Emil-Lene’s Sirloin House

Oh man, I was so bummed to Google Emil-lene’s this morning and find out that they closed. I was going to send a friend there for dinner tonight. It was a quirky place with a tree growing in the middle of the room, but the food was flat out amazing. One of the best steaks I’ve ever had.

This place is hidden away and difficult to spot from the road. The food and service are decidedly mediocre. While it is not great. It also is not bad. It is not worth going out of the way to eat there, but if you’re local, it isn’t a place you should avoid.

The restaurant is located out in a field next to a park reserve right in the middle of the sticks, the boondocks, and what’s left over from Aurora’s bucolic 60’s. The place has been in business for 50 years, and it looks like no one has cleaned the place, or done a remodel in all that time. It actually is the ranch house of a once working ranch, and it shows. In one part of the dining room, there is an old cottonwood tree growing from the floor through the ceiling. I guess if you spend a lot of time in barns and such, you might love the place, but even before we walked to the front door I was already getting anxious visions of Ed Gein, or the Texas Chainsaw Massacre with Leatherface lurking around the corner. My fear began to heighten as I entered, but the scent of must, mildew, and dirt slapped me in the face, and back into consciousness. My next thought was, «This place really looks like it was time warped out of days gone by — days before vacuums, dust mops, and wet rags.»
Some reviewer commented, «That’s part of the atmosphere.» Well, a mountain outhouse has atmosphere, too, but I don’t want to eat there. This place has all of the atmosphere of a Flea Market Taco Stand, or the Tastee Freez in some small, forgotten town on I-​70 half way between civilization, and nowhere. A better name for this place would be «The Emperor’s New Clothes» because there are a lot of people tooting its horn when even a small child can see it’s pretty much «naked» when it comes to atmosphere. But, let’s talk more about the food. After all, that’s really why we dine out, right? Anyone can overlook such small details if they get a great meal at a great price in a great dining experience. I was willing to be objective.
Right away, I found something to like. They bring out big bowl of fresh vegetables, and a bag of white bread to each table as soon as folks arrive. The vegetables were good, fresh, and in nice variety, especially if you like carrot slices. The trouble is that the tables are too small for any of that. By the time they bring out the «spaghetti appetizer» before the meal, there’s barely enough room for the «saucer» they bring it on. I guess that’s why they use the small plates — not only do they fit the table, but they make the food look bigger, too, and, at those prices, they need something to give the appearance of value.
There is a link to a menu on the website, but there is no menu, and they list no prices. For all I know, they were charging everyone else fairly, and just reaming me. The menu changes everyday, you have to choose from what they are serving, and they can adjust prices easily and accordingly. I’ve heard it said that, «If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.» I had to ask the price, and that proved the adage correct — I can’t afford it, at least not if I want to eat again soon. The least expensive steak on the «verbal» menu was $ 27, and I don’t know what they called it, but it looked like a medallion of beef to me. I didn’t order it, but when it came for someone else at our table it didn’t have any of the garnish that is shown on the web site. It was a tiny hunk of animal flesh dropped on a very plain plate next to a very ordinary baked potato. As for me, I thought I could get out of there with only a first mortgage if I went with the salad and a baked potato. They were good enough, but the baked potato came out on a saucer similar to the one used for the spaghetti appetizer, (barely big enough to allow for cutting), and, even though the salad was decent, there was nothing about either to make me feel $ 12.00 was a fair price for that combo.
OK, so I’m cheap, but I just like more «value» for my money, and I know I can get it. I agree with these other reviewers who say the service is excellent. The service was as good as I have received almost everywhere else I’ve dined. I cannot, however, find any other redeeming qualities in this restaurant. Call it «rustic» if you choose, but I call it a «dump.» I seriously do not know how they stay in business, except that maybe they have a very loyal client base of folks with very unusual tastes in dining. It may also help that they charge three to four times what they should be charging, and that means they can get by on ¹⁄₃ to ¼ the business. But, you know, that’s just my opinion. The place was doing a good business when we were there. Those people must have seen something, or felt something that I did not. I just kept wondering if they’d ever dined in a «real» restaurant before — one that truly pays attention to ambiance, truly pays attention to the dining experience, and truly pays attention to the health code.

