Restaurant Reviews

Zagat includes Colorado in two must-try national lists

Zagat recently released a guide to the fifty best plates of food in the United States as well as one on the best sources of caffeine in country. Denver makes both lists -- and rightfully so. the established eatery guide has rightfully included Denver on both lists. The legendary Buckhorn Exchange, 1 ... More >>

Best New Restaurant: Our ten winners over the past decade

Twenty-four 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). The the very last category in our Food & Drink section was one of the toughest picks this year: Best New Restaurant. In ... More >>

Westword wine columnist Kendra Anderson tapped as the new wine director at PastaVino in Boulder

For the past three years, certified sommelier and chef Kendra Anderson has penned a weekly "Swirl Girl" wine column for Westword, giving readers -- novices and bona fide oenophiles alike -- crash courses that detail her love for the grape, and now she's taken her passion one step further. Anderson h ... More >>

Trends without end, round six: liquid assets, flesh and fine-dining elitism

What will be the big culinary trends in 2013? As we prepare for a new year in gastronomy, we posed that question to dozens of people in the local food business, everyone from chefs and pastry magicians to restaurant brokers and PR consultants, from brewers and grape gurus to realtors and pig farmers ... More >>

New Year's Eve: Twenty places to dine and unwind

Happy Monday! Restaurants and bars around town are hosting a variety of celebrations for the new year. Keep reading to see just some of the options; find more in our online calendar listings calendar. And if you know of still other worthy end-of-the-year events, share the info in the comments sectio ... More >>

New Year's Eve celebrations: sixteen sweet options

Still trying to decide what you're doing on New Year's Eve? Restaurants and bars around town are offering celebrations large and small, extravagant and intimate. Keep reading to see just some of the options (and if you know of other worthy end-of-the-year events, share the info in the comments secti ... More >>

Trends without end, round three: Vegetables, spice and Scandinavia

What will be the big culinary trends in 2013? As we prepare for a new year in gastronomy, we posed that question to dozens of people in the local food business, everyone from chefs and pastry magicians to restaurant brokers and PR consultants, from brewers and grape gurus to realtors and pig farmers ... More >>

Trends without end: Dining insiders offer predictions for 2013

Local chefs dish on Denver's dining scene

Frasca Food and Wine co-owner and master sommelier Bobby Stuckey gets a huge nomination nod in Wine Enthusiast

Is Bobby Stuckey, co-owner of Frasca Food and Wine, Wine Enthusiast's Sommelier of the year? He just might be. But even if he isn't, one thing is for certain: Bobby Stuckey is a rock star.

The top four responsibilities of a great wine list

As Denver's restaurant scene contunues its evolution into one that can compete with more widely-known culinary meccas, the wine programs at some of the city's top eateries have tightened up their game significantly, too. That's great news, right? Trouble is, one foodie's wine list nirvana can be pe ... More >>

Reader: New reviewer should remember to bring a thesaurus

The news that Laura Shunk is moving to New York and opening up a slot for a new restaurant critic inspired many readers to suggest possible candidates -- including old restaurant critic Jason Sheehan, for example. Penny Parker. And two words: Dave. Barnes. "I think more reviews should be focused o ... More >>

Denver's ten best Italian restaurants

Denver has a strong Italian history -- but until the last decade or so, this town's Italian restaurants were mostly run-of-the-mill red-sauce joints that you went to more for the convenience than the food. That's changed, though, and today's dining scene is rich with inventive and stylish fare from ... More >>

Best of Denver 2012: Food & Drink

Coohills is a safe standby for those special-ish occasions

Photos: In the kitchen at Coohills

New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and more on this week's culinary calendar

We've shared our list of the top ten New Year's Eve dining events, but that's far from everything that's taking place this weekend. Keep reading to see a full rundown of what's happening before, during and after the big day; we'll continue updating the online listings until the eleventh hour. Here's ... More >>

Six Denver fast-casual restaurants with super-cool wine lists

Madison Street is a good-looking restaurant, made better by its wine list. ​Why is it that so many of Denver's more moderately priced (referred to in the industry as "fast casual") restaurants have wine lists that make the oenophiles among us want to just give up and order a beer? It's as if t ... More >>

Elise Wiggins struts "Summer Local Week" at Panzano

Lori Midson​You've heard it all before: the local, sustainable, organic, farm-to-table, eco-conscious culinary buzzword chant that chefs, foodniks and food writers dispense to ballyhoo the food movement of the moment. Some chefs are professionally rehearsed in the hyperbole, despite the fact ... More >>

Four all-too-common restaurant wine service mistakes

​What the hell is up with the wine service at certain Denver restaurants lately? A slew of recent visits to a number of reputable spots around town resulted in being treated to some pretty egregious wine service faux pas. None of these restaurants were places where you'd know better than to ex ... More >>

