Red Tango

Small business, delicious food at a reasonable price. I guess they are now closed. So, what is there to review? Go look at something else or go outside!

Notice: Red Tango has been closed recently, apparently some time earlier in January. I went there tonight to find a notice on the door about some kind of inspection or complaint by Jefferson County related to heating or safety issues. There was a «No Trespassing» sign hastily put on the door.
There was no indication about when or if they would re-​open.
It’s too bad, because this was a pretty decent restaurant serving some interesting Latin American cuisine. The four stars reflect my earlier dining experiences here, not the disappointment of it being closed tonight.

The hubs and I enjoy a good South American/​Latin meal so it was high time we tried Red Tango. We came a little later in the evening which was nice because we had incredible service being one of the only tables. When you walk in it feels like a place you want to immediately come back to.
We started with an incredible potato, Anaheim and bell pepper soup. Good enough that I’m going to try to re-​create it at home.
The menu is simple with limited options which we both appreciate. The hubs ordered the beef arepa and I got the traditional chili rellenos with both red and green chili. We also shared a side of plantains.
I like my plantains either green and fried crispy or ripe and sautéed. These were a mix of the two and as such weren’t my absolute favorite. The chili rellenos made up for it and were fantastic. Spicy sauces with creamy cheese and egg battered chills. Yum! The black beans were good and the rice was decent.
The hubs very much enjoyed his arepa and we both agreed we would come back!

Quaint and small, with exceptional Latin American food. They were out a of a few items, but that could be a testament to how popular some of the dishes are. Would definitely go back.

Wanted to go to Chili’s in Applewood, initially, but it was packed with a 15 minute wait to be seated. I don’t like loud, crowded restaurants anyway, and Chili’s food isn’t good enough to wait to be seated. So we decided to try and new place, and Red Tango was recommended. While everyone was at Chili’s, no one was at Red Tango, and at 5:30pm on a busy Tuesday afternoon. Just because a restaurant isn’t bustling doesn’t mean it’s not good.
This place exceeded my expectations beyond belief. Was greeted at the door by a young gentleman who acted like he was expecting us, and treated us like we had a reservation. Sat us at a nice table next to a window. Latin music of various cultures and nations was playing, and at a good conversation level. The atmosphere was like a comfortable home. The temperature was nice. A nice variety of paintings is on the wall.
DO NOT GO HERE IF YOU ARE WANTING MEXICAN FOOD!!!
The Denver is area is not known for its Mexican food, and I don’t care much for Mexican food anyway. This is South American food. Compare it to Los Cobos, if you’ve ever been there. We had the appetizer sampler which includes an empanada with cheese or beef (we got one of each, and I liked the one with cheese the best), chips, homemade salsa, a delicious South American garnishment made with shrimp and white fish, and a delicious corn patty.
Main course was salmon, which comes with a fresh-​made salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Christian served it to us as «a little piece of Heaven.» He wasn’t kidding. The salmon was fresh, flaky, and very flavourful. Dessert was some of the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had which had a light chocolate syrup touch that tastes of brandy, subtly-​flavoured Spanish custard with raspberry and caramel, and a delicious and bold sangria.
All total come to less than $ 100 for 2, and it was worth every penny. They also have a full-​service bar and wide assortment of fine wines.
This place must be experienced to be believed. We WILL be back!!!

Latin based food. Original, reasonably priced, good service and family atmosphere. I had the pulled pork that had been marinated in a «Mexican» style chile sauce. It was advertised as «pulled pork» so I expected a plain pork. However, it wasn’t bad, once I got over my expectations. A large, quarter sized piece of bone in the meat turned off my appetite and I nearly broke a tooth but for that I think it would have been a 4 ½.
I won’t rate the whole restaurant on that one piece of bone and I should have brought it to the attention of the waiter but I didn’t want to spoil the ambience for everyone. The kitchen manager should work a little harder on eliminating that type of thing.
We had a group of 7 people. Everyone enjoyed their food. We were shepherded through our meal by a waiter that gave us his full attention. The waiters name was Christian.

