Best Place to Score With a Twenty-Something Whose Parents Still Pay the Rent 2001 | California Pizza Kitchen | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Place to Score With a Twenty-Something Whose Parents Still Pay the Rent

California Pizza Kitchen

After a hard day of shopping at the Gap, world-weary twenty-year-olds with more disposable income than the average office worker head to the CPK, as the California Pizza Kitchen is known by those in the know, to bond over barbecued-chicken-covered pizza and chopped salads. Look for them in groups of giggly blondes (at the tables) or Goth wannabes of either gender (at the counter), and then watch as they pick up their valet-parked used Audis and drive off in search of meaning. Food of choice: anything with cheese.

Best Soft Serve

CJ's Frozen Custard

Coney Island is known for its thrills, and its most thrilling accomplishment may have been the invention of frozen custard back in 1919, a confection that later reached its peak popularity in the Midwest. Neighbors Cathy Haug and Joy Gunderson so missed the frozen custard of their youth that they decided to open CJ's Frozen Custard, in the process giving all of Denver a sweet treat. The main difference between frozen custard and regular ice cream is the butterfat content (10 percent for custard, as opposed to ice cream's 35 to 50 percent) and the amount of air (up to 90 percent less in custard). That makes for a creamy, creamy texture and a rich eggy quality; since the confection is only frozen to 23 degrees, it's also softer eating. Compared to this frozen custard, that stuff spouting off at Dairy Queen might as well be chilled milk. CJ's offers chocolate and vanilla every day, along with a third flavor that rotates (the root beer float is weird and wonderful). Cool!

Best Soft Serve

CJ's Frozen Custard

Coney Island is known for its thrills, and its most thrilling accomplishment may have been the invention of frozen custard back in 1919, a confection that later reached its peak popularity in the Midwest. Neighbors Cathy Haug and Joy Gunderson so missed the frozen custard of their youth that they decided to open CJ's Frozen Custard, in the process giving all of Denver a sweet treat. The main difference between frozen custard and regular ice cream is the butterfat content (10 percent for custard, as opposed to ice cream's 35 to 50 percent) and the amount of air (up to 90 percent less in custard). That makes for a creamy, creamy texture and a rich eggy quality; since the confection is only frozen to 23 degrees, it's also softer eating. Compared to this frozen custard, that stuff spouting off at Dairy Queen might as well be chilled milk. CJ's offers chocolate and vanilla every day, along with a third flavor that rotates (the root beer float is weird and wonderful). Cool!

Best Tea Service for Tots

Country Gardens Tea House

The side business of a flower shop tucked away on a dusty stretch of south Broadway, the Country Gardens Tea House isn't fancy -- which makes it the perfect place for an adult tea party with little girls Monday through Saturday (Sunday is reserved for parties). At the top tea price of $9.99 per customer, no matter the customer's size, you get all the tea you can drink in charming mismatched cups and saucers, a tray of finger sandwiches (cucumber, egg salad and turkey on marble rye might be included), scones with potted cream and jam, cakes and a red rose. The service can be a tad slow, but everyone's so charming that your tots are bound to feel like little princesses.

Best Tea Service for Tots

Country Gardens Tea House

The side business of a flower shop tucked away on a dusty stretch of south Broadway, the Country Gardens Tea House isn't fancy -- which makes it the perfect place for an adult tea party with little girls Monday through Saturday (Sunday is reserved for parties). At the top tea price of $9.99 per customer, no matter the customer's size, you get all the tea you can drink in charming mismatched cups and saucers, a tray of finger sandwiches (cucumber, egg salad and turkey on marble rye might be included), scones with potted cream and jam, cakes and a red rose. The service can be a tad slow, but everyone's so charming that your tots are bound to feel like little princesses.

Best Applesauce Doughnuts

Dutch Boy Donuts

All those Kremey-come-lately doughnut joints keep coming to town, but Dutch Boy Donuts stubbornly hangs on. It's been frying up terrific doughnuts for 52 years, and a recent facelift should make the place good for another 52. Fortunately, nothing's been changed about the applesauce doughnuts; they're still a sweet way to start the day.

Best Applesauce Doughnuts

Dutch Boy Donuts

All those Kremey-come-lately doughnut joints keep coming to town, but Dutch Boy Donuts stubbornly hangs on. It's been frying up terrific doughnuts for 52 years, and a recent facelift should make the place good for another 52. Fortunately, nothing's been changed about the applesauce doughnuts; they're still a sweet way to start the day.

Best Paddy Melt

Stockyards Inn

Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling -- calling for you to get your buns up to the Stockyards Inn for the town's best patty melt. But because the Stockyards' owners are Irish -- very -- their version is known as a "paddy" melt. Except for the spelling change, though, this is a quintessential take on the classic sandwich: a sizable, quality beef patty (the restaurant's located in Denver's stockyards, after all) paired with American cheese between two pieces of rye and then grilled to gooey greatness.

Best Paddy Melt

Stockyards Inn

Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling -- calling for you to get your buns up to the Stockyards Inn for the town's best patty melt. But because the Stockyards' owners are Irish -- very -- their version is known as a "paddy" melt. Except for the spelling change, though, this is a quintessential take on the classic sandwich: a sizable, quality beef patty (the restaurant's located in Denver's stockyards, after all) paired with American cheese between two pieces of rye and then grilled to gooey greatness.

Best Bakery

Gateaux

Hunter Stevens
When this simple, inviting bakery opened, it seemed like we'd been waiting for Gateaux our entire lives. From moist, hearty muffins and fruit-filled scones to chocolate-coated petits fours, oversized cookies and cinnamon rolls coated in crunchy sugar and topped with a rich cream-cheese icing, Gateaux takes the cake -- which is only fitting, since its name means "cake" in French. And cakes are a real specialty here, from a dense German chocolate to wedding cakes so stylish they could sit in a museum. But these confections not only look fabulous, they taste great.

Best Of Denver®

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