The Pinyon adds late-night hours and opens for lunch tomorrow

Lori MidsonThe Pinyon fried chicken: now available at lunch.​We've got high hopes for The Pinyon, 1710 Pearl Street in Boulder, which wowed us so much with its fried chicken just two days after it opened, it earned a coveted spot on our 100 Favorite Dishes roster. The Pinyon has been open sin ... More >>

Barolo Grill needs to try a little harder to live up to its reputation

Everything you've ever wanted to know about Lori Midson in 300 words

​Those of you who follow this blog have likely read my weekly Chef and Tell interviews, wherein I pepper local line monkeys with a syllabus of prying questions. We run a condensed version of their answers in print, while the entire interview runs over the course of two, sometimes three, days o ... More >>

Ten things that can make a good wine bar a great wine bar

​ What separates a good wine bar from a great one? More than you'd think. It's an elusive mix at best: Easy-to-pinpoint characteristics can surely make you love a place at first glance, but it's the more subtle, nuanced elements that will ultimately bring you back. Here's how the best are ge ... More >>

Ondo's is serving up Spanish-style baguette sandwiches for lunch

​Not only did Ondo's, the tapas bar at 250 Steele Street that opened last fall, recently expanded its hours to include lunch. And the lunch menu -- and the lunch menu only -- features what owner Curt Steinbecker believes to be the only authentic bocadillos in Denver. Steinbecker describes bo ... More >>

Tonight: The wines of Querciabella, Tuscany at Frasca

A Flickr photo.​Frasca Food & Wine, 1738 Pearl Street in Boulder, is famed for its delectable dishes and extensive wine list -- and every Monday night, the restaurant offers a special four-course tasting menu, co-hosted by master sommelier Bobby Stuckey and chef Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson. T ... More >>

Swirl Girl: Four tips for ordering a great wine at a restaurant

​If you've ever been awarded the honor of receiving the wine list upon being seated at a restaurant, only to open it and feel as though you were trying to decipher a foreign language, take heart. There's no reason you can't choose a winning wine for yourself (and your guests) every time you d ... More >>

Does winning Best New Restaurant have a Sports Illustrated jinx?

​Despite the lousy economy, last year saw an unprecedented number of impressive new restaurants opening in Denver - everything from Olivea to Squeaky Bean to TAG to Colt & Gray. But the team of eaters working on the Best of Denver 2010 were unanimous on which spot had earned the Best New Resta ... More >>

What's the Best New Restaurant in Denver?

Soup's on at Bones​Want to be the first to read about Denver's Best New Restaurant? Sign up for Cafe Bites, our weekly dining newsletter, right here. Every Tuesday night, Cafe Bites serves up a heaping helping of restaurant scoops. And tonight, it will reveal which restaurant will be named th ... More >>

And the new, New York Times restaurant critic is...

A Gawker.com photo of New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni​For weeks, ever since Frank Bruni announced that he was going to be packing it in and leaving his gig as restaurant critic for the New York Times, speculation has been running high as to who Dining section editor Pete Wells and the ... More >>

Best of Denver 2009: Counting down the minutes

The Best of Denver 2009 will be released today, and as I've done over the past couple of days (with discussions of the city's best bread and places to go on a first date), I'm talking yet again about the process by which Denver's best restaurants are chosen. The category in question today?  The ... More >>

Vesta wins in Colorado Wine Industry awards

The Colorado Wine Industry announced the winners of its 2008 Restaurant Recognition Awards Monday night. The competition, which I wrote about a few months ago in "Colorado wine sure is fine," handed out honors in two categories: Best Colorado Wine List and Best Use of Colorado Food and Wine. The be ... More >>

Going green, saving green at The Kitchen

King Aldo

Yanni’s Greek Taverna

Like lamb to a slaughter….

Criticizing the Critic

Criticizing the Critic

Family Affair

Steaking a claim on Jim Sullivan's next project: Oscar's.

Bite Me

The Rest of Denver

The biggest party of them all!

Best Chinese -- American Style

Little Olive

Letters to the Editor

From the week of May 1, 2003

In Vino Veritas

Adega has grown into its reputation -- and grown up.

Bite Me

The Write Stuff

Letters to the Editor

From the week of August 15, 2002

Best Wine List in a Restaurant

Fourth Story

Solid Old

The Greenbriar Inn is still golden.

Kitchen Magicians

The Pinnacle Club hopes to attract high-end diners to its lofty digs.

It's a Small World

Tiny and terrific, Emma's is off to a great start.

Mouthing Off

Mouthing Off