Audio By Carbonatix
LoDo lowdown: Coors Field has brought a large new clientele to LoDo restaurants, and while there are the usual arguments about whether that’s good or bad, there’s no denying that it’s different. In response, places such as McCormick’s Fish House & Bar, at 1659 Wazee Street, have found it necessary to play hardball, because these sports fans want cheap eats and drinks, and they want them now.
So the well-respected seafood eatery has expanded its $1.95 happy-hour menu to 26 items–a smart move, especially considering that Dave Query’s Jax will swim into the picture at the old Terminal Bar location across the street sometime in October. And just a block away, one of the bastions of cheap (low-grade) eats, T.G.I.Friday’s, at 1701 Wynkoop, offers a dozen appetizers for $2.49 during its happy-hour times. Although she’s less excited about T.G.I.Friday’s, McCormick’s Tito Christensen says the addition of Jax to the neighborhood is actually a blessing. “We’re kind of relieved about Jax,” she says, adding that McCormick’s feels the same way about the recently opened TopHat Tavern, at 1512 Larimer. “With the influx of the baseball crowd, people have been going to Cherry Creek for their fine dining. Now they’ll have more choices here, and hopefully, that will bring the old customers back.”
Although part of the motivation behind the expanded happy-hour menu was to appease the new crowd, Christensen says it probably would have happened eventually, anyway. “McCormick’s has fifteen restaurants nationwide, and they come together in Portland every year to brainstorm,” she explains. “Systemwide, McCormick’s has always done a much larger $1.95 menu, and we realized we’ve been running the same things for nine years now. It was time to change that.” Adding to that was the fact that, although “business isn’t down, it’s not growing,” Christensen admits.
The reworked roster of tapas-style tidbits should help. McCormick’s certainly has T.G.I.Friday’s licked: The fish house’s food is not only edible, it’s pretty darn good, and a hell of a bargain, to boot. We stopped by during the early time slot (3 to 6 p.m. daily; the deal also is available from 9 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 to midnight Friday and Saturday) and slurped down a few oyster shooters (two per order) with McCormick’s wonderful cocktail sauce; two bread-heavy but tasty seafood cakes (beware of bones) with an equally good tartar sauce; six crab-stuffed mushrooms flavored with Romano cheese; and the Oriental chicken wings. The wings were delish, but we couldn’t figure out what gave the spicy peanut sauce the “WOW” the menu had promised, since it wasn’t very hot. We also chuckled over the “country-style barbecued rib” (one rib?), but it turned out to be a large, meaty one covered with a mild sauce and served with a generous mound of slaw. The two best deals, however, were the excellent cheeseburger with fries and the delicious fried calamari with marinara. McCormick’s has a new executive chef, Paul Warner, who may change some items; I hope he leaves those two alone.
Get a load of other LoDo eateries at this year’s Denver Delivers, a fundraiser that benefits the Volunteers of America Meals on Wheels for People With AIDS program, on September 25, from 5 to 9 p.m. Anyone who loves food and art will appreciate this pairing of restaurants and art galleries–participants stroll at their leisure through the neighborhood and dine at each gallery from food-laden tables–with music and alcohol thrown into the mix. It costs $25 per person, which is a deal considering the all-you-can-eat format. And I can attest to the fact that last year’s event delivered on fun.
–Wagner
