Girl Scout cookie season is upon us, threatening our will power and our waistlines. If you’ve already maxed out on Thin Mints, Samoas and other annual favorites but are still craving sweets, Grimaldi’s Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria in the Denver Pavilions has just what you need: the pizza kitchen’s creamy cheesecakes…
At most restaurants, chicken skin either stays on the chicken or ends up in the trash along with potato peels, cilantro stems and carrot tops. But leave it to enterprising and creative kitchens to figure out a way to make a few extra bucks from a food product that has…
OPENING THIS WEEK* Avery Brewing Company Restaurant and Tap Room, 4910 Nautilus Court, Boulder Balageru Restaurant & Bar, 5707 East Colfax Avenue Gathering Grounds Cafe & Board Games, 8923 East Union Avenue, Greenwood Village Goldspot Brewing (Saturday), 4970 Lowell Boulevard NOLA Voodoo Tavern and Perks, 2231 Bruce Randolph Avenue Organic Sandwich…
For years, Sputnik has been a local favorite in the South Broadway neighborhood. By day, patrons come for coffee, food and a relaxed environment to work or meet friends. By night, drinks at the bar and late night eats become the desired accouterments. While the menu has a generous helping…
Our restaurant critic Gretchen Kurtz reviewed Kings BBQ last July, noting that its off-the-beaten-path location in Lakewood was a good sign. Of the smokehouse’s brisket, she professed true affection: ” That dish was love spelled m-e-a-t, with the chewy black edges called bark, the telltale pink smoke ring, and chunks…
Henry Batiste opened his first eatery in New Orleans in 1985, but has been out of the restaurant game for many years. For the past decade he’s been a liquor rep for Beverage Distributors in Denver, but he recently got the itch to jump back in. After months of scouting…
No. 47: Pupusas Revueltas at Pupuseria San Salvador 4385 South Federal Boulevard, Sheridan 720-327-8146 The Salvadoran hand-formed corn masa pockets known as pupusas at Pupuseria San Salvador are, like the restaurant itself, small and tidy. Unlike the big, sloppy rounds found at many other pupusa joints in town, these are…
Many years ago, with the gusto of the newly-converted and a copy of Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in hand, I decided to follow the 100-mile diet. I joined a winter farm share, stopped buying oranges and bananas, and tried to build meals out of the fruits and vegetables we’d…
Joseph Pitruzzelli and Tyler Wilson have been in the sausage business for the past six years, serving a wide variety of classic, gourmet and exotic sausages in a modern take on a German beer hall. With locations in downtown Los Angeles and Venice Beach, the business partners are expanding their…
As Denver’s food scene continued to boil over, the city’s chefs and eateries are getting more and more attention from national media and recognition from groups dedicated to celebrating the country’s best restaurants. The biggest news, which came out today, is that five Denver and Boulder chefs and restaurants have…
Growth has put the spotlight on many previously depressed Denver neighborhoods, but La Alma-Lincoln Park, tucked into a stretch south of the Auraria campus, still rates little attention from those who live outside the area. Restaurant lovers are familiar with the Buckhorn Exchange and Japanese favorite Domo, of course, but…
Success can sometimes be a stumbling block. It sounds paradoxical, but you see it on the basketball court all the time. A team fights to get ahead, then slows down its game to protect the lead. Fear creeps in, and instead of playing to win, the team starts playing to…
Mapo tofu, a tongue-searing blend of chiles, ground pork, cubes of tofu and, hopefully, numbing Sichuan peppercorns, has become an iconic dish in many Chinese and Japanese restaurants. It’s an odd combination for Western palates, since we generally associate tofu with lackluster vegetarian dishes. Mapo tofu, though, combines the swagger…
Katie Mullen’s just marked its sixth anniversary on the 16th Street Mall this week and now that giant Irish bar is about to get a baby sister. A wee baby sister. After putting plenty of money and effort into creating a four-part, 550-seat Irish pub in the Sheraton, the owners…
Enjoy the soothing sounds of the four-piece Paris Takes Quartet crooning in a multitude of languages as you wiggle your way through the maze of tables to pile your plate high with everything and anything under the sun. But you have to know what you’re getting into with brunch at…
Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year) is just a couple of days away, so the time is definitely right to order dishes that represent good fortune and longevity. Whole fish and long, green vegetables fit that description, and both items are easy to find on the encyclopedic menus at…
No. 48: Cabeza Tacos at Taqueria El Trompito 10021 East Hampden Avenue 303-750-2345 The original location of El Trompito in far north Denver has been slinging tacos stuffed with just about every meaty bit and chile-based sauce you could hope for since the last decade. The newer location, on the…
Nathan Stern began selling coffee from his Gathering Grounds coffee truck in 2011 with the ultimate goal of opening a brick-and-mortar cafe that would not only sell coffee and snacks but would be a community center for fans of strategic board games. After more than three years, he opened Gathering…
Chicago is out and New York is in. Belemonti’s Pizzeria recently closed on Santa Fe Drive, only to be replaced by Amore Pizza, which held its grand opening last week. Amore is the first brick-and-mortar location for the crew who started as a food truck operation in 2013 serving up…
It’s a beery week for Denver and Boulder as two new breweries, Ratio Beer Works in RiNo and Declaration Brewing just off South Broadway, open on Saturday, while Avery Brewing in Boulder moves to a spacious Gunbarrel campus with a new restaurant, bigger taproom and plenty of indoor and outdoor…
No. 49: Monkfish and Romanesco at TAG 1441 Larimer St. 303-996-9985 Troy Guard and his kitchen at TAG have made a reputation with bold and assertive Pacific Rim cuisine and glistening raw seafood presentations. But the menu at his flagship restaurant also highlight’s Guard’s deft touch with Mediterranean flavors and…
When it opened in 2006 as a low-maintenance, LoHi watering hole, Highland Tavern quickly became a hangout with a large fan base of regulars, some from the neighborhood, some who came in with their scooter clubs or kickball teams for beers and bloodies. The Tavern kicked things up a notch…
