Johnny Ballen

Max MacKissock's new tasting menu sprouts at the Squeaky Bean

I love tasting menus, much the same way that I'm a proponent of communal tables and hanging my butt at the bar, which is where I prefer to eat. And if I can get a tasting menu at the bar, with wine pairings, even better. Yes, I like extended, evening-long meals, and, frankly, prefer them, especially ... More >>

Best Chef: A nostalgic look back at our Best of Denver chef winners

In just a few short hours from now, the Best of Denver 2013 will start hitting the street -- and the web. This year's edition is packed with more than 400 winners (we're still counting). One of the most anticipated categories in our Food & Drink section is also one of the the most coveted: Best Chef ... More >>

Denver's ten best new restaurants

With new restaurants popping up left and right, Denver's food scene is as exciting as it's ever been. Over 200 restaurants opened in the metro area in 2012, featuring everything from globally inspired cuisine to American classics. In the Best of Denver 2013, we'll unveil our pick for the Best New Re ... More >>

Joel Klatt gets schooled in the Denver dining scene over dinner at Squeaky Bean

In advance of the Super Bowl, 104.3 The Fan morning sports commentator Joel Klatt declared that Denver was a chain restaurant town without a unique food culture. In the course of the subsequent Twitter barrage, chef Paul Reilly of the soon-to-open Beast Bottle jumped to Denver's defense with this: ... More >>

Crash 45 celebrates Murray Mania on Groundhog Day

February is the month of the Super Bowl, Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day, but there's really only one holiday that counts: Groundhog Day. Not because we take that shadow stuff seriously, but because Groundhog Day is silly, and silly things -- especially those having to do with Groundhog Day -- make u ... More >>

Squeaky Bean could write the book on innovative handling

Slide show: Inspired Eats at Squeaky Bean

Squeaky Bean starts pouring Sean Kenyon's new cocktail menu tonight

Fall means many things to people: pumpkins, football, piles of leaves. But to nationally-recognized bartender Sean Kenyon, designer of the cocktail menu at Squeaky Bean (which I review this week), it means something else: aromatics. "When I think of fall and winter, I think aromatics right away," ... More >>

Dining meets designing in Denver's restaurant concepts

Actor Bill Murray and Squeaky Bean owner Johnny Ballen...meet

The Squeaky Bean's Johnny Ballen wasn't at the Bean on Saturday night. Instead, he was bartending a party for the class of 1972 at Regis University -- the same college that actor and comedian Bill Murray attended years ago. And Ballen, who wore one of his Squeaky Bean tuxes to the reunion, which Mur ... More >>

Liquid porn: Sean Kenyon showcases his new Squeaky Bean cocktails

Sean Kenyon isn't the kind of guy to shy away from the spotlight -- or the liquor cabinet. The Denver-based cocktail kingpin (or bartender, as he prefers) has been slinging drinks for 26 years, and he's incredibly good at it, racking up contest titles and accolades around the world, sitting on the b ... More >>

The Squeaky Bean opens tonight, but is still waiting for its liquor license

Getting the State of Colorado to sign off on the Squeaky Bean's liquor license has been an exercise in extreme patience for owner Johnny Ballen, manager Steve Gallic, chef Max MacKissock and the rest of the Bean bunch, who, as we reported Monday, were still waiting on a liquor license sign-off signa ... More >>

Reader: Squeaky Bean looks like it will be worth the wait

The Squeaky Bean opens today -- almost a year to the day after it abruptly left its tiny, original home in LoHi -- in a big space at 1500 Wynkoop Street. That's the last warehouse to be renovated in LoDo, and it's a stunning job. Judging from Lori Midson's first look at Squeaky Bean, this restauran ... More >>

Update: Squeaky Bean will open this week, after final liquor-license sign-off

You'll have to wait another day or two before clamoring for a space at the Squeaky Bean, which had hoped to open today in its lovely new digs in LoDo. "We have our certificate of occupancy, and the city has signed off on our liquor license, but we're waiting on a final signature from the state befor ... More >>

