Rosie’s Cowboy Cookhouse

Since it’s closed, I could only rate it one star… I went looking for this restaurant in Pt. Reyes yesterday and was told that it has closed.

Well, it was okay. I liked the name of the restaurant and, like another review, was totally surprised to fnd mainly mexican food. So we ordered burgers in keeping with the name and the feeling that we’re tourists (though we live only 20 miles away).
The burger was good and for once, saying ‘well’ meant ‘well’. I was very happy. I was a tad disappointed that the ‘garlic potato wedges’ had only 6 and I ate some of my kid’s side salad.
The staff was nice, the timing was great. I’d eat there again… a burger anyway.

Holy sh_​t what didn’t happen.
To make the long story short…
Service: sucked a$$ (i called them over twice never a response, never filled my drink back up, never came when I wanted to pay)
The cooks were hardworking but the servers had problems. It seems as if one of them was complaining about something to the other server which affected other peoples service including mine.
Food: Nothing new or improved or individualistic. Actually a Mexican restaurant that serves some burgers.
I hate giving negative ratings but this cant be overlooked. I guess it was my fault for going in that tourist trap to begin with

I feel bad for my bad review because of the hardworking staff, but not its owner or food. It smelled like a tourist trap upon entrance — the owner welcome us without sincerity behind her eyes, almost as if she was calculating how much profit to earn off of us.
On the menu, it boasts of how the first serving of chips & salsa is free … but then, the daily printout of their specials indicate something about the rising costs of, well, everything. so this is no longer available. Okay, so chips & salsa for $ 2 it is. but, we can taste it’s from Costco.
I ordered the special, Fresh Dungeness Crab Quesadilla and the bf orderd two tacos. The dish arrived. a sizable quesadilla, one scoop of salsa, and another of sour cream. No rice or beans? Anyways, okay, fine … hopefully the quesadilla will make up for it — not a chance. The crab was tasteless … ditto for the cheese. The only thing I tasted was the lightly toasted tortilla. At $ 18, they could’ve done a lot better.
My bf’s tacos (at $ 5 each) didn’t fare any better.
It truly looked like, the Latin staff was hired for show. and they know it, thus, it appears they’re almost ashamed to be serving such dishes. I feel bad for them as it’s not their fault … and wish one day, they will own the restaurant to serve food true to their standards.
We overhear the family next to us proclaiming the food didn’t taste like much. They even traded dishes with one another but to no avail. Moreover, guests at our stay also commented on the measly food.

«Howdy, Pardner! Hold on to yer hats, cause this here is the fastest ride in the wilderness!»
Okay, enough with the fake cowboy-​speak. On a day trip to Pt Reyes lighthouse, we stopped to explore the quaint village known as Point Reyes Station. Its a cute town — lots of stores selling ridiculous souvenirs no one has even touched since 1984, the perfunctory Wine tastings and a smattering of cute little restaurants.
Whine deciding where to eat lunch, how could we pass up a name like «Rosie’s Cowboy Cookhouse? We couldn’t.
I have to say I was a bit disappointed. I think it should be more aptly called «Rosie’s Vaquero Cocina.» Its basically a taqueria.
We tried the vaquero chili and their «award-​winning» chile verde. The vaquero chili was what I would call Texas style — no beans. It was good, but not spicy enough for me. It was served with a jalapeño cornbread muffin that was a bit too sweet for my tastes.
The chili verde was good, but as for «award-​winning?» I don’t know. I think the taqueria near my house serves better.
The service was nice and the experience was enhanced by the charm of the town, but if I find myself in Pt Reyes Station again, I’m heading to the Pine Cone Diner.
I’ve never eaten a pine cone.

Nothing to complain about at all. This is a very reliable restaurant. I wish I went here for dinner instead of somewhere across the street.
I had the «award winning» Chili Verde. Quite tasty. And a jalapeo corn bread, which also had beans in it!
Great portions, great service.

The Chili con carne (no beans) is great. I would come back just to have that. The price was very fair given the portion and cost of the ingredients.

Stumbled into this place after tasting some wine in Sonoma county and then deciding to drive down to Pt. Reyes Station to go to Cowgirl Creamery. Too bad they were closed (even though their hours are listed as 10 — 6 on Sunday).
We needed a late lunch and we saw Rosie’s and gave it a shot. At 2:30 on a Sunday we were the only people in the place but they didn’t seem to mind. The menu is solid, mostly Mexican but they also have ribs, mac & cheese and burgers. The Chile Verde was *excellent*, a large plate full of tender pork and a powerfully delicious tomatillo sauce. The Mexican rice was soft and full of flavor and the black beans were solid as well. Served with piping hot corn tortillas, I ate until I was stuffed and then we took a nice walk around town.
These are the kind of places I feel lucky to stumble on sometimes when I find myself in unfamiliar territory. I’ll be back.

