If Mexico isn’t in your travel plans this summer, be transported there via El Cantarito, an authentic Mexican drink rarely served north of Tijuana — but available at Aztec Sol. A friendly little storefront saloon in northwest Denver, Aztec Sol boasts over 200 types of tequila, the agave-plant liquor first…
In front of me sits a small cube of perfectly cooked salmon. Its pink flesh is accentuated by a pale-green bed of frisée, and shades into the red of a raspberry vinaigrette topping. There’s also a sauce: a deeper-red pomegranate reduction. The elements on the plate are beautifully designed, and…
Up our alley: For many years, the Oak Alley Inn (1301 South Pearl Street) was the watering hole of choice for residents of the West Washington Park/Platte Park neighborhoods, blue-collar strongholds in the days before the word “yuppie” was invented — and, obviously, long before that particular species overwhelmed the…
In Grease, the Pink Ladies ruled the school. Denver gals who want to follow their lead after work should snag a table on Rialto Cafe’s patio and order up a Pink Diamond Martini. Named for a legendary 1920s silent-movie palace, the Rialto is the coolest spot to see and be…
Amy DeWitt calls herself “a little Miami Jewish girl” who was drawn to the Cuban culture early in life. “I started learning Spanish when I was ten years old,” she says. “When I got to Boulder, I missed Cuban coffee so badly. It was so white here, so barren of…
Telluride may have more publications per capita than any other place on Earth. It may also have more tender egos. And when the magazine 8750 (named for the town’s altitude) entered the crowded market back in January, it immediately carved out a niche for itself by running restaurant reviews that…
Denver Water Manager Chips Barry — Hamlet J. Barry III, for those seeking the pedigree, which extends back through various jurists including a Colorado Supreme Court justice — considers his empty water glass. Unlike his Shakespearean namesake, there is no hesitation. “I guess I’ll have some of yours,” he says,…
Wanted: signature drink for historic landmark hotel. This winter, the Brown Palace Hotel decided that 110 years was long enough to go without having its very own specialty cocktail. Turning to staff and guests for inspiration, the hotel launched a cocktail contest to fill the void. And the winner is…the…
In the sun-splashed dining room of La Praviana, a neat-as-a-pin Salvadoran restaurant on South Broadway, the shy waitress sets down two cold bottles of Suprema beer, and Roque Guillermo Luna begins to talk very quietly, very gently — in fact, he begins to talk the way a grownup talks when…
East-side story: The quick brown fox would have to be quick indeed to jump over Colorado’s Lazy Dog Sports Bar & Grill. Back in November 1999, Steve Ross’s original Lazy Dog (2880 Diagonal Highway, Boulder) added a Denver branch at 4100 East Mexico Avenue (a space that had previously been…
There are twelve of us seated around three tables in the basement of the building that houses the Boulder restaurant Trios. In front of each of us is an array of small plastic cups holding olive oil. There’s also a basket of bread pieces on each table, as well as…
Vesta, the ancient Roman goddess, represented hearth and home. She was also known for her purity — hence the term vestal virgins. But odds are pretty good that you won’t find one of those wholesome ladies sipping sangria at Vesta Dipping Grill. Sangria, a traditional red-wine punch, has become a…
Action” describes the dough you wager in a bet, and the pot’s overflowing at the all-you-can-eat Kitchens of the World Action Buffet at the Black Hawk Casino — Hyatt’s recent entry in the crowded casino market. While some other casinos are content with prime-rib specials, the Hyatt’s buffet offers seven…
Lots of Puck: The Black Hawk Casino, which bills itself as the largest casino in Colorado (even if the Hyatt’s proposed hotel has yet to be built), offers eating options beyond Kitchens of the World Action Buffet (see story above). And those options may have shorter lines than the one…
The silver-and-gray sentry is flashing a red warning: Expired. Expired. Expired. But plug a quarter into parking meter number BN-46, and it will calm down for an hour. That’s just enough time for Anthony Gengaro to step into the Hornet, a restaurant at 76 Broadway, and give his perspective on…
Lucile’s Creole Cafe brought just-squeezed orange juice, quality coffee and good, fresh food to Boulder back in the days when decent restaurants were few and far between. It continued to supply the same delicious and generally homey dishes through the era of excess — the conceptual decors, the menus selected…
By the end of an evening of margarita-testing, our teeth tasted like SweeTarts. Gritty, sour and vaguely fruity — a sad reminder of the apple, orange and pineapple juices we’d found bartenders around town inexplicably adding to the standard lime-tequila concoction. Despite the resurgent martini’s amazing staying power and all…
Joe Cleveland is driving his truck through the streets of LoDo, right past the night crawlers who are out imbibing local brews. But thanks to Cleveland, bar hoppers aren’t the only breed enjoying the wonders of hometown beer: Front Range cows do, too. Cleveland runs Micro Grain, a company that…
The annual Girl Scout cookie sale has crumbled, and you’ve probably already torn through your boxes of Thin Mints and Tagalongs. Time to head over to the Funky Buddha for a Dirty Girl Scout, a drink that’s worthy of several merit badges. With a name that no doubt has Girl…
Time waits for no man, but it sure does wonders for a good bar. The Bull & Bush opened back in 1971 in the heart of Glendale as a cozy-but-campy re-creation of the famed English pub in Hampstead Heath. Thirty years later, the timeworn B&B is one of the metro…
Impressive as its thirty-year run may be, the Bull & Bush (see story above) isn’t Glendale’s oldest saloon. That honor would have to go to the Four Mile House Bar (4590 Leetsdale Drive), which started life as a barn back in the days when what’s now Glendale was filled with…
Veggo Larsen eases his six-foot-three-inch frame into a chair at a corner table in Tuscany at the Loews Denver Hotel, his restaurant of choice when seeking discreet surroundings in Glendale. “I don’t have to worry about running into someone here I don’t want to see,” he says. Without naming names,…