Great food, and atmosphere galore! For the reviewers who have incessantly complained about the décor, it’s part of the atmosphere in coming here. Walk in and you’re immediately greeted by a life-​sized cardboard John Wayne. The service is bar-​none, they treat you like royalty.
No, it isn’t the cheapest steak joint around. Yes, prices are similar to Del Frisco’s, but that is comparing apples to bowling balls. Emil-Lene’s aims to give you a very different experience than chain places like Del Frisco’s do, and they succeed in doing so.
I’ve always thought their steaks were great, I’ve only had one sub-​par steak here in the last 4+ years as a customer, and the staff immediately replaced it with a superb one. The homemade salad dressings are outstanding. I do wish the bread were warm when it came out, that is about the only complaint I have with this place. The desserts? Always terrific.
Just a dumb little bonus, but if you ask them for bones for your dog, they will accommodate you and bring out beef ribs nicely packaged up, as if they hear that request often :)
All in all — I love it. When my family comes into town, they always request we go here. The experience, from the moment you pull into the parking lot to the moment you leave (stuffed & satisfied), is one that cannot be replicated by any steakhouse chain like Del Frisco’s. Give Emil-Lene’s a whirl, you’ll be glad you did.

«Unpretentious» is the word my wife used. A quaint, come-​as-​you-​are and «Welcome to our place, I’ll get that steak…» kind of place. The steak (I had the New York Strip) was hands down one of the best in town. Seems like they have OCD and just focus on the steaks but they’re friendly about it. The only let down was that they didn’t use the giant pepper grinder for our mob. But that was probably for the best. In addition to the spaghetti appetizer, how about a simple rice dish choice for the gluten intolerant?
Friendly wait staff. The vegetable appetizer seems to have either disappointed or confused some other reviewers, but it reminded me of eating dinner with my grandmother. Besides, you need those veggies if you’re going to consume that much steak. Keeps the pipes clean.
Curious décor, but if décor is what you want, look elsewhere. That tree in the dining room gets a lot of attention. The price was just fine for me: my bro-​in-​law picked up the tab. I guess you’ll have to weigh it all out when making your dining choices. For me, I’m willing to go back and pay next time. Best steak I’ve had in quite a while.

We ordered burgers, medium rare, and they arrived to the table absolutely raw and cold in the middle. Now, I know the difference between medium rare and raw… and I’m telling you, these burgers were flat out raw. Needless to say we sent them back and asked for new burgers, medium, and they came out a little well. Sigh. I guess it’s better than raw hamburger, though.
This is an oddly located restaurant with a determined no-​frills style. In fact the place is downright run down. Funky, old tables and chairs, weird veggie plate and a verbal menu that is FILLED with overpriced steaks. I do not understand how a restaurant that looks like this and sends out raw hamburgers could charge those kinds of prices. Absurd.
Best thing was the top-​notch service by the two waitresses who visited us. They were polite, attentive and definitely welcoming. Still, given our experience with raw meat, I would not not recommend this place to anyone.

Off the beaten path, a flashback in time, old school cowboy styling, great steaks and service. A must try for the non pretentious.

Not recommended.
Out for a nice evening and looking forward to a good steak. Turned out it’s in a light industrial trucking area; ok? Had to find someone to seat us. No menu. Had to catch a waitress to ask for service. Didn’t come. Went to find someone to provide wine; red or white only. This was not a busy night, no excuses. Steaks were tender but raw. Vegetables were mushey. House salad is chopped lettuce… only. Ruined our mood and our night.