Three stars is a kindness, since they’re trying… but every time I’ve been here, something has gone wrong. The lasagna served hard and cold in the middle was the latest. We always prefer the Station House across the way for a sit-​down (love those popovers at dinner), or Cowgirl Cantina for a great picnic. Even the Chinese Chuckwagon around the corner is fine. I want to like this place, I really do. But it’s just… not…quite.good…

i’m not a fan of Mexican food. So I order the ribs with mac & cheese and coleslaw. It was a great pick. the ribs are delicious, love the flavor and the texture. the raisins in the coleslaw add some nice sweet to the flavor. Mac & cheese wasn’t heavy and grassy, just the way i like it. The boyfriend ordered the beef tacos. The meat is tender; the sauce is fresh and flavorful. I am going back there again ~

after a nice day of walking trails, going down to the beach, and enjoying the beautiful point reyes seashore, i was hungry. really hungry.
i surveyed a couple of restaurants in point reyes station and decided that the menu looked tasty and the long line was a sign of a good find.
to be perfectly honest, the food is perfectly… decent. the crab hominy chowder was filling and tasted ok.
now there’s the service: solidly bad! there’s no real process for putting your name on the list to be seated. quite unorganized. unnecessarily so. once seated, it took about 15 minutes for anyone to take our order. we did get some chips and salsa that were quite tasty. (btw, you will get charged for additional chips. who does that?!) the waitress didn’t seem interested in taking our order. she looked (and acted) like she was perturbed that there were patrons in the restaurant. and i didn’t get the additional biscuit that i requested. it took another 15 minutes to flag the waitress down to address these concerns. ugh. frustrating. when she did come to my table, she looked annoyed that i actually wanted what i ordered.
uh, not going back. there are other places that deserve my hard earned dollars. and how is it a cowboy cookhouse anyway?!

Looking for a late lunch on the way back from Bodega Bay, we stopped in here. Not sure why it’s called «Cowboy Cookhouse» since the menu leans heavily, though not quite exclusively, to Mexican. The food was quite good, though. I had a grilled chicken quesadilla and my girlfriend had a chili relleno burrito. The quesadilla was fine. Nothing special. The burrito was quite interesting, though. I’m not a chili relleno fan, but in a burrito it was quite good. The place loses a star for the service. Both the kitchen and wait staffs seemed much more interested in chatting with each other than getting us fed.

My parents were visiting from Hawaii, so this gave me a perfect opportunity to explore the Bay Area coast after living here for 6 months. What did I discover, other than the revelation that I need to get out more? Rosie’s!!! Thank God, nothing to do with the Rosie «Cuckoo-​in-​the-​Coconut» O’Donnell (don’t get me started with her half-​hearted apology for mocking Chinese). This Rosie is a remarkable find.
You walk into the establishment and you’re greeted by smoke from the kitchen. Not a great start you think, and there’s one waitress hustling but you notice she’s got a pleasant smile and not breaking a sweat. After your order the food, the smoke seems a lot less. After you eat the food, you don’t even notice the smoke. How good is the food? My mom rarely finishes her meals, but she polished off those quesadilla’s quickly and still talks about Rosie’s today. My dad (usually the hearty eater) was feeling a little nauseous from the winding road we took to get the Point Reyes Station so he had the bowl of soup, which he also promptly finished. What nausea?! I ate the burger and it was delicious!
I highly recommend this pit stop while driving along the PCH. Not a grease pit at all and the service is courteous, pleasant, and prompt for a one woman show

We came here after a day out at the point. I had the ribs with mac ‘n’ cheese, which were nice if not overwhelming. The portion could have bee bigger, but then I can always eat a lot of meat. The corn bread was a little too sweet for my taste, but still very nice.
Ms. Lily’s Chile Verde, on the other hand, was flawless. The braised pork was so tender it was hard to get it on a fork because it just fell to pieces. The sauce was not too hot, but still had some bite to it. We had some local beer with it, and the whole ting was less than $ 40. And we had some of the more expensive dishes on the menu. So all in all, reasonably priced, honest good southwestern cowboy food.

