When cabbies started complaining at Denver International Airport this summer, it was strictly from hunger. Something was rotten at DIA’s ground-transportation area, they said, and all too often it was the food in the vending machines–not to mention the contract that had awarded the concession. “You have to understand–this is…
Alcohol rub: When the Cherry Tomato (see review, previous page) applied for a liquor license right after the place opened last spring, the owners were bombarded with letters from neighborhood people purporting to oppose the application. At the hearing, though, only 30 people showed up to fight the license, while…
When four Park Hill families didn’t like what was happening in their neighborhood, they decided to band together and do something about it. But it wasn’t crime they were fighting, or drugs, bums or slums–it was the lack of a good neighborhood restaurant. And so, after many months of backyard…
South of the border patrol: When I visit decent places like Don Quijote (see review above), I realize there’s no excuse for serving lousy Mexican food. Since the ingredients for most Mexican dishes are inherently cheap, the difference comes down to a willingness to take the extra step involved in…
As Denver’s restaurant industry has fattened over the past decade, business at the old favorites has thinned. Almost forgotten in the face of fresh Mexican grills and pseudo-tapas bars, these longtime standbys somehow keep things cooking. Don Quijote is one such blast from the past, one of those restaurants that,…
Rebuild it, and they will come. At least that’s what Willy, John and Mac Watts are counting on in Five Points, where their year-old Kal’line’s Cafe has slowly been building a following of Denverites who appreciate good soul and American cooking. Kal’line’s is named for the Watts brothers’ mother, Caroline…
Get to the Points: Kal’line’s owners aside, not everyone is enthusiastic about the promotional work being done by the Five Points Business Association and the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development (MOED). “I’m going to tell you my truly and honest position,” says George Brown, whose Brown Sugar’s Burgers and Bones…
Who is waiting in line at the Cheesecake Factory? I’ll tell you who: the same people who give me dirty looks and curse under their breath when I take eight items into the nine-item express line at the grocery store. The same people who roll their eyes and sigh repeatedly…
Consider the alternatives: You’re downtown at lunchtime and feel the cream-cheesy pull of the Cheesecake Factory. What to do? How about trying one of these locally owned spots that serve better food–and without a wait to get it. Like the Factory’s pastas? The selection at City Spirit Cafe (1434 Blake…
Catering to my needs: Last month, while in line for the buffet at a wedding reception, I chatted with a socialite who throws many parties at her expansive Cherry Hills Village pad. She asked me which caterer I recommended, and I gave her three names: Bistro Boys (the catering sidearm…
If he weren’t stoned, he said, he would never have eaten the food at Elitch Gardens. Even stoned, the red-mohawked teen was reluctant to try most of the snack items we picked up at the amusement park. And after eating the food myself, I can’t say that I blamed my…
The voice leaving the message sounded sadder than that of a person whose best friend had just died. “I’m so, so worried that this place is going to close,” the caller said. “If you went there, you’d just fall in love with the food. Please visit it and see what…
Getting the best of them: As usual, there are a few hotly contested awards in this year’s Best of Denver issue, which came out last week to cheers and jeers from readers and the restaurant community. The most controversial item (so far) seems to be my selection of Sonoda’s, with…
With Child: After an evening of red meat and red wine last week with Julia Child, sponsored by the Colorado chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food (which Julia founded sixteen years ago with Robert Mondavi, Richard Graff and others) and held at Brasserie Z, I came to…
Get three women together–two married with children and one completely unencumbered–for dinner and drinks, and it’s like a Vietnamese order-by-numbers meal: You never know what the heck’s gonna come out. Luckily, our trio was throwing the dice at Saigon Bowl, a two-year-old restaurant occupying a space in the Far East…
Book ’em: If you’re one of those people who loves chain food–and I know you’re out there, furtively wolfing down T.G.I. Friday’s potato skins–then Top Secret Restaurant Recipes will let you hide your problem in the privacy of your own home (and keep you from throwing any more of your…
After eating at Kevin Taylor’s Brasserie Z, I have only one thing to say: Kevin, you can hold that banana between your knees. Correction: I have only one negative thing to say, because that banana was the only flaw I found during three otherwise stellar meals at Taylor’s new restaurant…
Stop going to the Cheesecake Factory. I mean it. The food’s fine, but it’s not worth an hour-long wait at lunch. And if you keep going there, the few locally owned restaurants left in LoDo–the ones whose owners have been lamenting the long lines at the chain Cheesecake Factory when…
Cutting the Cheesecake: Dixons Downtown Grill, reviewed above, isn’t the only restaurant affected by the new Cheesecake Factory, at 1201 16th Street. Part of a California chain, this big, splashy eatery serves big portions and some splashy food, but the Factory certainly isn’t good enough to warrant the multitudes lining…
When the Wynkoop Brewing Company started up back in 1988, no one had a clue how big the microbrewery business would become. Or, for that matter, how big the Wynkoop would get: Today it’s the nation’s largest brewpub. But on opening day, the crowds flocked to that lonely LoDo outpost…
I once overheard a woman extol the charms of a local French restaurant. “The waitstaff is so rude, it’s great,” she said, not a trace of sarcasm in her voice. “It’s just like eating in Paris.” That’s a little extreme, but certainly the escape factor is one of the attractions…
A poke in the ribs: Sam Taylor’s Bar-B-Q, which relocated to 435 South Cherry Street a few months ago after a decade at the Links at City Park, used to serve my favorite bones in town. Now I’m not so sure. I stopped by Sam’s new location on Mother’s Day–a…
