Encore takes a (spring) break

Joining the throngs of kids on spring break this week is the staff of Encore, who are taking the week off to revive their mojo, while executive chef Paul Reilly creates a new menu and spruces up the joint. “A la Barolo Grill style, I’m giving the staff a week…

Top five most ridiculous Denver Yelp restaurant reviews

Members of the Yelp “Elite Squad” in New York City recently received a chiding e-mail asking them, among other things, to stop acting like greedy trolls; to stop freeloading the grub; to quit auctioning off their event RSVPs to the highest bidders; and to quit bringing their entire families to…

Let the games begin! 1Up now open in LoDo

One of the last open spots in LoDo is now full: The former Blues on Blake space opened today as 1Up, a vintage video arcade and bar that will also be serving a full bar menu — next week. For today, the food options are limited but the beverage and…

Frasca’s Bobby Stuckey at the center of Denver Cochon 555 pig fight

Cochon 555, the porkeriffic national competition that trots into Denver on Sunday, April 3, recently announced the five Colorado chefs combating for the Prince of Porc title: Jennifer Jasinski (Rioja, Euclid Hall and Bisto Vendome); Kelly Liken (Restaurant Kelly Liken); Alex Seidel (Fruition and Fruition Farms); Frank Bonanno (Bones, Green…

Empanadas Argentinas has vacated the 16th Street Mall

It’s sometimes hard to tell which 16th Street Mall food carts have vanished for good and which are just taking an extended break, but after a craving for golden pastries stuffed with vegetables and meat — the most authentic Argentine empanadas in the city — gave way to a fruitless…

Bride orders life-size wedding cake shaped like… herself

Weddings always walk that fine line between a celebration of a happy couple and blatant displays of narcissism (for instance, why else would ugly bridesmaid dresses exist than to make a bride seem all the more radiant?), but this stunt takes the cake — literally…

Tacos El Fogon adds another taqueria to Federal Boulevard

There’s no such thing as too many taquerias, which is exactly what Mario and Gricelda Valles thought when they opened Tacos El Fogon last month at 1145 South Federal Boulevard, along a strip of asphalt that already lays claim to more taquerias than you can fling a tortilla at. “My…

Guess where I’m eating?

Our recent wave of warm days (how much longer can it last?) makes me want to noodle around, and here, at the restaurant where the above pic was snapped, I did exactly that. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the…

Ketchup on everything: Are you trying to ruin your food?

Welcome to In the Weeds. Kyle will be right with you — most likely to complain about something. Usually he is pleasant, but this is his place to blow off some steam. Don’t take it personally; he just needs to vent because he’s been doing this for about thirteen years…

POSH brings wine and painting together in Boulder

Andrew Fejer and his wife, Adriane, were in Atlanta when they stumbled on a class that led them through painting — while providing adult refreshment at the same time. “I went in kicking and screaming,” says Andrew. “I ended up having a really good time.” Although both Highland and Cherry…

First look: Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs

After getting derailed by a rogue electrician, Biker Jim wasn’t sure that he’d be open by the first home game of the Colorado Rockies, but after years of hustling wieners from a cartel of downtown carts, he unlocked the doors to his brick-and-mortar, a long labor of love — and…

100 Favorite Dishes: Chongqing Chicken from East Asia Garden

No. 64: Chongqing Chicken from East Asia Garden Some of the best cooking in Denver comes from restaurants that are completely off the grid — those with generic names, facades as forgettable as last night’s one-night stand and featureless dining rooms where the color scheme clashes. East Asia Garden, which…

Basta Mobile will hit the streets in May

While the new food truck guide spells uncertainty for a number of mobile concepts in Denver, Pizzeria Basta is undeterred in its plan to unleash a mobile wood-fired oven on the state of Colorado. The crew is ramping up to unveil Basta Mobile, a portable extension of the Boulder-based restaurant…

South Philly Cheese Steaks takes over the old Skew space

“This restaurant is my passion, I own the real estate — we have zero debt — and as soon as I get the money that was stolen from us back from the banks. I’ll reopen Skew.” Those were the words of Ton Phairatphibon, the former owner of Skew, 2070 South…