Rawhide Western Town & Event Center

This place does not treat those holding events there well. They charge you outrageous fees for everything and then you get terrible service from them. This happens every year we have to go there for our events. This is a large events place and they know they have a stranglehold on you if you need a large place. Anywhere is better than having to deal with these people. You would be better off holding your event in the middle of the desert with nothing else than to hold an event here. They will nickel and dime you into bankruptcy.

We attended the 2021 Thanksgiving Buffet at Rawhide and were very disappointed in the food. Our reservation was at 11am! I felt everything would be hot and fresh at that time. The stuffing was cold, the gravy had a thick skin/film on it and the sirloin steaks were overdone, dry and tough. We made our waitress aware of problem. We were expecting a special experience and needless to say was extremely disappointed. My suggestion would be for the establishment to contact San Tan Flat and have them teach you how to prepare a “perfect” sirloin steak. I will say that the ham served by Rawhide was tender, juicy, and very good. Many steaks were left on plates uneaten. Not worth the $90.00 for food/tax/tip!

I SO wanted to like the "new" Rawhide. I grew up with many happy times at the Scottsdale Rawhide, and was saddened to see it razed. Today, we met out-of-town guests at the "new" Rawhide, and all of us felt the visit wasn't even worth the gas money to get there. I was terribly disappointed. The buildings have no charm; the attractions are overpriced (seriously? $10 to climb a fake rock wall, or to ride a broken down mechanical bull? Are the owners smoking crack, or what?) and the role-players are lackluster. I'm a western buff, and my home and barn are full of western paraphernalia of all sorts -- but there wasn't a single item in the shops that I wanted to take home. T-shirts and Jelly Belly candy doesn't compare to the site-made rock candy and hand-forged items from the former site.

The food was good, but overpriced; for $21 a steak should include a salad and a decent side other than mushy ranch fries. The grounds were cheesy, though; the "live zombie paintball" booth didn't do much for us, and there was really nothing to see. I was surprised and saddened. I wanted to find the Rawhide town I loved before, with a certain energy and a vitality. I'd hoped to see the farm animals roaming the street (but no, they're locked in a petting zoo where you must purchase another ticket to see them), and riders on horseback making their way through town -- but that is all a memory.

The staff were pleasant, but unremarkable. The main bathrooms were out of paper when we arrived, but within a couple of hours, someone was attending to the tissue issue.

The town could benefit from a makeover. I'd suggest they add a bawdy house, with painted ladies (role-players, not tourists from Scottsdale) beckoning from the upper balcony, and a couple of recreations of historic western buildings, such as the Ellis House from Lincoln, NM, or a historic court house. A gallows would add a dark but appealing edge. Come to think of it, there's so much that needs to be done there -- it probably isn't even worth trying. Rawhide missed the mark.

To those who remember the origonal Rawhide, the new one will seem a dismal attemt at anything close to the origonal on countless levels, to newcomers it will just seem like a poorly planned attemt to extract money from tourists (At least they don't charge you to come in yet).
If you are unfortunate enough to show up at opening like we did, you will wander up and down the street wondering what to do as NOTHING IS HAPPENING for at least the first hour and not much after that. They made little attemt to recreate the "Old West" feeling, no attemt to hide power cabinets and other such non old west things. The entire place looks like it was disigned in a day and built in a week. The gift shop has your standard home depot shelves you maight find in your garage, no wood. The Train and Stage coach are almost worth it just to see "How Bad" this attemt was. The stage coach (1 hr wait with 1 group in front of us) doesn't go out into the mature sanoran desert as it used to, it now goes in a circle accross a dirt lot without one tree, it is absolutley pathetic, you can keep it in sight from start to finish. Thr train does the SAME THING! Oh, and nothing makes you feel like you are in the old west like the sound of top fuel race boats ripping up and down firebird lake (next door). This park has missed the mark entirely, and it makes me sad because it used to really be great, I wish it had never moved. In my mind, it's gone.

Went to Rawhide this summer having read about it in the guide books and brochures. Not sure what to expect but certainly not what we experienced. Generally, it was so poor it was laughable so maybe worth going for that alone. "Haunted House" looked like it was literally falling down and most of the "spooky" attractions were actually broken. Went through it in about 2 minutes flat and judging by the comments from those about us we weren't alone in our view.

