Best Gas Station Cuisine 2003 | Lori's Deli | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Gas Station Cuisine

Lori's Deli

Forget the microwave burrito, the hurried Slim Jim, the ancient doughnut. When Lori's Deli whips up a custom egg sandwich or a Reuben, you'll vow never to go back to nasty road food again. Housed in a deli case at the back of a family gas station that's been going strong for more than eighty years, Lori's stocks only Boar's Head meats and makes every sandwich to order. You'll think you died and went to the Bronx -- until the friendly Western ambience convinces you otherwise.

Best Rethinking of the Convenience-Store Concept

Sun Deli Groceries & Liquor

Just over a year ago, Sharmilla Lalchandani and her family -- son Ravi and daughter Laxmi -- took over a failed convenience store at the east end of the Boulder Mall, then set out to transform the place. Sure, you can still buy cigs and a carton of milk here. But now the spicy aroma of chai hangs in the air, and there are glass cases holding food such as curries and savory Indian pastries, to be eaten on site or taken away. The store also carries a selection of ingredients and packaged items from around the world, including marmalade and digestive biscuits from England, olive oils from Italy and Greece, tamarind pulp, fish sauce and Indian spices. Fortunately, more often than not, a member of the Lalchandani family is around to help you figure out how to use them.

Best Rethinking of the Convenience-Store Concept

Sun Deli Groceries & Liquor

Just over a year ago, Sharmilla Lalchandani and her family -- son Ravi and daughter Laxmi -- took over a failed convenience store at the east end of the Boulder Mall, then set out to transform the place. Sure, you can still buy cigs and a carton of milk here. But now the spicy aroma of chai hangs in the air, and there are glass cases holding food such as curries and savory Indian pastries, to be eaten on site or taken away. The store also carries a selection of ingredients and packaged items from around the world, including marmalade and digestive biscuits from England, olive oils from Italy and Greece, tamarind pulp, fish sauce and Indian spices. Fortunately, more often than not, a member of the Lalchandani family is around to help you figure out how to use them.

Best Asian Market

Lucky Market

Feeling lucky? Then head down to Lucky Market, where you'll find all those weird, freaky, Jesus-why-would-anyone-eat-that? ingredients you've been looking for. Need some pork pâté? Jackfruit chips? Frozen squid tentacles? Lucky's got you covered. It boasts a wall stacked high and wide with dishes, bowls and all manner of Asian kitchen accessories; it has so much freezer space, you may need a team

of Sherpas to get you through; and it stocks such basics as Asian-export condensed milk, Cafe du Monde chicory coffee, Jahe Kopi ginger coffee and more canned goods than the most discriminating fan of Indochinese cooking could ever use.

Best Asian Market

Lucky Market

Feeling lucky? Then head down to Lucky Market, where you'll find all those weird, freaky, Jesus-why-would-anyone-eat-that? ingredients you've been looking for. Need some pork pâté? Jackfruit chips? Frozen squid tentacles? Lucky's got you covered. It boasts a wall stacked high and wide with dishes, bowls and all manner of Asian kitchen accessories; it has so much freezer space, you may need a team

of Sherpas to get you through; and it stocks such basics as Asian-export condensed milk, Cafe du Monde chicory coffee, Jahe Kopi ginger coffee and more canned goods than the most discriminating fan of Indochinese cooking could ever use.

Best Middle Eastern Grocery Store

Arash Groceries and Deli

Every Middle Eastern market has Dugh (a delicious yogurt/club soda drink), cardamom tea, saffron and the latest groovy Middle Eastern CDs. How Arash Groceries breaks out of the admittedly limited pack is by offering a fine selection of both common and exotic fruits and vegetables. Depending on the season, fresh figs, persimmons and pomegranates are available, and for more dangerous desserts, the market also stocks a good selection of Middle Eastern pastries and other confections flown in from California.

Best Middle Eastern Grocery Store

Arash Groceries and Deli

Every Middle Eastern market has Dugh (a delicious yogurt/club soda drink), cardamom tea, saffron and the latest groovy Middle Eastern CDs. How Arash Groceries breaks out of the admittedly limited pack is by offering a fine selection of both common and exotic fruits and vegetables. Depending on the season, fresh figs, persimmons and pomegranates are available, and for more dangerous desserts, the market also stocks a good selection of Middle Eastern pastries and other confections flown in from California.

Best Kosher Goodies

Kosher Konfections

If it isn't K, it's not okay: That's the rule in Denver's kosher households. And that's not always an easy rule to comply with, as anyone up against it can tell you. (You know the ones -- those poor folks often spotted studying labels at the grocery store for the oft-hidden symbol announcing that the food is, indeed, prepared according to ancient Jewish law.) But at Lynn Zwerdlinger's Kosher Konfections, tucked away in a southeast Denver strip mall, you never have to look before you leap for the holiday goodies: All of the candies are certified locally by Scroll K -- Vaad Hakashrus. And, oy, has she got candy: tried-and-true chocolates from Bartons and Barricini, lollipops, mints, nuts and every other sort of sweet imaginable, including a few errant cookies. The place is a veritable nosh pit!

Best Kosher Goodies

Kosher Konfections

If it isn't K, it's not okay: That's the rule in Denver's kosher households. And that's not always an easy rule to comply with, as anyone up against it can tell you. (You know the ones -- those poor folks often spotted studying labels at the grocery store for the oft-hidden symbol announcing that the food is, indeed, prepared according to ancient Jewish law.) But at Lynn Zwerdlinger's Kosher Konfections, tucked away in a southeast Denver strip mall, you never have to look before you leap for the holiday goodies: All of the candies are certified locally by Scroll K -- Vaad Hakashrus. And, oy, has she got candy: tried-and-true chocolates from Bartons and Barricini, lollipops, mints, nuts and every other sort of sweet imaginable, including a few errant cookies. The place is a veritable nosh pit!

Best Here's-the-Beef Service

Jerky of the Month Club

You've got mail! And what mail it is -- teeth-tearing, sodium-sucking, protein-packing jerky. Sign up with Rick Spencer's Steamboat Springs-based Jerky of the Month Club and you'll get a four-ounce portion of a specialty jerky every month for six months, all for the low, low price of $58. Or try a sampler pack for just $28. (Okay, there's some shipping and handling involved in both.) Don't calculate the cost per pound; instead, imagine your delight at finding such delectable snack items in your mailbox each month. Where's the beef? As close as your next postal delivery.

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