm glad I requested the honey mustard to use on my fries, to use it here too, but it was still too thick and sweet as a real dressing.

I think with a decent dressing I might have enjoyed this, but I struggled to get through much just to "eat my greens".

Side Sweet Potato Fries w/ Honey Mustard. $4.

To go with my salad, I also ordered a side of sweet potato fries, not on the menu.  I knew they had the sweet potato fries (and many other sides) to go steaks and burgers, but no where on the menu does it actually list these as an option to order a la carte.  I went rouge and did so, which was no problem, as I expected.

I selected the sweet potato fries because all reviews spoke so highly of them.  They, like everything else, were ... fine.  Delivered hot enough.  Decent sweet potato flavor.  Not really crisp though.  Mediocre.

I knew I wanted a dipping sauce, so I asked for honey mustard on the side, a classic pairing with sweet potato fries, although I knew the honey mustard was the strange thick and very sweet style.  I meant to also ask for pub sauce, but, forgot.  It ... didn't really work that well.  Too thick, too sweet.  As I thought it might be.  I really wanted a dipping sauce though, so, eventually I remembered that I had a mayo packet in my bag (this is normal, right?), and mixed it with some honey mustard to make ... honey mustard aioli?  That was better, but, still I needed something else (like maybe that pub sauce, or ranch).

Anyway, these were fine, not remarkable, needed sauce.  $4 price for a side was fine.

Lemon Creme Cake. $9.

"Rustic vanilla cake layered with lemon cream and topped with Gran Marnier marinated berries."

After my giant wedge of salad, I was ready for dessert.  The dessert menu had a few decent sounding options, including bread pudding (I love bread pudding, but this one came with bananas and nutella, which I don't really care for, and, gasp, no whipped cream nor ice cream!), cheesecake (classic, likely decent enough since I'm sure they purchase frozen), bacon donut holes (yes! but ... a huge serving), and a signature ice cream sundae that is supposed to be different each week.  I asked what the sundae was, and my server said it was just vanilla ice cream, with all the sauces, and whipped cream.

Hmm.  I was ready to order the ice cream sundae, but I had read tons of positive mentions of the lemon creme cake, not something I'd normally order since I don't really like lemon desserts nor cake, so I asked my server which she'd pick.  Without hesitation she said the cake, and went to check to make sure they had some still.  She came back saying there was exactly one left, and that it was definitely the best dessert.  If I wanted it, she wanted to get my order in to claim it ASAP.

Well, that made up my mind for me.  I was also kinda cold, so ice cream wasn't all that appealing anyway.

The cake was ... interesting.  Uh, "rustic", yes.  A split in half cake, filled with lemon cream.  On top were the berries, mostly blueberries, and a token raspberry or two.  And, a white chocolate decoration which said "Lemon C".  Uh ...

Yes, the presentation on this was amusing.  Where ... was the rest of my white chocolate sign? What was it supposed to say?  "Lemon Cake"? "Lemon Creme"?  I'll never know.

Anyway.  It was ok.  The first few bites were pleasant.  The cake was light and moist, clearly soaked in some kind of wash.  Inside was the lemon cream.  It was lemony, but not in the eggy or too intense way I dislike.  It was also very, very sweet.  And there was tons of it.  I'm fairly certain that there was more cream than cake, or at least equal parts.  The cake and cream did go together well, but, wow.

The berries were awful, very mushy, not good texture, not good taste.  I know they were macerated, but, it didn't work well here.

I did like my white chocolate topper, but wished I had the full thing.

So overall, this was ok for a few bites, but really quite sweet.  Perhaps with a cup of coffee or glass of red wine it would be better.