Five meaty ideas for Smashburger’s new TV campaign

Smashburger, our locally born and quickly proliferating burger chain, is taking its wares to the small screen with its first-ever television ads. One thirty-second spot, created by Denver-based Definite Productions, is a burger-fan dream sequence, reportedly complete with actual beef patty-smashing action meant to demonstrate the differences between Smashburger’s hand-smashed…

Five Game of Thrones characters we never want to see naked

Fans of HBO’s Game of Thrones could use some levity right now: The latest episode, “The Rains of Castamere,” was rough in the way that a bunch of beloved characters were completely and utterly slaughtered in such a shockingly revolting manner that fans who haven’t read the books are still…

Five Star Wars mistakes that the new movies should avoid

It’s a common behavior of Star Wars fans: canonize the original trilogy, and get all hater-y on the screw-ups in Episodes I-III. But if the mistakes made in the second trilogy weren’t so completely soul-crushing and legacy-altering, then people wouldn’t be bitching about them to this day — and keeping…

Five food gadgets and gimmicks that are impossible to resist

Any food-nerd knows that it’s almost impossible to keep up with every new culinary gadget or cool DIY kit — but it’s almost as tough to resist them. You contemplate giving up imported cheese or cartons of duck fat for a month just so you can buy some food-tastic item…

Cinnabon plays wingman for Schlotzsky’s in a not-too-sweet deal

I spotted the Schlotzsky’s sandwich shop as I was driving up Colorado Boulevard, but the stand-alone Cinnabon next door was the reason I stopped. Turns out, the cinnamon-roll store is connected to, and has partnered with, Schlotzsky’s — an arrangement that has to be far more favorable on the sammie…

Five cocktails only a dickhead would order

There is a thin line between self-indulgence and being a dickhead, a line that any bartender could draw for you. On especially busy nights at any watering hole, there is always at least one person who decides to order some outdated or ridiculous beverage that takes up valuable bartender time,…

Beau Jo’s Pizza: After forty years, don’t go changing….

I’m not at all sorry I missed being an adult in the 1970s. There were terrible fashion trends with bell bottom pants and clogs with heels, and worse hairstyles with that feathered look; the porn was all sweaty and hairy, and the food trends were…well, Irma Rombauer’s Joy of Cooking…

Chipotle is now pouring premium Patron margaritas

Drinking your lunch got easier at Chipotle yesterday, when the homegrown Colorado chain introduced premium Patrón margaritas in all 900 of its U.S. restaurants (out of 1,450 Chipotle locations total). Although margaritas were on the menu before this, they were made with a standard mix, and Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing…

Five TV shows that were canceled much too soon

Futurama has been canceled…again. Fans are keenly aware that the show was nuked back in 2003 by Fox, then brought back by Comedy Central after it bought the rights to the four movies in 2007. But this season will reportedly be the last one, with the series finale airing on…

Want old-timey food? Black-Eyed Pea delivers that and old-timers, too

Every once in a while you really want a taste of some old-fashioned, old-time favorites (that someone else has to cook, and then clean up after) like pot roast, meatloaf, mashed potatoes made with actual potatoes, fried corn and squash casserole, chicken-fried everything…and even a nice plate of fried liver…

Five things people shouldn’t wear in Denver when it’s snowing

Denver weather is unpredictable, as we all know with piles of snow landing on this city in mid-April, while lucky bastards in other places are already planting spring vegetables. And thanks to our local meteorologists, (who can’t predict weather any better than drunk psychic televangelists), we never really know what…