April in Colorado was a time of uneven transition and rapid change — whether we’re talking about seasonal changes or the Denver restaurant scene. While the number of new bars and eateries slowed from this time a year ago, other happenings made for plenty of ups and downs, for restaurant…
Five years might not seem like a long time, but it’s definitely a milestone for any new business in this town, where the food and drink scene competition gets fiercer every day. The Dive Inn has enjoyed staying power over the past half-decade as a neighborhood fixture catering to the…
A public school lunches have never been what one might call fine-dining, but for the most part, we’ve been able to correctly refer to it as food. That could change on May 1, when the USDA reveals its new “flexible food” standards. Here are ten reasonable options
Happy May Day, everyone! In lieu of protesting the corrupt capitalist culture and celebrating the proletariat, we present for your consideration: a pair of trivia nights, a pair of pizza events, and the return of a slew of food trucks, a meal mark of spring. Have a tasty week, and…
Southern food is big in Denver right now. But with all the local eateries frying up chicken and stirring grits, does this city need outsiders entering the scene? The folks behind Tupelo Honey do; the chain that got its start in Asheville, North Carolina, will open its first location west of the Mississippi right behind Union Station on May 2. But readers have mixed feelings about the fact that it’s landing here.
Chef/restaurateur Lon Symensma is about to embark on a restaurant voyage that will expand his influence over the Denver dining scene considerably in the coming years. With the imminent arrival of Concourse Restaurant Moderne, Symensma will have three restaurants in his stable — after ChoLon and Cho77 — and has…
With food photos this tempting, we know you’ll want to run out and eat these five dishes right now — but you’ll have to wait a few days for all but one. You can eat your fill when three new restaurants open next Tuesday and Wednesday, or you can buy…
Southern food is one of the country’s hottest dining trends right now, as evidenced by the growing number of Denver eateries serving food from south of the Mason-Dixon line. The latest is Tupelo Honey, which brings its brand of New Southern cooking from Asheville, North Carolina, where the company was…
Here’s a bit of local knowledge: When Great Divide Brewing opened in 1994, owner Brian Dunn was taking a huge risk. Although it seems strange to think about now, there weren’t any breweries in Denver back then that didn’t also serve food. There were no brewery taphouses or craft-beer bars…
It’s going to be cold this weekend, but there are plenty of events around town to warm the cockles of your heart, focusing on: beer (Belgian and Buck, to be precise), an epic bar party, puppies and bar-food cooking. Here are the seven tastiest culinary events for the weekend of…
This week’s feature story, “Disappearing Denver: Looking Back at Buildings We’ve Lost,” reminisces about old favorites — from the Tabor Grand Opera House to Celebrity Sport Center — that shaped Denver’s architecture and entertainment scene before giving way to the forces of modernization. Restaurants too, have come and gone, as a…
The Park Tavern & Restaurant at 931 East 11th Avenue has been slowly getting an overhaul both inside and out. After completing as much of the work as possible while keeping at least part of the twenty-year-old restaurant and bar open, owner Louie Belegratis closed the place for most of April…
If you don’t pay attention, you might miss the Bannock Street Garage, or just think it’s an actual garage. The building was a car repair shop for years prior to becoming a bar, and the large garage doors and smallish sign could easily fool a person as to what goes…
Chef/restaurateur Justin Cucci doesn’t do subtle. From the “gastro-brothel” excess of Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox to the reclaimed mortuary mish-mash of Linger, Cucci’s restaurants turn unlikely spaces into full-on barrages of all of the senses. His newest, El Five, is no exception, converting the fifth floor of a LoHi office building…
Elevation Beer Company is revamping its packaging again. This time, the Poncha Springs brewery will phase out twelve-ounce glass bottles in favor of cans for its core lineup, which includes 8 Second Kolsch, Wave Wheel Wit, First Cast IPA and Little Mo Porter. The brewery will also add a fifth canned…
Rooster & Moon closed at 955 Bannock Street last September, leaving one less option for coffeehouse dwellers in the Golden Triangle. A glimmer of caffeinated hope arose in January, when Eighth Day Coffeehouse announced its intention to sign a lease, but the deal never happened. But now coffee lovers —…
Now is just the right time for a restaurant like Sushi Cup. Andrew Castillo, who just opened the newest addition to the Governors Park food collective on East Seventh Avenue, was looking for a new opportunity to follow his passion just as the poke trend started heating up in Denver…
Thach Tran is the executive chef at Stella’s on 16th, a marketplace restaurant that opened downtown in January. This is his account of the journey that led him to this point, a tale that starts at a pho restaurant in Vietnam, detours through an obsession with hand-pulled noodles, stops at a lucky stint helping co-owner Toshi Kizaki wash and scale fish at Sushi Den, and includes a disastrous episode at the James Beard House.
There’s something uniquely Denver about seventy-degree spring days that can quickly turn into rain or snow. We never wait for a permanent break in the weather before heading for our favorite ice cream shops — even with the threat of cold temperatures or a little spring snow. When we want…
Matthew Lackey was the opening executive chef at Arcana, the subject of this week’s restaurant review by Gretchen Kurtz. Lackey passed away on April 10, 2017, after a rock-climbing accident at Mount Princeton. He was no longer with Arcana, having parted ways only weeks after the Boulder restaurant’s February 2016…
Arcana started out with an ambitious, confused mission that led to an identity crisis. But under chef/owner Kyle Mendenhall, the Boulder restaurant is focusing on the menu, and the result is promising.
A familiar favorite on Platte Street at the foot of the 16th Street pedestrian bridge will be closed for the next several days. Colt & Gray has temporarily shut down dinner service to hire new staff after a walkout by several members of the kitchen crew. The restaurant released the following…