$ 36 for the 12oz strip? Emil-Lene’s, get over yourself!
I don’t mind the ranch ambiance; I found it charming. I also have no problem paying big money for a good steak (been to Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris many times). But for $ 36, that steak better rock. Yours SUCKED! I asked for med-​rare, but it was definitely med-​well, dry, and flavorless. I am not surprised that other Unilocalers call this steak «buttery» considering the fact that butter is the steak’s only seasoning. The steak wasn’t tender or well-​seasoned, but it certainly tasted like butter.
In fact, butter was a theme of my bad experience. 30 minutes into our service, our butter — chips of naked butter on ice — had transformed into some watery goo. This, we were told, to spread on our baked potatoes. Yum!
It is especially pitiful because this steak had everything going for it. When I got out of the car in the parking lot, the barbeque smell was intoxicating. And the cut of meat was beautiful! A different cook, with the same meat, would have served something wonderful.
The people in my group who ordered salmon, loved it. None of the 5 in my group who ordered steak even finished it. Maybe that’s the key: next time you come to this steak house, order salmon.
I think the Unilocalers who gave this restaurant a positive review have buyer’s remorse. They cannot accept the fact that they just paid $ 30-​$ 50 for steak that aspires to mediocrity.
And no, I am not as another Unilocaler suggested, «the competition.»

«Meh» was precisely my reaction after eating at Emil-Lene’s for the first time. My boss has taken me here for lunch a couple of times, as we work not so far away and she is a big fan of diners and Colorado country culture (she LOVES the stock show).
I am originally from a very small southern town, where this restaurant would fit in perfectly. The walls are covered with kitschy western decour that, I would wager, has not been updated since the mid-​70s (80s at the latest). The waitstaff was friendly, the patrons elderly. For a minute I thought I had been transported back home, and expected the drink choices to be only water, sweet tea or RC cola.
I mirrored my boss’s order of a burger and fries. Both were subpar– the hamburger patty was seriously overcooked and had no taste. Nothing memorable about that meal for sure.
The one positive is that the Morrison Nature Center, Star K Ranch and Sand Creek Regional Greenway practically share a parking lot with this place. I could see myself possibly stopping through again if I were hungry and on the trail.

Ouch! This review is going to hurt. I’m with other Unilocalers about being a Denver institution, 50+ years in the same impossible to find location, and «having dinner in your Aunt & Uncle’s house on the ranch» atmosphere. We’ve been eating there at least once a year for many years always coming back for great steaks. Sadly last Friday night will be our last.
We saw a limited time Groupon deal for $ 15 prime rib dinner. We’ve used Groupons before and know how the game is played. Tell them up front you are using one and no one gets hurt. In the dinning room — I could overhear 3 of the 6 tables were using the Groupon deal. (Note to owners of restaurants participating in Groupon deals: Groupon will bring in more people so you will need more staff.) Our server was rattled, forgetful and stretched way too thin.
An entirely different person than our server appeared with the full bill. I point out that we told our server when we sat down we were there with a Groupon. Overhearing this our server runs over and begs forgiveness from this bill presenter who looks like she is no one to tangle with.
They both leave and a new bill is brought out again by the bill presenter. She briefs us on proper tipping on the full bill like we’re some kind of foreign tourists and disappears again. The meals were good. Only one of of our party of three had the prime rib special. And even with a discount the total was way more expensive than we’ve ever spent before. Seriously way more.
For a place that has not put one dime into the décor, or fixtures from this milenium — its impossible to justify Del Frisco prices.

This place is quirky to say the least. It reminds me of the «dinner clubs» of years past.
Someone mentioned this place is all about the beef. They would be correct! If you like beef, you will like this place.
No, it’s not cheap, but it’s not crazy priced either.
The atmosphere is touch odd with a tree growing through the middle of the dining room and out through the roof. What the???
On that side of town, there’s not a lot of options for good steak so this place will do if you want to avoid the hassle of driving down town.