An exclusive first look of the new Squeaky Bean, opening Monday

"The Bean is back." That was the overriding footnote last night at the Squeaky Bean, the tongue-in-cheek restaurant that Bean king Johnny Ballen originally unleashed in Highland in May of 2009. And during the three years that the Squeaky Bean resided in Highland, it generated a cult following, than ... More >>

Video: Johnny Ballen, the bionic man behind the Squeaky Bean, promises "bigger, better and tastier"

If you're a product of the '70s, and spent your spare time eating a salisbury steak TV dinner while glued to Lee Majors flexing his bionic implants on the Six Million Dollar Man, then you and that goofball, Johnny Ballen, the tall, lanky bean who owns the Squeaky Bean, have at least one thing in com ... More >>

Reader: Squeaky Bean videos have viewers hungering for more

A year after it abruptly closed its original location in Highland, Squeaky Bean will bloom again next month at 1500 Wynkoop Street. And thanks to a series of videos with owner Johnny Ballen, you can get a taste of what's to come: a Casa Bonita for adults, he promises. "Opening a restaurant can be a ... More >>

Video: Johnny Ballen, head bean of the Squeaky Bean, gives us a sneak peek of the new space

For those of you who have been begging for an update on the re-sprouting of the Squeaky Bean -- and there are a lot of you -- we've got that and more, thanks, in part, to quirky king bean Johnny Ballen, who, we now know, may have been a used car salesman in a previous life. For the past few weeks, ... More >>

At Pinche Taqueria, an irreverent cocktail program complements the food

As Kevin Morrison drew up plans for Pinche Taqueria, a brick-and-mortar version of his Pinche Tacos food truck, he gave a lot of thought to how to best use his newly acquired liquor license, creating a beverage board that would embody the cheeky nature of his brand.

Guess where I'm drinking?

While the sign outside doesn't state the joint's actual name -- and there's a good story behind that -- you'll definitely find delicious drinks inside. And if you're lucky, your cocktail will be created by Squeaky Bean owner Johnny Ballen. Can you guess where I'm drinking? Special bonus: Anyone w ... More >>

Year in review: Denver's biggest food stories in 2011

Denver foodbeasts who eat up the city's culinary scene had plenty to chew on in 2011: Big-name chefs who abruptly closed their restaurants; other chefs who walked out; a restaurant that burst into flames -- and rose from the ashes; a very public divorce; and sadly, unfathomably, a beloved restaurate ... More >>

Eleven favorite dishes from 2011 -- and one more to usher in 2012

Lori Midson​It hasn't been a good year for our economy, but it's been a stellar year for the Denver restaurant scene, which continues to produce culinary heroes and push the envelope. I can't even begin to guess how many meals I've eaten in restaurants over the past year, but I'm fairly certai ... More >>

Max MacKissock and the Squeaky Bean bunch wow diners at the Work Options for Women benefit

Lori MidsonChef Max MacKissock from the Squeaky Bean.​After a series of pop-up dinners at Cafe Options, which played host to chef Max MacKissock and several squad members of the soon to reopen Squeaky Bean on Friday and Saturday night, the staff celebrated by shotgunning beers in the kitchen. ... More >>

Behind the bar with Brian Smith at Pinche Taqueria

​Brian Smith, the barman at Pinche Taqueria who will also be behind the stick at the resurrected Squeaky Bean when that restaurant opens next year, began his love affair with the bar before he was even legal. "I've been bartending at home since I graduated from high school," he admits. "I got ... More >>

Now We're Cooking

Readers: Squawking about the Squeaky Bean

​Love it or hate it, there's no shortage of opinions about the Squeaky Bean. And yesterday, when the announcement came down that the restaurant had found a new home in LoDo -- in a renovated warehouse (above) where owner Johnny Ballen can put an actual kitchen for chef Max MacKissock -- people ... More >>

The Squeaky Bean signs a lease on a new space...Where is it?

