We were sitting at Pizzeria Basta’s bar today, sipping the very first glass poured from the restaurant’s very first keg of the Infinite Monkey Theorem Sauvignon Blanc — a wine we didn’t need a score guide to tell us was taut, citrusy and perfect for spring — when we had…

If you’re planning on really making a night of your Denver Restaurant Week reservation, either because it’s a romantic evening away from the kids, or because you’re taking what you’re saving on dinner and plunking it down on copious amounts of alcohol, it might be a good idea to look…

Thirty years ago this month, Peggy Anderson and Diane Williams opened Annie’s Cafe in a storefront attached to a drug store at Eighth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. “About ten people came that first day,” Anderson remembers. But those ten customers turned into a crowd of regulars and today, the women…

This week, I reviewed the original Bubba Chinos location at 160 Federal Boulevard, where Leonard Cordova serves up a version of the green chile that his grandmother, Stella Cordova, made legendary at Chubby’s. He’s used that sauce to turn his own restaurant concept into an expanding mini-empire, with eight current…

Last November, the James Beard Foundation summoned the public to nominate its favorite chefs, restaurants and industry professionals for the 2011 awards. And after all the self-pimping and ballot-stuffing, the poll is closed. This morning, the foundation announced its 2011 list of semi-finalist nominees. And Colorado made a strong showing…

JR Johnson brought Mr. Greenjeans, a vegetable market in Edgewater, to life after a couple of beers in the Providence Tavern. “I noticed people want to stay around the neighborhood,” he says. “And I looked across the street and thought it would be a great place for a vegetable stand.”…

This week’s spring-like weather has us excited for the days of summer when we can linger on a patio and catch the beams of the sun with a drink in hand. Like a margarita. At the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant. In anticipation of summer, the downtown outpost of that local…

Over four decades ago, Stella Cordova took over the Chubby Burger Drive-In from its owner, and she soon turned Chubby’s into a Colorado icon, renowned for serving the gravy-like green chile she’d learned to make while growing up in Pueblo. Stella passed away in 2009 at the age of 100,…

When news broke late last year that Chipotle’s Steve Ells was drawing up plans for an Asian fast-casual concept, the company refused to divulge much. “We want to leave a little mystery,” Chris Arnold, director of public relations for the company, explained. But word’s starting to leak out about what…

Forty-five years ago, Jose Trujillo quit his job with Lockheed Martin to pursue his dream of restaurant ownership. He started by selling burritos and tacos out of the back of the old Kitchen Bar on Littleton’s West Main Street. And ten years later, on this exact date in 1976, he…

Over the weekend, during brunch at the Ballpark Snooze, 2262 Larimer Street, we endured the joint’s inevitable hour-long waits for a pancake flight and eggs Benny by soaking up the Colorado sunshine on the patio. Despite the fact that the morning temps were in the fifties — a welcome relief…

Stella Cordova had ten children and dozens of grandchildren — and Leonard Cordova isn’t the only one to build a business on her legacy. Three years ago, Leonard’s cousin Alex Cordova exported Chubby’s to Hawaii, doling out that same jalapeño gravy to islanders while learning to surf. But after Stella…

On a Friday night, the vibrant yellow building on Federal Boulevard that houses the original Bubba Chinos is packed. A tented stand in front of the place displays a maze of T-shirts; inside, a woman is hawking pirated DVDs. The adults socializing in the equally yellow, cement-floored lobby and dining…

Last October, Opas Sinprasong — a Thai national who once owned Siamese Plate, Siamese Plate on the Go and Sumida’s in Boulder and Louisville — pleaded guilty to harboring illegal aliens and failure to pay taxes. Yesterday he was sentenced: The restaurateur will do time, pay a hefty sum and…

For the past few years, Pho So 1 has hawked pho and beef noodle soup from its free-standing spot at 1195 South Federal Boulevard. But at the beginning of this year, it was sold to a new owner — and became Pho Le. And that new owner, whose name is…

Things have gone, uh, smashingly for Denver-based Smashburger since it first opened on Colorado Boulevard back in 2007, serving American classics that have won over many burger-hungry diners. The chain has readily expanded since then, opening close to one hundred additional outposts from sea to shining sea. It’s about to…

It was negative six degrees in Boulder two nights ago, but that didn’t stop anyone from heading over to Oak at Fourteenth for the Fabrizio Iuli wine dinner, a five-course tasting event paired with all-organic wines from Piedmont. The place was packed when we bellied up to the bar, and…

This week, I reviewed Flagstaff House in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, and, despite my initial reservations, I thought it was an excellent choice for a celebratory affair. And the Monettes, who own the Flagstaff House, are running several February specials to further enhance the mood during the month of love…