I was skeptical as soon as I walked in and it was well founded.
The décor was very dated which didn’t really bother me since I came for the food.
To start, we were served a bowl of plan veggies with nothing to dip it in… kinda weird app. The bread in a bag was rock hard, the salad was just a bowl of iceberg lettuce. I do have to say the homemade dressing were nice.
Now on to the dinner portion. It’s the same as previous reviews only a few meats to chose from. But, the server fails to tell you the ridiculous prices that you will be paying for just this mediocre cut.
The service was very much like being served by a flighty relative. She had all of two tables and could give proper service.
I’m a server so I know first hand what crappy and good service can be. Let me tell you it was CRAPPY!

Though this venerable back road steak house has only earned three stars, its a can’t miss experience. Inconviently located down a true grit road, a Riders of the Purple Sage cul de sac if you will.
So here is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly:
Emil-​Lene opened in 1957 and not much has changed. The aquamarine covered chairs and tables are dated and old, the location is odd and scary, it has the mood of a Coen Brothers movie. The thread bare carpeting, the John Wayne standee in the lobby, the low slung ceilings.
If you know who Randolph Scott is, you’ll love this place. if not, you’re too young. I was here for lunch and without exaggeration, I would say the median age was 75. In fact the host, in a Rockmount shirt, must be close to 90. Everyone knows each other. When «Rose» walked in, you could almost hear the canes knocking the floor in celebration. «HI ROSE!!», «How are you Rose??»
The walls are festooned with Western art, some of which is very good, others look like they came from a fledgling art school. All of it features a western theme. Rugged cowhands, savage indiginous folks, wild eyed terror ridden cattle. Plumes of dust from the corral curling above a cottonwood.
But onto the food. Its all middle grade beef served like a 1940s diner. Mashed potatoes and canned gravy. The burgers? Hand formed patties inch past the big buns and real potato skins on the fries. Truthfully, it was pretty average, but the experience was not! And the pricing was very fair.
Hurry and go before this place, like a Clint Eastwood character, fades into the sunset!

Went here for lunch with my work buddies. It is small, kitchzy and western inside. But that is part of the fun. I did wish that it were near the Stock Show… it would be a perfect fit atmospherically speaking.
I tried the french dip. The meat was great, the bread was great, but the Au jus was kind of flavorless. I added salt to it. The fries looked hand-​cut, and were a bit soggy. I like crisp fries, but someone else might love this style. I hope to go again and try something else !

This is my first Unilocalers review, so here goes!
I was invited by a friend to her big 29^th birthday dinner at a place in the bowels of Aurora called Emil-Lene’s Sirloin House about a week ago. Right off the bat I was a skeptic, since I thought I’d heard of most of the good steakhouses in and around Denver (I’ve even worked at one). My friend assured me that this was «the best steak I’ve ever had». I should have known better based on the fact that she eats a pretty decent amount of processed food. I tried to go with an open-​mind.
After driving around in circles for quite awhile, we followed a dirt road to arrive at what appeared to be a small, old farmhouse-​looking establishment. It was different, but still trying to keep an open-​mind. We went inside and my immediate impression was that I was in for less of a meal and more of an experience. I was right.
I saw my friends congregated in a large room off to the right and went in to join them. On the long table set for 20+, we had baskets of bread in plastic bags, an arrangement of veggies, pickles and olives and butter chips on ice. It felt a little like being at Grandma’s house when she was getting ready to have friends over for bridge. It was a bit «kitchy», a bit nostalgic.
I asked to see the wine list and was told that there were only three kinds of wine by the glass… a brand called Frontera. For those of you not familiar with this wine, it is crap. Total crap. Barely a step up from Boone’s Farm. They were selling it for $ 8.00 a glass. I think you can get a big bottle of this for $ 11.00 (please don’t ask me how I know this). I ordered it anyhow, wanting something to sip while I waited for other guests to arrive.
Once other guests did arrive, the menu was recited to us by our very patient server. We were offered either soup or salad, a spaghetti course and either a baked potato or fries. I ordered an 8 ounce sirloin, a salad, a baked potato and no spaghetti course.
The salad was the best part of the meal. The bleu cheese dressing was so good, I probably used way more than I should have. I skipped the spaghetti course because of a wheat allergy, but others didn’t think much of it. The first steak I got was cooked well-​done and I ordered it rare to mid-​rare. The second steak was just so ordinary that I kind of forgot about it and ended up taking it in a box, which I then left in a friends car. It just seemed like a steak that I could get at Denver Diner with some eggs. After being told their steaks were «buttery» and would «melt in my mouth», I was rather disappointed. But then again, with all of the campy old-​west surroundings and the fact that I was celebrating a birthday, I had fun anyhow.
I guess this place really deserves two stars at the most, but I gave it three because I did have a good experience at the restaurant itself and the waitstaff were great.
Looking for a «buttery» steak? This is not the place. Looking for an interesting experience in Aurora with a bunch of your friends? This is it!

