Restaurants

Washington Park Grille 1096 South Gaylord 303-777-0707 www.washparkgrille.com…

Up there is a plate of really delicious, artfully (and expertly) assembled rolls from a joint that isn’t Sushi Den or Sushi Sasa. My only squawk? The absence of fresh wasabi. Can you guess where I rolled with raw fish? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to…

RESTAURANTS/VENUES OPENING IN MAY * Brandon’s Pub, 2037 East Second Avenue Brothers Bar & Grill, 1920 Market Street Cheeky Monk, 14694 Orchard Parkway, Westminster (Orchard Town Center) Cherry on Top, 3000 East First Avenue (Cherry Creek Shopping Center) Flying Dog Brewery Tasting Room, 2330 Broadway Freshii, 303 16th Street (Republic…

Cafe Society served up just four Guess Where I’m Eating/Drinking contests last week, featuring everything from the breakfast potato skins at Racines to this still-unidentified plate of fried rice to a burger atBig Game. For correctly identifying that dish, Eric wins a DINR deck. Eric, send your contact info to…

Christopher Cina, who’s done hard time in galleys all over the metro area, including the Fourth Story, Aubergine Cafe, Tuscany, Zenith and Twig’s Wine Bar and Pickles Deli in Tipsy’s, a Goliath-size liquor store in Littleton, and is now manning the stoves at the Timberline Grill, a steak house at…

Back in March, Dino’s Soda Bar, the Washington Park ice cream parlor at 2217 East Mississippi, was shuttered for non-payment of taxes, a move that shattered the lives of god knows how many children. But according to Jeff Estey, who owns Dino’s, along with Washington Park Grille and Max Gill…

The Le Central patio is surprisingly secluded from Lincoln Avenue’s traffic, a long greenery-encapsulated oasis that, during summer months, invites diners to sit low in their chairs, nursing a glass of bubble-gummy Beaujolais wine long past twilight…

Last we checked, thirteen bids had been placed on an eBay auction for a chance to have an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile haul your ass around for a day and host a cookout for you and fifty of your tube steak-loving friends. There’s a week left to get in on the…

The NBA finals are just a double dribble away, and the National Basketball Association has applied some outside-the-box thinking to inside a cardboard pizza box: While watching the game at home, you can now enjoy a pizza with your favorite team’s logo melted onto the pie. Rick Ellison, licensee for…

A bill signed into law this week has created an advisory council tasked with ensuring Colorado residents’ greater access to healthy foods. The thirteen-member Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council will collaborate on such issues as increasing state participation in federal food assistance programs, creating incentives in so-called “food deserts,” allowing…

Former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway is celebrating 50 years of banged up knees, turf toe, head-to-head helmet collisions, and, oh yeah … a couple of Super Bowl trophies and rings on Monday, June 28, the day the pro football Hall of Famer turns a half-century old. And how’s he…

While most of the menu changes with every new chef, the buttery fried rice pummeled with duck, shrimp and pork has been a popular mainstay from day one. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where am I drinking/eating…

Like Lite-Brite, Operation and Hungry Hungry Hippo, Etch A Sketch has some major nostalgic cache. Fortunately, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers can appreciate that and is including an “18 & Over” category in its new “Etch A Sketch A Burger” photo contest in honor of the iconic toy’s — wait for…

Another day, another nationwide recall. This time around the blame is being placed on a usual suspect: alfalfa sprouts. Three different name brands of sprouts have been deemed responsible for a recent salmonella outbreak that, at last count, had stricken at least one Colorado resident. The affected brands — Caldwell…

Fruits and vegetables won’t get you laid (in a tanning bed). Forget the fake-and-bake method of tanning; if you really want to look like you’ve had fun in the sun, you should be eating healthy. A new study done at Britain’s Bristol University has concluded that eating fresh fruit and…

Okay, to all the nutcases who showed up last night for Pinkberry’s preview party: What the hell were you thinking? I mean, some of you actually stood in line for well over an hour in your neon pink Polo shirts and short skirts just go get a free swirl of…

Purple, apparently, is not the color of success, at least not when it comes to the Purple Martini, the Tabor Center watering hole that’s now under the lock and key of the city for non-payment of taxes. On May 26, the city handily collaged the front door with seizure notices,…

Pete Ryan Cook Street School of Culinary Arts 1937 Market Street 303-308-9300 www.cookstreet.com This is part two of Lori Midson’s Chef and Tell interview with Pete Ryan. To read part one of that interview, click here. Proudest moment as a chef: Returning to Cook Street as their executive chef instructor…

Highland is already Denver’s hottest restaurant neighborhood, and it’s about to get another eatery: Wooden Spoon Cafe & Bakery, going into the storefront at 2418 West 32nd Avenue, next to Zio Romolo and across from Duo. Here’s the official word from owners Jason and Jeanette Burgett: After many years of…

Dakota Soifer’s chicharrones, seasoned with a dash of chile oil and salt, are crispy puffs that crack between the teeth and dissolve on the tongue almost instantly, leaving behind nothing more than the sweet smokiness of pork. They’re not on the menu at Cafe Aion, but they’re sent, along with…

After more than a three-year run, Andrew’s on Lincoln, 1111 Lincoln Street, appears to have closed over the weekend. There’s no word yet on what will happen to the space. Last September, Andrew’s was remodeled and essentially divided into two spaces: one a bar/restaurant and the other dubbed the “Stage,”…

Last week, we reported that Denver’s groundbreaking pay-what-you-want SAME Cafe inspired national bakery and cafe chain Panera Bread to get into the non-profit biz itself. Built on the model used by SAME and other community kitchens like Salt Lake City’s One World Everybody Eats, Panera opened a pay-what-you-can cafe outside…