What, more Asian restaurants? Exactly, says the Flat Out Crazy Restaurant Group. The Chicago-based company, owner of the fast-casual Stir Crazy Fresh Asian Grill and the make-your-own stir-fry FlatTop Grill restaurant chains, is banking on our affection for Asian food and eating out to support its new venture into the…

The burger chain with a name everyone loves to say (or is it slay?) has packed its beef and left the state for good. Fuddruckers has closed its three Colorado restaurants as a result of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of its parent company. The closures, effective April 30, came…

Like many good things, it all happened over beer. J.R. Johnson got the idea to bring fresh produce to his Wheat Ridge neighborhood while sitting in a local pub one afternoon, watching residents cruise up and down the streets after work. He put his head together with a buddy in…

The popularity and success of last year’s community garden in Civic Center Park (check it out — it even garnered a Westword Best of award) led the non-profit “Go Local Colorado” to think even bigger. This year, the group, in conjunction with Denver Parks & Recreation, the Parks Stewardship Program…

After more than a hundred years of supplying restaurants in the West with discount groceries, California-based Smart & Final has started SmartCo Foods, and is opening its first five stores in various Colorado locations. Smart & Final already owns the Henry’s, SunHarvest and Cash & Carry grocery stores.Two of the…

Last week it was a Mexican-themed patio party. This week, O’s Steak & Seafood, 10600 Westminster Boulevard, is doing it up with local beer. The restaurant, located in the Westin Hotel in Westminster, is inaugurating a “Colorado Beer Garden” on its patio this Friday. Executive sous chef Christoph Schoettle says…

Faster than you can say “Spicy Pickle,” the Denver-based regional sandwich chain has lost its president. Less than a month after Marc Geman became president of Spicy Pickle Franchising Inc., he has resigned the position as well as his membership on the company’s board “to pursue other interests,” according to…

A restaurant that sounds like the motor sports centered version of a TGI Fridays is expanding into Colorado. The Sharon, Pennsylvania-based Quaker Steak & Lube has one of the most confusing and vaguely lewd names we’ve ever heard of, and its bringing its wings and ribs and steaks to Westminster…

Boulder-based Noosa Yoghurt (Don’t forget that “h” — It’s an Australian thing.), formerly just available for home delivery via Morning Fresh Dairy in Bellvue, has been gradually unveiling its Australian-style yogurt (typically denser and sweeter than typical yogurt) across the state and elsewhere. Since launching the business last November, the…

We thought doughnuts were the new cupcakes, but it looks like cupcakes are here to stay. A specialty bakeshop featuring 45 different flavors of the mini-cakes opened Saturday at 550 Grant Street in Denver. Franchisee and Stapleton resident Carrie Bach says she sold over 1,200 cupcakes during this weekend’s opening…

Last week, we noted that old-school restaurateur Leo Goto was back in the biz with a restaurant and events center in Littleton. This week we took a closer look at his new digs, poked around the kitchen, caught up with executive chef Andrea McGrath — who is about to have…

A new Indian restaurant featuring cuisine from both the North and South of India opened last Friday at 3055 South Parker Road in Aurora. Jai Ho Indian Kitchen, Bar, and Lounge has a lengthy menu with many chicken dishes, as well as a handful of mutton, biriyanis, and quite a…

Neapolitan pizza peeps Pizza Republica has completely exploded its happy hour menu. Before, you could just get discounted pizzas, but the Greenwood Village pizzeria recently expanded its happyt-hour offerings to include mussels, meatballs, mushroom ravioli, flatbread, bruschetta and panini sliders. One thing that didn’t expand was the restaurant’s pizza. In…

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 are the only authentic bocadillos in Denver. Steinbecker describes bocadillos as “Spanish-style, hot baguette…

The Gold Hill Inn launched its 48th season last weekend, its first without longtime owner Frank Finn. Finn, who passed away last September, had owned and operated the former gold mining settlement-turned-fine-dining-and-lodging-establishment since 1960 with his wife and family. Management of the hotel and restaurant remains in the family, though…

Last night, at a study session of the Wheat Ridge City Council, members considered making significant revisions to the town’s smoking ordinance, including banning smoking on outdoor restaurant and bar patios. “The council provided staff direction to bring the ordinance forward to the regular council meeting,” says Heather Geyer, the…

While Kroger is making efforts to improve its seafood sourcing practices, it is doing so at a “painfully slow pace,” according to a “supermarket scorecard” recently issued by Greenpeace. That King Soopers’s parent company might not be ultra-conscientious about where it gets its swordfish and orange roughy comes as less…

“The Thing,”at King’s Chef Diner, is a messy, four- to five-pound landfill of Texas toast, hash browns, eggs, green chili, cheese and meat. Outrageous? Who could disagree? The Food Network recently featured the dish, a main attraction at the Colorado Springs diner, on an episode of its Outrageous Food show…

It’s not all bourbon and KFC. Kentucky may know a thing or two about food after all, and it’s bringing its know-how to Colorado. Wild Eggs, a Louisville-based breakfast super-mini-chain with Colorado roots is expanding into the state in the near future, according to the Denver Business Journal. The paper…

You better like brown rice and romaine lettuce. Freshii, the growing, Chicago-based fast/healthy food chain started by a former Oscar de la Renta public relations manager, opens in Republic Plaza today, bringing its wraps, rice noodles, organic oatmeal, and a multitude of other options to a broader cross-section of Coloradoans…

Chris Graves says he decided to open a coffee shop after 25 years of hanging out in them, all the while taking stock of various details and inconveniences that he would change at his own place. “There were just little things about them that bothered me,” he says. “Like, why…