The Underground Alice in Wonderland Restaurant on Tejon Street Is Colorado Springs' Most Memorable Night Out

Credit: The Rabbit Hole

There are restaurants, and then there are experiences you describe to people for weeks afterward. The Rabbit Hole is the second kind. Tucked underground on Tejon Street, this Alice in Wonderland-themed New American spot is where Colorado Springs goes when someone needs to be impressed — a second date, an out-of-town guest, a birthday that actually deserves something. The food holds up to the room, which is not something every atmosphere-forward restaurant can say. That combination is rarer than it should be.

What to Order

Start with the bison tacos. They arrive looking deliberate — compact, stacked, the kind of thing that makes you slow down before you pick one up. The meat is rich and just funky enough to remind you it's not beef, and whatever is going on with the toppings means you'll finish both before you remember you ordered other food. Multiple tables around us were doing exactly the same thing. The duck legs are the move for an entree. They come out dark and lacquered, the skin tight and crackled, meat that pulls clean from the bone without any effort on your part. One reviewer called them a flat 10 out of 10 and we're not arguing. Go with the mashed potatoes on the side — same reviewer gave those a 10 and skipped the rice entirely, which tracks. The cordon bleu has come up repeatedly in reviews as a standout, described as the best some diners have had. It's the sleeper pick on this menu — order it if you're the person at the table who needs something familiar done exceptionally. The drinks are serious. This is a bar as much as it's a restaurant, and the cocktail program reflects that. Don't skip them.

The Space

Everything here is underground, which sounds like a gimmick until you're actually in it. The lighting is dark but not in a straining-to-read-the-menu way — more like the whole room has been art-directed, because it has. The Alice in Wonderland artwork covers the walls and somehow avoids feeling like a theme park. You'll hear conversation and clinking glasses more than anything else. The crowd skews date night and special occasion, though the no-dress-code policy means you'll see everything from dressed-up to just-got-off-work. It works.

The Details

What Else to Try

The cocktail list deserves its own visit. The drinks were called out in reviews almost as often as the food, and the bar program here is clearly not an afterthought. If you're coming as a group, do a round before you order food — it sets the room correctly. Also worth noting: the staff has been consistently praised for turning the vibe around when it needed turning. Ask your server what they'd order. They'll have an answer.

Go here for a date — second or fifth, it doesn't matter. Go here when your parents are visiting Colorado Springs and you want to show them the city actually has something going on. The food is good enough to anchor the night even after the atmosphere wows them first. Book ahead, get the duck legs and bison tacos, and let someone else worry about what's aboveground.