The gunfight also proved entertaining but more due to the bad acting than the excitement of the event. The train trip was probably worth a go and if you can't get to the Middle East, check out the camel ride down main street.

Shops were worth a look though things seemed pretty pricey (even with a weak $). Had a meal in the Steakhouse which was good with live entertainment and reasonably priced.

Though its free to get in, Rawhide can work out expensive if you try out some of the shows or (if you are really desperate) the Haunted House.

I would spend my time walking around for the "ambiance" then finish with a steak but generally keep your money for elsewhere.

Had the misfortune of going to Rawhide during a recent stay at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass. What a waste of time. The place is a dusty parking lot with a sad group of mules and a miserable looking camel giving rides. We felt so bad for the poor fellow we didn't let our kids ride. Paid $20 to watch a joke of a "western" rope throwing show, it was soooo bad that we couldn't believe it was really happening, and we were there paying for it! I'm shocked that Sheraton would even acknowledge such a place, much less shuttle people back and forth. We had dinner reservations but when we saw the place we quickly changed our minds about eating there and dined at the hotel restaurant instead. Avoid Rawhide its a pathetic tourist trap.

Being guests of the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass, which we loved, a visit up the road to Rawhide was in order. We had dinner one night at the Rawhide Steakhouse. To sum it up, adequate service, very casual atmosphere, good food. However, at dinner, I left my credit card there accidentally. The good news was that someone in the restaurant took the time to call the Sheraton, and leave a message for us to pick up our credit card the next morning from security, which I did. The bad news was that someone else there didn't have the same sense of values. Two days later, I was getting calls from American Express concerned about fraudulent activity on my credit card. Someone who had access to my credit card at Rawhide was trying to buy a thousand dollars of merchandise from an overseas website on my AMEX account! Seeing as my card was in 'security's' stewardship the entire evening, it was obviously an inside job. I called upon my return and left a message for the general manager of the property, which was not returned. Seems typical of the new apathy there. I'd think the management there would be very interested in keeping crooks off the property, or maybe that's just part of their wild west image. My advise, hang on to your wallet and steer clear of Rawhide.

We visited this venue two years ago. So unique & quaint. We loved it. Especially the BlackSmith shop. Beautiful work by that blacksmith. The stores & even the “Gunfight” was so much fun. Was anxious to go back.
Returned there last Sunday only to be told it is now a special event only venue!!! How very disappointing that was for us & our grandson!!!
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As a restaurant manager of 6 years I will tell you that this was the worst experience I have ever encountered. You are better of going to one of the steak houses in town the food was way over prices and not tasty at all. The web site says dinner and a show not true. After you pay over 100$ on food they want to charge you for the gun fight show and 5$ for every show will add up and they are well not worth the money. I was completely embarrassed to bring my parents from out of town to this place.I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT GOING I could write a novel on the bad experience. Oh and be sure to check your bill because you will find extra charges and the gratuity already added even if you weren't a party of eight. I think the server was trying to pull a fast one because she knew how bad her service was. And the management will not care to hear you opinion. So if I could save one person from this review Let that person be you!!!!!!!!

My family and I went to the 4th of July celebration at the new Rawhide (having been to the 4th at the OLD Rawhide in the past). This was awful! It made for a miserable night! The food was terrible and overpriced and so were the attractions. First off, trying to get food was impossible. We waited in line for 20 minutes at one place before it was shut down (the staff was woefully incompetent) then waited for another 30 minutes in ANOTHER line just to spend about $30 4 plain hotdogs, 3 bottled drinks and a couple of bags of chips--YUCK!

Then, all of the attractions cost between 3 and 5 tickets. Each ticket was $1. Just to take their lousy, podunk train-ride would have cost $15 for 3 people! Rip off! The casino owning bunch that bought this once charming little attraction have turned it into a disaster! What's worse? We took folks from out of town there and had them trudging through H-E-double-hockey-sticks with us!

I just don't have enough bad things to say about this place! Stay away!! Go do something else in the valley!