Rock n Soul Cafe

Rock n Soul is closed for good.

The summary: go for the music and drink, but have dinner somewhere else.
The good: go if you like to hear some good music by local and regional acts. The venue is small enough, and the stage is well-​placed so that you feel like you’re having a very personal experience. You are close to the musicians, and can see (and mostly hear) every detail.
Also, there is a pleasant selection of organic wines, some good regional microbrews, and the pastries are decent.
The bad:
The air-​handling system is really loud, and although the employees try hard to be courteous, the kitchen and bar machines make a lot of racket. If you are listening to acoustic artists who don’t use amplification, it can be hard to hear the performance.
Plan on eating your meal somewhere else. The entrees are some of the worst I have had in Boulder. The food is frozen, and thawed out (or if it was fresh, it was painfully overcooked). Everything tastes like it came out of a can, jar or bag, was heated up and slapped on the plate. We tried the chicken pot pie, the teriyaki chicken, and salads. Even the salad tasted pre-​processed. I ate better as a college student off my dorm room hot plate.

Really a music venue with good food great coffee and killer pastries. I’ve played there and heard a lot of bands there. Sound system is great. Just saw Scott Holt, Buddy Guy’s touring guitarist for the past 10 years with his band last Fri. and Sat. One of the greatest exhibitions of guitar playing I’ve seen in my life and I’ve been a bassist since I was 15! This is not a bar or restaurant t trying to be a place for music it is a real venue for music and there are not enough of them left! It only seats 100 but you can’t see really good players in a better place. Reminds me of The Golden Bear in Huntington Beach or The Four Muses in San Clemente in the old days.

I went here for lunch today, and it was not good. Once in the restaurant, I was bombarded with a petition and little banners promoting the salvation of the café, and honestly, I wouldn’t be unhappy if the Rock n Soul perished, and judging from the empty space, it doesn’t seem like other patrons are going to miss it.
I ordered teriyaki chicken with veggies. It was a truly bland meal, and the «rice seasoning» only made it more disgusting with its dried yolk powder. I would have tried a salad, quiche, or something else, but I was hungry and didn’t think those options would be satisfying.
While the price with my 20% discount coupon was all right, I still wouldn’t say I felt like I got a great value.

What a charming little café! Its got soul and heart, especially the people who run it. Stopped by here late afternoon for a coffee break with my colleagues. The place was empty, yes what can you expect at 4pm. I got a latte and while i was busy updating my boss on status of the project my coworker walked over and started strumming the guitar. Apparently anyone can come in and play music. We met the owner-​lady and what a charming person she is. She gave us the background on this place, how the recession has hit them hard. They were high tech workers who got screwed by their company and finally ended up mixing passion for music with a café concept. They serve a dozen different varieties of coffees, lattes, sandwiches, bakery stuff and apparently alcohol as well. The place turns into a rocking live band place in the evenings. The place had a very cool vibe, hope the locals appreciate it, cause i sure do!

I went to the Rock N Soul Café to watch the band «DeMarco» which I hadn’t had the chance to hear before. We arrived early and the crowd was not big. So we ordered some dessert and coffee and prepared for a small, intimate concert.
I wasn’t disappointed. I really enjoyed myself and the only time that I had a more intimate show was in the living room of a friend of mine in Boulder about ten years ago.
I commend the Rock N Soul Café on their sound — truly a great audible experience. I also really enjoyed the intimate surrounding. By the time the show ended, I felt that I had gotten a chance to know the performers AND the owners.
To truly enjoy the Rock N Soul Café as it was meant to be enjoyed, I would go online to
and peruse their upcoming concerts. Select a performer who sounds interesting — they have great writeups online on the website — and make plans to go enjoy yourself. You won’t be disappointed.
To the owners of Rock N Soul Café — Thank you for a wonderful night.

This is a live music venue that started out as a pastry and coffee place and now they serve wine and beer too.
Having just attended their advertised $ 50 New Year’s Eve dinner/​concert I have two observations and a suggestion:
1. It closed up and ended at 11pm which was not specified in their pre-​advertisements. People who wanted to see in the New Year there and had their little noisemakers and such that were distributed earlier in the night seemed quite confused.
2. Although Richie Furay and his family band did play some of his Poco oldies and some interesting medleys of songs from his legendary songwriting/​performing past, the band’s repertoire was primarily Christian religious songs and the words he spoke in between the songs and medleys gave the event a bit of a revival meeting feel.
Suggestions:
The fact that this would be a Christian religious event and that this is in fact primarily a Christian venue should be clearly specified in advertisements, particularly when promoting a $ 50 per person event.
The fact that a New Year’s Eve event will be completely ending and closing down significantly earlier than midnight should also be clearly communicated to the public.
With all of that said, the food was good, very well-​prepared, although it was a challenge to navigate through the crowd with chairs and people blocking every available aisle and walkway with nowhere to move out of the way to let people through.
Maybe this place is fine during other events. Locals, including non-​religious people I know, seem to like it. I’ve been during the day when no events are going on and it’s ok except the coffee is often lukewarm and the art of espresso drink preparation seems a bit lost on the owners here.
I suppose a big event is not easy to put together and put on, but this is the third year in a row they’ve done this same event with the same entertainer, so surely in this event’s evolution a bit more attention could be paid to clear honest communication in event promotion and crowd control during the event itself.