There we were, out for a Saturday drive. We came to a stop, and there was an awning that said «Rosie’s Cowboy Cookhouse.»
Interesting… I thought we’d be stuck eating tourist food, but this sounded interesting.
Comfortable décor and nice knowledgable service.
OK. Tell me why people go to a restaurant like this, and never try the interesting stuff on the menu. Rosie’s is NOT a typical Mexican restaurant, although you can order taqueria fare.
What makes Rosie’s stand out are the unusual dishes or preparations. Order those!
My wife had a chile relleno, stuffed with chicken instead of the usual cheese. The chicken was cooked with sultana raisins and walnuts, and seasoned with cinammon and allspice — kind of a picadillo. The tomato sauce was slightly-​sweet. Delicious!
I had a cup of the chili con carne — tender beef in a wonderful red sauce. It was more like Chili Colorado than chili. Not a bean in sight, and very tasty.
I also had the Chili Verde after reading a note in the menu that the dish had won first place in a contest. This dish is one of my favorites, and something I judge restaurants on.
It was great, and some of the best Chili Verde I have had.
Rosie’s also had a few specials on the board, and they sounded pretty good too. Surprisingly, they also had several desserts.
A nice find!

After a hike at Point Reyes, I always head to «downtown» to grab a bite to eat. I have eaten at the Cowboy Cookhouse on several such occasions, as well as at its predecessor in the same location.
The menu and food are not terribly exciting in terms of variety, but it’s generally above average quality. I usually order a quesadilla, as I’m usually famished by the time I get to downtown. The meat and guac are always fresh, and I usually swallow the whole thing in one bite. What can I say, I’m always hungry after a hike. A solid 4 stars for above average.

After a sweet hike, this Dinch was tasty and the service was friendly, quick, fast, efficient, and guapo.
Joy M, Bryan K and I-​the smallest DYK group ever-​really enjoyed this place. The food came out fast and hot and was really yummy.
To start, we all had organic local ales that were nice and cold.
They serve Eel River Organic Ale and have a pretty good selection of cerveza to choose from.
The appetizer was a special of steamed artichoke with a yummy garlic aioli which we all made quick work of until it was anhillated. This artichoke was reminiscent of Pablo Neruda’s «Ode to the Artichoke.»
It had a perfect, soft heart.
For the main courses,
Joy M had fish tacos. She’s mad for fish tacos and was quiet the whole time as she devoured them. She said they tasted great, red snapper and all.
Brian also had fish tacos, but was very happy as well with the chicken stuffed poblano chile relleno.
As for me, I had their special quesadilla. It was a mix of fresh corn, fresh mango, black beans, chopped poblano chile, and cheese.
On the side was guacamole, tomato salsa fresca, and sour cream.
The thing was the quesadilla was so tasty in its own right, I didn’t need to add the sides. I pretty much ate the whole thing.
For dessert, we shared the Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream. yum.
I really liked how everything was freshly prepared and authentic.
They support Marin Organic. I’d definitely come back here for dinch and annihalate another artichoke soon.
One lament: No cowboys/​vaqueros in attendance.

Really, this place deserves 3 stars, but given that you’re in Point Reyes just off HWY 1, I will give it all four stars.
The place is quaint, with black and white cowboy photos on the walls, white cloth tablecloths and flowers in old coca-​cola bottles. It’s run by a family, and when I came in, the mother was cooking and the daughter was getting orders and bringing out food.
Speaking of the food… I thought that authentic cowboy cooking would somehow involve buffalo or something to that extent… but the menu was actually pretty generic, though decent. My chicken wrap was made with deep fried chicken, which was an unpleasant surprise [I don’t like to deep fried food, and would at least like to know ahead of time if I am going to find it on my plate]. The thick fries that came with the wrap were AWESOME, although be warned — they are thickly covered with garlic.
Overall, this is probably your best bet in this part of the world. Definitely beats the burrito place just down the road.

I almost wanted to give this place 5 stars, but 4 will have to do until my next visit.
We walked in here on a gorgeous sunny day to have some cold, rainy weather food… The Niman Ranch beef chili (no beans) was my first chili of this sort and it was DELICIOUS. The beef chunks were so tender and the portion was quite generous ($ 8+ including corn bread). My husband got the pulled pork sandwich, that was really good, too…
Oh, and their horchata is the best I’ve had. Not chalky at all, I wonder if they make it from scratch. If so, wow!

Solidly OK. Super friendly staff and pretty much garden variety restaurant (i.e. non-​taqueria) Mexican.