Der Fondue Chessel - Keystone, CO

Kimberly B.

We were visiting from Maine for Christmas and our family members from Keystone took us here. What an incredible place! The ride up the mountain in the Gondola was fun and cozy with the blankets provided. Once inside we grabbed a few drinks at the bar while waiting to be seated. The warm Gluwein was delicious and a nice treat by the fire. Dinner and of course dessert were amazing too!! This was one of our most favorite places we visited and we will definitely be back again!

Thomas G.

Awesome fondue experience with live music you almost feel like your in Munich Germany. They definitely give you enough food to leave full. If you have not tried this place out you should. Great service and great food just expect to spend at least 3 hours from the gondola ride to cooking all the food.

Tom O.

So many issues. Where to begin?
1. The biggest problem I had with the restaurant was the price. If you read the Open Table page in full, and you know what you're looking for, you'll see the "Tiered" pricing. What this really means, is that it is a fixed price menu starting at $72/person. There are no other options, not are there any other restaurant alternatives (you need reservations to get into the restaurant next door) once you've taken 2 gondola rides to get there. Kids under 9 are half-price, and they will do a 1/2 serving but the servings are so small, I can't imagine that would be enough food for an adult.

2. The price would have been worth it had it been a lovely meal, but that was the other big issue. The food was mediocre and the service HORRENDOUS. After being seated and having the menu explained to us in a very cursory fashion, it seemed that the entire service staff forgot about us. We had to ask to order our meat course, and it took so long to serve that our broth had started to boil away and evaporate. The salads were under-dressed and the portions small. We had 4 adults and 4 children trying to cook various meats, all of which had to be cooked for different periods of time. They begrudgingly gave us 2 timers, which we could see on other tables, but it was still seemed quite chaotic with that many people and only 2 pots. Hopefully no one in our group will end up sick from eating undercooked meat.

They worst part about the service was that no one acknowledged it! The entire staff seemed to think they were doing a great job, and that an $850 meal for 4 adults and 4 kids was completely reasonable. When we raised the issue, various staff tried to explain the poor service and long wait times, offering excuses such as "we're overbooked by 40 reservations tonight" and "the computers crashed." Unfortunately, the restaurant was never more than 1/2 full. And with such a limited menu, it would seem that they could have managed with a pen and paper.

Will never go back and would recommend that no one else does either. If you want a lovely menu on the mountain, hit Alpenglow Stubbe next door. The food will be better and the dinner more affordable.

Colli L.

I don’t mind paying a premium for great food and a great experience. While taking a gondola to go to dinner on a mountain top is a unique experience, the food was mediocre at best. At $78 per person before drinks, I expected a high quality and tasty meal. What we got was far from that. For the cheese course - the bread was stale the, the soft pretzels were cold like they had been frozen, and the vegetables were not even close to fresh. The broccoli seems like it was frozen and had been thawed to be served cold with the cheese dip. Consequently, moisture from the broccoli ran across the plate and made the stale bread soggy. The main course was just okay. There wasn’t much flavor to anything and the beef was not a very good cut. You could pay $18 extra for filet, but I can’t imagine that would be much better. And since it was already $78 per person I would not think I should have to pay extra for quality meat. The same horrible broccoli was served with dinner, and not even cooking it in the supposedly seasoned broth made it any better. Overall nothing had much flavor. Even the honey mustard dipping sauce was not good. How do you mess up honey mustard? For desert we got the “turtle” fondue which is supposed to be caramel and dark chocolate. I couldn’t really discern any caramel in the mix at all, and the dark chocolate - well it tasted more like baking chocolate than good dark chocolate. I very rarely turn away from chocolate, but it really wasn’t pleasant so we barely ate any of it. I get that part of the price is for the experience, but they are charging way too much money to be serving such sub par food!

And FYI - if you’re thinking this place would at least have a romantic atmosphere - it does not. The lighting is way too bright, and all the tables are huge - 8 people per side. So if you are a party of 2 you will be sitting at the end of a table that has another party at the other end.

In short - don’t waste your money!

jason M.

I agree with another reviewer, that this used to deserve 5 stars. My family and guests have dined here 4 times in the past 5 years, and the most recent trip in December 2018 was disappointing. The format of the dinner used to include a cheese fondue start, then a grill for diners to cook their own meat, veggies, and some bread. Now it is basically hot pot. The cheese pot course is removed to reveal the broth below for the main course. I do enjoy hot put, but at over $70 per person to start (my kids are teenagers), it cost over $300 for our family of four, essentially for boiled dinner.

Apparently word is getting out too, because the dining hall was half-full on a Saturday during peak tourist season.

We did have some highlights however, which earned two stars from me. Our younger guests visiting Keystone did have fun riding the gondola and being atop the mountain at night; the band was fun and talented; the servers were nice and attentive; and the kitchen staff was accommodating for our vegetarian daughter by bringing out a special plate for her.

Jake D.

We enjoyed the awesome band and gondola ride across the mountains. They had something for everyone, vegan cheese and chocolate for my wife. Roasting marshmallows in the Flaming Turtle was fun for the kiddos. Getting the grill is the way to go & adding sauce to the meats. By the time we finished all the courses we were full! The building could use a remodel, an upstairs bathroom & some new chairs.The staff was very welcoming and accommodating and provided an exceptional experience.

Michelle F.

We were really looking forward to this place but it was a HUGE disappointment. Especially considering how expensive it is! The food was subpar, the bar was so tiny I had better selection in a hotel mini bar. You have to take two gondola rides to get up there too so be prepared for that if you have small children. We spent more on this dinner than the amazing elegant Christmas Dinner we had at the Keystone Ranch House. If you want to throw away a lot of money then sure, book here. If you want good food, go absolutely anywhere else.

David

Unlike another review, our granddaughter had altitude sickness and all we got was "sorry, maybe someone else can eat her food". The atmosphere was very nice and the music was enjoyable, the service was sub par, and the food was so so. The Melting Pot in Fort Collins Co. is basically the same, but the amount of food there is about 3 times more in quantity. Of course you aren't eating on the top of a mountain...but still $375 for 3 adults and one child is too high for what you get.