Tortugas

We recently move to Niwot and Tortuga's has been on our list of places to visit in the area strictly based on the Yelp reviews and menu. We are kinda foodies and LOVE exploring new options in the area. I have had my eye on the Cajun chicken for WEEKS! We finally scheduled a date night and made a reservation. My husband is from Louisiana and is always on the search for a good jambalaya. Well Tortuga's knocked it out of the park! The Jambalaya is hearty and full of meat with great flavor. The Cajun Chicken is something I will DEFINITELY crave! We already can't wait to come back. The server had worked there for 10+ years (a huge testament to their company for sure), and the owners are the cooks! The place has been in business for 27 years which speaks volumes for a small locally owned business. We were impressed to say the least!

Excellent experience. We took a chance and did not make a reservation but it is suggested. Nice outdoor seating area. It's a converted old house, very quaint and easy to miss when trying to find the first time. Shrimp seviche was excellent for appetizer and we both had the halibut which was prepared very well. A very good experience, lots more to try on the menu.

The inside is SO SO cute. It’s like you’re in someone’s house almost. We got the smoked salmon wontons. They were amazing and well balanced. We also got the jerk chicken and the voodoo shrimp. The chicken super flavorful. I’ll be thinking about voodoo shrimp for a long time. 😍 Margaritas and bread budding were great too! And the service was nice. Oh, and I liked their hot sauce. This place is wonderful, we will be back!

My husband and I have had date nights here at least 4 times, he has once with his ex wife, so he must love it! Although he loves me more! Okay anyway, the seafood specials have always been consistently delicious along with their cocktails. I feel like the food has Mexican and Caribbean flavors! David is a wonderful hosr, bartender and waiter!

Tried a new place with a friend tonight. Tortugas. Let me start by saying that this could have been a 5 star review but fell off in the end. Started very good, waitress took the time to explain things to us and give us some guidance. We enjoyed the appetizer and the meal. Drinks were kept full, all good. Dinner was tasty although my friend enjoyed his dinner more than I did mine. But that was the culture and the style of the food. No issue with that as that is the reason for trying new places. Being a Tuesday it was slow, we were one of two tables with customers. While we were there one other table was seated and they ate quick and left. We were the last to leave at 7:30, the restaurant hours say open until 9. This is where it starts to go down hill. We opted to not pursue dessert for no reason other than nothing really jumped out. The waitress brought the bill and we were relaxing and talking about the dinner and the experience in general. While we were talking two things happened, first the waitress from 10 feet away looked over and mentioned that she couldn't see if we had put payment out or not. A rude move, a white invoice on a plate would clearly show if cash or cards were sitting on top of it. This appeared to be a ploy to hurry us along although they were open for another hour and a half. Second after the bill was on the table there was zero continued courtesy, mainly water and tea glasses ran empty, we were never asked if we would like more to drink or any thing else for that matter. No manager visit to the table, in this case it would have been the owner who was on the floor and seated us when we arrived. We can take a hint. We paid the bill and got the hell out. Maybe the couple that came in after us was exposed to the same treatment and that would explain why they were out so quickly. Anyway this was not how I expected to close the evenings visit. If I was giving a rating based on food alone it would be a 5 star rating. Exposure to a different cultures food is why we seek out new restaurants, well new to us anyway. Taking everything into consideration I am glad that I tried Tortugas but disappointed with the experience as a whole. I would like to try other items on their menu but would go back with low expectations and planning on getting out of there in a hurry.