Restaurants

When Elise Wiggins opened Cattivella in April, she made good on her lifelong goal to have her own restaurant. “Better late than never,” she jokes. At her new eatery in Stapleton, which features an open kitchen anchored by a wood-fired oven, she’s offering her signature take on Italian food, showcasing regional specialties seen infrequently here in the States.

Apollo Peak, the Denver-based maker of Cat Wine and its aptly named canine counterpart, Dog Wine, has a new product that will hit pet-store shelves this week. It’s called Fur Loco, and it’s kind of like an energy drink for your four legged-friends who have already graduated to the hard…

Brothers Kris and Jason Wallenta like to tell stories with food. Their first restaurant, Dos Santos Taqueria de Mexico (1475 East 17th Avenue), captures the flavors of their mom’s Mexico City upbringing. And their new venture, White Pie (1702 Humboldt Street), will serve wood-fired pizza in the style of their…

Opening chef Nicholas Petrilli is back at Gozo, the Italian/Spanish-inspired restaurant that opened in March 2014 at 30 South Broadway. He’s back, but he has a new boss: Curt Sims and his wife, Pam Savage Sims, familiar faces in Denver’s restaurant/club world for the past thirty years, took over the place a month ago, bringing lots of local connections to the concept.

The miles of Colfax Avenue stretching from the city center past the Denver-Aurora line maintain a certain chaotic character. But just off the main drag on the many north-south streets that weave together Denver’s neighborhoods — the warp to Colfax’s weft — the pace and flow of life feels drastically different, and restaurants have a slower, more neighborly pace.

Chef Amos Watts joined Justin Brunson’s Old Major team in January 2016, after opening Acorn in 2013 with owners Steve Redzikowski and Bryan Dayton. Watts recently departed Old Major for a new gig, so Brunson is promoting some young blood at his four-year-old LoHi eatery. William Mack, who was hired…

Today Chipotle has more than 3,000 locations around the world, but that original Chipotle remains a popular stop for University of Denver students, residents of the surrounding neighborhoods and tourists seeking a fat bite of fast-casual history. But history is about to change: the very first Chipotle will close its doors on Thursday, May 18, for a major renovation.

Zengo and La Guera just closed; this reader thinks chef/owner Richard Sandoval could use a refresher course in good service.

Restaurant critic Gretchen Kurtz takes restaurant reviewing seriously, so she always follows three important rules before pen ever hits paper (or fingers hit keyboard): She works anonymously, she eats at the restaurant she’s reviewing several times, and she waits at least three months after a place opens before going public…

If you’re looking for what’s new, what’s hot and what’s adventurous in the Denver dining scene, you’ve come to the right place. We’re scouring the city for the best bites in the most exciting or unexplored eateries for the weekly watch list. This week, we have two seafood dishes that…

Café Byblos Mediterranean Grill, at 400 Corona Street, has been a neighborhood staple since 2013, but recently it’s gotten a new lease on life. New owners, a completely new menu and a bit of a remodel have given the Greek/Lebanese cafe a cool new vibe. Cousins Yousef (Joe) and Justin…

Denver has been craving the creative confections of chef Ian Kleinman ever since he had to close the Inventing Room at 2201 Lawrence Street last fall. A four-day doughnut pop-up at Fruition last month sated our sweet tooth temporarily, but a person can only go so long without exploding whipped…

Dina Castillo has been working on overhauling the former Rosa Linda’s Cafe space at 2005 West 32nd Avenue for the better part of the year, and now she’s nearly ready to unveil her new Highland neighborhood eatery, Bremen’s Wine & Tap. One of the last steps before opening was hiring…

The stretch of South Broadway near Evans Avenue continues to add new restaurants in a variety of styles. The latest is Turtle Boat, which bills itself as a specialist in “Colorado-style poki salad.” Chef/owner Jeremy Song says the spelling of poke as poki is intentional, to help Coloradans get past…

Chef George Eder founded Pizza Republica in 2009, a difficult economic time for restaurateurs — and nearly everyone else in Denver. Eder’s partners, the Jet Entertainment Group, dropped out of deal in those lean economic years, but Eder soldiered on at two locations, at 890 14th Street downtown and at…

Señor Bear — the Tejon Street Latin American restaurant from Bar Dough crew Max MacKissock, Blake Edmunds and Juan Padro and Katie O’Shea Padro — should open imminently: the restaurant is waiting for one more permit sign-off from the city, and then the crew will take possession of the space…

When Nick Kayser took control of the kitchen at Vesta last year, he became just the third chef to fill the role in the restaurant’s two-decade run. This was no maintenance job: Owner Josh Wolkon tasked Kayser with overhauling Vesta’s menu, preserving its global roots and penchant for bold flavors while jettisoning the focus on dipping sauces. W

When Zengo and La Güera closed last week, they ended a thirteen-year run in Riverfront Park and vacated some prime restaurant real estate on Little Raven Street. So it’s no surprise that the spaces aren’t going to stay empty for long: Way Back and American Grind partners Chad Michael George, Kade Gianinetti…

Not many restaurateurs reach the ten-year mark. Il Posto did, and chef/restaurant Andrea Frizzi marked the celebration by moving Il Posto to RiNo, where it’s better than ever and now Denver’s Best Italian Restaurant.