Mary Jane’s ready to light up tonight

After many unanticipated delays, Mary Jane’s Pizza, the first outpost of a joint that got its start in Tulsa back in 2002 , will open tonight at 2013 West 32nd Avenue. And open late, since the hours here will be from 11 p.m. to 4:20 a.m. (get it?), take-out and…

Safety first: Diana DeGette provides food for thought

Sometime this morning, right after the full House votes on the Food Safety Enhancement Act (the discussion starts at 8:30 a.m. MST), Representative Diana DeGette and other members of the working group that pushed the measure will hold a press conference to discuss its ramifications. In anticipation of this day,…

Wake-Up Call: Big House on the prairie

On January 22, new President Barack Obama signed an executive order promising that Guantanamo would go — within a year. But closing the prison in Cuba — and figuring out where to put the 229 suspected terrorists now held there — has proved complicated. Moving at least some of them…

Your cup runneth over downtown this morning

No boss could refuse you a coffee break this morning — not when dozens of downtown establishments will be offering all comers a free cup of joe between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Who’ll be pouring it on (and out)? The three homegrown Ink! outposts, as well as the thirteen Starbucks…

A real perk for downtown workers: free coffee tomorrow

The three downtown Ink! Coffee outlets — at 618 16th (in the Sage Building at Welton Street), at 1590 Little Raven (Riverfront) and 1200 17th Street (Tabor Center) – will host a free coffee break for downtown workers from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. It’s a real perk of…

Steve Horner: A name that drives people to drink

On my way home from the Colorado Civil Rights Forum last night, I stopped by Lola, which was hosting the first of the Denver Five dinners. (More on that coming later today from Nancy Levine, who was at the dinner from the start.) And, inevitably, I spotted a restaurateur in…

Wake-Up Call: Civil Rights on the road

The Colorado Civil Rights Commission took its show on the road last night, hosting an evening forum at the Blair-Caldwell Library. And if the conversation didn’t seem to go exactly where Colorado Civil Rights Division director Steve Chavez wanted it to go — after an active initial discussion of racial…

Smashburger’s a smash

Nation’s Restaurant News, the bible of the food-industry world, has just named Smashburger, a homegrown burger joint that rated our Best Local Chain in the Best of Denver 2008, a 2009 Hot Concept. “We are both honored and humbled to receive this prestigious award from Nation’s Restaurant News,” Tom Ryan,…

Wake-Up Call: Film festival, take two

When I last spoke with Tom Botelho, he was in an airport lounge, looking at Gerard Depardieu (foreshadowing!), heading to Europe on a family vacation, and not talking about anything but that. He was certainly not talking about the rumor that he was about to be named the new executive…

Spam is on a roll at the Colorado State Fair

Spam is enjoying unprecedented popularity in these trying economic times, which means that the 2009 Great American SPAM Championship, a recipe competition that includes a qualifier at the Colorado State Fair, could be the toughest contest on record. Last year, a Colorado man, Ron Pearman, took the national prize with…

Wake-Up Call: Logo to go at CU

Yes, the University of Colorado has big budget troubles — so, of course, school officials have done the only thing they could do: issued a $780,000 contract to an international branding company, Landor, to design a new logo that will unite all branches of the CU system under one common…

Wake-Up Call: You be the judge

Denver District Court Judge Larry Naves played the tough guy last week when he issued his ruling in the Ward Churchill case — not only refusing to give the controversial former University of Colorado prof his job back, but also tossing the entire lawsuit, determining that the CU Board of…

Ask a Mexican asks for local Mexican restaurants

Gustavo Arelleno, author of Ask a Mexican, is getting ready to travel around Estados Unidos to do research for his upcoming book on the history of Mexican food in the U.S.– and he could use your help. He’s looking for favorite Mexican restaurants, and is running a contest for the…

Buca di Beppo: half-off, half-gone

Buca di Beppa is touting a new beginning — or “beggining,” if you look closely at the subject line — by sending a half-off coupon to prospective members of its club. You can’t use those coupons in downtown Denver, of course; the Buca location at 1400 Market Street has been…

Wake-Up Call: Emmett Till, RIP

The original casket of Emmett Till was among the missing items uncovered in the Alsip, Illinois, cemetery scandal. After the body of the fourteen-year-old civil rights martyr was exhumed in 2005 for an investigation into Till’s lynching back in 1955, when the Chicago boy dared to talk to a white…

The big business of burgers on the Cherry Cricket patio

The Cherry Cricket’s expansive new patio is a hit — and the kitchen has taken a major hit trying to handle all the business. “Needless to say, the patio has been an overwhelming success,” says Mark Schiffler, the chef who was an original partner in the Wynkoop Brewing Co., which…

Wake-Up Call: It won’t fly

Pulling up to Denver International Airport yesterday, I was already feeling nostalgic. New aviation director Kim Day is working on a master plan that could turn the grand, tented terminal into a giant mall that would be off limits to anyone who hasn’t gone through security — and security itself…

The Wazee celebrates its 35th birthday

The Wazee Supper Club was just three years old when I first walked in — but it felt like it had been there forever, a great hideaway tucked under the still-standing 15th Street Viaduct, in an area of lower downtown that was still a decade away from being nicknamed “LoDo.”…

Wake-Up Call: The chase is on

On Saturday, as railroad enthusiasts chased the 65-year-old Union Pacific steam engine powering the Denver Post train to Cheyenne Frontier Days, the chase was also on inside the train: to find out if Bob Beauprez is going to throw his cowboy hat in the ring for the U.S. Senate seat…

We wuz robbed: Denver ranks unhappy sixth in McDonald’s contest

McDonald’s is celebrating the thirtieth birthday of the Happy Meal by bringing back a favorite Happy Meal toy: Ty Teenie Beanie Babies. The happy chain kicked off its four-week celebration this weekend in Minneapolis, which McDonald’s has named the “Happiest City for Families,” based on such “family-fun criteria” as the…

Sengers files for Chapter 7

This could have been the quietest closing in town: Sengers on the Fax filed for Chapter 7 on July8, according to a legal notice in today’s Denver Business Journal. The watering hole at 3014 East Colfax Avenue got off to a fast start when it opened two years ago, but…

A very special delivery from a bachelor

If Mark Huebner got booted from The Bachelorette, it’s only because Jillian never got to try one of his Cripple Creek pizzas.We did yesterday, and the meat-heavy pie (sausage, pepperoni, Genoa salami) on an ideal crust was a big hit. “Not too thick, not too thin,” Huebner says of the…