Among the residents who evacuated in the face of a fast-moving fire in Boulder this week was Michael Brown, current consultant and talk-show host, and former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a man who will be forever linked with this remark by President George W. Bush over his handling…
We know it’s tough to track all the restaurant openings and closings in town, but given the level of vehemence in the comments following our December 29 Santa Fe Tequila Company blog, a follow-up on this post from December 16, you’d think everyone in town would know by now that both the original location…
The Arvada Grill at 5801 Olde Wadsworth Boulevard in Arvada has closed its doors.”Thank you to all who joined us!” is the only message offered on the restaurant’s website, www.arvadagrill.com. And the website of the parent company, the Fortis Group at www.fortisdenver.com, no longer lists the Arvada Grill, which chef…
The Colorado Legislature just convened yesterday, with four months of hard work and tough budgeting choices ahead. So it’s no surprise that in their off-hours, citizen lawmakers would rather ignore this new year altogether and go directly to 2010, which promises plenty of political surprises. Already, Troy Eid, outgoing U.S…
The lights have been out for a few days now at Cebiche, the Peruvian restaurant at 2257 West 32nd Avenue that got a good review from Jason Sheehan won our Best Fried Pumpkin award in the Best of Denver 2008. A recorded message on Cebiche’s line at 303-433-1305 says that the…
After dueling meetings with business and neighborhood groups last week, Mezcal’s application for a cabaret license went before a hearing officer with the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses on Monday. Supporters of the application — which would allow owner Jesse Morreale to regularly feature live music, including mariachi bands…
Toshi Kizaki, who founded Sushi Den back in 1985 with his brother, Yasu, is currently in Japan meeting with vendors, fishmongers and a third brother, Koichi, who visits the markets daily to buy fish for Sushi Den and Izakaya Den (left). When Toshi returns later this month, he’ll bringing a few limited edition…
Elvis may have left the building, but his appetite lives on at the Berkshire. In honor of what would have been the King’s 74th birthday tomorrow, the pork-pushing restaurant at 7352 East 29th Avenue is running a special Elvis promotion. From January 8-11, the Berkshire’s “The King” sandwich — peanut butter,…
My review of the Celtic Tavern (which will be posted here later today) started an interesting conversation among some of the more Hibernian-leaning staff at the Westword office, chewing over why Denver seems incapable of opening and maintaining a decent Irish bar. (RIP, Duffy’s Shamrock.) This discussion immediately struck me…
In September 2006, a mystery shopper visited the Pennsylvania Quiznos store owned by Rich Piotrowski and Ellen Blickman. At the time, Quiznos was in the midst of a major national advertising campaign targeting Subway, using commercials that claimed its Prime Rib Philly Cheeseteak sandwich had twice the meat of a…
On November 5, the day after Democrats scored such a stunning upset in Colorado, I spotted affable, outgoing Colorado House of Representatives speaker Andrew Romanoff at the Saucy Noodle, of all places. He was on the phone with Bernie Buescher, the Grand Junction rep who’d looked to be next in…
The last time we saw Rick Rosner, the then-Denver bouncer/stripper who’d beaten all comers on an Omni IQ test, he was on the cover of Westword wearing roller skates, a loincloth and the question: “Is this the smartest man in America?” Two decades later, Rosner, now a TV writer, is the star of…
There are things I like about the Celtic Tavern. I like the fact that it sits at 18th and Blake, one of my favorite parts of downtown. I’ve rarely spent a night in this neighborhood that hasn’t culminated with my being offered drugs (everything from weed to opium), by friendly…
I have some fond memories of the Wellshire Inn. Decades ago, the Tudor building on the city-owned Wellshire Golf Course hosted a wild party for a local gal who’d just become a Playboy Playmate of the month. And then there was my lunch with then-Congressman Tom Tancredo and talk-show host…
Last week, I digested a year’s worth of eating. To recap, here are my six best meals of 2008, in no particular order, and one in memorium addition: 1) Le Bernardin, Manhattan. Eight or nine or ten courses, with the menu personally chosen and assembled by Eric Ripert and wines…
Back in 1996, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers moved its national headquarters to Greenwood Village. And while other chains are scaling back (or disappearing altogether), those based in Denver seem to be doing fairly well. There’s Chipotle, of course, which is moving into London this year. And on Monday, Red Robin…
When we last checked up on Heaven Star, which the owners of Super Star Asian (the best dim sum joint in the city) are opening at 7600 West 120th Avenue in Broomfield, the opening date was slated for January 10. But last week the manager said that was looking soft,…
In a day of bad news, yesterday had one bright spot: a neighbor notified us that our petition for residential parking permits had been approved. This is a pretty live-and-let live (or park) neighborhood, and we were reluctant to go the official root. But like so many other neighborhoods, this one…
The first few weeks of the new year are generally a quiet time in the restaurant industry. Under normal economic conditions, this is a time for the bean-counters and accountants to put their heads together over the books and figure if the twin mercies of Christmas parties and New Year’s…
When I checked in with Jeff Osaka, chef/owner of twelverestaurant, last month, he told me that although he’d just opened his restaurant at 2233 Larimer in early November, he was already reducing the prices on his changing-monthly menu. (His concept of a dozen menus a year — each featuring seasonal…
Now that Michael Bennet has been named to take over for Ken Salazar in the U.S. Senate (no cowboy hat required), Colorado pols can get back to the business of running the state (at least until it’s time to start running for whatever seat may be in play in 2010). Today,…
After five years, the Spice Boys of the Rockies are closing up their “humble little spice boutique” at 301 West Eleventh Avenue and moving to an all-online shop at www.spiceboysrock.com. “As the first specialty spice and tea store in Denver, we were definitely challenged to create a product line especially…