HEADLINE: This place is all about the meat … a veritable temple to the beloved bovine … but come here appraised of their prices … astronomical!
First off, if you can find this place, you deserve a freakin’ Boy Scout merit badge for map reading … even with a GPS in the Porsche Cayenne and an iPad GPS readout, we just couldn’t find this little hole in the wall after spying the 1950’s signage on Smith Road. Just head on down that side street (despite the address) past the farm equipment and equestrian space and it’ll materialize in front of your eyes.
Building and décor is a definite throwback to the Fifties … ‘casual’ doesn’t come close to describing the appointments, the atmosphere and the service … you feel like you’re over someone’s house for dinner.
A group of us had been tipped off about this place by the hotel staff over at the Denver Airport Marriott at Gateway and we were ready to chow down some beef.
An extremely limited wine list still produced an excellent bottle of ’04 Hess Cab that was shared around the table. Excellent!
The menu simply does not exist … it’s all about the beef … we were verbally regaled with the offerings: three sizes of sirloin, three sizes of fillet, prime rib, lamb chops … that’s it … salad? … baked potato or fries? … spaghetti starter? Choose your meat!!!
Now, mind you, none of this verbal menu gave any clue as to the cost of these cuts. Being out on business after a very long day of travel and meetings, none of us really cared … more on that later.
A huge bowl of veggy accouterments arrived on the table … huge! Celery, tremendously flavorful dill pickles, radishes, stemmed olives and peppers … very cool.
Around the table I spied only one non-​beef dish … two humongous lamb chops nicely grilled with a glass ramekin of mint jelly and fries … these poor mutton’s didn’t stand a chance … they were very good by all accounts
The rest of us settled in on the sirloin.
Mine was ordered medium rare and t’was that … very nicely cooked. The quality of the beef itself was just OK … a little fatty (hey, I love marbling … but this was just a little too much of the 12 oz of protein) and the beef didn’t seem to have the requisite dry aging all so necessary for all that beefy flavor to become pronounced … it was just OK …
Salad was less than mundane barely covering the bottom of the salad bowl, but the homemade salad dressings brought to the table absolutely rocked. The blue cheese, in particular, had so much blue-​veined chunky goodness in it, it looked like and had the consistency of large curd cottage cheese … absolutely fabulous!!!
Baked potato came out unadorned and no sour cream was presented … minimalistic, unpretentious … butter on the table for the bread the only available condiment.
Water glasses were filled regularly throughout this evening and the waitstaff were attentive and comfortable … again, almost like your best friend’s Mother serving us all night.
The décor … right out of the Fifties … HHH cow contest ribbons everywhere as were pictures of award-​winning bovines posing with their rightly proud owners … very camp.
I didn’t see the bill, nor were we verbally advised of the costs of the various beefy offerings during the menu spiel, but I would have guessed it was pretty reasonable. That was, until a fellow Unilocaler advised me to check out their costs … $ 36 for the 12 oz. sirloin … $ 40 for the pair of mutton chops.
Egregious for the quality of the beef and cut … sorry, I, for one, won’t be returning. If you’re out here on your own dime, make sure to check out their menu on the website, or ask the Parton sisters how many kidney’s you’ll need to sell to pay for your meal.

