William Matthews, who grew up in San Francisco, didn’t set out to be a Western artist. His first show in Denver, in the then-just-six-year-old Larimer Square, featured pastoral watercolors and poster typography. But in the early ’80s, Matthews was invited to Elko, Nevada, for a cowboy poetry gathering, and it…
What would you do if you had just 36 hours in this city? “The signs of Denver’s economic high times as a pot boomtown and bastion of progressive urban policies are everywhere,” says the New York Times in the just-published “What to Do in Denver.” Although the Times doesn’t mention…
Every April Fool’s Day, Brad Evans, founder of the Denver Cruiser Ride, rolls out an elaborate prank. In 2013, he listed fictitious themes for that season’s rides, including “Skid Marks & Seaman Stains.” And on the morning of April 1, 2014, the B-rad 4 Denver Mayor campaign popped up on…
From the start, this city knew chef Alex Seidel’s Fruition was something special. When it came time to choose our Best New Restaurant for the 2007 Best of Denver, Fruition was the clear winner — even though it had opened just a few months before, in the former home of…
When Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican, was researching his 2012 book Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, he discovered that in 1886 Buffalo Bill had opened what might have been the first Mexican restaurant in the country, a pop-up place outside of Madison Square Garden in New…
Even before Paris on the Platte, a Denver institution for almost three decades, poured its last cup of coffee on Saturday, the memories were pouring out. This is where artists would hang after last call at My Brother’s Bar in the late ’80, where teens from the suburbs would smoke…
Happy Martin Luther King Day! After the Marade, which kicks off this morning in City Park, you should have plenty of time to enjoy the good weather, maybe sit on a patio in the January sunshine and have a brew or two. Some of those patios will even encourage you…
UPDATE: Paris on the Platte closed out its run by selling off memorabilia in what the owners dubbed a “nostalgia sale”, unloading everything from fixtures to furniture. Denver will lose another institution today, when Paris on the Platte closes this afternoon. The wine bar poured its last glass of vino…
On Wednesday we made our annual pilgrimage to the National Western Stock Show, which always includes a visit to the Cowboy Bar, the temporary watering hole that sets up in the basement of the Hall of Education, right by the stalls where the steers are getting all spiffed up for…
Last week Gretchen Kurtz reviewed Amass, the bistro that took over the Corner House space in Jefferson Park. For this week’s review, she went across town to northeast Denver, home of The Bistro at Stapleton. The two neighborhoods are very different, but the two restaurants have one thing in common:…
“The dog park has always been my favorite place to hang,” says Christine Peters. “It’s that zen feeling, all your problems go away and you’re just hanging out watching dogs play. They have no ego, no issues, no agendas.” Unlike people. Since Peters opened the Bark Bar in West Highland,…
What kind of pizza is your favorite? New York-style? Chicago-style? New Haven-style? Denver has them all, along with many commendable versions of the traditional Neapolitan. Yesterday Mark Antonation ticked off ten different kinds of pizza you can find in metro Denver, including those that defy categorization, like the pies at…
Mark Antonation recently took an unplanned tour of LoHi, on a search for fois gras. He found it at Old Major, Z Cuisine and Williams & Graham — but some readers don’t think it has a place on any menu. See also: A Walking Tour of Three LoHi Eateries Serving…
People are divided over Walmart — and they’re just as divided over our People of Walmart, 2015 Edition, which Michael Roberts posted last week. See also: People of Walmart, 2015 Edition…
After forty years, Burger King has resurrected the Yumbo — just one of the fast-food items that Jenn Wohletz had hoped would come back. The chain’s announcement that it was bringing back the breakfast sandwich drew both praise and complaints. But one reader thinks the fast-food bashers are too quick…
Do Colorado drivers suck? With today’s icy weather, you won’t have to be on the streets for long in other to make your determination. Or you can just stay inside where it’s nice and warm, and consider this comment: See also: Top Ten Driving Tips Non-Colorado Natives Forget at the…
At the end of 2014, Jenn Wohletz served up five food trends that need to die in 2014 — including snoozy mac-and-cheese rehashes. Mac fans were quick to respond to that suggestion, while other readers trashed more trends. See also: Snoozy Mac-and-Cheese Rehashes and Other Food Trends That Need to…
Yeehaw! The National Western Stock Show is in town, which means that Denver hotels are full of boots and cowboy hats. The Four Seasons is offering an artful twist: Today Western artist Duke Beardsley will take up residence in the front of the Edge bar/lounge, where he’ll be painting throughout…
The Wazee Supper Club turned forty last fall. It predates all the hipness, all the gentrification of LoDo — in fact, it predates when lower downtown was tagged with that nickname. Over the years, the Wazee has been a neighborhood hangout for everyone from artists to sports fans to Westword…
Jefferson Park is an up-and-coming part of Denver — but has it arrived as a dining destination? Gretchen Kurtz just reviewed Amass, a new French bistro that moved into the spot Corner House vacated after eighteen months. And right now, she says, the kitchen lacks the critical mass needed to…
You can teach an old dogie new tricks: The 109th annual National Western Stock Show kicks off today with its first-ever barbecue competition, the National Western BBQ Throwdown. It’s a Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned event at which forty teams comprising the world’s elite barbecue contestants — the majority of them…
What will be the big food trends in Denver in 2015? Paleo and pickling are both going strong, and hemp seeds are popping up on menus across town. And then there’s moringa, an import from Africa that’s been compared to spirulina and wheat grass. Yum! See also: Five Five Trends…
