The Cliff House at Pikes Peak in Manitou Springs has an ala carte breakfast menu that, apparently, few even bother to peruse thanks to the buffet that diners see once they walk into the restaurant. This isn’t one of those fancy, overpriced deals with a chocolate fountain or a toque-adorned person at a carving table. Instead, even though it’s nothing extraordinary, there’s plenty of fresh and diligently replenished morning fare.
The array includes scrambled eggs, home-fried potatoes, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, cold cereal options, oatmeal, yogurt, an assortment of fresh fruit and house-made minipastries. Bluntly put, it’s commonplace. However, the stately dining room, which boasts a number of original oil paintings by Charles Rockey, and the attentive servers who discretely removed empty plates when diners revisited the food line contributed to a sense of elegance.
The Cliff House Dinning Room (Located at: 306 Canon Ave. Manitou Springs, CO.) “Buffet” Thursday May 16, 2024.
Photo by Jeff Kearney. Surreptitiously, staff also topped off coffee mugs and kept water glasses full. One surprise, given the attention to detail, was the fact that the plates were not warm.
Of course, ambiance is not always enough to create a positive dining experience if the food, no matter how seemingly basic, isn’t any good. No worries. The chafing dishes kept everything warm, although one needed some work to keep it from clanking every time the lid was returned to its fully open.