Lori MidsonJohnny Ballen, Max MacKissock and the rest of the Bean dream team have inked a deal on a new space.​ UPDATE: We have the full scoop on the new Squeaky Bean -- including its location -- right here. They're baacckkk! Johnny Ballen, owner of the Squeaky Bean, which closed several ... More >>

The Squeaky Bean will reopen in late spring in the historic Saddlery Building downtown

The Saddlery building is the new home of the Squeaky Bean.​Our prayers to the gods and goddesses of things that squeak have been been fulfilled: After shuttering in June, following a break-down in lease negotiations between Squeaky Bean head bean counter Johnny Ballen and his landlord, the own ... More >>

Foodography! Pinche Taqueria opens today in Uptown

Lori Midson​It may be Halloween, but today also marks the opening (finally!) of Pinche Taqueria, Kevin Morrison's taco-hustling brick-and-mortar -- the follow-up to his taco wagon, which was one of the first mobile street food slingers to hit the streets of Denver.

Local star chefs Jennifer Jasinski and Max MacKissock tie the knot

Last weekend, Jennifer Jasinski and Max MacKissock, two of Denver's best -- and most beloved -- chefs got hitched in California. Jasinski, who owns Euclid Hall, Bistro Vendome and Rioja, where she's the executive chef, and MacKissock, the exec chef of the Squeaky Bean, met several years ago, and the ... More >>

Williams & Graham withdraws liquor-license application -- and reapplies for a new one

​Williams & Graham, a new speakeasy that's the vision of Todd Colehour, a former head honcho at Kona Grill, was slated to open in June with cocktail-tender Sean Kenyon, who, up until just recently, was the star-tender at the Squeaky Bean, which is now closed (but looking for a new home), spea ... More >>

Sean Kenyon joins the talented bar crew at Euclid Hall -- for now

Lori Midson​Star-tender Sean Kenyon had all of his cocktail recipes ready to go for the late July opening of the Occidental, a cocktail bar that would have taken over the Squeaky Bean, which closed last month when owner Johnny Ballen and his landlord -- ARV Holdings, the entity run by the Agu ... More >>

Colorado Cocktail Project will leave you shaken, possibly stirred

​Café Society's obsession with the quest for a Colorado cocktail dates back to the day when Rich Grant of Visit Denver got a call from a reporter for a national magazine who was looking for the quintessential Colorado drink to include in a story about landmark libations. But while some towns ... More >>

My last supper at the Squeaky Bean...in photos

Lori Midson​On Sunday afternoon, following brunch service, the Squeaky Bean, one of our favorite restaurants on the planet, closed -- not because the joint was in the toilet, or the entire kitchen crew walked out, or owner Johnny Ballen told one too many bad bean jokes. That had nothing to do ... More >>

The Euclid Hall pig heist: The final smackdown in photos

​There was no brawl, no last-minute demands, no squealing and no bloodshed. Instead, at 5 p.m. on Sunday at Euclid Hall, two monkey-masked men jumped out of a van, raced up the stairs and delivered a pig -- a pig for ransom that had been stolen in broad daylight just over a week ago at Union ... More >>

Calling all sinners: Five Denver restaurants where you must eat before the world ends tomorrow

​Even if you haven't come up for air this week, we assume you've still heard the farcical prediction by crazy Christian radio host Harold Camping -- namely that tomorrow is doomsday (some call if heaven) for at least 200 million of us. God forbid, it could be you! Or worse, me (although I'm in ... More >>

Food lust from last night's Chefs Up Front Denver dinner

Lori MidsonLobster, enoki mushroom and tenderloin carpaccio hand roll from Jonesy's Eat Bar​Last night, Denver's who's who of chefs congregated at the Colorado Convention Center for Chef's Up Front Denver, a fundraiser that benefited Cooking Matters, a nonprofit that fights childhood hunger a ... More >>

