Ondo’s Spanish Tapas Bar rolls out a traditional Basque happy hour

When Curt and Deicy Steinbecker opened Ondo’s Spanish Tapas Bar in late 2009, they wanted to give Denver a true Spanish experience, channeling the country where they’d met and learned to cook. And in that spirit, they’re importing another of their favorite Iberian traditions: the Basque pintxos happy hour…

Announcement! We have a winner of our Euclid Hall anniversary party contest

Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen is celebrating its first anniversary tomorrow night with a pig-centric party, which exec chef Jorel Pierce promises will be “a liquor-infused, gastro-visio musical blowout.” We imagine it’ll be all that and more — and one really, really lucky Cafe Society reader, who entered our free-ticket…

Mona’s Restaurant on South Broadway closes

After garnering a legion of fans at the original Mona’s Restaurant on 15th Street, which features a pair of high-heeled legs dangling above the door, Linda and Garen Austin opened a second location on South Broadway, followed by a third Mona’s Cafe on 17th Avenue and Sherman Street, which began…

Guess where I’m eating?

If you haven’t been to this roadside institution that’s been slinging breakfasts for more than eighty years (the chef, by the way, is a Culinary Institute of America grad), then you’re really missing out: The eggs, with their marigold yolks, are plucked fresh off the farm, and the ham, bacon…

Second Helping: Salt the Bistro

When I reviewed Boulder’s Salt the Bistro almost a year ago, it seemed to have unfulfilled potential. “Every detail at this place, so painstakingly crafted to fit perfectly into an ideal rendering of a Boulder restaurant, is fine on its own — but added together, those details equal exactly a…

Guess where I’m eating?

There’s nothing worse than having high hopes for a restaurant, only to have them completely dashed, and that’s exactly what happened last night when I ordered the tacos dorados, which arrived with little more than lettuce and enough sour cream to overburden a landfill. And if that wasn’t bad enough,…

Win two tickets to Euclid Hall’s first anniversary party

It’s going to be “a liquor-infused, gastro-visio musical blowout.” That’s how Jorel Pierce, the chef at Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen, Jennifer Jasinski’s nearly unassailable shrine to pig parts, poutine, offal and everything else we love in the food world, describes Euclid’s Hall upcoming first-anniversary party, which kicks off at…

In the kitchen with Doug Anderson: Hi*Rise shortbread cookies

In this week’s Chef and Tell interview with Doug Anderson, the chief baker and owner of Hi*Rise, he talks about everything from his mother’s epic cinnamon rolls to baking bagels at Moe’s in Boulder, where he churned out more than 300-dozen bagels a day — just for the University of…

Applebee’s picks its official Colorado Burger

AmRest, which owns and operates over a hundred Applebee’s in eight states, had challenged its Colorado stores to create the perfect “Colorado Burger” — ideally, one that incorporated “Stinkin” Good Green Chile, created by Bronco Mark Schlereth, spokesman for this campaign. He met up with four other judges at the…

Los Carboncitos clan opening a new Yucatán-style restaurant in Sunnyside

We here at Cafe Society headquarters love our taquerias, and Los Carbonicitos, which has three locations scattered across the city, is definitely one of our favorites. We can’t get enough of the joint’s street tacos, the Goliath-size tortas, the namesake carboncitos, the superb huaraches, the incendiary salsas. The trio of…

Guess where I’m eating?

The kid always goes with pepperoni, occasionally risking his gag reflex with mushrooms, whereas I prefer, at least on this occasion, arugula, roasted garlic and prosciutto — and the kitchen was happy to oblige us both. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct…

At one year, says owner Jesse Morreale, El Diablo ain’t broke

Jesse Morreale and chef/partner Sean Yontz opened El Diablo, the Mexican restaurant that I review for this week’s Westword, just shy of a year ago. And the crowds — which made it nearly impossible to nab a bar seat that first week of business — continue to pack the place…

Round two with Doug Anderson, head baker at Hi*Rise

Doug Anderson Hi*Rise 2162 Larimer Street 303-296-3656 www.hirisedenver.com This is part two of my interview with Doug Anderson, owner and chief baker of Hi*Rise. Part one of my chat with Anderson ran in this space yesterday. Favorite restaurant in America: I’m totally unqualified to answer this question, mainly because this…