El Rancho is making another comeback — this time as a brewpub. The iconic restaurant in the foothills got its start as a log cabin eatery in 1947; new owners took it over in the ’50s, and expanded it into a major restaurant and conference center. In the ’60s, it…
This past rainy weekend, North County — the Southern California-inspired restaurant that opened late last year in Lowry, a part of town hungry for eating options — was packed with people eager to get out of the wet weather and into some potent margaritas. Gretchen Kurtz reviewed North County last week, and…
The Denver Cruiser Ride kicked off its tenth anniversary season on Wednesday night; even the cold, rainy weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of this free-wheeling crew. But Darnell24 wasted no time throwing a wet blanket on the festivities, and wrote*: If you have ever lived in any other cities and…
In late 1864, Territorial Governor John Evans and Colonel John Chivington, both ardent Methodists, founded the Denver Seminary, the forerunner of the University of Denver. Just a few weeks later Chivington led his volunteers on a raid of a peaceful camp of Arapaho and Cheyenne on Sand Creek; an estimated…
The neon clown that once glowed over I-25 from the roof of Pagliacci’s is scheduled to be reinstalled today inside Lumina, the massive project that was built on the site of the longtime Italian restaurant. The Pagliacci’s clown was a colorful landmark in northwest Denver — which has been losing…
Bree Davies loves Denver, the town where she was born and raised; she frequently shares tidbits about the Mile High City’s past and observations on where it’s going in her Breeality column. And as she notes in the most recent installment, sometimes those stories are lifted without attribution by other…
Last week Gretchen Kurtz reviewed Lo Stella Ristorante, and the responses have been fast and furious — largely furious, in the case of Lo Stella owner Alessandro Polo. Later today, we’re scheduled to change our commenting system — we’re moving to fulltime Facebook — and at that point, all previous…
After 66 years in business, Pagliacci’s served its last plate of spaghetti in August 2012 — and last week, Lumina held an open house so that people could see the distinctive retail/residential project that replaced the longtime Italian restaurant, in the process earning the Best Attempt to Stand Out in…
Brunch may be this city’s favorite meal, and last week Lauren Monitz served up our updated list of the Ten Best Brunches in Denver. But since brunch may be this city’s favorite meal, diners all have their favorite spots — some of which didn’t make the cut. Lucile’s, for example: “Blasphemy,”…
Suddenly there are signs of life at El Rancho, the restaurant/conference center with its own exit off I-70. For the last few weeks, crews have been working inside, and a sign in one window of the 500-seat space promises “Fall 2015.” El Rancho got its start in 1947, when the…
One bonus to the hideous traffic in town: While you’re stuck in yet another jam, you have plenty of time to spot all the new businesses popping up in booming Denver. But even with the boom, Boulevard Burger & Tap went bust, and its space at 727 Colorado Boulevard is…
Attorney Sana Hamelin had a dream: to open a cat cafe, one of the first in the country. She found the purrfect spot at 3929 Tennyson Street, and late last year opened the Denver Cat Company, which immediately started attracting fans of coffee and kitties. And those fans came out…
Another chapter in Denver’s northwest side story ended when Elitch Lanes closed last night, after a weekend-long goodbye. “If you’ve been around northwest Denver, you know: The people who come in here are so much nicer than the average person,” owner Cal Eichinger had told us back in December, when he…
Gretchen Kurtz did not have great experiences at Lo Stella Ristorante, which last fall moved into a space in the Golden Triangle that has swallowed up several other restaurants. And as she writes in her review this week, Kurtz found several things hard to swallow at Lo Stella, including the fact…
Denver’s white-hot real-estate market keeps burning through boundaries and previous records, scorching feelings and facts along the way. And memories of Denver a generation ago, a decade ago, a year ago, wind up tossed in the dustbin of history. Perhaps the most inventive rewriting of the past, coupled with the…
Mark Antonation is eating at soul-food restaurants for this month’s Ethniche, and his travels recently took him to Kirk’s Soul Kitchen in Aurora, where the restaurant occupies the former home of a payday loan. And given the setting, Kirk’s serves up some unusual stories along with authentic soul food. Says Joshua:…
Steve Horner, go back to your corner. Eight years ago, members of this city’s bar/restaurant industry felt like they were being held hostage by Steve Horner. The onetime radio personality/self-published author had filed one of the first major claims that ladies’ nights were discriminatory in his home state of Minnesota,…
The Squeaky Bean is about to get a new executive chef, Chris MacGillivray, who worked at the LoDo Bean under opening chef Max MacKissock; MacGillivray will be back to take over on May 20. Current chef Theo Adley’s last day will be on May 16; he’s given the Bean two…
First we had Shooters Grill in Rifle arming its waitresses — and getting on the national news. Late last week, KUSA TV reported that Rubbin’ Buttz BBQ in Milliken would be holding a “White Appreciation Day” on June 11 — and once again, the story blew up across the country…
Westword will publish its third annual comics issue on May 28, 2015 — and you can be a part of it. We’re accepting submissions from any Colorado artist who wants to create a cartoon about life in the Centennial State — whether it focuses on good beer, bad buildings or…
Nothing gets people in Denver more riled up than the ongoing development in this city — and what’s happening to the Denver they remember, even though everyone remembers the city differently. Bree Davies, a Denver native, wondered how we can celebrate the new while still keeping the old, while former…
When I first moved to northwest Denver more than two decades ago, my then-neighbor provided a handy reminder of the fact that I now lived in Highland, not “Highlands,” a name that had appeared in Westword: He put a baseball bat labeled with the correct name on my front porch…