This is one of those Denver icons like the Fort and the Buckhorn Exchange. It’s cool, funky, eclectic, totally Colorado. You drive down a little dirt road to their little dirt parking lot (actually I think they may have done some paving) but you definitely feel like you’re in the middle of cow country.
Walk in the door and there is a velvet painting of a steer with a bib on licking his lips and a tree growing out of the ceiling of the dining room. The pepper grinder the staff hauls around must be 4 feet long. It’s a show. Drinks are ample and it’s a great spot during the Stock Show.
No menu really — well worn waitresses will tell you what’s up (but not the price unless you ask).
Your meal comes with MEAT (not veg freindly) — steak — lamb chops etc. Start with a crudite platter, salad, followed by meat, potato and side of spaghetti (if you want). Pretty simple — yes. Pretty expensive — yes.
It is kind of fun. Is it worth $ 35 — $ 40 a plate plus drinks and tip plus the gas to drive half way to Kansas? Not so sure.

I went to Emil-Lene’s on a snowy Wednesday night. I had a 1554 black ale — even though stouts/​porters aren’t usually my thing this was very tasty. I ordered the 12 oz. sirloin, but first I had some bread, veggie plate and spaghetti (!). I didn’t care for the spaghetti; it’s kinda odd steak house appetizer and the sauce was unremarkable. By all means ask for fresh-​ground pepper, if only to check out the ginormous pepper grinder.
My steak and fries arrived. The steak fries were OK — no complaints. The steak was perfectly cooked, but totally unseasoned! A bit of the ol’ S & P prior to cooking would have made a world of difference and would have really brought out the excellent flavor of the very tender steak. For the price I expect details like this to be taken care of — very disappointing. The steak was flavorful and perfectly cooked with a nice, caramelized outside and a tender, juicy inside. The ring of gristle around the outside detracted from this — I had to cut off the gristle and so lost that outside crunchy fatty part that’s always so delicious. Maybe I was just grumpy because of the lack of seasoning but the outside was so tasty it annoyed me that I had to throw that away.
Bottom line: disappointing. I’ll give them another try, but Ted’s is right across the street from my hotel home and serves a better steak (better than I had last night, at any rate) for about ½ the price. I gotta say «two stars» because of the price — $ 60 including tip & 2 beers.
The potential for a really great steak is here, it just didn’t materialize last night.

This steak place has been here for years and it used to be the place to go and was only known by word of mouth. I eat here at lunch on the weekends as it is on the Sand Creek Trail and therefore can ride my horse to the restaurant. There is a hitching post and pen for the horses provided by the trail system. You can trailer here, too and ride the trail before or after lunch.
It is a verbal menu at lunch as well; hamburger, cheeseburger, petite fillet, Blue Plate and Cold Plate specials. I get a hamburger and a cold one and I think the meat is good. (I consider myself a meat eating vegetarian; that means once a week and I want it to be good).
If you don’t know this, Karen and Jay (sister/​brother) owners have bought the grand champion steer at the Western Stock Show for the past several years, paying the second highest amount ever this year. And another secret, they give the steer back to its young owner as their beef comes from a special ranch that is proprietary only to them.
The restaurant is in an old house with lots of western art and banners from the rodeo but it is part of the charm. Ruth Chris this place is not but what a great atmosphere if you want true western flavor. AND I personally like the waitresses, it might be they are horse gals themselves and we have a mutual respect.
And one more plug… The Sand Creek Trail and Star-​K ranch are hidden gems for bikers, hikers, birders, and equestrians. Go have a meal at Emil-Lene’s and then walk it off in the park. You might get to see a Bald Eagle.