Fantastic food. Phenominal service I could eat here twice a week. Family with two young kids welcome and fed promptly. Perfect neighborhood restaurant

The sangria was refreshing. The food was delicious and the service was friendly and fast. I will definitely go back to try some of the things I couldn’t try because I was enjoying my meal so much!

Came here on a Saturday night with a social group of 11. When we asked at the beginning if we could have separate checks they said no and they explained that it is within industry standard to tally up the entire bill and then split it between how many people there were. So some of us who ordered a $ 17 meal with a coke ended up spending almost $ 40. We complained loudly and asked if they could not at least sub-​total the meals… no! The food was rather pricey considering the interior which was at best shabby and being a hot night, the gals were sweating and I don’t mean to the oldies. All they had was a swamp cooler! Also had no wine list. The only reason I’m giving them a meh is my particular meal — the blackened salmon with the black beans, rice, mango & strawberry sauce was delish!
My group goes out for dinner once a month and has been since 2008. Not sure what rule book they are following for their «industry standard».

Fabulous service, delicious, fresh food! I specifically asked about sustainable sources fish, and was quickly assured that what I was being served was, indeed, sustainable. There’s a great variety of dishes, ranging from light to filling, but all with great flavor. I’m eager to return, and suggest you make a visit of you haven’t already!

I have to come back here. They have a tight but very interesting menu and good sangria. I didn’t get tot the ceviche or plantains but had a very good dinner with great service at this family run restaurant. I really enjoyed my marinated beef cooked in a clay pot with raisins sealed with a corn pastry.

Didn’t blow my mind or anything like I expected it to at $ 16 a plate. The best part was the friendly service and quaint atmosphere. I loved the platanos, and it was nice to see so many vegetarian accommodating items. I had vegetarian tamales with a pretty straight forward smooth red chilé similar to the handmade enchilada sauce I make from ristra chiles. The rice was white, the beans were black. My husband didn’t like the tortilla soup. I don’t know, a LOT of ingenuity and MUCH lower prices would make this place a better deal.

I can’t count how many times we have passed this restaurant on our way down 38^th, and in a typical indecisive mood, we decided to pull a U-​turn last night and try out Red Tango. We had no idea what kind of cuisine we were in for from the outside of the building. Upon entering the very eccentrically decorated interior, I knew it was Latin. We were promptly greeted and and seated and given a short intro on what we were to expect since this was our first time by our very friendly waiter. We started off with the Mezcla, which was a wonderful sample of the Ceviche, Beef empanada, Arepa, Platanos, and Chips and Salsa. We were then served a tortilla soup that was very good. We followed that with the Chile Rellenos which were absolutely delicious, and the two salmon specials, one of which was a mango/​strawberry melody atop Salmon, which I was hesitant to try at first but found it to be the bomb. The other was a Salmon Arepa dish which was also very good. Highly recommend this place if not for the service alone!

Great dinners here, I like that the staff was very attentive and the food. As a bonus, they have beer selections from Costa Rica and parts of the menu seem inspired from there. I’d like a bit more variety in terms of us non-​meat eaters.

Delicious entrees! The group I was with ordered the arepas, ravioli, and tamales as entrees and we all loved them! The meats were well seasoned and cooked perfectly. Same with the sauces. The entrees came with a tasty tortilla soup.
Great service, so friendly. The ceviche appetizer was a little heavy on the lime, which not everyone enjoyed but I liked it.
We have wanted to try this restaurant for quite some time and will definitely return soon!

Red Tango is my «go to» restaurant for out of town guests. They never disappoint. They have a solid menu and always back it up with just as solid specials. Their flan is also great. They always have a wine menu available when I’m there. They serve fried plantains that are cheap and delicious. Two great apps would be the civeche and the hummus. I’ve tried most of the items on their menu (although it changes fairly often) and have always been more than satisfied.
A great family owned local restaurant. What more can you ask for?

