Restaurants

Zanitas Mexican opened last week in Boulder, offering “chef-inspired” menu that gives a new twist to tacos. Or so its owners hope, since T|ACO opened nearby this spring…

UPDATE: The winner of our contest is tropicalchrome1, who guessed 257 shots. The actual number of shots sold is 270. ________________________________________________________________________ There are tons of deviations this weekend to tear you away from the comfort of your couch (and the Olympics), including the Justice League of Street Food party, which…

For the last several months, we’ve received text messages, e-mails and Facebook alerts that Carbone’s, everyone’s favorite Italian deli and market, is shuttering, which would break more than a few hearts — including mine. And I’ve spoken to “Mama” Rosa Lonardo, the matriarch of Carbone’s, a few times on the…

When you go through a really bad relationship breakup, you need three things (four, if you smoke weed): Netflix, booze and frozen yogurt from Pinkberry. Netflix is for watching horrible movies with Jason Momoa (hopefully he’ll be wearing eyeliner), the booze is so you can drink away the memories of…

Zanitas Mexican — a fast-casual Mexican joint — finally opened Wednesday at 1370 College Avenue on the Hill in Boulder. Zanitas says it hopes to stand out in the world of fast-casual dining — T|ACO, anyone? — with a “chef-inspired” menu featuring tacos topped with mac and cheese, grilled burritos…

These al pastor tacos are not from Tacos Y Salsas, which, up until a few weeks ago, were my kid’s favorite. But no more. After dragging him to this taqueria, Tacos Y Salsas has been superseded. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct…

Unless you’ve been living in a basement without electricity, you’ve heard about the socio-political chicken soup boiling up around Chick-Fil-A, complete with boycotts and “buycotts” inspired by the company president’s anti-gay-sex marriage stance. And you’ve heard about it from one side, then the other, then both again. Gay people are…

Tickets to this year’s Great American Beer Festival sold out almost as soon as sales started yesterday. But the ire of would-be GABF-goers is just starting. Some are suggesting that scalpers were at work; others say they’re giving up on the festival and starting their own…

This is the fourth in a series of pieces profiling Colorado-grown products…and what some local restaurants do with them. “I want to have a relationship with someone who’s cooking my food,” declares Paul Cure, co-founder of Boulder’s Cure Organic Farm. One handshake at a time, Paul and his wife, Anne,…

Last September, I spent a whopping 24 hours in New York City, mostly in the kitchen of the James Beard House, where the FIVE, a coterie of local chefs and cocktail kings, strutted their talents to a sold-old cognoscenti of foodniks — one of whom claimed that it was the…

Despite the birthday party adjacent to us, where songs like”On Top of Old Smokey” were being sung by restless toddlers, the tune was actually fitting for the meatballs, calzones, pizzas, garlic knots and sausage rolls that emerged from the kitchen. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who…

Pho 79 opened its sixth metro location at 1600 Champa Street last month, and on Monday, it acquired its liquor license. “We’re ready for business,” says general manager, Joe Ngo. “We want to provide good pho for the locals,” he adds, noting this “this location is the best, because of…

Pippa Taylor Strings 1700 Humboldt Street 303-831-7310 www.stringsrestaurant.com Part one of my interview with Pippa Taylor, executive chef of Strings, ran yesterday. This is part two of our chat Favorite restaurant in America: At this point, my favorites include Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas, Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago and Fenway…

After seeing that a recent Consumer Reports survey ranked Le Peep in the top ten of most popular restaurants in the U.S. — ranked on taste, value, service and mood — Jenn Wohletz decided to give this corporate-chain eatery another try. But she was not impressed by her meal at…

Patsy’s Italian Restaurant has been around since 1921, which means this neighborhood joint has survived the Great Depression, World War II, the Red Scare, the Vietnam War, disco, the Reagan era and the emergence of the Olive Garden. Decades of history have unfolded around its linen tablecloths, and as other…

Three craft beers, five dishes, all stellar, for less than $35. This restaurant’s happy hour is still the crème de la crème of Denver. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Guess Where posts is entered into a pool…

Ace Eat Serve opened today at 501 East 17th Avenue. The ping-pong hall, restaurant and bar is the newest eatery owned by Josh and Jen Wolkon and Matt Selby, owners of Steuben’s and Vesta Dipping Grill…

Last year’s listeria breakout gave all Colorado cantaloupes a bad name, even though the contaminated ones came from Jensen Farms in Holly rather than Rocky Ford, which has a long and proud melon tradition. So this year, the state and Rocky Ford growers are reminding Coloradans that our sweet, delicious…

There was plenty of action on the Denver dining scene in July — even without the open-shut-open saga of Sketch and El Diablo. Here’s our restaurant roll call for July:…

Pippa Taylor Strings 1700 Humboldt Street 303-831-7310 www.stringsrestaurant.com This is part one of my interview with Pippa Taylor, the executive chef of Strings. Part two of our chat will run tomorrow. Pippa Taylor is the first to admit her good fortune — and the last to take it for granted…

I hadn’t been to Le Peep in well over a decade — since I discovered eggs Bennie made from scratch are better — but I noticed that the recent chain-restaurant survey in Consumer Reports put Le Peep among the most popular restaurants in the U.S., ranked on taste, value, service…

Three weeks after the city red-tagged the First Avenue Hotel building — causing the immediate closure of both El Diablo and Sketch — both restaurants are back in business. For now. After a three-and-a-half hour hearing Monday, the Board of Appeals — a mayor-appointed committee that considers actions of the…