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Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar: Cozy American Food in Westminster

I recently stopped by the Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar in Westminster, CO for dinner. In case you’re wondering, this Lazy Dog is NOT affiliated with the Boulder and Westminster sports bar/restaurant of the same name. This Lazy Dog is much more upscale and is a family-friendly restaurant serving American comfort food.

It’s part of the Huntington Beach, CA-based Lazy Dog restaurant chain that has 25 locations in CA, NV, TX, and now Colorado – and will be opening a location in Aurora later this spring and has plans to open additional locations on the East coast this year.

Please note: Financial compensation was not received for this post. I was invited by the PR firm working with Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar to come in for a dinner on the house. Opinions expressed here are my own.

Decor

Photo of a dog hangs on the restaurant wall

The look of the restaurant is lovely, with an upscale ski lodge feel inspired by founder Chris Simms’ family vacations in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This location features a huge stone-face fireplace, an enormous corner bar at the back of the restaurant, and of course a few large photos of dogs. When I was there on a Tuesday night around 5:30 pm there was already a 40-minute wait for a table, so people seem to be digging it.

Servers are dressed in what I’ll call “urban cabin chic,” each wearing a pair of neat jeans and a flannel shirt.

Food

The Lazy Dog restaurants feature seasonal menus that rotate out along the same schedule nationwide. I sampled the current winter menu, which had an emphasis on hearty, filling dishes.

Roasted Carrots at Lazy Dog

My hands-down favorite dish of the night was the Roasted Street Carrots ( $6.25) featuring organic rainbow heirloom carrots, garlic, queso blanco, cilantro lime crema, and tajin. The dish was inspired by Mexican elote carts but adapted for the wintertime root vegetable. The roasted carrots were warm and soft, and the sauce was very tasty. (In the summertime, this dish will be swapped out for a version using corn.)

BBQ Bison Meatloaf at Lazy Dog

I also really liked the Red Skin Potato Mash and gravy featured on the BBQ Bison Meatloaf ($17.95). The meatloaf itself was good, but maybe a bit too much meat for my flexitarian tendencies? Kinda wish I’d asked for a side plate of just the mash. So yummy!

Huckleberry Basil Bourbon Shrub at Lazy Dog

I was a fan of their non-alcoholic their drinks for sure. The bartender made a virgin Huckleberry Basil Bourbon Shrub for me and I loved the wild huckleberry shrub flavor.

Ginger beer from Lazy Dog

The Ginger Beer was also very good. Fresh and delightful, and not too gingery – which is important because sometimes I feel like I get heartburn after drinking ginger beer that’s aggressively “ginger forward.”

Fried Chicken Sandwich at Lazy Dog

Although the meal I was treated was pretty heavy on hearty meat dishes (like the Fried Chicken Sandwich, Bacon Candy), if I was in the area I’d probably come back and try some of their lighter small plate dishes and maybe a pasta.

Simms family s'more dessert

We were treated to a number of desserts, with the massive Simms Family S’more being a favorite of the other influencers there. I’m not super into chocolate, so this was not really my thing, although I did like the added element of a peanut butter layer on the bottom to give it a little more depth of flavor.

Butter Cake at Lazy Dog

However, I did enjoy the Butter Cake, with its minted strawberry compote and vanilla bean ice cream a la mode it was definitely more my speed. The desserts here are pretty sizable, so I’d recommend sharing with the table.

Price points are along the line of other casual restaurants – expect to run up a $40-50 bill for two people, one appetizer and two entrees.

Verdict

I enjoyed my visit to the Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar. I think it’s a great place for couples and families in the Westminster area who are looking for a nice place to eat that’s not too fancy but where they can get solid, reasonably priced food in heaping portions that’s certainly a step up from other casual dining restaurants. As I mentioned earlier, the menu I previewed was heavy on the meat dishes, but looking at the full menu I can see there are lots of vegetarian and non-red meat options on the menu, which would make this place good to bring a large group as well – plenty to choose from.

Details

Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar – Westminster – 14618 Delaware St, Westminster, CO 80023

  • Decor: Rustic upscale ski cabin
  • Crowd: Families, couples, and groups of friends
  • Recommended: Roasted Street Carrots, Huckleberry Basil Bourbon Shrub

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