Order something. That’s all you need to do to have great success!!! This is the Pastel de Chocla

Don’t let the outside appearance dissuade you from trying Red Tango. They are so warm and welcoming, especially owner, Jose. Nothing fancy, just delicious South American cuisine. Say, if your Mum was from Argentina and went to culinary school but had 7 kids and no time to make highfalutin’ food.
The Arepas de Queso are an absolute favorite. We get them every time — no kidding. Thin, crisp outer layer to a creamy, cheesy interior, fresh diced tomatoes and scallions on top, with more cheese and a wonderful chipotle aioli. Their osso bucco falls off the bone, though I wished they’d bring back the mole sauce with which it used to be served.
Highly recommend you try this place.

I don’t know what restaurant other reviewers were visiting, but it wasn’t the one the hubby, boy and I went to on a Friday evening.
Walked in, noticed that the décor is shabby and carpet, dirty. Kindof wilty tired out flowers on the tables. Cafeteria feeling. Well, that’s not everything – I don’t mind rollin’ dirty once in a while. As long as the food rocks it!
Were seated, given menus. Asked for a wine/​cocktail list. Was told that there wasn’t one, and then the server proceeded to rattle off the usual suspect wines (i.e., Sauv Blanc, Pinot Gris etc.) and told us «There’s some that are $ 7 a glass and some that are $ 4 a glass…) WTF? The price per glass, while a factor, is not usually the deciding one when choosing wine! No mention of vineyard, vitner, region… it was really, really weird.
Took a look at the menu. There is NOTHING on here for kids, so don’t even bother bringing them. We ordered Ceviche for ourselves and Empanadas for the boy. The Ceviche was so acidic it was INEDIBLE. Ten tiny pieces of some kind of white fish on a bed of limp salad and watery tomato. No spice, no texture, just super sour lime juice… price, $ 11.00 for an appetizer portion. I was starting to get a really bad feeling.
I told the hubby, «I know you’ve wanted to try this place for a while but I’m getting the creeps.» We looked around, and noticed that EVERY other person in the place was over 60 years old. There’s a couple of retirement apartment villas on 38^th Avenue and I think that Red Tango might be catering to them. Which is fine, but I need more from my Latin food than «reliable and soft». It felt like a funeral home, hushed and spooky. Not a fun vibe at all.
The entrees were priced fairly high ($ 15-​$ 20). This from a place with no wine list? We received the empanadas and they were far too spicy for the boy, plus kindof weird and microwavy flavored, so we left them on the plate, chugged the fancy $ 7 glasses of mystery wine, and asked for the check. I didn’t want to spend one more cent in that place.
All in all, I can only say that the place feels as though it is a dying restaurant – one that should be on Kitchen Nightmares or something. They are cutting corners in every possible way – cleaning, printing, food, décor. Red Tango, desperation is not appetizing.

Stopped here during a road trip (thank you Unilocalers for writing awesome reviews), and the food was great! The beef tinga with homemade stuffed white corn cakes was savory and satisfying; the chile relleno with grilled chicken and chile verde was yumlicious; the shrimp and bay scallop enchilada with gorgonzola sauce was so, so tasty (but looked not so pretty); and the ceviche was awesome.
I will def come here again if I’m ever in Wheat Ridge!

Ate here a while back after reading all the stellar reviews. Definitely can’t complain about the food — it was really good! I ordered the Chile Relleno and it was excellent. Everyone I was with enjoyed their meals as well.
The food gets 5 stars but the rest of the experience drags the rating down a bit. For the quality of the food and the price (a little more than we were expecting) you’d expect a nicer location/​service. Everything about this place feels forced — the décor, the staff, the menu… It’s like they want to be a fancy place, but it’s just not who they are.
If you want some tasty South American food check it out, but you’ll probably leave feeling a bit cheated by the rest of the experience.