Squeaky Bean ditches breakfast and lunch to concentrate on dinner and brunch

Lori MidsonThe Squeaky Bean's Max MacKissock and Johnny Ballen​ Beginning today, the Squeaky Bean, the wickedly cheeky stamping ground in Highland that turns out some of the best food in the city, is cutting back its noshing hours, eliminating breakfast and lunch altogether to concentrate on b ... More >>

Soup for the Soul bowls over with Denver's best chefs

Lori Midson​Hundreds of foodniks with big hearts made the trek to the downtown Sheraton hotel last night for one of the year's most heartwarming events: Soup for the Soul, a benefit that provides bowlfuls of comfort to patients of Porter Hospice and St. Anthony Hospice, both of which provide ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: Italian wedding soup from the Squeaky Bean

Lori Midson​Last December, we embarked on a culinary sojourn that took us through our favorite dishes in the Mile High City -- one hundred, to be exact -- as a precursor to the Best of Denver issue. Now we're back with round two, counting down (in no particular order) a hundred more of our fa ... More >>

Sean Kenyon is the new king bean behind the bar of the Squeaky Bean

Lori MidsonSean Kenyon slinging drinks behind the bar of the Squeaky Bean​Sean Kenyon, who recently left his bar manager post at Steuben's, 523 East Seventeenth Avenue, just snagged a new gig slinging drinks behind the bar of the Squeaky Bean, Johnny Ballen's irreverent food temple and wateri ... More >>

The Squeaky Bean gets ready to expand its kitchen

Happy days are here again at the Squeaky Bean

Squeaky Bean's first anniversary party was all wet with top Denver chefs getting dunked for charity

Lori Midson Pageant contestant Max Mackissock strutted flowers​If you missed out on the Squeaky Bean's first anniversary party, yesterday's porkstravaganza and birthday bash that put the fun back in Monday, then you also missed Squeaky Bean owner Johnny Ballen baring his buttocks, exec chef M ... More >>

Today: Squeaky Bean celebrates its first birthday with a block party

​Squeaky Bean opened a year ago this weekend at 3301 Tejon Street, and against all odds in the twelve months since, this little restaurant with the much littler kitchen has managed to turn out big meals and attract big crowds. There should be as big crowd today, when the Squeaky Bean will hos ... More >>

Chef and Tell with Max Mackissock of Squeaky Bean

Lori MidsonSqueaky Bean executive chef Max Mackissock​ "After all that nonsense at Primebar -- those guys are the biggest scumbags ever -- it was unbelievably refreshing to get a job at a restaurant that's owned by one of the nicest guys I've ever met," Max Mackissock says during our interview ... More >>

An evening rolls smoothly at the Squeaky Bean

Squeaky Bean squeezes out a test run on Friday

Lori MidsonSqueaky Bean, the new Highland restaurant at 3301 Tejon Street that's been serving breakfast and lunch since the second week in May, will open for dinner Wednesday, June 8, but you can get a sneak preview at the night time menu during a test run on Friday, July 3, when exec chef Max Macki ... More >>

The Squeaky Bean adds a non-squeaky Greek rotisserie

As Jason Sheehan reported yesterday, sometime this summer Yanni Stavropolous will move Yanni's, his Greek taverna, from the strip mall at 2223 South Monaco where it's been for eighteen years to the Landmark development in Greenwood Village. But not all of the equipment is making the move. The Squea ... More >>

Squeaky Bean opens Monday

Lori Midson Johnny Ballen, owner of The Squeaky Bean, which opens Monday morning at 3301 Tejon Street in the former Mondo Cafe space, finds it amusing that everyone seems to think his new spot is a java joint. "I'm having fun with all the guesswork," he told me yesterday over Squeaky spritzes, a p ... More >>

Former Primebar chef Max Mackissock makes his move...to the Squeaky Bean

Yesterday, I told you all about Max Mackissock's sooner-than-expected departure from Primebar, the restaurant at 1515 Arapahoe Street that opens to the public on Friday night. What I didn't tell you is this: Come May 28, Mackissock will be the new exec chef at The Squeaky Bean, which opens Monda ... More >>