Best Store at DIA 2018 | U.S. Post Office | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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These days, when you don't even need paper boarding passes, much less tickets, to get on a plane, having a U.S. Post Office in an airport might seem like a quaint relic of the past. That is, until you realize that you forgot to sign that contract that needs to be mailed before you head to Japan. Or that you're still carrying around your parents' anniversary card because you didn't have a stamp. That's when this post office will come in very, very handy. (It even has cards, if you forgot to get one for your parents in the first place.) And then there are those edibles you forgot to hide in the luggage you've already checked...though you know it's illegal to send marijuana through the mail, right?

8500 Pena Boulevard

303-342-2500

usps.com

Readers' Choice: Taspen Organics

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Yes, sushi at Walgreens! Finally, a place where you can buy cough syrup, greeting cards, underwear and a spicy tuna roll. This location went from blight to bright a few years ago and today is the flagship in the chain, a wonderfully clean, streamlined space that looks like it shared a designer with nearby pot shop Euflora. It's a handy stop in the morning when you need a bottle of aspirin for that big meeting, and a welcome one just before midnight when you realize you're out of milk for the morning's coffee. And then there's the sushi, made fresh daily by actual sushi chefs manning the counter in the front of the store. Don't be afraid!

801 16th Street

303-571-5314

Readers' Choice: Uniqlo

Courtesy Denver Art Museum

The Denver Art Museum has a lot of impressive collections, but the array of merch in the gift shop might be the most impressive of all. The airy, first-floor retail space is a complement to the institution's current exhibits as well as its permanent displays, offering everything from postcards, puzzles and big, glossy coffee-table books to housewares, jewelry and arty clothing inspired by the work on the walls. With trinkets and treasures that fit modest and big budgets alike, the DAM's gift shop is a great place to score art-minded — and Denver-centric — items.

Readers' Choice: Denver Art Museum

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Pete's Fruits and Vegetables has served the Hilltop neighborhood for more than three decades, and it remains as relevant as ever for shoppers after a true local market experience. Under the watchful eye of two generations of the Moutzouris family, Pete's spins out top-quality produce, local packaged products (Sweet Action ice cream, the Real Dill pickles, Tender Belly bacon), an on-site butchery and prepared meals with a Greek flair. Worth browsing for its endless delights, we're particularly enamored of its feta bar, its bacalao (salted cod) and its Greek pastries. The baklava that's sold at the register is nearly impossible to pass up. Pete's just appended a liquor store onto its space, an especially good source for — what else? — Greek spirits and wines.

5606 East Cedar Avenue

303-393-6247

Courtesy The Seasoned Chef Cooking School Facebook page

Whether you want to change your diet, elevate your entertaining or learn the basics, the Seasoned Chef has a class for every cook. A Denver stalwart for over twenty years, the Chef shows an admirable desire to adapt to the times, with courses covering things like preparing anti-inflammatory and Paleo dishes and how to pair trendy items like tacos and tequila. Admission doesn't usually dip below $79, but considering how much an evening of entertainment and food usually costs, we think it's a deal. Not to mention you'll walk away with new skills and knowledge to impress your friends and loved ones.

Readers' Choice: Stir Cooking School

Linnea Covington

Though well-intentioned, farmers' markets can be intimidating to navigate and packed as all get-out. To avoid the crowds and find a nicely arranged selection of the best produce, flowers and wares, we head to Union Station every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. between May and October. The plaza outside transforms into a delightful little market that almost makes you forget you're in the middle of Denver. Run by the Boulder County Farmers' Market, a gold standard in this "industry," the USFM even lets chefs demo recipes with in-season ingredients. Take the light rail or bike in to avoid parking.

1701 Wynkoop Street

bcfm.org/union-station-farmers-market

Readers' Choice: Old South Pearl Street

Courtesy ZERO Market Facebook page

As a retailer with a purpose, ZERO Market exists only to save the world one piece of plastic wrap at a time, with a zero-waste objective affordable to everyone, and all the stuff you'll ever need to achieve it. Stock up on bulk toxin-free, preservative-free, cruelty-free products that come in refillable containers, reusable sandwich bags and food wraps, mesh produce bags, cloth bags and totes and dozens more products you never knew existed. Get with the times and re-educate yourself at ZERO.

Courtesy Alchemy Ritual Goods Facebook page

Bummed out by modern medicine? At Alchemy, you can travel back to the old, holistic ways of shamans and curanderas by attending ancestral medicine clinics, healing ceremonies and workshops, having your cards read or simply by shopping the crystals, teas and tarot decks on the shelves. Wellness was never so much fun. In a rut? Get in touch with your inner divine self at Alchemy.

Owner Michelle Castor conceived of Agua y Sangre as a woman-friendly purveyor of holistic practices, from the educated use of old-school herbal remedies to the healing power of body work or a good massage. If modern medicine's stock action plan of recommending mindless pill-popping without healthy results is getting you down, or even mad, there's no better way to get back to the earth, as far as your health care is concerned.

Courtesy Aquarius Arts & Tarot Facebook page

Out in the new-Denver sticks of Brighton Boulevard, Aquarius Arts is divining millennial futures one story at time, with private Saturday readings by in-house tarot expert Jody Bouffard and a revolving roster of guest seers. And while you're there learning your fate, you can also pick up your own deck, along with the usual accoutrements: mystical rocks, incense and inspirational artwork from another realm. Make an appointment and see for yourself.

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